THE EMERSON EMERALD
I: The Sneaking Suspicion

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" her screams echo in my brain.

I shook my head, the dark alleyway vanished and was replaced with the colorful walls of my highschool filled with posters and positive affirmations. They are nothing like the dreary aley where I... The memory stays like a tingling sensation that annoys you, but not enough that it makes you want to scratch it.

I walked to the library to see my 'friends'. I just finished boxing practice, my hair still damp from my after-practice shower, the tips of my brunett hair slowly dripping water on my grey hoodie. Why does that memory alway reappear every practice? My long arms push the wooden doors that open up to the media center. I smile. My friends are sitting there. Lukas sat reading a book. Sailor and Yasmin, my only female friends, were laughing at something the ginger had just read out loud for them. The new librarian, Mr. Lowe shushed them and they went quiet. I know that they are just using me, but the facade is my favorite part of my day. As long as they don't do anything too bad to me (which they haven't, they've been very good at hiding it) I'll continue being friends. It's not like I have any others.

As my long legs walked over to them, the girls pulled a chair for me. I sat down, my legs outstretched before me because I'm not able to bend them comfortably. "What are you doing?" I asked, the annoying memory now gone from my brain.

Yasmin halted her laughter to explain, "Lukas wanted to read us some jokes that he found. He thought they would make us laugh and they sure do." Yasmin chuckles, the previous joke boomeranging back into her thoughts. Yasmin is the shortest person in my friend group, she's really smart and pretty with her thin wired circle glass and chocolate brown skin, so smooth you'd think that she's never anything and nothing has touched her. I would date her like some of my other girlfriends I had, but I don't think she would like to date me. I'm her friend after all and I think it would just be awkward.

After the laughter had died down, Lukas whispered, "Want to hear another one?" The three of us nodded our heads. Sailor's head nodded so vigourisourly, her blonde hair swong back and forth while my head looked more like someone nodding off to sleep. Yasmin's was a nod you'd give to your boss or someone else in a professional setting. It was curt and sharp.

"What do you get when you mix alcohol and literature?" Lukas read from the book.
Our brains went to work thinking of an answer to the joke. I didn't think that much, but Yasmin, who is the smartest one out of all of this, thought thoroughly. You could tell by her black furrowed brows. Finally, we had our answers.

"A bard's drinking song?" guessed Yasmin.

"A drunk author?" I answered.

"A book-reading party?" Sailor spat out.

"How did you get that, Sailor?" Yasmin and I asked at the same time. Our heads turned towards the middle of the table to the blonde. Her blabbering was a consast in our friendship. Her mouth was two times faster than our brain, we like to say.

"Well, I don't know. You drink and read?" Sailor raised her arms forming a 'w' shape with them showing her confusion. Sailor's face turns a shade redder. "Just say the answer!"

Sailor gets a glare from Mr. Lowe and another shush.

"The answer is 'You get a tequila mockingbird,'" Lukas read the answer.

"I don't get it." Sailor said.

Yasmin, my Filipina friend explained, "Do you not remember reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee your freshman year?"

"Well, it's been a whole year since I've been a freshman, so cut me some slack," Sailor says, nudging Yasmin in the arm.

"Ow..." Yasmin said out of instinct, her long, black hair followed her movement as she jerked back. I caught her back so she wouldn't fall back. Normally I don't really talk to talk; I prefer to simply listen.

"Why does Mr. Lowe have to be so strict?" Sailor asked. "Maybe he's hiding something." Sailor puts her hands together right next to her mouth like she is about to pray, but instead of placing her palms together, her curled fingers go into circular motions; each one acting upon its own accord. They first go in and down then out. On going clockwise and the other counterclockwise. Her mouth is full of mischief and her eyes show a plan forming in her brain.

"That's Sailor for you. Making up crazy stories to entertain her through sophomore year." Yasmin said. Lukas stifled back a laugh so as to not be rude as I sat and thought. What if she was right?

"Hey!" Sailor said, sitting up straight. Mr. Lowe shushed her again.

"I swear he has it out for me," Sailor said, shaking her head. "He only shushes me. Never you guys."

"Well, you are the loudest in our entire group," I pointed out to my friend, trying to make sense of it all. My mind had trouble figuring out things I like to say. It took a lot longer for me to figure out what was true and what was fantasy. That made it hard for me, especially with my friend Sailor, who Yasmin said, came up with crazy theories. Personally, I believed all of them until the truth had fully come clean and my brain caught on. The stupid things I would of done if Yasmin wasn't their to clear things up.

"It's okay, Sailor." Lukas wrapped his arms around the girl, understanding how she doesn't like being made fun of. "We love you just the way you are." Yasmin joined, wrapping her arm around the other side of Sailor, then I finished the group hug wrapping everyone with my long arms.

After everyone unwrapped themselves from the hug, Yasmin pressed Sailor for an answer, "Yeah, but if he was hiding something—which he is not—what would he be hiding, huh?"

Sailor eyed the librarian as he stood up and went into the library section of the media center. "I don't know, but my target is on the move and I'm not letting him get away," Sailor got up from her chair and followed Mr. Lowe into the maze of shelves.

'What would he be hiding?' I thought to myself as we chased after Sailor.

~{*}~

Shalom, Seedlings!
My name is Spring and you guys are my seedlings/readers. Every update I will ask you a question. It might pertain to the proceeding chapter or it might just be random. I implore you to respond to them. I love having chats with Seedlings.

Today question is: Are you more like Theo or Yasmin when it comes to suspicion? Theo is easily persuaded by crazy theories while Yasmin uses facts to come to her conclusions.

Personally, I think I'm a little of both. I think of crazy things then my brain uses logic and then the crazy side of my brain argues.