The Black Swan Behind

109 Rachel Markway

Emma lifted her paper bag again, and for the second time, tried to give it to Hellen who seemed to have finished with her busy life around the kitchen, “Eum.. Sorry, Mrs Hellen. Here’s the coat.”

“Oh, of course.. Sorry I was too busy myself to bother you holding onto that thing all the time.” The old woman with long white hair braided back laughed as she took the bag.

“There are some snacks in it for my thank-you.” Emma continued.

Hellen immediately checked the bag and found two boxes of ginger sweets and a box of chewy milk candy, all wrapped into a very pretty Christmas gift package. She smiled warmly then looked up at Emma, ??”You really are a very sweet girl. Thank you so much, Emma.”

Then Hellen took her coat out of the bag for her to keep back so it wouldn’t take up space. Rachel, on the other hand, glanced at it and realized that it was the coat she had seen in the hands of the three girls in ballet class at the time.

During that time, Rachel and Emma kept silent until Hellen returned to the dining table. The woman immediately distributed her Lasagne pieces into three pretty plates and gave them to the two girls sitting at the dining table.

“Please have a try, Emma. This lasagne and berry pie is our family recipe for decades.” Helen said with a warm smile.

Emma smiled back and said, “Thank you.” Then, she scooped the small pieces of food into her mouth, then nodded, “This is so delicious.”

Hellen, who had been waiting for Emma’s judge, immediately laughed with satisfaction, “I’m glad if you like it.”

.....

“Oh.. So you two study at the same university, huh? Does that mean you two are friends?” Helen asked to start a conversation.

“That.. that’s right.” Emma nodded awkwardly.

“But we’re not close,” Rachel added quickly.

Helen then turned to her granddaughter, who she knew never had any friends. She sighed quietly before continuing to speak, “The girl I told you about who fell off the motorbike because of your grandpa. That was Emma. It seems that you both have the soul of a man. At that time, grandpa even thought she was a man before she took off her helmet. Grandpa admitted that he was a little worried because Emma’s clothes and helmet at that time were all blacks like a thug,” She laughed.

Rachel nodded once as she looked at Emma, ??”That’s quite surprising.”

Inside her mind, Emma seemed to be screaming for help from the fate that seemed to always play games on her. Who would have thought that Rachel Markway was the granddaughter that Hellen was talking about that night?

Emma could only curse her own carelessness, regretting why she had stupidly accepted Hellen’s husband’s invitation to stop by for a while into his house, and what was worse, she decided to take off her helmet. Emma should have not accepted any exceptions for not taking off the helmet that had so far covered her identity well.

“Emma, ??did you know that Rachel is as passionate about motorbike engines as you are?” Helen asked.

Emma shook her head awkwardly, “I just happened to move to this city, so... I don’t really know a lot of people, including Rachel.” Emma answered awkwardly.

“Oh, really? But you’re brave enough to ride a motorbike at that time.” Hellen replied while thinking.

Emma couldn’t help but smile awkwardly as she continued to eat her Lasagne. In her heart, she kept begging the old woman to stop talking about what happened that night. She could only hope that Rachel wouldn’t think what Emma had done that night was strange.

“Anyways, Mrs Hellen, Where’s your husband?” Emma asked to change the subject from the topic about her.

“Oh.. My husband is still working today,” Hellen replied.

“On holiday?” Emma asked again.

Hellen nodded, “His job is a bit different from other people’s job,”

Suddenly, Hellen clapped her hands once because she remembered something, “Rachel, why don’t you try taking Emma to the garage after this? Show her the motorbikes your dad left that you often repair. Maybe you two can exchange ideas, no?” She said with a wink at her granddaughter.

Hellen hoped that this time, Rachel could make friends so she wouldn’t be a loner like she was now.

“Oh.. No need to bother..” Emma said with an uncomfortable face.

“It’s not a bother. Maybe you’ll like it.” Rachel’s answer took her own grandmother by surprise. Usually, the girl with blue eyes would try to avoid any activity with new people. But this time, she seemed interested in Emma.

After finishing eating, as Rachel had promised, she took Emma to the house garage which turned out to be quite spacious. There were two big vintage motorbikes that were still in very good physical condition. But it looked like one of the motorbikes was still being dismantled.

