Is There Really Any Evil?

Some people can start out good but become "evil" later. Others say that they can see evil in the world but not in themselves. And then there are those people who say that evil exists, but comes in the form of a serpent or some sort of spiritual figure. "Evil" is one of those words that is subject to debate and interpretation, but now I want to share my own thoughts on the matter.

I believe in the power of influence more than anything else on this matter. As infants we all start out as pure little beings, but life and different people have a way of influencing our thoughts and emotions. How we're raised and what we're taught to believe plays a huge part in who we become later in life. And just as a side note, the fact that religion is made by man alone should be enough for one to realize that without mankind, theology wouldn't even be around. So even if you were to say that the devil is real, how would you prove it? 

It's easy to portray evilness in TV shows and movies, but to portray it in real life is a little more complex. Going to back to what I said in the beginning, people can start out good but can become evil later. When a man or woman becomes evil, there's usually a reason for why they became that way. Every person on earth has a story to tell and can explain on a basic level their own thoughts and emotions if they wanted to. It's all a matter of choice if I'm being honest here; people can choose to be good or evil based on their own thoughts and emotions. The human mind is complex and when we make a decision in life, we can choose to either stand by it and follow through or do the opposite. 

We all know that there are some extremists in this world and they usually just don't know when to stop. They don't care to be reasoned with and won't listen to anyone else. They think that what they're doing is right or just for whatever reason and continue to do what they please. People who are like this also became this way for a reason and it's likely that they made that decision either on their own or with a religious agenda. As complicated as religion can be sometimes, I don't understand how people can continue to act the way they do and believe that what they're doing isn't sinful.

"Evilness" is interpreted in more ways than one, but from where I stand, I side with logic, reason, and mindfulness. The human being is the most complex individual on earth, but I believe that we all experience the same emotions. Our thoughts expand as we grow older and we start thinking more for ourselves on how we want to live and who we want to be. You just have to decide if you'll stay that way or not because sometimes, life will challenge you. 

Novella #2, Chapter 8: Post Break-Up Fights

During the following week at school, Greg and Emma kept bumping into each other in the hallways which resulted in some evil glares from one another. Despite them being able to talk about their feelings with other people, they still held a grudge against each other. On a late Tuesday afternoon, Emma noticed Greg's car a few feet away from her house and instead of ignoring it, she ran downstair and came outside so that she could run her own car right into it. When Greg came back and noticed the damage in his tail lights and bumper, he went inside and told Emma's mom what happened. It took her no time to figure out that Emma was behind it and she was grounded for the rest of the week.

A week after Emma's grounding, she decided to go over to Greg's house with toilet paper and spray paint. She strung all of the toilet paper all over his car and with the spray paint, she wrote out on the back window the words "F*** YOU". Needless to say, Greg managed to tell on Emma and she was grounded yet again. She also got her phone taken away that week.

When another week had passed and Emma's second grounding was lifted, she called Greg's cell phone. She noticed that Matt had answered, so she asked him where Greg was. He said he didn't know, but she didn't believe him, so she cursed him out and that made him curse back at her. He also told her not to call Greg's phone again and he blocked her number. Moments after that, Greg came back from being outside with Jeff and noticed Matt's face looking red with anger. "What happened?" he asked.
"You know what happened," Matt said blankly. "Get this situation under control, please!" He then proceeded to walk loudly into the bathroom and decided take a long, hot shower.

Graduation was just around the corner and while Greg was determined to not let anything to spoil his last week of school, Emma had other plans. In a last attempt to get her anger out, she made her way over to Greg's locker. It took her several tries to remove the lock and successfully did it on the tenth try. She had no idea what to do next, but because the bell was about to ring in one minute, she quickly took all of his books and then ran to her classroom down the hall.

The last bell rang for the day and Greg knew that he would need his textbooks to help prep for his last two exams, so he headed over to his locker. It didn't even take two seconds for him to notice that it was already open, and he saw the lock sitting opened on the floor. That crazy bitch! he thought to himself. I've about had it with Emma's stupid schemes. This ends now.

The weekend has now arrived and Greg was just notified about his final grades for his classes. As he concentrated hard on the computer screen, he found himself feeling anxious about his test scores. Before he logged into his school account however, he decided to check his regular email. He noticed that Emma sent him two messages which he deleted without reading. A third one popped up however and while he thought about deleting it, he decided to read it instead. He also happened to notice that while he knew this was Emma, there was no subject like there was for the last two.
"Dear Greg, if you don't respond to this email, I'm going to assume that you've given up on this fight and want it to be over. Luckily for you, I think I'll just end it myself before you get any ideas on what you want to say to me. I'm sorry for acting so childish these last few weeks. Goodbye. -Emma."
This puzzled Greg more than it irritated him. First she pulls all these schemes on him for whatever stupid reason, and now she wants to end this stupid fight? She's the one who started it! Greg couldn't understand why she's been acting like this all month, but the more he thought this over, the more he realized that she might be covering something up that could even more repulsive than those other tricks. Once he the thought dawned on him, he decided to drive over to Emma's house to end this madness for good.

"Thanks for taking the time to speak to me," Greg said as he opened up the front door of Emma's house. He had just finished talking to her parents and considering that they were just as fed up with her antics as he was, they were willing to do what he asked of them. Normally Greg wouldn't strike back against his ex-girlfriend like this, but he couldn't stand it for much longer. Emma needs to back off and just let him be.

Emma was standing in front of her mirror putting on some new earrings when her mother stepped in. "Mom? Is there something you need?" She noticed that her mother had a disappointed look on her face and that made her feel anxious. Is she going to be grounded again? Is she going to lose all of her media privileges? She wasn't sure why her mother wasn't saying anything, but she did motion for her to sit down beside her on the bed. "Now Emma, I want you to listen to me. Your father and I are concerned about you." The tone in her mother's voice gave Emma some serious anxiety. She looked at her mom with concern as she continued to speak. "You've barely passed any of your classes this semester. I know that you've been going through a pretty rough break-up, but these final scores are just sad. I think that you should go to summer school."
"WHAT?? You can't do that to me!" Emma could feel rage rising up in her throat. She didn't understand why this was happening to her.
  "Calm down, honey. We just want you to pass these classes before you graduate. Your father and I have talked about this at great length and I think it'd be best for you to start two weeks from now. You won't be graduating with the rest of your class. I'm sorry, but this is for your own good." Hearing her mother say this made Emma lose her temper. She started screaming through her own tears and her mother backed out of her daughter's bedroom. Emma then slammed the door in her face.

For the remainder of the week, Emma stayed home and didn't leave her room. She felt furious beyond reason and tried to piece together why this was happening to her. She knew that she could have tried harder in her classes, but she didn't see any of this as her fault. The assignments were becoming too difficult for her to understand and she just couldn't keep her focus. All she could think about was her fight with Greg several weeks ago. As hurt as she felt back then, all she could feel now was hot rage. She just wanted to let Greg know that she was still upset and felt guilty for leaving him behind with no word, but that in turn translated into all these pathetic schemes. It's like she didn't know how to clearly express her own emotions.

Graduation day has finally arrived and Greg was standing outside in the front yard with his brother and Maya. They were all getting ready to head over to the high school for the ceremony when he noticed Emma's parents. They parked their car on the curb and made their way over to him. Emma's mother pulled him aside for a moment while her father shook hands with Matt and Maya. "Emma didn't respond well to the news," her mother said to him in a hushed tone. "Just thought I'd let you know that. I honestly hope that she'll learn something from this."
"I hope so too. You didn't tell her that her not being at graduation was my idea, right?"
  "No. Your secret is safe with me."
"Good. Thank you, Mrs..." For a second Greg realized that Emma never told him what her parents' names are. Her mother then interjected and said, "Thompson, but you can call me Valerie."
"Well thank you, Valerie. I should probably get going now. The ceremony starts in an hour and a half."
  "Yes, of course." Valerie shook the soon-to-be graduate's hand and wished him good luck. She then made her way over to her husband who was talking to Matt about sports. Since then Maya went inside to finish getting herself ready. "Should we go now, John? We don't want Greg here to miss his graduation."
"Ah yes, we wouldn't want that to happen. Good luck, young sir." After shaking hands one last time, the Thompsons left and returned to their home.

