EMBERLY* "Emberly, can you help me out here? I might have thirty pounds on Derrick, but I'm lugging around dead weight," Brock grunted as he shifted Derrick in his arms. I got on the other side of Derrick and draped his arm around my neck. I wasn't sure how much help I would be since I only weighed one hundred and thirty pounds, and Derrick weighed a hundred pounds more than me. Brock and I somehow managed to get Derrick to the couch and sat him down. "He should probably sit up for a while," Brock said as he sat down next to Derrick. "I'm not dead; I'm very much alive, so I would appreciate it if you two wouldn't talk about me as I weren't here," Derrick slurred. "Emberly, I think I'm going to head home. It looks like you're going to have your hands full tonight. I was supposed to have been home by twelve, and I'm thirty minutes late," Delaney said as she grabbed her purse off the side table. "I'll walk you out," I said as I followed Delaney to her car. "How is Brock supposed to

DERRICK* Emberly didn't move or say another word. She stayed right there on her knees. I could feel her raging glare searing into my backside, and at that moment, for once, I didn't give a shit how Emberly felt. I've grown so tired of this back-and-forth bull shit coming from her. I won't allow her to play her games with me anymore. She will not win this time. I won't let her get to me anymore. "You know I love you. I'm just trying to do what's right," Emberly says after several minutes, and I do my best to keep my breathing slow and steady and ignore her. 'Be strong, man.' I kept repeating to myself. "This isn't you. You would never leave me hanging like this," stab stab stab. My heart was pounding, making it hard to stay relaxed. It feels like Emberly is stabbing a stake through my chest. "Fine, whatever," Emberly huffed. Then she got off the bed and slammed the door as she left. Finally, I could take a deep breath, and I held it until I was close to passing out and let it out,

DERRICK* Dad flipped the knob and turned the radio down, then looked over at me. His face was red, and the veins in his neck were pulsing. "I don't know what you are talking about, Derrick. You have food, clothes, cars, a roof over your heads, and everything else you could need and want. We have not neglected either of you in any way," he growled in frustration. "How about parental love and being there for us when we need you? Not having nannies to care for us until we're twelve and making us fend for ourselves from that point on while you and mom go off sometimes for months at a time doing God knows what," I yelled and gunned it so I could blast through a yellow light. "Are you two going to make it to our senior prom or our graduation? I'm surprised you both made it back for our scholarship signings. You don't go to our games; neither of you is around for anything. Did you know that Emberly and I are the top two in our class? We throw a party, and instead of sitting with us and pu

DERRICK* Emberly sighed peacefully as I glided the hairbrush through her long, thick waves of auburn hair. I love doing everything I possibly can to care for the love of my life. I might be young, but I know for a shadow of a doubt I will never want anyone but her. I will marry Emberly someday, and when the timing is right, she will bear our children. "How have you been feeling since you lost the baby?" "I was sore for a few days, but I didn't bleed much after the surgery. I don't know if that was because I bled so heavily before the surgery or what. But I only had some slight spotting and some weird-looking brown stuff that came out sometimes when I went to the bathroom. I haven't had any issues for four days now, though, obviously, since you have made me cum three times today. I have set up an appointment to see my gynecologist in two weeks after mom and dad leave again. I'm thinking about getting an IUD. It's the most effective form of birth control. I read that it's good for tee

DERRICK* I went to my room quickly and got dressed for the day. I applied some deodorant and cologne so I wouldn't smell like sex, then promptly began to strip mine and Emberly's beds. Yolanda had cleaned and changed out our sheets three days ago, but that didn't amount to much after everything that we had done the last two days. I put fresh sheets on our beds, took the dirty sets down to the laundry room, and threw them in the sheets and towels bin. Mom and dad were nowhere to be seen, so I guess they were hashing it out in their room. I ran back upstairs and saw that Emberly had retreated from her bath and was dressed and putting away all her designs. "I just now realized the prom dress I designed is missing. I guess mom decided to use one of my designs after all. The rest are here and accounted for. I'm sure she has forgotten about the rest of these, but I think maybe I should hide them somewhere. I'm thinking somewhere in your room because she never goes in there. Would you be o