As the darkness was suddenly and brutally spilt by a bright crack of lightning, I took a quick glance at my watch.

She was supposed to be here almost an hour ago.

I sighed and looked around my room once more, taking in the dim features of it. I was proud of it, we had made the decorations on the wall ourselves, and they shone dimly in the lessening light.

”That’s amazing, Ema,” she stared at me disbelievingly as she ran her thin brush over the dried black paint in the beautiful swirling design again.

“Whatever you say, dear, whatever you say,” I stared at her for a moment and then went back to writing the lyrics onto the right corner. I surreptitiously glanced back at her, and noticed that her face had fallen considerably.

“Ema, what’s wrong?” She peeled her eyes away from the black abyss in front of her and to me, shrugging slightly as if to say nothing. I gave her a ‘yeah right’ look and she replied with a deep sigh.

“It’s just…my mom came so close to finding out last night, it scares the shit out of me to know what she may do if she ever does,” I placed my thin brush in it’s place and walked slowly over to her, enveloping her in a hug, which she quickly returned. We stayed there for a few silent moments until I felt an odd sensation down the middle of my back. I glanced up at Ema and noticed her trying painfully hard to bite back a smile.

“You bitch! This is brand new shirt!” I spun around, trying to locate where the paint had gotten.

“Well that’s your fault! I mean who wears a brand new shirt to paint in!” I stopped and glared at her deathly; if looks could kill…she’d be in a 20-year coma. “I love the lyrics, did you make them up?” I looked back at the corner and smiled slightly.

In words, there is nothing

For they can just be well hidden lies

Burning behind the plastic eyes.

But in a smile, there is everything

Hope, despair, anything you can think of

But most of all, there is love.

Slowly climbing off my bed, I tiptoed my way through the door and down the stairs, slipping my shoes and thickest jacket on before stepping outside.

If she wasn’t coming, I’d go and look for her.

I pulled the fabric closer to me and tightened my hood over my head, wrapping my bright blue scarf around my neck and feeling it’s warmth send a pleasant shiver down my spine as I took a deep breath of the frozen midnight air.

Shutting and locking the large wooden door behind me I started walking hurriedly through the streets of our neighborhood, scanning my eyes over everything, using all concentration I possessed, searching for her porcelain face.

And what happened to the porcelain dolls of the French?

“Ema!” my voice was hoarse as I turned down Fleet Street, the end point of our neighborhood.

I had been walking and calling her name for almost half an hour, the air had only gotten colder and now rain was pouring down, soaking me through and through.

But I was not giving up.

“Ema! Ema!”

The rain poured down harder as lightning suddenly blew up the sky, burning everything with it’s searing light, and I took this opportunity to quickly scan any dark corners. My body almost ached for her soft and pale skin, to just see her beautiful face so I could know that she was all right and alive and breathing and being perfection in a human’s body.

“Ema! Please, Ema!”

I was forced down to begging as I turned around Fleet Street, the ending point of our neighborhood and starting point for the main road that was like the main artery of our town. Everything was accessible from this road.

She had to be here.

I squinted my eyes against the rain, holding the hood of my jacket closer to my face, swallowing scratchily before I opened my mouth once more, letting the wind take the breath from my lungs.

“Vendetta!” My body spun around so quickly it sent a shooting pain up my spine as I reacted to the beautifully familiar voice that had called my name.

My eyes were met with tears and running mascara as I ran forward to wrap my arms around her shivering frame. She had no jacket, just jeans, a short-sleeved shirt and beat-up flats.

“Ema, my love, Ema, what happened?” I mumbled into her hair as I unzipped my jacket and wrapped it around the two of us and tried to give every bit of warmth I possessed in my body to her.

She pulled back and looked at me with watery aqua eyes that looked almost sunken into her porcelain face. She was still beautifully perfect even with the landscape of bruises that covered her small body.

“She found out, Vee, she finally found out.”

“What if she found out, huh? What do you think she would do?” I looked up from my notebook and at my friend, whose sudden speech had surprised me. She had been quiet all day, lost in her thoughts, but it looked like she had finally emerged.

“If who found out what, love?” I asked, closing the notebook after folding over the top corner and taking one of her hands in mine across the table. She looked straight at me and then lowered her eyes to the cream colored surface of the lunch table.

“If my mom found out that I was a lesbian…”

“If your mom found out, I wouldn’t care, and if she did anything, I’d be there, trust me, okay? I’d be there no matter what, even if it threatened my life, if it would keep you safe, then I’d be there.”

“I’m so sorry, Ema, I wasn’t there. I should have been, this is all my fault. God, Ema, I’m so sorry,” I was now sobbing into her bare shoulder, but her hand suddenly jerked my chin up so that our eyes were level.

“No, Vee, it’s not. It will never be your fault, okay?” I sighed and brought my hand to her face, gently laying it on a bruise that covered her entire left cheek.

“But look what happened, this wouldn’t have happened if I would have been there,” she rested her hand on mine and shook her head, her eyes still burning into mine.

“No, love, this would have happened as soon as I was alone with her, you could have done nothing even if you tried,” I shook my head and rested it on her shoulder lightly, breathing erratically as the rain continued to pour down on the two of us. I looked up at her and saw her looking almost defiantly up at the sky, letting the steady rain bruise her battered face more. A streetlight cast a ghostly glow onto her face. She was just so beautiful. I stretched my neck and kissed the bottom of her chin lightly, causing her to look down at me.

It was like I was suspended in mid-air as I felt her lips press down onto mine gently. My heart could have leapt from the confines of my ribcage and danced around the town it was so amazing.

“I love you,” her whispered words were barely heard by me in my euphoria clouded mind. I stared up at her for a moment before kissing her neck softly and whispering.