Intervention

1:/Josh and Emma

Josh and I are nearly through our second episode of Friends tonight when the phone rings. Josh mumbles something about why people call so late and we have a four year old. I shove him as I reach for the receiver and press talk.

"Hey, Mrs. Templeton, it's Clay."

"Hi…Clay? Did Josh not confirm tomorrow night for babysitting?" I shoot Josh an exasperated look.

"Oh, I know." Clay sounds different somehow. "I am actually calling to let you know that something else came up tomorrow afternoon and I might be a little late. Is that a problem..?" He stops and whispers something inaudible. "Sorry, Mrs. Templeton, it's for school."

"Don't feel bad, Clay. We are only going a couple minutes up the road, and you can never be late to a friend's house. Just get here when you can, Clay, Cam will be glad to see you; he says he's going to beat you at trucks again." When he hangs up a moment later, I sit up on the couch and look at Josh quizzically. "Something's wrong with Clay."

"Oh, no, you almost got through the whole day without psychoanalyzing someone." Josh's eyes beg my brain to stay on Friends, but I start in anyway.

"He almost sounded distracted and randomly whispered something I couldn't hear. What other evidence do I need?" I know I am somewhat out of line as I say this, but Josh's face is too priceless to pass up messing with him.

"You got all that from a minute long conversation about babysitting plans?" He ejects the Friends DVD as he does his best to scold my wondering mind. "We haven't been in Crestmont long enough for you to know the inner workings of our babysitter." He sees my amusement and fishes for another argument. When he opens his mouth to speak, I stop him.

"Let's just go to bed, okay?" I laugh. As I wait to fall asleep, I remember something. I pull out my phone and use the internet to pull up Facebook. After it loads, I click on the event invitation for Kellan's surprise birthday. I post about being a couple minutes late and sign out again. When I finally drift off, my subconscious sees a young Emma reading my post on the event page and I fall asleep filled with memories.

2:/Clay

I hate lying to people, especially when a four year old wants to play trucks, but I didn't cancel completely. That has to count for something. Wait, why am I thinking about myself right now? I have to focus. What will I say to Skye tomorrow? I don't want another Hannah. Focus, Clay! This is not about Hannah. Isn't it? My conscience screams at me. I get ready for bed anyway; I can't handle this issue without, at least, some sleep.

…

I am shaken awake by the nightmare of cassette tapes with Skye's voice. It was a mistake to fall asleep without sorting this out. I force myself to stay awake. Am I even approaching this the right way? Should I even talk to Skye? No. I stop that thought before it takes hold of my brain. I already asked her to meet me and this could actually be a matter of life and death. But, how much of the truth should I let out? Hannah only meant for us lucky few to know her reasons, so that truth is not my place to let out. But Skye needs this. I think of what to say.

Thanks for meeting me, Skye. I wanted to talk to you about… No that sounds too suspicious; I'll work up to that. I just thought we could catch up. What if she asks why I want to "catch up" all of a sudden? This is hopeless. And what would I tell her about my life? Oh, me? Well, you know, I just listened to a suicidal, yet, already dead, girl nonstop for a night. Oh, and I got an A on my math test. If I were Skye, I would have myself committed. Clay, get back to Skye. I just wanted to catch up because I really value my friendships and really want yours to be one of those. I can hear the complete B.S. in what I want to say. In my groggy state, I can't think of anything that doesn't sound like it came from a Hallmark card. Whatever. I can start there and improvise my way through the rest. It's not like there's a How to Stay Friends with Someone, let alone a Talking Someone off a Ledge for Dummies. I hate myself for that thought, but I manage to fall back to sleep fairly easy.

3:/Josh and Emma

While I get ready for work, I think about Clay. If there is something going on with him, isn't it my duty as his school counselor to help? Kellan did just refer me to this job and I don't want to rock the boat, but at the same time, something serious could be going on. After all, I was brought in as an extra pair of ears after a girl committed suicide. At breakfast, I don't tell Josh about my plan to talk to Clay at school today. I love Josh and I am glad he didn't stay with Sydney Mills, but he never really understood my decision not to become a marine biologist. He thinks my decision was based solely on what I saw on Facebook. My glimpse into the future eleven years ago pushed me into helping young people. I don't want another teenager to be as unhappy with their future as I was looking at mine. I got my happy ending; everyone else should too.

"How's work going," I ask as I place Cam's booster seat on his chair and get out the Cheerios. "Anything exciting?"

"Not really," he says shifting his chair to let our son run through to his seat. "Unless you count designing a logo for a children's water toy company or formatting a brochure for a divorce attorney. There's even talk of getting Mike McFinlay's account to design his campaign merchandise." Josh stifles a laugh at the last one. Josh's design firm is home to one of the weirdest assortment of design jobs in corporate America, but versatility is what makes him the best. And I usually use his job as an argument for mine. If he can use seeing it on Facebook as the reason he became a Graphic Designer, I can use Facebook as the reason for becoming a counselor.

I kiss him on the cheek as I sit down. "Well, if anyone can do it…" I trail off. So cliché. I still occasionally get that insecure feeling about our relationship. Then I remember he did choose me, not Sydney and that we are best friends first. He laughs at the phrase and continues.

"So, Rachel is bringing Kellan to the party at five; my plan is to leave work around four-thirty."

"Yes, and I'll pick Cam up from day care at four and meet you at the party after I get him settled with Clay."

