>Graduation?/

Embi and I are currently walking straight toward J and the others. I’ve pretty much figured out what I’m going to say, but I still don’t feel very good about any of this.

Embi is the reason Lou is gone. It goes without saying that I don’t like her at all, but now I’m bringing her into my inner circle. It’s all for the sake of my new friends, though. I can’t lose them too. She’s the only one capable of making that happen, so if she’s taken care of, it should all be okay. At least that’s what I keep telling myself.

“Hey guys, I have somebody I’d like for you to meet.”

All three of them look over at me, then at Embi. I wonder what they’re thinking right now.

“Ohhh, I think I get it now,” says Helvetica.

If I were to take a guess, I’d say she and Coal both probably got the wrong idea. But even still, it’s not like I can explain what’s actually going on.

“This is Embi, she’s a friend of mine. Embi, these are J, Coal, and Helvetica. They’re my friends too.”

“Hello everybody,” Embi starts. “Just to make it clear, I already called dibs on Bowey, so I don’t want to see any funny business, alright?”

That probably cleared things up plenty.

“Oh.” Coal sounds so disinterested you’d think he’s preoccupied, but he’s not.

As soon as introductions were finished, I sit down and Embi takes the seat right between Helvetica and I, just like she said she would.

“So, Embi, what’s your field?” That seems to be one of J’s favorite questions to start with.

“Field? You mean job? That’s what they show us on TV, right? I’m the same as Bowey. Military 24/7. We’re probably just meant to be. You might even catch us kissing as soon as next week.” Embi’s obsession with me is really starting to make me feel weird.

“Looking forward to it,” says J, for some reason.

It goes quiet after that. Everybody is just looking at each other. Until Embi comes up with something to say.

“Do you all think of leaving this place sometimes? I know I do. All of the tests are so stressful, and only being able to see Bowey three times a day is like torture.”

Leaving? I haven’t ever thought of it, nor will I in the future.

“Of course, I’m sure everybody does. It’s just impossible because they have adults guarding every nook and cranny,” says Coal. “You’d have to be crazy already not to be driven crazy by this prison.”

“Not true,” Helvetica replies.

“You’re different, I already know that,” Coal tells Helvetica.

“Actually, I’m probably different too then.”

After I said that, Embi and Coal both looked at me like my arms and legs got blown off.

“I don’t have any problems with this place. Calling it a prison is too extreme. We have food, our favorite TV shows, and we all get to hang out,” I say. “Also…I have to be here just in case Lou ever comes back. If he were to come back and I was gone, he might think I got in trouble. Then he’d be waiting for me forever, and I’d never come. I couldn’t be happy leaving knowing there’s the possibility of that happening.”

It gets quiet again. Coal is staring at the ground with an unpleasant look, but Helvetica has a slight smile on her face.

“Well then I won’t be leaving either.” Embi puts her hand on my shoulder with a bright grin.

I would probably be happier if she did choose to leave, though.

“You know, guys, I actually have something I need to tell you.” J pauses, and we all stay silent. “When I turn eighteen, I’ll be leaving. That’s apparently the age of graduation. Soon they’ll start preparing me for my exit, so I won’t be here during some Recesses. You’ll be able to start getting used to not having me around all the time.”

“Wh-what?” I'm the only one able to say anything right away, and even I say just that.

“Well that makes sense. They wouldn’t hold us here forever, and eighteen seems like just about the right number,” says Embi. “It’ll be a while for the rest of us, though.”

It’s not about us right now. J’s birthday is in the first quarter, and we’re coming up on the third. He’ll be leaving less than a year from now. Was he even planning on mentioning it if Embi hadn’t said anything?

“Please tell me this is another one of your tasteless jokes.” Coal’s sharp eyes are directed directly at J.

“If only I could,” he replies.

Coal stands up and walks away.

“Where’s he going?” Embi asks.

“The other side of the Recess area I’d assume. There aren’t exactly a ton of places to go at this time if you’re trying to get away from somebody.”

Helvetica’s right about that. I should know better than anybody. Embi’s apparently been stalking me my entire life, and there wasn’t any way I couldn’t have stopped her. Besides inviting her to hang out with me, apparently. 

“I’m going to talk to him.”

I stand up and follow after Coal. Really, this should probably be J’s job, but he wasn’t looking much better than Coal was. As a friend, I had no choice but to step up.

“Embi, why are you following me?”

I doubt anything she says would be of any help at all to remedy this situation.

“Oh Bowey, I always follow you. Why are you acting like it’s something so strange?”

Good grief.

I realize there’s not a chance in any battlefield that Embi’s going to leave me alone, so I’ll just have to suck it up and let her tag along.

“Hey, Coal,” I say. “Do you want to talk?”

“Take a wild guess, Bowey. I’m just dying to hear what you think.”

Before I got a chance to respond, Embi steps in front of me with a response of her own.

“You’d better watch that sarcastic tone when you’re talking to the crown prince to my crown princess. You try something like that again and you’re gonna get it.”

“Get what?” Coal asks.

Embi tackled Coal to the ground and wrapped her hands around his throat. I quickly got a handle on the situation and broke them up.

What is the matter with this girl?

“You like that, red-eyes? It was just a taste, you couldn’t even call it an appetizer, of what you’d get if you try getting fresh with Bowey again. Lesson learned?”

I suppose I should be flattered that she's doing this for me, but it was such a trivial thing that her unnecessary interference just comes off as creepy.

Coal chuckles. “What was your name again?” He asks before taking a look at her nametag. “Embi, huh? I like you. You’re much cooler than you came off at the start. Someone your speed doesn’t belong in this place either. It would be unwise to let a chump like Bowey keep you back.”

“I love Bowey. I believe it would be wrong to go against what my heart desires,” Embi replies.

“You’re not some Mary-Sue Damsel in Distress, so stop acting like one.”

After those words, Coal walks right past us, back toward the group we all came from.

In the end, Embi was the one who did all the talking. But, despite that, she’s being really quiet now. Normally I’d be glad she finally shut up, but for the first time since I’ve met her, I think she might be thinking of something besides kissing me within the next week. I wish I could call it relieving, but she doesn’t look happy either.

I thought she was simple, but, at this moment, I can’t read her at all.