Chapter 10

…. yeah……. I wish!

‘What, you’re not going to do it?’

Emilia turned back around, facing Sarah then.

‘Let me help you.’

Emilia took a step back, beginning to tip off the edge of the cliff.

Sarah let out a cry of shock, reaching forwards and grabbing Emilia instinctively, holding her by the front of the shirt.

‘Let me go Sarah’ Emilia replied calmly. ‘Don’t you want me to plummet to my death therefore silencing me forever and keeping your secret, secret?’

‘Are you crazy?’ Sarah gasped; eyes wide.

Emilia shrugged carelessly, hands in the air and body completely relaxed.

‘If you hate me so much, all you have to do is let me go. You won’t be guilty. There is no moral dilemma here. I’m offering you this opportunity on a silver platter. You weren’t even here at all. I just left school deciding to end my life, unable to carry on any longer due to this weight of depression I’ve been secretly carrying all my life. From the trauma of losing my beloved mother, to everything else that came before, and after. You could end my suffering. All you have to do…is let me go.’

Sarah gritted her teeth, tears brimming in her eyes, though Emilia did not know why.

‘I won’t let you die’ Sarah hissed, before pulling her back sharply.

Emilia fell forwards, landing on her front and coughing as dirt flew up in her face.

She blinked in surprise, briefly wondering what she was doing on the floor, instead of falling through the air and heading quickly towards the sea.

There was no water, no splash.

‘What am I doing on the floor?’ Emilia mumbled to herself.

‘Do you really suffer from depression?’ Sarah asked quietly.

Emilia rose to her feet, brushing the dirt from her clothes.

‘Yes’ she answered clearly. ‘I do. But……I don’t consider suicide a possibility at all. Every single day…I always try my best to live the best day I possibly can. For those I love, and for those who love me.’

‘What about your mother? Do you miss her?’

‘No.’

‘No?’ Sarah frowned. ‘I don’t understand.’

‘We don’t choose our family’ Emilia replied simply. ‘My mother never wanted me. And I never wanted her either.’

Dear mother in hell…

                                                              ……I hope you’re listening <3

‘I…still don’t understand.’

‘Don’t worry about it’ Emilia shook her head. ‘It’s not important.’

Emilia smiled at Sarah then, a genuine smile, a friendly smile.

‘I won’t tell anyone of what happened here. I won’t tell anyone of what I saw. Your secret is safe.’

‘I….th-thank you’ Sarah mumbled. ‘I…should probably explain….at least a little bit. My…family are forcing me to go to this school. They dictate every single thing I do, right down to the food I eat.’ Sarah swallowed the lump in her throat, gritting her teeth again. ‘I hate them. All I want is to get away from them. They’re trying to keep me away from…from…’

‘That boy?’

Sarah nodded.

‘His name is Ian. He’s my soulmate. I want to spend the rest of my life with him, and I will fight to make that happen.’

‘Let me guess, your family are trying to stop you?’

Sarah nodded silently.

‘They don’t understand him like I do’ Sarah said. ‘They don’t understand me…but he does. He always has.’

‘Hm.’

Emilia walked past her, going back the way she came.

‘I won’t tell anyone. It will be our little secret that we share together’ Emilia said, pausing to glance back at her. ‘Right?’

‘Emilia.’ Sarah’s voice stopped her as she turned to walk away again.

‘What?’

‘I’d like to call a truce. I don’t want to fight with you anymore’ Sarah said to her.

‘What an excellent proposition!’ Emilia declared happily, casting her arms out dramatically as if she were performing in front of an audience. ‘In fact, I was about the suggest the exact same thing…’

‘Sure’ Sarah droned, but Emilia continued over her.

‘…after all, …does Caesar not say, ‘I destroy my enemy by befriending them’…. or was that Lincoln?’ Emilia shrugged. ‘I guess it doesn’t really matter.’

Sarah made a funny face.

‘Okay?’

‘Anyway, a truce sounds good to me’ Emilia winked back at Sarah, grinning widely at her. ‘Let’s shake on it.’

They did so, and Emilia stepped back again.

‘See yah!’ Emilia said.

She turned and walked away, practically skipping back into the woods.

Sarah remained where she stood by the cliff’s edge, watching as Emilia slipped out of sight.

‘What a weird girl…’

 [END OF CHAPTER 10]