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Pretty in Pink
Chapter Twelve

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"Don't like who, sweetheart?"

Sweetheart? Gosh, I sound like the male protagonist of some soppy love story.

"S-Sweetheart? Ray?" Fanta hair stutters, the color of her face as red as a poppy. Why did I say sweetheart? Have I been watching too many cliche teen love movies?! I only watch them to make fun of them, jeez Ray.

Why didn't I say Fanta Hair or Goldilocks?

She looks away from me like she's trying to hide something. I look to the right of me, seeing that Christa and another girl are giving odd looks at Emma. Why were they all out here rambling around anyways?

"See you next time! C'mon Reina, let's go," Christa urges, sounding aggravated. She grips the other girl's wrist and drags her along, her fingernails clawing into the girl's arm.

I noticed that the girl walking with Christa had a bloody nose of some sort.

"Hey," I say to Emma, who's still refusing to look at me. "Eemmma, what's up?"

A drop of red splatters to the floor. Blood.

"Oi," I dash in front of Emma, seeing that she was clasping her shoulder while a tad bit of blood was running down her neck. They hurt her.

Without saying anything, I grab her free hand and steered her down the hallway. She silently complies, still clutching her shoulder. I wasn't there.

I open my locker, scrambling through the disorganized boxes and bins that laid on the floor. Should've been me.

I yank a roll of gauze and a cloth. Why wasn't security monitoring?

"Can I see?" I try to reassure Emma and she weakly nods. The wound on her shoulder was still bleeding, that's right, her disease.

I gently apply pressure on the injury with the cloth, attempting to quell the bleeding. Audible footsteps reverberate against the walls, don't tell me they're coming now.

"Kid, what are you doing?" A security guard inquires, addressing us.

This bitch.

"She got harmed and you weren't there," I take off the cloth, the bleeding has seemed to stop. I flip the cloth and take a new water bottle, wetting the cloth.

"Go back to class, I'll take her to the nurse."

I ignore him, cleaning Emma's wound with the wet cloth, "I'm almost done." After cleaning the wound I apply the gauze, considering that her wound was pretty bad. Even worse, she has that illness that makes her wounds heal slower than others.

"Sorry," Emma softly says, slightly leaning her head on me.

"It's okay, dumbo," I pat her head.

"You, go to class now. And you," he points his finger at Emma, "tell me what happened." I say goodbye to Emma, and glare at the guy before heading off back to class.

Why the hell were those girls beating her up?

—

I sat impatiently at my desk, waiting for the bell to ring so I could go see if Emma's okay. My mind was clouded with the sight of her wound, those girls, and the fact that I should've been there sooner.

I guess I care so much about her since I've known her so long, probably cause she's so nice too. Sometimes I question why she hangs out with me, I feel guilty for even saying that but it's true. Most people hate me for whatever rumors.

What if those girls were targeting her because of me?

My heart somersaulted, were those girls envious of Emma? I rested my head down and covered my eyes, letting my hair fall loose. A pain jabbed me in the heart, a pain filled with anxiety and guilt.

"Mama, why do you hit me?"

"I'll do better next time."

"Please stop hurting me."

I squeeze my wrist, snapping out of my thoughts of memories. In Junior High, I forced myself to become camouflage itself. Blending in with the crowd, not wanting to start trouble.

Near the end of Junior High, I couldn't keep the scheme up any longer. I stopped hiding from them and fought back. It was a wrong move.

At home, the same thing happened.

And now, it's happening again. But not to me, to her. Emma got hurt cause of me.

I'll be there for her the same way Norman was there for me.

Ding-Ding!

My head jerked up at the sound of the school bell, signaling for everyone to go to lunch. We eat lunch pretty early in the day.

I took this chance to go find Emma. "Ray!"

Who's calling me now?

"Ray, is dear Emma okay?" Christa fastens her arm around mine. Is this a joke? I scowl at her with death in my eyes. I shove her away and continue to the infirmary, where they most likely put her.

He heads inside and pokes his head out. A little girl was standing in front of Emma's bed, while Emma was sitting on the bed. The little girl was crying, laying her face on Emma's lap.

"Jemima, why are you crying?" Emma starts rubbing the little girl's back, who I'm assuming is Jemima.

"Because I can't cry at school.. the other kids call me weak."

"Crying doesn't make you weak. People cry because they've been strong for too long, Jemima."

Woah, when did Emma become a philosophist?

Emma wraps her arms around Jemima, patting her head. An older woman approaches the two, who looks like a grown-up version of Jemima. The woman had dark skin like Jemima, and long dreadlocks with dark brown oval eyes. "Jem, it's okay. We have to go home now."

Jemima waves goodbye to Emma and walks outside the infirmary's exit. I'm inferring that the older woman was her mother.

Let's scare Emma.

Emma was still sitting up, fiddling with her fingers. I tiptoe to the opposite of the bed and try my best not to laugh.

"Boo!" I yell, making Emma flinch.

