I remember it very clearly, the day the stars hid from me.
"Stop, give it back!" Emma said, struggling to grab the necklace from my hand. " Boo hoo! What makes this thing so special anyway?" I said as I pulled her away from me. Tears run down her face as she continues her worthless struggle to get her necklace back.
I flashed a smile as I pushed her down on the ground, expecting her to stay down, but it's as if the necklace carried her very life, she kept standing up with her emotionless face reaching her hand out to grab the necklace from my hand. When she looked like she couldn't take it anymore, she said softly "That's my mother's necklace.... please give it back."
I looked at the necklace in my hand and told her "Fine have it back." I extended my hand to give it to her, and when she was about to grab it, I grinned and threw it as far as possible. She didn't say anything and immediately ran to get it back. She ran as fast as possible towards the necklace that landed in the middle of the street, She was so focused on getting it back that she didn't notice the car to her left...... until it was too late.
The car bumped her and sent her crashing to the ground. I was frozen still, unable to process what just happened. Once I heard the ambulance, I ran home as fast as possible and locked myself in my room for the rest of the day. I laid in bed for the rest of night, skipping dinner to reflect on what I just saw "Did.. she just.. Die...?" I murmured followed by "Did.. I.. kill.. Her?"
I couldn't get my mind out of it, so I went to the balcony to think of what to do. "It was an accident, right?" I said softly, it wasn't my fault..." I sat down on the chair and looked up to the night sky. I expected the beautiful view of a dark bluish background with stars that accompanied it. But....
Where are they? The stars... they are missing.
3 YEARS LATER
It's been 3 years since the accident. Emma miraculously survived with only a few broken bones, when they asked her at school what happened, she told them that she dropped her necklace and tried to get it back but she didn't notice that a car was coming. I couldn't believe it ! She had all right to hate me for it but she never mentioned my name or the reality to the incident.
After Emma started going back to school, we never made eye contact once and just ignored each other for the rest of our time in middle school. I always regret what I did to her, especially after I found out that a week before the incident, her mother passed away, and the necklace was all she had left of her mother. I hated myself for doing that to her.
I start my first day of highschool tomorrow and as I ready my bag, I stare out of the window in hopes that the stars would reappear again but.... like any other night for the past 3 years, the stars completely hid themselves from me. I asked my parents about it but they never believed me. They laughed as they pointed out the window in disbelief saying "The stars are right over there!" As it turns out only I couldn't see the stars.
The sunlight passed through the curtains of my room
It was morning and I got up to take a shower and I quickly ate my breakfast. I grabbed my bag and said goodbye to my parents and left for school. On the way, I stopped by a convenience store to buy a chocolate bar incase I got hungry, but a glance at my watch stopped me in my tracks. I was 10 minutes from being late!
I handed the money to the cashier and grabbed my chocolate bar and ran as fast as possible to school. I ran past the crowded school gates and managed to squeeze into my building. I ran up 3 flights of stairs and with just 30 seconds to spare, I took a vacant seat in the back of the classroom.
I sighed in relief that I got inside on time. The rest of the day went by uneventfully, I made some friends that seemingly had the same interests as me. Once school ended I started walking out of campus until I saw a familiar face standing by the school gate. It was Emma! I stopped dead in my tracks. I have to be sorry about the incident but at the same time I don't know whether or not she'll forgive me.
I had to suck it in, what I did was wrong and I have to say sorry. As I walked closer to her, she glanced my way and saw me. Immediately she ran away as quickly as possible " Emma! Wait!" I shouted, running after her. Eyes were on me as I chased Emma into the park, way outside of school.
"Emma I'm-" Emma interrupts "Sorry!? You waited 3 years to say sorry!?" I had my head down thinking of what to say next. She scoffed at me and said "Blake, nothing you will ever do could get me to forgive you." I raised my head and said "I'm sorry about the incident and your mother's necklace. I didn't know that she-" Emma interrupts again "That she died!? You know Blake, I don't care about the incident. I hate you so much because I never got to see my mother's necklace again."
I was at a loss for words. I am, in every way, guilty of what happened to her. We stayed in silence for a few more seconds until she turned around and left. I found myself alone again, sitting on the park swing. I looked up to see the night sky but still no stars that shine.
Will she ever forgive me?
A few weeks passed with me following Emma around to see if I could do anything for her, until she finally snapped around the 2nd week "Fine! If you really want to do something for me, fine. Take your apology and shove it up your ass!" as she said that, the uneven pathway she was walking on caused her to lose balance and fall. I immediately reached out my hand to grab her and pulled her up.
She didn't say anything for a while and continued walking. Once we reached the campus gates she stopped and said "Thanks... but that doesn't mean I forgive you, okay?" I smiled at her and replied "Good enough for me." We walked home separately after that.
I walked along town for a while, passing by shop after shop. Until I walked by a jewelry store that displayed a familiar necklace in the front. It was the exact same model as Emma's necklace! I realized that if I could give her this, it would at least allow me to make up for what I did. I checked the price and I was shocked at the absurdly high price they were selling it for.
I needed to at least work a few part time jobs to buy that. I walked home thinking where I could apply for a part time job. I passed by a game store that was hiring, so I saved their number and ran home in joy. I got inside of my home and went up to the balcony and stayed for a while, staring at the empty sky with hope in my eyes that I could make it up to Emma.
