glinda the good witch

You are an excellent liar. You simply choose to use your powers for good instead of evil.

Her father’s words echo loudly through her head as she makes her way through the corridor. Sure, they had been said jokingly, and Emmeline doubts that he meant them in any other way. She also doubts that he knows exactly what they mean to her and exactly how true they are. Because she is an excellent liar. She lies to everyone. She lies to her father, to her friends, even to her boyfriend on occasion, and above all to herself. She lies about being fine. She lies about not feeling alienated and alone. She lies all day, every day, to a certain extent.

You can only run for so long from reality before you either crash into it or lose touch with it completely. And, as she has recently learned, you can only run from your secrets for so long until they inevitably catch up with you.

And secrets, secrets hurt, especially when kept by those you believe to be closest to you. Last school year, Emmeline witnessed first hand how much her own secrets could and consequently did hurt her friends. This summer, she experienced first hand how much her family’s secrets can and consequently do hurt her. Secrets can be kept for years and still hurt like hell when they are revealed. In fact, the longer they stay hidden, the harder they hit.

It has been 12 years since Cathleen Vance was even a part of her life. 12 years, and even thinking about her, even breathing her name, feels like a punch to the stomach. And she would never wish that on any of her friends. Never.

So she has to tell her. She has to tell Glenda what really happened last spring. Glenda has to know now, and it has to come from her, from Emmeline. Better from Emmeline than from someone else. Perhaps if she is lucky, Glenda will simply walk away and refuse to talk to her. Perhaps with time, Glenda will be able to understand on some level why she did it. No matter what, she still has to tell her.

Glenda softly hums to herself while intently scratching the tip of her quill along the surface of the parchment. It's nothing big, not really. A letter, that's all it is. It's just a letter though she feels rather foolish for writing it. It's not like she and Melody need to write letters to each other considering just how often they spend time together. She brushes the thought away to continue concentrating on what she's saying. What is she saying? It's just rambling on and on as she would do in person. Nothing different.

'Idiot,' She thinks as she wrinkles her nose. Writing the letter feels like a way of showing that she cares. And she does, really. She cares. Melody has become a very important figure in her life since the summer. Not just important, crucial. She feels close to Melody in a way that she can't quite properly explain and that fact is absolutely maddening.

"Hey, Glenda. Can I talk to you?"

Emmeline's voice is a welcome distraction as she sets her quill down and sets the piece of parchment aside to let it dry properly. Jeez, she needs to stand up. Being hunched over for so long has caused a slight ache in her spine and so she rises to her feet, stretching her arms up over her head with a lazy grin in Emmeline's direction. As strange as things had been last year between the two of them, at least it feels like the situation has gotten far better. Emmeline hadn't been around nearly as much as Glenda had expected but it had been enjoyable when she was around.

"What can I do for you, Em?"