hoʻohuihui - metamorphosis

Emerson's first reaction to his very odd instructor's question is something he can't quite identify. Something between nausea and fiery anger.

"Excuse me?" He asks calmly.

Alec watches him for half a second before shrugging and making a note on his beloved clipboard. For a brief moment, Emerson contemplates ripping the thing from his grasp and chucking it out of the nearest window.

"It was just a question. From what I can tell, she's a real catch."

"Who even says 'a real catch' anymore?" Is Emerson's only response, his words coming out with a sigh. He is very done with this conversation. How old is Alec anyway? He could be a young looking thirty year old for all he knows. "Don't you have any other questions for me besides inquiring about my friends' eligibility?"

Alec snickers a little, "Yes of course." He clears this throat, "What would you consider to be your greatest strength?"

Emerson blinks at this, feeling annoyed like he's being questioned by his kindergarten teacher. Either that or for a job interview. Either way there's not much difference.

"Uh..." He sighs, not feeling like putting in the effort to really consider it, "I guess it would be...my respect for others. For their wishes and opinions." He doesn't necessarily believe this but he also doesn't
feel like being here anymore. Alec's sunny disposition is really getting to him...and not in a good way.

"And do you feel that you express or show respect in most every day situations?" He asks him.

Emerson doesn't hesitate before saying, "Yes of course."

"Good good. And do you ever feel that some of your greatest strengths could ever be seen or used in your life as weaknesses?" Alec holds his pin against the paper, waiting for his reply and ready to jot it down.

"I guess so." He shrugs, "I think that it's usually that way for most people, don't you?"

"Yeah I do. Okay, next question." He sighs, "Since I was hired mainly to work within your group, I have some questions involving your friends and your response to certain subjects."

"Okay..."

"Who in your group would you most trust with a secret?"

"Like a personal secret or just a casual secret?" He tries to clarify.

"How many secrets are you keeping?" Alec jokes with a chuckle, "Let's just say it's a secret concerning someone else and you need to confide in one of your friends. Who would that be?"

"Rhyme. For sure." Emerson answers immediately. Rhyme is the most solid and trustworthy guy he knows.

"And if it were a personal secret?"

"Probably Claire." He nods.

"Okay. Next question. If you were to be arrested and you needed someone to bail you out, who would you call?"

"Isaac and Alex." He chuckles, "If I had to choose one it would be Isaac."

Alec smiles, nodding as he writes this down. "If you experienced a great loss and needed someone to talk to and be real with, who would that be?"

He thinks about this for a moment before answering, "Claire. Definitely Claire."

"Okay. Now, if you had the opportunity to go on a trip around the world or to a destination of your choice, on an adventure per say, who would you bring with you?" He asks him watching closely.

"Just one person?" He clarifies.

"You can bring two." Alec shrugs, "Up to you."

"Huh." Emerson hums, kind of beginning to like these questions, "Then I would probably bring Rosalind and Claire."

"Interesting choice." Alec all but laughs out
loud at his response.

"What do you mean?" He mumbles, brows furrowed.

"Alright next question." Alec grins, changing the subject, "If you were forced into solitude somewhere way off the grid and you could only bring one person to keep you company, but they would be stuck in solitude as well, who would you choose to bring?"

"Probably Isaac." He sighs, rubbing his palms against his shorts.

"Really?" Alec looks somewhat surprised, "Not Rosalind or Claire?"

"Well I guess for obvious reasons it would make sense to bring a girl but Isaac is someone that I would be okay with being isolated with. He rarely gets on my nerves." He jokes.

"Right." Alec smirks slightly, making him frown in return, "Well...we are all finished then I suppose. It was nice meeting you, Emerson, I will have your results out for you to read shortly."

"Alright." Emerson mumbles as he stands up.

"Do me a favor and send Claire in, would you?"

"Sure." He sighs just before the heavy door closes behind him.

