I legit just locked myself in a room to write this

I'm so proud.

Welcome to RIP Emmy part # too many.

Have fun.

Ethan sat in his desk before class, watching as students walked into the classroom and sat at their desks. As the clock ticked by, he became more and more impatient, made obvious by the endless tapping of his pencil.

And when class finally started, she still wasn't there.

Mr. Patrick started talking, but he wasn't paying attention. He stared at his hands, shaking with nerves. Fingernails rapped along the smooth surface, eventually falling into a pattern.

His eyes would occasionally flash to the two empty seats in the front of the room, barely visible from where he sat through the tall crowd in front. One of two boys, a cast wrapped around his knee, was doing something notably similar, and Ethan could see him patting against his leg from the corner of his eye.

This pattern continued for a while before he felt a sharp jab in his side. He jumped, his hands instantly flying out, knocking against the pencils strewn around his desk. He turned to see James looking down, a worried look in his eyes. James's head jerked towards the front of the room, and Ethan stood up a bit to look.

Mr. Patrick was cradling a yardstick between his hands, glaring in his direction. "Mr. Flipsen, would you please stop with that incessant tapping? If you refuse to learn, at least don't distract others from doing so," he ordered, making Ethan scowl a bit. The overconfident look on his teacher's face made Ethan want to slap him.

"Yes, sir," he replied, sitting back down with a frustrated huff. He heard the sound of Mr. Pat hitting the yard stick against the blackboard. His overly energetic voice faded into the background as Ethan looked down to see a sheet of paper on his desk.

What's wrong? was scrawled out along the top in French, the handwriting soft and curvy in the way James always wrote. Easy to read.

She's not here. It's been almost a week, he wrote back, his handwriting a sharp contrast against his brother's, pointy and fast.

Emmy?

No the girl with a cold who sits two seats down YES EMMY

Sorry, just making sure. Think she's okay?

No

Lets ask those kids she was hanging out with after class during lunch

You ask that one kid, I don't like him

British one?

Yeah, I'll take the big group

Sounds good

I'm scared

James paused, his hand shaking over the paper.

Me too

…

After class, they separated at the door, James heading towards the third years and Ethan to the lunchroom. As he walked he slowly went faster, eventually falling into a near sprint towards the lunchroom. He was one of the first to enter, so he paced a bit around the tables as he waited. He eventually settled in the back of the room, watching the students walk in.

The first kid he noticed in the jacket he was searching for was shorter, with short hair that made his ears easily visible. Ethan jogged over, catching him by the jacket. "Excuse me?"

The boy turned around, head slightly tilted. "Can I help you?" he asked, hands in his pockets.

Ethan fumbled over his words, trying to think of what to say. "Uh, you know Emmy, right?" The boy's face lit up a bit.

"Yeah, I did. Why? Is she okay?" the boy's hands fell out of his pockets, and his body leaned forward a bit.

"I was wondering if you'd seen her?" Ethan asked, but the 'No' he got in response was a surprise. The boy wouldn't have asked if he'd seen her. "Well, do you know if any of your friends have? The ones with the jackets?" He pointed to the black and yellow varsity jacket the other boy was wearing.

"Uh, I'm not sure. A few of them are over there, we can go ask?" he offered, and Ethan nodded. The two walked together towards a table in the back. "Name's Jimmy."

Ethan looked up, a sad smile on his face. "Ethan."

The two finally made it to the ble where three other boys sat. One of them was familiar. They all looked up from where they'd been having what seemed to be an argument, and the one in the hat waved. "Yo, Ethan!"

Ethan waved halfheartedly, making Luke's face fall slightly. Jimmy cut off their greeting by saying, "Have any of you seen Emmy recently?"

Luke shook his head, his eyes still locked on Ethan. The boy to his left, slightly taller with black earrings, also shook his head. Ethan looked hopefully to the last boy, the oldest looking with swoopy brown hair.

But he just said, "Sorry, no," and Ethan's whole body sagged. Next to him, Jimmy turned around, waving down someone.

"Caddy, Wallid, get out of line and get the hell over here!" he yelled, and Ethan turned to see the two boys in his class sigh and walk towards him. The one in glasses was supporting the one who Ethan now recognised as Cast Boy. "Have you two seen Emmy since the incident?"

The one with glasses shook his head, pushing his glasses up from where they fell. He set down Cast Boy on one of the chairs, then sat next to him.

Cast Boy responded, "If you count court," he said, before seemingly realizing something. "Oh wait, I saw her walk into the school, I think? It was hard to tell, but it looked like her from a distance."

Ethan sighed, hands shaking by his side. "No, I meant after that," he whispered, looking up at everyone. "Thank you for telling me."

"Sorry we couldn't be of help," the oldest looking one said, and Ethan shook his head.

Luke spoke up, "If we can do anything, just tell us," and Ethan nodded, turning to walk away. He saw James run into the cafeteria, looking around frantically. His eyes landed on him and he sprinted over.

Ethan met him in the middle. "You find out anything?" he asked, and James doubled over, holding himself up on his knees. "James?"

