Emilka

 

A strong wind hit Emilia's face as soon as she left the house. She closed her eyes and felt the rushing air ruffle her hair, tug at the tails of her coat, and lift the ends of her long scarf. She also felt dancing snowflakes settle on her hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes. She opened her eyes, adjusted her bag, and crossed the garden.

"Hi, Emilia," Marcin said, standing next to Emilia at the bus stop.

"Uh, hi," he said, blushing slightly. To hide it, she pretended to wipe her nose for a long time.

She'd known him since September. She'd bumped into him on the first day of class, as soon as she entered her high school, Secondary School No. 8, in Krakow. Her book had fallen. He picked it up and glanced at the cover.

"First grade?" he asked, looking at her with blue eyes from beneath his blond hair. "Welcome to school, Miss Emilia," she added, glancing at the first page.

Emilia smiled.

"Good morning. May I know your name?

" "Marcin sounds dignified." Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to run to school." He flashed his white teeth and left.

Then they sometimes talked during breaks, then it turned out they took the same bus, got off at the same stop... When you're forced to spend two hours a day with someone, and on top of that, they have deep blue eyes and a dazzling smile, it's hard not to feel a certain affection for them. And when that person voluntarily does homework or explains physics... Whether Emilia wanted to or not, she fell in love with Marcin. She knew he felt nothing for her except a purely friendly affection.

Just when Emilia thought her nose would soon become nothing more than a smudge on a tissue, the bus arrived.

Emilia hung up her coat and scarf and left the cloakroom. And at that moment, she bumped into Krzysiek Makowski from her class.

"Ugh," they both groaned. "Oh

, sorry, Emilka, you're alive," he asked, lifting her from the ground .

"Nothing happened...

" "Sorry, once again, I didn't see you because my vision was blurry with anger .

" "And who made you so angry

?" "Zieliński." Because we were in PE class now. And I had long pants. And that beefcake, Zieliński, says he wants us in shorts. And he himself was wearing jeans, the bastard. So I told him that when they get new windows in the gym and we don't have icicles hanging from under our noses, I'll wear shorts, and that idiot said I'm a doll! Do you understand? A doll!"

At that moment, Emilia burst out laughing. Calling Krzysek, who was a head taller than her, broad-shouldered, with a square jaw, a doll!

"Well, I managed to make you laugh. You've been acting like a jerk for a while now. It's nice to see you smiling."

Emilia smiled politely, but then it faded, and she stared sadly at something behind Krzysiek's back. He turned and saw Marcin, the one from class VI 'b', talking to the long-legged, long-haired, and beautiful Partition.

"Hmm..." he said awkwardly. "Don't worry," he added. "I'll dump her." He smiled friendly, patted her lightly on the shoulder, and left, leaving Emilia alone, who hadn't even heard his words.

"Miss Emilia Wrzos..." Emilia snapped out of her thoughts and looked at the Physics professor. "Grades: failing, failing with a plus, passing on the rails, failing. Do you think you'll manage to get a passing grade from this one?!"

Emilia stood up and remained silent, her head lowered.

"Not only will you get a failing grade for the semester, but you might even leave this school...

" "No..." Emilia groaned, "I'll improve, I'll study for the next test...

" "So, for tomorrow. Tomorrow is the last test of the semester, then I'll just grade your activity and ask those who weren't asked. You got a passing grade on two tests, so you can't retake them. What's more, you didn't sign up to retake the tests. To get a passing grade and make up for your sins, you have to write an A..."

"What?!" she shouted, "but... I can't... I can't...

" "We'll find out tomorrow. Please sit down, Michał Ząbkowski, a C for the semester...

" Emilia sat down and rested her forehead on her hands. She had never been good at physics. She didn't understand. She never studied. She always somehow slipped through to the next class. She hated it. And now she was supposed to learn to get an A in one day? Impossible. The best thing would be... to ask Marcin for help. But she'd just decided not to meet him on purpose, to look for him during breaks, to rush to him with every assignment, just to make this hopeless feeling disappear. She sat there, staring blankly out the window. Suddenly, she quickly stood up and ran out of the classroom. She ran downstairs. From what she remembered, Marcin was finishing his lessons at that time. If she didn't catch him now, she wouldn't be studying with him. At the bottom of the stairs, she almost ran into Krzysiek.

"Emilka, we're bumping into each other again today," he said. Emilia smiled and saw Marcin behind him. She was about to approach him when she saw Patrycja. Her eyes darkened, anger welling up in her heart. The moment Marcin disappeared through the door with the girl clinging to his arm, Emilia realized Krzysiek was speaking to her. She pushed Marcin out of her subconscious and focused on Krzysiek.

