Read first! they are located in Seattle by the way everything by me (thumb coming soon, it's 1 am) "Aiden is so cute, don't you think?" Mina gushed. Emma barely glanced at Aiden, not really paying attention. "Not really." Mina sighed. "He's so my type." Emma just continued grinding on her game. On the way to lunch, they passed by Aiden. Mina tried not to stare but blushed instead. Emma felt Aiden's eyes burning onto her back as they walked away. Emma felt super uncomfortable but just tried to ignore it. Unlucky for her, Mina noticed. "Umm, Emma, Aiden was just staring at you...." "So weird," Emma replied, visibly uncomfortable. "Do you think he—" "No, don't even finish that. Besides, don't you like him?" Emma said, pushing the cafeteria doors wide open. They got into the lunch line, and Emma was already looking at all the variety of foods. "Rice! Perfect," Emma said. They each grabbed a tray, Mina not paying attention to what she was getting and grabbing a salad plus a wrapped sandwich. "You okay?" Emma asked her, worried. "Yea." Emma could tell she didn't want to talk about it, so she didn't push it. They sat down at their usual table near the windows. They talked about what they wanted to do for summer since summer was approaching rapidly. Then, before they knew it, the bell rang. Emma and Mina parted ways as they went to their classes. Mina went to her classes and talked to Aiden in math. She walked out of class happy that she made him laugh while they were talking. She met Emma by the school gates after school. Emma was playing her game. "What is this game even about that you're so invested in?" Emma didn't hear her. "Emma?" Emma perked up. "Huh?" She seemed to remember what Mina asked. "So it's called Moonlight Realms. It's like this fantasy game where you recruit people into your army, collecting characters. You fight monsters to gain land, eventually creating a kingdom." Mina stared at her. "Oh, um..." She coughed. "That was super detailed. I did not expect that." Emma laughed. "It's honestly so addicting. A little unhealthy, though..." "Can we go to the deli? I want a croissant." Emma nodded and tucked away her phone. "RING!!!!" The bell was already off. A new day. Mina slammed her locker shut. She walked in Emma's direction but stopped when she saw Aiden talking to Emma. Emma was just nodding. You could tell she wasn't interested or really paying attention. "Well, do you want to hang out after school?" Aiden asked. Emma hesitated. She didn't want to seem rude, but she knew Mina liked Aiden. She didn't want to hurt Mina. She caught Mina from the corner of her eye, staring at them from 10 lockers away. She saw Mina walk away. "No, no, no," Emma thought, panicking. "No thank you, I'm busy." She tried to speed walk over to Mina, but by the time she turned the corner, Mina was gone. Emma tried several times to talk to Mina, but she could never find the perfect time. She got in trouble in science for spacing out. Mrs. Woodrow talked to her after class. In art class, she spilled some paint and had to clean it up... after class. Then Mr. Smith gave her lunch detention because she kept talking in class. Emma thought that was so unfair because she was just asking how to do the formula they were supposed to do. Then she spotted Mina in the hallway as she was closing her lockers, but for some reason, her locker lock wasn't working. Emma kept fumbling with the lock, cursing under her breath. Then Mina left school early for a doctor appointment. The worst thing was that Aiden kept trying to talk to her, asking if she wanted to hang out. Emma kept telling him she wasn't interested, but clearly, he didn't get the hint.
By the time she got home, she narrowed it down to one thing: the universe was officially against her. She went to her room, sat on her bed, and stared at the wall, wishing this whole uncomfortable situation would end. She suddenly remembered that she could text Mina. Genius, she thought to herself. She opened her phone, and it was dead. Dead. She looked around the room for a charger, but she couldn't find one. She practically flew down the stairs, running to the charging cable, only to see that both chargers were taken. The phones occupying the chargers were all under 20%. She felt like she wanted to cry. Instead, she trudged to her room, leaving her phone on the table stand behind some flower vases. She laid back on her bed, staring at the ceiling, wishing this whole uncomfortable situationship would end. Then, like in a blink of an eye, it was six. Her dad called her down for dinner, and she saw his computer on the counter with house listings in NYC. "Dad.... What is that?" Her dad looked up from his plate, cleaning his mouth with a napkin. "Oh, I thought I told you?" "Told me what..?" "My job is relocating me to NYC. We're packing tomorrow." "Tomorrow?! What about school?" Her mom chimed in. "You're staying home, dear." Emma's head practically exploded. "WHAT?!" Emma practically inhaled her food and turned to get her phone, but it was dead, and her parents had already packed a charger while her mom was charging her work laptop. Emma had no idea how to reach Mina with her phone dead, and she was leaving in two days, not even going to school those two days. "Yup, the universe is against me," she whispered. She went back to her room and stood there. She kicked the bed frame, and her toe started hurting in response. She grabbed her foot, hopping around on one foot and whining. "Everything is against me!!" She lost balance and fell onto the floor. "Hey, universe, I didn't mean to take it TOP LEVEL." The next day was a blur. She charged her phone but never could find the perfect time to text Mina. The next thing she knew, she was at the airport. She took out her phone. Why? She didn't know herself either. Perhaps the whole chaos of moving to NYC made her forget. Emma was on the airplane when she received a text from Mina. "Can we talk? Meet me at the deli after school." She froze, her thumb hovering over the reply button. "Oh crap, I forgot."
