P h o t o #5 - Emma The Sheep
'Forget everything I've said up until now. Forget the warm fuzzies I let so easily creep into my heart. I take it all back!' Now I understood, as I sat in the dusty smelling principal's office, tarnishing the promise to grandmother, stating that I wouldn't cause any trouble while attending this school. I could not believe that I was so easily swayed by those boys.
"Okay," Our school principal, Mr. Johnson, began tiredly as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "So, would you mind telling me why you three are here in my office covered in, what is that, cake batter? And sitting in my chairs when you're still covered in it?!"
I quickly jumped out of the chair that I was sitting in and turned back to Mr. Johnson, peeking at the two boys next to me who hadn't moved from their seat at all, daring to defy the principal. An awkward silence erupted in the air as the three looked at one another. Like the atmosphere wasn't bad enough already.
Mr. Johnson was a bit frustrated that the two boys hadn't moved as he continued to stare at them through the thick silence. So it seemed Cooper felt it was necessary to break the ice when he noticed Mr. Johnson staring at his dirtied clothes for a whole other reason than the one he picked up. "You wanna try some? It's waffle mix that Emma made!"
Elliot audibly slapped his hand up to his forehead at his friend's idiotic act, while I tensed up under our principel's unamused stare in my direction. Mr. Johnson, probably seeing how flustered I was, turned his gaze back to the bubbly brunette with a questioned look as Cooper shrugged and tasted it himself, beginning to purr like a cat at the taste. "Mmm, Emma! You really know how to cook! It's so sweet!"
I sheepishly looked away, quickly finding interest in the fake plant that was next to me, and wondering how in any way the batter for waffles can taste good enough to make you swoon.
He was probably just trying to flatter me. That's Cooper Appollo for you.
"Alright." Mr. Johnson began to get back into business, breathing out in exasperation. "You boys sure are lucky that Ms. Leighs was here with you, or I would've given you both detentions. For obvious reasons," The middle-aged man grimaced, probably remembering all of the other reckless things these boys have done in the past that were probably fueled by the other girls' doings. "But I know Ms. Leighs is one of my top students and I can trust her word, so your punishment will just be cleaning up the Home Ec room after school today."
I breathed out a pocket of hot air I hadn't known I was anticipatingly holding in, relieved because I wouldn't have to: One, get my first detention ever and two, try and explain to my grandmother why I had gotten one.
I was saved by my own goody two-shoesness. If that was even a word.
After no reply from any of us, but showing that we were all visibly glad we didn't have a detention, Mr. Johnson stepped back in. "Now, I want you all to go get cleaned up, and by that time it should be around the end of the school day. So afterwards head back to the classroom and wipe up your mess. I'll call Ms. Whitestock and inform her of these changes. You can leave when you're finished." His expression went from tired to stern, "But if you fail to finish this task, don't think I won't think twice about the detentions. Now get going."
And with that, the three of us jolted up and ran out of the office, stopping after we shut the door.
Without a second to waste, Elliot looked Cooper and I up and down and said, "You both look ridiculous." His face showed no hint emotion as he said this.
"Hey! So do you! You have dried waffle mix in your hair!" Cooper pointed out as Elliot began to try to pull the dried pieces out of his dark hair.
"Ahh, so that's how you're going to be?" Elliot retorted, a mischievous gleam in his usually still eyes.
"You bet!" Cooper yelled and took off down the hall.
"Race ya!" I heard Cooper yell, followed by an amused chuckle from Elliot as he took off after him followed by a remark about how childish Cooper was in the process.
I watched them zoom down the hallways. 'So, Elliot has a child side to him too, huh?' I thought as I walked towards my locker to get my gym clothes to change into. I guess that's how'd you be with friends you've known for years. But at that very thought, I felt a pang of jealousy surge through me but immediately made sure I discarded it. I didn't have the energy to sort out whether it was because I was jealous of not having a close relationship like that with someone, or if I was jealous because I wasn't part of their close relationship.
