A Whole New World (Selina)

Emma kept her head low, wondering why anyone would do such a thing. It was odd, she had gotten accustomed to wearing her sunglasses more often now and started to enjoy it. Mostly due to the fact that when she wore them she felt hidden, protected even. Almost as no one could see her. But right now, in this moment, she never felt more exposed. She felt the heat rush to her face as her cheeks gained a pinkish hue. If only she had a napkin.

The brunette tensed up when she heard someone speaking to her. Someone close. Why had they need to bother her any more than they already had? She blinked a few times trying to help the tears stay at bay. She turned her head slightly when she heard the girl take a seat next to her. “I-I didn’t piss anyone of.” She said, her voice faint and shaky. “At least….at least I don’t think I did.”

Behind her dark shade she looked over to the girl who seemed somewhat friendly and was about to leave. “You…um. I sorry, but uh, you wouldn’t happen to have a napkin would you?” She asked, as her yogurt covered hands remained on the ruined paper. She could hear voices snickering in the distance.

---

Selina C. Álvarez

Emma kept quiet. Not really knowing what else to say to the girl that had happened upon her. She tried to muster up a smile, but she found it a tad bit difficult in the moment. She graciously took the napkins from the girl and began trying to wipe off the yogurt. “Th-thanks. I, uh, think these will be fine.” She said gently. It was odd. Normally if this were to happen at the orphanage one of the sisters would be all over it and you wouldn’t see the culprit(s) for the rest of the week. Here, no one had seemed to bat an eye. If anything, some seemed to enjoy the barbaric entertainment.

The brunette shook her head slowly, “Nno. It’s okay. I-I’m not gonna cry.” She said fighting a sniffle. She had managed to wipe up most of the yogurt from her hands and she started on wiping off the crumpled paper which she had assumed was already a lost cause. She could see the pencil smudging each time she wiped the page. Emma stopped immediately when the girl offered to beat them up. Her eyes went wide and she felt her stomach sink. She turned to the girl and waved both her hands frantically. “No no no no no no. It’s okay really. No no. Please don’t. No. Really. It’s fine. I’m fine. You don’t need to do that. No.” She said as she spoke anxiously. There was no need to cause a bigger issue than there really was. It was just yogurt. It had gone over Emma’s head that the girl could be joking.

She waited intently. Wondering what the girl would do next. Emma was tempted to look at the group at the table adjacent to them, but she found it hard to do. She just wanted to go back home.

---

Selina C. Álvarez

The girl had seemed harmless, like someone who wanted to help, but Emma didn’t want her pity. She just wanted to go home, that or be invisible. Why couldn’t she have gotten that ability? Now that would come in handy. If anything, the world would be free of Miss Emma Forrester. No one would see her again, if they had even seen her to begin with.

Emma reluctantly took the napkins and gave up the fight with the girl. She clearly wasn’t fooling her. She patted the tissues gently underneath her sunglasses glad that she had been able to hold back most of her tears.

Although there was no more yogurt left on her hands she still felt like they were slimy and sticky. She gave up with trying to recovery her paper. And when the girl asked about it Emma almost lost whatever composure she had left. Her voice shaky and barely audible she tried to explain, “I-I don’t, I-I can’t. I mean, you don’t understand.” She took a few deep breaths before trying to continue. It started to sound like she was about to hyperventilate. “I-It’s not just, you know? A-All my uh, work. It’s not just.” She let out a sigh before burying her face in her smelly hands. She knew she wasn’t making sense.

She felt herself slowly start to calm down, but it wasn’t by much. It helped that the girl wasn’t going to cause more trouble with the kids at the other table. The girl gave her name, Selina, and Emma felt obligated to do the same. “Emma.” She managed to say somewhat soundly.

When Selina suggested they’d leave before the kids caused any more harm than they already had. She gave a nod and stood up swiftly and began walking toward the exit. She kept her head down and wrapped her arms around herself for comfort, but couldn’t resist looking back one more time to see her abandoned paper that there was no use of trying to save.

---

Selina C. Álvarez