So there's a girl at my school who recently committed suicide, and while I didn't know her at all, this chapter is dedicated to her and suicide awareness.
"What are you looking for?" Regina asked, walking into the bedroom. Emma was standing in front of their closet, taking clothes out and putting them on the bed as she searched for whatever she was looking for.
"I'm looking for a purple shirt," Emma said, taking more shirts out and placing them on the bed.
"I don't think you own anything purple," Regina said. "Why do you need that specific color?"
"No reason," Emma said. "Could I borrow one of your shirts? I know for a fact that you own purple."
"I suppose," Regina said. "But I don't see why you need to wear a specific color. The only time that anyone does that is when there's an event, and there isn't anything going on right now."
"Not in the town," Emma said. "I have my own reason for wearing this color." She stepped past Regina and stopped in the doorway. "Henry!"
"Yeah?" Henry said, sticking his head out of his bedroom.
"Do you still have the turquoise bandana?" Emma asked.
Henry nodded. "Do you want it? I'll have to dig it up, but I know that it's around here somewhere."
"Yes," Emma said, smiling. "Thank you!"
"What is going on with you?" Regina asked. "Purple and turquoise? That is the most obscure color combination I have ever heard of."
Emma shrugged and pulled out one of Regina's dark purple blouses. She set it on the bed before putting all of her shirts away again. "It isn't the weirdest thing that I've worn in my life."
"But it has meaning," Regina said.
Emma nodded. "It's for a friend."
"I see," Regina said. "And you're wearing these colors for this person why?"
"Because these colors are for suicide prevention," Emma said. "I wear these colors on this day because this was the day that I lost one of my friends and foster sisters."
"I'm so sorry," Regina said, pulling Emma to her and hugging her tightly.
"It was a good foster home, but her social worker came to pick her up saying that her mother was stable enough to support them again," Emma mumbled. "She didn't want to go back, but she couldn't stay with the foster family. So she killed herself."
"What happened after that?" Regina asked. "I can't imagine that they let the couple continue fostering."
"It wasn't their fault," Emma said. "They kept fostering, but I left. I couldn't stand to be in the house that had her memories in it."
"Did you run away or were you removed?" Regina asked.
Emma chuckled. "I was removed. Started causing trouble so they would complain. I think they knew that I was doing it on purpose, which disappointed them, but they understood."
Regina pulled away from Emma. "Do you think about her every year on this day?"
Emma nodded. "Whenever I wear purple and turquoise on this day, it's like I'm honoring her memory and the time we spent together. She was such a great person, and didn't deserve to die so young."
"You know, we could use this," Regina said. "Today could be an education day for all of the kids of this town about suicide and how to prevent it from happening."
"No one in this town has done it though," Emma said.
"Don't think that no one has tried," Regina countered. "There were attempts from those who couldn't find their families and didn't want to go on without them. Think of the impact that we could make."
"But they have classes and everything," Emma said. "They can't just take a day off to have people talk to them about something that they don't want to hear."
Regina grabbed Emma's hand and squeezed it gently. "I know that you don't want to talk about it, but it's one of those things that needs to be talked about. Wouldn't you rather talk to a group of teenagers about seeking help instead of having to tell their parents that they died?"
Emma sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "I guess."
"This may be a magical town, but it's still a town," Regina said. "There's still drama, bullying, and a bunch of other issues that plenty of other towns have. We'll call off classes for the day and just have a huge morning session with every kid and parent in this town, followed by an opportunity to meet with Archie."
"How are you just going to call off classes for the day?" Emma asked.
"I'm the mayor of this town," Regina said. "I can do anything I want. Now, what was your friend's name that you lost?"
"Chloe," Emma said. "Why does that matter?"
"Because," Regina said. "From now on, this town has a suicide prevention day, and it will be called Chloe Day."
