𝐄𝐔𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀 | strawberriextrio

Chapter Three | Hopeful

Emma POV: 

The bright, emerald green eyes gaze into mine. I realise I'm staring at him longer that I intend to and turn away hastily, blushing slightly. 

"Thanks," I say out loud, once again. My voice comes out quivering and squeaking which definitely wasn't helping.

"It's fine," he says politely. "Are you ok? Also I'm August by the way." 

"Oh, um, yes... and I'm Emma," I say, trying to avoid eye contact.

August slightly nods and looks around awkwardly. He half coughs, then draws his attention back to me. 

"Well, I've got to go," He replies, smiling. "I'll see you around?" 

"Yeah," I say, not even knowing what he just said. 

I look up slightly again to find that August had walked away. Disappointment overflowed me.

Kathy's POV:

I raise my eyebrows and smirk.

"What?" Emma says with a hint of annoyance. 

I shake my head at her obliviousness. 

"You guys would be so cute together." 

"What?" she repeated, her eyes wide and ablaze. 

"I said, you guys would be cute together." 

She shakes her head sternly, but her cheeks tinge with a shade of pink. 

I grin inwardly. 

"You know, as your best friend and stuff, if you ever have a change in... interests, you know who to come to right?" 

"Kathy," she groaned. "You have no idea how annoying you are right now." 

"Just doing my best," I say cheerily. 

Edward POV:

I frowned, tearing the pink heart-shaped sticky note off my desk. 

Meet me behind the school at break. -Anonymous

Nah, I don't think so. The only girl I'm remotely interested in at the moment is Emma, and she's my little sister's best friend. Kath would murder me if I asked her out. My cheeks burned.

"Hey, Edward, Mrs. Jackson asked me to tell you... What's that?" My classmate, August approaches me. His eyes scanning curiously over the note as I hold it out for him to read. "Oh. Are you gonna go?"

"Nope," I pop the 'p', shaking my head.

"Kinda feel bad for whoever wrote that then," August utters. "They probably will be quite sad"

Emma POV:

I sat alone on the bench behind the school, fidgeting with the hem of my skirt. I wait and wait for the always cheerful Edward to show up. Rain began to make spots on my uniform. I guess he's not coming then.

Before I knew it, rain was lashing down on me, and I felt my wet hair stick to the back of my neck. Droplets of rain rolled down my legs, seeping into my socks. Tears pooled in my eyes. Idiot. Mom was right. You shouldn't have fallen for him. Love only drags you down. Idiot. Idiot. Idiot. 

I started shaking with strained sobs. Four years. Four years of wishing in vain. 

August POV:

Rain splatters against the classroom window and break is going to end soon. The pink note that had been on Edward's desk a few minutes ago, and now in the class room bin right in front of where I sat. I started wondering if the girl was okay in this amount of rain. 

Ten more minutes until the end of break and I still can't get the note out of my head. I look down from the window at the back of the classroom and in shock, I find that the girl that knocked into me at the start of the day was sitting there. Still in the rain. 

For some reason, I have the urge to go down there and rescue her from the angry violent rain drops. I grab my yellow umbrella from my bag, turn the corners of the school and walk down the stairs. Every step I took made me more confident, telling me I was doing the right thing and what my heart told me to do.

Emma POV:

I'm sitting here, soaking wet. I don't want to move. 

More people walk by, staring and pointing, but I don't try to hide my face. This is stupid, I thought. I was dumb to think he could ever like me. Before I knew it, tears formed in my eyes. I'm such an idiot. I've made a fool of myself. Tears were now falling rapidly, and I wipe them away. 

August POV:

I walk towards the back of the school, searching for the girl. I check my watch; 7 minutes until break ends and I walk faster. Then, I see her silhouette. She's shivering, but I can tell she has no plans of leaving. 

I walk towards her cautiously, careful not to startle her. 

"Hey, are you okay?" 

She looks up and I notice her face is stained with tears. She sniffles and nods. 

"It's pretty cold out here, don't you think? Do you want to walk back with me?" 

She hesitates for a moment, but finally taking in the cold, wet surroundings around her, she stands up. 

"Yeah, thanks." 

Edward POV:

Part of me thinks it's the right thing to do. I've got to stay loyal to Emma. But that girl- could she still be out there, soaked in the rain, heartbroken because I didn't come? 

I give up and look out the window. 

August. 

Emma. 

My eyes widened. 

Emma, I mutter. It was Emma. Oh god, what did I do? 

August is saying something. Emma nods. 

He says something again. 

This time she replies, standing up, and they walk back together. 

Emma would never forgive me. She's probably developing feelings for August now. 

I want to scream.