Emma still stayed put in her room, but once she heard her parents pull into the driveway, she came running outside and demanded an explanation from them. "Please, honey, let's talk about this inside," John said. "No, I want to know now."
"Honey, please listen to your father," Valerie said wearily. "We're both very tired and haven't eaten anything yet." Emma skulked as she followed her parents inside. Once they all sat down in the family room, her parents talked to her about the subject at hand.
"I understand that my grades are bad, but why must I go to summer school? Can't I just re-take my classes here from home?" Emma asked once she thought this over.
  "It doesn't work like that," John said sharply. "Our minds are made up, hun. You need to go to summer school." For a long moment no one spoke, but then Emma let out a long sigh and said, "Fine. I'll abide by your wish." She then walked up to her room and shut the door. She felt like her life was over, but then a sudden realization took over her mind. She grabbed her phone from her desk and decided to send out a text message. "I just figured it out. Well played, Greg. PS: I hate you."

Novella #2, Chapter 7: The Kids Are Not Alright

Emma had just loaded up her car and while part of her was eager to go home, she still wanted to hang out with her sister one last time before leaving. However, Rebecca said that she had another busy day at work, so they just said their goodbyes and left it at that. The clock in Emma's car read 9 o' clock, so she figured that she should check out and leave now since it would be a long drive back.

Greg was dead asleep in his room, which was left in total disarray. Papers were strewn all over his desk and some of his books were left open on the floor. There were a couple stray cups sitting on the night stand and an empty pizza box was sitting in the middle of the floor. Matt was laying on the floor next to Greg's bed and kicked the pizza box underneath it. He laid there awake and looked up at the ceiling, just getting lost in his own thoughts. He thought about Maya and his first encounter with her. He had just settled into his first week of being the new auto shop manager and the first customer he talked to was her. She had asked him about the tires of her first new car since they were a little low on air. The thought of that memory made Matt smile, but then he heard his brother wake up, so he got up from the floor. "Matt? What are you doing in here?" Greg stood up in his bed and rubbed his eyes.

"Well, after dinner last night, Maya and I talked in the living room some. You had fallen asleep in your food by then and I didn't want to wake you up, but she said that I should get you into bed anyways. I have to say, it wasn't easy washing your face in an upright position, so I ended up just turning on the shower head and let that do the job."

  "Oh, okay. I'm surprised I didn't feel anything." Greg's face turned red for a minute as he heard his brother speak.

"Yeah, you were out cold. But anyways, after I got you in and out of the shower, I put some boxers on you and then got you into bed. I was about to leave, but then I heard you talking in your sleep. Your were mumbling Emma's name over and over and I kind of felt bad, so I just grabbed a pillow from my room and slept here on the floor."

  "Well I appreciate you taking care of me. I'm sorry if I caused you any trouble."

"Nah, it's fine. Just try not to get food on your face again." Matt let out a small laugh after saying that.

Emma just now parked outside of Greg's house and thought about calling him before coming inside. Just as she was about to call, she noticed Matt's girlfriend parking her car right behind her. Both of them came out from inside their cars. "Hey! It's Emma, right?"
"Yeah. And your name is Maya?"
  "That's right. Are you about to head inside?"

"I guess so." Emma felt nervous. Part of her wanted to get back inside the car and not face Greg. She knew she should have told him everything that had happened these past few days, but her mind kept thinking about all of the possible negative outcomes of this situation. Before she could turn herself around, Maya took her hand and said, "Whatever it is your thinking, just know it's not likely to happen. I know Greg and he's very understanding. He loves you. Just give him a chance."

"Thank you." Emma smiled at her and they walked inside together. 

Greg, Matt, Emma and Maya were now sitting in the living room together in total silence. The girls kept looking at each other while the guys were focused on the TV watching football. After a considerable amount of time, Maya asked, "So who wants something to drink?"

Emma said she didn't want anything and the guys didn't hear her, so she walked into the kitchen to grab some water. A moment later Matt joined her and asked if something was wrong. 

"I talked to Emma outside before coming in earlier," she said in a hushed tone. "She seemed nervous so I tried reassuring her. I don't know what's going on with the two of them, but hopefully they'll work it out soon."

  This made Matt feel uneasy, so he said, "Well according to Greg, she hasn't talked to him in days. I don't even know if he acknowledged her when she came in the house with you. He's just been out of it ever since last week."

Hearing this made Maya feel sympathetic. "Oh, I didn't know that. It sounds like Emma has a lot of explaining to do then."

  "Yeah, no kidding. How about we give the kids some space here?"

"Alright." Maya gave Matt a quick kiss on the lips and then they walked over to his room. 

Once halftime rolled around, Greg turned the TV off and faced Emma with a blank stare, which made her feel uneasy. She's never seen her boyfriend look this depressed before and she knew it was her own fault. She opened and closed her mouth, not knowing what to say. Greg, however, started to feel anger rising inside of his chest as he continued to stare at her. "So? What do you have to say for yourself?" Emma had a flustered look on her face as he continued to stare at her.

"I.. I'm sorry," she said meekly.

  "That's it? You leave me with no word whatsoever for a week and that's all you have to say?"

Emma was trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to show up on her face. She felt so guilty for treating Greg like this, but she just couldn't come up with the right words to explain herself. Before she had a chance to speak, Greg interjected harshly. "I loved you, Emma! I trusted you and you left me! Do you have any idea what you put me through? I was worried sick! I thought you were dead!"
Emma stood up and started to yell back at him. "I'm sorry! Okay? I know I should have told you and I apologize for not doing so. I know I should have said something, but I was scared! I was afraid of hurting you even more. I was afraid of losing you!"

"Well I'm already hurt, Emma. You lead me to believe that you didn't care about me anymore. And you should know by now that you can trust me! All I ever wanted to do was be there for you!"

  "Well you know what, Greg? Maybe I'm just not the right girl for you. Maybe I should just leave before this fight gets any worse!! Good bye!" In that moment, Emma stormed off and slammed the door behind her while Greg stood in the middle of the living room dead silent.

Matt and Maya were busy making out with each other when they heard the front door slam shut, which made both of them sit straight up in bed. "I should see what the problem is now," Matt said as put his shirt back on. In that moment, Maya decided to get out of bed and dress herself as well. "I guess this means I'll check on Emma."

  "Well good luck," Matt said as he kissed her. "I love you."

"I love you too," Maya said with a small smile on her face.

Emma was now sitting on the front porch crying her eyes out. She felt so helpless and emotionally distraught. She didn't think that Greg would get angry at her, but she understood why he did. But out of all the things she felt right now, she knew that she had just broken her own heart. She messed things up with this one relationship and didn't know how to make things right again. After sitting there feeling miserable for five straight minutes, she got up and headed towards her car. Before she could get in, however, Maya called out for her. "Hey, wait! Hold up there."

"I feel so stupid," Emma said to Matt's girlfriend as they sat on the porch together. "I... I wish I could learn to better trust him, but I can't. I haven't been able to trust anyone for a long time. Not since I got rejected in middle school, and not since my parents' separation a few years ago. I'm such a mess. What is wrong with me?!"

  "Nothing's wrong with you. I can promise you that you're not the only one who has trust issues." Maya put an arm around Emma's shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. "I may not know what that feels like, but just know that you're not alone. We all have a past, and sometimes it takes time for us to make peace with it." Emma wiped off the rest of her tears and looked at Maya with a long face. Part of her was still hurting, and it wasn't just because of her past. It's because she finally realized that she does love Greg.

"I couldn't help but overhear some of the shouting back from of my bedroom. Are you okay?" Matt was sitting adjacent to Greg in the living room and he looked at his brother solemnly for a moment, noticing the tension in the air.

  "What do you think?" Greg asked in a serious tone. "My girlfriend left me for a week and all she could say is 'I'm sorry'. Why can I never get her to trust me? I've never done anything to hurt her!"

Matt let out a long sigh before he moved over to the couch. Once he sat down, he then turned to face his brother and said, "Can I tell you a story?"

  "I'm not in the mood for that right now."

