The Tale of Tara and Emiko

II. Tara

School was, for the most part, normal. That is until lunch rolled around. Then the questions got weird.

Ok, since I was now known as "the queen's best friend", a lot of people had started to take an interest in me, which explains the abundance of questions. Most of them were simple things, like my favorite color, favorite food, locker decor, hair and skincare tips, and the occasional "do you have a crush on anyone." (For the record, no, I do not.)

However, some of the questions that popped up were...interesting. For instance, one popular rumor that had started going around was that Emiko's younger brother, who was currently a junior, was using me for answers to most of his exams. Another claimed that Emiko and I were dating, and that was how I went from such a nobody to her closest friend over one short summer. Finally (okay, this one is wild), there were way more people than necessary believing that Emiko was here as a spy and that there was supposedly an assassin hidden within the school that she was here to snuff out. These were all rumors, mind you, so none of them were actually true. Let me tell you, I would be laughing for days every time a new rumor surfaced due to the sheer hilarity of it all.

Even so, I thought I was used to these weird questions. I thought I'd heard them all, that nothing could really shock or surprise me anymore.

But noooooo, Life really was out to get me.

It was only 4th period, and so far over thirty different people came up to me asking why I went with Emiko last night to the abandoned barn. I felt a little bad telling them all that I didn't know, but they didn't show any signs of guilt or sadness. Then again, they might have just been a little intimidated by me.

So far, I've gathered some information. Apparently, in the middle of the party last night, Emiko had abruptly left the house. Everyone thought she was leaving for good since she'd taken her bag with her, which was kinda weird since everyone expected her to leave with me in the same dramatic style we came. It seemed like she was heading in the direction of the run-down barn, so I followed her, for what reason unknown, ending with where the story picks up on my end: me waking up this morning with no memory of the night before. If this story wasn't labeled as realistic fiction in the author's mountain of post-its, I'd think there was some sort of alienish brainwashing/memory-wiping crap going on!

Either way, the questions weren't even the weirdest thing that happened to me that day. During 9th-period science, when our teacher announced that we would be investigating the effects of heat on certain substances with a hands-on project, everyone looked ecstatic, especially when he rolled out a cart with Bunsen burners on it. Emiko, however, did not. Her face paled like she'd seen a ghost.

What the-

Her hand shot up. "Excuse me, may I go to the nurse? I'm not feeling well." The faked desperation in her eyes was enough to win the teacher over.

"Yes, you may go. Tara, would you escort her there? And you two girls can bring your bags too, so if you need to stay longer you won't have to rush back here."

As soon as we were far enough from the classroom, Emiko grabbed my hand and smirked. "Okay, so first off we're not going to the nurse."

"Wait, what?" I started to get worried. "Where are we going?"

"To the roof." Emiko's eyes were brimming with mischief. "I've got something to show you."

"But aren't we supposed to stay in the building? Someone might catch us!" I protested. "If you wanted to skip class, that's ok, but we really shouldn't go on the roof-"

"My decision, not yours. Come on!" Emiko dragged me along, and her iron grip on my hand forced me to run after her, or risk dislocating my arm. I, honestly, feared the worst, thinking we might run into someone we knew. But it seemed luck was in our favor today since we didn't find anyone on our path: not even the stray janitor or freshman who got lost looking for the bathroom.