Wear - Chapter 9

The next day, Saturday of August 31st, Wyatt wakes up before Emma does. Emma slept in for a while longer, since she stayed up so late. Wyatt takes a shower while he waits patiently for Emma to wake up. After a while, Emma wakes up and the two begin to leave for Savvy Threads. However, when they reach the gate, they see Jessica, Aeris and Jackson already waiting outside.

“It’s mid-day already?” Wyatt asks.

“It’s actually a quarter ’til” Jackson says, “I just found everyone else here when I walked out here”.

“I guess everyone was excited” Emma says with a giggle.

“A little bit” Jessica says with a laugh. “It’s been a while since I’ve last gotten to hang out with friends”.

“Didn’t you have friends in high school or something?” Jackson asks.

“Yeah, well…” Jessica says, “they all got accepted to prestigious colleges. After that, I’ve never really heard from them”.

“Temporary friends, huh?” Jackson asks.

“Don’t worry about all that” Aeris says. “We’re here now, so what do you guys want to do?”.

“Actually” Emma says as she turns around slightly to show her backpack, “I’ve got to stop somewhere to drop something off real fast. You guys want to come with?”.

“Oh, sure” Aeris says. “Where are you going?”.

“Just the clothing store down the road” Emma says. “Savvy Threads”.

The group walks, with Emma taking the lead. Eventually, they get inside Savvy Threads. “Welcome!” Matilda begins to say before she realizes it’s Emma. “Emma!” She cheers. “You’ve got more friends? That’s great!”.

“Who is this?” Jackson asks.

“Oh, where are my manners?” Matilda says. “My name is Matilda Hadley. I work at this humble clothing store. Which reminds me, I’ve got something interesting you might want to see, Emma”. Emma looks confused as Matilda reaches behind her and pulls out a dress. “This dress isn’t one of yours, and was traded in the other day” Matilda says. “However, it looks just like your style of clothing that you make”.

“C-can I see that?” Emma asks. Matilda hands the dress over to Emma. Emma rips off part of the tag on the inside of the dress. On the inside of the tag, small handwriting that read “Jasmine Frey” was written.

“Do you recognize it?” Matilda asks. “I don’t think there’s any other clothier who makes clothes this similar to yours”.

“How much do you want for it?” Emma asks.

“I’m sorry?” Matilda asks.

“I’ll take it off your hands” Emma says.

“Y-you can take it if you want, child” Matilda says. “What has you so worked up about this dress?”.

“Yeah” Aeris says, “you seem very… panicky”.

“This… was a dress my mom made” Emma says.

The rest of the group was silent. They don’t know anything about Emma’s parents, but they didn’t want to ask any questions that they would regret. However, Matilda knew. “This is where your skills came from…” Matilda says calmly. “Your mother was very talented. Here, the dress is yours. I don’t feel like I’ve been able to pay you enough anyways”.

“Thanks…” Emma says softly. “I… I’ve also brought one thing for you today. I can trade this for the dress”. Emma takes a shirt she made out of her backpack.

“Oh no! That’s fine!” Matilda says. “I’ll pay you for the shirt you made”.

“Sorry I couldn’t bring more” Emma says as Matilda gives Emma some money. “I was sick and stuff this week”.

“Oh, dear, you’re such a worry wart” Matilda says lightly. “It’s fine, don’t get so worked up. Now go on, you guys look like you were in the middle of something”.

“Well… not the middle” Jackson says, “but we are doing something at least. I’ll be damned if I knew what all that entails though”.

Matilda laughs and says “Well, I’ll let you kids go for now. Have fun, Emma”.

As they leave the store, Jackson asks “Kids? She does know we’re in our 20’s, right?”.

“In her eyes” Emma says, “most people are like children to her”.

“She’s that old, huh?” Jackson asks.

“What? No!” Emma says, “she just looks out for everybody”.

Aeris takes out a small notebook from her front pocket and marks down one tally mark. “Really?” Jackson asks. “You’re counting that?”.

“Remember” Aeris says, “you’re limited”.

“It’s like therapy with you” Jackson says, “but instead of talking me through problems, you try to break my ribs”. Aeris marks down one more tally. “Really!?” Jackson yells. “That counts too!?”. Emma, Jessica and Wyatt giggle together as the group continues walking.

The first thing the group tries to do together was a few games of billiards. They arrive at a bar, and pay to use one of the pool tables. “So…” Emma asks, “we just hit the white ball into the other balls to score?”.