"Well I'm going to tell you anyways, so just shut up and listen." Greg let out a gruff sigh and said, "Fine." Matt then proceeded to tell him about their parents and how they met. He said that Mom used to tell him about it as a way to get him to go to sleep as a kid (and Greg was just a baby back then). He said that Mom and Dad had met when they were teenagers and had been in love since then, but it took a while for Dad to trust her. They had similar fights like what his brother and Emma had, but over time, they learned that trust is best formed when it's not being forced. Matt said he doesn't remember the rest of the story because he was asleep by then, but that one lesson that Mom learned always stood out to him. 

  "I wish Mom could see you now, Greg. I know you miss her and Dad, and I do too, but I think they'd be very proud of who you are today," Matt said longingly. For a moment he thought about them and looked down at his feet, his forefingers touching his temples. He then sat back up and said, "And for what it's worth, I'm proud of you as well. You just have to let people trust you first."

"Thanks." Greg offered a small smile then nudged his brother in the elbow. In return Matt pulled Greg in tight for a hug and messed up his hair. Greg looked annoyed for a minute, but then he ended up laughing. "You're a dork, you know that?"

"Yup! And I'm proud of it," he said as he flashed a smile in his brother's direction.

"I should head home now," Emma said as she held open the car door. "Thanks again, Maya." Matt's girlfriend offered a smile and said, "Anytime." Emma smiled back then drove off to her home. The two girls waved to each other before she sped off. 

Novella #2, Chapter 6: Road Trip (Emma's Perspective)

This is probably the craziest thing I've done in my life, but I'm done with feeling sad and lonely. I'm done with just letting Rebecca do her own thing and waiting for her to make time for me. It's been a year and a half since she's moved out and settled into Knoxville. Well, I think I have everything I need here. It's time for me to be brave and go see her. I hope Greg is doing alright. I don't mean to keep him worried, but I'm just afraid of him judging me or getting angry. I don't want to hurt him. Maybe I should call him and tell him about this. Maybe he'd understand considering the last conversation we had about me and my issues. But what would I say to him? No! I can't, I just can't. I'm sorry, Greg...

I never knew how hard it would be to drive long-distance by yourself. I don't see how other people do it, commuting from one place to another constantly. I just need to focus on the road. I can't let other thoughts distract me. Maybe I should turn on some music; that would help. It's a good thing my parents have the week off because now they can watch my brothers. It's going to be another three hours before I get to Knoxville. I should probably stop somewhere and get some food.

I'm getting tired now. Why did I decide to do this? I could have just waited until Mom and Dad go to visit her again. They always visit her once every month. Of course, she can make time for that, but she can never seem to make time for me. She can't even spare two minutes over the phone! This is useless. I should just go home and call this off, but I can't. I've come this far already, and Knoxville just another ten miles ahead. Well, it's currently 6:30 right now for this side of the state. Not much longer to go. Her apartment number is 2D and she lives on the third floor. Alright, coming up around the corner now. Seems like I'm just in time to have dinner with her if she's around. I'll go over to the hotel after I see her, so I guess I'll just leave my stuff in the car. Need to take my purse, though. And my phone and keys.

Alright, this is it. Room number 2D; third floor. I should knock first. "Hello? Anybody home?"
"Emma? What are you doing here?" That voice is coming from behind me, isn't it?
  "Hey, Rebecca! How are you doing?"
"I should be the one asking you that. What are you doing here?" She seems concerned. Why does she look concerned? She should be happy to see me! I should say something back instead of standing here, looking weird. "I... I came to see you. I've missed you." She let out a heavy sigh before responding. "I've missed you too, but -"
  "No! Listen to me. I came here to see you and hang out with you. It's almost 7:00. Why don't we just go inside and have dinner together? Or you would rather go out instead?" She let out another heavy sigh. "Emma, I'm tired. I've had a long day at work today and my boyfriend is waiting inside for me. Could you move over, please?" I don't understand why she's acting this way. I do see that she looks tired, though. Perhaps I came on too strong. "Umm, Rebecca? Why aren't you happy to see me? I came out here so that I could be with you and hang out with you."
"I know, Emma." She sounds annoyed now. "You've said that to me twice already. Why isn't Mom and Dad with you? Do they know that you're here?"
Great. You just had to mention them, didn't you? "Uhh... not exactly."
  "What??!! Why not?!"
"I'm sorry! And besides, what would I say to them anyways? 'Hey, mom and dad, I'm gonna take a trip over to Knoxville and see my sister.' I could get grounded!"
  "Then maybe you should have stayed home!" She's mad now. I regret doing this. Maybe Rebecca is right about me coming here. I'm so stupid! Well, I should probably say something back.
"We used to be best friends, Rebecca. We trusted each other and made each other laugh. We were always there for each other growing up, and now it feels like you don't even care anymore." I can feel tears rolling down my face now. I hate feeling vulnerable.
  "Why don't you come inside, sis? It's a little chilly out here."

"Umm, your phone is going off, Em. Who's calling you?"
  "It's no one." It looks like Greg has called me multiple times today, but I don't know what to say to him now. I'm sure he hates me or think I've left him for good. I can't think about that right now, though. I better say something to my sister. "Yeah, it's no one. I just want to be in this moment with you right now." That made her smile.
"Well, what's new with you, sis? Are you seeing anyone right now?" Seriously? Out of all the questions, why did she have to ask me that?
  "I, uhh... Well... I guess I am kind of seeing someone. His name is Greg."
"That's nice. Do you share any classes with him?"
  "Not really. We just park our cars next to each other in the parking lot. I saw him get hit in the stomach with a football earlier in the year, so I went over to see if he's okay."
"Well, it's good to know that you're still nice to other people. Did you tell him about this impromptu meeting of ours?"
  "No! I mean, why would I do that? I'm sorry, that came out wrong. I mean, I really like him. It's just hard for me to open up to him. You know how it is, right?" Rebecca looked at me for a long moment before responding.
"Yes, I do. And again, I'm sorry for not making more time to talk and for not saying goodbye after graduation. But believe me, mom and dad's separation was just as hard for me as it was for you. And I'm proud of you for stepping up when you did back then for mom. I'm sure she appreciates the help."
  "Thanks. It was hard at first, but I've adjusted. You have two new brothers by the way."
"I know. Mom and Dad told me the last time they were here."
  "Oh yeah, I forgot about that." Awkward silence... gotta love it, right? Rebecca stood up and handed me my purse. "It's getting late. You booked a hotel nearby, right?"
 "Yes. I'll let you be about your night then. It was good to catch up with you." She hugged me in that moment after I stood up. This is exactly what I came here for. "I love you, Rebecca."
"I love you too, Em."

Novella #2, Chapter 5: Where Is She?

Being in school is starting to get a little easier for Emma every day. A lot of people tend to notice her sitting alone in the hallways, but on this day, one of the other loners decided to walk up to her and say hi. "Hey, I've noticed you hanging out around here. Mind if I join you?"
"Go ahead," Emma said with a smile on her face. She pat the open spot next to her and the stranger made herself comfortable. The two of them read in silence before the Emma took a break from her book and looked at the girl. "So what's your name?"
"Sarah. What's your name?"

  "Emma. How long have you been going to this school?"
"Since January. My mom and I moved here in December of last year."

  "That's nice. Do you like it here so far?"

"I guess. This school is huge, though, so getting to class on time is kind of a hassle. My old school was a lot smaller than this." Sarah was surprised with how nice Emma was being to her. It felt like she was just talking to an old friend. Of course, she's heard all the gossip about the girl in front of her and how she doesn't fit in, but sitting next to her now, she really didn't understand why people would make such big assumptions about her. She seems very nice and friendly. 

  "Well it was good to talk to you," she said. "I should get to class now before the bell rings." 

"Same here. Where are you headed?" Emma asked, now sitting up herself and slinging her bag on her shoulder. 

  "Trigonometry with Mr. Peters."

"That's funny, because I'm about to go there as well."

  "Awesome! I'll let you lead the way then," Sarah said, feeling relieved now. 

