A Friend In Need

After ages, Emma had finally re-discovered that she too could be a good friend.

It all began in breaktime. At their classes. Corridors were filled with people; talking, laughing, chatting. And then there were some girl tantrums (which was, as Emma had observed, not a rare sight at all). Helen all over again. Emma could see her bloodshot eyes, tear-stained face. And she was ready sitting with her fingers in her ears-- that SURELY meant a tantrum. Helen was crying her eyes out on Amy's chest. And Hannah was consoling her.

Amy? Hannah? With HELEN?! Weird...

There were urgent phonecalls flying everywhere, frayed nerves and tense voices was all Emma could hear.

"Helen's lost her mobile phone," Hannah explained when Emma faced her with raised eyebrows. Emma sighed. She couldn't possibly do anything. And it wasn't like she WANTED to, anyway. Helen hadn't been much of a friend. Well, speaking of it, she was quite much of a bitch altogether.

Emma dropped onto the only bench in the corridor and stuffed her mouth with fried rice-- her breakfast for that day. Shortly after, Leah dropped down by her side. She had her pouch with her and Emma saw the keyring was broken. "Let me try my hand at it," she said, taking the pouch from Leah's hand. She placed her lunch box on the bench and knelt down beside Leah, trying to mend the keyring. Emma knew Leah loved her fried rice and she expected her to grab the lunch box immediately and start off. But unlike Emma's expectations, Leah did nothing. Emma glanced at her. Her eyes were fixed. Emma followed her gaze...

There was Helen, crying to Amy like she'd lost quite much more than a phone. Emma doubted if she's shed so many tears even if it were someone's funeral. And Emma looked back at Leah. Her face was stone-- quite expressionless, blank. Emma realized she had mended the keyring. "See! I mended it!" Emma exclaimed, holding out the pouch to Leah. "Wait, I'll be right back." Leah said and she walked away toward the washroom. Emma rolled her eyes, and looked at Donna and Beth. They had been doing the same, for sure. She got up and joined them. "What the hell is with her?" Emma exclaimed. "It's only a phone, for heaven's sake!" "She's got to be worried, you know," Donna said very matter-of -factly, and chuckled, "she's losing the numbers of all the studs she flirted with, and she's not gonna get those numbers back!" And they roared with laughter, pitying the poor studs who had no idea what Helen was like.

Nobody noticed a scarf-clad girl with a stone face leave the washroom, walk past, down the stairs, and come up again.

It was only when Emma heard Amy's and Hannah's hushed up voices near the washroom that she figured out something was fishy. She could hear them whisper frantically, now accompanied by Penny. What the hell was Leah up to?

One look at her face explained eveything.

Her face was flushed. One of her eyes was on the verge of reddening, and no one could have missed the moisture in her almond eyes, threatening to leak out any moment. Amy was trying to talk her out. So was Hannah. And Penny.

Emma dropped her lunchbox on the bench and hurried off to face Leah. "Leah, what's wrong?" she asked her shortly. She had to make her voice sound cold, to stop Leah from noticing the trembling in it.

"Nothing," she hushed.

"That's not 'nothing', Leah. Tell me, what's going on?"

"Drop it, Emma... It's nothing--"

"You don't fool me with that!"

Emma's voice was cold as ice. She was gulping down heavy bouts of air to stop herself from exploding. Something was troubling Leah, and she wasn't going to stay shut until she made it right.

"Leah, what's--"

"Just go away, will you? Leave me alone! I don't want a scene here, alright? Just leave!"

The ice in Emma melted to water instantly. No one even heard a tiny 'pop', when something bigger than an atom bomb had just exploded inside her. She staggered back and leaned against the wall. She felt anger, disappointment and shame rise along with the heat onto her face, melting her fake coldness and making it rush up to her eyes.

She gulped it all down. Quietly. Calmly.

She couldn't cry now. She couldn't make people look at her, and rush to console her instead. It was Leah who needed help then. It wasn't a big problem if Leah didn't trust her so much to tell her problems. But Emma needed the others to take care of her, at least. All Emma could do now was stare blankly in front, not at all aware of the noise. All she saw was Leah in the corridor ahead. She'd failed to come to use of a friend in need. That too, not any friend. It was LEAH.

It was too shameful for Emma to bear. She tore her gaze and stared at the lunchbox instead.

Hannah trotted up to her.

"'Ssup, Em! she greeted. "Oh, come on! What happened?"

"Ask HER that," Emma croaked, glancing pointedly at Leah.

