A/N: Wow, I'm on a roll, haha! Another chapter already!
I hope you guys like it :) I know it'll seem a little fast paced, but it gets less that way later. I promise.
Full Summary: Kevin could remember almost everything about her. From her lack of height, to the humor in her childish laugh. And when he would remember, he'd think about how much he missed her. She wasn't someone he would've kissed, but she still had a place in his heart. He just couldn't figure out where. She always made him smile in some way whether it was from her eccentric antics or her odd quotes. He missed that.
And in times like these... he really missed her. He really wished she was still here.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the Emily and her family. And this story line.
With Kevin and Emily, everything was kind of. They were kind of friends. They kind ofknew each other. They kind ofliked playing League together.
It just started out like that.
Somehow, it became a routine for Kevin to wait outside Emily's eighth period classroom since he had none. When she'd get out, they'd walk to the library together for her tutoring. And on days she didn't have tutoring, he'd still wait for her.
That day was different somehow.
When she exited the classroom, she didn't give him that small, childish smile. She just waved to him quietly and gripped her backpack. Kevin tried to dismiss it. She was probably just having an off day. But still, he worried a bit.
He tried to brainstorm things that could possibly get her down like that. Failed a quiz or test? No. Even when she did, she didn't really show any sign of being upset. A friend say something to her? Well... Emily didn't really have any friends yet. Someone say something to her? She never cared what they thought. Maybe she aas hungry?
As they manuevered through the halls together, nearing the exit, she finally spoke up.
"There was a change of plans, mom's not going to be home until tomorrow afternoon." She said quietly.
Kevin looked at her.
"Oh."
He didn't know what else to say, so he just continued walking with her. It was Friday, so they didn't have tutoring together. On days they didn't have it, they'd walk to her house, then he'd walk to his. It was something Cò Hoáng had asked him to do if she couldn't pick her up- just in case.
Again he didn't mind.
Emily didn't say anything back. She just stared at the grass they passed by. Usually, when they walked, they made do with small talk or watching Emily dance and sing along oddly to her music.
"So... how uh... how was Biology?" he tried, sticking his hands in his pockets.
Emily shrugged.
"Same old." She replied nonchalantly, "I got an 83 on my last quiz."
"That's good. You're doing better!"
It was now mid-October, so it'd been a month and a half since he met her and started tutoring her.
She shrugged again.
Kevin looked at her now. She was off today. It wasn't like he knew her completely, but he knew her well enough to know she wasn't like this. Like when he first met her.
She didn't even have her earphones in.
He gulped.
"You... you okay, Emily?" Kevin asked awkwardly, attempting to make eye contact.
"Uh... yeah." She answered as she looked at him oddly, "Are you?"
That surprised him. Did he seem upset? Now he felt self-conscious.
"Yeah."
After that, they continued walking silently. Once they reached her house, Emily waved bye to him before unlocking the door and walking inside.
When Kevin got home, he tried to shake it off by playing some Halo.
She's fine he told himself she was probably just tired. Nothing to worry about.
He blinked as his character suddenly died. He hadn't even realized someone was shooting at him.
The young man couldn't understand why he was so worried about Emily. It wasn't like they were close friends or anything. She was a freshman, and he was a junior. Almost no upper classman was friends with an under classman. Then again, he wasn't one for trying to fit in.
Kevin began to think. He wouldn't really mind being friends with Emily. She was a bit odd, but she was nice enough. And they both already classified it as 'kind of' friends. At least, he thought they both did.
He gulped.
What if Emily wasn't in mutual agreement with him on that? Maybe that's why she was upset.
Kevin recalled a conversation he'd had with his friend, Gareth when he'd walked into the school with Emily that morning.
"Is that your fishy freshman friend, Kevin?" Gareth asked with a teasing smirk.
Kevin rolled his eyes and shrugged.
"Not really."
When the bell rang, he'd turned to say goodbye to her, but she was already gone.
Now he felt guilty. That was probably why she was upset. Girls got upset about those things, right?
Kevin glanced at his phone. Maybe he should text her and apologize.
Setting down his X-Box controller, he reached for his phone on his nightstand. He paused, looking at the clock. It was already 10:57. Emily was probably asleep by now. Maybe he would call her tomorrow morning.
Just as he decided to continue his game, it began to buzz. He jumped in surprise. Someone was calling him.
Emily Bui Incoming Call
Kevin hesitated. What would she say?
What would hesay?
He shook his head, telling himself he was being far overdramatic. He pressed the answer button and held it to his ear.
"Hello?" Kevin answered unsurely.
"..."
"Emily?"
On the other end it sounded like she was fumbling with the phone.
"... Emily?"
"...Hello? Kevin?"
"Yeah?"
"Oh gods, sorry. I ah... thought you wouldn't pick up."
"It's fine. Is something wrong? Did someone come into your house?"
Kevin started to panick a bit.
"What? No. No. I'm fine."
But she still sounded on edge.