Greg and Matt decided to play hooky today and go watch the new King Kong movie. The two of them had just found a place to sit down in the halfway crowded theater, each of them holding a bag of popcorn and a large cup of soda. Once they sat down, Matt told his brother he needed to run to the restroom. Normally Greg wouldn't go along with the idea of skipping school, but because of how much fun he had with his brother on the camping trip, he decided to do it just this one time. He took a handful of popcorn and put it into his mouth while staring at the big screen. All these advertisements were boring him some, so he ate another handful of popcorn then checked his phone. He thought about leaving a message for Emma, but then he saw Matt coming back into view, so he tucked his phone back into his pocket. 

"So how are things with Emma doing?" he asked.

  "I think they're doing fine right now. Should I tell her where I am? I don't want to worry her."

"Hey, she's in school right now, so don't worry about it. Plus I don't want her to rat us out." Matt gave his brother a wink and then settled into his seat. He picked up his bag of popcorn from the seat next to him and ate some of it. He then turned to face his brother and said, "Thanks for allowing me to do this, by the way. I've missed hanging out with you."
"Same here," Greg said with his mouth full. Matt let out a small laugh and playfully punched him in the arm. 

Emma and Greg had plans to meet up after school, but Greg got home a bit later than usual. He told his girlfriend about what he did today with Matt and she seemed surprised, but also happy. "Well I'm glad you got to hang out with him again," she said as she smiled at him from across the kitchen island. "Just make sure you tell me the next time you pull a stunt like that."

"Believe me, this was only a one-time thing. It's not going to happen again."

  "And why is that?" 

"Because my brother and I both take our work seriously despite recent events."

  "Alright, if you say so," Emma said in a sing-song tone. She liked hearing about this more frisky side of Greg. It made her wish that she could be included. This thought gave her an idea, however, so she called up Sarah and asked if she wanted to hang out some time. 

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Sarah called out, feeling nervous. "I've never skipped school before. Then again, there are a lot of things I haven't done in my life. I guess I'll just have to learn to trust you."

  "Good answer. Now just play it cool and keep an eye out for any teachers or the principal." Emma was sitting in car which was parked next to the curb, and Sarah was standing a couple feet ahead under the archway of the front entrance. It was 6:45 the next morning and there were only a few cars out in the parking lot. The school was dimly lit inside and none of the students were here yet. Once Sarah swept the perimeter of the parking lot and peeked inside the school building, she made her way to Emma's car and got in. "So where are we going?"

"Wherever you want to go. School starts in forty-five minutes, so we better not stay here much longer. Are you hungry?"

  "A little. I didn't eat anything this morning before leaving."

"Alright. We'll stop by Sonic first, but let's go to the one that's five miles from here. I don't want anyone to see us." Despite Sarah's best efforts to stay calm, she was starting to feel a little shaky and was taking shorter breaths. She grabbed her inhaler from her backpack and worked the nozzle into her mouth for a good two minutes. This made Emma shift her eyes onto her for a quick second, but then she focused them back onto the road. A sudden gust of warm air came out from the crack of passenger window, so Sarah rolled it up and turned on the air slightly. The two girls didn't say much on the way over, but once they pulled up into the drive-in, Emma asked, "So what do you want to eat? I'm thinking about getting myself a bacon, egg and cheese wrap." 

  "I think I'll just go for the same thing with orange juice."

"Coming right up!" Emma rolled down the window and pressed the red button. Once she voiced her order into the speaker, she laid back into her seat. She looked over at her new friend and noticed that she was feeling a little more calm now than she was about an hour ago. They both sat in silence, not knowing what to say to each other. A girl then came outside and made her way towards the car, announcing the order back to Emma. Once she paid the carhop, she handed the food over to Sarah and asked, "So what do you want to do next?"

  "Doesn't matter to me. I just don't want to sit here all morning."
"Okay. How about we go to the mall?"
  "Sounds good." After eating in silence for about five minutes, Emma put the car in drive and headed over to the mall.

The two girls had just came out of Hot Topic with a couple bags in each hand when suddenly, Emma's phone went off in her pocket. She picked up and saw that Greg had called an hour so ago and left a voicemail. Sarah then decided to check her own phone, but no messages were left for her. "I should listen to Greg's message. You can go off on your own now if you want to." Emma offered a smile to her friend, then her made her way over towards the bench across from the store. As she sat down, she lifted the phone up to her ear and listened to the message. "Hey, it's Greg. Just wanted to see how you're doing. Why aren't you in school today? Did something happen? Call me back." 
I wonder if I should call him back, she thought to herself. For a moment she thought about doing that, but then decided against it, so she rose up from her seat and made her way over to Urban Outfitters.

Greg was standing outside of the school building underneath the archway, wondering why he hasn't seen Emma all day. Was she sick, or did someone in her family need her for an emergency? Did she have any car problems on the way over, like a flat tire or something? All this worry was making Greg feel nervous, so he called her again. She didn't answer and the phone went to voicemail. "Please call me, Emma! I'm starting to get worried here." Once he hung up, he walked over to his car and drove home in silence.

Emma sat on her bed, listening to Greg's other voicemail. She wasn't sure if she wanted to tell him what she did today with Sarah. Luckily Sarah's mom wasn't too disappointed, but she did wish she had known sooner. Her mom on the other hand would probably ground her for life if she ever found out, and her dad would probably take away her cell phone. What is wrong with me?, Emma thought to herself. She knew that not telling Greg would only stir up another fight, but how would she explain her jealousy for his relationship with his brother? From what she's been told, the two of them seem very close and that only made her miss Rebecca even more. Emma let out a heavy sigh and laid down on her back, facing the ceiling. She couldn't stop the thoughts swirling around in her mind. Greg and his brother, her own sister, her parents and what they would always say to her. Every time she brought up the subject of visiting Rebecca to them, they'd say that she's too young to go out on her own or shouldn't bother her, plus she doesn't have enough room in her apartment for visitors. At this point Emma was getting irritated and decided to call her sister. She answered on the second ring.
"Hello? Is that you, Emma?"
  "Yeah, it's me. How are you?" Emma felt nervous. She wasn't sure of what to say, or if she could say anything at all. She could hear other phones ringing from the other end along with some indistinct chattering. "I'm kind of busy at the moment. Is everything alright? How's Mom and Dad doing?"
  "They're fine, I guess. I just wanted to say hi and catch up with you. I miss you."
"I'm sorry, but now's not a good time. I have two other people waiting for me on the other end here. I miss you too, though." Emma let out a heavy sigh and hung up the phone. Tears started to form out of the corner of her eyes, but she wiped them away and got up to her feet. If I can't get Rebecca to spare two minutes with me over the phone, then I'm going over there to see her, she thought to herself.

The weekend had just arrived and Greg tried to keep himself busy with homework and played with his dog some, but he couldn't stop thinking about Emma. Paranoia and anger was starting to take over and he was beginning to think that she could be dead somewhere. Just when he was about to leave his room, Matt appeared in the doorway. He had just gotten out of the shower and had nothing but a towel on wrapped around his waist. "Hey, are you alright? You don't look so good."
Greg looked down at his feet and tried to avoid eye contact. "I'm fine. Just need to take a walk. I'll be back before dinner."
"Well I'm here if you want to talk, okay?" Greg didn't respond and pushed past his brother. He just needed to get out and clear his mind. He wanted to know where Emma was, but she won't answer his calls. He took a leash from the bench of the entryway and Jeff immediately trotted over to where he was standing.

The two of them walked around the neighborhood for a good forty-five minutes before the old Cocker Spaniel stopped and decided to lay down in the grass. Since Jeff wouldn't budge despite Greg's best attempts to wake him up, he decided to sit beside his dog and pet him for a moment. After a moment of stillness, a sudden chill had overcome his entire body despite the heat of the sun peering out from behind the trees. His hands started shaking and he could feel goosebumps forming on his arms. For a minute he thought he was going to cry, but then his phone buzzed in his left pocket. Matt had just made dinner, so he and Jeff quickly made their way home.

