Notes ~ Remember that slight crossover I mentioned in my disclaimer in
Chapter One? Well, it's always been there, but it's going to start coming
out a bit more now, probably more so in the next chapter than this one, but
if the story seems a bit . . . different, remember it was part of the
master plan from the beginning. Like I said, it isn't enough of a crossover
that you won't understand the story. I will make sure to explain everything
that might be the slightest bit confusing. Just thought I'd give you the
heads up if you're wondering about the direction the story's taking.
I would like to thank everybody that's reviewed my story so far. It means a lot to me.
Zera ~ You reviewed a while ago, and I've added a couple of chapters since then, but here's some more.
hersheybar ~ I love getting reviews from you! They're so nice and they make me smile! Thank you so much!
Shinegami's Sis ~ Eh, I do have a tendency to end my chapters with pseudo- cliffhangers, don't I? I'm afraid I did it again with this chapter. But hey, whatever gets people to read more, right?
Right-o ~ now on to the story . . .
Chapter 5
It was very important for Emma to finish out her junior year. She wanted to re-establish a sense of normalcy where there really wasn't one anymore. She wanted to see her friends and pretend like everything was going to be okay. Come summertime, she would worry about her disease. For now, she was going to worry about the last week and a half of school.
It was ridiculously easy to get there. Mark thought that school was of the utmost importance, and besides, he didn't know anything was really wrong with her. When she had returned from the hospital, one of the first things he'd said to her was. "If you're well enough to be out of the hospital and walking around, you're well enough to go to school." That was Mark for you. He wasn't her dad, but he was a decent enough guy. Emma probably hadn't appreciated him and his calming influence on her mother enough.
As for Stephanie, she certainly wasn't preventing Emma from going to school; she was still in denial that a problem existed. Kristen probably thought she was loony for being so eager to finish her junior year, but it was something Emma really felt she had to do. Dr. Nelson hadn't seemed to think she would keel over within the next couple of weeks, and so it was something she had control over, something she could finish. Heaven knew that there was going to be a lot she wasn't going to get to finish.
In a lot of ways, school was great. When she arrived at her locker Wednesday, the day after she'd been released, she'd practically been ambushed by Raquel and some girls from choir. It was nice to know that she was loved and missed.
But, as Raquel pointed out: "Chorus just isn't the same without you, Ella. Instead of your golden tones, we have my screeches."
Emma shook her head. "Quel, you are just too much."
"You know it!" Raquel shook out her raven black waves and struck a pose, causing Emma and the other choir girls to laugh. It felt so good to be back in school.
The girls were walking down the hall towards their classes when the inevitable happened, she saw Max.
"Quel, I'll catch up, I need to go to the bathroom," she said, and ducked in before Raquel could even notice what was going on.
"Baby," Emma berated herself, once she was inside. She hated being so childish and avoiding Max like this. The sooner she broke it off with him, the better. It would hurt, but then she wouldn't feel guilty for leading him on.
Of course, she reminded herself, there was Raquel too. She really shouldn't lead her best friend on any more than Max. The thing was, Raquel she could probably drop more slowly, by just hanging out with her less. That wouldn't work with Max; he was too damn perceptive.
If she could only tell Max and Quel about her condition . . . but it was bad enough that Kristen knew. She couldn't break her promise any more than she already had. Still, that gave her a pretty lame reason for breaking up with Max.
A couple of minutes later, when she was sure it was clear, Emma sneaked out of the bathroom and went to class.
She avoided Max all day. She knew it was immature, knew she needed to talk to him, but school wasn't a good place to talk. Maybe he won't notice, she thought hopefully, and everything seemed to be going well as she pulled her books out of her locker at the end of the day.
"Emma."
Emma shivered at Max's voice. It wasn't what he said so much as how he said it, sort of mad, and yet disappointed. She slowly turned to look at him.
"You've been avoiding me. Why?"