"...and I thought maybe I could help you with that physics." If you want, of course." Emilia looked at him.

"Well... why not... okay, but you know, I'm very resistant to physics, so it won't be easy.

" "Okay, it'll be fine. I'll teach you, and you can even show that old geezer."

At 4 p.m., Emilia stood in front of the door with the sign A and J Makowscy. A girl opened the door.

"Hi, is there Krzysiek?" Emilia asked.

"Well... KRZYSIEK!!!" she shouted into the apartment, still not taking her green eyes off Emilia. "He has eyes just like Krzysiek," the girl thought, and was surprised to find herself feeling hot. "How can you be cold, you idiot, when the apartment is heated by radiators?" she scolded herself and gave the girl the smile she always wore when she saw children. At that moment, the little girl let go of the doorknob, took Emilia by the hand and led her into the apartment.

"Ah, hello, Emilka," said Krzysiek, coming out of a room, "I see you've already met my sister."

"I'm Magda," said the girl with a smile . "Emilia

... nice to meet you," she introduced herself.

"Okay, come on in," said Krzysiek, opening a door. "Do you want some tea?"

"Sure! I love tea.

" "Okay, then sit down somewhere while I go cook."

Emilia smiled as she pictured Krzysiek in a chef's hat and white apron, and then remembered calling him a doll... She entered the room.

It was divided in half. Literally. Closer to the door, the room was papered with pink wallpaper. There was a sandwich, probably A fold-out bed, a pink wardrobe, a pink desk, a pink chair, and a dollhouse. There was a pink carpet on the floor.

"This is my room," Magda's thin voice said, "and over there is Krzysiek's room," she added, pointing to the other side of the room, closer to the window. There were gray walls, a black carpet, a sofa, a black wardrobe, a black desk, a computer, a stereo, and a guitar leaning against the wall. On the black shelf above the desk were many books and CDs.

"What?" Krzysiek muttered at the look on her face, entering the room with two green mugs steaming with a dark red liquid.

"Brilliant!!! Who came up with that?

" "I'll admit it modestly. Because that little girl absolutely wanted pink. And I won't live in a pink room. It's enough that Zieliński thinks I'm a doll. So we divided the room; the renovation guys looked at us a bit strangely, but they did it. But enough of the chit-chat. Do you want to pass that physics exam or not?"

When Emilia returned home at 9 p.m. Seeing Krzysiek off, she felt powerless. Her mind was filled with all the formulas, all the definitions, and all the unnecessary nonsense she'd never need in life, but she felt that maybe she'd do well on this test, that there was some hope... That this wasn't like Marcin's, where he rambled on and on and she just stared at his profile, at his eyes, from which he was constantly brushing away unruly hair... She shoved her hands into her coat pockets, adjusted her long scarf, and enjoyed the cold evening, the small snowflakes swirling in the air and the stars twinkling somewhere in the distance.

"You'll write well tomorrow, right?" he asked her, already outside her house.

"I'm sure..." she smiled . "Do you

swear to me?

" "I swear," she said, already laughing. "

Because if not," he wagged his finger at her playfully, "bye, Emilka," he said, walking away toward his house...

"bye... Krzysiek!" He turned to her, "thanks, for everything."

He smiled in a different way.

"No problem, Emilka, see you tomorrow!

" "bye..."

A week later, just before Christmas, Emilia couldn't wait for Physics. Firstly, because it was the last lesson before the Christmas break, and secondly, because she wanted to finally find out what she got on the test. She wanted to get that A, of course, so they wouldn't expel her, but there was also another reason... Krzysiek. She had become very close friends with him during that week. Suddenly, it turned out they were on the same bus, that Krzysiek could also explain math to her, that she could help him with his Polish essay, that they could actually go for a walk around the park, that they could build a snowman, that they could go sledding with Magda, have a snowball fight... She wanted to earn that A for him too...

The bell rang... The professor entered the room. Emilia glanced behind Krzysiek. He grinned at her and showed her his fingers crossed. She smiled faintly. She had already compared her answers with Krzysiek's a thousand times. If the professor accepted her last answer, a bit incomplete but correct, she would get that A...

The professor slowly handed back the tests until he had only one sheet left.

"Miss Wrzos, please come here."

Emilia stood up and, on weak knees, somehow made her way from the last desk to the teacher's desk.