"Still no word from Emma?" Matt asked as he placed two full plates down on the large island. He looked at his brother with concern for a moment then grabbed the salad bowl. Greg hadn't said much of anything to him after his walk outside. Maya was out in the living room talking on the phone to someone, and the TV was turned on with the sound on low.
"C'mon, little brother, you gotta say something to me. What's going on?" Greg still said nothing and fiddled around with the food on his plate. "Look, I know you're worried about Emma. I wish I knew what was going on with her, but she can't stay silent forever, and neither can you." He took a bite of chicken then put a hand on his brother's shoulder, which made Greg let out a long sigh before turning to face him. Matt could notice the dark circles under his eyes. He hadn't slept in days, and he noticed a faint odor coming from him as well. Seems like he hasn't showered in a while either. Just as he was about to take another bite of food, he thought he heard Greg say something. "I love her," he mumbled. "I loved her and she just left without saying anything." With that, he planted his face onto his plate with no regard, and Matt could hear his brother sobbing silently. 

Novella #2, Chapter 4: Rough Beginnings (Greg's Perspective)

I was only four years old when Mom and Dad died, and Matt was nine years old. One of the neighbors was with us and while I didn't understand much of what was happening, I still remember how terrified I was when I saw both of my parents laying down in the family room, looking pale and unresponsive. Matt had told me to go to my room, but I couldn't move. He kept telling me to leave the room and to just keep myself safe, but my legs felt like jello and I could feel the tears stinging my eyes. I just continued to stand there, yelling for Mom and Dad to wake up. I didn't want to believe they were dead, so I just kept shouting over and over, 'you'll be okay', like the could hear me. I can also remember never leaving Matt's side for a whole month after witnessing that. Matt kept trying to explain the situation to me, saying that some lunatic was wandering around the neighborhood with a gun and that he hid under the porch steps when the gunman entered our house. He had stayed hidden there until the man left because he was afraid of being seen by him. He remembers how eerily quiet the whole house was and when he saw Mom and Dad's bodies laying on the floor, he immediately ran to the neighbor's house. 

It wasn't easy for Matt to raise me as well as himself, but I trusted him with my life. People would say that we should have been taken into foster care instead, but Matt was determined to keep us safe. He was determined to keep me safe. Now of course, we've had our fair share of fights and arguments, but we were always there for each other in the end. We've always been close even when we were infant and toddler. 

Instead of going to school, Matt persisted in taking up any job he could so that we could one day have a house over our heads. Of course, no one allowed him to work since he was just a kid, so for a while, we lived with our next door neighbor and she insisted on him going to school. Once he graduated high school, we both left and my brother found himself a part-time job at an auto shop. I spent a lot of time with him at that place doing odd jobs for him as well as the other workers there. Some of the guys there didn't stay very long, but the man who managed the place became a father figure to us over time. His name was Harrison and had the looks of someone who was in his late forties. Bald head, a little bit of a beer belly and was always seen with a cigarette in his mouth. We never really got to know each other beyond working hours, but I was fine with that. It was kind of hard to tell when he was being nice to you and when he was being professional, but one thing I know for sure is that he was more rough on Matt than he was on me and I never understood why. I remember when Harrison once scolded him for not waking up on time, and I kind of have to admit that I felt a bit guilty for that. He had told me to wake up him at 7:30 sharp. I was already awake and thought I'd have enough time to go get breakfast for the two of us, but when I came back, it was five minutes after. Just when I had entered the break room, I heard a loud smack. I assume that that came from Harrison and I kind of felt bad for my brother in that moment.

Matt and I continued to work for Harrison and lived in that auto shop until he retired. He said that he was ready to do something else and spend more time with his wife and kids. Luckily by then Matt had allowed me to go to high school while he took over at the shop as the new manager. I've always admired and respected my brother for getting us to where we are now, and I'll be forever grateful for how he's never given up on me. If it weren't for him, I don't know where we would have ended up. And speaking of the devil, here he comes now.
  "Hey, little brother! Do you have time to hang out? I finally have the weekend off. You won't believe how crazy it's been for me these past few days at work." 

"I'd like that. What do you have in mind?"

  "How about we go out to eat first, and then we go back to the Smokey Mountains, for old time's sake?" The minute he said that, I smiled. Matt smiled back and we shared a quick hug. 

"You've got a deal. Just give me some time to pack up."
  "No problem. We'll leave around 8:30 tomorrow morning." With that, I watched my brother head towards the couch and prop his feet up on the coffee table. He seems happier today than he has been in a while. I then decided to turn off my computer and join him in the living room. We sat together on the couch, not saying much of anything. Matt was intently focused on the TV until he turned it off to face me. He began to say something, but I cut him off.
  "I'm glad to see you're feeling more like yourself today. For a while I thought I had lost that."

"I'm sorry you've felt that way, but I assure you that all this stress is just related to work and my relationship with Maya. I've been working long, twelve-hour shifts and Maya's been getting on my case for not making more time to be with her. That, plus she keeps giving out subtle hints about marriage. I know that we've been dating for three years now, but I'm just not sure if now's the right time. I need to find a balance between all of this first." I pondered everything that my brother had just said to me for a moment. I didn't realize how hard he's had it since moving into this neighborhood. Before I could say anything though, he spoke again. "I'm sorry to lay all that out on you. It's just been a rough few months for me. Were you going to say something? Didn't mean to cut you off there." 

"It's fine. I was just going to say that I'm excited for this weekend." 

  "Same here, little brother." Matt offered a smile and gave me a playful punch in the shoulder. He then stood up from his seat and headed off into the kitchen for something to drink. "Do you want some water as well, or a soda?"
"No thanks, I'm good. I was just gonna say that I'm dating someone now. The new girl from school... Her name is Emma." With wide eyes, Matt suddenly placed down his cup so that he could hug me. 

  "That's great news! So excited for you, little bro!"

"Thanks. It's been a little rough though if I'm being honest with you. She's not exactly the trusting type." Matt let go of me and his excitement faded a little. "Oh... Well I'm sure she'll come around eventually. No one can resist your charm and that big brain of yours." Hearing my brother say that made me turn a little red. I didn't expect him to act like a mother in this moment even though he did kind of raise me.

"Well I need to take a shower now, but it was good to catch up with you. Good luck with Emma, and I'm looking forward to our trip this weekend." He put a hand on my shoulder for a minute and then walked away into the bathroom. It was good to see Matt feeling like himself again. 

Novella #2, Chapter 3: Fights and Problems

While Greg was busy cramming for exams, Emma was out shopping for prom dresses with her mom. Originally she wanted to have her boyfriend go dress shopping with her, but he kept refusing her offer, saying that she should take someone else who would enjoy being there. This only left Emma with one other option, which was having her mother come with her. Stepping out of the fitting room, Emma had on a silver, one-strapped dress with sparkles and rhinestone detail on the strap. "That looks gorgeous on you!" her mom said with a bright smile on her face. "Turn around and let me see it from the back." She did as her mother said and looked at herself in the mirror for a moment. She then headed back into the fitting room when she thought she saw a familiar face from the other side of the store. "I'll be right back, Mom," she said.

She was so sure she had seen him. And while she never thought she'd see him again after what he did to her, she couldn't help but slowly walk behind the guy. She kept her distance and followed him for a few more minutes until she almost lost her balance. Apparently one of the hangers from the rack beside her had fallen off. Suddenly the guy spun around and said, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Emma steadied herself back onto her feet and avoided all eye contact with him. 

  "I feel like I remember you from somewhere... Isn't your name Emma?" The minute he said her name, she looked straight up at him.

"I'm surprised you remember me at all, Charlie. What are you doing here?" Her tone was serious but nonchalant. She didn't want to give him any indication that she still cared about him. He's the one who left her anyways.

"I'm here with my older sister. She's about to get married. What are you doing here?" Charlie was trying to figure out why Emma seemed guarded. He hasn't seen her since middle school and while he'd admit that he was stupid for leaving her, he still wanted to be friendly towards her. 

"I'm here trying on prom dresses. My mom is with me," she said as she pointed to where her mom was sitting. "I should get going. I guess it was nice seeing you."

"You too," he said thoughtfully. Just when she was about to walk away, he grabbed Emma by the arm. "Hey, do you want to hang out later today? You know, just to grab lunch somewhere and catch up?"

  "I'm not sure if that's a good idea..."

"Look, I'm sorry for leaving you back then, but I'm here now. This is just a one time thing. Please?" There was an earnest look in Charlie's eyes. Seeing how much he had grown up since eighth grade, Emma thought that maybe he really has changed since then. She took in a deep breath and responded, "Okay. I'll go with you to lunch. Just let me pay for this dress first."

