While she waited for the color to set, she googled “Emery Shaw.” Several articles popped up.
Missing Teen Deemed Runaway
Mother of Missing Teen Refuses to Give Up
Search for Missing Teen Hits Dead End
Well, this wasn’t good. Her school picture from last year was all over the internet. She looked toward Noah’s room and wondered if he’d seen any of this. She guessed it was a good thing she was changing her looks. No one would be looking for Emily Sanders.
It was only when the timer went off signaling she could wash the dye out of her hair that she tore her eyes from the articles. Then she attempted to carefully remove her shirt without getting any of the color on it.
“Damn it,” she cursed as she looked at the smears of brown dye on her yellow shirt. She managed to get the rest of her clothes off without incident and got in the shower, making sure to scrub her forehead so any dye she’d gotten on there would be gone.
Her new reflection stared out of the mirror when she stepped out of the shower. She was shocked at the difference hair color could make. Her blue eyes popped from her face. She flipped her head over and blew dry her hair to see the damage.
Hello, Emily, your hair is a little heinous. Her long hair was darker, but nowhere near the deep brunette on the cover of the box, so she googled hair salons and made an appointment for color and cut to correct what she’d just done.
Step one of Emily was sort of complete. She dressed and was in the kitchen making herself dinner when Noah and a few of his teammates came in with boxes of pizza.
“Hey, Em,” Noah greeted, walking in with pizza and not even looking up. He put the box on the kitchen table. “You want some pizza?” His eyes met hers and he cocked his head to the side. “What the fuck happened to your hair?”
She shrugged. “I dyed it.”
He walked in the kitchen and stood uncomfortably close to her. Taking a piece of her hair between his fingers, he lifted it and examined it. His fingers grazed right under the clasp of her bra. “Why?”
“I don’t know, something new, I guess.” She took a piece of pizza out of the box and took a bite while standing at the counter.
“Your hair was hot the other way!” Jake called from the table, his mouth full of pizza.
Emery smiled. “Thanks, Jake, I’ll remember that.”
“I’m just saying.” He shrugged and kept eating.
“I think it brings out the blue in your eyes,” Noah commented, his voice low. He dropped her hair and walked over to the table. “Come, Em, sit. We got plenty; I put beer in the fridge too.”
Emery walked over to fridge, grabbed herself two beers, and took her slice of pizza to the table where the three guys sat stuffing their faces. She smiled. “Thanks.”
She was silent as they talked about practice and the first game coming up soon. Emily liked pizza and football players, even though they were boring as shit. After a few hours and too many beers, she was thoroughly drunk. She stood up and gave the guys a wave before turning for her bedroom.
“She’s single, right?” she heard Meat ask.
“No,” Noah answered gruffly.
Emery didn’t think about his answer, but shut her door and locked it. Emily could lock her door. She fell into bed and didn’t dream of anything.
Several weeks had passed since Rachel dropped off that first payoff. Emery was working on her computer, applying to online colleges. She heard the front door slam and burst out of her seat.
The football season had started and from what Noah told her and what the other players were saying, he was doing really well. Noah was a sophomore and meeting with some NFL people today. He was extremely nervous. His dad had come up just for the meeting. They’d had dinner last night, but Emery had refused Noah’s offer to eat with them. She just didn’t feel comfortable. The less people that met her the better.
“How’d it go?” she yelled before she even turned the corner into the den and saw him.
Emily and Noah had become closer, friends even. Emery was jealous because Noah seemed to really like Emily. Emery was getting really good at doing what Emily would do, but Emery was hidden. She’d put her away in a little box in her brain, all of her normal fears and behaviors tucked away where no one could find them…except one. She still kept her paper in her Bible, hidden in her suitcase in her closet under one of her old long-sleeved shirts. One side of the paper evidenced all the times she’d been violated in the most perverse way imaginable. But she’d started a new count on the other side of the paper. She started drawing a line for each day she was away from Phil.
As soon as she rounded the corner and stepped into the den, she realized Noah wasn’t alone. “Oh, sorry. I just…” She was getting used to all the different girls. There were even several girls that he used on a regular basis. Emery had learned quickly when she needed her earbuds.