The Forgeron Legacy

by J.D. Atchison

  A few weeks passed by uneventfully. Emma would go to school in the morning, then after school she would stop by the coffee shop to say hi to Mark and get her coffee before heading over to the bookstore to work. Emma liked working at the bookstore, it was quiet and Mrs. White didn’t mind if she did her homework there as long as there was nothing she needed to do, which there almost never was.

  Most days Emma didn’t get home until ten, which was when her parents would tell Jason he needed to leave. Jason and Morgan were hanging out almost every day now, something Emma was less than thrilled about but as long as she wasn’t there to see it she didn’t have too much of a problem with it.

  Emma had other things she was more worried about. Ever since the accident her headaches had become more frequent. Any time her emotions were raised would bring on a stab of pain, and instead of becoming less emotional her emotions were becoming heightened. The littlest thing would set her off and then she would get a headache and have to calm herself down.

  She discovered that going for long runs helped a lot so every morning Emma continued to wake up early and go for long runs to help her keep it together throughout the day. For the most part she succeeded in convincing everyone that everything was normal and she was fine. Of course Mark wasn’t so easily fooled.

  “It’s getting worse, isn’t it?” He asked, coming and sitting in the chair next to hers.

  It was Sunday afternoon. Emma had the day off and only two or three other people were in the coffee shop. It was her favorite time to hang out there. The smell of the coffee and the sound of the music playing over the speakers always relaxed her. It was also the one time when Mark could sit with her for more than a few seconds.

  Emma hadn’t even noticed she was rubbing her forehead again until Mark said something. It was such an unconscious gesture by this point that she rarely noticed herself doing it. The buzzing in her head was worse today and her head still ached from the huge fight she and Morgan had gotten into before Emma left.

  It had started over such a stupid little thing too. Morgan had taken too long of a shower and had used up all the hot water so that Emma had to take a cold one that morning. So Emma had snapped at Morgan, who had snapped right back, and pretty soon the entire argument had escalated until the two were screaming at each other and Kathryn had to separate them. Which was the other reason why Emma was sitting in the coffee shop that afternoon.

  Emma dropped her hand into her lap. “What’s getting worse?” She asked innocently.

  “The headaches. I can tell they have been so don’t try to hide it.” Mark said, his voice serious. His deep brown eyes looked at her with concern and a slight bit of annoyance. He hated when she lied to him.

  “I’m fine, don’t worry about it.” Emma tried to brush it off, even though she knew that would just make him fixate on it more.

  “No, you’re not fine.” Mark insisted. Emma sighed and rolled her eyes. He was going to start lecturing her. “Ever since the accident your headaches have been getting worse, you are losing weight despite the fact that you are eating five times more food than you usually do and your emotions are out of control.”

  Emma looked down at her clothes. She hadn’t really thought about it but they were getting a little big on her. She plucked at the waistline of her pants held up by a belt that was so loose it was hardly worth wearing. She should probably go shopping pretty soon.

  “Emma?” Mark’s voice cut into her thoughts.

  “What?” She asked, her voice a little sharper than she intended.

  Mark blew out a breath, looking slightly frustrated. “I want you to talk to me!” He snapped.

  “There isn’t anything to talk about!” Emma snapped back, feeling the familiar sharp pang in her head. “Yes, my headaches are getting worse, and yes my emotions are out of control but I don’t know what you want me to do about that!”

  “Maybe you should go see a doctor or something.” Mark suggested, softening his voice.

  Emma immediately felt bad for snapping at him. He was just worried about her and she thanked him by biting his head off. What a great friend she was turning out to be.

  “I don’t need to see a doctor.” Emma said mulishly.

  “You need to do something.” Mark said, his voice concerned. “This isn’t healthy.”

  Emma shrugged. “I’ll be fine.” She said.

  A customer walked in and stood at the counter waiting to order. Mark gave her a long look before sighing and walking off. Emma stared out the window at the beautiful day outside without seeing anything. Mark was right, there was something wrong with her. She just didn’t know what.