[Earth, River Valley High - Morning]
"Last night was great!" Mary cheered as she stretched her arms.
"Yeah." Emily agreed, smiling, without considering the fact that she had a splash-tastic time with Isabella.
After the yesterday's ceremony, she slept in Fiore because she was just extremely tired. Once she returned back to Earth, it was dawn. So, she just stayed up till morning to do her homework.
"Emilyyyyyy!" A voice called out from behind.
Emily turned to see Hailey running towards her with her hands spread out. She grabbed her and gave her a tight hug. "Why didn't you wait for me? I wanted to go to the cafeteria with you."
Emily laughed nervously, "Damn, I've almost forget about her. I'm such a bad friend..."
"Well... About that--"
Before she could finish, someone bumped against her.
Turning her head, she took a quick glance at the careless figure.
A guy with black hair (not completely black, but close to her type of black), stood in front of her. He was really tall, probably half a head taller than Beck. He had a maroon hoodie on and he had his head hung down. The hood was draped over his head, further hiding his features.
Something about him was familiar to her, as if she met him somewhere before, but she could not pinpoint who this guy was.
"Sorry." Emily bowed slightly, even though it was not her fault.
Without saying a single word, he just stood there.
...In silence.
...
"Alright. What's wrong with him? Is he mad at me for standing there? Or is he that one weird kid? Wait, Emily. You have no say in this, you're equally weird yourself. Well, maybe he didn't hear me, should I say that 'I'm sorry' again? Whatever, let's just say it again."
"Erm... Sor--"
"Emily." The guy called out.
Hearing her name did stun her, she did not recognise him, but how did him know her name?
"Maybe he is a stalker? Gosh, Emily, are you overestimating yourself? Who will stalk a weirdo like you? You're not that pretty either, there's no reason for someone to do that to you. Maybe he just know my name through some other people."
"Emily. Do you seriously not recognise me?" The guy huffed as he let down his hood, "Wow, you're such a ungrateful child. How can you forget that one person who stood up for you all the time in elementary school?"
Once his features were revealed, Emily felt a surge of memories flowing through her mind.
"Damian..."
"Wow, about time." He stated dryly as he rolled his eyes, "I thought you had completely forget about me. You had me worried for a sec there."
Damian was someone Patricia brought back home, when Emily was six. Patricia found him abandoned somewhere, like in an alley or something. He was a year a older than her, he was one of the reason why her childhood was not totally ruined. To her, he was just like her older brother. He played with her all the time, they went to school together and did everything together. However, when she was thirteen a lady picked him up and the two went somewhere else. That moment was when she became, well, an introvert, like one of those emo kids. Until today, she did not where did he went three years ago.
"...How is he suddenly here? I thought he was--"
Just then, her thoughts were disrupted by the snapping of Damian's fingers, "Emily, hey, are you having a monologue or something? Why are you staring into thin air?"
"How, erm... er, what..."
She was too shocked to say anything in proper English, so instead, she sounded like a broken printer.
Luckily, Damian understood her.
Like he always do.
"Let me help you translate." He offered before clearing his throat to continue, "'How are you here?' And my answer to that question is: I just got transferred here."
Again, Emily was still in the state of shock. So, whatever he said, did not register.
Seeing at her reaction, a laugh could not help but to make its way to his mouth.
"Anyways, aren't you going to the cafeteria? Come on, let's go." He said as he hooked his arm around Emily's neck as they walked to the cafeteria.
When they reached, they found an empty table and sat down as Hailey, Beck and Mary helped her and Damien to get their food.
Emily just could not believe it, a guy whom she thought had completely disappeared was right in front of her.
"Is this a dream? I don't think so, right?" She pinched her arm, testing if she was dreaming or not.
She felt a stingy pain on her arm.
"...It's not a dream."
Raising an eyebrow, Damian looked at her, "Did you say something?"
"Not really." Emily replied quickly as she flashed him a brimming smile, "Oh yeah, does Patricia know you're here? Are you going back to Patricia? Where did you go three years ago? Who is that la--"
"Stop, that's way too many questions." He interrupted her with a grin, "Okay, Patricia doesn't know and I'll be staying at Patricia if she allows me to do so. The thing that happened three years ago, I... don't want to talk about it now, maybe later."
"O-Oh, okay." She replied, "It feel so weird talking to him now. Not the bad kind of weird, but the good kind of weird."
They then sat there in silence, not knowing what to say.
Actually, they just had too much to say and honestly, they did not know where to say.
After a good whole minute of comfortable silence, he spoke, "Ah, I almost forgot. Give me your arm."
Emily obediently complied and stretched out her arm.
Meekly, Damian wrapped a bracelet with tiny gemstones on it, that were treated as charms, around her wrist, "Here."
"Is that for me?" Emily asked as her eyes twinkled from the sight of the bracelet.
She loved it.
"Yeah, I mean I wouldn't place it there if it wasn't for you, right?" He broke into a gentle smile. In the next second, he slowly went closer to her, "I want to tell you something, come closer."
"What is it?" She asked as she bent forward, without thinking about the consequences.
Just then, he gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead, "...I've missed you, Emily."
She was paused for a moment, completely froze in place.
Damian looked at her and snickered, "Wh--"
Before he could speak, he was interrupted.
"What the hell are you doing, dickhead?!" Hailey yelled as she grabbed on to his hoodie, "Who say you can touch her?"
"Hey, Heyyyyyy. Calm down." Damian laughed nervously as he raised his hands to surrender, "I did that as an older brother, and not in any other way."
Looking over to Emily, he asked, "Is she your friend? Why is she completely different from you?"
"Hailey. Just relax." Emily comforted as she pulled her away from him.
Hailey pulled out at wet wipe and cleaned her best friend's forehead, "This is where he stick his filthy lips, right? Let me clean it off."
"Hey! What the hell? Are all girls like that?" Damian retorted as she grimaced at Hailey's actions, "For your information, I'm pretty clean. I bathe all the time."
"Emily, did you heard something?" Hailey asked Emily sarcastically, "I might be overthinking, maybe it's just the wind."
Emily laughed uneasily before she looked over to Damian while she mouthed the words, 'She didn't mean it.'
Letting out a sigh, he shook his head, "I'm so butthurt right now."
He then stood up and walked away from the two.
"Wait! He's not leaving again, is he?"
Without any hesitation, Emily called out, "Where are you going? Are you leaving me again?"
Damian turned back at her with a grin hanging at the side of his lips, "No, I'm not. I was kidding. I just remember I needed to get something from one of the teachers. I'll see you later."
Damian walked out of the cafeteria and to the back of the school. There was no doubt that place was suspicious, honestly, he would not be surprised if he see a drug dealer.
Smiling to himself, he spoke quietly, "Emily... She didn't change one bit."
Suddenly, a voice was heard behind him.
"You gave her the bracelet?"
He turned to see a familiar figure in a black cloak, who had left a trail of black smoke behind him as he appeared behind Damian.
"Yeah, I did." He replied, "It's on her now."
The mysterious guy then crumpled his collar, "You better not lie to me. I know about your little story with her, so I don't trust you."
"Relax, dude. I did it, believe it or not. Trust me, I know this is for her own good. Now, can you let go of me?"
Grunting, the guy did, before disappearing into thin air, "...Keep an eye on her...."
"Aye, Captain Erik." Damian replied with a playful salute to the air.