Forever & Always

A.N.: This story features heavy topics of verbal, emotional, and s****l abuse. This is your warning if you do not wish to read such stories. -- Hands pushed her roughly into the back seat of her car. “Jesse, please, no.” She pleaded fighting with every ounce of strength she could. But Jessie hand his weight perfectly placed to pin her in the confines of the small back seat. A dark chuckle sounded in her ear “Stop teasing me, Emma. You wanted this.” Jessie licked her throat and before she could say another word he pierced her without mercy, stealing away her virginity. -- Emma bolted upright in bed, panting hard. Looking around, she saw the soft tan walls of her room plastered with family pictures. Rubbing her eyes, she gently laid back down and sighed. That night would forever haunt her. It had plagued every relationship she had ever attempted to be in, yet it had not haunted her dreams for a while. Emma Sharp was your average girl trying to make it through life and college if she even decided to go back. Her dreams and those of her parents never seemed to align. She was a free spirit and always kept herself busy with work or friends. She had been on the cheer team at her previous university and cheered competitively in her youth. Her best friend Ashlyn Taylor, whom she had made friends with on Ashlyn’s first day at her competitive cheer gym way back in the day, took up the other half of her life. They have been inseparable ever since. When Emma moved to college, their friendship drifted slightly but stayed strong. When she came back home, it was just like old times. Ashlyn lost her father back in junior high school and had been going through some difficult times ever since, but Emma was by her side the whole time. Never once let Ashlyn get too far into her grief. She tried to stay connected while living on the other side of the state, but it was hard. Emma’s issues started after she dated Jesse in her sophomore year of high school. He used her for one thing he wanted, which was not given willingly. She ended it immediately afterward but had no idea how angry and possessive he could become. She at least had friends and teachers who were there for her when he cornered her in the hallway between classes once. Emma hated how used she had felt. She never told anyone what Jesse had done to her and shuddered whenever someone mentioned him. He had totaled his car trying to fly out of the parking lot in junior year, wrecking his prized Mustang, and had her laughing for weeks. Why he was dreaming about him again, she didn’t know. Forcing herself to fall back asleep was a task. Emma got up and walked into the small living room, looking into the backyard. She was living in her parents’ guest house. A week from being 21, her parents gave her at least the notion of having her own space. Emma’s parents’ home was settled along the foothills of beautiful Southern California and was sitting on a 1/2 acre horse property. They didn’t have horses, but they had a huge family and a house to gather in practically every weekend. The casita was built so no one used the main house, and her mother didn’t have to clean a considerable space. Her ex-high school boyfriend lived literally across the street. By the sound of it, he was home, blaring music and probably working on their cars in his parents’ massive garage with every tool imaginable. They had a rough relationship, fighting constantly. The verbal abuse was a lot at times, but he was sweet when they weren’t fighting. At homecoming, her A.P. History teacher let her cry in the storage closet while he escorted Austin outside to cool down. It was the most embarrassing thing she had ever experienced. At prom, it was so bad that they left early. Their relationship was over after the break-up, and they were not even amenable to each other. Emma had shitty luck with men. She always seemed to attract the crazy ones. One guy Emma had started talking to had pinned her against a wall and punched a hole next to her head when her friend Peirce had texted asking her to come to a party. She never saw that guy again. Moving home was the best decision for her right now, even if she regretted giving up school. She pulled the blanket around her shoulders. It had to be the right decision, and the damage was already done. Emma sighed, moved to grab the remote, and turned on the T.V., looking for something to watch and hopefully fall back asleep. She had worked at her cousin’s place in the morning and just wanted to sleep before driving out towards the beach. Emma would probably hit up Disneyland after work. She could text Collin to see if he wanted to meet her. She looked at the time and sighed. She needed to sleep. The soft voices of whatever movie she hit on Netflix lulled her to sleep, and too soon, her alarm was blaring at her. Rolling over to shut her phone alarm off, Emma yelped when she fell off the couch. Oh, right, she had moved out of bed. Groaning, she stood and moved towards the bedroom, turning off the annoying alarm, and headed to the bathroom to shower.