Emma's Six

Suzie's dead

My phone begins ringing a few weeks after we did the school project. It is now the end of October, and we are going to Anna's for a spooky sleepover. I look at who is calling me and find that it is Jack. 'I'll catch you up in a few minutes,' I tell my friends before answering. 'Hi, Jack.'
'Hey, Emma. I've got some bad news about Suzie. She committed suicide last night.'
'What?' I can't believe what I was hearing.
'I know she was your contact within Torchwood, so you would have talked with her a lot.' Not really, from what I remembered. Suzie called to check on me every month, but that was it. She would also give me tasks from Torchwood through email or post, but she never asked me how I'm getting on.
'We weren't particularly close,' I say. 'Suzie never really asked me how I was or anything.'
'I see,' Jack says. 'Well, Torchwood now has a new second-in-command, PC Gwen Cooper. However, before she became your new contact within Torchwood, I thought you would want to meet her. We don't want to make the same mistake that we did with Suzie.'
'Okay,' I nod. 'When will I meet Gwen?'
'She's having the first week to settle in, so that's this week, so maybe at some point in November, or maybe December? We'll see what she says first.'
'Right, thanks for letting me know.'
'You're welcome. If you ever need me, call me, okay?'
'Okay. Bye, Jack.'
'Bye.'

I put my mobile back in my pocket and think about what I just heard. Suzie, dead? What happened? Why did she commit suicide? I continue walking down the street until I reach Anna's house. All my friends are standing outside, and I feel myself smile a little at the sight of them.
'Emma, are you okay?' Kitty asks.
'One of my friends from Torchwood died,' I say. 'Well, I say friend, but we weren't close. She was keeping a link open between Torchwood and me.' Catalina nods, and we all head inside. Instead of choosing a scary movie for us to watch, Anna sits with us.
'Do you want to talk about it, Emma?' Anna asks.
'I'm fine, Anna.' Anna shakes her head, and I realise that I'm not fooling anyone. 'Okay, it was a shock. I wasn't close to Suzie or anything, but I knew her a little.' Kitty nods.
'If you ever want to talk about anything, we'll be here for you,' Catalina says.
'Thank you,' I smile. That is all I can ask of my friends. They have been kind to me over the past few weeks, and I don't want to let them down. I'll be happy to talk to them if the need ever arises.

We all head up to Anna's room, and I stop in surprise. I have never seen it before. Anna has white walls, and next to the window, she has a dark wood desk and a red chair. There is also a dark wood double bed, which Anna and Anne claim. She also has a day bed that has a metal structure and red covers. She also has a red sofa facing a black tv. Two of us will have to sleep on the floor. Jane pulls something out from under the day bed to reveal a pallet bed. Kitty takes the pallet bed, while the rest of us go into a corner to discuss where we will sleep for the night. 'I'll go on the floor if you like,' I say.
'No!' Jane and Catalina yell.
'You suffered a lot under Henry's reign,' Jane explains.
'So have you two. Besides, I haven't got there yet.'
'Of course,' Catalina agrees. 'But that shouldn't be a factor as to who should sleep on the floor.'
'I'm the youngest, I'll sleep on the floor,' I say.
'You're not the youngest! That's me!' Kitty yells.
'Emma is the youngest now as she hasn't lived through any of Henry's reign!' Jane shoots back.
'I'll sleep on the floor.' Kitty vacates the pallet bed and sets up her sleeping bag on the floor. Anna climbs off her double bed and pulls out a mattress from under her bed. We all stare at it in surprise.
'You didn't need to argue,' she says.
'Why didn't you bring that out before?' I ask.
'Because watching you three is amusing.'
'Oh, so we're amusing now?' Jane asks with a flicker of a smile on her face. I claim the sofa, while Kitty returns to the pallet bed. Jane lays her belongings on the day bed while Catalina lounges on the mattress.

'We should probably not watch a scary movie tonight,' Anna says. 'Anything we want to do instead?'
'We could still watch films, but maybe not that scary,' Kitty suggests.
'Hey, you shouldn't change your plans because of me!'
'We're not,' Catalina says. 'I'm not a big fan of scary stuff, and Kitty isn't either.'
'You were the only person who liked the idea of Halloween; we weren't so sure of it.' Anne says. 'But we started making our own traditions and found that we enjoy it. We should do that pumpkin thing again this year.'
'Oh, the year we made a pumpkin look like our ex-husband and then smashed it to pieces.'
'Yeah, that was my favourite year.' The others begin nodding, and I chuckle. That would be the sort of thing we would do. Then again, we would probably do anything crazy if it's against our ex.
'How about the Jurassic Park franchise?' Anna suggests. We nod, and she starts sorting it out.