Max's eyes were a forest green and right now she felt as though she was drowning in them. Felt as though she had fallen into a bottomless abyss.
"Today's been busy up the wahzoo," she said shakily, "I mean, I did miss three days of school, and I needed to talk to my teachers about the tests and things I missed . . ."
"Emma," he shook his head, "I'm not dumb."
"Oh Max, I know you're not," it came out in a sigh, "I just . . . I need to talk to you, but not now. It's too crowded. Can we talk later?"
Max tilted his head to the side as if trying to read her mind. "When? Where?" he asked shortly.
Emma closed her eyes. "Tonight, at the swing set in the park. Maybe about 7:30?"
"I'll be there," he said, turned, and walked away.
Emma sighed. He was mad, she could tell. And he wasn't going to like what she had to tell him that night any better.
Emma got to the park a couple of minutes early and was almost relieved to see that Max hadn't arrived yet. After thinking about what she would tell him all afternoon, she still didn't know what to say. She dropped into one of the swings.
Suddenly, Emma felt a soft finger trace a line down her neck. Emma screeched and jumped. When she turned, she saw Max. Of course, who else would touch her neck? For some bizarre reason, Max thought it was her best feature.
"How did you sneak up on me like that?" she demanded, somewhat put off.
"I'm a man of many secrets," he said, crossing his arms over his chest, "But that's not what we're here for. Talk."
This was the moment she was dreading. "We . . . we need to break up," she managed to get out.
Max's jaw dropped. "Whatever for?"
"Max, you're not making this any easier," she found that if she tried to be angry, the words came out better, "Maybe this just isn't working out for me. Maybe I've just decided that I don't like you anymore."
"That's crazy; we're soulmates," Max said, "We're meant to be together."
"Soulmates don't exist," Emma said harshly, "That's just a fairy tale."
"You always said your mom and dad were soulmates," Max pointed out.
"In the hypothetical!" it was easier and easier to get mad, "You know I don't really believe in magic. It's fun. That's all; just fun that somebody with too much time on their hands made up."
"Emma, soulmates do exist. Why do you think your mom is so crazy now?"
Emma stopped short at that. "Why are you bringing my mom into this? She doesn't have anything to do with anything," she said sulkily.
"I'll bet your mom and dad really were soulmates," Max was continuing, "I'll bet she wasn't crazy before your dad died. That's what happens when someone loses their soulmate."
Emma snorted. "That's just crazy. People's soulmates would be dying every day. There aren't enough crazy people in the world to support that theory."
"Not everybody is lucky enough to meet their soulmate," Max said, "If my soulmate lived in Tibet and I never met her, and she died, my life would always feel like it was missing something, but I wouldn't go crazy. But my soulmate is you, Emma, and I've met you and I love you. If you shove me away, it's quite possible I'll go crazy."
"Well, you'd better start stocking up on crazy meds because we can't be together," Emma started to tell him.
"Emma, I would do anything for you. I'd break every l . . . well, never mind, but believe me Emma . . ."
"Max, I'm dying," she interrupted. Crap, she'd gone and done it again. She was darn horrible at keeping promises.
Emma wasn't really sure how she had expected Max to react to her accidental confession. Maybe he would deny it, accuse her of lying, or even believe her and be shocked. But she certainly didn't expect what he actually did.
"Dammit!" he swore, "Oh, God, I KNEW it! I knew something was wrong. That's why you were losing weight, but I brushed it off as a girl thing, and those stomach pains. They were keeping you up at night and, damn, I KNEW it."
Emma stared at him. How did he know all that? He wasn't supposed to know . . . she hadn't told ANYONE! "Max," she said shakily, backing away, "You're scaring me."
"Oh, Emma," Max was shaking his head, "You can't die, you're my soulmate. I'll fix it; I'll think of something. Whatever you want."
"I want you to go away," Emma said, continuing to back up, "The best thing you can do is to just go away, forget this 'soulmate' business, and not tell anyone what I told you, not Quel, not anyone at school."
