The Iceberg Tipping

Words upon words bubbled beneath her skin, she couldn’t speak. No, she just refused to speak. The ability was there, making her muscles twitch and her teeth to fit snug around her bottom lip. She ached to say what she was feeling, share just the slimmest amount of her personal life with no one personal at all. She wanted a random stranger to feel what she felt, she wanted them to know, to empathize but never see with whom these problems are embedded. A resolve formed in her head, a firm feeling of just overall knowingness. Maybe she wasn’t strong enough to share her own problems but she could take the pressure off of other people’s shoulders.
indent They always said that when you help another you help yourself. The feeling of happiness that used to fill Emma when she helped another stranger out. She could be the voice of wisdom in the hallways that no one could place. People were always asking small questions to no one in particular within the hallways and even in the classrooms or on the streets. The glamour of it all sent Emma’s eyes sparkling as she stalked down the hallway.
indent “When’s the next class end?” A boy Emma’d never seen in her life asked quietly, looking towards the clock across the hall. He looked back down at a paper in his hand.
indent Emma took this as a chance to open her mouth. She wasn’t afraid of saying something wrong when no one could tell who’d said it in the first place. If the wrong words slipped out from her lips then it wouldn’t matter, it’d just be another missed comment in the hallways. Emma slipped by quickly, muttering ‘one twenty three’ in a low voice before disappearing behind a stack of lockers, wedged between the cold metal and a water fountain. She could see the boy look up and around the hallway before smiling and muttering a small ‘thank you’ to no one in particular.
indent From her hiding place, even Emma smiled, she’d been right about feeling good. It rejuvenated Emma in a way that even Jacob couldn’t. The rest of the day a smile was planted firmly upon her face, it wouldn’t have been noticeable to anyone unfamiliar with Emma’s new found antics but as Hanna walked down the opposite side of the hallway she could see the inching the corner of Emma’s mouth was doing. It gave her a sad feeling of happiness in the pit of her stomach.
indent Hanna wasn’t the only one noticing the difference, however. James stood in another corner sore from the fact that he could never make her smile like that. His newest advances only making Emma tense, instead of helping her to open up to him again. A deep frown formed beneath his angry eyes, showing just how displeased he was. While Emma had no idea she wasn’t alone in her mind, Rory had noticed not only the smile but James’ anger and Hanna’s sadness. His deep blue eyes darted between the three of them while worried thoughts formed in his brain, what would become of Emma he didn’t know but whatever it was he wanted more than anything to prevent it.