"Oh, Em! Come on, you can't be so glum--"

"I'm fine, Hannah... Really... You should go sort her out, I'm telling you--"

"Hey, Em!" called Amy.

Emma registered a silent groan. She'd succeeded in doing exactly what she didn't want to.

"No, Amy--"

"Come off it, Em... The last thing I'd want to see in here is my Emmykins looking so downtrodden!"

"It's alright, Amy--"

"Look, I know you didn't like what Leah said. She shouldn't have said that-- hey, Leah!"

Amy pulled Leah by her side. "Come on, you ought to apologize for it," she told Leah.

"Oh, Amy, really now--"

Emma looked at Leah. She wasn't crying. Instead, she'd put on a bleak smile (Emma could bet anything-- it was fake).

"She doesn't need it. She's my bestie, I don't have to be formal with her. She can handle me at my worst, right Emma?" Leah said, looking back at Emma.

She hardly registered Leah's cheery apology, to which Emma accompanied laughter involuntarily. She continued looking at Leah, and now hated the fact that she could act so well in front of people.

"It really doesn't matter, Leah," Emma sighed at last, still looking at Leah. The trouble was little less than gone, but she managed to put on a similar watery smile.

Everyone looked satisfied. The crowd began to scatter-- the professor was about to come.

"Em, come with me. Please," Leah said abruptly. She grabbed Emma by the hand and led her towards the stairs. Emma had no idea why, but she allowed herself to be steered away. Hannah, Beth and Donna were a few steps behind.

This must be important, Emma thought. Leah usually didn't lead her away like so.

They climbed down a flight of stairs, and had barely crossed the landing when Leah flung her arms around Emma's neck. Her head dropped. She was shaking badly.

Leah Kent. Crying on Emma Jackson's shoulder.

Emma didn't know what to feel.

She was over whelmed-- first, there was a whoop of delight at the fact that Leah could count on her so much as to rest her head on her shoulder and cry her problems out. And then, there was the fact that Leah was crying. She was crying so hard and so real that even Emma couldn't hold hers off for long.

"What wrong did I do, Em?" Leah sobbed. "What was so wrong that she can forgive Amy and Hannah but hasn't yet forgiven me?!"

Emma knew she was talking about Helen. She didn't know what to say. All she could do was "shhhh..." her up and pat her head.

"It's-- it's-- so hard! To see her crying like that! She means-- so much-- she doesn't know--"

Even with her eyes wide open, her jaw quite steady, Emma felt a drop of tear trickle down from her eyes. She sniffed it back, and held on to Leah. She couldn't cry when she had Leah's tears to wipe.

Seeing Leah cry like that-- hearing her every sob and sharp breath on her shoulder, feeling her trembling body-- was altogether a new and unnamed experience for Emma. Like her very breath had stuck in her throat : she couldn't gulp it down, nor would it come out. A familiar clawing was begining to show up again, except that this time its claws were jagged and crooked.

"Know what... She-- some people-- they just can't-- it's hard to realise-- don't know what they-- they're missing--"

Emma found herself repeating all that Leah had once told her. But all she could do is stutter; she was too baffled to speak.

"Shh...! Leah, don't cry..." was all she managed to choke out, after hastily stiffling back a sob herself.

A Little Bit Stronger... (Part-2)

