SETTLE DOWN, matty healy

Chapter 8: She Way Out

Song Selection: Escape by Kehlani

The game was getting more and more tense as time progressed. Eyes darted pass amongst the players as they tried to examine their cards. To give one's plan away would prove to be the end of the player's game and-

"UNO!" I yelled out, holding up one card to let Ryder and Anna throw theirs down in annoyance. "Psyched out much?"

Ryder rolled her eyes, sipping more of her milk tea we had gotten before sitting down in the boba place to start a game of UNO. "No but I've come to the realization that you can, at times, be a competitive psycho," She commented and almost made Anna spit up her own drink to then cause a hysterical laughter from the three of us.

I looked to my watch, seeing that it was another 15 minutes until the Poetry Club meeting after school and the walk back would take the majority of the time. I started packing up my things, causing my frens to groan in utter annoyance. "Just because you wanna do your things, Emerson, does not mean you get to leave us so soon," Anna said and began to pour childishly whilst Ryder bid me farewell.

The walk was short with the accompaniment of Mozart through my headphones, turning towards the familiar halls towards Mr. Healy's class shortly. I peeked in, noticing neither Liz nor Arthur and instead a fellow eager student balancing on the ends of her shoes as she appeared to eagerly talk to Mr. Healy.

Geez Emma, get a grip. You're stalking at this point; stop spying on them.

He began to laugh deeply, enough for me to feel the presence of him finding something she said to be humorous. A stab wound etched into my heart and I quickly left the door soon after as I noticed her make her way out the door. Of course, this would then cause for me to pay attention to her figure: fairly thin, short auburn hair, and freckles splattered all across her fair skin near her green eyes.

Yeah, scratch that, not stopping the stalking Jesus-

"Emma, you can come in already if you'd like," Mr. Healy said behind me, causing me to jump. It seemed he noticed this because he tried to contain himself from making a slight laugh. "Unless, of course, you'd want to wait for Liz and Arthur?"

Okay, now is the time for you to speak... ANYTIME NOW!

A ball formed in the back of my throat as I nodded quickly. "I'll- I'll just head inside and wait for them in here." He nodded with a small smile and held the door open for me so I could casually walk past him, inching past the small space that separated his for a few seconds to then take a seat in an empty desk.

"You should be able to have the classroom to yourself in a few moments, I was just packing up my stuff to leave anyways," He explained, taking out his bag from under his desk and I only nodded silently. I then kept to myself, watching the time tick away for what seemed like ages. "Sorry, I don't mean to intrude on you or anything, but could I just mention something quickly?"

He began to walk in front of my desk slowly, his face shifting into a deep thought. I leaned back in my chair nervously, seeing him lean on the board in front of me to face me properly. "I know I'm not Mrs. Eastwood, so you're not as familiar with me as you are with her, but seeing as I'm advisor for the club now, I wish for us to have that same close relationship as well at some point. A president and advisor should at least be familiar with one another." He cocked his eyebrow and shown a small smile. "Right?"

"Yes, yes of course. Absolutely," I stammered out, immediately cursing myself afterwards. Mr. Healy smiled proudly and headed back towards his desk , while I received a message from Arthur and Liz and several other new members telling me they were running late because of late dismissal for classes.

Mr. Healy was soon on his way out the door and I said a quick goodbye politely before he left. "Emma?" I turned back towards him now, seeing him lean on the door with a grin. "If I'm meeting with a student, I won't mind if you come in already instead of peering in; you're fine to come in as long as it's not disruptive, which I know for a fact you aren't. Just in case you were wondering."

***

"I'm dead, he actually said that?" Anna said surprised over the phone as I continued on my math homework.

I shook my head in embrassment. "I swear, I can't tell if the guy is actually flirting with me or something because his overall body language and word choice is highly confusing," I said, causing for her to laugh on the other end, "What?"

She managed to slowly contain herself, shaking her head at me. "Honey, you're in denial. It's just his personality. I don't think he's actually flirting with you, so why don't you go after a guy that's actually your age?"

My mind continued to think about the possibility despite Anna's comment, causing for her to heave our a sigh over the phone. "You know, homecoming is coming up and it's be nice if we all, you know, had dates or something," She mentioned, "Don't you have that Anatomy partner who sort of likes you?"

I scoffed at the thought. "Honestly Anna, I dismiss the guy majority of the time in class and can never seem to remember his name. I'm better off without a date. It'll just show how independent I am and that I don't need a date to go to homecoming," I said, practically feeling the eye roll on the other line, "Besides-"

My door knob starting turning profusely and my mother began pounding on the other side of the door. "Emma, why is your door locked? Emma!" I told Anna goodbye quickly and got off the phone to open the door, being enveloped in the protective arms of my mother. "I told you you're not allowed to lock your door. What if you-"

"Mom, I'm fine remember. I was with Anna on the phone and I forgot to unlock my door, I'm sorry," I told her, trying to let go of her grasp and ease her worries. She only nodded to me, handing me my pills to take with the bottle of water I had on my bed strand. Soon she shut off my light, insisting I go to bed to get a proper amount of sleep. Of course, I did so easily as I was tired always anyways. However such did not leave me to keep wondering of the occurrences between certain individuals.