"DAD!!!" I yelled and slammed open the door. "I NEED TO TALK TO YOU!!!" Emily covered her ears. "Sorry." I said and she smiled.

"Calm down, you don't need to yell." He said from the kitchen. I noticed the counter was crowded with empty bottles.

"I need to talk to you about...about mom." I said and I noticed my father dropped the beer bottle in his hand. It shattered on the ground, exploding into thousands of pieces. He looked at me and gave me the saddest look I had ever seen.

"Your mother?" He said. "She was beautiful. Like a beautiful pink rose. She had beautiful eyes that she gave you and the brightest smile. She always loved the ocean and when she had you would devote every second to teaching you or taking you to the beach. I told her to be careful. I told her...'he choked 'she went to deep, she saw something and she was curious. She had left you with me and I told her to stop. She wouldn't listen and something,something dragged her down. She was an angel. She loved you and always wanted you to become a swimmer or a surfer. She...she...she's gone."

"Something dragged her down......I saw her. In the water."

"I've seen her. My mother."

"What do you mean?" He looked angry. "You can't keep surfing. You...I don't want to lose you like I did your mother.

"Listen dad! When I'm under water I can see her. She speaks to me. She's happy, she smiles. You need to stop with your grief. That's what's keeping her here. Your grief."

"If this is what you're here for then I don't want to hear it."

"But dad-"

"STOP! GET OUT, GET OUT NOW!!!" He spat and threw a beer bottle across the room that smashed across the wall and exploded in shards of brown glass. Emily was calm as we walked out. I stared into her glowing eyes as she pursed her lips and frowned.

"I'm sorry." She said gently. I nodded. Nothing really to say about the matter. My father was grieved, that's all. That's all.

"You want to go get some ice cream or something. To calm us down?"

"I'm calm but yes that would be nice." I smiled at her and ruffled her blonde arrow shaped hair. She laughed and smoothed it back down. "Messing with my hair will not be tolerated." She said jokingly. I smiled and held out my elbow. She curtsied and took my elbow. I pretended to walk elegantly down the sidewalk and she straightened her back and held her chin high like a fancy woman would. We stopped our elegant walking and I watched as Smily bounced ahead and span around for a moment. She walked back to me and I picked her up on my back and I felt her hands grip my shoulders nervously, the nails digging into my shirt.

"Don't worry, I won't drop you." I said to reassure her. She laughed nervously but she nodded. I walked with her for a few blocks before arriving at the white simple door of the ice creamery. I put her down as we opened the door and heard the gentle pang of the tiny bell as we walked in. The man at the counter smiled at us and asked us what we wanted.

"For the lady?" He asked. She ordered a chocolate in a cake cone and I ordered the same. We walked hand in hand down the sidewalk, licking our ice cream as we walked. We sat down at a park bench the stood outside of a nice park and watched as stupid-faced pigeons bobbed there heads at us. We finished our ice cream and tossed pieces of our cone to the birds. They pecked at the cone on the floor and peered their beady, black eyes at us. We dusted our hands and ran from the greedy followers and then when they were out of sight we walked.

"Your mother must have been amazing." She said suddenly. It was like a blow to the stomach. It took some of my breath away.

"She was...but I didn't know much about her. I was young when she died...young. I can't remember, really, when she died. I just know I was young." Emily squeezed my hand. I smiled at her and then she walked me back to Ash's house before leaving to her own house.

I climbed the side of the house and up into his room. Sarah was crying into a pillow and Ash was trying to calm her down.

"What's wrong?" I asked. She sat up and looked angrily at me.

"WHERE WERE YOU!?! Huh? Where???" Her lip was bleeding and she had a black eye.

"I don't know how this is my fault...but I'm sorry. What happened?"

"The bullies. They were looking for you, and they recognized me. They beat me up and kicked me into the gutter." I looked at her clothes and noticed the muddy water caked into the fabric. "You and I were supposed to go to shop with Ash for a new guitar. US! YOU KNOW IF YOU HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN ABOUT YOUR FRIENDS!?!?"

"I know I'm sorry but Emily-"

"Yeah, I get it." She said angrily. She crossed her arms and walked into the bathroom. I didn't go after her and neither did Ash. Ash didn't understand what she was doing but I did. I didn't want to stop her. She was mad at me.

"Ash...I'm sorry." I said to him. He patted me on the shoulder and smiled.

"Don't sweat it dude. I understand. She's a girl, you love her. She's your girlfriend. You should spend time with her. Sarah...she just thinks that you don't want to be her friend anymore."

"But I do. We're best friends."

"I know that...but she doesn't." I nodded and got up from the bed and went to the bathroom door. I knocked on the door and heard no answer. Something dropped on the floor inside and I heard a heavy thud. I wiggled the door knob and found it locked. I called to her but heard no answer. She would always answer even if she was mad. I raised my leg and slammed my foot down on the doorknob. It broke and I opened the door. My feet kicked an empty pill bottle and I saw Sarah sprawled across the floor. I kneeled by her side and turned her over. Her eyes were shut and she wasn't responsive. I checked her pulses and found her heart beating slowly. I looked at the bottle and saw that she had taken the whole bottle of sleeping pills.

"SOMEONE! ASH CALL THE HOSPITAL. She's dying...HURRY!" I yelled and picked her up and laid her down on the bed. "Sarah...Sarah Sarah you've got to wake UP!" I said smoothing some hair out of her face. The paramedics came and I watched as she was carried out on a gurney and an oxygen mask was put on her as they flashed a flashlight in her eyes and checked for pulses. I rode next to her and Ash sat next to me.

"Sarah you can't leave." I said to her. She didn't answer, not like I expected her to. At the hospital they had to get her to throw up by sticking some tongue depressant down her throat. She barfed in a bucket and she woke up. Then she started to cry.

"I'm so sorry." She said to me.

"I'm the one who should apologize. But you can't do this again. No more. The doctors found your cuts and they're diagnosing you."

"With what?"

"Depression and self-harm."

"You must be so proud."

"You have to stop."

"I know...did you tell my father?"

"Yes."

"What is he gonna think?"

"That his baby girl is broken without him." Her father's voice appeared and he stepped nearer. "I'm sorry Sarah...that I was never there for you."

"Words mean nothing...but this wasn't your fault." She said looking down at her hands, that were folded on her lap. "It's mine. I was upset...I am always upset. I just didn't want to be upset anymore."

"Tell me what upset you..." I said hesitantly.

"You and Emily."