Untouchable

“You look beautiful tonight.” Cody Linley flashed a smile across the table at his girlfriend, Emma. “Absolutely stunning.”

Emma smirked. “Are you trying to sweet talk your way to something?”

“A kiss would be nice.”

Emma hesitated and played with the hem of her dress. “We’re in public.” She waved her palm, pointing out the restaurant full of young celebrities. Cody shrugged and watched as she leaned across the table to give him a quick peck. “Can you believe that after all your demands I’m still in love with you?” She placed her hand on his cheek.

Cody pulled his hand up and laid it over hers. After a few seconds, he frowned and scraped her hand off his face. “There’s something you should know.” He didn’t meet her eyes.

Her smile grew. “Do I want to know what this secret is?”

He dropped his head and shook it. “No…you don’t.”

Emma felt herself become anxious. Her heart pounded against her ribcage. “What did you do?”

“I’ve been seeing someone else,” he said in a rush. His voice was made of stone.

“You’re joking, right?” She sunk back against the seat.

He shook his head again.

“How could you do this?” She asked, pain and tears drowning out the power of her voice. His words cut through her like a rusty blade. She saw him look the other way out of the corner of her eye. “Why? Just tell me why.”

“Things weren’t moving fast enough.” Cody stated it like it was a well-known fact. He looked her straight into her tear-stained eyes. “I’m sorry.” It was easy to tell that he didn’t mean it.

“Don’t kid yourself! I know you’re not even the least bit sorry,” Emma yelled throwing her napkin down on the table. “Is it because I wouldn’t sleep with you?”

He flexed his jaw and lowered his voice. “If you must know, yes, it’s because of that. It’s been a year, Emma.”

“So, what? That means I’m obligated to sleep with you?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what it means,” Cody answered in an infuriated tone.

Emma covered her face with her shaking hands. “Well, I’m so sorry that I couldn’t be the answer to all your sexual needs! I thought my love would be enough!”

“You’re so naïve! Men don’t want love.” He said the word with complete disgust. “It’s the truth. Take it or leave it.”

Emma slumped over and held her stomach. “I know that’s not the truth,” she mumbled.

“No one ever said the truth was pretty, sweetheart.” Cody scoffed.

She stared at him under a different light. “Who are you?”

“I’m the one who opened up your eyes. I’ve done a huge favor for you.”

“You call this a favor? I’m in love with you.” New tears sprung out of her eyes and ran down her already soaked cheeks. “How—how could you do this to me?”

Cody sighed. “Yeah, yeah. They were all in love with me. You’ll get over it.” He reached his arm across the table and touched her shoulder. “Look, I have needs, and they had to be filled.” He shrugged. “Sorry.”

Emma noticed that the longer the conversation went on, the colder and harder his voice became. She slapped his hand away. “You’re despicable.”

“There’s a ton of girls’ hate lists that I’m on. It doesn’t bother me one bit.”

“So you’re just going to walk away from this restaurant tonight and not have the smallest bit of remorse?”

Cody smiled a twisted smile. “I think you’re finally catching on.”

Emma looked down. “I thought you loved me.”

“Emma, I say a lot of things. But most of the time, they mean nothing. They’re just meaningless words that accidentally slip out of my mouth when I think that they’ll help me get what I want.”

Emma pulled herself together. “Who is she? Can you at least tell me that?”

“Do you want the list or do you want the most recent one?”

“There’s a list?” She yelled the question loud enough for the whole restaurant to turn around and stare.

“You’re causing a scene.”

“Now I’m causing a scene.” She slammed her hands down on the table. “Well, what don’t I do wrong?”

“Do you want the truth? Is that what you want?”

Emma didn’t answer. She stared into the soul of the boy she thought she loved.

“You’re just a pretty face who doesn’t know how the real world works. There is no love, there is no fairytale romances! There’s just people and there’s just relationships.” He crushed his fist against the tabletop.

She felt the fresh tears developing behind her eyelids before they flowed out. “You’re wrong.”

“I’m not wrong,” he responded. “I’m realistic.”

She clutched her purse tightly. “You’re a disgusting excuse for a human being and so is your list of girls.”

Cody glanced at his watch. “Can we wrap this up? I’ve got a date that’s meeting me here in about…five minutes.”

Emma ground her teeth together. “A date?”

“Yes. A date.”

“Who?”

As if to answer her question, Miley Cyrus walked through the double doors. She searched the room and smiled widely when she spotted Cody. She glided like a model over to the table, making Emma feel even smaller and more insignificant. Cody stood and greeted Miley with a warm hug and kiss.

“I thought you said she’d be gone by now,” she whispered.

Cody smiled. “She was just leaving. Weren’t you, Emma?”

Emma made no sound. She rose and watched as Miley pushed past her and took her seat at the table. Emma ignored the stares coming from all around the room. She ignored the camera flashes erupting outside. She faced Cody one last time. “Don’t you ever think that I’ll forget about this. You will never hurt me again.” Emma took what little pride she had left and walked out of the doors, leaving her past behind.