Oceans Apart

1

Emma

"Fifteen"

"No"

"Sixteen"

"No"

"Seventeen?"

"Not. Even. Close. Miss Bailey are you just going to count your way through every number until you get the answer" Mrs Morgan utters as she grits through her teeth.

"I'm sorry Mrs Morgan I don't know the answer." I say with a slight stutter.

"And why don't you know the answer Emma?" The corners of Mrs Morgan's mouths begin to tilt into a smirk as she knows she's got me trapped.

"Cause I suck at math?"

"Cause you weren't listening Emma. Take heed of Miss Bailey's mistake class if you don't want to find yourselves in the same situation. The only person in this room that you should be listening to is—

The bell rings ceasing Mrs Morgan before she can finish her diatribe as the entire class roar with cheer.

Summer break. That bell represents the 2 months of pure bliss that has officially started as of 3pm. I quickly ram my algebra textbooks into my bag and sprint out the door attempting to get away before Mrs Morgan can finish her tirade which was surely meant to single me out.

"Emma. Wait!"

I stop dead in my tracks trembling, I recognise my attempt at cowering has failed. When I realise it's Lily Huang who catches up to me and not Mrs Morgan.

"Thank goodness for that bell cause I wasn't ready for Mrs Morgan to go off again. Remember that time she went crazy at Justin after he accidentally stabbed himself in the hand with a protractor" she grins at me, I smile back suddenly feel my cheeks beginning to burn.

"Oh yeah I definitely remember that. She was so angry I thought she was going to stab him in his other hand" we both giggle at the memory and I quickly lower my gaze.

"So I was wondering if you wanted to do something later? Like something to mark the start of summer. I heard some twelfth graders are having a party by the beach. The one near Redbank" Lily says with a smile

My eyes widen at her sudden proposition. Lily and I weren't really that close. I met her just over 2 months ago when she transferred here from her old school in Connecticut, but even still we have never had a proper conversation just casual greetings in the hallway every so often.

"Um. Okay. Sounds good" I stutter, my heart instantaneously begins to palpitate. Why am I so nervous. What the heck is wrong with me?

"How about we meet up at the beach later?" She continues as I feel my throat begin to constrict.

"Um. Okay. Sounds good" subconsciously slapping myself in the forehead while the words come out, when I realise I repeated the exact same thing I said before.

Lily slings her backpack over her shoulder and smiles politely at me "Great, see you later then" she says as she brushes past me and into the hallway.

My heart beat returns to normal as I peer out the doorway, watching her walk down the hall.

Ever since I met Lily I've always felt kind of intimidated by her. Well no I wasn't actually certain it was intimidation but there is a feeling I have about her that I can't determine or seem to shake. She wasn't exactly an intimidating person apart from her looks. Lily had flawless porcelain skin, dark brown eyes and straight raven hair that reached slightly past her shoulders. Not to mention her incredibly long legs that reached past my hips making her look like she just walked in from the Victoria secret fashion show and straight into algebra.

Maybe this feeling was jealously? I'm a pale blue eyed, red head with freckles that cover my entire face and would be considered a curvy girl if I was compared to like of Lily's slim tall frame. Yeah that explains it. I'm jealous. Right?