“Race you,” I laugh, nudging Silver on before Vince can object. Soon we’re a team, galloping across the snowy fields. It’s been a month and a half since I won my case, and I feel like a small weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

“Look who’s winning now!” Vince calls as he passing me, leaning forward to gain more speed on Patch. I smirk cunningly, and then wipe all the expression from my face as I stop Silver.

“Oh my god!” I scream, faking my concern. Vince immediately pulls Patch to a stop, and rushes back without questioning it. He asks what’s wrong, his eyes searching my body for some sign of injury. “I think I hurt my ankle,” I whine, staring down at my foot that hangs limply out of my stirrup. “I don’t know what I did!”

“Want me to take a look at it?” When I nod, he starts to climb off Patch. Once he’s in the space between us, I shove my foot back in the stirrup and take off as fast as I can. “Hey!” Vince yells, as I gallop for home. I reach the hill that overlooks the farm and know I’m going to win. Smiling, I turn around to see he’s already catching up to me.

Pulling to a stop in front of the barn, I grin at Vince who slows to a walk a few feet away. “Didn’t you ever hear of the boy who cried wolf?” He asks, narrowing his eyes at my. I slide of Silver and smirk.

“Didn’t you ever hear of the girl who cried ‘I think I hurt my ankle?’”

“Ha-ha,” Vince says unenthusiastically as we lead the horses into the barn. I check the big, round clock at the end of the aisle and see that it’s already seven-thirty.

“Can you un-tack Silver for me?” I ask, batting my eyelashes as I hand him the reigns. “I owe you!”

Vince nods, and gives me a small smile before I turn to run out of the barn. Before I can, he pulls me back by my arm and places his lips on my cheek. Blushing, I wiggle out of his grasp and sprint to the house.

“Hello?” I smile into the phone, sitting on the floor as I twirl the cord around my fingers. No one answers, as usual. Every single day Emery would call, and I would tell him about my day. Every time it ended, it was either because I ran out of things to say, or I pushed my luck with asking him to talk.

“Mary slept over last night,” I tell him as I stretch my legs out in front of me. “We’re having roof-withdrawal,” I laugh, remembering the joke between Mary and I. “It’s too dangerous to go on it with the snow, so now we have nothing better to do.” I slowly trail off, running out of things to say. This is how it’s been for about a week. Slowly and slowly, I’m losing interest talking to someone who never responds. Sometimes I even miss his calls, even though I know he will call at exactly seven-thirty.

“What are we doing, Emery?” I sigh into the phone, running my fingers through the length of my hair. “Why do you call, if you’re never going to say anything?” For once, he doesn’t hang up and I continue. “You want me to move on, yet you keep holding me back, and you know it. Well guess what,” I rant, biting my bottom lip. “I am. With Vince.”

As soon as the words leave my mouth, the phone is slammed down and the line goes dead. I know I probably just blew everything with Emery, who refuses to talk to me, and hates me. Not to mention that I’m not being completely truthful. I like Vince, but I don’t know whether it’s as a friend, or more.

Twenty-Four Hours Later:

“Can you get the phone?” I sigh to Vince, while we watch TV in the living room. My parents are in town, out for dinner and I’m in no mood to talk to Emery right now.

“Sure,” Vince squeezes my shoulder as he rises from the couch and heads into the kitchen. “Hello?” The voice is muffled because he’s a room away, but I briefly hear more. “Listen here, Emery…” it sounds like Vince trails off, but I know he’s just lowering his voice so I don’t have to hear the conversation. Unfazed, I sink into the couch and turn up the TV volume.

“Done,” Vince smiles sadly, sauntering into the room a few minutes later. He plops onto the couch and wraps his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into him. He smells like beer but I don’t question it. “So,” he smiles, flicking off the TV. He turns to me and grins. “We’re all alone.” He stares into my eyes and I break his gaze, staring down at the carpet. I know what he’s getting at already, and I don’t want to do what he wants.

“Vince, no,” I mumble, pulling away from his arm.

“River,” he sighs, removing his arm and instead grabbing my hand. “You need to get over him. And how are you going to do that if you keep acting this way?” I briefly meet his gaze and then avoid it, pulling my hand free of his.

“Just give me time,” I whisper, rising to my feet. I slowly head towards my room as Vince calls to me the whole way there.