“So.. Besides ballet, you also like bikes?” Rachel spoke to Emma first after turning on the garage light.

Emma nodded, “More or less,” she lied. Actually, Emma was a little surprised at Rachel’s slightly different attitude from when she was on campus. Because, she usually looked very quiet when in the public. But it seemed that she was more comfortable when she was at home.

“Actually.. I only started getting interested in bikes recently. So, I still don’t know much. That’s also the reason why I got into an accident that time, because I’m still not that good at riding a bike.” Emma continued with a clumsy laugh.

“I’m sorry for my grandpa’s carelessness. He was stubborn. But, is your leg okay now? Last time you missed ballet class because of that accident, right?” Rachel asked.

“Oh.. It was just an accident. I’m healed now.” Emma nodded quickly, pretending to ignore the last question. “Well.. Would you tell me what are you doing to this motorbike, Rachel?” she crouched next to the half disassembled motorbike.

“I’m trying to start it again, but somehow the engine won’t turn on,” Rachel answered.

“Why don’t you just take it to the repair shop?” Emma asked again.

“I want to try to fix it myself because it was a gift from my dad.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I heard from your grandma that both of your parents are dead.” Emma replied in sorry.

Rachel nodded slightly, “That’s right. It happened a long time ago, anyway.”

“Um.. Rachel.. May I ask something that might be a little offensive?” Emma asked carefully.

Rachel looked at her questioningly, then nodded.

Emma cleared her throat once, “Um.. I feel that you somehow always stay away from people when you’re on campus. But.. now I realize that you’re just as friendly as anyone else.”

Rachel, who heard the question, seemed to think and sighed as she sat on the floor next to Emma. She didn’t mind if her pants would get dirty from the dirty garage floor, “I honestly feel like people are avoiding me,”

“Actually.. a few girls told me they thought you were a bit mean..” Emma even felt confused as to how to explain it right without hurting her.

“I know what they said behind my back, and I’m glad you can tell the truth in front of me,” Rachel replied.

Emma was relieved that Rachel wasn’t mad by it, “Then.. Maybe next time you can show that you are different from what they think. I will help you if you allow.” she smiled.

But Rachel shook her head with a faint smile on her lips. It turned out that her fierce face would become very charming when it carved a little smile, “I don’t like crowds. Let them walk away from me like that. I’m fine.”

“Oh...” Emma mumbled. It turned out that Rachel was an introvert. But Emma was determined to be friends with her when the college started again. Even though she was an introvert, it didn’t mean that she didn’t need friends.

“Do any of your friends have the same hobbies as you?” Rachel asked. She could see that Poppy and Kathy looked very feminine.

Emma shook her head, “I don’t think so. And actually, they don’t know about this hobby of mine. So, do you mind keeping it a secret between the two of us?” she asked with an awkward smirk as she rubbed the trunk of her neck.

Rachel smiled again. She realized one thing about Emma Hilland. Apparently, even though the girl looked perfect, she was also trying to blend in with the other girls, “I promise.”

“Thanks...” Emma said with a sigh of relief. Then, she stared at the motorbike in front of her again for a long time. Then, Jonas’ words, which at that time mocked her that she didn’t know anything about the vehicle engine made Emma think of an idea. She turned to Rachel who just stayed where she was, “Do you think you’re going to fix this now?”

“Probably, Yes,” Rachel answered. “Is there anything you need?”

Emma smiled broadly, “Actually, I was thinking if I can absorb knowledge from you about vehicle engines. Haha..” She laughed.

“Of course, I’d be happy to share it. What do you want to know?” Rachel walked over to the motorbike and put on the workshop gloves from the top of the toolbox lying on the floor.

“I don’t know.. The most basic thing, I guess?” Emma shook her head in confusion.

Rachel smiled with a nod. Then, she began to explain various things related to the motor engine in detail.

Emma didn’t think that Rachel was a very kind and patient person. She wasn’t as scary as the ballet-class girls had rumoured to be. The longer they were together, Emma felt the girl were more easy-going so they could talk a lot. Rachel didn’t say much, but every sentence she said was very clear and easy to understand.

“By the way, Rachel. Why are you taking ballet class?” Emma asked in the middle of their activity.

“I found that I liked the special things of ballet.” She answered.

“Well, me too! What are the special things you talk about?”