The crushed look on Max's face was enough to break anyone's heart. "Emma."
"No!" she insisted, and ran, ran as far away from her ex-boyfriend as she could, tears streaming down her face.
I would like to thank everybody that's reviewed my story so far. It means a lot to me.
Zera ~ You reviewed a while ago, and I've added a couple of chapters since then, but here's some more.
hersheybar ~ I love getting reviews from you! They're so nice and they make me smile! Thank you so much!
Shinegami's Sis ~ Eh, I do have a tendency to end my chapters with pseudo- cliffhangers, don't I? I'm afraid I did it again with this chapter. But hey, whatever gets people to read more, right?
Right-o ~ now on to the story . . .
Chapter 5
It was very important for Emma to finish out her junior year. She wanted to re-establish a sense of normalcy where there really wasn't one anymore. She wanted to see her friends and pretend like everything was going to be okay. Come summertime, she would worry about her disease. For now, she was going to worry about the last week and a half of school.
It was ridiculously easy to get there. Mark thought that school was of the utmost importance, and besides, he didn't know anything was really wrong with her. When she had returned from the hospital, one of the first things he'd said to her was. "If you're well enough to be out of the hospital and walking around, you're well enough to go to school." That was Mark for you. He wasn't her dad, but he was a decent enough guy. Emma probably hadn't appreciated him and his calming influence on her mother enough.
As for Stephanie, she certainly wasn't preventing Emma from going to school; she was still in denial that a problem existed. Kristen probably thought she was loony for being so eager to finish her junior year, but it was something Emma really felt she had to do. Dr. Nelson hadn't seemed to think she would keel over within the next couple of weeks, and so it was something she had control over, something she could finish. Heaven knew that there was going to be a lot she wasn't going to get to finish.
In a lot of ways, school was great. When she arrived at her locker Wednesday, the day after she'd been released, she'd practically been ambushed by Raquel and some girls from choir. It was nice to know that she was loved and missed.
But, as Raquel pointed out: "Chorus just isn't the same without you, Ella. Instead of your golden tones, we have my screeches."
Emma shook her head. "Quel, you are just too much."
"You know it!" Raquel shook out her raven black waves and struck a pose, causing Emma and the other choir girls to laugh. It felt so good to be back in school.
The girls were walking down the hall towards their classes when the inevitable happened, she saw Max.
"Quel, I'll catch up, I need to go to the bathroom," she said, and ducked in before Raquel could even notice what was going on.
"Baby," Emma berated herself, once she was inside. She hated being so childish and avoiding Max like this. The sooner she broke it off with him, the better. It would hurt, but then she wouldn't feel guilty for leading him on.
Of course, she reminded herself, there was Raquel too. She really shouldn't lead her best friend on any more than Max. The thing was, Raquel she could probably drop more slowly, by just hanging out with her less. That wouldn't work with Max; he was too damn perceptive.
If she could only tell Max and Quel about her condition . . . but it was bad enough that Kristen knew. She couldn't break her promise any more than she already had. Still, that gave her a pretty lame reason for breaking up with Max.
A couple of minutes later, when she was sure it was clear, Emma sneaked out of the bathroom and went to class.
She avoided Max all day. She knew it was immature, knew she needed to talk to him, but school wasn't a good place to talk. Maybe he won't notice, she thought hopefully, and everything seemed to be going well as she pulled her books out of her locker at the end of the day.
"Emma."
Emma shivered at Max's voice. It wasn't what he said so much as how he said it, sort of mad, and yet disappointed. She slowly turned to look at him.
"You've been avoiding me. Why?"
Max's eyes were a forest green and right now she felt as though she was drowning in them. Felt as though she had fallen into a bottomless abyss.
"Today's been busy up the wahzoo," she said shakily, "I mean, I did miss three days of school, and I needed to talk to my teachers about the tests and things I missed . . ."
