Spark in the darkness (Inspired by Why Don't We)

18. Past is past

After my successful sports lesson I was feeling so high that I was almost positive that if I had wings, I could fly. All of the other girls were looking at me in disbelief every so often, which made me feel a bit nervous, but I also enjoyed the power that I suddenly had.

I couldn't wait to meet Jack at the skatepark, because I desperately needed the comfort of his arms and seeing him on the ramps was always giving me strong vibes of adrenaline and happiness.

However, I wasn't alowed to leave school before the end of my last period. That day we had school until 3 p.m., which wasn't that bad, but it wasn't good either. It also meant that I was suppossed to have three more classes, which seemed awful to me, who wanted to enjoy my new sensation of breaking my record, but I knew I had to focus on the classes instead, since I was well aware that I missed out on too much already.

I realized I was at the edge of starving by the end of sports class, so I just went to the school canteen, looking for Mike and Ashley, all excited of telling them about my success.

I soon spotted Mike's tall figure with his brown hair styled in a quiff standing on the other side of the large room. I ran over to him, squealing. "Mike, I broke my record! I didn't finish last, can you believe it?!"

He turned around swifter than I thought was possible, almost spilling his food all over the floor, but still managed to balance it and embrace me into a hug. It was times like these when I really admired his ability to keep his calm when I stormed in like a hurricane.

He laughed and shouted. "Well done, Em! Congratulations!" He sounded kind of surprised but at the moment I didn't care.

When I sat down, still smiling like a fool, I noticed Ashley's face looking sad, almost grumpy. I asked her. "Are you all right, Ash?"

She just snapped her head up and put a happy smile on her face, like she just woke up from a dream. Weird. "Yeah, absolutely. I'm just wondering who did you outrun?" She asked.

I glanced over at Mike, who was staring at Ashley suspiciously. So he noticed it too. I brushed it off while responding. "I outran Kathy. Oh yeah, are you ready for the history test?" I asked casually, while taking a bite of my lunch.

I saw Ashley's eyes almost threatening to drop out of her sockets in surprise, which made Mike laugh, but quickly covering it with a cough when he caught her eye.

She stuttered. "I-I mean... yeah, I was studying it really hard, but I don't think I can get better grade than B."

Mike was still having a good time laughing at her, when he stated. "Yeah, I can see. The way you stutter kinda tells everything." He said jokingly, his eyes taunting, but in a good way.

I had to laugh out too. Ashley was still playing upset, but soon enough the corners of her lips curled into a smile and a few seconds later, she bursted out laughing.

I went back in my mind to the last time that we had such a strong laugh together and found out it was the day before Cay lost his life. It felt like yesterday, but like an eternity at the same time.

I felt the tight pressure binding me up form the inside, my eyes felt sore and the tears threatened to spill out once again. 

I grabbed the table with my full force to prevent myself from breaking down. I felt Ashley fixing her eyes on me worriedly and Mike getting ready to stand up and run over to me.

I saw a flash of Cay, all covered up in bruises, right in front of my eyes.

Mike called out. "Emma!" at the exact same moment as I remembered Jack's heartwarming smile and the words he said to me so many times. "Whatever it takes, I'll be there for you." And the pressure was gone.