After quickly pointing Claire in the direction of her doom, Emerson shuffles back to the still-full snack table to snatch up a few slices of fruit and a handful of chips. Baked chips, of course, considering they are at some sort of health extravaganza. Emerson could not be having a worse time.

"The absolute worst." He mutters to himself, chewing on a grape that turns out to be too soft and disgusting.

"What is?" A voice speaks up behind him, making him jump internally. On the outside, however, he keeps a cool exterior.

"Hey Rosalind." He clears his throat, setting
down his plate on the table as he faces her. Wiping his hands on his shorts, he smiles awkwardly, "What's up?"

"Not much, what's up with you?" She counteracts with bold eyes.

"Just doing some super pointless exercise not
to mention the awesome friendship bonding training. As a man, I'd say my masculinity is at an all time low. It's a great time."

"Well, what if I told you that being apart of sensitivity training makes you more of a man?" She laughs, picking a chip off of his plate and placing it into her mouth.

Emerson rolls his eyes, "I'd say that you're lying through your teeth."

"Alright alright so Alec is a little much. I got a good deal on his session!" She defends.

"Oh I'm sure you did." He chuckles.

"Is he that bad?"

"He asked me if Claire was single for one." He mentions with a laugh. Her brows pull together and he continues, "How unbelievable is that? That's so unprofessional." She continues to look at him with a deep set stare, "What?" He asks in response.

"I don't think he was asking for himself, Emerson." She sighs, looking up at him.

He pauses, his head cocking to the side slightly like a confused puppy, "What does that mean?"

"Look, I've got to go. Let me know how the rest of your session goes, I'll see you later."

"Okay." He replies slowly, watching her walk away and stand next to her small group.

"Emerson!" Alex calls him over, pulling his attention away from the confusing blonde in the corner.

Jogging over to his friend, Emerson releases a stressful breath. "What?"

"Nothing it just looked like you needed rescuing."

"But she had already walked away."

"And?"

"Anyway." Emerson sighs, seeing this as a pointless conversation, "That was rough."

Alex wipes the sweat from his brow and only then does Emerson realize just how uncomfortable the temperature has become in the building. "What? The whole 'CareBears/Strawberry Shortcake' friendship bonding we've got going on?"

"Yeah that." He laughs in response, taking a swig of water, "I just don't get how this will help us. We all know each other on an unnecessary level. How is asking me who I would call in the event I get arrested going to help me with my friendships?"

There's a pause as Alex narrows his brown eyes. "Who did you choose? It better have been me because I can do a mad impression of your dad."

"Why would an impression of my dad help me in jail?"

"I don't know but I always imagined it would." Alex grins, clearly aware that he makes no sense.

"Whatever." Emerson chuckles, "And, for the record, I did say you and Isaac."

"I'll take that." Alex nods, holding out his hand, sliding his fingertips across Emerson's palm and meeting his fingertips roughly with a quiet snap before they bump fists lightly.

Once the two boys have waited a good twenty minutes, Alex grows impatient. "What's taking so long? You didn't take nearly this long."

"Really? It felt like I was in there for an eternity." Emerson sighs in response before an uncomfortable thought comes to his mind. "Unless there's a reason she's been in there for so long..." He says under his breath but Alex hears his low mutter.

"What do you mean?"

Resting his elbows on his knees, Emerson's hair falls slightly over his forehead as he glares at his sneakers. "He asked me if Claire is single."

Alex snorts loudly, "Thank God. That girl needs a boyfriend. I don't think I've seen her in a relationship since freshmen year. That's a good four years, dude."

"I don't think he's going to ask her out I just think he was curious. I don't know."

"Are you serious? You know as well as I do that man is a shaky eight out of ten and that with Claire being a solid ten, he's about to shoot his shot." Emerson's blunt friend speaks plainly, taking another swig out of his water.

"You really think Claire is a ten?" Emerson asks him, shocked. Claire has been such a close friend to him that he's never even noticed the way she's changed since he met her. He supposes she's not exactly the short skinny meek girl she was back then.

