8 What's Going On With Emily?

School started again and Justin heard from Emily even less. She was still working at the ice cream shop in the evenings and on weekends.

When he saw her in the hallway, she looked extra worn out. She didn't even bothering to wear makeup anymore to hide it so he made sure to keep leaving snacks in her locker with encouraging notes.

Finding himself with very little to do, Justin enrolled in computer classes at the local community college in the evenings. His parents were unsure about it at first but he told them it would look good on his resume when it was time to actually go to college so they eventually agreed. He already knew a lot of what was being taught but having extra projects to do was helpful in distracting him.

One day, he went to the ice cream shop when Emily was supposed to be working and was surprised to find someone else working the counter. Was Emily sick?

She hadn't said anything on Blogr. Normally when she caught a cold, she posted way more memes than usual, joking about her impending death.

The other employees at the shop had heard of the big tipper. He couldn't break his habit just because Emily wasn't there. He left $10 in the tip jar and took his milkshake outside, sipping thoughtfully as he walked home.

When he got home, his dad pulled him aside. This couldn't be good.

"Son, have you thought about getting your driver's license? You're almost seventeen. You should have it before you graduate. It'll be really helpful if you go away for college."

Was that all? Justin heaved a sigh of relief. He thought it was something serious.

"Sure, Dad. I'll start the driver's ed course online."

His dad smiled and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Once you pass the permit test, I can take you out for a spin in my truck!"

Justin paled. His dad's truck was HUGE. He could probably kill someone in that thing.

"Um…could we maybe take Mom's car? At least for the first few times?"

His dad just laughed and walked away, leaving him nervous for what was to come.

The driver's ed course was easy enough but it took up a lot of his time. Passing the permit test was a piece of cake.

He was so engrossed in his extra studies that it took a few weeks before he realized that, in addition to Emily not posting much, he hadn't caught a glimpse of her in school for nearly a month. The last time he had gone to the ice cream shop, he risked asking the lady behind the counter if Emily was still sick.

"Sick? You're friends with her, aren't you? Didn't you know she quit a few weeks ago?"

"No, I didn't," he murmured. "She's…been busy. We haven't talked much lately."

This much was true. She hadn't chatted with him on Blogr since the last time he saw her at work.

When he got home, he was so concerned that he reached out to her as RoboCat with an extremely random question. This was usually how their chats started.

'Out of curiosity, what's the story behind your username?'

He was surprised to get an answer. She was actually online! 'You first.'

'I have a cat and I used to build robots. Your turn'

The three dots indicating she was typing showed for several minutes before a message popped up.

'Kind of dumb, but when I was a kid I lived overseas and there was this amazing grape juice brand there. I drank it almost every day. When I moved here I searched everywhere and couldn't find it. The brand exists in the States, just not that product. I even checked online. It doesn't exist anymore. I still miss it sometimes. It reminds me of happier days'

Happier days…he was right. Something was definitely going on with her.

'Grape Juice…are you okay? For real.'

Her answer was short and simple. 'No'

'What's going on? Can you tell me?'

There was a long pause before her next message and Justin was on the edge of his seat in anticipation.

'My dad left in the spring. My mom has always stayed at home so she had to go out and find the first full-time job she could but it wasn't enough. I got a job too but in the end we still couldn't make our house payments so we're moving in with my grandparents. In Montana. Montana! Who even lives in Montana?! Besides my grandparents, I mean'

His heart stopped. Emily was leaving? Or…had she already left? He hadn't seen her in school for a long time.

No wonder she had seemed so tired. She had already lost her dad and was worried about losing her house on top of that.

'When?' was all he could reply.

'This weekend. My mom already started with the school transfer paperwork and I've been helping her get the house ready to sell so I haven't been back in a while. Now I won't even get to say goodbye. Not that there are really that many people I care about saying goodbye to'

Justin was confused. Hadn't Emily always been popular? Or was it all superficial? Who were Emily's real friends? Did she even have any?

Come to think of it, she had usually been alone  when he had seen her in the past year at school. When had that happened?

Another message from her popped up. 'To be perfectly honest, the only person I'm really going to miss is someone I don't even know. Remember when I posted about my secret admirer?'

Justin gripped the edge of the desk. She was talking about him. The only person she was going to miss…was him? She didn't even know his name!

It was nice to know he had made some sort of impact on her life but…was he ever going to see her again?

'Yeah, I remember. I'm sure he'll miss you too'

He couldn't say more than that. The thought of her leaving, of never seeing her again, threatened to suffocate him.

He had nothing else to look forward to at school without her there. She had always been the ray of light warming his cold, computer-centric life. And she had been suffering all this time.

'He'll probably forget all about me soon enough' she responded pessimistically.

Now Justin was angry. 'Hasn't he been around for the past two years? You can't forget someone who was a part of your life for that long'

'I guess so…'

He realized he was too invested in this emotionally and needed to take a step back. RoboCat wasn't supposed to have a stake in this.

'I'm sorry you have to move. That must be really stressful'

'Yeah. At least I can come back to California for school in a few years. You know, if I don't die in the Montana winters before then. I hate the snow!'

She added a gif of a shivering Chihuahua and he knew her mood had improved at least a little.

His heart lifted hearing that. Back to California for school…if he could just get into the same college as her, he could see her again. Then he would introduce himself for real and try to become a part of her life.

It took not seeing glimpses of her around town and school to realize that the glimpses had never truly been enough. Samantha was right. His loving-from-a-distance was pretty sad. He had to do better!

'I've never seen snow'

'Whaaaat? Never?'

'I've lived in the desert my whole life. My family doesn't really travel, either'

The only places he had ever been to were amusement parks and the beach, still in California. His mom kept trying to take him hiking in the mountains but he flat out refused, sure he would trip over a rock and die.

Their conversation continued on the lighthearted topic of travel for a while before Emily had to go.

'I have to pack some more but thanks for talking to me, RoboCat. I feel a lot better now. Even if I move, I still have you and my other online friends!'

The words 'I still have you' bounced around in Justin's brain, making it go blank. He was barely able to type a coherent goodbye message before staring at the ceiling. Now what?