"seriously? I mean, is he basically, fundamentally, entirely, completely and officially jobless?" Leah thought, feeling ridiculous and amazed at the same time. Anyways, Leah composed herself and quite reluctantly typed a "hey!" and sent it. Then the conversation was quite formal until Adam pushed the red button.
Adam: How's Tasha?
Leah: I dunno.
Adam: I thought you were friends!
Leah: Yeah, that's right. We WERE friends. Now it seems she thinks I don't deserve her friendship, if you know what I mean...
Tasha was Adam's ex, a complicated one though. They broke up and patched up almost every hour and their 'wonderful' relationship made Leah feel she was living an ultra dramatic TV show.
Adam: You finally realized what she is, didn't you?
Leah: Yeah, I did. Quite a few months back.
Adam: I'm glad you've got your senses back. Now I can my Twinkle back! :)
Twinkle. That's what Adam used to call her when they were best friends. There were basically two reasons why their friendship broke - Tasha & Gabrielle. Tasha was Adam's ex and Gabrielle his present. Gabrielle and Leah had gone to High School together and Leah wondered why Gabrielle hated her so much. She never dropped a chance to insult her. But if there was anything Leah was proud of, it was her sense of humour. She always managed to squeeze through Gabrielle's attempts to make a fool out of her. That was also maybe one of the reasons Gabrielle hated her even more. Leah didn't like her either and she had told Adam all about Gabrielle when he had revealed that he had a crush on her. "She's not worth it, Adam. She's just a big loser with a pretty face! Trust me, you deserve much better than that!" Leah had told him.
Leah: Adam, you really think you can get your Twinkle back? You think things can be as they were?
Adam: I believe that. And don't consider the LIE in between. ;)
Now Leah knew exactly where this was heading, and she knew exactly what to do and when to do it.
Leah: So how's everything in your life going on?
Adam: You got to know about Gabrielle and me, right?
Leah: Yeah, and I'm really glad you got her. You truly 'deserve' her.
Adam: Yeah, I guess I do! :)
Leah: You know Gabrielle hates me, yet you want me as your best friend again? That's ironical!
Adam: I didn't say I want you as my best friend again. I want you back as just a friend.
"Oh! I guess somebody just wanted things the way they used to be! I never knew I was 'just a friend' back then!" Leah thought, "now is the time to act, baby!" She was smiling.
Leah: That's not possible.
Adam: What? Why?
"Strike NOW," Leah muttered to herself.
Leah: After you and Jordan walked out of my lives, I vowed to myself that I won't let a guy come so close to my heart that he starts playing with it, especially the guy who was once the reason for my tears.
Adam: Oh come on! You're still out of your senses! You don't seem like my Twinkle!
Leah: That's because I'm NOT! Look, Gabrielle holds absolutely zero position in my life. I really don't care what she thinks or does. It's exactly the same with you, too! This is basically the reason I told you 'deserve' her. Secondly, I realized the 'great truth' about Tasha long back. If I really wanted you back, don't you think I'd have come to you at that time? But I didn't! I guess that explains everything. And as far as Twinkle is concerned, you may well regard her as dead. She will never come back, Adam. Never. Bye.
And without waiting for a reply, Leah signed out.
"Leah! Baby, can you please help me with these bottles?" Leah heard her mom calling out from the kitchen.
"Coming, mom!" she called back.
"Come fast, honey! I have discovered quite a lot of 'sweet and saintly' ways ready to be tried!" Even though she couldn't see her, Leah swore her mom was grinning in her smirky way. Leah smiled and got up, and somewhere she felt light, as if a heavy weight had been lifted off her. She knew she had finally shrugged off the weight of a 'friendship' which was probably never meant to be. Now, as she got up, she knew she had become a little bit stronger...

A Little Bit Stronger... (Part-1)

"Thank you, sweetie, " Leah's mom, Angela Kent, said as she leaned a bit to kiss Leah's forehead. Although Leah looked as tall as her mom, she actually wasn't.
"Mom, you don't have to do that! I know I should help you more with household chores but you just can't resort to sweet and saintly measures to make me feel guilty!" Leah exclaimed. Her mom winked at her daughter and turned away to continue with her work.
Angela Kent, a graceful woman in her late forties, was a lady of wit and humour. Despite the generation gap between her and her daughters, she managed to maintain a peppy relationship with them.
Leah moved towards her computer, flexing her fingers. "I should check my mails for the next week's timetable," she thought. She switched on her PC and checked her mails. "Woah! Another week with a holiday? So we are finally being considered as humans!" She closed the browser window and was about to shut down when she noticed the little icon on the desktop - a little human-like figure with a speech bubble next to it's tiny head. MESSENGER. Leah sighed. She wasn't really fond of chatting, not after she had stopped talking to Jordan. They were supposed to be "best friends forever", but Leah soon realized that 'forever' has an end too. She'd fallen for Jordan the day her eyes had fallen on him - mischievous eyes, evil smile yet an innocent face. She had tried killing her feelings for him and failed each time. Miserably.
"Maybe he's online," she thought, pointing the cursor towards the icon. Leah knew it wouldn't make much of a difference if he was. She wouldn't, in her right minds, start off a conversation and she knew he had too big an ego to do the same. "Forget it Leah, it's worthless," she told herself. Less than thirty seconds later, she found herself typing her password in the messenger window...

She scrolled down to 'J' and found the name 'Jordan Alphonso Beckett'. "Offline," she muttered to herself. She was just about to log out when a message popped up in the window - Adam Thomas is online. "So? As if I'm going to chat with HIM, out of all the people! I'd rather chat with a boa constrictor than chat with HIM!" Leah thought. Had she said that aloud, she would have said it with a voice filled with remarkable hatred and disgust. "OK, I'm being hyper. Boa constrictors can't chat," she thought, taking two deep breaths. Adam was also once upon a time Leah's best friend. But he too, like almost all guys in Leah's life, turned out to be a complete jerk. Just then a chat window popped up with a "Hi!!!" and a grinning smiley. It was Adam. Leah's eyebrows shot up, as she stared at the screen, mouth wide open.