How stupid would that be? I had only known them for a day, and yet I was already getting attached. I made a mental note to put up my gaurd higher than I had once thought. It seemed I was too susceptible to the whims of others after being alone for so long.
After opening my locker, I grabbed my blue gym bag and fished through it, only to find the usual grey and purple t-shirt with black basketball shorts. I looked down, my skinny jeans and blue sweater with all the dried batter on it. I instantly became to disgusted to look at it and hurried to get changed. I guess I would have to tough it out with shorts in the cool autumn weather.
I walked into the bathroom, mentally thanking it was empty. I slipped into a stall and changed out of my soiled clothes. I balled them up and stuffed them under my arm and clicked the door open, until I heard the bathroom door open once again.
"Ugh, Algebra II is just brutal." I heard a girl whine loudly. I knew her, Abbey Craibell, very vaguely. All I voukd recall at the moment about her was that she was a chearleader, and always loved groaning about how badly she wanted to be captain of the team, but I never really talked to her about those little details. Ever.
"I know right? The only good thing about it is that Mr. Hayben is pretty good looking." Janet Whillis snickered, her flats clapping against the tiled floors as they made their way to the mirrors, "Too bad Ella already called dibs."
I made sure to hold my breath as I peeked out of the crack in the stall door, watching them apply layers of lip-gloss to their already very shiny lips and check their abundance of text messages, trying to hold down my gag at the imagery of whatever "dibs" they spoke of.
"Oh, right," Abbey piped up again, "Did you see that hilarious display this morning? That Emma Leighs doesn't stand a chance."
My heart began to beat faster when my name was mentioned.
Janet angrily twisted the cap back onto her lip-gloss, scoffing, "Please, Abbey, don't even get me started. Her two-bit glasses, her greasy hair, her atrocious style, her...everything! It annoys me just thinking about her. I've been fighting for that spot for four years and all of a sudden she stumbles along and gets it no problem! And have you seen that tick she does every once in awhile? I swear, if I could, I would slap that girl!"
The mere fisgust in her voice at my mentioning had me falling to my knees, my head swirling. After everything that was said about me, I gave out for a moment. Old memories ran like wavelengths in my brain. That was the first time anyone has ever said something like that about me in three years, in my earshot, at least. Sure, I've been called many things that I would rather not mention, but these harsh, nitpicking words leaving that girl's mouth so casually and easily, like she was talking about something she saw on TV, left an aching patch in my chest. How could people so easily speak that way about another human being?
The familiar feeling setting in my chest, I noticed I was beginning to panic after all of my over-thinking, beginning to start my panic ritual and trembling. I used to always be like this with every little thing, over the years I've been able to control the break outs with pills and coping methods, but they slip every once in awhile. I've always been sensitive to these types of things.
I already knew that everything was wrong with me. I didn't need other people pointing it out too.
'Why..Why isn't the medication working?!' My brain began to scream. Thoughts ran around wild in my head. This hadn't happened in awhile, but I could never forget the sheer feeling of terror I get when it does happen. I knew I was too dependent on a pill that only worked half of the time, and it could easily be my downfall during minor relapses like this.
As this happened, the girls were outside my stall, cackling and walking out of the bathroom. When I heard the door close shut, I hurried out of the stall, turned on a sink faucet, and began to wash my face with the cold tap water, wanting to clear my head.
I washed my hands about seven times. That was another thing that hadn't happened in awhile. I thought I grew out of these stupid symptoms. I tried to slow my breathing and get the rest of the small pieces of batter out of my hair. After I got most of it out, I tied my wavy hair into a medium-sized ponytail, my bangs still covering most of my face like always, even with my hair up.
I calmed myself down as quickly as I could and adjusted my glasses after cleaning them off too. After making sure everything was in its perfect place, I walked out of the bathroom. To my surprise, Elliot and Cooper were already waiting for me outside the door.
"Christ, took you long enough." Elliot puffed out air and crossed his arms. "It's a good thing the bell already rang, people also cleared out of here pretty fast." He looked around, probably making sure no one could see me standing near him. I shuddered.
