Shutter [Jonathan Byers] Stranger Things I

XXXI: Distress

 dis·tress

noun

extreme anxiety, sorrow, or pain.

It was hardly noon by the time they got back to the Byers house; Jonathan looked distraught and so far from reality, and Emilia felt as though people had seen that expression upon her own face since her mother died. But not anymore. She propped the baseball bat against the wall near the front door, but she kept her jacket on. She had no intentions of staying for too long; although she needed to support Jonathan, she got a strong sense that he wanted to be alone right then. She understood when people needed their space, and she was going to respect those boundaries as she wanted others to do for her.

"I'm going to head back to the school," She told Jonathan. "Do you want me to come back after?"

"I-" His voice had a waver to it, another thing Emilia picked up on too quickly because of her own experiences. "Please."

She nodded, "I'll take the bus back, I'll be here around three fifteen."

He offered the slightest of smiles that Emilia could only recognize as strained; it was as if Will's disappearance had sapped all the joy out of Jonathan, and not having found him safe and sound at Castle Byers had pushed it one step further. Emilia knew that too much more and Jonathan would be pushed into that limbo zone she had been in for so long. She ran her fingers through her hair, untangling a few loose knots, and decided it was time to go. She glanced at the bat only for a few seconds, and decided not to take it; she'd look like a lunatic showing up at the school with a baseball bat.

"Wait," Jonathan turned down the hall and disappeared for a few seconds. Emilia rocked back and forth on her heels until he returned, holding a film tube. "Go ahead and process these, will you?"

"Sure," she took the small canister and pocketed it. Then she kissed his cheek, "They'll find him. We'll find him."

It was as if Emilia knew she was safe for a few minutes, as her long walk back to school was not the same as when she walked through the woods the other night. There was nothing around, nothing lurking and following her, ready to devour her or kill her. There was nothing but the woods; trees and critters, cold wind and the smell of rotting leaves. When she was back at the school, she had only a few minutes left before the bell rang for third period. English class; although she would have liked to skip it, she gladly went back to the mundane life just to feel some normalcy for a few hours.

When she arrived in photography, she automatically glanced over to where Jonathan used to sit and glance up at her every day; so much had changed, Emilia could hardly process it. In only a few short weeks, their relationship went from a stolen glance here and there, to an intimate couple. A smile danced onto her lips, but it was quickly removed when Mr. Edwards walked up to her.

"Emilia, your project... We should talk."

She had expected this, but she didn't think he would approach her so soon. Walking over to his desk, she sat down while all the other students filed in. Most were chitchatting, not even noticing her up there. She felt a few eyes on her, but she didn't care. Attention on Mr. Edwards, she hoped that this would go quick so that she could seal herself in the red room to develop those photos.

"It's nothing about Christmas..." He said, "The assignment isn't due for another month, so you can take it back and work on it, I just don't understand-"

"Not everyone celebrates Christmas, Mr. Edwards. I know, it's a foreign concept, but I don't celebrate it. I don't see why I should take pictures of Christmas lights and Christmas trees, snow -if we even get any- when I see Christmas as just another mundane thing."

"But-"

"It's just another day, and if you can't respect my way of doing Christmas, then I'll take a fail."

"I mean... I guess I never thought of anyone not celebrating. You didn't explain why...?"

"It was never a big thing at my house," she explained, "And then my mum died right before Christmas, it sort of left a bad taste in my mouth. Surely you can understand that I don't see snow as beautiful, I see it stained with my mothers blood."

He pressed his lips tight, "I'll go over your project again with all this in mind."

"Thank you," she glanced at the red room, "May I steal the red room?"

"Go ahead."

It was easiest to get people to stop talking when you talked about two things; death and feminine issues. She slipped into the red room and pulled out the film canister from her pocket. Taking her time, but constantly glancing at the door, she processed the images. Lifting up the one of her half nude, she studied it in the dark room. The way she stood was so beautiful, so uplifting. Half of Emilia wanted to run out with the image yelling, "Look at how beautiful I am!" but she wasn't that conceited.

When the day was over, she took the bus back to Jonathan's home, a file folder of her new images tucked safely in her backpack. Hopping off the bus at the closest stop, she walked up the road casually towards the Byer's house. She didn't want to intrude on such a hard time, but when her mother had died, all she wanted was someone to take care of her. Her father had simply disappeared, both physically and mentally. Food was never prepared, and Emilia lived off of the odd casserole that a neighbour would bring over, because all the food in the house had gone bad. At some point, even though she was wounded both inside and out, she had stolen cash from her dad's wallet and went grocery shopping. And if she remembered correctly, it had been Joyce at the till, ringing her up and casting her sympathetic glances.

If Joyce wanted her to leave them to be alone, she would. But Emilia suspected that they wouldn't want to make dinner, they wouldn't want to tidy up the laundry or the dishes. Emilia was more than happy to help out and be useful in a time of such distress. She noticed that Joyce was home, so she knocked. The door was opened from inside and Joyce faced Emilia, studying her. She suddenly embraced Emilia, pulling her both inside of the house and into her grasp. Her bony elbows dug into Emilia, but it was a feeling so powerful, that Emilia wished she could feel it all the time.

"You don't need to knock, honey," she whispered. "You're always welcome here."

Joyce being all mum-sy to Emilia. Makes my heart swell. JK my heart doesn't do much. 

Question of the day, where is your favourite place you've travelled? If you've never travelled, where would you want to travel?

My answer, I'm torn; I loved Germany so much that I'm slowly attempting to learn German, but Ireland was SO CANADA FRIENDLY it made me feel like I was at home away from home. Next I'd love to go to Iceland, Sweden, some northern European countries.