"Ray!!" Emma laughs along with me, leaning her whole body on the bed.

"How's ya shoulder?" I ask.

"I feel fine now but the nurse won't let me leave," she reaches her hands up to my cheeks, playfully pulling them. She giggles as I roll my eyes.

"Who was that girl?" I ask, laying my head on Emma's stomach, my feet dangling off the bed.

"Her name is Jemima, her mother came here with her to pick up something for Jemima's older sibling, who attends here," she explains.

In the corner of my eye, I can see Emma's face go red once again. What's with her face going all tomato-ey whenever she's with me?

"Emma, why did-"

I was cut off by Emma's soft snore. Of course, she fell asleep.

"Never mind, Sleeping Beauty," I say, looking at the time. Lunch was going to end soon. I prop myself up and tuck Emma in, sneaking out of the infirmary before the nurse catches me.

I was glad to know she was okay.

—

At Lunch, 30 minutes prior

"Whaa? Emma got hurt?" Norman questions in a panic.

"Calm down, loverboy!" Gilda says, readjusting her round glasses and moving a piece of her hair out of her face, "she's probably fine. Ray probably went to rescue her."

"L-loverboy?" Norman exclaims, his cheeks turn red.

"Norman it ain't no secret you like Emma," Don says, gracefully sipping his orange juice.

"Nice job, Don. You talked without food in your mouth," Gilda congratulates Don, patting him on the shoulder.

"I-I do not! Besides, I have.. duties. Yeah, duties."

"Norman and his excuses again."

"This guy never catches a break!"

"We gotta get you out somewhere other than that student council room of yours."

"At this point, you're going to be living in that office."

Norman flusters, stuffing his face with a yogurt. "It's not like she sees me that way anyway."

Gilda felt her insides sadden, she wanted Ray and Emma to be together, sure, but seeing Norman sad made her feel all guilty inside. Gilda whispers to Don,

"We need to match-make Norman with someone!"

"Who? He barely talks to girls."

"What about that girl from Phys Ed? The sweet one, with the braids! What's her name?"

"Anna?"

"Yes, her!"

"Guys, what are you whispering about?" Norman interrupts, tossing his yogurt carton into a garbage bin.

"Well, Norman. We have someone in store for you!" Gilda announces.

"In-store? What do you mean?"

"A girl, obviously." Don makes Norman stand up and leads him to a separate lunch table.

"Don, no!" Norman tries to refuse, however, Don keeps pushing him.

They eventually arrive at a stand with napkins and condiments laid out, organized. A fair-skinned girl with pretty blue eyes stands there, picking out a few napkins. She had long platinum blonde hair that was tied into two twin braids, her hair nearly the same color as Norman's.

"Hi, Anna," Don greets.

Anna smiles, "Who's this?" She asks.

"This is Norman, he wanted to meet you."

Norman awkwardly smiles and holds out his hand, "I'm Norman,"

"You're the student council president, right? I'm Anna!" Anna gleefully shakes his hand.

Don takes his chance and runs back to Gilda, both of them mischievously giggling.

"Guess our second scheme is working!" Gilda celebrates along with Don.

Their celebration is cut short with a light tap on Gilda's shoulder. Gilda turns around.

"Hi, you're the class president, right?" The girl had a soft gentle voice and beautiful light green eyes. Her brown hair reached halfway down her back, and she wore a green bow on the side.

"Yes, you're Lily, right?" Gilda asks.

"Mhm! I was wondering if I could sit with you during lunchtime."

Lily was a sweet girl, often introverted kind of like Gilda. She usually strays away from social groups, and she's very pretty.

"Of course, the others wouldn't mind at all!" Gilda exclaims, showing Lily to their table. "Emma and Ray usually sit with us, but I'm assuming they're in the infirmary-"

The pair were interrupted by the bell, signaling everyone to go to their next class. Gilda and Don head to Phys Ed along with Anna, whilst the others walk separately to their classes.

—

Emma's POV

"Emma, would you like to go home early?"

I did, going home early was always a treat. However, I do not wish to encounter Annemarie at my house. Not yet, I'll face her later.

"No ma'am. I feel just fine," I state, standing up.

The nurse inscribes a note about pardoning me from gym class if I had it today, I take the note and wave goodbye to the lady, clenching my fist.

The staff said they've suspended Reina and Christa after hearing what they did to me. I was relieved, knowing that Gilda wouldn't be targeted by them because of me.

Is liking Ray bad? I know a lot of girls like Ray already, are they all going to act like Christa?

I shook off the thought, sauntering to my art class. Creating art was a form of conveying myself, they say the doodles you draw in class exhibit what you're like. Although, most of mine are little giraffes.

I pull my sleeve over the gauze Ray had pertained and entered the art room, eager for some peacefulness.

—
sorry if it was a sloppy, i was tired today haha

s2 ep 6 of tpn comes out today! have a nice day ʕ •́؈•̀ ₎