James straightened up, his eyes frantic. "I found the kid, Shane. He was talking with a few other kids, and two of them, these girls, said they'd seen her wander to the bathroom at random times. They said that otherwise she's been locked in her room, not eating," he explained quickly, grabbing onto Ethan's shoulders. "We need to find her. Now."

Ethan heard someone run up behind him. "What's going on?" Owen's voice said, approaching his right.

James turned back to her. "Emmy, she's locked herself in her room and hasn't left. She could be dieing in there and we wouldn't know and I don't know what the fuck I'd do if I knew she died and I didn't do anything and-"

"James, stop! Let's go!" Ethan shook his brother out of his rant, then passed him to start sprinting towards the dorms. He heard Owen trying to calm James down from behind him and how it didn't seem to be doing much since he was still anxiously rambling.

Ethan quickly made his way through the Primrose House, running up the steps. He stopped when Owen called out that he needed to turn, and resumed his pace down the hall. He stopped to wait on Owen, since she was the one with the best guess as to where Emmy would be.

"Her and Saniya were roomies?" she asked, and James just made a sound of agreement. "Big room. 427. Definitely. Follow me," Owen ran past them, turning right at a fork in the hallways. She approached the end of the hall before stopping at the last door, a good distance away from the rest.

James pushed past her, then proceed to desperately knock with both arms on the door. "Emmy?! Are you there?!" he said, his voice high and panicked. Owen had to stop his by grabbing his arms, and Ethan took his place by placing his head against the door.

He listened for any sign of life, and was met with a heavy crash followed by a small clattering from inside. "Shit what do we do!" he yelled, tugging on the handle. The other two must've heard it too, cause James followed him by also tugging on the handle.

Owen grabbed them both by the arms, pulling them away. "Back up," she said, and the two brother put their backs on the wall. Owen lightly knocked around the edge of the door, eventually stopping on a higher portion near the door handle. She took a step back, lifted her leg, and kicked out with the force of a bull.

It worked. The door flew open, revealing a half empty dorm room .The lights were out, the only light coming from the doorway and from between curtains covering the single window.

Owen blocked his vision, but both her and James gasped. Owen covered her mouth while James ran forward, falling to his knees a few feet inside. Ethan pushed past her to look. He kind of wished he hadn't.

Emmy was lying on the floor, her head now cradled in James's hands. A knife and pill bottle were on the floor near her, and her hand was… bleeding.

Ethan ran forward, grabbing onto her hand. There was a gash from her wrist down her palm. The knife, more specifically a pocket knife, also had traces of blood, telling Ethan that that was what caused the gash. The lid of the pill bottle was near him, and on it he saw his brother's initials, JF, printed on it.

"Emmy! Emmy, please, wake up! Come on!" James cried from next to him, desperately shaking her shoulders in hopes her eyes would open. Owen appeared next to them, leaning over to grab a water bottle from under the dresser they were next to.

"Try this!" she said, pushing the water into James's hand. He took it, opened it frantically, and lifted Emmy's head. He tilted the water so it went in her mouth, then closed her jaw. He leaned her head back, and waited.

It took a moment, but eventually she stirred. Then she shot up, coughing up the water onto the floor. James, now crying, leaned forward to give her a hug. "You're okay! Oh my god you're okay…"

Emmy took a moment to breathe, most likely processing, before she jumped away, leaving James to catch himself on the floor. He looked up in shock towards Emmy, of whom was now balled up a few feet away, cradling her wounded hand.

"W-what are you…?" she questioned, looking to her door which was practically hanging off it's hinges. "Why?" She looked back to James, who was still a bit shocked from everything. "The hell are you guys doing?!"

Everyone was sitting in silence for a moment before Ethan spoke up, "We were making sure you were okay."

Emmy's eyes were dilated, flickering between them. Her eyes landed on Owen for a bit longer, but she eventually said, "I… I'm fine"

"Fine?!" James yelled, making the girl tense. "You were bleeding on the floor surrounded by my painkillers! I don't think that's very fine."

Ethan nodded, slowly moving towards her. Emmy didn't make any move to go away. "Emmy, please. I know how hard you get on yourself, and you've been through some bad shit, but I promise you, it's okay," he whispered, and he watched Emmy's shoulders fall. "You did nothing wrong."

"You're scaring us, Emmy," James continued, also moving closer. When he was in range, he placed his hand on her upper arm. "You're scaring me."

Emmy started sobbing, her eyes closing as tears burned down her face. She looked so broken. She moved forward, wrapping her arms around James in a desperate hug.

"I'm sorry," she muttered into James's sleeve between cries. "Sorry, sorry, sorry."

"No, no, it's okay. Everything's okay," James whispered, placing his head on top of her messy hair. Ethan moved forward, joining the hug. Owen did the same. As Emmy finally calmed down, James rubbed in circles on her back. "Everything's okay now. I promise."

Emmy's about to come back and I swear that it gets better from now on.

...at least, for Emmy it will

See you all next time...