Emerson Wilmore was an exemplary Ravenclaw student, known for her unwavering dedication to academics and an unyielding moral compass. However, things took a twisted and deviated turn in her life after her boyfriend, Cedric Diggory, was murdered by L...
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Emerson woke up in her dormitory feeling like a heavy weight was pressing down on her chest, making it constrict. When she opened her eyes, she didn't even move, other than to roll onto her back and stare at the ceiling. It was another early morning, as per usual for Emerson.
She could already tell the time by the early morning light filtering through the curtains which did nothing to lift her spirits. Her mind was thick with exhaustion, every thought sluggish and muddled from a night of restless tossing and turning. It had been a very long time since she got a full eight hours of sleep, because her mind was always haunted by thoughts of Cedric at night but last night, was entirely someone different for once.
She didn't know why she felt so miserable after the party. After all, she and Mattheo had only been friends, if she could even call it that, for about two weeks and it was kept a complete secret. It wasn't like they had a deep connection or years of shared history. But despite the short time, she couldn't deny the sharp sting of sadness that gnawed at her. She still felt a connection with him, somehow. She enjoyed their friendship, the secret smiles, whispered comments, and honest confessions where they told each other things that they hadn't told anyone before. It was easy to share some of the darkest parts of her life with Mattheo, because he didn't treat her like she was wounded. He treated her like a survivor because he could relate to the feeling.
The argument with Mattheo played on a loop in her mind, his anger and frustration clashing with her own hurt and confusion. She didn't even bother returning to the party afterwards, she couldn't force herself to do it. Besides, Fred would've been busy with Kiara so she no longer had a date to keep her mind off anything. Her purpose of attending the party was fulfilled, so returned back to Ravenclaw Tower, dragging her feet along.
Every time she closed her eyes when she was in bed, she saw his face, the way his eyes darkened with that inexplicable rage she couldn't quite put her finger on. When she backed him into a corner and demanded answers for his actions, he wasn't honest like he was meant to be. He could barely even look at her. He quickly rebuilt the walls around him and turned cold and distant, undoing the progress they made over the past two weeks. She remembered the intensity in his gaze, the way his voice had trembled with emotion that he couldn't, or wouldn't, explain. And then, he just let her walk away without stopping her. He clearly didn't care about their friendship as much as she thought he did.
It all left her feeling raw and exposed, like she had laid her heart on the line only for it to be crushed underfoot by Mattheo's detachment and indifference. It was like he didn't even care about losing the friendship. She kept telling herself it was ridiculous to feel this way. They were nothing more than two enemies who had stumbled into an unexpected connection, only to have it shattered as quickly as it began. They clearly were never meant to be friends, they were better off disliking each other from across the room. But, that didn't stop the ache in her chest or the gnawing feeling of loss that wouldn't go away.
