A Melody Of You

Emma

She did it again.

I frowned at Cindy as Lisa asked her why she did it with a hint of anger.

Cindy takes another shot and I angrily take the cup from her. Her eyes turn dark and she says words that made me hate her for the first time during high school. "He asked so I responded."

Lisa had surprise but I was not. I only gave her a firm nod and decided to stand with my arms crossed on my chest. She laughed as I went to pay for our table and said, "Do you really think you can always hide away? Stop being a coward and squirm around. Be straight up for once in your life, Emma!"

I stopped my hand from giving the waiter my credit card as something within me snapped. She wants me to be straight up with her? Fine.

I put my credit card away and gave the waiter a head bow with a small smile. Then I turned back and made my high heels angrily click loudly as I stopped in front of the table. She looked up with a defiant look. That's fine. I knew she was too stubborn to stand down anyway. That's exactly what I wanted so she could listen to me one last time.

"We are not in high school anymore. So I will be straight up and let go of my patience with you. You are right. Being a coward is letting others like you play around with my feelings as if they were a toy. I am not your toy. Mario is not your toy and Danny is not your toy. Unless you want to decide to shut that mouth of yours and let go of your pride for at least your friends, don't talk to me. I've had enough of tolerating your rude personality. There's a difference between being honest and being rude. You are supposed to be my friend, but I find myself doubting that again. This time, I won't waste my time with people who don't know how to be a friend. I already deal with enough children during the day to deal with this."

They both have wide eyes and Lisa has a hint of fear in her expression. Cindy stays stunned as I go back to the waiter with a trembling heart but a firm look. I give them my credit card and be kind to her one last time as I pay for everything. Lisa decides to stand and follow me out without giving another word to Cindy. Fury rises in her eyes and she stands to yell, "You bit--"

But we are out the door already and Lisa says with wide eyes, "I've never been more proud and terrified of you."

"What do you mean?" I say with a small smirk. "She asked me to be straight up so I did what she wanted. She asked and I spoke up."

"You're so cool," she says to me in Korean and we share a small giggle as she links her arm with mine.

But my heart cries because I've lost another friend. This month has been so hard. I think of them and I quietly cry. The only person who has seen those tears is Danny. 

He accidentally walked on me when I went to the rooftop of our workplace one night. I needed fresh air and I ended up sniffling with new tears starting in my eyes. Danny had followed me because he had a question about the information of Jordan's grandparents in our system and I quickly tried to dry my eyes.

I was too late. He stopped and his expression softened. "Emma..."

I turned after wiping my tears away and tried my best to bring back my firm look. "What do you need, Danny?"

He quietly studied me and didn't know if to comfort me or ignore my tears. I started to grow impatient as I said, "What do you want? I'll be there in a few--"

He suddenly had his arms wrapped around me and I froze. My crying heart grew silent and my mind went blank. I was left dumbstruck for a moment until he softly said in my ear, "It's okay. It'll be okay. I'm here. I'm sorry but I don't want you to cry alone...I don't want you to forget to be gentle to yourself."