The past isn't easy to overcome. Emily's new goal is to leave the past behind and focus on building her life. When she gets admitted to her dream college, she has three goals. Focus on her studies. Stay away from drama and get a degree. But her goals and plans are quickly challenged when she meets someone from her past. The past she had worked hard to overcome is threatening to tear apart her new life. Gabriel Ford is living the good life in college. He is popular, every girl wants him, and his football career is taking shape. But when he least expects it, he bumps into his childhood friend. The girl he thought he'd never see again. The girl that abandoned him. Will he ever forgive her? Or better yet, is he ready to know what made her leave? The past isn'tt easy to overcome.
View MoreEMILY
***
“Make sure to read the next chapter before tomorrow,” the professor said to a crowd of students that were already making their way out of the class. I was writing down one last thing on my notepad and by the time I finished packing up my bag, the hall was empty, except for the professor, Mr. Thomas, who was cleaning the whiteboard.
“I really enjoyed today’s class, Mr. Thomas,” I said as I walked to the front of the room. He looked up at me and smiled, and I could tell he needed to hear that today. I was glad I was the one who said it.
“Thank you, Emily,” he said as he picked up his books, “have yourself a great weekend.”
“You too,” I said as I walked towards the dorms.
That was the last class of the week and I was glad it ended early because it gave me plenty of time to catch up on all the assignments I had before the new week. I hoped that I had not forgotten anything, any assignment that was due, or any group project. I never had, but I had never been able to fully trust myself and my memory since the incident.
I shook my head as if to try and stop the memory from coming back up and it worked. I didn’t have time to think about it. I didn’t want to, now that life had given me the chance to start afresh.
I had moved away from Bakersville in my senior year, and although it didn’t always work out well for everyone, my good grades gave me a chance to get into high school and graduate. Everything worked out smoothly and I transitioned from high school to the college of my dreams, and I took that as a sign, that I had made the right choice.
Here, I had the chance to reinvent myself. I could decide to be popular and not the bookworm that I was in high school. I could decide to create a whole new personality to fit the new environment. I had wanted to, but it felt like I was betraying myself so I stuck to what I knew.
I got to the dorm and found my roommate doing the usual, lying on her bed and listening to music on her headphones. I had wanted time and time again to tell her that there was no need to use her headphones because I could hear the music anyways, but I always stopped myself, reminding myself that I didn’t want any drama.
I was actually happy that I had gotten Nila as my roommate. I was just as quiet as her and didn’t want to interact. I had been afraid that I would get one of those roommates who would want to know everything about me. But I was complicated and I felt that it was better for me to remain a mystery. I felt that the fewer people who knew, the less they would judge me. Or feel sorry for me. Or both.
Another thing that made me feel like moving was a good thing was the fact that I knew no one here, and no one knew me. I had been holding my breath when I enrolled, hoping that no one from Bakersville had applied to this college, and when the orientation week went by without someone stopping me to tell me they went to the same high school, I knew I was safe. I hoped it would stay that way.
I sat at my desk but I couldn’t focus on my reading, no matter how much I tried. The music from Nila’s headphones was just too loud. I picked up my books and my water bottle and headed toward the library.
As I walked across the campus I passed by the tents that had been placed all around to promote the clubs that were available and recruiting members. I knew that I should join one but I hadn’t decided yet what I wanted to do. Part of me wanted to try something new. I wanted to try singing. It had been a secret passion that only one other person knew about, but the fact that it was him and not somebody else discouraged me from following up on it.
I would join something else, like the book club or something. As I was making my way to the entrance of the library, I overheard a conversation between two girls who passed me by.
“Isn’t Gabriel the most handsome man you’ve ever seen?” one girl said and the other squealed in response.
The name triggered me but I knew there was no chance of it being him. Life wouldn’t be as cruel as to bring us together again, in the same place. Life has given me a chance to start afresh, right? Right?
I walked into the library and found a spot at the window. I made myself comfortable and started on my reading. An hour and another passed by and I didn’t even notice. I only looked up from my books when I heard a loud noise outside.
A crowd had gathered around someone and they were making a lot of noise. Pissing a lot of people off too, I could tell from the way the other people in the library reacted. It was a group of jocks. It was always the jocks.
One of the students who were brave enough to confront them left the library and went to talk to them. I watched the interaction in earnest. I wanted to see what would happen.
I couldn’t hear anything from where I was but the guy who had gone to confront them seemed to have gotten their attention. The conversation went back and forth between them and I kept watching them when I noticed that one guy in the crowd was staring directly at me. I looked back at him and immediately my heart started pounding.
It couldn’t be.