“There’s not a point system” Jackson says.

“The way you win” Jessica says, “is when one team hits a ball in, that becomes their team’s ball. Like, if one of you hit in the stripes, then you’re stripes team. If you hit in solids, you’re solids team”.

“But… aren’t all the balls pretty solid?” Emma asks.

“No, no…” Jessica says, “stripes and solids refer to the coloration of the ball. Like this one with a stripe is a stripe ball. The ones without a stripe are called solids”.

“Oh, I think I get it now” Emma says.

“Great” Jessica says. “Now, if you’re on solids team, and hit in a solid ball, you get to go again. If you hit in a stripe ball, it ends your turn”.

“What about the white ball?” Emma asks.

“If that goes into any hole, that ends your turn too” Jessica says. “And if you hit in that black ball with the number 8, then you lose”.

“So… how do you win?” Emma asks.

“You sink the 8 ball to win” Jackson says. Aeris marks down another tally and Jackson says “Worth it!”.

“To win” Jessica says, “you must sink all of the balls that belong to your team. Only after that, can you sink the 8 ball in. The first team to do that wins”.

“Oh, okay” Emma says, barely understanding.

“I’ll help you out” Wyatt says. “I haven’t played much pool, but I can show you the basics”.

“So the teams are as follows” Aeris says, “Wyatt and Emma are Team 1. Jackson and Jessica are Team 2”.

“Are you gonna be a ref or something?” Jessica asks.

“You don’t need a ref for billiards” Aeris says as she sits down and pulls out a small book from her back pocket. “I’m going to read”. She opens up her book, pushes her glasses up on her face, and begins reading.

As the game of billiards progress, Emma and Wyatt were winning. “How’d Emma hit in two balls at once!?” Jessica asks in a panic. “She sunk two stripes at once, and she’s so new to the game!”.

“I actually… thought I was solids for a minute” Emma says, embarrassed. “I forgot… this game is hard”.

“But you’re doing so good” Wyatt says with a laugh. “Trust me, you’re good at this”.

“How are you getting beat by a newbie?” Jackson asks.

“You’re on my team!” Jessica yells. “And I can’t line up my shot, because Emma is making me nervous. When she inspects my shots like that, it makes me nervous”.

“I’m just curious on how to play” Emma says.

Emma misses the next shot, and now it’s Jackson’s turn. “I’ve got this” Jackson assured. “I’ll secure our victory!”. Jackson sinks in one solid ball, but also the cue ball and loses his next turn.

“Way to turn the tides, soldier” Jessica says sarcastically.

“Hey!” Jackson says, “at least I did something”.

“Well, now they’re gonna win” Jessica says. “They only have one stripe ball and the 8 ball left to sink…”.

“Oh please, it’s Wyatt’s turn” Jackson says. “I’m sure he’s too clueless to know how to put balls in holes”. Without looking up, and while holding her book and continuing to read, Aeris took out her notebook and marked down yet another tally. “Are you kidding me!?” Jackson asks. “I don’t ever get a break, do I!?”. Aeris shakes her head in disappointment as she continues to read. Suddenly, the sounds of a billiards ball sinking into a hole was heard. When Jackson looks back up, the striped ball was gone and Wyatt was aiming at the 8 ball. “… Shit” Jackson says.

Jackson and Jessica lost that game and demanded a rematch, only to lose again. After their next game, they leave. Emma and Wyatt felt triumphant, but Jackson and Jessica felt depressed over their loss. They move onto things like an arcade and stuff together, while discussing things about school. “So you guys have dorms, right?” Aeris asks.

“Yeah” Jackson says. “There was apparently more women than men that attended school this year, and a shortage of people occupying the boy’s dorms”.

“Oh yeah” Wyatt adds, “my dorm is empty too because of that. I’m the only one in that room”.

“… Lucky” Jackson says.

“There wasn’t enough space for me to get a dorm this year” Aeris says.

“Me either” Emma says.

“The girl’s dorms was filled or reserved already” Aeris says. Aeris then thinks to herself “They gave all the humans the dorms first, and prioritized them over the laibah students. At least, I know that much, but I can’t tell them that. Then Wyatt would probably know…”.

“A-ah, but it’s fine” Emma says.

“Oh… yeah” Aeris says, “I do live outside of the city, but it’s not a big hassle to get here, so… I’m not worried about it”.

“Count yourselves lucky” Jackson says, “my roommate is loud and obnoxious”.

“Same here” Jessica replies. “I’d rather be alone”.

