Dash and I were laughing off his bad pickup line when Jordi walked in. "Hey, how did it go with Emma?"
"It didn't really. Leo came up not long after I got there. They were doing that weird arguing thing that seems more like flirting than arguing so I left." Jordi looked disappointed.
"Don't worry about it. You'll get you chance." I smiled encouragingly.
Jordi was just about to step further into the room when Kara brushed her way in.
"You did get a single! Why did you get a single when I didn't? I've been here longer than you. Isn't there some sort of seniority on this?" She immediately began complaining.
"Oh, I get it now. A single is a solo room. Okay, good to know you aren't here because you're crazy." I smirked, not answering a single question she asked.
"I have an enlarged heart, thank you very much." She snapped.
"Wouldn't that require you to have a heart?" I quip back.
"Oh!" Dash hypes for me.
"Seriously?" She turns to Dash. He just shrugs.
"Anyway, I'm pretty sure I only got the single because the girl who was supposed to be my roommate died before I got here." I state calmly.
"Oh, man." Dash jumps off the empty bed. Jordi looks a bit sick and Kara…poor Kara.
"Oh my God! Are you serious? That is way creepy." Kara books it out the room and down the hall. The second she's out of range I burst out laughing.
"Did someone really die in here?" Jordi asks, looking extremely uncomfortable.
"I have no idea. I don't know why I got the single. I just wanted her to shut up about it." I explain as my laughter subsides.
Dash jumps back onto the empty bed and offers me his fist. Of course I pound it, and blow it up. Dash looks at me impressed. "That was a good one, I gotta admit. But you know Kara's not all bad."
Jordi and I both give him a skeptical look.
"She's not." He insists.
"I'll take your word for it." I nod.
Later that afternoon I'm walking around aimlessly. "Hey Piper." I turn to find Emma walking quickly to catch up with me.
"Hey Emma, how's it going?" I stop so she can catch up.
"It's alright, where are you headed?"
"Nowhere…" I pause because I notice the look on Emma's face says she thinks I just don't want her around. "I really am headed nowhere. I was sort of bored and didn't know what to do with myself, so I just started walking around. You're kind of saving me right now." I chuckle.
Emma's face lightens again. "Mind if I walk with you then?"
"I welcome it. Maybe you can show me around a bit. I've been sort of learning as I go so far."
"Sure." Emma smiles and we begin walking again. "So, you said you play piano."
"Yeah, all the time. At least I used to. I think that might be why I'm so bored, I don't know how to keep myself occupied. I didn't even think to bring any books. I guess I had this weird idea that I'd just be rushed from one treatment to the next and never have any time to myself."
"Yeah, only it's not like that at all, right?" Emma says. "I actually thought the same thing when I got here. I thought it would be all group therapy sessions and one on one sessions and annoying ladies looking over my shoulder and watching me eat. But it's not even close to that."
"Is that what you're here for, an eating disorder?" I ask.
"Yeah, I'm anorexic." Emma explains.
"Oh." I really don't know what to say to that. It seems like such a foolish thing to do to yourself, but I don't want to insult her so quickly after meeting her so I keep my opinion to myself.
We walk in silence for a bit, then Emma begins pointing things out to me. This is where the golf course is, that's where the residents break room is. We get back on the service elevator and go up to my floor. She walks me past Leo and Jordi's room, then my room. We stop in front of a room I hadn't been in before. "This is Kara and Charlie's room." Emma explained.
I was happy to note Kara was nowhere to be seen.
"This is Charlie. I only just remembered nobody introduced you two." I look down at the young boy in his endless sleeping state. He had hair the same color brown as mine and a barely there sprinkle of freckles across his nose and cheeks. He looked peaceful, as though he could wake up any minute, but the IV and monitors surrounding him told a different story, the real story.
"Hello Charlie, it's nice to finally meet you." I sit on the bed next to him. "I hear you've been sleeping for a while. I hope you wake up soon; I'd love to have an actual conversation some time. Especially since all these cool people like you so much, I feel like you're somebody I should really know." I smile softly and grab his hand. I squeeze gently then let go. "I'm looking forward to really meeting you soon Charlie. Bye." I stand from the bed and turn to Emma. She is smiling at me, and I hope it means I've gained her approval.
We leave the room and Emma turns us back towards the service elevator. "I'll show you where my room is." She offers.
"Sounds cool." I answer. "Mind if I ask you a question?" I ask hesitantly.
"Are you going to ask why I starve myself?"
"Um, no, I wasn't."
"Then go ahead."
"What's up with you and Jordi?" I blurt out.
"Oh…I wasn't expecting that." Emma looks thrown.
"Sorry, it's just that I can't help but notice you guys seem into each other, but you don't seem to actually be together."
"Yeah, um, I'm not sure, I mean…" She trails off.
"It's okay, I get it. I'm sorry I asked, I didn't mean to be overly nosy."
"It's okay, I just didn't realize it was that obvious." Emma blushes. "But it's complicated."
"How so?"
"Well, I used to date Leo."
"Yeah, I know."
"He told you?"
"No, Dash did."
"Oh, well then you probably also know he broke up with me." I nod. "Then suddenly he started acting like he wanted to get back together and, I just don't know."
