BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Like nails on a chalkboard...
The usually irritating sound of a wake-up alarm turned unbearable for her that next morning. Ember's eyes strained open in reaction, and a massive lumping headache instantly arose. She sharply wriggled around, slamming a finger on the snooze button and lying on her belly.
Thankfully, the ear-piercing thing stopped.
The night prior was rough for the poor young elemental. Not being one to deal with negative thoughts very well, it was all she mulled over since it happened. It was all she could think about.
All she wanted to do was curl up into a ball and burn the negativity up.
Unfortunately, she hadn't had the opportunity to spend a day isolated in her room. That day was meant to be for something else... something unique...
Exam day. It was nigh. If it was to go right, she'd be a Glassitect. The thought of having a career delighted her, but the idea of pushing herself well beyond her current limits didn't.
She had no clue what to think of it as - to her - far more critical things rained clouds on her mind. Or, more specifically, someone did.
She had a look of dead in her eyes as she forced herself to wake up. She really didn't want to, but she had to for the necessity of her future.
She scooched over to look at her phone once again, picking it up and squinting at its rather bright light. Like a foul tempter, she was once again reminded of his face on her lock screen. The look of dead turned to a stare of death - beyond feeling tight by the thought of him.
She looked over at the time;
7:21 am
She let out a groan like a child does on a school morning, gently forcing herself up on her bed in a huff. She sat up straight, hunched over and rubbed her eyes sleepily.
Wade's effect on her wasn't done yet. The moment she looked up from rubbing her eyes, she was reminded of him again - in the form of his still, tranquil pool bed. She looked up and about, thinking that perhaps he was around.
She quickly looked around the room for his stuff in worry. None of it was there.
Suddenly, her raw emotions tried their best to erupt out of her. She nearly became choked up, before grimacing and sharply repressing those feelings.
She knew staying in that room any longer was going to prolong the damage from last night. It was time to get up.
With that, she forced herself up and sprung to her feet. She waddled over to the foot of her bed where her stuff was. Thankfully for her, she'd managed to pack everything the night before in preparation for the day.
She propped her bag up onto her bed, slowly but surely putting her PPE suit on. She did so in a tired manner, gently pulling sleeve by sleeve up.
Before long, she was physically ready for the day - but not quite mentally. To her, however, that didn't matter. Getting the day over and done with meant she had more time to cry over the weekend.
With that, she grabbed her bag, suit on, and made her way downstairs ready for the day ahead.
Without even a dozen steps as she went down the stairs, she was faced with the first challenge of the day already. Last night was tough for her, but this morning felt tougher; because she now had to deal with the prying of the Sea-Nears.
Uncle and Aunty Sea-Near were in the kitchen making themselves, the kids and Ember breakfast. Ember caught wind, shielding herself and moving as quietly as possible in avoidance. As she snuck her way past, she peered over every now and then, watching their lips move about.
They looked over at her the instant she came into their view. They called out her name, but she couldn't hear a thing. The moment they spoke, a sharp ringing occurred, followed by a wave of discomfort. She averted her gaze from them entirely, shifting her focus to the door out.
She huffed angrily, gaining pace in going to it. She moved like a speeding bullet, arriving at the door within seconds. The moment she arrived at it, she looked down, letting out a breath of relief.
...before a hand grasped her shoulder.
Appropriate for her character of yesteryear, she lit up in a rage, sharply turning around in frustration with a look of anger.
Behind her stood Uncle Sea-Near, with Aunty Sea-Near just behind him in support. They held each other's hands, looking at her in speechless worry.
Ember watched as Uncle Sea-Near mouthed her name gently. She could see his lips contacting each other to the minutest of detail - a result of her heightened state.
Thus, an air of guilt overcame her. She questioned whether it was worth it to keep quiet and keep the emotions repressed. But her mind told her it would be healthy to express her concerns to them. Alas, it's what Wade would've done.
