CH 77

"Emilia, honey. It's time to wake up."

A gentle hand massaged the young girl's head as a voice rang out close to Emilia's bed. As she had already felt this many times before, she decided to try and use it to her advantage.

"Just a little more sleep, mommy." Taking the hand that constantly moved over her head, she hugged it with both arms while pressing her face against it. She knew that her mother loves being held like this, because she did as well.

"Aww, honey. But I thought you were meeting your friend this morning?" But Lane thought to remind her daughter about her plans for today. Something she's been looking forward to do since yesterday.

"Ahh! I forgot!" Emilia immediately shot up and headed to the bathroom to take a shower. She didn't even check what time it was, merely wanting to properly prepare for her much awaited meeting. She even drunk the new medicine her father bought her yesterday, just so she doesn't get sick again later.

It was all because of a friend she met yesterday. He said that they would meet in school and he'd introduce her to his friends. Emilia was so excited that she told her parents, telling them the whole story that happened when they were away.

Mr. Whiskers running away, being helped by her friend and even having ice cream in the park. She was smiling so brightly the whole time that her parents didn't bother her story even once. 

But although her parents were happy for their child, they weren't as happy with Jane. The girl was given the responsibility to take care of their child, but it seems that she wasn't able to do that. When asked about the incident, Jane was also confused.

"She left? When I asked her if I could take a nap, she said she'd be in her room for a while to do some assignment or something. I never knew about her leaving because she was upstairs when I woke up an hour later."

Jane pleaded her case, but the Halsey couple weren't keen on keeping a babysitter that couldn't do her job properly. Jane, though needed the money, felt that she was indeed in the wrong. No excuses could be made when she had neglected the child's safety, even if it was just for a while. Luckily, Emilia stepped in just in time.

"Ummm. I don't think it's big sister's fault that I left. I left in a hurry because Mr. Whiskers was running away, I didn't have the time to wake her up. I'm sorry, mommy. I'm sorry, daddy. Please, please don't take sister Jane away!"

A tearful Emilia held the hem of her mother's dress as she pulled on it constantly. Seeing her mother look in the direction of her father, she let go of her mother and held on to her father's leg. Looking up at him with those big, blue eyes, combined with a trembling pout, James merely gave out a sigh.

"Fine. But I expect you to do your job properly next time. I know you care about our daughter, she seems to like you too. But Emilia is not like other girls, alright?"

'She needs to be watched over, she's... fragile.'

Giving Jane a serious look, James was unable to say anything more than that. All he was able to do was to keep his thoughts for himself. Kneeling down to meet Emilia's gaze, James gave his little girl a hug. He rubbed her back gently as the little girl cried in his arms.

"I understand. I'm sorry, uncle James. Auntie Lane."

"Alright. We'll see you tomorrow, then?" Seeing as the girl was alright in the first place, he decided to let it go. Jane had a good track record anyway, this was her first mistake, however big it may have been.

...

Looking around the classroom, Emilia was having second thoughts. She was so sure of herself just a moment ago, but all that confidence left her now that she was here. The reason for that was, she couldn't find Zel at all.

'Is he not coming to school? Or maybe he doesn't even remember me?'

-That girl is so cute! I want to talk to her, but I can't! I'm too scared!-

Hearing a noise from behind her, Emilia was able to see a boy flinching before turning his back to her. She was sure that the boy was talking to her, but no one else in the room was acknowledging it. 

-Oh, my, god. Silva's shoes! Look at those shoes! I want a pair too!-

Then a girl from the other side of the room seemed to have screamed at the top of her lungs. What was strange that Emilia was able to hear her scream, but she didn't look like she was talking at all. She would have dismissed it as her just seeing things but then she saw that the girl looked at her. She only looked at her, with her mouth not moving at all.

But why can she hear a voice from that direction?

-Hmph. That girl has been staring at me for a while. She probably thinks my shoes are so bad compared to Silva's shoes. What a meanie!-

Even though her face wasn't showing any sort of malice, Emilia felt the need to defend herself. She wasn't thinking of anything bad at all. Taking a look at the girl's shoes, she found them quite cute actually.

"Umm... I like your shoes. I think they're cute." As she wasn't expecting any reply, just wanting to compliment for the sake of complimenting, Emilia spoke her thoughts out loud. 

"Huh?"

Astrid couldn't help but be confused. She was so sure that she was being made fun of, but as the girl before her was giving a smile that looked so genuine, she couldn't help but feel bad for thinking badly of Emilia.

-Oh, there she is. Ahh, she's so cute today as well.-

But just as Astrid was about to reply, a familiar voice entered Emilia's senses. The direction of the voice was like a magnet that demanded her attention as her head immediately spun to face it. What greeted her was a smiling face, a much awaited smiling face.

"Hey. What's up?"

Jumping from her seat, Emilia was so excited that she hugged Zel without thinking about it. Something that made everyone around them stand still in shock. Especially for the still confused Carlo beside Zel.

"What?!"

But even when the rest of the class looked on, Zel just gave her a hug back. His face looked as serene as it could ever be. He didn't know how much he needed this, even if she wasn't back to her usual self yet.

"Good morning, Emilia. It's good to see you again."

Only then did Emilia finally understand what she had done. Immediately letting Zel go free and meeting his gentle smile with a reddened face.  Luckily, it seemed that Zel wasn't going to make her face this akward moment for too long as he pointed at the boy beside him.

"This is my friend, Carlo. Carlo, This is Emilia. She's a nice girl, so try to be friends, alright?"

"Kyaa!"

Just as Carlo and Emilia were about to greet each other, the rest of their group finally came in. A surprised Von just had a look of shock on his face while the flabbergasted Jed actually shrieked.

"A girl! You're talking to a girl!"