"EMILY! EMILY!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. I was opening my mouth so big to scream that when waves splashed, water got all in my mouth. And let me tell you, it was was not necessarily clean!😬
Finally, the top of Emily's head came into view. I could see her face now. I could see her......no. NO! "EMILY!!!!" I couldn't see her anymore, a big wave had carried her under... Emily?😟
Emily came out of the water, thrashing wildly. She was trying to catch her breath, I noticed, and wasn't succeeding. I swam over with all my might, but apparently none of us were going to succeed at anything very well today😕.
But nothing was going to hold me back from Emily.😌
I finally reached Emily and grabbed her hand with a very firm grip that would never let go.
"I-*cough*-told you I-*cough*-wouldn't let you walk home alone." She simply smiled, and for a split second, everything was calm...
"Em, I am really scared about this, I need someone." When I got nervous, I would always ask for an adult, and I would keep fanning myself and breathing heavily. But my hands were busy half trying to swim and half holding Emily's hand. So I just stuck to breathing heavily and still wanting an adult by my side. "Where is your mom?" I asked.
Emily turned a worried, concerned face in the direction of her shattered house. She bit her lip. But I knew this story: she would first get worried, then bite her lip, then a tear would stream down her cheek, and finally she would burst into tears and hug me. We would hug for a long time, that's how it always went when Emily got sad. But not this time. This time a tear streamed down her cheek, but when I opened my arms for a hug, she stayed strong. She wouldn't cry. I didn't know what she was thinking, but she starting swimming back to her house.....well, what was left of it.
Once we were there, we stopped swimming and held on to the house. Technically it was the house's roof, but it was still one part of the house.
"What are we doing now, Em?"
"I think...my mom is still in there."
"Emily, I know it's tough, but-"
"No, she is still in there. I know it." Emily was determined that her mom was still in flooded house, surviving somehow.
I had faith in Emily and her mom, so I helped Emily push through a broken wall. We started calling her name- "Sarah! Mrs. Welsh! Mom!"
But nothing responded to our screams.
"Em, I think it's time to go..."
"But...I just thought...maybe she would....I don't know what to do now..." Emily shed a tear, and slowly swam out of her house.
When we were both outside in the pouring rain, Emily completely turned on me.
"WHY? WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN? I DONT KNOW WHY YOU DO THIS TO ME!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. At first I thought she was yelling at God, but she was actually yelling at me.
"What? What did I ever do to you?" I was totally confused.
"This is all you fault my mom is dead! You don't ever believe in me! You think my mom is dead, and now she is! I HATE YOU!"
"What are you talking about? Em, I always believe in you, no matter what! I get that you are sad, but there is no reason to put all this on me!"
"It's all your fault!" Emily screamed one last time at me and started to swim away.
"You don't have anywhere to go. What are you doing?"
"I'm leaving; I'm going to a place where I'll never see you again."
"Emily, why are you acting this way? You know I didn't kill your mom."
"You did, and that's why we aren't friends anymore. That's why I'm leaving...forever."
Sadly, I knew she wasn't just leaving. She wasn't just going to a far away place. She would make sure she'd never see me again.....she would kill herself.
