Page 57 of Emma on Fire

Emma wishes everyone would just quit with the chat box. Wishes they’d be quiet and listen. But all she can control is her message.

She takes a long pause. Her throat aches. The words hurt so much to say.

“When my sister, Claire, chose to leave this world, she took all the light with her. There are no words to describe the grief I felt. The grief I still feel.”

Emma tries to sit up straighter. Hold her head higher. She knows that pain teaches you things, even if you don’t want to learn them.

“Something happens when you’re thrust into sudden darkness. You don’t go blind. Instead, you start to see things differently,” she says. “After Claire died, everything that’s messed up about our world was suddenly blazing in front of me, like neon lights against a black background. I saw it all. Hunger. Loneliness. Drought. War.”

preach girl

say it louder

#wisdom

It still hurts to speak. Her body hums with nervous energy. She stares right into the camera. It’s the strangest feeling, knowing that so many people are watching her and she can’t see any of their faces.

“You know what? We can’t fix the world if we’re all just looking out for number one. We can’t even fixourselves.So Iwant you to forget about getting into Harvard or pulling in a quarter mil a year by the time you’re twenty-five or getting a hundred thousand followers on TikTok. It’s not what the endgame should be. The real win is taking care of yourself, and the people you love, and this one beautiful planet we share.

“I didn’t do that,” she admits. “I played soccer and did well in school and ticked all the boxes, all while my sister was dying inside.”

Her mouth is dry. Her palms are sweating.

And someone’s pounding on the door.

Emma’s heartbeat quickens. “I’m almost done, I swear. Pretty soon you’ll get to see what you came to see.” She shakes her head like she’s disappointed. “But I really want you to listen to what I have to say. Not just watch what I’m going to do. Is that too much to ask? Look at the sacrifice I’m making. For you. Why? To jolt you all into understanding the urgency for change. If my darkness can be a beacon, I’ll bear it. For you, for us, for the world. I’ll light the darkness with my own fire.”

In the middle of her stream, a text window appears. Distracted, she glances at it. Didn’t she block everyone she knows?

Emma, it’s Rhaina. I didn’t realize. I didn’t understand. Everything makessense now. Everything you’re saying.

You can be the first. I’ll go next.

I’ll catch the bus right behind you.

Let’s show them. Let’s burn.

CHAPTER 48

EMMA GOES QUIET for a moment, forgetting that she’s live. The chat’s going crazy.

what’s happening

lol she realized she forgot the matches

I’m scared

don’t do it don’t do it don’t do it

It’s hard for Emma to think right now.

You weren’t born weird, okay?Rhaina said.So take it from someone who was: it’s not any fun.

Emma hadn’t paid attention to Rhaina in the hallway, had she? She’d been too busy yelling facts about the climate crisis.

She looks at Rhaina’s text again.I’ll catch the bus right behind you.Only now does she understand what that means.

“Sorry,” she says to her viewers. “Hang on. I just need a second … to think—”

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