Greg's stress was at a high point with the amount of homework and prep for finals he had to do. His eyes were bloodshot red and glued to his computer screen, with his fingers vigorously tapping on the keyboard as he tried to wrap up this one research paper. He just wanted things to be perfect and didn't want to slip up on his grades now. There was no light in his bedroom except for the lamp on his desk and the brightness from his computer screen. He had a Redbull can sitting within arm's reach on the left side of the monitor, and a big pile of books were stacked up on the right side of his desk. He took a long sip of his drink and then decided to move to his bed. There was a pile of papers laying on it which covered everything he needed to know for each of his exams. He thought about taking one of the packets, but he could feel his eyes drooping, so he just laid back in bed. He felt exhausted from working so hard, but he didn't want to stop now. There was still a lot left to be done. He tried fighting off the urge to go to sleep, but that didn't last long. Greg's eyes immediately shut and his body slumped over, and his head landed right into the stack of papers in front of him. He didn't wake up until his phone started to ring three hours later.

Emma was making her way over to Greg's house to check in on him since she knew he's been working hard on his schoolwork. She had called him a couple hours ago to let him know, but all he did was mumble something incoherently, like he was still half asleep. Emma parked her car on the side of the curb since both he and his brother left their cars in the driveway. Just as she was about to turn off the ignition, she felt her stomach tightening up. Should I tell him about lunch with Charlie?, she thought to herself. She tried reasoning with herself and thought that it meant nothing, but she still felt uneasy. Emma took in a deep breath to calm herself before turning off her car and making her way up to the front porch. 

"Are you feeling alright?" Greg was now standing in the kitchen with his girlfriend, feeling a little more refreshed than before. He had taken a shower the minute Emma called him and pulled on a fresh set of clothes. Despite how he felt though, he was worried about her. Something about Emma seemed off, but he couldn't pinpoint why exactly.

"I'm fine," she said, looking down at the floor. "I just have a lot on my mind right now.'
  "Well do you want to talk about it? You know I'm here for you, right?"
Emma suddenly jerked her head up in his direction and raised her voice at him. "I said I'm fine!" 

"Well you don't look fine. Please, just talk to me. You can trust me." Greg was trying his best to reach out to his girlfriend, but she just wouldn't say anything. He knew that something was wrong, but she wouldn't tell him what the problem is. Suddenly Emma pushed him out of the way and went over to sit on the couch, which prompted Greg to do the same thing.

"Well, do you want to watch TV or something?" He took the remote from the side table and turned it on. He then tried putting his arm around her, but she jerked it back. He then got down from the couch and kneeled on the floor to face her directly. He took her hands into his and looked into her eyes lovingly. "Please tell me what's wrong, Emma. I love you. I want to help you."

  "There's nothing wrong here, Greg. Just leave me alone. I'm not in the mood to talk." With that, he let out a long sigh and thought about just leaving her out there in the living room, but something inside him snapped. Why is Emma acting like this? He just wants to help her! He just wants to be there for her like any good boyfriend would. He hastily marched back up to her said, "Listen here, Emma. I'm not going to take no for an answer here. Tell me what's going on or we're over. Am I clear on that?"

This ultimatum suddenly made Emma feel irritated, so she looked at her boyfriend dead straight in the eyes and said, "Why would you threaten me like that, Greg? I shouldn't have to explain myself to you! I said I was fine, but now I'm not, and it's thanks to you. I'm out of here." She then got up off the couch and made her way towards the door. Before she had the chance to leave though, Greg took her by the wrist.

"You don't get to do that," he said firmly. His brows were now furrowed in frustration and he refused to let go of her. "Just tell me why you're acting like this. Explain to me why you don't trust me. I love you, Emma. Please just talk to me."

  "I'm sorry, but I can't. I don't want to hurt you," she responded thoughtfully. Emma knew she was being stubborn, but she just didn't want to lose Greg. She didn't want him to think differently of her for going out to lunch with someone that she used to love four years ago.

"You're already hurting me by not saying anything," he finally said. "I love you, and I thought that you loved me as well." Emma stood there in silence, debating the situation of either telling him or leaving him. She really likes him, but part of her just isn't ready yet. Part of her is scared of being rejected again. More importantly, she felt afraid of what will happen if she does tell him. Would he end the relationship? Would he yell at her for cheating on him? So many questions were spinning through her head, and her boyfriend was just standing there, holding onto her wrist with an earnest expression in his eyes. "I love you, Emma. Please believe that," he said.

The two teenagers were now sitting back on the couch not saying a word to each other. Somehow Emma found it in her to stay, but she still felt uneasy. Greg on the other hand was feeling very anxious and worried. He was rubbing his temples with his fingers and looking down at the floor. Just tell me, he thought to himself. I'm dying here...

Emma held the throw pillow close to her chest for a long moment. All this silent tension was starting to get to her. Finally, she broke the silence and said, "If I tell you, will you promise not to judge me?"

Greg immediately looked up in her direction. He moved in close to her, took her hand and responded, "I promise."

With that, Emma let out a sigh and told him about lunch with Charlie. She kept insisting that it meant nothing and how he just wanted to catch up with her. She also told her boyfriend about how Charlie left her four years ago and everything that happened with her sister and parents. Greg listened intently and kept rubbing her hand tenderly with his thumb. When she was done speaking, he kissed her, which left her feeling shocked and mute for a long moment. "Thank you for telling me," he said lovingly. "I'm sorry about what happened to your parents, but I'm glad they're back together now. I'm also sorry about your sister and Charlie. You deserve better than that. I just want to be here for you. I want you to trust me and realize that I would never hurt you like they did. I can promise you that."

"I... I-I don't know what to say," Emma responded meekly. "You're amazing." She leaned in to kiss him, which made Greg feel relieved. He leaned in closer and they continued to kiss each other for what seemed like an eternity, which made Emma's uneasiness and doubt melt away. Being with Greg just made her feel happy; she felt safe. Suddenly Greg lifted up her shirt to take it off while she pulled down his pants. He then stepped back for a second to take off his own shirt then proceeded to kiss her some more. Once Emma realized what Greg was doing, she peeled her lips off of his and said, "We should continue this in your bedroom." This made him smile at her seductively and he responded, "I like your thinking." 

"You're amazing," Greg said as he looked into his girlfriend's eyes. The two of them were now laying down in his bed, and he was breathing heavily. Emma let out a small laugh as she gazed into Greg's eyes. They were so brown, rich and warm. She could feel them baring into her own and she started to feel self-conscious, so she sat up and pulled the bed sheets up around her chest. Before she could say anything, Greg sat up as well and started kissing her. It started out with her lips, which she was content with. He then started to kiss her neck and made his way down, all while keeping his hands on her body. After he was finished, he looked into her eyes and smiled. Emma could tell that he was happy and that he loved her, and she really liked him as well. She just wished that trusting him wasn't so hard. She wished she could freely say that she loved him as well without feeling guilty. It's not like she's holding back on purpose; it just feels like she doesn't deserve him. Greg is so sweet to her and that makes her happy, but part of her heart is still aching from the past. What if she never gets over Charlie? Suddenly Emma found herself thinking about Rebecca and she started to cry. When her boyfriend noticed this, he wrapped his arms around her and wiped her tears away.

Novella #2, Chapter 2: Trust Issues (Emma's Perspective)

I never thought that kissing Greg would be that easy, and I could tell he felt nervous before I made that first move. But I'm glad I kissed him, and he seems like a sweet guy. I just hope that in time he'll learn to understand me. I don't want to say or do anything to hurt him, and I certainly don't want to him to push me away either. I really like him.

I can still remember when my parents had separated several years ago. Obviously they're back together now after two agonizing years, but all that time of them not being together was hard on us. I had to step up and help Mom around the house because she fell back into her drinking problem and was diagnosed with depression. She's never been the same since then, but at least now she's able to get herself out of bed. She's even managed to get herself a job as a waitress at Shoney's. My sister was only a senior in high school when Mom and Dad reunited and had already decided on moving out on the day of her graduation. I felt so lost without her the day after that happened. Now of course, I understand that she didn't want our family's problems weighing her down, but she could have at least made time to hang out with me one last time before leaving. I miss being with her and telling her about all the problems I was facing in school.

