Emma (A Prequel/Short Story)

{Three}

The relief of crawling under the warm comforter of you bed without being caught, is one of the best feelings that you can ever experience.

I found myself smiling and thinking of Luke. Not in a romantic way, of course, but something about him was so desirable to me. He didn't talk very much, but he wasn't a awkward or uncomfortable to be around.

He was quiet. And for a girl that tries her best to get away from the noise, he was charming.

My parents would never let me go to some boy's house that I barely knew, but I really wanted to. I wanted to get to know him and talk to him.

I understood that he had a girlfriend and I'm sure she's beautiful and perfect and has an adorable laugh. Something I could never achieve, but something he deserved. No, I'm the girl with a horse laugh.

Quickly, I got out of bed and grabbed a notepad from my desk and wrote down his address so I wouldn't forget it.

As I got back in bed, I took my MP3 player from the nightstand and put my headphones in my ears.

I wrapped myself up tightly in a blanket and closed my eyes trying to remember every step and everything said between the two of us and let the music drown out the sound of Opal's gentle snoring as I drifted off to sleep.

•••

"Emma, get up! It's nearly ten, I've let you sleep in!" my mothers voice interrupted my sleep and I took a deep breath before opening my eyes.

I'd rather be at school than being here with my family.

I decided to wait until my mum was in a good mood to ask about dinner at Luke's house tonight.

"I'm up!" I yelled.

I pulled my hair up into a pony tail and reminded myself that I needed to shower after breakfast.

The four children that knew how to walk shared one hall bathroom. Assorted tooth brushes and hair ties littered the counters and seven-million (or around that number) towels hung on the back of the door. Not to mention that the twins always forgot to put the toilet seat back down.

I got breakfast and my mum gave me a list of chores she needed me to do. Perfect. Maybe after I finished all the chores, I'd have a better chance of going tonight.

After breakfast, I cleaned the breakfast dishes and unloaded the dishwasher from last night and then went upstairs to clean my room and straighten up the bathroom.

"Emma, can we go to the park today?" Opal asked climbing on my back and wrapping her arms around my neck as I sat on the bathroom floor.

"Maybe. If it's not too cold. Do Jacob and Edison want to go or just you?"

"Just me."

"Opal."

"Okay, the twins want to go too, but can't we just go? Just the two of us? You never spend time with me." she pleaded.

I sighed and said that I'd try to when I got all my chores done.

If I got all my chores done.

•••

Opal held my hand as we walked through the park. Just the two of us, like she wanted.

"Do you want to go back to school, Emma?"

I thought for a moment. I really wanted to drop out of school and live on my own, but I'd never tell Opal that or she'd tell my mom and I'd get lectured.

"Yes. I miss my friends."

I had only a handful of friends and I never saw them outside of school. My best friend lived in England and I wrote letters to him all the time.