Crush Vision

Chapter 2

"There's barbecue sauce on your chin."

Emmy's hand flies to her face and she scrubs with a napkin. "Better?"

I nod.

She sighs and pushes her plate to the side, flopping back on the grass. "Ugh, now I'm sleepy."

I laugh and join her. "Me too."

She goes quiet for a minute.

I look over at her. "Anybody tell you not to stare at the sun like that?"

In response Emmy shoves her hand into her pocket. "My future's so bright; I gotta wear shades!"

"Have you been looking at memes again?" I snort.

She pulls a pair of sunglasses out of her jeans, only to discover that they're broken. "Aw man, I knew that fifty-cent deal was too good to be true..." She flings her forearm across her eyes instead.

I prop my hands behind my head and cross my legs. A breeze stirs up the grass, and the blades tickle my face. I glance at Emmy. With her arm over her face like that, it almost looks like she's asleep. Her chest rises and falls, and she doesn't say anything. Wait...is she?

Nah, there's no way she could fall asleep that fast.

Just to be sure, I scoot closer and poke her in the arm. "Hey. Emmy."

She twitches, but she doesn't respond.

Is she ignoring me? "Emmy...Emmyyyyy," Before I can get self-conscious about it, I grab my plate and swipe my finger through some leftover ketchup, painting it on my nose. I lick the rest off my finger. "Boo!"

This gets her attention. Emmy sits up and bursts out laughing. "Henry, what?!" She giggles and tosses me a napkin at my face. "There, Rudolph."

I wipe it off. Made her laugh, though...

She stares off into space.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" I ask.

Emmy sighs. "My parents want to take me to the college fair downtown tonight." She leans back on the hill. I move next to her. "And?"

"I don't wanna think about it!" She snatches her paper plate out of the wind and slams it down next to her. "All those booths and brochures and everything, it's too overwhelming!"

I don't really know what to say to that; I'm right there with her.

She tries to put the broken sunglasses on her face but gives up. "How am I supposed to make a decision?! I don't have a clue what I want to do..."

"Come on, this is only the second year of high school; we have tons of time to think about that," I tell her.

She glances over at me. "I guess so, but..."

My cheeks heat up. "A-anyway, maybe you could still go and at least figure out what you don't want to do?"

Emmy nods. "Well, you have a point. I just wish everything wouldn't move so fast."

I watch as she stares up at the sky and brushes her hair from her face. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

My face is red, isn't it? What is this? I need to chill out...I turn my head upwards and hope Emmy didn't see. Clouds float through the air and pass us by.

"So, you think we'll be okay?"

Her voice jerks me out of my thoughts. "Huh?"

"All this stuff, the future. Do you really think we can do it?" Emmy turns to look at me. I feel my heart rate speed up. So much for appearing calm.

"Yeah," I find myself saying, copying her movements. "Like I said, we have tons of time."

"I hope you're right..."

"I mean, we've gotten this far in school, right? There's no reason we can't go any farther."

"But how are we supposed to know that?"

She really must be stressing about this; I had no idea...I scratch my head. "Um...I guess we don't."

Emmy presses her palms to her eyes and groans. "What good does that do?"

As I try to think of something to say, my body makes the brilliant decision to pick that moment to sneeze. "Sheesh, sorry!"

"Bless yo—."

"Thanks." I grab my napkin to wipe my nose—only to find there's ketchup all over it. Ugh, maybe this is some metaphor for life or something. That, or I'm thinking about this too much.

We sit in awkward silence. Emmy stares at her feet and pulls at the grass. "I just wish I didn't have to go to that fair. People asking me questions I don't know the answers to, about my future and all that."

"To be honest, I feel the same way," I put down the napkin and pretend not to feel the itch in my nose. Whatever, I'll grab another later. "Would it help if I came with you?"

"Seriously? You really wanna come?" Emmy looks over at me in surprise.

I shrug. "I just thought maybe the future would be less scary if we face it together."

She smiles for the first time today. "Thanks, Henry. I might take you up on that."

I nod, feeling relieved. There's the Emmy I know.

Her phone buzzes, and we both jump.

"That'll be my mom texting—I guess I have to go." She stands and brushes off her pants. "So you'll come with me tonight?"

I give her a thumbs-up. "Yep; I'll see you there." A thumbs-up? Really? Since when do I do that?

She grins and picks up her trash, her braid falling across her shoulder. "Okay then. Bye, Henry!"

I wave as she jogs towards the church before getting up to find my parents—and a new napkin. Hopefully I haven't just gotten myself into more stress. I drop my plate in a trash can as I walk by.

But Emmy will be there, so it's fine.

—

Author's Note: Phew, I updated later than usual today, but here it is—how'd you like it? Also, the above picture doesn't show Emmy with a braid since that was an earlier character design (See Art Collection: Volume 2), but it still fit the scene. Thank you so much for reading—see you next week!