She's Different- He's Not.

Chapter 1 - Emma

Everything was fine. Or at least it should have been. But then something happened. Emma looked up at the ceiling, staring blankly. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in slowly escape her lips. Trying to find hope for the long hours to come. She knew that this was life or death, all or nothing, this was it. This was the moment.

Emma looked up at the paper birds on the ceiling, wishing she could fly away with them to a world where there is no pain, to a world where she could be happy.

Emma was not like other girls, she has red hair, and wasn't blonde. Her eyes were the color of mud after a long rain, they were not crystal blue, like the ocean on a summer day. But somehow, she made it work. Or she thought she did.

Really Emma did not make it work. She made nothing work. Often she felt like drifting out at sea, lost in the shuffle of her generic highschool, bad boys in the corners and popular girls waving pom poms.

She knew that today was the day she was going to change everything. She was going to jump off the roof of the F building.

Sure, she didn't have a real plan but she was going to make it work.

For as long as she could remember she had heard rumors of a mysterious swimming pool on the roof of this building. She felt as though it called to her, and she knew she needed to see if for herself. Emma hoped the water would be as warm and blue as the carribean, but with her luck it would be the color of a muddy pond.

For Emma, her color wheel was limited to muddy brown, carbienen blue and black and white. The world never seemed grey to her, everything was either the worst or the best. But oh how she loved those caribbean blue eyes of that one guy she dated way back when. She thought he was different, different like her, but she was different, he was not.

So Emma waited till the night time, dressed in all black. Her chic leather books added a splash of white to the look, but never gray.

The sky was, in this case, actually grey as Emma stood in front of the building, unsure of what to do next. The part of her nonexistent plan she put the least thought into was: how do I get up there? There is a motorcycle nearby, which is very strange. Could someone already be on the roof? Emma then begins to climb. As soon as she gets up she releases yet another breath she didn't know she was holding and looks up.

Emma stands at the edge of the roof, staring at the pavement below. Rain lashed at her cheeks, blending with her tears, numbing out the horrendous pain she couldn't help but feel. She leans forwards-

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a low gravelly voice says from the shadows.

"W-Who's there?" she asks. Her voice trembles, but from the cold or her hysteria she isn't sure.

"You don't know me, but I know you. And believe me when I say you don't want to do this," he says. "I've been there before. Come away from the edge and we can talk."

Emma casts another glance at the pavement below. How tempting the jump is. Who would miss me? She thinks to herself.

"There are plenty of people who would miss you," his voice rings out sexily in the rain, although Emma can barely hear it. (very much sexy). "Think of Lewis. I'm sure he'd miss you. Your Saturday Rikki's smoothie runs won't be the same without you." Emma remembered the taste of the sweet peach juice Lewis knew to order for her.

"H-How do you know about our Saturday Rikki's runs?" She slowly steps towards the shadows where the voice is coming from.

"Like I said- I know you."

The ledge, although still tempting, is overshadowed by curiosity. The voice in the rain, the one that knows everything about her. She wants to know everything and anything about it.

"Who the hell are you??" She shivers again from the cold, and with a jolt realizes she is soaked. "Let's go somewhere warmer. Then we can talk," he says, wrapping his black leather jacket around her shaking shoulders. Emma was surrounded by the scent of pine and mint and something she couldn't quite place - it was slightly sweet. She liked it. It was oddly familiar but at the same time not like anything she had experienced before. As they stepped into the light of a flickering streetlight, she caught her first glimpse of her rescuer's face. Scars line the sharp angles of his face, she wondered what could possibly have done that, what could hurt him like that. He is still mostly obscured by shadow, but something about his stance radiates power. It seems almost familiar, but the memory is impossible to grasp. He notices her staring, and a smirk spreads across his face, it almost looks out of place. The darkness surrounding them pales in comparison to his inky black hair. His blue eyes pierce straight to her soul. Emma is transfixed by his beauty and stumbles over a crack in the pavement.

"Careful there, mia ragazza. You might hurt yourself. Let me," he says as he sweeps her off of her feet.

"What are you doing? Put me down!" she screams, pounding at his solid chest. He only holds her tighter, his muscles flexing against her. Finally, she gives in and curls into his warmth. Despite everything, she feels safe. Somehow he knows her, and understands her unlike anyone has ever understood her. Exhaustion sweeps over her and before she knows it, her eyes flutter shut, fading into darkness.