Eventually, night draws over the day and the group of friends decide to call it a day. As everyone begins to go their separate ways, Aeris pulls Emma to the side to speak privately. “So… have you decided?” Aeris asks quietly.

“N-no, I haven’t” Emma says.

“Ah, well” Aeris says, “there’s no need to rush things. I’m sure you’ll have your answer in due time, so don’t worry so much”.

“All I ever do is worry” Emma says as she laughs. Aeris and Emma laugh together for a short second, then Emma says “Thanks, Aeris”.

“It’s no problem” Aeris says. “Take care of yourself” and then Aeris walks away.

Wyatt and Emma go back to the dorms together, after waiting for Jackson to get far enough ahead of them. Wyatt didn’t want Jackson figuring out that he was keeping Emma in his dorm. When the two of them arrive in the dorm, Emma asks “Are you sure it’s fair for me to stay here in your dorm?”.

“No one else is using this space” Wyatt says, “and I won’t let you just be homeless again. What really isn’t fair is being homeless, and I’m not letting you go through that again”.

“B-but” Emma begins to say, “what about the others?”.

“I don’t know” Wyatt says. “I’d like to find some way to help them, but right now, you need that help more”. Emma looks down at her feet in silence. “Look, Emma” Wyatt says, “I’m sorry if it sounds selfish, but… I don’t want to see you go through that again”.

Emma nods her head and says “I know… I just can’t help feeling bad about it”. Wyatt was silent, and Emma continued saying “You’re always helping… and I don’t feel like I’ve done enough to help anyone else. I don’t feel like I deserve all of this”.

Wyatt sighs and then says “When I first left my home town, I was excited to leave… soon after, however, I realized how hard it’ll be without having someone I can call a friend. But then you came, and suddenly, life got easier… yet, it also got harder”. Emma thinks to herself as Wyatt spoke. What he said usually wouldn’t make much sense, but she could at least somewhat understand what he meant. “I want to help you, because it’s something I wanted to do” Wyatt says, “not because I have to. No matter what kind of person you are, you’re still very close to me, and I always appreciate that. Trust me, you’ve done more for me than you realize”.

Emma nods her head and begins to say “I-I feel-” but then she pauses. “I understand, and I’m sorry if I made you feel like I was unappreciative… but you mean… I-I mean… you’re like…” Emma sighs and says “what I mean is, I can’t thank you enough. I’ll make sure to find someway to let you know how much it means to me, but in the meantime, please don’t think I don’t appreciate you… I’m just having… troubles trying to find a way to show it”.

Wyatt laughs and says “Don’t worry, I know that feeling all too well”.

Wyatt and Emma go to sleep and the next day soon arrives. It was now Sunday, September 1st, 2019. That day, Emma and Wyatt went to the fabric store together. Emma picks out some cloth and thread, and Wyatt helps pay for it. Emma used up all the money Matilda gave her, even though Wyatt insisted he could cover the cost by himself. Emma refused to leave the entire cost to Wyatt, as she wanted to help at least a little bit. After that, they grab more food from a general store nearby and head back. They spent the rest of the day at the dorm. Emma immediately went back to working on stitching, and Wyatt either relaxed or watched Emma work in amazement. Emma’s speed and precision was beyond human, disregarding the fact that she herself isn’t human. They traded stories of their high school days as Emma worked. They came to realize that both of them had similar experiences in high school. Both always kept up with their grades and had very few friends. Friends, that left them behind without hesitation. However, Emma left out the part about being laibah, including what happened to her parents and being left at a dump site. By the end of the night, they felt a little bit closer and more comfortable with each other. As the night grew late, they prepared for sleep, as the next day was a school day.

As Emma slept, she began to remember more words her mother told her, before she passed. “Emma” Jasmine tells her, “the most in life is created, not necessarily earned”.

“How, mom?” Emma asks.

“Opportunity seldom shows itself” Jasmine says. “Most of the time, opportunity needs to be created, not found. However, you don’t have to work hard to be the type of person everyone wishes to see. Strife comes often in life, usually to motivate people to work hard on improving themselves. You don’t have to create strife to keep improving though, you only need to be the person that you’re comfortable with being. If people don’t want to accept you after your long journey in life, then that’s their loss”.

“I don’t… get it, mama” Emma says.

“You’ll get it when the time is right” Jasmine says. “Until then, just be patient. Don’t drive yourself to be everyone else’s role model, if you can’t first lead yourself”.