I remember when Rebecca checked in on me the day I was rejected by a guy named Charlie in middle school. She noticed that I was alone in my room, crying and feeling sorry for myself. I felt so hopeless and heartbroken back then because I was in love with him. Rebecca had sat next to me on my bed and just pulled me in close to her, brushing her fingers through my hair and telling me that it's going to be okay. The two of us have always been there for each other growing up, and as little kids, we loved making each other laugh. Whenever we weren't making goofy faces at each other or making inappropriate noises, we would dare each other to do crazy things. One time, I dared my sister to go the next door neighbor's house and ask to use their bathroom. Now knowing her, I knew she wouldn't disappoint me, but for some reason she took longer than usual. After waiting for an hour, I called Dad from down in the basement because she hadn't returned home yet. That made him really worried, so both he and Mom scoured the entire neighborhood looking for her. Turns out she was hiding in the garage the entire time. We had a lot of fun times together as children.

Out of all the days of the week, I'd have to say Monday is my least favorite, and I'm not just saying that because it means the start of a new week at a new school. I had moved here with my parents about a month ago and while I do like my classes so far, it's been hard fitting in. Seeing Greg get hit with that football really concerned me for some odd reason because I barely knew him, but every day I'd be able to feel his eyes on me during the lunch period. I can only imagine what he must think of me, always reading alone across from the anime club geeks at an empty table. Not that it bothers me, however. I enjoy reading and those kids don't make a lot of noise. And sometimes when I get tired of reading, I'll hover over the table and see which show or movie their watching. It's pretty neat how something as simple as anime can become a club in this high school.

I had just settled into my seat when the bell rang, and I noticed a familiar face come in at the last minute. "Oh, hi Greg! I didn't realize we had French class together. You wanna sit next to me?"
"Sure. How are you doing?"
  "Pretty good. Did you have a fun time on Friday night?" I offered a wink in hopes he'd get the reference I was making. He smiled back and said, "Yeah, I enjoyed it. Would you want to do that again?"
"Only if you want to. We can go do something that you like this time."
  "Sounds like a deal then." He reached for my hand and I smiled fervently. Part of me wanted to quickly put my hand by my side before he could touch it, but I just let it sit freely on my desk.

Greg and I have been getting along quite well so far. He's a great guy and I really like him, and I can tell he likes me too. I like how he remembers the fun times he's had with his brother growing up. It sounds like the two of them were pretty close. Of course, he said the same thing when I told him about Rebecca and the fun we used to have together. I've noticed that he seems like a very independent guy; I can tell that he's gonna go far in life. He told me about how he wants to be an engineer for NASA, which I thought to be a really awesome goal to have. And of course, I really like how he's considerate towards me. He makes me feel wanted and special in a way that I've never felt so far in my life. Greg is just an amazing person and I like how he makes me feel.

"So what are your plans for Spring break? Are you gonna go somewhere with your brother?"
  "No, he's working- plus he's in a serious relationship with someone right now." Hearing Greg say that made me feel bad for him. I wasn't sure of what to say for a moment, but then I had an idea.
"Hey, how about we go over to my place again? Or we could just leave my brothers with the nanny again and eat out somewhere? There's a new Italian restaurant down the street from here."
  "It's only 3:30 in the afternoon, Emma. I'm not hungry right now." Greg's tone startled me for a moment, but I shook it off and I put my arms around him. "Well how about we just take your car and do something that you enjoy?"
"I'm not in the mood to do anything right now. I'd like to be alone for the rest of today if that's alright with you."
  "Yeah, I guess... Give me a call if you need anything." We both parted ways after that without any kiss or hug goodbye. I'm not sure why Greg was acting like that, but I'm sure there's an explanation, right? I just hope it's not about me. I hope I didn't say or do anything wrong.

The house right now feels eerily silent for a change. My brothers are currently outside with the nanny, and my parents are upstairs working in their office. It's been about two hours since either one of them has come down for something to eat or drink. You'd think that they'd want to spend time with their only available daughter instead of doing business related stuff, but I guess it's whatever. I'm sure they'll come down eventually once dinner is ready.

I'm starting to miss Greg, and I can't stop thinking about him. Is he okay? Is something on his mind? I just want to know what's going on. Just when my train of thought was starting to drift off somewhere else, I heard my phone buzz on the coffee table. It's him. "Hey Greg! Is everything okay?"
"Yes, but I want to ask you something. Do you love me? Do you trust me?"
  "Where is this coming from? I don't understand..."
"Just answer the question, Emma. I've spent most of the afternoon in my room after coming home from school, thinking about us. Thinking about you and what you mean to me. I... I love you." Hearing that sent me into shock. No guy has ever said those three words to me before. I wasn't sure of what to say, or if I could say anything at all. I just stood there frozen for a long moment before I heard Greg's voice again. "Hello? Are you still there?"
"Umm... yes. Sorry about that."
  "Well?" I let out a deep sigh and thought this over before responding. I can either say I love him, or I could face yet another rejection and end up feeling miserable again. I don't want to feel that again, though. I know that Charlie is ancient history, but it still kind of hurts to think about what happened with him and how I felt.

"I.... I-I love you too, Greg." Silence filled in on the other end this time. I'm not sure what I just did, and I'm not sure if I'm ready to be committed to him. I really like him and he's such a sweet guy, but because of my parents' separation and losing Rebecca, it's been hard for me to trust anyone. Being alone was a choice for me because I've been afraid to let my guard down again and get rejected. It was easy for me to just be alone because then I could really enjoy myself. Now Greg has told me that he loves me.

"Are you sure you love me? I don't want you to say something you don't mean." Greg's still here? I thought he hung up; I couldn't even hear him breathing. Well, I guess I should say something to him. "Oh! Umm, yes, I'm sure." A smile was creeping up on my face as those three words threatened to escape my lips. "I love you, Greg."
I heard him let out a sigh a relief. I guess that means he's happy, right?
"Thank you, Emma, and I love you too. You mean so much to me. I'll talk to you later." The receiver clicked off after that and I suddenly found myself blushing. I'm in love! I never thought I'd see the day where I'd be in love with someone again and have that person love me back. I'm still not sure if I trust him yet, though.

Novella #2, Chapter 1: The First Date (Greg's Perspective)

Sometimes I wish people understood me better, or at least cared enough to notice me. Every day when I go to school I just find a place to sit by myself, looking around at the other kids. Most of them seem to know each other already or have found a group to be a part of. The band kids usually sit either to the left or the right of the cafeteria. The bookworms and anime club members usually sit towards the front entrance, and the jockeys and cheerleaders usually sit in the middle. Every once in a while I'll see a new kid or someone who is like me; an outsider.

A lot of times when I want to be outside, I'll either go out by myself or with my older brother, Matt. He's a lot of fun to be around and will invite me to hang out with his friends on the weekends. A few years ago he and I went camping over the summer in the Smokey Mountains, and we had this crazy encounter with family of beavers. Matt insisted that I stay behind him, but I just wanted to do the right thing and return the baby beaver home. We found him just out in the middle of the forest and he seemed lost; I just wanted to hold him and return the poor thing to his parents. Matt warned me to not scare the baby and just stay behind, but I didn't listen. I picked up the little guy and we made our way to the nearest river. Now I wasn't sure how the baby's parents found us, but they did and started splashing water on us with their big tails. By the time things had calmed down and the beavers left us alone, we were soaking wet, so we just decided to pack up our things and drive home. We laughed for a good ten minutes about the situation and how each of us reacted. That was the most fun I've had in a while.

These days Matt is mainly focused on work and his girlfriend, Maya. Sometimes she'll come over to visit and we're all nice to each other, but even then, I can tell that things are different between us. He seems to be more distant and whenever I ask if he wants to hang out, he either says he's tired or too busy with work. Now being in my last year of high school, I know that I need to start thinking about my own future and such. Ever since freshman year I've wanted to be an engineer for NASA, so my next step after graduating would be to move out to Seattle and go to college there. Surely I know that I can take care of myself- my brother is the one who raised me since our parents died while we were young- but it'd still be nice to spend some time with him before I leave.

