Chapter Twenty-Nine: Emma

Thanks to IHateJasonGrace for the multimedia art! :)

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Kidnap My Heart

Chapter 29: Emma

My mind was whirling as I tried to figure out an escape plan in a ridiculously short amount of time. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. My plan wasn’t supposed to be so rushed or so frantic. That was the entire point of the plan: take things slow, get Will to trust me like Eric trusted Taylor, and then boom. When they least expected it, Taylor and I would get away. When had things gotten so screwed up? Was it the moment we stepped foot in that mall? The moment we stepped foot in that photo booth? Or was it the moment I kissed Will back?

Taylor and I were sitting in the back of the car. Will was driving, and Eric was in the passenger seat. This entire situation screamed déjà vu at me. A month ago, we’d been in this exact same position, except this time, Taylor and I weren’t tied up and Will and Eric weren’t wearing ski masks. This time, the hatred I felt for my kidnappers—one in particular—wasn’t all consuming. It wasn’t even there, and that to me was scarier than being kidnapped in the first place.

“Are you okay, Emmy?” Taylor asked, cocking her head at me. “You seem upset.”

I could see Will looking at me through the rear-view mirror. The reply I wanted to give got stuck in my throat and I shook my head instead. “I’m fine. I’m just tired.”

“Are you sure?” She shot me an expectant look. She could see right through my lie, but I wasn’t about to tell her what happened or how it made me feel in front of those two.

“Positive.” I hoped the look I was giving her sent the message across: Please stop talking. I can’t talk about it here, but I’ll tell you later if you’ll shut the hell up.

She nodded, an unspoken agreement forming between us. I didn’t want to tell her about it. I wouldn’t have wanted to tell myself about it. Still, an agreement was an agreement, and Taylor was my best friend. I couldn’t not tell her.

The ride into town was mostly silent. Will and I barely talked, and we were usually the ones who never stopped talking or bantering. Taylor and Eric talked a bit, but it didn’t seem like they could get past the awkward environment we were all sitting in.

No matter how hard I tried, no matter how many mental distractions I tried to set in motion, I couldn’t get Will out of my head. I couldn’t stop thinking about how his lips had felt on mine, how his touch had set me on fire, how he’d made me feel things I’d never felt before. I closed my eyes and had to physically stop myself from touching my fingers to my lips in remembrance. He’d know exactly what I was thinking about if I did that.

If I’d been shocked by the photo booth kiss, there were no words for this one. It wasn’t just one kiss. It was a make-out session. It was a moment. There were some moments that you couldn’t forget even if you wanted to; this was one of them. I knew the second I left his room that this was something I wouldn’t be able to disregard. My plan had been to keep that strip of photos as a token of my time with Will—as the only token of my time with Will— but that plan was out the window. That strip of photos would never be the only token he left me with.

Godammit, I needed to snap out of this trance he’d left me in. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t normal. I needed to get out of here.

After what felt like hours, we arrived. This time, the car stopped in the Wal-Mart parking lot. I wasn’t familiar with this place, but it seemed crowded enough to conceal Taylor and me and let us get away. It was now or never.

“Do we need to go over the rules again?” Will turned around in his seat and looked pointedly at me.

I sighed. “No wandering away. I have to stick by your side at all times. No grabbing expensive things that aren’t on clearance. I’ve got it.”

Eric glanced over at Will before opening his door. “Sounds like she’s got it. Just keep an eye on her just in case.”

Because I wasn’t sitting right there and couldn’t hear a word they said…

Rolling my eyes, I opened the door on my side and got out. Will protested and said something about him opening it for me and blah, blah, blah, but I was barely paying attention. I was more interested in examining every square inch of this place. The parking lot was surprisingly full. Not completely full, but it was full enough to aid me in our escape.

This was it. I was really doing it. I was finally going to escape.

We went inside, and I tried to pay more attention to what Will and Eric were saying so I wouldn’t look too suspicious. I subconsciously noted everything I saw as I smiled and nodded. It would have been easier to get away on a trip to the mall, but I couldn’t wait that long. Not when Will and I were so close 24/7. Not when we slept in the same room. Not when I knew what an amazing kisser he was and knew what running my hands over his muscles felt like.

When we passed by the juniors section of clothing, Taylor stopped to look at a rack of clothes. “Hey, this is kind of cute,” she said. She held up a pair of lime green cut-off shorts and wiggled them in front of my face.

I raised an eyebrow at her. What was she doing?

“Hey, you have to admit this is cute for Wal-Mart,” she said, recognizing my judgmental facial expression. “They look the same as the pink ones I have at home. They’re just a lot cheaper.”