"Well, do you still have feelings for Leo?"
"No, we were so different. And I think I always liked him more than he liked me."
"I think it's possible that's not true. According to Dash he liked you a lot, and it freaked him out."
"Yeah, I guess that's possible." The elevator opens on Emma's floor and we exit. "Anyway, I feel like I never got to finish our business. I never got to say my piece, you know?"
"Yeah, I honestly do." I answer, thinking back to my own unfinished business break up. "Maybe you should try to do that, without making accusations or getting overly emotional, I mean."
We reach Emma's room and it actually looks really nice. It's got a great view and bright paint. It feels surprisingly open and homey. I notice a dresser and desk, a couch and a pile of books and magazines. "This is awesome." I nod my approval, noting that it felt almost like the exact opposite of Leo and Jordi's room, which Leo decorated.
"Thanks. What do you mean without being overemotional or making accusations?" She looked only slightly insulted.
"Girls like you and me have a habit of being shocked when any guy looks in our direction. So when we get dumped all we can think is it was bound to happen because we aren't the type of girls any guy likes. Right?" I don't actually give her a chance to answer; I know I'm on the right track. "We don't believe it's actually possible for us to just be someone's type, or just be a girl someone is genuinely interested in. But, I'm beginning to realize that may in part be why our relationships didn't last. We accuse guys of not actually caring or just begin with us because of this or that, and it turns them off. It makes them tired, they don't want to be with someone who is always accusing them of not caring. More than that, they get tired of always having to prove themselves, and then they're gone and we say it was inevitable. But it wasn't, we did it to ourselves. We pushed them away with our disbelief, and then when they try to make amends we tell them it was their fault. We get overprotective of ourselves and we get angry. And we never get what we really want in the end. We just defeat ourselves. Does that make sense?"
Emma is really quiet for a moment. "Yeah, I think it does. And I think I've already been overly emotional and accusatory." She sighs. "I think Leo and I really were different, too different to work, but I guess I shouldn't just assume we didn't work because he never really liked me. It's not fair, and to be honest he never did anything to make me believe he didn't really like me, not until we broke up."
"I believe if you tell him the truth, that you understand why he broke up with you and you aren't angry with him anymore about it, you'll feel a lot better." I smile. "Just make sure you both understand that you work better as friends because you're too different to be together and I think that'll give you the closure you really want."
"Thanks, I think you're right." Emma smiles at me. "Oh, I wanted to bring you here so you knew how to get here. Feel free to come up any time. I have plenty of books and stuff so you won't get bored, and I like having a girl who isn't Kara to talk to." She laughed.
"I completely understand." I laugh too. "I told her I got my single because my roommate died. I feel like it was sort of messed up, but she just kept complaining that she didn't have one." I roll my eyes.
"Your roommate didn't really die, did she?" Emma asks shocked.
"I think she just went home, but I honestly didn't ask when I got here. I didn't know getting a single was that big of a deal."
"It is to Kara." Emma rolled her eyes.
I leave Emma an hour later. When the elevator doors open I come face to face with Leo.
"Hey." He says sheepishly.
"Hey." I shoot back coldly.
"I think I owe you an apology." He says, as though testing the waters of my mood.
"Go on." I say, still refusing to look at him.
"I wasn't trying to be a complete jerk when I asked about you and Jordi." He began. I glance at him from the corner of my eye. "It's just, as much as Jordi is my friend we're in a bit of a rough patch right now. See, when he first got here he said his mom was dead and it was just him. But then his mom showed up, very much alive and very much shocked to hear we thought she was dead."
At this I cave and turn to look at Leo in surprise.
"Apparently they have a very rocky history and she wasn't a good mother so he just pretended she was dead. Then, when Jordi told her how serious everything was going to be she abandoned him again."
"Where does your issue with him come in?" I ask, trying to follow.
"He lied to us. I'm not going to say I'm a saint and never lie, but I never lie to my friends. We're all here together, dealing with messed up stuff and all we have is each other. You just don't lie to a fellow red bander." He finished.
"Okay." I say simply.
"Okay?" Leo looks at me, trying to figure me out. "Okay like you understand and we're friends again?"
I purposefully keep my face completely stoic. "Okay like okay."
The elevator doors open and I walk out, no longer looking at him because my face is beginning to crack.
"Are you messing with me right now?" He follows behind me accusing.
"I don't know Leo, am I?" I continue to speak monotone, but I can't turn to look at him because then he'll see me smiling.
"Piper." He grabs me and turns me around. "You're the worst!" He laughs when he sees how big I'm smiling.
"Actually, I'm the best. That's why you were so desperate for me not to be mad at you." I smile in triumph.
"You're going to drive me crazy, aren't you?" Leo asks, pulling a horrified face.
"Yeah, but I promise you'll love every minute of it." I wink before walking away from him.
AN: Okay, I have honestly never been so taken with an idea I could pump out chapters like this. I hope everyone has been enjoying it. I'm sort of just writing connections these first few chapters it seems like. So, maybe next chapter Piper and Kara will find some common ground. I also want to thank everyone for all the amazing reviews and favorites and follows, it feels great! I just wanted to warn you, I probably won't be posting again for a few days. I have to finish up my other story. But I promise not to make you wait too long.