Opposites Attract

Being home wasn’t as cool as I thought it would be. Sure, I didn’t have to deal with Kevin and I could wake up whenever I wanted but that didn’t mean it was very fun. Dani had started school again; it was her junior year, so I couldn’t hang out with her during the day. JT and I should have started UCLA in September but thanks to the Jonas Brothers, we hadn’t. Not that I’d want to even be in the same room as JT ever again, but it meant that I had to wait until next September to start college. My mom was, as usual, always at work. No surprise there.

So in order to busy myself, I started working at the Gap in the mall. There was never anyone in there because no one in Chino could afford the Gap. Usually I just stood behind the register all day, smacking my gum. Sounds enthralling doesn’t it? Well, let me tell you, it wasn’t.

Just like every other day, November 9th was very boring. There were no customers so my boss said I could leave early. You’d think I would be excited, but I wasn’t. It was pouring rain and my car was all the way on the other side of the parking lot, by the trees. That meant I’d have to walk all the way over there sans umbrella. Wonderful. In case you were wondering, I got very wet. Very very wet.

I probably should have pulled my keys out before I got to the car, but I didn’t. Instead I stood in the rain, digging through my purse, trying to find them. It took a while but I finally withdrew my keychain. My house key glared at me from the little metal hoop but the key to my car was nowhere to be seen. Great, just great. My eyes dropped to the ground; I thought maybe I had dropped it but that didn’t seem to be the case. I groaned and grabbed my cell phone.

I figured I could called my mom and see if she could come pick me up. If she couldn’t, I was fairly certain that the DeSouzas wouldn’t mind coming to get me. I pushed soaked pink hair out of my face and attempted to dial my mom’s number but nothing happened. My phone was off. I pressed the power button but again, nothing happened. It was dead.

It was raining, my car was locked, I couldn’t find the key, and my phone was dead. Clearly my day was not going very well. It began to rain even harder, falling in torrents around me. The only good thing about it was that anyone who happened to walk by (not that anybody did) wouldn’t be able to distinguish the rain from the tears that were streaming down my cheeks. My knees gave away and awkwardly, I sat on the ground.

It seemed that everything that had been building up for the past few months suddenly exploded inside of me. Everything that had happened with Kevin, the falling out with JT, all of it flooded my senses. Things I thought I had buried a long time ago somehow found their way back to the surface. The way my dad had just up and left, spending days alone when I was little, the way my ex-boyfriend broke my heart, and it hurt all over again.

My house key was still clutched in my left hand and as my fingers slowly uncurled from around it, a thought crossed my mind. It was a new key, I’d misplaced the old one, so it’s jagged edges were still sharp. For a minute I wondered what it would feel like tearing into my skin. The key sparkled in the raindrops. I knew I shouldn’t, but all the hurt needed to get out somehow.

Rain mixed in the blood that trickled down the palm of my hand. I dropped the key, I didn’t need it anymore. The blood made a little pool on the ground. I tried to concentrate on it but everything was getting fuzzy and out of focus. I slumped against the car and felt like falling asleep when I heard a faint sound.

“Emma.”

It sounded like my name but I couldn’t be sure. A person was in front of me, but blurred. All I could make out was a head of chocolate brown curls. There was a small light, like a cell phone display, and then … Nothing.