One Roof

Chapter 21

Something's not right.

That thought occupied my mind. Everything was supposed to be normal for me, even including the part where Emily stood beside me, but I couldn't help but feel something was wrong. After a few hours, I could finally pinpoint the exact cause. It was Emily, but the problem was that I didn't understand what was wrong.

Emily had been trying to reduce the number of times she talked to others as consideration for me, but that day, she was weirdly silent. It was a normal Friday afternoon at the end of November. I didn't have any classes on Friday, so for today, I decided I would just relax and complete my tasks.

I glanced at Emily, who stood with a flat expression behind me. She noticed me looking at her and let out a smile, although it felt off in a way. Maybe she wasn't smiling at me, but instead at someone else? Assuming that to be the case, I turned around and concentrated on the tasks at hand. Emily started moving, walking past my right. She stepped into the wall, hiding herself from my view.

Why does it feel... off?

I had never felt something like this before. It was just... I couldn't really say I knew what was off, but I just felt something was wrong. I acknowledge that for one reason or another, I had been struggling to keep my mind off her, but even so, I felt like something was going on. She had been like this since morning. She didn't wake me up with her cheerful self, but rather with a cold face uncharacteristic of her usual self.

I wanted to ask, but since she was still outside, I would only be a bother to her. Instead, I remained seated, not that I could see her now, as she was behind the wall in front of me. I couldn't even tell whether or not she was looking at me. As I continued doing my tasks, my mind wandered off, telling me the thing it had been telling me all this time. I took my phone and opened Fine. My hand hovered above Emily's contact.

I had my doubts. I couldn't see her, after all, nor did I hear anything. Maybe she was concentrating, or maybe she was busy. I started pressing on it, typing down my message, asking her whether things were alright or not.

I looked up to the wall, hoping she would return from there, but there was nothing. I looked back down and pressed send. Had she been outside the wall, I could see her read my notification. I could pull her out by walking away from my desk, but I didn't feel like standing up. I checked my application. My message was sent, but no notification confirming that Emily had read it could be seen. Failing to hold my curiosity, I pushed the chair away from the desk and forced my legs to stand up.

I then turned around and moved away from the desk, and after a few steps, Emily appeared in front of me. I was shocked when I saw her. She turned her head toward me, letting out a forced smile. Regardless of our relationship, I think anyone would be able to easily tell just how forced that smile was. She herself realized this fact and let out a sigh. She turned around and made her way away from me.

Unable to say anything, I stayed silent.

Emily didn't reply. I checked my phone, finding the little 'read' sign beside my message, confirming that she had read it. She didn't reply, however, neither by message nor by speaking. I decided to not pursue it further, and returned to my own task. I couldn't concentrate, however, my mind was bothered by what just happened.

I questioned what I saw. The last time I saw that kind of face was a few years ago, when we were little. I forgot what caused it, but I did remember her showing that forced smile. It felt weird, in a way. I rarely saw her ever showing that kind of face to anyone. Something big must have happened.

I realized that I couldn't get anything done, and decided to outright stop trying. I leaned my back on the chair and looked up at the empty ceiling, my thoughts going off on their own. Just then, I realized Emily had stepped out of the walls, walking toward me. She appeared behind my laptop, half of her body in the desk before me. Her arrival prompted me to stand up.