Is This Our Tainted Soul?

Emma stood at the end of the driveway, waiting for the bus to pull up. She whimpered slightly when she breathed in, a sharp pain jolting through her body from her ribs. She had learned to handle it, it had been going on for years now. She bit her lip as the bus pulled up in front of her. She climbed up the steps, stopping when she saw a boy sitting in her seat.
"You have a new seat partner," the driver said, smiling. She nodded and walked back to her seat, sliding in. She glanced at the boy, well, he looked older than her, so he wasn't exactly a boy. He had curly brown hair, a bit lighter in color than hers. It wasn't exactly shoulder length, probably an inch or two shorter. She saw him glance at her and she blushed, looking away. She didn't know what to say to him.
She pushed her knees up against the back of the seat in front of her. Ah, the benefits of being short. She leaned her head back against her seat and the stared at the ceiling. She couldn't find her iPod, which meant she had to listen to the girls in the back talk about her and how they gave their boyfriends blow-jobs multiple times over the summer.
Idiots.
She smiled as the bus came to a stop at Arielle's house, and she climbed onto the bus. She was always so bubbly, so much different from Emma. She sat in the seat across from her and raised an eyebrow at the boy beside Emma.
"Who's he?" She asked, smiling.
Emma shrugged. "I dunno," she murmured.
"Eric," the boy said, sitting up straight. He flashed a smile at Arielle and she grinned.
"Well, hello Eric. I'm Arielle," she said, holding out her hand. He took it and kissed it gently. She blushed.
Emma rolled her eyes. She winced again, the pain starting to get worse. She felt light-headed. She ignored it, not wanting to make a big deal out of it. Arielle looked at her with sympathetic eyes.
"Again?" She said softly. Emma could here the sadness in her voice.
She nodded.
"Oh, Emma," she said softly, hugging her. She whimpered, her chest emmiting sharp pains. Arielle bit her lip, letting her go.
"Sorry," she murmured.
"Oi, lesbians. Get a room!" One of the girls in the back shouted.
Eric turned around, glaring at them.
"Hey, shut the hell up. If you don't like it, then don't look," he growled at them. The girls stared at him, shocked and wide-eyed.
Emma smiled a bit.
"You know, you didn't have to do that..." she murmured.
"Yeah, but they don't have any right calling you names," he said, smiling. Emma nodded.
"Thanks," she said.
"Emma, exactly what happened last night. And I think you might need to go to the hospital." Arielle asked. She hated Emma's father with a passion, and if she ever got the chance, she'd probably kill him.
" 'S nothing," she murmured, "besides, I can't go to the hospital. If he found out, he'd just talk his way out of it. Everyone in this town adores him anyways."
Arielle bit her lip.
"We have to do something. You've got to tell someone, Emma." She said, frowning.
Emma shook her head. She didn't want anyone else to know.
"Come here, lemme see your chest," she murmured, pulling her into her seat. Emma looked down.
"What about Eric?" Emma murmured.
"Doesn't matter, I wanna see." She ordered.
Emma pulled her shirt up, showing Arielle the fresh bruises. Arielle touched them gently, and Emma winced.
"Don't," she pleaded.
"What the hell happened to you," Eric said, wide-eyed.
" 'S nothing, I fell." Emma lied.
"Liar, tell me." He ordered.
Emma bit her lip and shook her head.
"Tell me some other time then, I think I have an idea of what happened though," he said, frowning.
Emma whimpered, knowing that he was right.