"Please rise. Please rise." The A.I. repeats relentlessly. I cringe, clenching my teeth. I'll give the alarm system one thing. It does put an end to the whole 'five more minutes' fiasco. Of course that does nothing for my need for sleep. Not speed. Sleep.
"Yah yah fine I'm up I'm up." I reply, clumsily staggering out of bed. I hit the bathroom door icon rather violently, almost falling through. I take a quick shower, tye my hair up in a pony tail and I brush my teeth among other morning routines, pretty much all on autopilot.
"Message from Crystal of the Diamonds to Emberlyn of the Sapphires: Do you have any toothpaste?" The A.I. speaks, and I grab the toothpaste, going over to the door icon that leads to her room. I open it up, throwing the toothpaste at her bathroom door icon. The icon senses it and opens up, letting it fly through. It closes quickly and I hear a faint clattering of objects and a thump. I sigh, heading over. I open up the door icon to find a pissed off Crystal sitting on her butt on the bathroom floor. I lean against the frame of the door icon, holding it open.
"Did you really have to throw it? You scared me so bad I fell right over." I giggle, at a loss for words. "It's not funny, Em! You scared me half to death!" I burst out laughing, keeling over. I see her glare at me before throwing the previously tossed toothpaste at me. I promptly dodge it. The toothpaste slides across her rugless floor, and I straighten up, getting serious. I take in a breath, gathering myself.
"Look Crys, I'm really sorry about how I acted last night." She shakes her head, replying in a heartbeat.
"You don't have to apologize." I frown, standing my ground.
"Yes I do. We're going to be living together for probably the rest of my life at the very least, considering how you miraculously seem to be aging me faster and I therefore will die first, so we can't get in fights over stupid shit all the time. Neither of us can dwell on the other's stupid behavior or our own. I blew up over some stupid shit. I'm sorry. It won't happen for at least another few hours." I tease, and Crystal grins back at me. With that out of the way, I offer my hand to help her stand up. She grabs it and I pull her to her feet. She goes straight up and suddenly hugs me. I stand there, stiff and awkward. After a few seconds, I ease into the hug, patting her back a little. She pulls back to sign to me.
"Have you never been hugged before, Em?" I flush, stuttering.
"Well, well of course I have. I mean I just. I really wasn't expecting that is all and I just well explain oh no I can't really um okay." I shut up, wishing my lips would just fuse together and be done with it. Crystal shakes with laughter, and I scratch my head nervously, trying and failing to play it off cooly. She goes over and picks up the toothpaste, bringing it back into the bathroom to use.
"You should probably go get ready." My mouth drops open.
"I am ready, Crys." She just raises an eyebrow and goes back to brushing her teeth. I walk off in a tiff. I go back to my wardrobe, shuffling through the different articles of clothing. I grab a nice baby blue dress, slipping it on. I sift through my shoes, finding a pair of blue wedges that aren't too high. Screw heels, this is so much more comfortable.
"Message from Crystal of the Diamonds to Emberlyn of the Sapphires; Hey my dude, meet me at the sinking feeling. Mercy and Kaden will be there too so don't say I didn't warn you." I slip my black leather jacket back on, picking up a Jolin designed to look like a purse. I slip it on and lock up, jogging over to the sinking feeling. I know retribution for Kaden and I's prank is in line, and I'm going to make it as difficult as I can for whoever tries to prank me to do so. I stop at the junction between the stairs and the tunnel. I begrudingly take the tunnel, knowing that everyone is probably waiting for me. When I finally make it, I go to enter, but before I can I feel something slide into the back of my neck and then I'm gone.
____________
"Why the fuck did you do that? Fucking hell, you imbiciles!" I hear voices shouting, but when I go to open my mouth I find only darkness. They must have drugged me with more than just whatever was needed to knock me out. I can't feel my body and my senses are all dulled. The only reason I can make out the yelling is simply that it's too damn loud not to hear. "Shut up. She's awake." My hearing slowly starts to come back, but I still can't move or see. A voice I can just barely remember echos through the room. "Hey, love." I will myself to be able to move. To see. Anything to be able to just make sure this isn't a dream or a halusination. "I've missed you so much. I'm so sorry. I'm just... I'm so sorry, Emmy." My vision and the feeling in my body comes back all at once. Charlie's face appears in the center of my sight and I can see tears dripping to the floor. I breathe, not quite believing what's in front of me.
"Fuck it. I don't care if you're not real, but if you are, well, Charlie I..." I trail off, staring at the face I thought was long gone. I hug Charlie hard, crying. I pull back a little, and the tears that previously fell to the floor fall on my hand as I wipe them away. "I love you Charlie. I love you so much." I lean forward, kissing Charlie. It feel familiar, perfect. Like I've done this before-
Charlie yelling, the world shaking as bombs drop. Crying. Confession. A kiss. I shove Charlie back.
"What was that for?"
"I remember. I remember. You knew. That day in Milyn. You knew that the bombs were going to drop. How did you know?"
"I'm sorry Charlie, they'll be looking for her soon. We have to go." A man grabs Charlie's shirt, taking away my answers as well as the one person who'd always been there for me. Until that person died.
"Emmy, I'm sorry." Charlie calls back, and I nod, left alone in the Sinking Feeling's bathroom.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
