21 Chapter 21 (2/2)

”What was it like being homeless?” Emma asks. ”Depressing, tiresome... hungry”.

”No, no” Jessica says, ”I mean- what's the forest like? I mean, I get it's just like... a usual forest, but what is it like staying here during the night? Were you ever scared?”.

”Scared?” Emma asks. ”All the time...”.

”How'd you end up homeless?” Jessica asks.

Emma pauses, then says ”I don't wanna talk about it”.

”... Was it that bad?” Jessica asks. Emma nods her head, then Jessica says ”I still kinda wanna go explore through the woods though. Anyone wanna come with?”.

”N-no, not really” Emma says.

”Wyatt?” Jessica asks.

”I-uh... I think I'm fine” Wyatt says. ”It sounds like it would really bum out Emma, and I don't want to just leave her here alone”.

”That's fine” Jessica says.

”We'll wait for you here” Wyatt says.

Suddenly, Emma jumps up and whispers to Jessica ”Whatever you find in there, don't talk about it...”.

”W-What!? Why!?” Jessica panics.

”Just... promise me you won't” Emma says.

”Okay, I promise... geez” Jessica says. As Jessica separates from the group, she travels deeper into the forest until she's no longer in sight. Climbing over large tree roots sticking out of the ground, and under vines, she eventually catches sight of a small clearing near the middle of the woods. ”Oh, this has got to be good” Jessica says to herself. However, when she enters the clearing, she's see the opposite of good. There was the remains of a small burned down house, only the floor remained partially intact, a pond still covered in lilies and flower petals from the surrounding trees, and two headstones with withered flowers at the base. As Jessica crouched down to read the headstones, the words ”Mom” And ”Dad” were poorly carved into the sides. They weren't proper headstones either, rather, just large rocks found near the pond. ”W-was this... Emma's home?” Jessica asks. ”B-but this makes no sense... if she were homeless then...”. Suddenly, Jessica came to the realization. ”Then... this must've been why she went homeless. But why would she live all the way out here? Why would her house burn down? Are these her parents? How did-”. Suddenly, Jessica remembers Emma saying ”Whatever you find in there, don't talk about it”. ”Oh...” Jessica says to herself, tears nearly forming in her eyes. ”All this time... and I couldn't even see it. Emma doesn't have parents anymore... and if she lived out here away from humans... then she's probably a laibah too... How could I not see this? I've been a terrible friend...”.

When Jessica exits the forest, Wyatt and Emma were waiting for her at the same place she left them at. ”Did you see anything particularly interesting?” Wyatt says with a short laugh.

”Just a bunch of dumb ol' trees” Jessica says.

Eventually, the three of them decided to head home. As the night grew late, Emma grew restless. ”Are you okay?” Wyatt asks.

”Y-Yeah” Emma says.

”You know I'm gonna keep worrying anyways” Wyatt says with a short laugh. ”Just remember, if you need to talk, you can tell me anything”.

Emma smiles and says ”I know. Thank you, Wyatt”.

The next day, Emma follows Wyatt around. Wyatt hasn't told Emma about what they're going to do for their date, so Emma was confused as she followed him around. Eventually, the two of them returned to the clearing outside of the forest. ”What are we doing back here?” Emma asks.

”Well” Wyatt says, ”Jessica did say it's good to look back at your past and see how far you've come, but you didn't exactly seem very... content. So I wanted to remind you of something, in hopes that I can help you through what you're going through”. Wyatt reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small ring.

”W-What is-” Emma begins to ask.

”It's a promise ring” Wyatt says as he hands it over to Emma. ”I wanted it to be a token of my promise I made to you, that I won't leave your side no matter what may ever happen. I-I mean- the ring was cheap, but a promise is still a-”.

Wyatt gets interrupted by Emma jumping onto him and hugging him. ”Thank you!” She says.

Wyatt laughs gently and says ”You may have had to live alone here, without a home not too long ago... but now look at you! You can always count on me to be with you, and there's also Jessica, Jackson, Aeris and Emily too! There's always room to grow, but I also want you to know that I hope to be able to be by your side as you continue to grow. I realize that sounds kinda cheesy, but-”.

”Thank you so much!” Emma says, still holding onto Wyatt. ”... I think... I think that's more help than I could ask for, Wyatt. I think it's what I really needed... it means a lot to me”.

Wyatt smiles and says ”I may be clueless about a lot of things, but that won't stop me from trying”.

The two of them simply lay in the field together. Not much was done during this date of theirs, but to them, it felt like they had made another big step together. The days they spent alone together always seemed to go by so fast, as Monday already approached. Most of The Rejects entered the classroom at nearly the same time. However, shortly after they took their seats, some of the other students came to the back of the large classroom. ”You guys are laibah, aren't you?” One of the student asks. ”You guys are always so weird, so we're sure of it!”.

”No” Jessica says. ”Now leave us alone”.

”Admit it!” Another student says. ”You're all laibah, aren't you?”.

Jackson sighs and says ”I'm not in the mood for this shit... look, if you don't go away and sit down, I'll kick you so hard in the ass that you'll never able to to sit again! Understand!?”.

”You try it” the same student says, getting closer to Jackson. ”See what happens”.

Jackson stands up, ready to fight, but suddenly Refus enters the classroom. ”Jackson! Marcus! What are you two doing?”.

”Yeah, what are you going to do, you piece of shit?” The student named Marcus says quietly.

Jackson squints at Marcus, then looks over at Refus and says ”Nothing... Mr. Maloney”.

”Then sit down, all of you” Refus says. ”None of this in my class, got it?”.

Marcus and his band of friends walk away laughing. ”Well, here we go” Aeris says. ”Only about a quarter of the way through our first year, and we're already getting trouble like this... great”.

”Hey, it wasn't my fault!” Jackson says. ”He started it!”.

”And I'm finishing it” Aeris says. ”Don't get us in trouble!”.

”No” Jessica says, ”I'll finish it. If they want to start trouble, I'll give them trouble”.

”Wait- Jessica, calm down” Emily says. ”Just... take your time to think about it. If we can find a way to fix this without getting expelled, then we'll all benefit, won't we?”.

”Exactly!” Aeris says.

”I-I-Is there going to be trouble?” Emma asks.

”Not if we can handle it” Wyatt says. ”Don't worry. We'll be fine. We all will, including Jessica and Jackson”.

”Do you have a plan?” Emily asks.

”Not quite yet” Wyatt says, ”but for now, we'll just have to take it one day at a time”.