"Emma," he shook his head, "I'm not dumb."
"Oh Max, I know you're not," it came out in a sigh, "I just . . . I need to talk to you, but not now. It's too crowded. Can we talk later?"
Max tilted his head to the side as if trying to read her mind. "When? Where?" he asked shortly.
Emma closed her eyes. "Tonight, at the swing set in the park. Maybe about 7:30?"
"I'll be there," he said, turned, and walked away.
Emma sighed. He was mad, she could tell. And he wasn't going to like what she had to tell him that night any better.
Emma got to the park a couple of minutes early and was almost relieved to see that Max hadn't arrived yet. After thinking about what she would tell him all afternoon, she still didn't know what to say. She dropped into one of the swings.
Suddenly, Emma felt a soft finger trace a line down her neck. Emma screeched and jumped. When she turned, she saw Max. Of course, who else would touch her neck? For some bizarre reason, Max thought it was her best feature.
"How did you sneak up on me like that?" she demanded, somewhat put off.
"I'm a man of many secrets," he said, crossing his arms over his chest, "But that's not what we're here for. Talk."
This was the moment she was dreading. "We . . . we need to break up," she managed to get out.
Max's jaw dropped. "Whatever for?"
"Max, you're not making this any easier," she found that if she tried to be angry, the words came out better, "Maybe this just isn't working out for me. Maybe I've just decided that I don't like you anymore."
"That's crazy; we're soulmates," Max said, "We're meant to be together."
"Soulmates don't exist," Emma said harshly, "That's just a fairy tale."
"You always said your mom and dad were soulmates," Max pointed out.
"In the hypothetical!" it was easier and easier to get mad, "You know I don't really believe in magic. It's fun. That's all; just fun that somebody with too much time on their hands made up."
"Emma, soulmates do exist. Why do you think your mom is so crazy now?"
Emma stopped short at that. "Why are you bringing my mom into this? She doesn't have anything to do with anything," she said sulkily.
"I'll bet your mom and dad really were soulmates," Max was continuing, "I'll bet she wasn't crazy before your dad died. That's what happens when someone loses their soulmate."
Emma snorted. "That's just crazy. People's soulmates would be dying every day. There aren't enough crazy people in the world to support that theory."
"Not everybody is lucky enough to meet their soulmate," Max said, "If my soulmate lived in Tibet and I never met her, and she died, my life would always feel like it was missing something, but I wouldn't go crazy. But my soulmate is you, Emma, and I've met you and I love you. If you shove me away, it's quite possible I'll go crazy."
"Well, you'd better start stocking up on crazy meds because we can't be together," Emma started to tell him.
"Emma, I would do anything for you. I'd break every l . . . well, never mind, but believe me Emma . . ."
"Max, I'm dying," she interrupted. Crap, she'd gone and done it again. She was darn horrible at keeping promises.
Emma wasn't really sure how she had expected Max to react to her accidental confession. Maybe he would deny it, accuse her of lying, or even believe her and be shocked. But she certainly didn't expect what he actually did.
"Dammit!" he swore, "Oh, God, I KNEW it! I knew something was wrong. That's why you were losing weight, but I brushed it off as a girl thing, and those stomach pains. They were keeping you up at night and, damn, I KNEW it."
Emma stared at him. How did he know all that? He wasn't supposed to know . . . she hadn't told ANYONE! "Max," she said shakily, backing away, "You're scaring me."
"Oh, Emma," Max was shaking his head, "You can't die, you're my soulmate. I'll fix it; I'll think of something. Whatever you want."
"I want you to go away," Emma said, continuing to back up, "The best thing you can do is to just go away, forget this 'soulmate' business, and not tell anyone what I told you, not Quel, not anyone at school."
The crushed look on Max's face was enough to break anyone's heart. "Emma."
"No!" she insisted, and ran, ran as far away from her ex-boyfriend as she could, tears streaming down her face.