Then again, considering last night, she felt that perhaps Wade wasn't the wisest, most positive dewdrop out there.
As she began to think of her current disdain for him, she tensed up. She laid her PPE-protected fingers on Uncle Sea-Nears hand, gently sliding it off her shoulder with a dead-pan look.
In a strong, wordless move, Ember left the Sea-Nears astounded as she opened the door, traversing into the day ahead without a care for them.
As it shut, she very quickly mistook just how drastic her move was. As an air of hesitation and guilt overcame her, she held her hand on the door handle in ponder.
Was it too harsh of her to just leave them like that?
She looked back at the door, feeling a tinge of regret for her actions. She felt that perhaps she should just take it back.
Then again, where did that get her at that moment? She did nothing wrong the night prior, and yet she still felt like she was to blame.
She'd had enough of feeling like a pushover. She exhaled angrily and looked forward, choosing not to and heading for the elevator work bound.
Following a rather isolated walk, Ember arrived at the Aquatecture building in record slow time. She looked down at her phone for the time - trying her best to ignore Wade's face.
8:21 am
She looked back up at the Aquatecture building and let out a long sigh. As she traversed the courtyard - dismissive of the rather pretty day outside - another tense feeling overcame her.
That ringing from before she felt as she strolled past the Sea-Nears returned. It was like all senses began to depreciate with each step she took toward the building. She looked up at it in daunt, becoming slightly short-breathed.
As she walked up, she strolled past Blob standing at the door. He tipped his hat and nodded his head in greeting, mouthing good morning to her - from her perspective at least. She couldn't hear a thing besides an anxiety-ridden ringing. She nodded back at him in answer, silently going through to the front lobby.
She entered, slowly holding the front door open as she was greeted with a rather tense sight.
Her manager and trainer, Lin and Phil, stood right in the middle of the lobby chatting. The moment Ember entered, they turned to her with smiles.
Lin excused herself from Phil, running up to her and shaking her hand. Thrown completely off-guard considering she was still in a state of tension, Ember's eyes nearly bulged out of her flames.
The ringing in her ears rained rampant. As Lin's mouth flapped about, Ember looked over at Phil in the corner of her eye. He exhibited a proud smirk - slightly off-putting for her at that moment.
She looked down, feeling disheartened to the point of tears. Thankfully for her, that was the moment the ringing began to fade into the distance, tuning into the sound of Lin's voice.
"Oh, Ember! I'm so excited to see you do your thing today!" Lin exclaimed.
Still readjusting from her daze, Ember sharply broke out of it, regaining composure and sharply looking at her.
"Oh- yeah! Right!" Ember exclaimed anxiously.
She held her hands at her core in an inverted prayer position. As Lin went on, Ember briefly glanced over to Phil, still staring proudly. His stare only fueled her discomfort.
"You'll do so well today, I know it! Phil hasn't stopped talking about it!" Lin said.
Ember sharply turned her attention to Phil upon Lin's prompt - a look of worry on her face.
"And I'm usually the hardest to impress, so count your blessings." Phil quipped.
Lin let out a work-friendly chuckle, as did Ember - albeit in a more frazzled, anxious manner. She gripped her praying hands tighter, bruxing her teeth on the inside.
Suddenly, a loud honking of the horn stabbed at her composure, frantically shaking her flames about in a jump scare.
Lin sharply looked over, waving at the source of the horn.
"Ooh- the shuttle's here!" Lin admired.
Returning to big boss mode, Lin departed the scene to speak with the bus driver. Ember watched Lin with an air of curiosity about her. She saw Phil promptly walk over to stand at her side, arms crossed.
She looked over at him in query.
"Shuttle- what's she talking about?" she asked.
Phil gave out a gentle smirk and chuckled, turning his head toward her.
"Shuttle bus to the exam grounds- just a few blocks away. We use empty construction sites to give as authentic an experience as possible- and so if you mess up, it doesn't destroy Aquatecture property," he advised.