I looked at the price tag. A lot cheaper was definitely the right way to put it. They were only $12.98. “Jesus... They’re not bad, I guess.” I wouldn’t have been caught dead in Wal-Mart clothes outside of Will and Eric’s house, but the shorts were decent.

“Can I try a few things on?” I didn’t even have to turn around to guess that she was talking to Eric. “I miss shopping so much.” The look on Taylor’s face was almost pained. I’d gotten a bit of that out of my system on my trip to the mall, but she hadn’t. How had we survived without our shopping sprees? It was madness.

Eric shrugged. “Sure. You can pick out a few on me.”

He wouldn’t have been saying this if we were standing in one of the boutiques Taylor and I liked to shop at, but whatever. It was a nice offer nonetheless.

I distractedly looked through the racks with Taylor and held out a few things that suited her. When no one was looking, I stuffed an XL t-shirt and a pair of yoga pants inside my shirt and pants, wherever they would fit.

Taylor headed off to the dressing room once she had a pile of clothes to choose from and I turned around and told Will, “I’ll be in the dressing room with Taylor. There’s no way she’ll narrow that pile down without me.”

He nodded. “Yeah, that’s fine. We’ll wait outside the dressing room.”

“Okay.” I weaved my way through the racks and stopped at a dress being displayed on the wall. It was a strapless white sundress with a caramel-colored belt wrapped around the waist-line. I grabbed the hem and said, “Oh, hey, this is cute.”

Really, if you ignored the fact that there were no designer labels and their clothes were the result of cheap child labor, some of their stuff was kind of okay. I had bigger things on my mind than dresses, though, so I walked away and followed Taylor. This was the best opportunity I was going to get to formulate an escape plan.

The dressing room area was a separate room of its own. When I walked in after Taylor, there was a quiet ding, and I glanced around. One side of the room was lined with stalls. The other side was just a wall with posters warning shoppers about the consequences of shoplifting. At the very end of the room, a door caught my attention. It was an employee room, but it was the only way out of the dressing room, besides the normal exit and entrance. It was my only shot.

I followed Taylor into one of the middle stalls and glanced behind me to make sure Will and Eric hadn’t decided to follow us. When I was sure whispering was safe, I took a deep breath. Taylor stopped mid-change and frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s a door at the end of the room,” I said in a low voice. “It’s for employees, but it’s the only way to get out of here without getting caught. It should have an exit that will lead us outside or at least to a different part of the store. We’ll sneak out of this stall and into the room and just go from there.”

Taylor’s face paled. “What?”

“This is our chance. This is the chance we’ve been waiting for.” No, it wasn’t, but it was the best we were going to get. “We’re getting away.”

She didn’t say anything; she just looked at me with wide eyes.

“This is it, Taylor,” I said, ignoring the way she was looking at me. “This could be our only shot at getting away from these people.”

She faltered. “Emma…”

Oh, God. No. Tell me what I was seeing wasn’t real. Tell me I wasn’t seeing guilt in her eyes. “Taylor… Don’t say it.”

She finished changing into one of the blouses she’d grabbed and looked down at the floor. “I don’t… I can’t leave.”

I shook my head, slowly at first and then wildly. Keeping my voice down was a struggle. “Don’t do this to me. Don’t tell me this, Taylor. We have to go. We can’t stay here. This isn’t where we belong.”

“I can’t leave him,” she insisted. “His dad… I don’t know what he would do.”

“Eric is a big boy. He’ll be fine. His dad won’t do anything to him, anyway. He’s the favorite.” I didn’t always tune Will out when he talked. I knew enough.

Taylor sighed quietly, rubbing her face with her hands. She looked up to speak. “It’s not just that. I don’t—I don’t want to leave. I… I want to stay.”

My mouth slowly dropped open. My worst nightmare was coming true. It was too late; we’d stayed too long. “You’re falling in love with him.”

Her cheeks turned bright red and her voice came out as a whisper. “I think so.”

I knew it; I knew it wasn’t just a crush. I wasn’t blind, after all. It didn’t take a genius to figure out there was something going on between them. I just hadn’t realized how intense her feelings were.

When I didn’t say anything, she went on. “While you and Will went to the mall, Eric and I started talking… really talking. He’s a good guy, and he understands me. He’s so much better than I imagined, and he’s cute and he’s funny and he’s sweet and I just… it just happened.”

“He’s a cat onesie,” I snapped, quickly lowering my voice when I realized I’d raised it. “You can’t pick the cat onesie.”

Her forehead crinkled in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

I let out a quiet breath. “Let’s say you have two outfits. The first outfit is made up of a Versace dress made just for you, Dolce and Gabbana heels, and a diamond necklace. It’s all a gift from your parents. The heels are a bitch to walk in, and the dress is rough and uncomfortable, but the diamond necklace is gorgeous and enchanting. Everyone who sees your outfit comments on how perfect it is for you.”

