Ghost Story

Chapter 16

I'm not near a hospital... Please don't kill me...

Emma looked around for Killian the next day at school. She hadn't seen him at all that morning, but caught him at lunch. He was sitting with the other popular seniors, Ariel Waters, Robin Locksley, Regina Mills, and Zelena Mills. Because the real Killian had been home schooled, he was considered a new student at Rochester High. A spark of jealousy ignited into a flame when Ariel wrapped her arms around him. And he didn't push her away! Emma turned away from him and went back to eating her salad that was in front of her.

"What's wrong, Emma? You've been staring at that senior ever since he got here," Elsa said.

Emma looked over at her friends who all shared the same confused expression. "It's nothing."

"You can pretend all you'd like, Emma, but we are your friends and we know when something is wrong."

Emma sighed in defeat. "I met him a few days ago, and I like him."

"He might like you back."

"That's the thing. He does. But there he is, letting that girl hang all over him."

"Sorry, Em," Elsa rubbed her friend's arm. "Just talk to him."

"It doesn't matter anyway. He's a senior and I'm a freshman. It's... Weird."

"Love is love, right? Age is just a number when you love someone," Anna cut in.

"But he's in with the popular kids. If I were to say anything, it would ruin his reputation. I can't do that to him." The bell rang and Emma stood up. "Thanks for the advice though, guys." She went to the trash cans and threw her garbage away.

"Get out of the way, brat," She heard a female British voice say behind her. And then, she was on the ground.

"Emma!" She heard Killian say. He knelt down to her and grabbed her hand and helped her up off the ground.

"Killian, you know this girl?" Zelena asked him.

Killian glanced over at Zelena and then back to Emma. He let go of her hands and stepped away from her. "No. I've never seen her before in my life."

Suddenly, it was hard to breathe. She watched Killian walk away with his new friends. An arm wrapped around her. "Emma?" Elsa asked hesitantly.

"H-he pretended he didn't even know me."

"We saw," Anna said and wrapped her arm around the blonde too.

Tears threatened to roll down Emma's cheeks. "Let's go," Graham said and walked ahead with Ruby by his side. They all walked to their next class.

All day, her heart broke more with every step she took. She felt nothing but anger and sadness. When she got home, the first thing she did was run up the stairs and went to her room. Her parents weren't home yet, so she didn't have to answer any questions. After a few hours, neither of her parents were home, but they were on a date tonight, and wouldn't be back for a few hours. She ordered a pizza using the twenty dollars her parents had left her. After she hung up, there was a knock at the door. She rolled her eyes, knowing that it couldn't be the pizza guy.

When she opened the door, she immediately tried to slam it shut, but his hand blocked the door and pushed it open. "I'm sorry, I'm not allowed to talk to strangers," she smiled sarcastically. She held her hand out. "I'm Emma Swan, and you are?"

"Ha ha," Killian said, not amused. "Can I come in?"

"Invite yourself into a stranger's home? I don't think so. Bye bye now."

"I'm sorry, love. I really am."

"You're not sorry, Killian! You pretended that you didn't even know me! Do you know how bad that hurt?" She rolled her sleeves up and showed him the scars on her arms. "That's what I did to myself after you left me once. If you were ashamed of me, all you had to do was say so! I would have backed off. I would have stepped back and you wouldn't have ever had to see me again."

"But I don't want that!"

"Then you go and pretend that I'm just some little kid!"

He hung his head low. "Zelena was talking about how much she hated freshman because they seemed like little babies. I have friends, Emma. I don't want to screw it up."

"And that is the reason why I didn't talk to you today. Your happiness means more to me than my own."

"Give me another chance, please."

"You used that second chance when you came back the first time. I didn't want to take a chance that I was wrong about you. But I now realize, that I shouldn't have even given you one."

"Emma, please-"

"Goodbye, Killian." She shut the door and slid down it, sobbing into her hands. She knew he was right outside the door, that's why she couldn't let out a single sound.

"I still love you," he said from his side of the door.

"You never have," she whispered and got up from the floor. She went into the bathroom to wash her face, the evidence from her crying was still there. Her eyes were puffy and red. She only hoped that she would be fine before her parents came home.

A half an hour later, the pizza came. She had eaten two out of the eight slices, not really having an appetite. Emma watched sad movies for the rest of the night. She knew that this breakup was going to hurt even more than the last. She could actually feel her heart tearing in two. Her phone lit up on the coffee table, and she picked it up, seeing Elsa's name on the screen, and her text below it.

'How are you?'

'Not great. Killian came by and I ended up slamming the door in his face...'

'Good for you!'

'I feel bad.'

'Don't. You did the right thing. I remember when Anna punched this guy in the face after he went out with her on a dare. You did the right thing, just like she did.'

'I guess you're right. I know because I feel terrible.'

'If Killian cares enough about you, he will ditch his low life friends and be with his girlfriend.'

'I hope you're right.'

'I always am.'

Emma wanted to have hope, but it just wasn't showing up when she needed it the most.