Ember let out an already anxious chuckle, looking down.
"Right." she agreed in a frazzled, submissive manner.
Already able to tell she was getting tense again, Phil sent her a secretive smirk.
"Feeling okay?" he asked.
Feeling that it was a bit out of the blue, Ember looked at him in surprise.
"Huh?" she sounded in a sharp manner.
"Are you feeling okay?" he reiterated.
"Y- yeah. I'm fine," she replied defensively.
Phil smirked once more, feeling a little disheartened by her reaction. The earth elemental had grown somewhat worried about when she got like this. Thus, he let out a coping smirk, looking down.
"Exam still bothering you?" he asked.
Ember looked down again as well, getting in her own head.
"I- I'm not sure." she stammered.
Clearly unaware of the night prior but wanting to help, Phil turned his body language toward her.
"Look, I know how these things work. Back in my intern days, I was a bit of a garden weed- let me tell you." he began.
Ember sharply looked at him with a frazzled, confused expression.
"What?" she queried, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh-yeah! Rode 'round town with the buddies with a vacuum, suckin' air folks up without a care." Phil expressed.
Really confused by the sudden change of topic and self-expression, Ember shot Phil a daunted stare.
"Really?" she asked.
"They were some fun, wild times. But after a while, I got all 'what's the point?' Then... things changed." Phil elaborated.
Unable to grasp his point, Ember stared at him, standing in a stance with her hands far out from her sides.
"Really, those wild and rambunctious days- they were just a coping mechanism because I was afraid- of becoming an adult. I was afraid of responsibility-" Phil continued.
Slowly becoming entranced by his story, Ember held her hands at her stomach line once more, leaning her head forward in intrigue. Phil looked over as she stood, slightly muddled by his sudden admission.
"Look- my point in all this is; you have an incredible opportunity to set your life up for good. You're not wasting your years like I did. And the sooner you set yourself up... the sooner you can learn to balance the responsibility... with the fun. That, to me... is the perfect life. Being an Earth guy, I know a thing or two about being grounded now." he said.
Ember let out a mild chuckle, wanting so badly to maintain her anxious demeanour but outright failing. That idea didn't hurt so bad in reality, however.
Phil chuckled, looking back at her in admiration.
"See? That's the smile I know," he spoke.
Ember let out a chuckle herself, smiling rather brightly.
"Thank you," she said sincerely.
Regaining his stoic persona, Phil straightened, giving her a thumbs up.
Suddenly, the two heard a loud call out from their overzealous boss, swinging about from the bus door. Phil promptly looked her way, while Ember took slightly longer.
She took a moment to admire his admission, feeling slightly better about herself. However, that feeling of yesterday still lingered around. For just a moment, she looked down, losing her smile.
"Yoo-hoo! Shuttle's ready for takeoff!" Lin exclaimed.
Thankfully a bit unaware of her quick lapse in happiness, Phil gestured a hand for Ember to go. Snapping out of the depressive moment, Ember looked up at Lin, then back to him.
His prideful smile allowed her a coping mechanism to get through the day. She was sure of it. Feeling better once more, she met Phil's pace and strolled toward the shuttle bus at the end of the courtyard.
As they traversed along, Phil looked over to Ember staring dead ahead with a slight strut about her. He let out another proud smile, briefly patting her on the back. She looked over at him with a slight smile, taking a nice, long breath.
"Ready to make history?" he asked.
Ember quickly lit up in reaction at the statement, her smile growing to the point of her mouth falling slightly agape and showing teeth. She let out a heaving gulp, nodding her head. Phil nodded in reaction to her, beginning to pick up the pace to the bus.
As he did, hers began to slow slightly. Her walk went from a strutt to a stroll, and her smile became conflicted again. Worse still, the ringing in her ears from before returned, along with a cold chill up her spine.
Today was going to be interesting...