The Many Lives of Jodie Moore (READ DESC)

Emily - Part 1

"Hello." The girl sitting next to me said. She looked about 12, and she had dark skin and brown hair.
"Hi." I tried to sound as casual as possible. I knew she was just gonna sit there for a bit and leave without another word.
"I'm Millie, what's your name?"
I was wrong.
"I. . . don't really have a name." I replied awkwardly.
Millie nodded. We sat there for a few minutes in silence.
"I should probably go, I'll be back tomorrow." Millie said as she stood up to leave. I just nodded back to her. I knew she wasn't going to come back, she was just saying that to be nice.

The next day, she came back.

I will admit, I was genuinely shocked when I realized it was the same person. People told me all the time they were gonna come back just because they felt bad for me, but they never did.

We both sat there in silence for a few minutes.

"Are you okay?" Millie eventually managed to say.
I responded with a simple "Yes."
"Are you sure?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"You seem pretty lonely."

At this time, I didn't understand the concept of "lonely". I experienced loneliness 24/7. It was my usual. Which was exactly why it was so difficult for me to understand. I didn't know what not being lonely felt like, so I didn't know that there was anything other than lonely for me to experience.

Nobody spoke for about 5 minutes.

Millie got up and looked to me, "I'll be back again tomorrow." And then she was gone. Again.

The next day, she came back. This time she was holding something.

"Here." She handed me a lidded paper cup. I felt the warmth of the liquid inside soak into my fingers. I hadn't felt anything like it before.

I heard Millie say "You can drink it" and I realized I had just been staring at the cup in my hand for a while, letting it warm my hand. I took a sip from the cup in my hand.

And that is the story the first time I tasted chocolate.