The Black Swan Behind (Beauty of Fire)

143 Worried

Emma’s first winter break in Handway City was filled with events that she would never forget for the rest of her life. Even though she went through it alone, the weeks seemed to go by in a glimpse.

Winter was coming to its end. It was no longer snowing and the thick pile of snow that covered the streets was thinning. Emma chose to take the bus to go to her campus on the first day after a long holiday. She felt very excited because she longed for practicing ballet with her friends again.

Even though it was only been about a month, Emma already longed for the long road to the university building which was surrounded by trees on its right and left. The longer Emma was in Handway City, the more she realized that she liked the many things here.

The day went fast and fun. Emma took classes with Calvin Lee who was always by her side as if he were the substitute for Roger Timothy to sit beside Emma. Even so, Emma would never be able to remove the figure of Roger from her memories. That guy was the one who put Emma in the position she was today. That figure made Emma ultimately choose to be a useful person to others. Choose not to be selfish.

“Do you have extra classes today?” Emma asked Calvin who was walking beside her. He had blackened his hair back and gave it a little cut that made him look even more charming.

Calvin shook his head, “I have something to do out there.”

“Is that.. with Troy and the others?” Emma guessed in an unsure tone.

“That’s right. Jita Kyoei’s members are fully back now, so we will quick things up for our goal.” He answered.

“Ah.. I see,” Emma muttered.

.....

“Then, I’ll get going now. Please give my regards to Poppy and Kathy. I haven’t seen them at all today. Have a nice extra class,” Calvin said after patting Emma’s shoulder briefly. Then, he walked away with the occasional glance back to wave at his crush.

Emma just smiled as she waved back. She looked at Calvin’s wide back which was getting further away. Her heart felt heavy. Could she let Calvin and Jita Kyoei attack RJC which was Marcel Douglas’ group? Both sides were Emma’s friends. She cared for both of them. Did Emma need to prevent Calvin from attacking RJC?

“Emma.. What are you doing standing like a statue in the middle of the way?” Suddenly, a hand grabbed her shoulder.

Emma gasped and turned to face the nose bridge that was already at the side of hers, “Where have you been, Kathy? I’ve been looking for you since morning.” Emma asked the girl with red hair that puffed like twilight clouds.

“I was busy chasing the lecturer who gave me bad grades before winter break. I had to save my grades by begging him like a slave. Ugh.. How sucks..” Kathy babbled to herself by starting to walk without letting go of her arm on Emma’s shoulder.

“Poppy is waiting for us in the ballet room. I had a chance to meet her this morning. But she seemed as busy as you are,” Emma explained.

“I don’t think we’re the only ones busy, Emma. You actually are too. But maybe, you don’t really feel it because today was a good day for you.” Kathy answered lazily.

Hearing Kathy’s words made Emma think. Indeed, she had many activities today. But somehow, everything seemed to not burden her at all. Could it be because she was too excited on her first day back on campus? Or..

An image of a sweet smile flashed in Emma’s mind. Thin lips with neat white teeth inside. From those lips, sweet words often came out like a fireworks explosion that made the heart flutter.

Could it be that the thing that made Emma’s day so much fun was that Calvin Lee was by her side all day?

“Emma! You’re not listening to me, are you?” Kathy snapped by shaking her best friend’s arm who walked with a blank stare.

Kathy’s call made the daydream of Calvin’s smile vanish, “Oh.. I’m sorry. I was daydreaming unconsciously.” she stammered. “W-what did you say earlier?” she asked with an uneasy chuckle.

Kathy glared with a straight face at the smooth, thick-haired girl beside her. Then, she let out a tired sigh before repeating the last sentence of a series of sentences that had poured out of her mouth that she was sure Emma didn’t hear any single of them. “Ms Diana. She’s not teaching anymore starting today.”

“What?” Emma looked surprised, “Why so suddenly? Shouldn’t it be in the spring? Why didn’t she tell us?”

Kathy shrugged, “I’m disappointed about that too. But Poppy said, Ms Diana had to move out of the city suddenly because of family problems. Looks like her future husband’s mother forced her to stay at her house. She must be struggling with that. I don’t think I want to get married later.” she explained with a mumble at the end.

