5 Chapter 5 (1/2)
The next day, August 24th, Emma and Wyatt sleep in until almost noon. After they wake up, they both go to the clothes store that Emma sells her clothes at. When they arrive, the sign above the front door reads ”Savvy Threads” and the store looked rather small. When they get inside, there was just one old woman working at the front desk, Matilda. ”Emma!” Matilda cheers when the two of them walk inside the store.
”Hey, Matilda!” Emma says back, ”I've got more!”.
”Great, great!” Matilda says, ”I was worried about our stock for a minute there”.
Wyatt looks around and says ”But it looks like you have plenty to sell here...”.
”It's not about the quantity, child” Matilda says, ”it's about the quality. A lot of people actually buy her clothes, and I was worried when we were running low”.
”They sell that fast?” Wyatt asks, sounding impressed.
”You're amazing, Matilda!” Emma says, ”thanks for making sure my clothes sell well! I didn't know anyone bought anything of mine!”.
”No, no” Matilda says, ”the clothes sell themselves, dear. I merely run the cash register. By the way, is this a new friend of yours?”.
Matilda points at Wyatt and Emma nods her head. ”Yeah” Emma says, ”his name is Wyatt. We go to the same class”.
”Class?” Matilda asks, ”not classes? Your school must really run on a short budget... most other schools have multiple classes for each student”.
”Harrison is a little... unique” Wyatt says, ”and it's all I could afford. Beggars can't be choosers, y'know?”.
”It doesn't matter where you go in life, son” Matilda says, ”it just matters where you take yourself. Now let me see what you've brought today, Emma”.
Emma takes a couple dresses and shirts out of her backpack, and unfolds them for Matilda to see. Matilda silently inspects the dresses and shirt, impressed by the work. Emma uses the best cloth that she finds to make the clothes she doesn't keep, and uses what's left for herself. This way, she doesn't ever feel like she's letting Matilda down. Matilda was the first human to accept Emma, even whilst knowing that she's a laibah. After a while, Matilda hands Emma some money for the clothes, and the two start to leave. Matilda stops Emma before they walk out of the door. ”Emma!” Matilda says, ”one second, dear. I just need to talk about recent sales for your clothes in private. Um... Wyatt, was it? Can you give us a moment?”.
”Oh, uh... sure” Wyatt says as he leaves the store and waits outside.
Emma walks back up to the desk where Matilda stood, and asks ”Is everything alright? Are sales slowing down?”.
”The sales are fine, dear” Matilda says, ”I'm just worried for you. I've known you for a while, and you've told me about the last... friends you've had. I don't want this one hurting you like the last”.
”Oh, right...” Emma says, ”you're too nice to me sometimes, Matilda”.
”I'm just an old woman trying to watch the world move in the right direction” Matilda says, ”it's no skin off of my bones if I help a nice young woman like yourself”.
”No... skin... what?” Emma asks.
”It means it's no problem to me, if I at least try to look out for you” Matilda says. ”It was supposed to be funny” and Matilda laughs quietly.
”Yeah, there are times I worry too” Emma says, ”but I think I can trust Wyatt”.
”Have you told him?” Matilda asks.
”N-no... I have not” Emma says, her head hanging low.
”Then how would you be sure?” Matilda asks.
”I just...” Emma begins to say as she thinks, ”I just want to think it'll work out. I don't think he hates laibah, and he's really nice... sometimes he's silly... and sometimes he really tries to help”.
Matilda looks down at Emma with a worried expression. ”Dear” she asks, ”do you love the boy?”.
Emma nearly jumps at the question. ”What!?” She asks, ”n-no! I don't... it's not like-”.
”That's beginning to sound more like a yes as you continue” Matilda says. ”Look, Emma, it won't work unless you know you can trust each other. Take your time if you have to, move at a slow pace, get to know each other more... or simply rip off the bandaid, which means get it over with quickly and tell him. Based on how he reacts, you could quite possibly have your answer”.
”But I-I'm not...” Emma begins to say. Emma takes a deep breath and says ”You're right... like usual. I like him, maybe even more than that... but I feel like the more I get to know him, the harder it becomes”.
”That certainly sounds like love, child” Matilda says.
”Yeah, I guess you're right again” Emma says, ”but... that's what makes it worse. I feel like it'd be easier to tell him... if only I could hope to only be friends... but I can't”.
”The heart wants what the heart wants, dear” Matilda says, softly.