Alex hangs his head back as he stairs at the ceiling with a shrug, leaning back on his hands. "Of course, man. Do you live under a rock or something? Claire is my good friend but just because we're close that doesn't mean I can't recognize how hot she is."

"Oh what are we talking about over here?" Isaac rubs his hands together as he takes a seat next to Emerson, "Who's hot?"

"Claire." Alex immediately answers.

"Oh." Isaac laughs, "Why are we talking about this?"

"The trainer guy. The one who is doing our psych evaluations to make sure we're not clinically insane, asked Emerson if Claire is single and he's acting all surprised as if he's never noticed her before. It's hilarious." He nudges Emerson with a chuckle who shakes his head in reply, smiling.

"Of course I've noticed her, it's not like I don't know she exists."

"Okay but there's acknowledgment and there's noticing." Isaac winks.

"What's the difference?"

"You're hopeless." Alex sighs, "Acknowledging is, like you said, realizing someone exists and just being chill friends with them. Noticing is a whole other story. It's what happens when they're wearing a color that they've never worn and somehow it makes them look all different. Or when they start wearing a little makeup and you're like woah okay you're you but even hotter. And of course when they start wearing those freakin mom jeans. I don't know when that trend started back up but...I need to thank whoever is responsible." He finishes his rant with a grin.

Isaac rolls his eyes, "Okay geez that was weird. But yeah Claire is gorgeous and she's an amazing person so I don't see any reason why he wouldn't be into her. Honestly? I'm surprised she hasn't been in a relationship since freshman year."

"That's what I'm saying!" Alex exclaims.

"Saying about what?" Emerson's heart lurches when Claire steps out out of the room, catching the tail end of their conversation.

"Nothing." Alex blurts, standing up and sending Emerson a subtle wink. "I guess it's my turn to have my mind warped." He disappears into the room before anyone has a chance to roll their eyes.

"So how did it go?" Emerson quickly asks as she takes a seat next to him, applying some clear lip balm to her lips.

She smiles softly to herself, nodding. "It actually went really well. Alec is a great listener and he asked some great questions."

"Well that's good." Isaac grins, "What kind of questions?" He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively,

Claire furrows her own brows. "Uh...I guess just questions about me and how I would respond to certain situations. Then he asked me if there was anything I wanted to talk about and I did so...that was good."

"What kind of stuff?" Isaac asks her, "Stuff you can't talk about with us?"

"Yes." She says simply, avoiding their eyes before using Emerson's shoulder to push herself up off of the floor. "He gave me some great advice and I think I'm going to take it. Anyway, if you need me I'll be over at the snack table."

Once she has walked away and is out of earshot, Isaac sighs. "Doesn't sound like he asked her out."

"Yeah." Emerson mutters, looking in Claire's direction with a frown. "Probably for the best since I'm pretty sure it's illegal."

"Probably."

⃒ "what is in the heart, the mouth always speaks." ⃒

Once everyone has finished their evaluations, (Alec doing them all because Rosalind wasn't technically qualified to do it for her group) each person is handed a tan folder with their name printed in neat hand writing on the front. Inside are the results and thoughts of the young life coach or whatever he said he was. Emerson hardly considers Alec qualified to tell him anything about his life but he has to admit he's curious to hear about everyone else's experiences.

In the van, he opens the folder, Rhyme sitting next to him and Claire sitting beside Rhyme, her earbuds stuck in her ears while she stares down at the folder with a blank expression.

Inside, a paper reads:

Emerson Baldwin:

Below is listed number of traits and qualities which become useful in relationships/friendships. During your session, you were asked several random questions to determine these scores. Your evaluator has taken time to carefully rate you on a scale of 1-10 on loyalty, trustworthiness, openness, and compatibility with your friend(s) based on their own answers.

Disclaimer: This evaluation was constructed ONLY to aid you and your friend(s) in creating a bond that will last and to bring to light any negative issues that your evaluator believes needs to be dealt with. We do not claim that this is 100% accurate.