A Fistful Of Magic

"There you go....! They started it all over again!" Drew groaned, "Why me?!"
Emma smiled. She knew he hated that nonsense. "You act as if the sky was falling on your head!" she told him.
"You don't get it, Emma," he said, as he shot her a glance. "You don't know but it feels bad..."

Emma raised her brows. "Don't tell me that, Drew. I deal with it all the time."
"No, you don't."
"Yes, i do." This was a statement. He didn't know half the things going on inside Emma then. "And you can deal with it, if you like."
"Like?" he retorted. "LIKE?! Emma, this is not my choice!"
"It is, Drew. Let me show you how I handle it..."

She gazed around in the air. Drew followed her gaze. She made a sudden movement, like grasping something invisible in air. She presented her closed fist before Drew.
"What do you think is in it?" she asked him. She knew what he'd answer-- science people were easy to predict.
"Air," he answered. Emma smiled.
"And what's in the air?" she went on.
"Atoms," he answered, "and molecules." Emma smiled again. He was making it simpler. Now was her time to strike.

"Each particle moves, right?" she asked him. He nodded.
"So each particle has some energy. And a tremendous amount of it, if you consider their size."
Drew creased his brows. He wasn't able to figure out where this was going. Emma grinned, and waved her fist in air. "Now watch this," she said.

She blew into her closed fist through one end. Then, slowly and gracefully, like handling some spell, she released the contents of her closed fist over his heart.
"There!" she exclaimed. "I just transferred their energy to your heart. Can you feel it throbbing?!"
And Drew rolled his eyes disbelievingly at Emma.
                                                             -----*----*-----*-----

"MAMMA!" she cried. "LOOK AT THIS!"

Little Dorothy was limping up the steps leading from the ground to the stands, her knee bleeding. It was their Annual Sports Meet.

"Mamma!" she shouted, and ran into Emma's waiting arms. Emma hugged her lovingly. "You were great in the jump, Doe!" she exclaimed. "Yeah, but look at this, Mamma!" Doe said, pointing at her knee. "How will I participate in the next race?!" "Come," Emma said, picking her up, "We'll clean it up. It'll be fine."
"Mamma," Dorothy began again, as Emma cleaned he wound with antiseptic. Emma nodded. "I have't yet won a prize."
Emma looked up at her. "So what?!" she asked, and smiled.
"And I won't, either."
Emma creased her brows. "Why?" she asked, "Of course you will!"
"With a broken leg?" Dorothy retorted, "It hurts, Mamma! How can I run when my leg pains so much??"

The question seemed to bore through Emma. Memories hit her hard like hailstones. She smiled.

"Come here, Doe," she said, pulling Dorothy by the hand. "I'll show you some magic."

She led Dorothy away from the crowd, into a corner of the stands. There she knelt in front of her. Even now, she towered a bit over the little four-year old.

"Watch this," Emma told her.

She eyed the air, as if looking for something. She felt Dorothy follow her gaze. She made a swipe in the air, like she'd caught something wonderful in her hand.
She held her closed fist right under Dorothy's nose. "What do you think is in it?" she asked her.
"It seems empty," said Dorothy.
"Are you sure??" Emma pressed on.
Dorothy turned her face thoughtful, the one she made while solving a relatively difficult homework problem.
"You said air enters everywhere," Dorothy said at last. Emma smiled encouragingly, and nodded. "There's gaps in your fist," said Dorothy, pointing out, "Here-- and here-- and here."
Emma nodded again.
"So there's air in your fist?" Dorothy asked.

Emma grinned. "Yes," she said. "And it's made up of thousands of particles. So small you can't see them."
"Really??" Dorothy said, her eyes widening.
"Yes!" Emma answered, "And each moves at a tremendous speed! Which means--"
"They've got lots of energy!" Dorothy interjected. Emma nodded again.

"Watch this, now."


She blew into her closed fist through one end. Then, slowly and gracefully, like handling some spell, she released the contents of her closed fist over her heart.
"There!" she exclaimed. "I just transferred their energy to your heart. Can you feel it throbbing?!"
"Yeah!" Dorothy answered. "Wow!"

"Now try jumping up and down," Emma said, "Remember, you have the air's energy with you!"

