To the stars through difficulties

Introduction

        "Hurry up Emma! We will be late!" - her dad boomed from downstairs. "For gods sake! Can't you wait a second, dad? I am putting my shoes on, ugh." - thundered Emma. She hasn't been to school for quite a while now, as her mum passed away a month ago. Although she was trying to hide her sadness about her mum's death, and she was trying to act as if she doesn't really care, showing her *I don't give a damn* side, she couldn't cope with the fact that her mum had passed away and that she was never going to be able to see her again. Never... Again. Even though Emma was 15 years old and as every other teenager, she spent most of her time locked in her room, she missed her mum. She missed her a lot. She couldn't stop thinking of her, since the day she lost her life in the car accident she had made. How? Well, Emma's dad had bought a new car back then, and she, wanting to show off in front of her friends, called her mum and asked if she can come and pick her up because apparently, the bags were too "heavy". Her mum started complaining at first, but knowing how stubborn Emma is, and that she will never give up until she gets what she wants, she agreed. It was starting to rain, and she wanted to get to the place faster, so that her daughter won't get soaked. But there was a lot of traffic and people were driving fast. Very fast. She was trying to be careful and drive slowly because she wasn't much of a driver but suddenly, somebody crushed into her car. It all happened in a blink of an eye. She couldn't even see the car, and trying not to get into the accident was just impossible. And... happened what happened. Emma was blaming herself for all that, although she wasn't directly involved in it. Maybe if she didn't call her mum, if she wasn't acting as if she were a princess, her mum was still going to be alive. She couldn't take it anymore, her mum was like a tiny person, stuck in Emma's head. And no matter how hard she tried not to think of her, it was like, her thoughts just couldn't leave her alone. She simply couldn't stop thinking of her. She was always somehow there. "Come on honey! It's seriously getting late!" - cried her dad once again. Emma had already put her shoes on, but she completely forgot about school as she was thinking of her mum. Sitting on the stairs in the hall, having tears roll down her face, she was wondering why did it happen exactly to her. She tried to sound as if nothing happened, and replied to her dad. "Oh god, sorry! I'm coming daddy!" She called him daddy. She was usually arguing with both of her parents and now she calls him daddy? He sensed there was something wrong. Her voice sounded weird and she was also behaving strange lately. She got in the car and smiled to him. Although her dad was surprised by seeing her smile because she didn't sound good while she was getting ready, he decided not to say anything. Sometimes, the silence was more than enough. He loved that. Josh enjoyed sitting in his room, reading books. He loved how he was alone, drinking a cup of coffee and reading a book. The perfect smell of the books and hearing the wind, crack through the windows in his room was just a plus. His room was huge. Or... lets say it was more like a library. It had lots of bookshelves, full of books. He really had a lot of books. He loved reading every kind of book. Starting off science fiction, to love stories. He even had a few books for children, which reminded him of his childhood. He kept all the books he had read, wondering how lucky he is to realize how his views of the society and world in general had changed in the past few years. Or, since he knew about himself. Although he wouldn't reject any kind of a book, he adored philosophy. He just couldn't picture his life without philosophy. Aristotle, Plato, Socrates.. they all have had a huge impact on Josh's life, and he admired them. After spending a long drive to her new school, having the silence make it seem even longer, Josh told his daughter to call him when her classes end so that he can pick her up from school, and she agreed as she opened the door of the car she was in. "Have a great day at school honey, love ya" - he whispered, as he kissed her forehead. "Thanks, dad" - mumbled Emma while getting out of the car. She didn't like being touched. Emma was actually a pretty weird girl. She didn't like being alone but yet, she hated socializing. She wanted to be one of a kind. She always said that she'd rather die unique than live as a copy. Maybe that was the reason why she dyed her hair teal. She took a deep breath and walked to the school yard. Most of the people she saw in there were couples, and that's what she detested the most. People making out in front of everyone, touching themselves as if no one's watching. She felt lonely. She wanted to make a friend, because she didn't have any. But she didn't know how. Everyone had some company and she was the only girl who was walking alone. At that moment, a guy was walking towards her. He smiled and waved. "It's now or never" she thought. She stopped in front of him, and pulled her hand out of her pocket. "I'm Emma." She heard people laughing from behind her. "No." - she thought. "Why would they laugh at me? I was just trying to be kind." The guy didn't even look at her. He just kept walking, pushing her on the ground. He walked up to those guys and started laughing with them. "She is hideous" - he yelled. "But hey, she likes you!" they all laughed. She started crying. She felt exhausted and she couldn't even think of getting up. Everyone noticed her and they all started laughing. "Such a great start.." "I'm never gonna make new friends" - she thought. She got up a couple of minutes later and went in class. They were supposed to work in groups, and everyone had a partner. Except her. It wasn't that she was bad at astronomy. She actually loved learning new things, especially when it's about the universe. But the reason that nobody wanted her as a friend was her looks. She was a short, chubby girl with teal hair. She didn't wear any make-up and she wore glasses. The teacher didn't even notice that she had no partners so she was left all alone. The classes finished and she went outside to wait for her dad who was going to pick her up. While waiting for him, another boy walked past her. "Lets hope he needs friends..." - she thought. "Hey, how's it going with Mike? - he boomed, while winking at her. "W-what? Who's Mike?" - Emma asked. "Don't make a fool of yourself, Mike, the guy you met in the school yard earlier today"  - he responded. She saw her dad getting near them: "Excuse me, I need to go" - she said, as she entered her dad's car. "How was school, sweetie?" "It was good" - she quaked. "Is everything okay, Emma?" "Yeah dad, I just can't understand why do you make me change schools this often." And that was it. They didn't talk anything else that day. Her dad took her home, she locked herself in her room and didn't want to open the door. "Emma, are you okay?" "Yes dad, I just had a bad day. Can you please leave me alone? - she whined. "Okay honey.. I'll be in the living room if you need anything" - her dad replied. Emma cried herself to sleep and she had really big eye bags the next morning. She felt exhausted when she woke up but she had to go to school. She got dressed and her dad drove her to school again. "Okay, I will try to make a friend again today" "I can't be that bad" - she wondered. There were people kissing, guys hanging out and laughing as if they're having the time of their lives. And she was alone...again. She spotted a really gaunt, tall girl sitting on a bench alone and walked towards her. She stopped for a second: "Okay Emma, you can do this." "Hey, can I sit here?" "Urm y-yeah, sure" - the girl stuttered. "I am really sorry if I distracted you from doing something.." - Emma whispered. That was it. She felt anxious all at once, she felt as if the world was coming to an end. She started sweating and she felt really feeble. Her face turned pale and it looked like she was going to pass out every second. "No! I needed you, I needed a friend. My name is Anna" - smiled the girl. "Uh.. oh.. I- I'm Emma" -she smiled.

~To be continued~