Restless

Chapter 3

Strangely, I waited for her after school. That's not to say I enjoyed walking with her but I couldn't be one to let her down. Not when she herself was doubting everything she knew. That day, I overheard her explain a theory about how her parents are still alive and somehow, with a smile, she promised herself she'd reunite herself with them. Of course, she was delusional.

I gave up and concluded that she'd left without me, much to my luck I suppose. Once I had begun walking, light rain began to drift from the sky. It was light but it was also enough to leave marks on my coat. Fortunately, I took my umbrella to school so I opened it up and continued to walk with the now soothing sound of rain hitting plastic. It was relaxing but my relaxation was short-lived when I came across Emily by the side of the river I had always passed on my way home. In my mind, I contemplated going over. She didn't have an umbrella, a coat or even her blazer. She stood unfazed by the rain, staring mesmerised at what seemed to be her reflection in the river.

Meanwhile, I stood watching her and wondering.

Unsure of whether she knew I was there or not, I tried to creep away and back home.
"What's stopping me from jumping in?" She questioned. I didn't know if she was directly asking me or asking her reflection. It was something she would do, after all. Stars that peaked through the clouds surrounded her clear reflection and the calmness of the black water was disturbed by the ripples of passing fish beneath the surface and raindrops. If she were to jump from there, she would've died for sure. I remember thinking that to myself.
"Is it you, Bella?" At this point, I was sure she was aware of my presence, which is strange considering that it was close to impossible by the way I walked. Once again, I didn't answer her question. It was something I never wanted to do in case I got myself into something. Night was in full swing at this point and home felt so far away and yet I was compelled to leave. Emily bent down, picking up a rock before harshly tossing it into the water.
"Clearly not." I only just managed to hear her murmur. She picked up yet another stone and tossed that too. "Is it Matthew? Faye? Molly? Adam?" For every name she dropped, she dropped a stone into the river, getting faster and more harsh with each one. It was clear she was going stir crazy; she even dissed her own boyfriend.

Once the rain clouds had passed over, the moon lit her up so I could see her better. The same went for her about me though, so she turned around. I'd never seen her so angry when I first saw her.
"I have tried so hard..." She whimpered, beginning to cry but I could tell it was more anger than sadness. It was obvious. "You just don't cooperate. You're just a lying son of-"
"Emily." I rapidly but calmly cut her off, which was probably the right thing to do. From what I could tell that night, she was becoming violent and letting out all the bottled arguments she'd ever kept. While still keeping my calm act, I continued to talk to her. "I don't want friends. You've been nothing but a nuisance to me and to others. You have bought me all your problems and expected me to solve them like they're algebra equations since after all, you can't do them." It was easy to admit that it felt so good to let that out. That's truly how I'd been feeling at the time and it's all I wanted her to know. She said nothing back to me then, so I assumed I had won. My watch beeped again, meaning that it was definitely my curfew so I started to head home, leaving a soaked, miserable Emily behind.

Of course it was only once I'd reached the warm interior of my bedroom I had realised that she lived nowhere near the river and had no proper reason to be there. From memory I could recite that she'd take a bus five stops away from the nearest bus stop at school and of course with no parents, she wouldn't be able to get a lift home from the river. I shrugged it off when I was sitting at my work desk completing a problem set I had given myself.

Frankly, I knew that the next day would be the exact same. When she needed me, she would call. Nothing would have changed and that's why no one could have figured her out. No matter how much you would've tried to get rid of her and send her the message that you wanted to be alone, she would come back.

Of course, like always, I was right.

It felt like every moment of the day my name was being either wailed, cried, screamed or ecstatically yelled. I had said before that I couldn't do anything. If I tried, I would've only ended up bullied too.

I had purely had enough of it by the end of the day. While packing up, I once again heard the same voices in the same spot but something seemed different. Of course, to identify what seemed so off about the preps and Emily's little meeting, I went to the window just as I did days ago. Faye, Georgia and Molly were using scissors to cut her uniform but due to Emily fighting back, they occasionally missed and cut the girl herself instead. She was screaming out in pain since the cuts in her uniform were laced dreadfully with blood stains.

Having had enough of the noise, I went to the faculty room and asked for a bucket. Being the teacher's pet I was, they didn't refuse.

I'd already filled the bucket up at the toilets when returning to the class and once I had arrived, it didn't take any hesitation to tip the water on the girls below, also soaking Emily in the process.
"You- how could you? Again?" Faye had yelled, leaning over to stop her soaked hair from soaking anymore of her, which had no point because she was wet all over. It was inevitable, really. The only response I gave was a quiet and sarcastic apology which didn't do me any good.

I was helping Emily and soon, I knew I was going to have to make up for it.

The prep girls sprinted to the bathroom to sort themselves out while Emily looked up at me from below.
"Meet me at the infirmary of you must." I wrongfully contradicted myself. I told myself I wouldn't help her but the only person I cannot help is myself.

Was there any point to it?