Cheerios dribble down Cam's face. "Clay's gonna be the red truck and we are gonna make the track go up to the ceiling." He smiles as he loads another spoonful of soggy honey flavored circles.

…

I turn the lights on in my office and sit down. I write a note for the attendance secretary to see when she comes in later:

Please call Clay Jensen to my office during 3rd period.

~Emma Templeton

4:/Clay

I walk to my locker after second period avoiding the eyes of those on the tapes. It will take a while for me to treat them normally again. As I wonder if they are avoiding my eyes, I get to my locker seconds before a hand taps my shoulder. Now in a continual state of paranoia, I jump. It's Skye.

"Hi…Um…I wanted to tell you that I am looking forward to our date. Should I meet you here, after school?" My mind sputters. Date? That was not my intention. In hindsight though, I did ask a high school girl to meet me for coffee.

"Oh, yeah, me too." My mouth literally cannot form anything better. "Oh, and yeah, meet me here." I sound like I have never taken an English class. She turns to walk away as I shut my locker. I say bye before I realize that I have third period right next to Skye's class. The corners of her mouth form a smile, but she politely fights off the laughter that I'm sure was not too far behind.

"See you later." We walk to class in a haze of awkward silence.

I almost sit on the blue Hall Pass note that is resting on my chair in Math. It must have fluttered down from my desk. It is excusing me for the entire period and I am to go to Mrs. Templeton's office. I show Mr. Gruwald as a reminder before I head down the hall to her office. What could she possibly want for fifty-five minutes? I already told her about tonight. And it's not as though she knows me well enough to just chat; I only babysit for an extra line on my college and job applications. Her door is open when I get to her office. I knock rather hesitantly.

"Clay, hi, please, have a seat." I slide my backpack to the ground and take a seat. "Don't worry; this isn't the principal's office. However, as your school counselor and, I'm hoping, as your friend, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind telling me how you are doing lately." With every word, she seems less sure of herself. I am relieved that this is all she wants to discuss. I can easily come up with some fabrication rather than tell her what is actually happening in my life right now.

"Well, I got an A on my math test, so I guess I am doing pretty well. And I get to play trucks tonight with my favorite little man." I say this to add a personal touch to my response.

5:/Josh and Emma

Clay is giving me nothing. In the broad scheme of therapeutic sessions I've conducted thus far, this is the least personal, even though he just tried to bring my son into the conversation. I focus the conversation back on him. "Is that all? I noticed on the phone last night that you didn't sound quite like yourself. Is anything going on that we can talk about?"

"Eh, last night, I probably just sounded sleepy. And sorry about being late. Important last minute plan change." His expression remains unchanged.

It's a long shot in a large school, but it was time to go for it. "Clay, I am sorry; I have to ask…But, did you know Hannah Baker?" Surprisingly, the color drains from his face.

"Hannah Baker?" He strains to keep his emotions inside. "Yeah, I knew her, not well though." All my training told me that was a lie.

I pause to choose the right words. "Okay, well, the school brought me in to help you all cope with this. Were you, in any way, affected by her death?" As soon as I say these words, I can see that they were not the correct ones.

"Affected?" Clay's tone takes a turn towards irritation. "Affected is the right word. Suicide should affect everyone. Suicide should make everyone feel like they weren't present enough in the life of the person. So, yes, I guess you could say that I was affected."

"Sorry, wrong word. But, I'm picking up on the fact that you knew Hannah more than you let on."

6:/Clay

Yes. I am affected by Hannah. And somehow, after a whirl of, what I'm certain were psychological mind tricks, I gave Mrs. Templeton what she was looking for. Not every gruesome detail, just the part that connects Hannah to me. Just enough to get off her radar. Just enough to make her feel like she can help me. I make the mistake of mentioning Skye.

"You feel like you can move on now?" Mrs. Templeton asks, clearly more comfortable now that she thinks I have completely opened up.

"I just want to prevent Hannah's situation from happening to anyone else." Her situation. I flinch a little at my word choice, but I continue. "I respect her too much to let her slip away."

"Which 'her'?"

"Both."

"Why Skye though?"

"Why not?" I am growing irritated again, but I know that showing much more emotion would give away too much to a master's educated counselor. "Plus, I kinda already have an in with Skye. It's probably better for me to start with the friends and acquaintances I already have and make sure my present relationships are secure." By this time, I have missed fourth period. "Listen, I need to get to 5th period," I say glancing at the clock. "I have a pretty big paper due." I stand to leave and hoist my backpack around my shoulders.

"Sure. Thanks for talking with me today and come back and update me soon." She flashes me a satisfied smile.

"See you tonight, Mrs. Templeton."

7:/Josh and Emma

When I get to Kellan's party later, a moment away from the surprise, I am poised to tell Josh that I was right about Clay.

"She's getting the other grocery bags," Rachel warns quietly when she enters.

"Rachel, did you see the lemonade we bought?" Kellan's big toe barely hits the wood floor before "surprise" leaves us all temporarily hearing impaired.

…

As soon as Josh can hear again, I seek him out. Counselor privileged information excluded, I tell him about my small victory.

"I guess you wouldn't be the Emma I love without meddling in someone's life." He pulls me in for a side hug and a kiss on the forehead. "As long as your motivations stay pure…" He whispers this in my ear. I know Josh is thinking of all the Facebook meddling we did in the past, so I pull out my phone and load Facebook.

"Really? Right now?"

I wouldn't change a thing. I press Post.

Josh chuckles, "I hope you actually read that."