Great Lengths

Prologue

''You're leaving?'' Emma wasn't sure if this was a joke or not. Then again, Olivia never jokes about things like this. Olivia gave a heavy sigh, ''yeah''.

Everything Olivia was saying wasn't being received properly in Emma's mind. What did she mean... leaving? Things were fine a week ago. Course things were difficult but she was going to stay with a friend on the same street that she lived on. What happened?

''My mum spoke to gran on the phone, she says its best if we stay with her so she can look after us considering mum and all.''

She paused. ''so then mum called the council in Cornwall to see if she could arrange anywhere to stay. We're still searching for a place of our own at the minute. But for now were just gonna stay with gran in her flat. It's so tiny but well be fine.''

Emma at this point had sort of drifted away. She was imagining what it would be without Olivia. Always coming to school expecting someone to say hello to in the morning; no one to properly talk about books. No Hearing about stuff that real families did. Olivia made her feel a part of the real world. Made her want to be a part of the world. Looking around her, she could see half of the library; she was sitting down in one of the old cheap and black leathered chairs. How many memories had she and Olivia shared on these seats? For a moment, she thought about this.

The entrance of the library was next to the checkout desk. Everything looked cheap in the library; 'even some of the people', that's what precious would say if she was around. This usually would have made her smile. But today, the colour of those hated chairs seemed to have leaked into her own emotions where she gladly let it fill her void.

She just broke down completely. She wasn't sure if this is what she wanted, to just let it out. Most of the time it had worked because Emma had never really felt anything emotionally before. The tears ran down her face like anybody else's. Salty, sharp on the tip of the tongue and the small trembling of the hands and the forehead to sweat slightly. An English teacher had walked past. Asked if she was alright. Yeah, she was bloody fine. The stuff on her face was just some trend teens had made.

''I'm fine now.'' Emma was heaving down her sobs and tricked herself into thinking that her eyes weren't bloodshot. She looked straight into Olivia's eye and it felt like they were really piercing into one another's thought. They were looking at each other In that special way that happens randomly; all it ever means to say, despite it being super cheesy, was that they really connected. It wasn't like other friendships. It never had been. THWACK!

The library door which Emma was leaning on collided with her head and now she was dizzy and slightly confused. ''Bloody hell Emma! You look a mess, stop crying for God sake. It's not like you'll never see her or talk to her ever again.'' Precious laughed, it felt spiteful. Everything was feeling sour today.

She was annoyed at every single one of the people that she saw that day. Most especially the person she saw in the mirror. Olivia was leaving on Sunday and Emma was going to be remains. Olivia's departure would rip through her life, making her unsure of what broad daylight would be on the other side