Taylor still looked pretty confused, but she didn’t cut me off like Will did.

“The second outfit is just a cat onesie—a space cat pajama onesie. It has no shoes or accessories to go with it, but it’s the comfiest thing you’ve ever worn. The cat theme always makes you laugh, and you don’t even notice the lack of accessories because it’s just a cat onesie. But no one comments on the onesie because you never talk about it and you never wear it outside.”

She still didn’t say anything.

“Now, let’s say the time comes to go somewhere public with your parents. You know how they are. You saw how they were with your brother, and he’s a guy. So which outfit are you going to pick then? The one your parents picked out for you or the one you secretly picked out without telling anyone? Be realistic here.”

There was a long silence before she finally nodded. “I know it’s frowned upon and I know it’s not going to be easy, but I’ve made up my mind and no glamorous outfit is going to change my mind. I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. My parents will have to accept it. I—I love him.”

“They will never accept him,” I insisted. “Not if they figure out who he really is.”

She shook her head immediately. “I won’t let that happen.”

I could feel myself losing territory. I could feel her previous resolve to escape slipping away, and I desperately went on. “What about your family? How could you do this to them? Do you know what they must be going through right now?”

Tears welled up in Taylor’s eyes. “I know, okay? But they’ll be there when I come home, and if I leave now… I’ll lose him.”

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing,” I muttered, letting out an incredulous breath. “What happened to you?”

She ignored my question. “Get out if that’s what you want, but I’m not going anywhere. I know this is crazy and unorthodox and I know this totally goes against everything we know, but I can’t help how I feel. I’ve never felt this happy. I thought clothes and shopping sprees and parties were the keys to happiness, but they’re not. He’s my key to happiness. And I think…”

“You think what?” Don’t say it, Taylor…

“I think Will could be your key to happiness.”

My face turned white the moment those words left her lips, and I shook my head.

“I want you to stay with me,” she whispered, wiping away the tears that had built up throughout our conversation. “I know you’re feeling something for Will.”

“How would you know?” I asked, praying the color would come back to my cheeks so I didn’t look so damn incriminating.

She smiled. “You’re not the only one with best friend mind reading capabilities.”

No. No, she was wrong. What I was feeling was nowhere near what she was imagining. It was physical. I was eighteen. I mean, my hormones were all over the place. I was at the age where sex was becoming a part of my life, and Will had simply almost become my first sexual experience. We were both just physically attracted to each other and had acted on it. Will was absolutely gorgeous; I’d reacted the way any girl my age would’ve reacted.

“Something happened, didn’t it?” Taylor asked. Her eyes had lost the sadness and the guiltiness. Curiosity replaced those two things.

I nodded. “He kissed me. Like, really kissed me, and I kissed him back.”

Her eyes went wide and a downright crazy smile crossed her face. “I knew it! I am so good. I knew something had changed.”

“It was a mistake.” I didn’t need her to get any ideas in her head. I didn’t need a reason to ingrain myself into a fantasy world like she did. “It won’t happen again.”

Will’s voice rang out, and my spine stiffened. “Are you guys alright in there?”

“We’re fine,” I called out. “Taylor’s just really indecisive.”

“Alright, let us know if you need anything,” he said. Retreating footsteps followed. He wasn’t standing right by the door; he was gone. Maybe that would be the last time I ever heard his voice. The thought made my insides twist.

“Taylor, it’s now or never,” I whispered. “Please come with me.”

She shook her head sadly. “I’m sorry. Stay. Please.”

We were never going to agree on this. We’d both taken our stances. Unfortunately, they were on entirely different sides of the spectrum. It was like I was standing at the top of a cliff, fighting the temptation to jump into the vast ocean, and Taylor was standing at the bottom, telling me to jump. Letting me know she’d jumped long ago, and there was no way back up.

“I can’t do this.” My voice broke.

But a part of me wanted to, and that was why I couldn’t. I couldn’t let myself jump, even if Taylor had already made the jump.

Jumping meant being with Taylor. Being with Will. Repeating that moment and getting another chance to kiss him until our lips were swollen, to fall asleep to the sound of his voice, to run my hands over those glorious muscles again, and most importantly— to get the chance to really get to know him.

Running meant being free and being with my family. Letting them know that I was okay and giving them some peace of mind. Running meant choosing anything but the cat onesie. Running meant choosing what I knew.

She nodded in defeat. “I’ll distract them and buy you some time.”