During my small breakdown, I hadn't even realized the bell had rang and everyone left.
"Sorry..." I looked down at my feet, feeling bad once again. I always seem to cause problems.
Eyes narrowed downwards, "Why do you do that?" I heard Elliot say, his words jabbing at me.
"Do what?" I asked, still not being able to fully direct my eyes in his direction.
"Do that sheepish thing? You're really shy sometimes, aren't you?" He asked me slyly, seeming to try and have fun with my shyness. "You're actions are really unbalanced."
"Sheep?" Cooper asked, dumbfounded as the word pulled him from whatever daydream he was having.
"No sheep-ish." Elliot gave him a look.
Cooper raised a confused eyebrow. "What do sheep have to do with Emmy?" - Ok. Now I'm Emmy? - "Although, now that you mention it, she does kinda look like a sheep."
"What-?" I began to speak up, but was interrupted by the beginning of a pointless argument.
"I didn't mention anything, you idiot." Elliot rolled his eyes, but the look on Cooper's face proved he needed more clarification, "You know, sheepish! Like shy?" He now began sounding frustrated as he looked at his way-too-naive-to-be-a-senior-in-high-school best friend, "You're unbelievable."
"Sheepish. Sheepy Sheep Sheep!" Cooper began to sing as he whirled himself around like a child. "Emma the sheep!"
Elliot groaned out loud and turned his back towards us, beginning to walk towards the Home Ec classroom we still needed to clean. I sighed as I remembered the mess caked to the white walls.
I shook my head and began to follow. "Okay, okay. Let's go Cooper." I shook my head yet again at the happy look on his face and trudged behind Elliot as Cooper trotted behind me.
'I guess I look like a sheep. Great.' I thought as we walked down the hall.
Once we got to the familiar worn door, we opened it and gingerly stepped inside.
The room was still a mess, just like we had left it. I could barely surpress a louder groan than Elliot had made just moments ago.
"Ah, I see you're back. Well, you better get started with that cleaning of yours, this may take awhile." Ms. Whitestock said as she walked out the door, clearly leaving as she shrugged on her overcoat and pulled out her car keys from her beige leather purse with a jangle.
"Wait. You're not going to help us?" Elliot asked, angry already brimming.
"What? Of course not. You made the mess. I'm not your maid." She said and turned back around, leaving us in the mess of a room.
Elliot's temper rose as he watched the door Ms. Whitestock had just walked out of slam shut. I just sighed and walked over to the supply closet in the back of the room and opened it. After scanning the things inside, I grabbed three buckets and mops, some different cleaning detergents of various brands I didn't care of, sponges, and paper towels.
I walked over to the stationary tub in the corner of the room and began to fill the buckets with water.
"What'cha doing?" Cooper chipped in behind me, startling me a bit.
"Ah, um, starting to get the cleaning supplies ready?" I said, turning back to the filled bucket and trying to lift it out of the tub, only realizing it was to heavy.
"Oh! Let me get that for you." Cooper said as he noticed my slight struggle and took the bucket from my hands with ease.
Sometimes I forgot Cooper was still a boy, one older than me at that, because of his childish manner.
"Thanks." I said to him. I then turned to a still fuming Elliot. "Hey, Elliot, can you come over and help us?"
He looked at me, and when our eyes met, he looked away again. "I, uh...can't clean." He mumbled.
"You can't clean because you don't want to or you just don't know what to do?" I asked, genuinely confused.
"I...just...never have cleaned before." He looked away, getting embarrassed.
"Hmm. As expected from someone who was pampered his whole life." I closed my eyes for a brief moment and began to clean off one of the batter covered counter tops. "How weird it is to be talking to someone who can't clean yet hates messes."
"You really have a sharp tongue when it comes to us, don't you?" He asked, his cheeks a light shade of angry red as he attempted to change the subject.
