My iron heart_chapter two of SID

Ari

 

I was already half way dressed when I received Emika’s text, I walked over to where my phone was and read it. Alarmed, I set of a text. Then five more. None of them received a reply. I figured she was just busy and had accidentally sent me something from her drama group, she was always doing that, she always mixed up my name in her contacts with a girl called Arielle. Thinking she was fine I quickly ran gel through my vanilla hair and washed my face. On the way out of my room I stuck a toothbrush in my mouth and splashed on my cologne and sprayed some deodorant, which fumes stung my blue eyes. They were dull light blue, so unlike Emika’s wild, beautiful dark blue eyes with hazel sprouting out from the midnight coloured pupil and a light green rim. I’d almost forgotten how radiantly beautiful she is. Almost.

 

I checked the time on my cheap second hand watch. “Crap! I’m late!” oh Emika is so going to kill me! I rushed down the stairs and into the kitchen, opening the fridge door with such force I thought it would break off. I threw together an emergency lunch, which meant I had an old protein bar, a probiotic Greek yogurt and an orange, all of which Niko really likes so he usually swaps me a slice of raspberry velvet cake, an apple and two chocolates, all of which he doesn’t like. Weird how he only likes the things no one else does and everyone else likes the things he doesn’t. Kai often made fun of him for that, but quickly made up with a comment on how handsome he looked, which he did, he had hair as dark as black ink and eyes as blue as the ocean at dawn. Niko had skin that would make you think that he has never seen the sun. I can see why Akira fancy’s him, Akira always gets weird looks from his parents when he is with them in public and someone asked him what the girl situation is. It’s like his parents hate him for being gay. Don’t get me wrong, I personally have nothing wrong with gay people or people who are against gays, it’s just that everyone has their opinions on gays but you don’t always have to make people feel bad or put them down if you don’t like their choices or ways of life, it’s just wrong.

 

Oh my God school starts in thirty minutes. As I’m about to race out of the two story cream coloured house, my Uncle Alex walked out of the living room, scratching his military style hair and putting on a clean shirt over his bronze abs after his mid-morning workout. The new girl he had with him had red hair, green eyes and smudged blue eyeliner. She called out from the living room couch, “hey baby? Could you make me some coffee? I’m real tired and my boss wants me in for an extra shift today.” She had a southern accent and spoke as if she hated speaking in general. Uncle Douchebag looked back at her then me with those brown eyes, and wicked smile. “Hey, you can make coffee kid, right?” he checked his watch. “Uh, never mind you are going to be late for school, I really don’t see why they haven’t kept you back, what are your grades again? D’s right?” Getting angry I replied, “B’s actually” I started walking out the door, he started to say something and I considered listening to him. I ignored that impulse and walked down the street.

 

The second I got to school, Niko raced over, with Kyran and Kai right behind him. He wore the signature uniform, a blue shirt and black long pants, with the school emblem on each, a moon amongst the stars as the principle would say with admiration, and let me tell you, I’m a straight man but wow did he look good. He grabbed me by the shoulders a steered me away from Kyran and Kai. How was it that the guy could look like he’s just had six cups of coffee, plus energy drinks and has just suffered a panic attack, and still look better then Channing Tatum Justen Bieber and all of the bts boys combined? Haha, total bro crush moment right there.

 

“I know you’ve gotten the same text. I know you have, I’m going crazy, has she spoken to you? Do you know what she’s up to?” Niko was rambling really fast, but he as whispering, like someone could hear him. “Man, what’s wrong? Are you talking about Emika’s text? Bro, it’s probably just something she was supposed to send to her drama group, just chill, take a breath, everything is fine.” Well, everything was fine until Niko showed me the text he got from Em. What the hell was she talking about? “Whoa…” I motioned over to Kai and Akira, not wanting to end up like people in the movies where half the group don’t know what’s going on until half way through when they’re about to die. Niko said nothing as they read both of the texts.

“Holy crap. What the hell is she on?” Kai spoke with a tremor in her voice as if she was only trying not to cry.

“I’m with Kai man, what in this world?” Kyran said.

The bell went, saving me from having to talk them out of whatever suspicions they had. We looked at each other grimly, and started walking toward roll class. No one shared roll classes together so we went our separate ways. Only then did I realise that Emika wasn’t here.

 

The second that the lunch bell for 11:00 went I was told by Miss Danika that I was needed in the office for an emergency. The last time I had heard something like that my parents had died. I couldn’t stop thinking that something had happened to Emika or Jan, my next door neighbour, or even Alex, he was an a*s sure, but he was the only family I had left. As I walked into the waiting room, I saw Kai and Niko sitting down, holding hands, and Kyran watching Niko with a worried expression. I hurried in and sat beside Ky, he caught me up to speed, which wasn’t that interesting, and they had all been called up here just like me. Well, if it involved all us, it couldn’t be that bad right? Wrong.

 

We were called into the principal’s office almost straight away, and when we arrived, Kit and Michael, Emika’s adoptive parents, sat crying, along with the guidance counsellor. Was Emika okay? Me and the guys shared a look that said, what the hell is about to happen. The principle looked directly at me as he said, “I know this is going to be difficult to understand, so I won’t try and go through all the useless s**t you guys are going to hear a lot of the time, your friend Emika,” she reached across the desk and covered my hand. “Your friend Emika hung herself of the side of her apartment building.” What. What. What. What. What. What. What. What. No. no. Emika wouldn’t do that. No. she wouldn’t. She isn’t like that. Why would she do that? Why would she leave me here? All alone.

 

A week went by where I did nothing. I wouldn’t speak to anyone, and even Alex left me alone. I sat in my bed crying or sleeping or counting all the things I wished id never said to her. I wished I told her I loved her more. I wished I had complimented her more. I wished I had done everything and anything she needed or wanted. Why on earth would she hang herself?

 

Today was the day of her funeral. Kit and Michael relayed the gruesome discovery of their dead daughter. They had come into her room to ask if she wanted pancakes or waffles for breakfast, but they hadn’t found her there and they saw that her window was open, figuring she was on the fire escape staircase they looked out and found her body, pretty much blue from the cold and the lack of oxygen.

 

Kai said what an amazing friend she had been and that she knows Emika will watch down on us as we live our lives. When it was my turn to speak I just said that I loved her and that she was a good person, then sat back down to admire the rest of her funeral. The entire time people were trying to crack jokes and make people laugh, saying that’s how she would have wanted us, happy and not sad. But the jokes only made people cry. Kit and Michael made sure that everything was perfect for their baby girl. I had several people ask me why I looked like I had just come out of a zombie apocalypse, when I responded with a death glare and the “leave me alone. Your only chance.” They usually did leave me alone to mourn the sudden, tragic loss of my beautiful queen. The only girl whomever stole my iron heart. No one made me feel the way she did. She is mine, or rather she was.