Hatchetfield and Friends

7 - Wishing You Well

Emma didn't know why Hidgens liked her so much. She was just another crazy-haired, tired looking college student who was struggling to keep both their life and themselves from falling apart at any second. And someone who brought him groceries. She didn't exactly stand out. In fact, she was probably one of the least memorable person in her professor's class.

Still, Professor Hidgens always seemed to ask if she was okay, how her day was going, if her living situation was alright. He just cared. Maybe she was doing best in the class, but she doubted it. It was probably because he remembered her from her younger years.

15 Years Earlier

"Emma, get your ass up here!" Emma's apparently angry mother screeched.

Emma's room was in the basement, since her parents decided to turn the "extra" room upstairs into a study room for her dad.

Emma hurried up the stairs and into the living room that stunk like weed.

"Yeah, Mom?" She asked tentatively.

"I need you to go to the store and get groceries," her mother replied, cigarette in hand. "And make it quick. I have to leave in a half an hour."

"It takes like...fifteen minutes to walk over there," Emma retorts.

"So drive the damn car, dumbass," her mother scoffed.

"I'm not old enough!" Emma protests.

"I don't give a shit, just make it happen!" Her mother exclaims.

"Okay," Emma sighs, defeated.

Emma grabs the small little list off the coffee table and heads outside to the car. She'd driven before, but it wasn't something she enjoyed. She was fine at driving, but basically everyone in Hatchetfield knew each other, and that probably meant that people spotting her in the car would know that the was not sixteen, although she was only a year off.

Emma started the car and drove with ease out of the small, crappy neighborhood she lived in. She drove to the grocery store in five minutes, surprisingly without speeding. She knew Sam's dad was on the police force and she had no intentions of having any furthur interactions with that asshole. No wonder Sam was such a little butt.

Emma hurried into the freezing cold store and grabbed a basket instead of the cart. It wasn't as big and would keep her motivated to move faster so she wouldn't have to deal with the handles digging into the palm of her hand.

She walked briskly down the aisle and was so distracted skimming the labels of the cans she almost bumped into a very tall man. 

"Ah! I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed, slightly panicked.

"It's all right, dear," he responded warmly. Emma's gaydar was going off with Tall Man.

She smiled back at him, and his seemed to drop a little.

"Pardon me, but...where did you get that, uh, bruise on your face?" Tall Man asks.

"It'a nothing," Emma replies quickly turning back to the cans, avoiding eye contact. She was a good liar, but this man was unusually observant.

"Oh...alright then. Sorry, miss, but what's your name? That is, of course, if you don't mind me asking," he quickly adds. "I'm Henry Hidgens."

"I'm...Emma. Perkins. I'm Emma Perkins," she murmurs, speaking not to the man but to her feet. Her dad would scold her for that, being so rude.

"Nice to meet you Emma."

"Nice to meet you, too."

Today

"Emma, dear, would come here a minute?" Emma's kooky biology professor asked.

"Uh, sure thing," she responded, gathering up her books and pen.

She threw her backpack over her shoulder and made her way down the aisle and past the uncomfy chairs and scratched, broken desks. Apparently the dean had failed to give him, and his students, proper equipment.

"Are you alright, Emma?" Her professor queried, a concerned look on his face.

"Yep, I'm good Professor Hidgens," she sighed. "Just not looking forward to my shift at Beanie's. And I have to see my stubborn ass brother in law."

"Ah, the in-laws. Always a fun bunch of characters, aren't they?"

"Yep."

"Oh, and Emma, before you go, who's that guy I see you talking to so much?"

Emma's heart rate increased. "Wha...how do you know about that? Wait, have you been spying on me?"

"Well, Emma just make sure if you and that...beanstalk of a man get together, just tell me. You know I want to meet him. I have a good sense of character judgement, you know," Hidgens informs her.

"Oh my god, Professor. I gotta go," Emma replies, touched yet creeped out.

"Just remember to let me meet him Emma! Emma? Emma!"

"Okay, okay!" She exclaims, backing of the classroom. "Bye, Professor!"

Professor Hidgens smiles as he watches her. "Bye Emma."

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Isn't it crazy? I did something other than Paulkins for once!!! AND IT'S HAPPY!!! Are you proud of mee? I am planning on writing more than Paulkins, I promise. I may end up writing like...a group thing of sorts. That'll be fun. Anyways hope ya enjoyed!!!