Loyalty: 8/10  - Explanation and/or Reasoning: I have chosen to give you an eight rather than a full ten for loyalty. While I do not doubt your loyalty to your friends as a whole, there are a few members of your group that felt you don't always put their wishes first and that, before this trip together, you missed out on a lot of group bonding because you would "ditch" or "blow them off." You're an outstanding friend in their eyes but, sadly, I feel you may put yourself first in certain situations. Maybe try to step out of your comfort zone or try out some of their interests to show them you care?

Emerson pauses after reading the first section, heat searing his cheeks. Looking around the van, he silently wonders who's been so bothered by his tendencies to have disinterest in what the group is usually doing. He doesn't see how being uncomfortable in spontaneous situations makes him disloyal. Yet, he continues to read angrily.

Trustworthiness: 10/10 - Explanation and/or Reasoning: It doesn't surprise me that most every one of your friends chose you for the most trust necessary scenarios I presented. While you may be unsure of yourself at times, I believe that you always think the most of your friends. I think of you as an extremely reliable person for those you care about.

Openness: 7/10 - Explanation and/or reasoning: While you are extremely trustWORTHY, you are not exactly the most open and trusting person in your group. Some of your friends have expressed concern for you and have openly confessed that, even though they know you very well logically, they don't always feel emotionally connected with you. At least not on your end. It goes without saying that they all love you and care for you. They also do not doubt your caring for them. It may just be time to open up about whatever it is that's haunting you. Suggestion: Open up. Whatever it is you're battling, these people are the best people to help you through it.

Emerson blinks at the paper, feeling confused. He also feels insulted and complimented at the same time. His anger has subsided and now all that inhabits his mind are pictures of the day he relives every night in his nightmares. He shakes his head and squeezes his eyes shut before finishes the last section of the evaluation.

Compatibility:

Rhyme: 8/10 - You and Rhyme share the same keep to yourself mentality. You're both caring and will do almost anything for the ones you love...but you both lack the real gumption to chase after what you want.

Isaac: 9/10 - Isaac cares for you deeply. You both stood out to me as leaders in your group yet you both approach situations very differently. Your personalities are not the same in any way but you draw from each other's strengths and that's where true compatibility lies.

Gwen: 7/10 - You didn't speak much about Gwen. While I know you care for her, it must make it difficult to be particularly close to her while your best friend is dating her. I will tell you that she respects you a great deal so maybe try and get closer. You never know, you may become even greater friends than you thought you could be.

Alex: 8/10 - Alex is a heck of a guy. He gave me a run for my money during the evaluation and even asked ME some tough questions. He's a guy you really need around. He will almost speak your mind FOR you. My advice: Listen to him when he gets serious about things. He may be a joke-around type of person but he's very passionate and he trusts you. All you have to do is listen when he needs you.

Rosalind: 7/10 - This actually surprised me very much. I chose to include Rosalind in this because she seemed to be apart of whatever mishaps are going on in your group. She also fits into the dynamic very well and she feels honored to have been welcomed in. While Rosalind will definitely bring you adventure and teach you life lessons without even having to try, she is a free spirit. She will never stay in one place and she gets frustrated when people try to keep her caged. You're a steady and reliable guy. I'm not sure how she would handle a friend like you. You two are both very closed off as well so I found that to be a negative. She holds many secrets and she likes to keep it that way.

Claire: 10/10 - I have to admit, I ran the numbers and scenarios in my head a hundred times just to be sure but, yes, you did score a ten out of ten compatibility with Claire. Then again, she scored very high with almost everyone in the group. She obviously cares deeply for you. She's confident in her feelings, she was open with me about her feelings for you and wasn't afraid to admit it, she is trustworthy and she's loyal. All or your friends are amazing and you all fit well together but you and Claire in particular have a special bond. And I think you know that. She's a good friend. Based on your reaction to my first question, I can't tell you're conflicted. Good luck, I hope you find happiness.

- Alec

☆☆☆

Yikes. Another late chapter.