"Then why'd you call?"
"..."
As soon as Kevin said that as blunt as he did, he immediately felt guilty again. Another thing he was going to have to apologize for.
"Emily? Hey, sorry I uh.. I didn'-"
"No, no. It's fine. I shouldn't have called this late."
"No, it's okay, Emily. I uh... I promise. What's wrong?"
"... It's stupid."
"Couldn't be too stupid if you called..."
Kevin hear her shuffle around a bit.
"... I'm home alone and uh... it's um... dark."
He paused.
"And?"
"And I'm scared." Emily finally confessed.
Kevin stopped for a second. She was scared? Earlier that day she had told him her mom wasn't going to be home till some time tomorrow.
"Kevin?"
Her nervous voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Yeah, I'm still here."
"Okay..."
There was another silence.
"I... uh... sorry, I should probably go-"
"Do you want me to come over?" Kevin blurted out without thinking.
That must've surprised not only him, but her too.
"...What?"
Kevin facepalmed, realizing how creepy that might sound. Especially from a guy who somewhat denied their 'kind of' friendship. He gulped.
"Do you want me to come over there?" He repeated unsurely.
"...Would... would your mom mind?"
"Probably not. She's not home- I'll just text her."
"... Thanks, Kevin. Sorry... I just..."
"Emily."
"Yeah?"
"It's okay. I understand."
"Okay..."
He wedged the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he got off the bed to put on his jacket. So she was scared. Could that really be why she was so off today?
Emily stayed silent as he got ready to go- slipping on his shoes and such. Before long, he was ready.
"Do you want em to stay on the phone too?"
"Uh... no. But thanks. I'll... I'll leave the light on the porch on for you, okay?"
"Okay."
"... I'll see you in a few, Kevin. Thanks again."
"No problem. See you."
WIth that, he ended the call. What had he just agreed to? Quite frankly, he didn't know. But, he'd promised her mom and his that he'd help her in any way. And so he would. In his mind, that was the reason why he was acting like this. But in reality, even he knew that that wasn't why.
He was worried about her as a friend. And that didn't really upset him, but Kevin didn't really believe in friendships formed in only a month- and partly because of tutoring sessions.
Before he exited the door, he texted his mom.
To: Mom
11:07PM
I'm going to Emily's house. She called saying she was scared. I'll be back later. Don't forget to eat.
Without waiting for a reply, Kevin opened the door and began to walk to Emily's house.
It was a bit chilly outside, due to the light drizzling. The sun had already gone and the moon barely peeked from behind the slightly opaque, puffy clouds. It really was quite dark. Just in case, he'd brought some pepper spray. But luckily, even if he was attacked, he wouldn't needed it. He'd taken a few years of tae kwon do.
As the slightly chilled air kissed the skin of his face, Kevin began to think. In recent events, his friends had been teasing him about Emily. Saying they were "totally together." He'd used the excuse of not having time for dating. He was too busy studying for the SATs and ACTs. He wasn't going to become the first Asian-American President of the United States by having a high-school girlfriend.
And besides, she was two years younger than him.
He let out a light sigh once he finally gained sight of Emily's porch. Like she'd said, it was brightly lit and stood out from the rest of the houses with the darkness shrouding them. It was kind of funny- in an odd way, to see one bright house lit amongst the rest.
Kevin quickly walked up the steps to her door and knocked. Through the windows he could see all the lights leading to the door lighting up as Emily presumably made her way towards the entrance.
The door opened swiftly, without a creek. There stood Emily herself. She wore an oversized, Star Wars sweatshirt with boys basketball shorts.
Without saying anything, she let him in. If he'd had any thought of 'being scared' was an excuse to get him over here, it was gone.
The edge was evident on her face.
"Hey... thanks for coming." Emily said quietly, playing with her sleeves.
Kevin nodded.
"Like I said, no problem." He replied, giving her a small, reassuring smile.
A small smile ghosted her face and they both fell silent for a bit, just standing there. He kept his hands in his pockets while she continued to fiddle with her sleeves.
"I've uh..." Emily began, gesturing upstairs, "I've got an X-Box in my room... I was watching Lord of the Rings to try and calm myself down... Do... Do you wanna... y'know?"
Kevin nodded.
"Sure."
As she lead him up the stairs, his phone buzzed. He pulled it out to reveal a text from his mom.
From: Mom
11:21PM
Okay, sweety. I hope everything's okay. Call me if you two need anything.
He took note of that. If anything really did happen, he'd definitely take his mom up on that. He stuffed his phone back into the pocket of his jeans and followed her towards her room.
After entering, Kevin realized he'd never been into her room. Inside, there were still a few unpacked boxes- mostly posters and books. On her flat desk, she had action figures mixed with ice skating trophies lining against the walls leading up to a desk lamp. That made him smile a bit.
Her bed was pressed againsed the wall in the corner of the room with the TV facing it. As he looked at the TV, he saw that she was at the part where the Fellowship was trapped in Balin's tomb, just before the goblins and cave troll attacked.