"A short speech," he said maliciously, covering the paper so Emilia wouldn't see the grade. "Although I desperately wanted to avoid an A, the answer wouldn't come out as an A." "This is it," the girl thought, closing her eyes, praying that the tears wouldn't fall until she was seated at her desk, or preferably, when she was home. But," Emilia looked up, "because in one day you've absorbed all the material that hadn't piqued your interest until now, and because you demonstrated strong will by doing what you promised, I'm giving you an A. And since the material was from the entire year, I'm giving you a passing grade for the semester, and I hope you'll improve next semester."

At first, Emilia felt like she was going to faint, then she hugged the professor tightly, then with a wild squeal, ran across the classroom and threw her arms around Krzysiek's neck. "

Do you understand? Do you understand that???? I got an A!!!" - she squealed happily

- Emilka, calm down... - said a slightly confused Krzysiek

- What's more, Krzysiek, for the first time in my life I will get a C in physics!!! Thanks to you!!! I will never repay you!!! Why isn't he happy for me?

So Krzysiek did what he'd wanted to do all along: he stood up, picked Emilia up, and spun around a few times.

The evening before Christmas Eve, Emilia was walking through the city center. Suddenly, she saw Marcin. She wanted to call out to him, but she saw he wasn't alone. He was walking with Patrycja. At one point, he took her by the hand and kissed her on the lips. Trying not to be noticed, Emilia turned and ran quickly in the other direction. She reached the Zwierzyniec Bridge. She stood there, staring into the filthy depths of the Vistula River.

"Why... why did this happen to me? I love him, and he... does it all make sense? What does she have that I don't? What is she better at? Okay, she has longer legs. And light hair, mine is dark. But she's stupid! How can he... why, why???"

It was bad luck that all the characters in the story found themselves in roughly the same place at the same time. Or maybe it was luck? At the very moment when Emilia decided she would never speak to Marcin again, and that it would be best to jump into the Vistula and get it over with, Krzysiek found himself standing by the bridge. She turned to him. When he saw her, he was transfixed. He saw her loose hair, which she wore tied back in school—beautiful, long, dark curls that danced around her face. He saw the softness of her skin. He saw her dark eyes, framed by long, black lashes. Behind her back, he saw Wawel Castle, brilliantly illuminated, and snowflakes dancing in the wind. He felt he loved this girl, every word, every laugh, every gesture, every move, everything… he remembered how two days ago she'd thrown her arms around him. He felt it was the most beautiful moment of his life. All these thoughts flashed through his mind in a split second, and he quickly moved toward her, trying not to acknowledge the change in him.

"What's up, Emilka? Hey, what happened?" "He asked, noticing the tear tracks on her cheeks.

"Nothing much... really... just..."

"You know what lifts your spirits best? The pre-Christmas fair in the market square. Let's go."

The entire way to the market square, he wouldn't let her dwell on her own thoughts. He told funny anecdotes from his life, and before Emilka knew it, she was laughing. Shopping at the fair was one wonderful moment. They treated themselves to mulled wine to flunk her physics exam, sugared almonds, numerous Christmas decorations, and thousands of unnecessary things that, like every woman, cheered Emilia up so much that she completely forgot about her problem. Later, as they walked down Grodzka Street, they chatted about completely casual topics. Only occasionally would Krzysiek lose his thoughts, looking at her smiling profile. He couldn't understand why he hadn't noticed such a treasure before. Without any communication, they climbed Wawel Castle in unison and stood by the low wall overlooking the Vistula River and Krakow. And Emilia's gaze fell on the spot where she had seen Marcin kissing Patrycja, and then on the Zwierzyniec Bridge. She became sad. Krzysiek noticed something was off.

"Hey, Emilka, what happened? Maybe I can help you?"

And then Emilia poured out all her worries and sorrows, described today's events, and fell silent with a questioning look. Krzysiek looked at her closely.

"You don't love him," he said.

"What? I...

You don't love him. I can see it in you. You like him. You like him, but you don't love him.

" "Maybe you're right?"

"I definitely do. And I'll tell you one thing. I would never, ever hurt you..." he said, biting his tongue.

Emilia quickly turned her head and looked at him. In his green eyes, she saw what she had searched for in vain, and Marcin. She remembered all the times she had been so happy with him. She remembered the moment she'd felt so strange when he'd leaned over her, explaining physics to her, how happy she'd been to have an excuse to hug him for that A, how happy she'd been when, at the class Christmas Eve party yesterday, while breaking the Christmas wafer, they'd kissed each other on the cheek. And she understood. That she'd convinced herself she loved Marcin. And the true love that had naturally blossomed in her heart was her love for Krzysiek. And she did what she'd wanted ever since she'd gotten to know him better. She kissed his lips sweetly and lovingly.