The sky still looks empty but I'm filled with hope
A few more weeks passed with a few things happening: I called up the game store and accepted me for a part time job, Me and Emma are starting to be in friendlier terms than before. Life is starting to look up for me. During homeroom they announced that classes would end early, so once school ended I started walking to the game store I now work at.
A few uneventful hours passed and customers started heading out. The manager told me I could leave early today and handed me this week's paycheck. I was so happy that after a few weeks I could finally buy the necklace I was going to give to Emma.
I headed out of the game store and I bumped into Emma, eating a chocolate bar. "Hey Blake, what are you doing here?" she asked " I work here, my manager told me I could early today so I'm heading home." I replied, she grinned and said "Okay your coming with me!"
"What!? To where?" I asked, she threw the chocolate bar in the trash and replied " Arcade" I laughed and said "Yeah sure, but you're buying tokens." she nodded and dragged me to this shady looking place near the outskirts of town. "Your not going to kill me right?" I asked nervously as she led me inside the building.
"Maybe?" Emma chuckles. When we entered through the doors, I was surprised to see a giant arcade filled with people and not some run down old tenant building filled with shady dealers and stuff. I breathed a sigh of relief and followed Emma to a claw machine.
"Okay your helping me get that bear over there!" She said as she inserted a coin. I told her where to land the claw and believe it or not after about 20 tries we got the bear. She smiled and shook my hand and said "See this is a nice partnership we got going here." I smiled back at her. Who knew that the girl who I bullied in middle school that got into an accident because of me and 3 years later told me to shove my apology down my ass would even consider me a partner.
Emma had a few more coins to blow, so me and her played some Street Fighter and challenged each other on who could complete it faster. Turns out you can't get far with only a few coins in hand. Me and Emma decided to head home and I dropped her off at the station and said goodbye.
But I wasn't planning on coming home just yet! I ran back to the jewelry store, which thankfully was still open, and I bought the necklace I wanted to give her.
I'm sorry for what happened
Months passed and eventually summer had arrived. I looked for a good time to give Emma the necklace but I just couldn't get the right time. The day before school closed for the break, she approached me and said "Hey! Wanna come with me to a ramen shop?" Finally! I could give it to her afterwards! I grinned and said "Sure but you're buying." She hits me in the arm and said "I always buy anyway so it doesn't really matter!"
We entered the ramen shop and ordered 2 bowls of ramen and a plate of gyoza. We sat there for a couple of hours, celebrating the start of the break. Eventually we had to leave and start walking home. It was already evening and the town was awfully quiet tonight.
We walked along the sidewalk for a while, until Emma dragged my arm to the side and started running towards the park. "Emma! What the hell!?" I shouted at her, she chuckled and said "The night is still young you know!" We sat down on one of those 2 person swings and talked about life after highschool and all that.
I stood up from the swing and faced Emma, she looked confused on what I was about to do. "Remember the first day of school and you told me you would never forgive me." I said, she stood up and lowered her head and said "Yeah... look I'm-" I interrupted her and said "Don't be sorry! It's all my fault, the accident, your mother's necklace breaking! It's all my fault, okay? I'm sorry about that..."
She placed a hand on my shoulder and smiled "I didn't mean what I said that day.... I'm sorry if you took that to heart." I reached into my pocket and grabbed the necklace I bought for her. "I wanna make it up to you, okay? So could you close your eyes for a bit?" she nodded and closed her eyes "You aren't going to kiss me, are you?" she said as she laughed.
"Maybe?" I said as I chuckled "Mean" she replied. I put the necklace around her neck and told her "Open your eyes." She opened her eyes and looked at the necklace in silence for a few seconds and tears started to fall from her eyes. "Blake... thank you!" she said as she hugged me tightly, not letting me go for minutes.
"I take it that my apology was accepted?" I joked, she punched me in the arm and laughed "I think you were forgiven a long time ago." she said softly as she hugs me even tighter. She finally pulled away after a long hug. I looked up to the sky and saw light.
A tear went down my face as I suddenly collapsed on the ground. The stars I could see again! I smiled as I stared deeply into the night sky. The image that was long gone found its way back to me. "Blake! Are you okay!?" were the last thing I heard before the world around me started fading away until all that was left was the dark blue night sky filled with bright stars that left me in awe.
Light then dark then the reality that was the truth
I found myself back to reality. As I opened my eyes and checked to see that... this is reality, this is the truth. I stood up from bed and found myself crying over a dream. I have the same dream everyday, a dream of a life I could have had. The truth was Emma never survived the accident...
I find myself having the same dream for the past 10 years, I always wake up crying from a dream of what could have been if I didn't make that mistake in middle school. If only I could go back in time and stop myself from throwing away that necklace.
I find myself missing the hug of a person that lives only in my dreams. Tonight as I sleep I would relive the same dream again and I have to sit through every smile, every laugh, every insult that she would throw at me and I won't be able to tell her the reality of what happened.
In the end I paid the price for what happened to Emma. I lost out the person I ended up loving the most,and I never got to see the stars ever again.
Author Notes: Hey! Thanks for reading, I took a break from "That One Summer Night" and decided to make a short story with a twist in the end. Leave a review as it always helps me with my writing and again thanks! :)
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Sweden • 18 years old