Through The Dark

37 - Emmalyn

37 - Emmalyn

A couple of hours had gone by. I loved the castles in the air thing. I definitely had to do that with Ben. He was still not talking to me, but I planned to change that soon. It had gone on for far too long. Maybe Aunt Diana and Leonard would leave soon so we could have a proper family talk.

I nodded at something Olivia was saying, though I was not listening.

'Let's go, then,' she pressed.

'Where are we going?' I asked, finally breaking free of my reverie.

'To eat, Em, aren't you paying attention? Aren't you hungry?'

I shook my head. I was actually very hungry. Who knew how long we had been here. 'Yeah, I am,' I admitted.

'Come on, then, there is this great diner just a few miles down the highway.'

I accepted and we got going. The place was nice. Their pancakes were to die for. It was after lunch time, but they were still serving them, so both Olivia and I ordered them. I was glad to notice she was eating more.

She still looked a bit somber, I noticed. 'Have you talked to Tobias lately?' I wondered, just to get her talking.

She turned a bright pink right away. 'Not really.'

'I like him. He seems cool,' I said offhandedly. 'Come on, there is a place I want to show you.' I cleaned my hands on my jeans and got up eagerly, trying to cheer Olivia up.

She eyed me wearily. 'Have we been there before?' she asked, probably thinking of the ice cream parlor.

'No,' I responded, smiling at the waitress that took our order as I walked past her. I pushed the glass door open and kept it open with my foot to allow Olivia to walk by. She did so and then we got back on her 'brand new' car.

She looked incredibly happy with this car, though, so I had learned to accept it. I knew the car was more of a symbol, than a thing itself. It represented a change for Olivia. Some people cut their hair, others changed their clothes, but Olivia had gotten herself a different car, for that was what held the true meaning of change for her from the life she had lived before.

The place that I was taking her to was a bit far away from where we currently were, so by the time we arrived it was getting dark. I used to come here a lot on my bike. It was a piece of land that was on higher ground than the rest of the city and it had a sort of cliff, but it was a beautiful place to see the whole city from. At night it was more amazing, I thought. The lights shining so bright, made the city look so alive and full of life.

When I was younger I used to relate the brilliant city with a night princess -coming to life at night, vibrant and radiant whilst during the day it paced silently around, waiting for its time.

It was by far my most favorite place in the world, and I had never shown it to anybody before. For me, it was the closest I could get to bare my soul to anyone, and I had chosen that that person would be Olivia.

When we finally got there, I could not keep the smile from breaking through me and showing on my face. I tugged at Olivia's arm after she had parked the car and ducked under the wires that surrounded the land.

'What is this place?' she questioned, looking around.

'Come on!' I urged, dragging her along behind me. 'It's right there,' I said, pointing with my spare hand towards the north of the property, where the land dissipated and the vast cliff came along.

'No offense, but this place is a bit creepy,' Olivia muttered as I finally let go of her arm. She rubbed on the spot I had grabbed and I blushed a little bit, I had probably left a mark. I was about to apologize when Olivia finally looked out front and her mouth fell wide open. 'Wow,' she breathed. 'This...this is amazing.'

She turned excitedly to look at me and I grinned back, feeling myself relaxing and letting the beauty of the place engulf me.

'I went out so much before I met you –well, before I hung out with you- and man, I never saw a place as breathtaking as this,' she pointed out.

'This is my favorite place,' I confessed. She gave me a surprised look and then looked out into the city once again.

'Thanks for bringing me here, and for sharing that with me.'

'How come you don't go to a private school, Olivia?' I asked after a moment of silence. That question had been bugging me since forever and I finally had the courage to ask. Olivia was clearly wealthier that the rest of us, the crowd that attended this public school.

She shrugged, tugging her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. 'My dad,' she simply explained. 'My mother would have loved to put me in private school, but my dad always strived for keeping me grounded, just like Anna.'

'I bet I would like your dad, too,' I chuckled lightly. 'He seems cool.'

'He is.' Olivia gave me a sideways glance and I knew what she was about to ask. I braced myself, telling my heart I could take questions like that one, for I would probably deal with them for a while from now on. 'What about your dad?'

'I can't say he was ever a bad dad to me. Sure, he wrecked our family, but he was never bad to either Ben or me. Up to this day it is actually quite a shock that he cheated on my mom in the first place, but obviously I don't know much about his reasons or anything. I had lunch with him once, behind my mom and Ben's back –that is why I am not really speaking to them anymore.'

'Well, Em, don't worry. I am sure things will get better with them. I can-'

A wailing police car made us shut up at once. Red and blue lights disrupted the peace of the night and I tensed up right away. Were we in the wrong place at the wrong time? Had we bumped into a murder or something?

I heard the cars' doors slam shut and then heavy steps on the grassy land. I felt Olivia inch closer to me.

'Keep your hands were we can see them,' a deep voice barked. I freaked out right away because I could swear the voices were directed our way. It must be a mistake, for I was sure we had done nothing wrong. We were not smoking or drinking, which I had heard was the reason many teenagers got detained.

'Are you talking to us?' I dumbly asked.

'Step away from each other, now!' a second voice snapped, ignoring my question altogether. Olivia whimpered beside me but did as they said, for I was glued to my spot and was no longer reacting.

My mind kept yelling at me, telling me how much trouble I had gotten in, but I could not even process that as they cuffed my hands behind my back.