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PROLOGUE
Emma
13 Years Ago
Walking down the halls of Evercrest High School was just like being in a zoo. Every clique kept to its own areas, except a few stragglers who would make their way around talking to everyone. My older sister warned me and told me to stay clear of certain cliques to not embarrass our family. I rolled my eyes this morning when she said it, knowing I would still behave, considering I didn’t want to earn our father's ire at the start of the school year.
Walking these halls for the first time as a freshman should have been scary. Instead, I am elated to finally see my friends again and, more importantly, get out of my house.
Here’s the thing though; I’m not your typical freshman. My family owns this town. They have for generations. Everyone stepping foot in Evercrest High School today would be considered fresh blood. I, however, have been tight friends with the most popular girls for years. Our families are close, and my older sister is the leader of their clique. It was expected that I would fit right in, so Nora has spent all summer preparing me for what to expect—all the ins and outs of each clique and who to avoid, and who to talk to. It was already assumed that I would be welcome with the cheerleaders, especially since we had done summer workouts and tryouts for the past two months.
Because of who we are, certain things are expected of us. I never was, and never will be, free of the responsibilities of my family. My sister has been in an arranged marriage since her sophomore year; she’s a senior now. She did that to protect me—or at least she thought she did. Last week, I overheard our parents talking. They are already trying to find an appropriate match for me. It seems the bargain Nora made to let me have my freedom meant nothing. She gave up her chance at happiness for nothing. I’m sure our parents wouldn’t have allowed her to choose who to marry either. My parents haven’t gotten along for a long time, except for this; money and status are the only things they agree upon. The only thing they care about. Anything that would risk that is a no-go.
When I graduate is the exact moment I get married, no matter my wishes.
* * *
Walkingdown the halls to join my sister and her clique, I barely notice all the stares from other students. They aren’t worth my time. They never have been. Half the people in this school mean nothing to my family. It’s the mantra I was forced to listen to day in and day out. I hate ignoring them and playing the role I am supposed to. Half the students don’t do anything to my family or me that would cause me to ignore them this way.
I see Nora and a few of the other girls up ahead. Before I can reach them, my eyes catch a male I haven’t seen in over a year. He’s my friend or had been before he disappeared. We were never supposed to meet as we were two opposites in every way.
Trevor.
He’s a year older than me and lives on the wrong side of town. I shouldn’t even know who he is, except he saved my ass when I was kidnapped at thirteen.
I had just been leaving the movies with friends and was walking towards my family’s car. Out of nowhere, two males grabbed me, dragging me towards their van, waiting in the alleyway.
Most of those ten minutes were a blur. To this day I can still remember trying to scream around the hand covering my mouth while they dragged me and tossed me into the van. Before they closed the door, they put a bag over my head and told me to sit still or my little brother would pay. After the door closed, I heard a commotion outside but was too afraid to disobey. My little brother meant the world to me. There was no way I would risk him even though I knew he should have been at home safely in bed.
The one thing I did do… was I took the bag off my head. I’ve always been terrified of the dark, and that bag was only causing me to go into a panic attack. In less than thirty seconds of removing the bag, the van door opened. I shoved my body back as far away from the door as I could, terrified that it was one of the men. The person who opened the door turned on a flashlight using their phone so I could see, which helped me start calming down.
With the added light, I could see that a young boy around my age had saved me. His bright blue eyes pulled me in. I could see droplets of blood on his face that should have made him look scary, but all I felt was safe. He told me his name was Trevor as he held out his hand to help me out of the van. We waited on the street corner for the cops and medics. The whole time we waited, I never let go of his hand. He was my safe spot, keeping me grounded and the panic attack at bay. His grip on mine was like a rock I needed to hold onto so the world didn’t swallow me whole. When the cops and medics arrived, they pulled me from him and rushed me into an ambulance to be checked over. The cops that arrived put Trevor in handcuffs in front of me and laid him on the hood of the cop car. I tried to fight against the medics’ hold, but they were unrelenting. Trevor’s eyes never left mine through the whole ordeal; he didn’t care what the cops did to him as long as I was okay. After enough of my hysterics and screaming, the cops released Trevor and let him tell them every detail of what happened. He gave me a soft smile before turning to look at them and explained the story. At the end of the night, I watched as they shook his hand and sent him on his way. He was my hero that night, and I knew from then on I was determined to find him once again.
That was the first night I met him, but it sure wasn’t the last. It was also the first night I really saw how sheltered I had lived and that my family had more enemies than I could ever have known.
Since he saved me, we secretly hung out when I could safely get away, until this last year when he disappeared. I tried reaching out through all our usual methods and even took to stalking some areas where I knew he would hang out. It was like he had dropped off the face of the earth until I saw him now.
Standing there in front of me as if no time had passed. It took everything in me to not run right into his arms. When he turned his gaze upon me, though. Those bright blue eyes were cold and emotionless like he didn’t even see me, only saw through me. He was no longer the boy I knew. Now he was a man who looked like the world had torn him to pieces before spitting him back out to face everyone. I forced myself to move past him and join my sister. Now wasn’t the time to confront him.
I just hoped I had time to save him from himself.
ONE
EMMA ~ NOW
“Sweetie, I know you don't want to go to school, but you have to,” I sigh, frustrated at this whole situation.
Who would have thought raising a nine-year-old alone was this difficult? Growing up, Alexis was always the perfect angel. She never fought with me and always did as she was told. The older she has gotten, though, the more her temper and stubbornness shine through. I would love to say she got that from me, but we all know that is a lie. It's all her father.
Trevor.
Our brown-haired, blue-eyed little girl has grown up so fast, and he has missed it all. Though that isn't his fault. The night I got pregnant was the last time I saw or heard from Trevor. I have no clue why he left. That last night together, he had been cryptic about what was going on, and his words didn’t make much sense. I could tell something was off, but I choked it up to us graduating and not knowing what our life would look like after that. We both knew I was supposed to have an arranged marriage, but Trevor said he was trying to get me out of it.
My guess is my father got to him. He always does. The day my family found out Trevor and I had been hanging out was the first time my father ever beat me. The second time they caught me, I missed school for a week just to hide the bruises left on my body since my father left a couple on my face.
Needless to say, yeah, I can see how Trevor would leave to protect me. I just wish he would have left me a way to contact him in an emergency. Because my getting pregnant with our child equated to an emergency. My father had wanted me to get an abortion the second they discovered I was pregnant. It took me begging, pleading, and some mischievousness to save my daughter's life. I had to agree to be the perfect daughter they asked for, never once fighting against any decision they would make for me, just to bring her into this world. I had to hold onto the last piece of Trevor in the darkest of times. That’s not to say my father didn’t try to get rid of her the second she was born, he did, but thankfully the worker flat out told him he couldn’t make that decision for me.
“Momma?” my little girl questions as she comes over, standing in front of me. She only breaks out the momma when she’s scared or concerned about something.
