Real Happiness (12/6/15- )

Real Happiness // Chapter Five

Chapter Five: Bittersweet Dreams and New People

"Hey Lee." Ryder says smiling at Emma.

"Can someone slap me?" Emmalee muttered, staring wide-eye at Ryder. Not believing that she's actually with him again after so many years.

Ryder shakes his head while laughing, and walks toward Emma. Once he gets close enough to her, he wraps his arms around her in a tight hug and lifts her off the ground, spinning her around. Emma giggles before wrapping her arms around his neck and holding on to him as he spins her around. Ryder eventually puts her down, but doesn't let her go.

"God I've missed you, Lee. So much." Ryder whispers into her ear.

"Me too." Emma says starting to get teary eyed.

~*~

"Emma. Emmalee. Emmalee!" She hears her name being called and wakes up. Emma sits up in her bed confused.

"Come on! We've been calling your name for 20 minutes now! Get ready we're going out with Grams." Jenni says to her. Then leaves the room.

Emma's heart starts to hurt knowing that seeing Ryder was only in her dreams, and that she'd probably never see him again. What's the point? She thought and made her way towards the bathroom.

Emma looks into the mirror and all the insults she's been told over the years come crashing into her mind. "Why aren't you eating? You're anorexic! Why do you wear all those baggy clothes? Trying to cover up that fat body?" Tears pool in her eyes and she slides to the floor as she resists the temptation. To just end it, or give at least get some relief. But before she can do anything her mom come back into the room and see her.

"Emma, what's wrong baby?" Her mom asks worriedly. Jenni sits down next to Emma and wraps her arms around her daughter.

"Mom, it hurts." Emma sobs into her moms chest.

"What hurts, baby?"

"Everything."

"What can I do?" Jenni sadly asked. She hated to see her only child, sad and depressed. Feeling her daughter shrug, she just continued to rock Emma back and forth. "You will see him again, honey, I know it." Jenni says knowing that one of the biggest reasons Emma's been depressed was Ryder having to leave her.

"How do you know?" Emma questioned, while looking up at her mom, through teary eyes.

"Call it mom powers, but I know it."

~*~

"What took you so long?" Annabella asked, when her daughter and granddaughter finally came into the kitchen. She had been waiting for about a half hour, and had managed to make an entire meal for them all, desert and all. "The food is going to go cold." She continued to complain, while she started to dish out the food.

"Oh, mom! Quit your complaining, we're here aren't we?"

"Yeah, yeah!" She muttered. When she finally finished with the plates, she handed them over, along with a cup of Diet Coke. "Just eat up, we are going shopping!"

"Shopping? Really? My, my, what a great way to spend a day!" Emma sarcastically said, but none the less, started eating. The plate had deep fried chicken, corn on the cob, a dinner roll, and a brownie.

"Does she not like shopping?" Annabella asked Jenni.

"No, she would much rather hang with her friends, in sweats and a tank top, than dress up like a doll." Jenni replied, remembering the one beauty pageant Syd partook in, and how she had worn Converse with her dress.

"Fine, do you want to go watch a movie?" Annabella questioned.

"Sure!" Emmalee said, already finished with her plate. "I heard that the latest Hunger Games is still up at the theaters, want to go?"

"Yeah... Isn't that the one about the messed up government that has 'districts' and death matches with teens?" Jenni asked, taking a sip of Diet Coke.

"Yep, that's the one! Remember we had a movie marathon awhile ago when I was in town, and we watched all the ones out?" Annabella replied, handing over her plate to Emma who was taking all the empty dishes and putting them in the dish washer. Jenni nodded, before they went out to the car.

On the way there, Emma stared out at the pasting scenery, thinking about her dream, and how real it had been. How real her happiness had been, when she was hugging and being hugged by Ryder. "If only, if only, it had been real." She muttered to herself.

"What was that, honey?"

"Huh? Oh! Nothing." She distantly replied back.

Arriving at the theaters, they piled out of the car and headed inside. While her mom and Grams were buying the tickets, Emma went over to buy the snacks. Once she ordered a large popcorn, three large drinks, and candy, she pulled out her phone and started flipping through her photos of Ryder and her. "Who's that?" Annabella asked, after taking her drink and candy.

"A friend, but he moved away."

"Hmm, he looks familiar." Annabella said, trying to think where she saw him.

"He was the Apollo's kid, you probably met him during one of visits." Jenni said, walking up with the tickets. Nodding, Annabella lead the way to the theater, the movie was showing in.

~*~

Walking out of the theaters, Emma listened to her mom and Grams talk about the movie, and how they had to kill off Primrose and Finnick. Not watching where she was going, because she was daydreaming, she ran right into someone. "I am so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going!" Emma said, at the same time the other person did.

Laughing, the person said, "My name is Olivia, though you can call me Liv! What's yours?"

"Emmalee, but call me Emma."

"Emma, huh? Cool, I think we are going to be best friends!" Liv exclaimed, lopping her arm with Emma's. If you say so...

"Do you go to Valley High? I've never seen you before." Liv says.

"I will be starting there tomorrow actually. I just moved here with my mom." Emma says and Liv's face lights up, and she claps excitedly.

"We will definitely be best friends! Meet me in the main lobby, and I'll show you around, ok?"

"Sounds good. Thanks, see you tomorrow." Emma says, and Liv waves goodbye as they get into their cars and head home.

***

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