I picked up my books in a hurry and ran out of the library. My dorm was on the opposite side of the crowd and I was relieved. I made a run for it, past all the tents and classes. I only slowed down when I got to her room. I walked in and slammed the door behind me.
“Everything okay?” Nila asked.
If that was who I thought it was, then no. Everything was far from okay.
EMILY***"You guys knew about it, didn’t you?" I asked Nila and Julie who were suddenly awfully quiet when Gabriel walked in."Who, me? I have no idea what you're talking about?" Nila asked while holding her hands to her chest in mock surprise.We all laughed."I won't lie and say I didn't know. In fact, I had a meeting with him to make sure he had changed for good," Julie said.She was always so intense. I loved it."Thanks for looking out for me," I said to her."You know I got you. Always," she said.
GABRIEL***"We're home," Mom said as she opened the door to our house.She dumped her bag onto the living room floor and went around every room as if she was announcing her presence. I shook my head. I knew she had forgotten all about it and so I picked it up and carried it to her room before I went to mine.It felt good to be back. It had been a great year, a year I would never forget but being home felt great. It felt like a sigh of relief. I had made it back. I had done it. My mother and I had chosen to relocate temporarily because it felt like a good idea to just start over in a place that was unplugged and away from real life and all the responsibilities that real life demanded from us.It had been healing to be in a place where no one kn
EMILY***“We’re gonna be late,” Nila said to me.“Just a minute,” I said as I put the finishing touches on my outfit.I was a perfectionist in everything my dressing included. Besides, today was a special day for someone special to me and I needed to look the part.“Okay, I'm ready,” I said as I turned to face Nila, “how do I look?” I asked.“You look.. Stunning,” she said, “you look really great.”“Thank you, you do too,” I said to her and she curtsied and smiled.
THE END(Bakersville High school)“Emily doesn’t want to see you right now,” Terry said to Gabriel and he could tell by the tone of her voice that she didn’t want to see him too.He still didn’t know what he had done. Was this still about the stupid argument they had had that past weekend? He wanted to believe that that was what it was but something felt incredibly off.Something very bad had happened but he had no idea what it was and he had no way of finding out either because Emily wouldn’t see him. She wouldn’t pick up his calls or answer his texts either.
EMILY***“See you on the weekend,” Mom said as she dropped me off in the parking lot.“See you,” I said as I got out of the car. I watched her drive off before I walked to my dorm room.I had a new roommate because it was part of the school rules to change roommates at the beginning of every academic year. Nila and I had hoped and prayed that fate would let us meet again as roommates but that hadn’t been the case.It almost didn’t matter, though, because we remained good friends who were always together around the school. It had been months since the school year started. In fact, it was closer to the end now than it was in the beginning. The semester in which Gabriel felt like it was ages ago- it was almost
GABRIEL **** “I heard that you were leaving,” Emily said. “At the end of the semester, yes,” I said. “What?” she asked, turning red, “I came running over because Harry made it sound like you were leaving today!” I laughed. “He probably did that on purpose,” I said, “I should thank him for that.” “We should thank him for that,” she said, “it’s about time we had this conversation anyways.” “Yeah,” I said, “I was going to save it for last but I guess now is just as great, considering you ran over and everything,” I
EMILY***“Are you sure you’re okay?” mom asked as she helped me pick up my last bag from her trunk.“I’m sure, Mom,” I said, “plus there are only a few days left until the end of the semester and I'll be back home.”“I’m only letting you go because you have finals,” she said and I couldn’t help but smile.My parents had been watching over me more carefully than ever since I went back home and it had become suffocating- I used the fact that finals were ongoing to free myself and go back to school. I just needed a few days.&ld
GABRIEL***“I think you already know what I’m going to say,” I said to Harper who was seated across from me.She was crying.“I do,” she said as she sniffled.“I am sorry for all the hurt I've caused you. I shouldn’t have dated you when I knew I had so much baggage. I only hope that you’ll find someone who will be easy to love, someone who won’t cause you as much heartbreak and pain as I have,” I said.“I’m sorry too, to you as well as to Emily. I shouldn’t have let my insecurities control me.”“I shouldn’t have pu
EMILY***“Dinner’s ready,” my Mom said, snapping me out of my thoughts.It seemed she had been standing there for a while, watching me, and I hadn’t even noticed.“I’ll be right down,” I said, and she smiled at me before she left.I had been home for the past three days. My parents had gotten wind of the news and they had come to pick me up in the evening after I talked to Harry. Final exams were ongoing, and I had been against the idea of being at home but my parents had insisted.I had appreciated the rest and being away from what had happened for the first few days, but now I wanted to go back to school. Doing nothing all day did not sit we
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