“Hey Emerson!” I hear a voice behind me, muffled by my headphones. I pull the buds out of my ears and turn around. Sadie Hamilton, a girl who’s managed to follow me from grade school all the way to college, is running towards me with her arms waving wildly out around her.
“Hey, Sadie.” I say, trying not to sound too disinterested as I shove my hands in my pockets and shift awkwardly on my feet.
“I totally saw Delaney in this month’s issue of Teen Vogue! Oh my god, I was like ‘OMG I know her!!!’ It was like super cool.” She tells me. If she wasn’t so sweet, I’d probably be mocking her right now.
“I’ll have to tell her you said so.” I say, looking around and wishing I could leave.
“Holy cow! Will you really?!” She exclaims hopefully.
I gulp. I didn’t really have any intention of doing it when I first said it, but the excited look on her face is quite the guilt trip. “Yeah, of course.” I say, smiling what I hope is a supportive smile.
“Oh Emmy, you’re so great!” She squeals, leaping forward and crushing me in her arms.
“Uh…” I don’t know how to react to this. “Anytime…” I say, pulling away and practically running to my next class.
What she was referring to has been the main topic of discussion in my family for the past few months. We were all so happy for Laney when Vogue hired a photographer she’d been working closely with. They naturally chose her to model the clothes for them and since then, she’s been getting calls from all around the country for shoots.
After my class, I head to the large fountain at the center of the commons area of the college. My best friend, Delia, meets me here every day so we can head home together. We rent an apartment with another girl named Fiona. She goes to an art school about a mile in the other direction of our apartment. We’ve gotten to know her really well in the last few months of living together and she’s the craziest girl I’ve ever met.
My headphones are in my ears again as I sit cross legged on the ledge of the fountain. It’s about two feet wide, built specifically with the intention of students using it as a place to get to know one another. My trig textbook is sitting in front of me while I’m actively working on the equations, wondering when my calculator decided to get so complicated. Math isn’t really my strong suit, so I always try to get it out of the way while I wait, just in case I need to go talk to my professor. He’s gotten used to me harassing him at least once a week for extra help. Luckily, my college isn’t the uptight ones you read about in books, where the students are expected to just know things automatically.
I hear a muffled ‘Look out’ right before my head jerks to the side and my whole body follows. In almost slow motion, my calculator falls out of my hands as I flail my arms around me, trying to balance myself. It doesn’t work though and suddenly I’m hitting the bottom of the fountain, the water seeping into my clothes. Coughing from the wind being knocked out of me, I sit up. I’m drenched and probably look like a dog that got stuck out in the rain. Everybody around me is staring, visibly trying to hold in their laughter, which makes me incredibly self conscious.
“I’m so sorry about that!” A guy standing on the dry side of the ledge says to be before putting his hand out. I silently take it and allow him to pull me out. “Are you okay? I was throwing the ball to Trigger and he got distracted by some girls. The next thing I knew, you were falling into the fountain and I tried to warn you, but your headphones were in.”
That makes me gasp and look around. There, in the sparkling clear water, is my iphone. “No.” I sigh, looking sadly down at my most precious piece of technology. Serves me right through. I had no business bringing it around the fountain, especially since I didn’t bother with the two years of insurance they offered me when I bought it.
