Then, as quick as a blink of an eye, his soft lips are on mine, and I find myself kissing him back.
---
When Emma Harte was six, her mother left her and her father to become an actress and model. She only taught Emma three things: play it safe, kee...
Shocks and unexpected happenings came at an ease for me. Lots of people said I handled things well, and I agree- I rarely got upset at things because my philosophy was that everything can be fixed, and some just take longer than others.
To be fair, I did try to calm down. I did tell myself not to panic, but this- this was a problem that would take all of eternity and longer to fix.
Whoever did this must've been real bored. So helpless, they can't even find something better to do than to ruin someone's whole reputation.
There it was, right in front of me. I wanted to crush my phone into small minuscule bits and throw them in the ocean.
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It was a picture. A picture of August and I. On a particular library date.
I mean, 21,023 Views... How much worse can this get?!
Out of all the moments they could've taken a picture of, it had to be the most embarrassing and the worst thing I've possibly let myself done.
I had to call Kathy.
I dialled her number, my fingers shaking with rage and pure shame.
She paced around the room, back and forth.
"Hello?"
Kathy's P.O.V:
"Hello?"
"Kathy," Emma said.
"What happened?"
It was unusual for Emma to call. She wasn't someone who would dial friends at random. Only if she had a reason. A particularly important reason.
"Some idiot posted a photo of August and I," she squeaked in the phone.
"I don't understand, it was just you guys reading, wasn't it?"
"No, no, Kathy! It was a picture of us-," she stopped. "He kissed me and somebody took a picture."
My eyes widened.
"I- I told you, Emma, I told you it was a bad idea, why is it when I tell you all these things you don't listen?"
"I'm sorry, okay, just help me, I don't know what to do," she said, her voice faltering and getting softer and softer.
"Emma, this is what you get if you don't think first. I know I'm harsh, and I know I'm not being a good friend right now. I can't always be there to fix and end all these problems you've started. Heck, it's hasn't even been a term, yet."
She let out a quiet sob.
"The more you let yourself do all these stuff, the more you end up hurting yourself. What were you thinking, Emma?" I say as calmly as possible.
"I never thought it would end up that way," she cried, her breaths getting heavier.
"Someone miles away could tell that it wasn't just a study session, Emma. I know you wanted to go in there and sit with that boy more than what you're telling me."
"I wanted to get to know him, I wanted to talk to him, he seemed like a nice guy, he is a nice guy," she took a long breath, her voice quivering, "Kathy I really, really don't know what to do."
"Emma. I'm as clueless as you are in this situation. You just need to take a deep breath and face what happens at school. Ask that person to delete the post, tell everyone it's not true, whatever you choose to do, you have to find some way to solve it. My best advice for you right now is to forget whatever you saw and just brace yourself."
"Okay," she said, taking a big breath. "Okay. I'll just- I'll just forget about it."
"Don't let it bother you too much. It's more embarrassing for the person who posted it. They have so much time and yet they choose to be a creep and take pictures of people," I say.
Emma gave a slight chuckle. "Thanks Kathy. And you're right, I was being dumb."
"That's what I'm here for, you know. I'll be the one who tells you when you're being dumb," I say, diffusing the tension and trying to calm Emma as much as possible through a phone call.
She laughed again, and sighed. "I'm sorry Kathy, I was just-" she sighed heavily again. "I was just trying to- I don't know anymore."
"It's about Edward, isn't it?"
"No, yes, I don't know. I just thought that August would be a distraction from your brother, and I just don't know what got into me. And August is also sweet and nice, and it's as if the whole world's against me right now." Emma said. "Edward was always just a stupid crush, but I made such a big deal out of it. I truly thought that Edward and I were made to be."
"Ew," I said, gagging.
"Shut up," she said laughing. "Edward is more like a brother to me. I don't know what I was expecting," she sighed gloomily.
"At least now you've got that other boy to direct your focus on," I replied.
"He's got a name, Kath," she said.
"Eh," I said. Truth be told, I didn't trust August as much as Emma did. If he is really as nice as Emma described him to me, I could apologise later. But for now, the worst thing in this situation is two girls awing over this boy.
"I better go now, and again, I'm sorry, Kath," she said apologetically.
"It won't matter in five years time anyway. Remember, just ignore it," I said. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah," she said. I could hear the worry she was hiding, but I didn't press her any further. "See you."
I hung up, and sighed inwardly.
And I thought I could have a normal school year...
