Upside Down Tendrils

Chapter Two

     Despite having not showered for a few days, and having my hair up in the messiest ponytail ever, I felt good. Pretty, even. Strong, too. Like I had overcome something great even if I was just an ordinary girl. The smile plastered all over my face, even reaching my eyes, said it all.
     "You seem awfully happy today," Ash exclaimed, sidling up to me. "Maybe even too happy if you remember your circumstances."
     "Oh, stop it. You know I miss him. It's just..." I paused, feeling slightly guilty.
     Ash lightly punched me, "I'm just messin' with ya. I'm actually very glad you are back to being my little Ember." My real name was Emily, but when I became friends with Maria, she changed it to Em because it 'fit me better,' and when Ash caught wind of this, she changed it to Ember.
     I smiled. I knew it was wrong to be happy, but I also knew that if Dad was still here, and it was Mom instead, he would have told me to shake it off. Be the Emily he named me for. So, I had to smile. For Dad. But, more than that, something changed in me. This morning I woke up different. I don't know how, I don't know why, but I do know I am different today. Something extraordinary happened overnight. I just can't quite name it. "Good." I exclaimed, beaming. Then, I quieted to a whisper, "I know it may be odd to be so happy when he died just a week ago, and I am still sad, but something has changed in me. I feel different. And, I know he'd want me to be happy. Not happy because he died, but happy like an Emily. I can't let it ruin me. Life is too short for that sort of thing."
     "Indeed." Ash hooked her arm through mine, and we pushed through the mob of people, headed towards Maria's locker. Just then, a thought came to me.
     "Hey!" I exclaimed, and Ash paused her gait to look at me. "We should call Maria like Ri or Ria, something short. Like our names. Ash and Em."
     Ash's eyebrows quirked up in that silly little way of hers. "We shall." We walked the rest of the way to Maria, or should I say Ri's locker. "And here is to the birth of Ri," Ash bellowed, raising her binder in the air to signify a toast.
     "I love it!" Ri squealed. "You two are so creative! Ri, Ri, Ri! C'est parfait!"
     Oh no! Not another French ranting from Ri. It was funny how ordinary my life was, even when it was about to become extoardinary. And there was nothing I could do to stop it. Not that I would, even if I could.