”Well, the heart is a freaking idiot!” Emma says. ”Maybe I could easily tell him I'm a laibah in... I don't know... a week or so? Maybe more, maybe less!? But only if I could think of us as just... friends... and nothing else. It feels like it'll be so much worse now, and I can't explain it. I mean, maybe it's just because a human and a laibah could just never work out”.
”You feel like it's forbidden?” Matilda asks. ”Plenty of people would probably agree... however, you live as you want to live. Rules are guidelines to follow, not a strict testament. At the same time, there also haven't been any rules against it. As well as, I'm sure you wouldn't be the first. Somewhere in this world, it's probably already happened”.
”But!” Emma shouts, ”what if he says we can only be friends... because I'm a laibah?”.
”Take your time” Matilda says, ”find out for yourself. If you want my opinion, I'd say that if it's what you really want, then give it a shot”. Matilda leans in closer to Emma and whispers, ”also, the Autumn Festival is just around the corner, you know. Take your time, until then, to get to know him. If you feel like you're ready, try telling him how you feel during the festival. I've heard a lot of couples began during the festivals”.
Emma looks up at Matilda, thinking about it. She then nods her head and says ”Alright... I guess I'll try it. Since apparently my heart is dumb enough to ask for more, without giving me any answers on how to get more, it's all I have to go on”.
”That's the beauty of it, dear” Matilda says. ”Now go on. I'm sure you have lots to do”.
”Thanks, Matilda!” Emma says as she bows her head slightly and begins to walk away.
”Remember, child” Matilda says, ”ripping off that bandaid is still an option. If you don't want to do it, then you'll have to be careful. Someone else who may know about your secret might do it for you... I mean, not me, of course. Be careful who you let know about your secret!”.
Emma walks out of Savvy Threads, and meets with Wyatt just beside the door. ”Was everything fine?” Wyatt asks.
”Mmm-Hm!” Emma says. ”No need to worry, just some small talk”.
”That's good” Wyatt says.
Suddenly, the door opens up and Matilda sticks her head out of the door. ”Can I ask you something real fast, sonny?” She asks Wyatt.
Wyatt points to himself in confusion. ”Me?” He asks.
Matilda nods her head and Wyatt walks towards Matilda to speak. When Wyatt gets close, the two of them walk inside the store so Emma couldn't overhear them. ”I just wanted to know something, since you seem like a new face around here”.
”What is it?” Wyatt asks.
”Do you hate laibah?” Matilda asks.
”What?” Wyatt asks. ”Why do you-”.
”There's a lot of laibah outside of the city” Matilda says, ”and a lot of them frequent these streets. Knowing that, do you have a problem with laibah?”.
”Not... really” Wyatt says.
”What would you do if I told you” Matilda asks, ”that I am a laibah?”.
”That doesn't seem like... much of a problem to me” Wyatt says. ”I don't see why I should hate you for that”.
Matilda stares into Wyatt's eyes, as if to try and test if he were lying. After a while, she smiles and says ”Don't worry, I'm not really a laibah. Just a curious old bat”.
”Ah” Wyatt says, sounding a little disappointed.
”That reaction sounds like you expected otherwise” Matilda says. ”But it's true. Our store owner won't allow laibah to work here. He says they scare away the other customers”.
”N-no, I get that” Wyatt says. ”I'm just a little disappointed, I guess”.
”Disappointed?” Matilda asks.
”My first friend was a laibah” Wyatt says, ”and I guess I just grew to like them more than humans. I grew up in the slums, on the north side of the city. All there was there was a bunch of loud and obnoxious humans with little to no laibah anywhere. I guess I was just... interested in them more because I got tired of what I was surrounded by”.
”Interesting, young man...” Matilda says, ”that's definitely something. Well, have fun you two. Don't get into any trouble”.
”O-Okay...” Wyatt says. As Wyatt walks away, he whispers ”Weird old geezer...” to himself.
”What were you guys talking about?” Emma asks as she laughs slightly.
”Oh, nothing much” Wyatt says. ”She likes asking personal questions, doesn't she?”.
Emma giggles and says ”That's Matilda alright. She's always been like that for as long as I've known her”.
The two of them walk back to the dorm. When they get inside, they realized they forgot something. Emma meant to take the dress she sleeps on to the store too, but because she's been using it as a bed, she totally forgot. ”Oh no” Emma says as she picks the dress off of the floor.
”What's wrong, Emma?” Wyatt asks.