"Hey Greg, would it be okay if I left you in charge here over the weekend?" I peered out from behind my computer screen and looked in Matt's direction. "I've been assigned to work on a project in Nashville. Apparently my boss is wanting to go over a few things on the new building over there, 'cause you know, he's working on expanding the company."
  "Yeah, that's fine."
"Awesome. There's some money on the kitchen table for dinner tomorrow night. Don't go throwing any wild parties while I'm gone," he said as he winked at me.
  "Ha, okay." I gave him a quick smile then went back to doing my homework. This semester has been a pain to get through, and my Ecology teacher has assigned the class to work on a research paper on environmental issues and how to best resolve them. It's going to take me at least another week and a half to get through this since he required us to find twenty different cited sources, and the whole thing is due by the end of the month. I just hope I can get it done at least a couple days early.

This week has seemed to pass by so slow, but since we have a 3-day weekend coming up, at least I'll have extra time to catch up on some reading for my English class. School has just ended for the day and everyone is talking to each other about their weekend plans. If I'm being honest right now, I wish I had someone to hang out with this weekend. I can only do so much homework and house chores before I drop dead of boredom.

Out of the corner of my eye towards my right, I can see a girl walking from the archway over to her car, which is parked next to mine. I've noticed her sitting by herself in the cafeteria a few times, but I can never find the courage to walk up and say hello. Usually when I see her she has her hair tied up in a ponytail and her nose glued to a book. She seems to have one pair of glasses for each day of the week as the frame color is different every day. I've also noticed that she likes wearing skirts. I've hardly ever seen her in jeans and her hair is something that I could honestly get lost in. It's just the right amount of thickness and texture and I just love how blonde it is. People would say that a girl like that is out of my league, but I don't care. She's beautiful and I'd give anything to have her notice me.

Just as I had gathered up enough courage to walk up and introduce myself to the girl, someone in a motorcycle ran right past me and almost made me loose my balance. I was able to steady myself and I adjusted the straps on my backpack, but then suddenly something knocked the wind right out of me and I fell down in the middle of the parking lot.

"Hey, are okay? It looks like that football hit you pretty hard. Here, let me help you up." I took the stranger's hand and recognized her instantly when I got back up to my feet.
  "Thanks. Do you mind telling me your name? I've seen you around before."
"It's no problem, and my name is Emma. What's yours?"
  "Greg." Suddenly I found myself feeling flustered and nervous, and I didn't know what to say next. "I, uhh... Umm... I like your glasses," I said sheepishly. Emma smiled and giggled as she noticed my hot red cheeks. Geez, Greg. Pull yourself together!
Emma finally responded, "Thank you. Do you want to walk me to my car?"
"Sure." I stayed silent as we walked from where we were standing over to our cars. Once I got up to Emma's car door and let her in, I said, "Hey, do you want to hang out with me this weekend?"
  "Are you asking me out?"
"No! I mean, it's only if you want to... No pressure." Emma propped up her legs on the side of the car and put a hand up to her chin thoughtfully.
  "Okay, I'll hang out with you, Greg. You just need to give me your number." I took out a pen from my backpack, asked her to extend out her right arm and wrote it down.
"Well I better get going. It was nice to meet you," she said as she shut her door. She kept her window rolled down, so I offered a small smile and waved to her.

Ideally I wanted Emma to hang out at my place for the night, but instead, she offered to take me out to her house. Both of her parents were out of town visiting her older sister in Knoxville, so knowing that eased my mind some. What I didn't expect though was to be caught babysitting her two younger siblings.
"So that little toddler over there writing on the walls is Max," Emma said as she pointed towards her brother. "He usually isn't this unruly when my parents are home, trust me on that. Wesley is the youngest and is laying down for a nap right now. I'm gonna have to feed him here in about five minutes. Do you want anything to eat or drink?"
  "I'm fine for now, but thanks."
"Okay! Make yourself comfortable."
I shut the door behind me and decided to sit in the kitchen. I can't remember the last time I had to watch anyone else's kids, but I have been asked to do it once or twice. Usually I'd pass up the offer because of school and such. I was never interested in working because I always believed that school should come first, plus I never understood how someone could handle two jobs at once. After two minutes have passed, I took out my phone and decided to check in on Matt, but suddenly a very ecstatic Corgi ran up and jumped into my lap. He looked at me for a moment, cocked his head to the right, then proceeded to lick my face. I laughed as his tongue ticked my cheek and decided to pet his head for a moment before he jumped back down. Once the dog left the kitchen, Emma came into view with Wesley in her arms. "Did Barry surprise you there?" she asked as she smiled to me.
"He did for a minute. He's cute though."
  "Yeah, he's friendly to everybody. Are you hungry? We can order a pizza if you want."
"Sure. Should we split the check?"
  "No need. This one is on me tonight."
"If you insist, then." I made my way towards the counter by the sink to pick up the phone, which was located towards the far right corner, close to the kitchen table. "I'll call in the order. Is pepperoni and sausage okay?"
  "Yeah, that's fine. Once I'm done here I'll join you."

9 'o clock soon rolled around Emma was having trouble getting Max to cooperate, so she asked me to keep him still while she got his pajamas on. She then asked him to brush his teeth, but he wouldn't do so and was throwing a tantrum, so she had to spank him and again told Max to brush his teeth. The clock read 9:45 when he finally fell asleep.

The two of us were outside of Max's bedroom door when I said to Emma, "I don't see how you deal with all this. I can barely handle taking care of my own dog, and he's sixteen years old!"
She laughed for a minute before she responded. "Well you get used to it over time. It just takes a lot of patience- plus knowing when to put your foot down. Or as my mom says, 'just drink a lot of wine.'" She laughed again then offered a smile. I smiled back for a moment before I felt a pang of nervousness hit my stomach. "I, uhh... should probably head home now. It's getting late."
"Well I had fun tonight. See you on Monday?"
  "Yeah, I'll see you then." I went downstairs and let myself out, but before I got to the car, Emma ran outside and stopped at the front porch. She yelled, "Wait! Come here for a minute." I was confused and wasn't sure of what to do, so I just slowly walked up to where she was standing. She smiled and started inching closer towards me. I could feel myself sweating. My hands felt cold and clammy and I could feel the panic rising in my chest. Is Emma doing what I think she's doing? I tried to calm myself down before her lips met mine, but I was given no time. Immediately I could feel her lips tenderly brushing mine, and within an instant my whole body relaxed. I closed my eyes and kissed her back. We then took a step back and smiled at each other before we kissed again. The second time it felt amazing. She then put her arms around my shoulders and I could feel her body leaning into mine. We stayed there on the porch for a long moment, hugging each other in the moonlight. "Good night, Greg," she said with a smile.
I smiled back and told her good night as well.

Faith and the Unexplained Side of Christianity

Faith is built upon strength, optimism, courage and confidence. Any amount of faith you have will help you to achieve any goals you have in life. And while this may be cliché to say, believing in yourself really is important. If you doubt yourself, then you won't get very far in life.

Faith from a Christian perspective is similar in some ways, but it's also different. The thing with Christian faith is that while God is the higher power and is given all the glory, you still have some of your own inner strength and optimism. It's kind of a give and take situation: God has this ability to somehow give His power to his disciples. His strength is manifested into the human heart and in turn, the believer gives his/her heart to Him. The believer takes His strength while God takes the believer's heart, and the cycle continues.

Have you noticed that people who are Christians say that they can't physically or logically prove why God or Jesus exists? The reason for that is because all that belief is being generated from the heart and soul. Our hearts may just be organs in our bodies, but it is also a muscle that is connected to the brain. When a person experiences love, sadness or anger, that feeling is processed from the brain to the heart.

Some of the feelings a human experiences just can't be perfectly explained; you just have to experience it for yourself. And while some of the most logical people will try with all their power to come up with an explanation, words can't always do a feeling justice.

So the next time you try arguing with a person who speaks from the heart, consider what has been said here. Some things in life just can't be explained or justified with words. Also remember that faith is something that you can choose to have, and if you have enough faith in yourself, then you can do whatever you set your mind to.