Color Me Pretty

news of his mother's death and doesn't care.
    When Liza gets up, when she walks away from the table, neither Emmett nor I miss the purple bruises that decorate the skin on her upper back.
    That scares me.

Emmett and I don't wait to go the tree house. Even though it's raining outside, and it's dark as hell, we drive straight there after dinner. Me, with my tummy rumbling, and my throat sore, and Emmett quiet and brooding. I've never seen him brood before, and it kind of scares me, but I'm suffering so bad that I don't know what to do except let him hold my hand while we ride in complete silence.
    When we pull into the parking lot, and the orange lights highlight his frowning face, I finally speak.
    “He hasn't changed,” I say, stating a fact we're both already aware of. Emmett nods. “Maybe he never will?”
    “I don't think so,” he replies as he switches off the car and lets the sounds of the engine fade away, swallowed up by the pounding rain that ricochets off the metal above our heads. “I had hoped so, but I think it was just wishful thinking. I wanted to be able to forgive him, but I don't know if I ever will, especially if he's still taking his pain out on other people.”
    I look down at my nails and I wonder about Liza. Is she like me, punishing herself? Does she stay with Ted because she doesn't believe she deserves any better? I don't have answers to my questions, and I probably never will. But if Ted can't change, how can I? Maybe people just stay the same, always.
    “I don't have an umbrella, so we'll have to make a run for it,” Emmett tells me. “Do you remember the way?” I'm not sure that I do, but I know he'll lead me there anyway, so I nod.
    Together, we climb out of the warm, dry car and into the rain. Him, in his suit and tie. Me, in a designer gown and heels.
    Our footsteps sound loud against the pavement, echoing in the quiet night as we splash through puddles and trudge through mud. The forest is so dark that even the moon can't penetrate it. It's as if we've entered a cave and traveled deep within the earth, to a place that sunlight never sees. Emmett, though, he doesn't falter, just keeps pulling me along, past bushes, between trees. My dress is so wet that it feels like it weighs a million pounds, and it's stuck against my skin, plastered to my legs and my back and my ass. The wig, fortunately, stays on my head, but the bits of soggy hair slap my cheeks as I run, and I can't help but wonder how terrible I look. Hopefully not as bad as I did that day I went to see Lianna Cheung, when I embarrassed myself beyond belief. Fortunately, there's not enough light here for Emmett to see me, so I figure I'm okay.
    Just when I think we're lost, Emmett pauses and pulls me forward, closing my hand around one of the rungs on the rope ladder. Before I start to climb though, he wraps himself around me, warm and wet, and presses his mouth against my ear.
    “I want you to know that if you fall, I'll be there to catch you.” My heart skips a beat and my mouth goes dry. I don't even know how to respond to that, so I just start to climb, Emmett right behind me, arms on either side of my legs, positioned just so. But he needn't be so worried. I made it up here at my weakest, and my lowest, and now, I'm starting that arduous climb up the other side. I have the strength, if only barely, to make it up to the tree house, to rise to our escape.
    Rain lashes Emmett and me as we climb, ascending into darkness, breaking through the incessant stream of water as we put hand over hand, foot over foot, and finally, find a bit of moonlight waiting at the top. There's not a lot of it, and I'm sure the clouds will soon cover it up, but for now, it's there, a small stream across the wet, wood floor of the tree house, like a welcome mat.
    I pull myself through with a groan and collapse onto my back. Everything up here is wet, and water is draining in through the glassless windows and the skylight in mini waterfalls, but it's okay. It's alright because we're here together and nobody can take that away. I roll to my side and watch as Emmett emerges through the opening in the floor next and scoots his ass onto solid ground, leaving his legs dangling dangerously into the dark depths below.
    “This was stupid, wasn't it?” he asks. I smile.
    “Probably. But was it worth it?” Emmett thinks about that for a moment. I can see just enough of his face to know what he's going to say next.
    “Yeah, I think it was. How