Emily sat on the bed and offered him popcorn, which he gratefully accepted. He tenatively took some and sat on the bed next to her. She reached for the controller to press play before she leaned against the wall with her legs to her chest.
The movie started to play, and neither one of them said a thing yet.
Out of the corner of his eye, Kevin glanced at her. She seemed entranced with the movie. He tried to think of something to say.
"That was Ori..." Emily suddenly stated, looking a bit sad.
He blinked.
"What?"
"You know the skeleton holding the book that Pippin knocked over? That was Ori, the scribe."
"Oh, yeah."
Silence fell on them again. The only thing breaking the absolute silence was the sound of the fighting going on in the movie.
Kevin racked his brain for something to say.
As he watched her somewhat discreetly, she spoke again, not looking away from the TV.
"You're probably wondering why I was so scared..."
Well, he would be lying if he said no. So he nodded.
"Yeah, kind of. But you don't have to tell me why."
Emily shrugged, turning to him and looking him in the eye.
"It's not really a big deal..." She sighed, fiddling with her sleeves once again, "I'm just... I don't know... I'm kind of terrified of the dark. And being alone. I guess I just have a complex with that or something. It's stupid, really."
"No it's not." Kevin interrupted quickly, "It's... it's a legitimate fear. Some people just tend to get over it quicker than others."
She raised an eyebrow at him.
"You don't think I'm being a wuss?"
He shook his head.
"Thanks I guess... I mean, I suppose I never got over that stage of being scared of the dark. I mean, every night I still leave my bathroom light on so it's not completely dark." Emily continued, "Mom says it's because of all the shows and books. But it was before even that."
Understandingly, he nodded.
Emily bit her lip and tucked her chin in between her knees, shifting back to the TV. She still seemed a little nervous. This was a whole different side to her, really. Sure, Kevin had seen her nervous about going home with a bad grade, but this was another level.
His thoughts drifted back to the conversation he'd had with Gareth. Maybe that was the reason why she seemed even more on edge. Or could she really be as scared as she was saying?
He gulped.
"Emily...?"
"Hm?"
"Would you say we're friends?"
She blinked and lifted her head in thought. She then shrugged (Kevin noticed that she shrugged a lot).
"Kind of."
Kevin nearly let out a breath of relief. So she wasn't hurt over that. That was good. He heard her let out a small giggle, surprising him.
"Is this about this morning?" Emily asked with an amused smile, "When you were talking to that guy- what's his name? Garth?"
"Gareth," Kevin corrected, sheepishly nodding, "And... uh... yeah. I thought you might be upset about what I answered."
She laughed. He smiled in spite of himself.
"Me? Upset about that? I'm not that kind of girl." she chuckled.
Then what kind of girl are you? He wanted to ask.
"Besides, your answer was understandable. I mean... I'm a 9th grader. It's kind of embarassing to be seen around with me since you're a Junior. Even I know that. To add, I'm a complete dork."
"You're... you're not embarassing!"
"Kevin, I sing and dance on the way to the library like I'm alone in my room."
"Okay, maybe a little."
They both laughed in unison and leaned back against the wall. He smiled to himself. He was glad he'd brought her out of that mood. Now she was acting normal. For her at least.
Now when he looked at her, Emily was smiling as she watched Gandalf fall with the Balrog. (Okay, now that was kind of weird to smile at that sad moment).
For the next hour or so, they watched the movie, making small jokes or witty comments about the characters or their actions. Overall, they were having a bit of fun.
And even after the movie ended, they continued to talk. About school, movies, games, comics, people... just whatever somehow related to the previous subject. Before they knew it, it was already nearly two AM.
His mom was probably already home and asleep. Linda had been working hard and late lately. He didn't want to interrupt her sleep with him walking in through the front door. But what else could he do?
Emily noticed the look of contimplation on his face.
"You could stay here if you'd like." She said, chuckling at him, "Mom wouldn't mind and I've got an air mattress in my closet."
He blinked.
"You sure?" Kevin asked.
"Yeah. Mom really likes you, dude. You're like the perfect son she wishes she had." She laughed in reply.
"Okay then." He chuckled, rolling his eyes, "Do you... do you want me to sleep in here?"
Emily stopped and stared at him. He reddened, realizing how bad that sounded.
"Wait, no, I mean-"
That's when her face broke into that mischievous smile and just jumped off her bed, heading towards her closet.
"You panick really easily, Kevin." Emily chided as she pulled out the deflated air mattress.
He rubbed the back of his head and smiled back sheepishly.
"Heh... yeah."
For a moment, they both stared at the black heap. Emily made a face at it.
"It looks like a freakin' body bag."
They both laughed.
That was the night that Kevin Tran learned that Emily Bui was afraid of the dark and being alone. Silently, he promised that he'd never let her feel that alone.
That was the night he promised himself he'd be her friend.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review :)