I took her hand in mine and squeezed. “Thank you.” I let go and threw my arms around her neck, fighting the urge to cry. I couldn’t cry. If I cried, they might hear me blubbering, and Will might do something stupid like try to comfort me or say something that would make me want to stay.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small, folded piece of paper. “Give him this when he realizes I’m gone for good.” I stared down at it and to my surprise, handing it over was a struggle. Just like the photos cemented our day at the mall, this note would cement my escape. It would sever all ties with him.

I handed it over and closed her hand around the paper. “I’ll see you soon, okay?”

I just hoped soon really meant soon. I needed my best friend, but I couldn’t stay to make sure she was by my side. I just couldn’t.

“Soon,” she promised, and I nodded.

My hands were shaking as I pulled off the disguise and put on the clothes I’d managed to surreptitiously grab while I was looking through the juniors section. If Will did manage to follow me, I was hoping he wouldn’t recognize me if he was looking for a hippie wearing baggy clothes.

The XL t-shirt concealed my body type and my ass. I was thinking he’d stared at it long enough to know it was mine if he saw it. Will had no shame or boundaries. The beanie I’d grabbed would hide my hair. I took the tags off of the shirt and the pants.

My photo strip fell out of the sweatpants I’d been wearing as I shoved them on a hook, and Taylor reached down to pick it up. “What’s this?” she asked. I tried to snatch it away, but she held it away from me and looked down at it. A small smile formed on her lips as her eyes traveled down the strip. “This is cute.”

“Yeah,” I said, finally snatching it back. I placed it inside the waistband of my yoga pants, hoping it wouldn’t get damaged as I ran. “I know. I have to go.”

She nodded, and after one last hug, I dropped down on my hands and knees and crawled towards the next stall, ducking my head so it wouldn’t hit the bottom of the stalls. There was no one in the next two stalls, so I didn’t give anyone a nasty surprise by poking my head in and scurrying across.

Once I’d reached one of the last stalls, I crawled out through the front of the stall. I tried to soundlessly jog over to the employee room, and halle-freaking-lujah, it was open. If it had been locked, I would’ve given this speech for nothing.

I closed the door after me, and put my finger to my lips when a young guy looked at me in surprise and opened his mouth to say something. He looked like he was in his late teens, maybe early twenties, and he was decent looking, I guess.

“Wha—”

“Shh,” I said, putting my finger back to my lips. “I was just leaving. Does that door lead to the parking lot or to some other area of the store?” I nodded towards a grey door in the corner of the room.

“It leads to the home department,” he said slowly.

“Thanks.” With that, I ran over to the door and all but sprinted out of the room. I didn’t know how long I had until Will noticed I was gone and went after me. Would he even care that I’d left? Or would he just be mad because of the money he and his family would miss out on?

Whatever. It doesn’t matter, anyway. I shoved those thoughts away and kept running, passing groups of people who protested when I accidentally ran into them. I didn’t even bother apologizing. I didn’t have time. Catching sight of the exit, I picked up my speed and actually sprinted over, nearly running over a little kid as I did so. I felt bad, but again, I couldn’t stop to apologize.

I slowed down when I reached the parking lot. There was a strip mall and a burger joint nearby. I went for the strip mall. The burger joint was too far away. I’d have to sprint across the entire parking lot, and if Will came outside and saw someone running full-speed, he’d know it was me.

I ran over to the strip mall at the side of Wal-Mart and went inside the nearest store. It was a shoe store, and it had a window on the side that faced Wal-Mart. I stood near it, occasionally risking a glimpse outside. A few people gave me weird looks, but I didn’t care.

Sure enough, less than a minute later, a familiar tall, dark-haired, broad-shouldered guy ran out the doors and came to an abrupt halt as he scanned the parking lot. I quickly retracted my head and closed my eyes, breathing heavily. This might just have been the last time I ever saw him, and I couldn’t even enjoy the sight.

Once I’d gathered the courage to risk another glimpse, I let out a shaky breath. He was looking down at a piece of paper, the one I’d told Taylor to give him. She’d given it to him earlier than I’d told her to. I’d told her to give it to him when he was sure I was gone. Maybe he’d already known I’d be long gone without having to search for me.

I knew exactly what he was looking at. I was too far away to see the facial expression he wore, but I could imagine it. I’d been around him long enough to at least do that.

On the piece of paper, I’d written:

Emma: 9

Will: 7

Game over.

He crumpled the paper in his hand and looked straight ahead. If he’d looked to the right, he might have noticed me. But he didn’t. To him, I was long, long gone.

I moved away from the window, resting my back on the wall. I closed my eyes, ignoring the way people were looking at me. “I’m sorry, Will.”

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A/N: You know you get really involved with your stories when you start screaming at your own characters for their actions. #writerprobs