How to be Emo

I smiled, lacing my fingers through Leon’s. We walked around with the group—we were getting glares and compliments. I glanced back at the group; some were talking to one another, but Senna just kept her head down.

“Leon, I’m gonna talk to Senna.” I walked with her, looking at her. “Uh, you guys go ahead.” As they kept walking, I grabbed her wrist. “What’s wrong, Senna?”

“Why do you care?” Her blood shot eyes met mine. Was she high? Had she not slept? Or had she been crying?

“You’re my friend.” I took her into the phone booth area and looked at her watery eyes.

“I was...” Her voice became a whisper. “Raped.”

I don’t know what came over me—maybe my peppiness was returning—but I wrapped my arms around her and let her cry. I had never been this...what?

After a while, she fell asleep against the wall and I wasn’t about to wake her up. Good thing I had a book with me. I flipped it to my page and started to read.

As the pages flipped, the hours went by and I felt something nudge me. I looked up to see Leon. “Hi.”

“Are you ready to go?” He squatted down, glancing at Senna. “Is she okay?”

I nodded. “Hey, Senna.” I lightly squeezed her hand and she woke up. “Ready to go?”

“Um...yeah.” She got up; leaving us for a second, but I just followed her. Was I supposed to kiss him?