I snorted, but didn't reply. That was also a question I had been wondering, and I guess that fact didn't allow me any cheeky response. 'Why did I not act like the push-over, smarty-pants Emma Leighs like I acted around everyone else?'. To be honest, seeing that Elliot had an unexpected, easily-embarrassed side made me want to tease him even more. I did have a weakspot for people like that, after all. Plus, I'll admit, it was a tad bit cute. But still, why was I acting so natural around them?
I thought back to how right after leaving the bathroom after my little meltdown, how I had quickly went from my timid, low self-esteemed self to how I act when I'm comfortable around someone. I pushed that realization into the back of my mind as I finished up wiping a counter top.
We all cleaned in silence for the rest of the time, moving around the room as we went scrubbing gunk off of the walls and counters. It took us about an hour in a half, me using most of the time to think of a believable excuse to tell grandmother why I was home late. I just concluded that I would tell her I stayed back to study. You know, I can't get enough of study time, right?
Yeah, nope.
Well, it was believable enough for her. I still felt bad for lying to her so many times, but you know, what were you going to do?
Oh god, what are these boys doing to me already?
After finishing cleaning and putting things back in their place, we all walked out into the chilly almost-October air.
I shivered in my basketball shorts and t-shirt, until something warm and soft suddenly fell loosely onto my shoulders.
I heard an exasperated sigh come from behind me. "Here, its freezing out. You should have brought a coat." Elliot said as he came up to my pace of walking.
My eyes lingered on the simple black and white striped coat for a moment too long. "Um, thanks." I said back as I fixed it around my body so I could have more of its warmth. As much as I didn't want to admit it to myself, the coat did help. I was a little dumbfounded by his actions, though. I never thought in a million years I would have Elliot Beau helping me out, let alone me even talking so casually to him, even if this "tradition" foretold that we would have to stay together for a few months if we didn't wants a riot of hormonal teenage girls on our hands.
Cooper suddenly grabbed my hand and yelled, "Okay! Let's get you home, Emmy!" and yanked me towards their gorgeous black car parked in the best parking space in the entire school lot.
"What the-" Elliot yelled as he tried to catch up to us. But to no avail, Cooper and I got to the car faster than him.
Cooper dragged me into the back seat and we both jumped in. I had to admit, the spike of energy was a little fun.
"Oh yeah," I began, "Where is Parker and Jonas?"
"They probably just called one of their chauffeur's to pick them up. They'll most likely be a little mad tomorrow, but oh well!" Cooper shrugged in his usual care free way.
Again, the privilege these four had was astounding.
After being inside for awhile with the heaters turned up high, for 'maximum warmth' as Cooper says, Elliot finally got into the drivers seat.
He didn't say anything, which shocked me. I always thought he was a big arguer and had to pick a fight over everything or something down those lines. Maybe he just had a soft spot for his friends. This thought was almost sweet enough to make me smile. Almost.
Without a word, he just sighed, started the car, and drove out of the school's parking lot.
"That's right, Emma, you never answered my question." Elliot suddenly said after we hadn't even gotten to far down the street from the school.
"What?" I asked. I had forgotten what he asked, must have been when I was spacing out during cleaning.
"Im stumped." He began as he checked his mirrors, "Why do you act so different around us?" He asked casually, like it was no big deal. Oh, if only he knew.
'Ah, that one.' I mentally thought.
"I guess I'm just comfortable around you guys." Words popped out of my mouth before I could stop them. My eyes widened at how easily I had admitted this fact.
I waited for an answer, hiding my eyes with my long locks of black. But the two boys didn't say a word. Oh how I would have loved to know what was going through their mind at that exact moment.
After no response, no movement, no anything for at least three whole minutes, I quickly turned my head and stared outside of the car's tinted windows, not wanting to see the looks on their faces. And that's when the world seemed to start up again. Like it was just freed from a sinking pit of quicksand.
I think the scariest part of it all was that I wasn't lying. I was 100% serious. When was I not? For some odd, messed up reason, these boys make me feel comfortable. I felt as though I could speak my mind while I'm with them. 'Weird. I don't know why I feel this way with people I barely even know.'
And with that, the rest of the car ride was ridden in a slightly awkward, but all around comfortable silence.