The Pact--Again

The book becomes increasingly interesting as I get deeper into the story of Emily and Chris. From a love that was pretty much started at birth, things have gradually changed. Emily locks herself up in her own emotion. She's afraid to talk to her parents, or even her "true love," Chris. Knowing Chris since childhood, she sees him as more of a brother, and doesn't want a sexual relationship with him. Conversely, Chris frequently tries to act sexual with her. Emily just wants to cuddle with him, like when they were kids, but that always leads to Chris' way. Emily only suffers through these actions because she knows when it's all over they can lie together, like when they were kids. It's a twisted relationship, but she can't bring herself to tell anyone. She's pressured by expectations of her parents and Chris' parents to be together.
Chris is blind to Emily's sadness, to be blunt.
Emily tries to ease into conversation with Chris at one point, about how he would deal with his future not going as planned, actually managing to hint that something wasn't right as she asks, "What if I didn't want to be...to be with you anymore?" Chris lightly responds with the claim that he would commit suicide, and kissed her, stupidly asking why they were talking about it with no real feelings of worry.
It's not much of a surprise why Emily can't talk about this with Chris. He shows very little understanding of who Emily really is, as she never truly showed her real self while under the pressure of her parents, and, even of Chris.

Back to where the base of the story takes place, Melanie goes into Emily's room, and takes down all things connected to Chris, along with Emily's diary, and burns them with her bitter feelings of vengeance.
The parents of Emily and Chris both wanted Emily and Chris to be together, so those two pretty much tied the family together. Now, with Emily gone, the link is severed, and Melanie's feelings of Chris, the boy she'd known since his birth, have gone in the complete opposite direction, as if it was as simple as everything he ever did in the past had just been lies.

The Pact--I'm such a slow reader >.>

Chris is all different now. And I don't really like it. In jail, his parents have been visiting him occasionally, though it seems like Chris isn't too big on the idea of talking to his dad anymore. At the same time, his relationship with his mom has been different. He became more independent, in a way, and doesn't want his parents help anymore. It's weird, but the way Chris went from being a frightened little boy to this kind of reminds me of Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. When Ender's sister visits him after he's been in battle school for so long, he doesn't act like the same innocent boy as he used to, and it gives off a cold feeling to his sister. This book is showing the same feeling. I don't particularly enjoy it, though, because I don't like reading about relationships basically falling apart. I don't like reading about how everything was all in the past, and time can't be rewound.

The Pact--Another section ._.

So, I really tried to relax while reading this time, something I haven't done in quite a while. I guess I should do it more often, since I really get pulled into the story.
Admittedly, I've been reading at a slow pace, so this entry is starting from part 2 of the book, when I should have read a lot more. Oh well, it was still amazing to read. Chris was celebrating his 18th birthday, which created a powerful wave of emotion when the cops came to the house and arrested him.
I felt nearly at the brink of tears as I sat in the police car, completely terrified of what would happen to me next.
It really does make me imagine, though, what it would be like to be arrested, to spend a night in jail for the first time in my life, and then to know I'd be there for a long time. I imagine myself with an overwhelming homesickness, along with the intense feeling that I have to be in a nightmare. A lot of things give me that surreal-vibe though, so I could be off, though it sounds like what Chris feels when he suddenly is charged of murder and thrown in a place like a jail cell.
What I find to be somewhat twisted, is how Melanie makes breakfast cheerfully and surprises James with a nice trip...to Chris's trial.
I've seen, from a 1st to 3rd person perspective, how fast closest friends can completely despise each other. Reading these scenes connects me to those moments, for it shows what a thick wall is formed between people that were once so close. It's saddening, and makes me think, if I was one of Chris's parents, how nostalgic I'd feel about before this whole incident with Emily happened, when Emily's parents were my best friends.

I keep taking on biased views on whether or not Chris is guilty. I feel bad for him when reading about the cops arresting him, but then I become suspicious when reading about the past and how he would get annoyed at how Emily wouldn't be as sexual with him as he wanted. I'm quite curious as to whether or not he's truly guilty, for the text has me guessing in circles.

The Pact--Section

It's pretty interesting reading about how the parents handle the incident. The mother of Emily saddens me. One event that keeps happening being the phone calls from Emily's friends. When one first calls for Emily, the mother, Melanie, simply hangs up. She shows her denial of the situation, especially with the next call for Emily, to which she whispers, "Stop" and hangs up. It really is sad to read though, I can sort of relate to how she feels, not so much the denial part though. I sort of know the feeling of losing someone, since I've dealt with coming dangerously close to losing a sibling, and even that makes me imagine truly losing her.
Besides Melanie, James, the father of Emily's boyfriend, has been acting interesting too. It sort of reminds me of a relative of mine. He grew up around that same anti-emotions time, and also had that depression-is-easy to-overcome mindset. I guess I can sort of feel a connection to Emily and her boyfriend, Chris' families.