Chapter 10

Matt and Vivian were viciously making out.

“Of course, they’re here right now,” Sabrina said with disgust.

“Come on, guys. Let’s get out of here,” Emma turned to leave, but Jess and Sabrina stopped her.

“Excuse me,” Jess called. “You are in my booth. Get the fuck out. Unless you want to continue to give us a live show.”

Matt and Vivian stopped and tried to gather themselves.

“Excuse me,” Vivian mocked. “This is a private moment.”

“Not in my reserved VIP booth, it’s not.”

Their argument was started to gain the attention of the people around them. Emma wanted to hide, but Jess and Sabrina had no plans of backing down.

“Get your cheating ass out of our booth,” Sabrina threatened.

“We were here first,” Vivian taunted.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Were you busy?” Sabrina ridiculed her. “Busy getting it on with my girl’s sloppy ass seconds? What does he taste like?”

“Probably like last week’s nasty leftovers,” Jess answered. “Everyone knows Vivian is only interested in everyone’s trash. She’s not good enough for anything else.”

“Fucking bitch!” Vivian tried to slap Jess, but Jess caught her hand and pushed her away.

“Oh, you picked the right one tonight, you two-dollar skank. Try again. I dare you.”

The tension mounted as Jess and Sabrina continued to goad Vivian into a fight. People in the club were watching with rapt attention. A fight was sure to break out any second. Emma didn’t know what to do. She didn’t want her friends to fight for her, but part of her wanted them to let Vivian have it.

Matt watched in horror. However, instead of turning his anger to Sabrina and Jess, he turned on Emma like the coward he was. Emma was standing there, trying to disappear. She was the easy target.

“You need to get your girls on a leash! Look what you caused!” he yelled at Emma.

Emma was caught off guard by the attack. Vivian smelled the blood in the water and turned her attention to Emma as well.

“You are so selfish! You’re shameless, and you just can’t stand to see us in love! Matt doesn’t want you, Emma. He wants me. You’re going to have to deal with that!”

Jess and Sabrina were about to jump in, but Emma held her hand up. She’d had enough.

“I’ve had it! You two are the ones who went behind my back! You two are the ones who betrayed me. So, you’re going to stop lying. Now. I was good to you!” Emma’s heart broke all over again. “I gave you everything!”

“You were good to me,” Matt said, surprising everyone. “But there was one thing you didn’t give me.”

“What else did you want from me?” Emma yelled.

“What Vivian gave me. Her virginity.”

“Oh, hell no,” Jess said, as she began to take off her earrings. “This fucking bastard is about to get his ass beat.” Sabrina just laughed.

“Wow. You really are as stupid as you look. You thought Vivian was a virgin? That bitch has been with probably every man in this club. That’s a grade A slut you have there.”

Emma stared at them with disgust.

“Don’t talk about her like that!” Matt defended Vivian, who pretended to look hurt.

“You left me because you wanted to take someone’s virginity? And you chose Vivian?” Emma asked in disbelief. “How could you be so fooled?”

More people were watched and Vivian had the decency to feel embarrassed.

“Matt, I’d like to leave,” she said.

“I don’t care what any of you say. I believe her.” With that, they left. Emma was drained. Her night had been ruined. Jess and Sabrina stared at each other.

“Why don’t we skip to the part where we go to my house?” Jess suggested. “We can get drunk and watch Magic Mike.” Emma smiled and nodded.

“Can I just be alone for a few moments?”

“Yeah,” Sabrina said. Why don’t you step outside while settle up in here? We won’t be long, okay?” Sabrina gave Emma’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. Emma nodded and stepped outside the club.

“Emma,” Matt called as he approached her.

“What do you want?” Emma crossed her arms over her chest.

“I want you to stay away from Vivian,” he answered. Emma was dumbfounded. Who was this man? Where was the man she thought she loved? How did she waste almost a year of her life on this idiot? Maybe she was the idiot. She should have seen through him.

“Did you ever actually love me?” she asked.

“At first. But about five or six months into our relationship, I met Vivian. And I fell for her right away. She was pure, and she told me about all the men you’d told her you had been with before me. I wanted someone who had been untouched.

“So, you believed crazy lies about me and you were cheating on me essentially the whole time?” Emma asked, but then decided she didn’t want the answer. “You know what? I don’t care. I really just don’t want to see either one of you ever again. I wish I’d never met you.” Emma turned her back on Matthew David and erased him from her life. She marched back into the club. She wanted to be as far away from him as possible. Jess and Sabrina found her, and together they went back to Jess’s apartment.

Emma’s friends made sure she had as good a time as possible. They laughed, drank, danced, and let Emma cry when she needed to. She often wondered if she should tell them about William Stewart. But after the night she had just had, he was too much to think about. Jess wanted Emma to spend the night, but Emma just wanted to be alone. Her emotions were in turmoil, and she needed to sort things out.

“Call me in the morning,” Sabrina stated as she hugged Emma goodbye.

“Me too,” Jess added after her own hug. “I mean it. Get yourself together, and you can live with me if you like, I don’t live that far from campus, and there are a lot of buses nearby.

“Thank you both for everything. Talk to you tomorrow. They gave Emma one last hug, and departed. Emma locked the door and slid in the deadbolt so Vivian couldn’t get in if she wanted to.

“What a mess,” Emma said as she flopped back onto her bed. She was still dressed in her club clothes, but didn’t have the energy to change. Everything was going wrong. Something was going to have to change soon. Emma wasn’t sure how much more she could take. The rain had stopped, but the storm still raged in Emma’s heart.

In the last two days, it had been ripped out, stomped on, torn apart, and thrown away. She felt numb and hollow. She was certain she didn’t have any tears left. Before she let herself fall asleep, she set her phone on the charger. She couldn’t help but laugh.

“If this had been charged, I never would have found out about Jane selling, or Matt cheating. And I never would have met William Stewart.” No one would believe her. She barely believed it had happened.

As she drifted off, thoughts of Will came to her mind without permission. He was rude, and mean, but he was sexy and enjoyed at least part of their time together.

She was reaching the steamy part of her dream about Will when the loud ringing of her phone woke her up. She answered without looking.

“Hello?” her voice was thick with sleep.

“Where have you been? I’ve been calling you all night!” Jane shrieked.

“Why are you calling me? I’m hanging up!”

“No don’t! You need to get to City Center Hospital! Your father’s been in an accident!”