And Emma watched her lovingly as she jumped, delighted. She watched her run the race, and even get the second place. As Emma stood up to applaud Dorothy, she noticed that her father was missing all this.
He came at last, as Dorothy waved her trophy to the crowd.

"How come Doe has her knee bruised?!" Drew asked.
"She fell," Emma answered, as she moved her gaze from her daughter to her husband.
"And she ran with that?!" he exclaimed, "HOW!!??"

Emma smiled at him. "Just a fistful of magic...!" she told him.

About Emma...

A Few words about Emma (by Leah):
Emma? Emma who? Emma girl! (I'm a girl!) =P Ok I know that was bizarre but seriously describing PEOPLE isn't really my thing. Like Emma says, "You are best at describing events, Leah." Emma always has something to say. She's the type of girl who'll go on and on about something and all you'll want to do is fix your gaze on her with a big smile on your face. She has a very different charm, something that binds you to her, something that won't allow you to leave her how much ever you try. She never fails to cheer me up with her "fistfuls of magic" but I fail to understand why she won't use it on herself. She's one of those very few people who have really touched my heart. She sometimes (actually, almost ALL the time) has wrong judgments about people and eventually she lands up in a mess and the next thing she does - looks at me with flooded eyes and as soon as I hug her, my shoulders get a little salt water bath. But sometimes she does choose amazing people as her friends (for example ME!) ;) She's crazy about books and she's all gaga about J.K.Rowling. I know this is getting really monotonous but I can't really help it. And... yeah! She's very creative. Always coming up with the coolest ideas. ^yawn^ She has a very different perspective of things. And a superb ATL (Attitude Towards Life, as she calls it!) Her looks? Well, I can't describe that either. All I know is that she's very very beautiful. Inside and Out! =) She's always filled with positive energy (that's when she's not crying, obviously!) and people love to have her around. She stands out from the crowd even without meaning to. She's just.....different! and special! and amazing! and superb! Woah, I ran out of adjectives. And one thing I'm quite sure about is, when she'll read this, she's going to look at me with her eyebrows raised and a what-do-you-think-you-were-typing expression. Ah! I'm used to it. No worries. Don't ever judge her by her name. She has a small name but her personality is as complex as it can be. Ok now I'm seriously drained and I'm gonna end it abruptly (sorry Emma!). I just know I love her for what she is and I'll always love her, till my last breath and even after that... <3

About Leah...

Hey all! Here is a brief introduction to one of the writers of this blog, Leah Kent. Initially, it was decided that Leah and Emma would write stuff about themselves on their own but then, it really gets boring. Nobody likes to read what one writes about oneself. So, in order to make it a bit (a "bit", really!) interesting, Emma blabbered about Leah while Leah yawned, stretched a bit and managed to throw out a few words about Emma (in the next blog). Readers are advised to prepare themselves for excessive usage of hyperbole. Cheers! :D

Stuff that Emma's got to say about Leah: 
Leah... Leah... Leah - she ought to be renamed "Miracle".... :)
Leah Kent - THE studious, THE believing, THE charming, THE writer, And THE source of all courage and patience for half her knowns - is a tall, slender girl with bushy jet black curls and eyes as deep and wide and beautiful like a silent lake on some hill side (it is this that I appreciate the most, you see. Always fall FOR and INTO those eyes...)
The Leah I know is the heart and soul of life around her. She knows how to MAKE people believe in themselves. MAKE people know they're not less. MAKE people love and live their dreams. "Don't let anything weigh you down. Live life like YOU SHOULD", she tells me. (Actually I tend to be the one to hear that maximum number of times! :P)
A strong mind that she is, capable of handling every situation, she can steer you through every tight spot. And once you confide in her (she makes it easier herself) it's hard to STOP yourself from telling her. Consulting her. She eventually becomes the ULTIMATE vent. She can lend you help, hand or shoulder - whatever you need when you're so full of emotion it tends to flood out. She's THE dam you can have. Your reservoir.
But then, the truth prevails - the girl who has always been there for others needs someone to be there for her. She's a normal (well, not quite) 16-year old after all. She has her needs, her dreams, her LIKES (like MANGOES, for instance :P)! Beneath that highly cemented strong dam there is a soft, delicate heart, and the dam was - you could say - built for that very reason: protecting it. It's fortified. It's shocked. Scared, yet loving. Hurt, yet passionate. A complex put-together.
But then, Leah knows her strengths. She knows what all she can do, and what she's not supposed to. She can fall, pull herself up, brush off the dust and walk on like nothing ever happened. Her face won't show...
.... But her heart will...! :) <3