“Ah.. It’s too bad.. I was thinking of having a small party with Ms Diana to make memories before she left.” Emma muttered. Then, she rubbed Kathy’s shoulder, “Actually, your partner’s family issues shouldn’t be a barrier for you to decide whether to marry or not. If they ask you to do something you don’t like, you should refuse, because your life is yours.” She continued. Emma did realize that Ms Diana was too kind of a person. She was a person who hardly said ‘No’ to other people. Of course, such a trait would make her quite a hassle in the future.

“I don’t know, Emma. I guess I just don’t want to. I guess living alone is more fun than having to share with someone all my life.” Kathy said.

Emma nodded, “I think, as long as you’re happy, you can do anything with your life. And of course, as long as it doesn’t hurt other people.”

Talking while walking did make the walk feel short. Imperceptibly, the two girls had arrived at the door of the ballet class. Emma directed her hand to push the door. But suddenly, her hand stopped in the air when she remembered there was a terrible thing she might face.

Too much fun today made Emma had forgotten that she had a problem with keeping her identity secret. She forgot that on campus, in ballet class to be precise, there was a girl named Rachel Markway. She was someone who knew that the man in the black helmet who always rode a motorbike in the dark night of Handway City was Emma Hilland. She knew that the elegant lady who was a ballet maniac was actually a fighting monster and could knock out a group of men at once.

“Why do you stop? What’s the matter with you today, Emma?” Kathy muttered as she shook her head in surprise, then, she pushed the door open anyway.

The arrival of Emma and Kathy immediately caught the attention of Poppy, who had previously been having a serious conversation with the instructor and also a teacher of their new additional class. Her name was Ms Tania.

“Oh, hey!” Poppy waved her hand high. Then, she turned back to the woman in front of her to end their conversation before walking quickly to her two friends who had just arrived.

“Well.. Looks like our teacher assistant is pretty busy, huh?” Kathy teased as she opened her locker door.

Poppy just pursed her lips, “If it wasn’t for Ms Diana who asked for it, I don’t think I would have done this troublesome thing.”

Emma chuckled. It was rare for her to see Poppy grumble like that. Just like Ms Diana, Poppy also had a hard time saying ‘No’ to other people’s requests. That was one of the reasons why she ended up becoming an assistant class instructor now that was against her will. It looked like Ms Diana deliberately pointed to Poppy because she was a disciplined person when it came to ballet.

While storing her things in the locker, Emma kept her eyes on the classroom door. Previously, the two light brown irises had searched all over the classroom and couldn’t find the person she was looking for. Apparently, Rachel Markway came late or, as Emma had hoped, didn’t show up at all.

“Emma.. Are you waiting for someone?” Poppy asked, noticing that the girl with thick brown hair in a ponytail seemed not to be with them in mind. Emma was seen staring at the door and not joining in on her and Kathy’s conversation.

“W-what? N-no, I’m not,” Emma replied with a small, awkward laugh.

Kathy glanced at Emma with an annoyed look on her face and told Poppy, “She’s been acting weird since our first meet today. I don’t know what’s going on with her either.”

“Oh... I see,” Poppy muttered, then looked at Emma with her clear black eyes, “I feel like you’re waiting for someone, Emma. You have a worried look on your face. Is there a problem?” she asked seriously. As friends, of course, they should be able to help each other if someone had a problem.

Emma quickly shook her head. Then, she forced a laugh, “There’s nothing, guys.. Actually, I’m not staring at the door, but thinking about.. um.. tasks. Right, I was thinking of a rather difficult task.”

“Tasks?” Kathy and Poppy repeated in unison with confused faces. As they recalled, Emma was not the type of person who would allow coursework to make her always musing with that worried face.

Emma nodded, “This is the first time I’ve had such a difficult task.”

“What tasks, Emma? Maybe we can help you with them,” Poppy asked.

“Oh.. Thank you, Poppy. Actually, Calvin will be the one to help me later. But, maybe because it’s so difficult, I can’t get the topic off my mind.” Emma explained quickly by rubbing the trunk of her own neck. “Sorry if I didn’t focus on you guys,”

“Well.. It doesn’t matter, Emma. I had that kind of problem too when I was in elementary school.” Kathy replied.

Poppy chuckled, realizing that Kathy was mocking Emma sarcastically, “You’d better get changed quickly. Class will start in five minutes.” she said after glancing at a big clock hanging on the wall.

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