“You can’t be this way forever! You have to give me a chance, River!” At first I ignore his comments, and shut my bedroom door. Putting a chair up under the doorknob, I test it to make sure he can’t get in. When it’s good enough, I sit in my window seat and lean my head against the glass. Memories of Emery flood my mind, and my heart aches. I don’t know how I feel about him anymore. After all, he left me.

Maybe I’m just being selfish, and he wants a life with his family. But how can he just up and leave me, to be with someone who he’s never met before?

Forty-Eight Hours Later:

“So I guess he hasn’t called since I talked to him, has he?” Vince asks, his arms wrapped around my shoulders. I lean into his chest as we sit on his bed in the loft, and I keep asking myself whether this feels right or not.

“No,” I mumble, trying not to think about whether I miss Emery or not. “What did you say to him anyways?” I turn my head so I can meet Vince’s eyes, however he avoids mine.

“Nothing really. Just the truth.”I don’t press the matter further as I sigh, waiting for my dad to get home. He answered the phone a few hours earlier, and said he needed to help out one of his friends before leaving in a hurry. He said nothing more, and now I’m curious as to what had happened.

“You deserve better, River,” Vince murmurs, stroking my hair. “So much better than what that guy was giving you.” In a way, I believe Vince. I shouldn’t have been treated to way Emery treated me. But on the other hand, I question whether better is Vince.

He turns his head and leans in while I pull away before he can kiss me. “Vince,” I mumble nervously. “Please, don’t.” He sighs, and pulls away.

“What’s wrong?” He asks, removing his arms and rubbing his face.

“I’m just…I’m just not ready,” I whisper, staring down at the ground.

“You’re still living in the past, River.” Vince’s voice sounds angry, but his eyes are pleading while they stare at me. “Emery isn’t coming back. He left you! I could never do that to you.” He wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me into him.

“You’re right,” I mumble after a few minutes of silence. Emery did leave me, and he isn’t coming back. Besides, if he did, how would things be different? He hates because I saved his life. He’d rather be dead than live with what happened. “I can’t keep living in the past. He hates me; that’s why he left.”

Vince presses his forehead to mine. “He doesn’t deserve you.” I know he’s hinting that he deserves me instead, but I’m still undecided as to whether or not that’s true. But then again, when else will I meet another boy?

“What’s changed?” I ask quietly. “Why are you so…interested now?” Vince smirks and kisses my cheek. I blush and pull slightly away.

“Before,” he says, pulling back and brushing my hair behind my ear. “I never paid attention to you. Now, coming back.” He grins ear to ear before continuing. “I see you for who you really are.”

“And who am I really?” I ask, smiling shyly. I play back every memory with Vince, and question how he’s changed into the person he is now. I remember him yelling at me to do his work, going to parties in town every weekend, and basically ignoring me.

“A gorgeous, intelligent girl,” he smiles, leaning into me. I know what’s about to happened, and I have barely any time to think. Do I want this? Do I want to kiss Vince? Will it change things, or will it bring out my true feelings?

Before I can decide, Vince’s lips are on mine. Still unsure, I let him kiss me. He pulls me closer into him, and then flips us around so I’m lying on the bed, and he’s leaning over me. I keep my eyes closed, and get lost in a memory. It’s when Emery was on top of me, and I was lying on my bed. I smile, replacing Vince’s lips with Emery’s.

“River,” he murmurs, as I start to kiss him back. I’m completely lost in time. I imagine that I’m in my room, alone at night with Emery. My hands reach up to pull Emery’s head closer and when I don’t feel the familiar soft hair I’m used to, I don’t question it.

“Will you,” I pull away, catching my breath. “Will you remember this in the morning?” I don’t open my eyes as Emery leans his head beside my ear and I feel his warm breath on my neck.

“Of course I will,” he says quietly, and then again his lips are on mine again. For once, everything feels right, like its back to normal again. It feels like I have Emery back, and even though my brain tells me it’s really Vince, I listen to my heart, that beats for Emery.

I forget all about listening for my dad’s truck to get home, while Emery and I become a tangled mess. I know I’m just trying to replace him with Vince, and that it’s not fair to him. However, I don’t care right now. Instead, all I think about is the memory of Emery’s kiss.

Suddenly, there’s a loud bang. Vince and I jerk up, and look towards the loft door. The noise was it slamming against the wooden wall, and all the blood falls from my face as I worry that it’s my dad standing there. But as my eyes look over the dark figure with wide eyes, I realize its worse than my father finding us tangled together.

“Emery,” I whisper, before he disappears down the stairs.