Tension.

My cheery mood had vanished very quickly and I was so busy wanting to break something, particularly Alejandro's face or maybe his stupid face, that I paid absolutely no attention to the tour. I couldn't explain my sudden change of mood, but that didn't stop me from feeling it. I utterly hated Alejandro for irrational reasons. I hated the sickening sound of his voice, so clearly fake. Every word he spoke felt like a lie. And Emma just stood there, stupidly taking in his words like they were the friggen Bible or something. And that stupid smile of his! Stupid fake smile. He kept looking at her and smiling that stupid fake smile. He was practically staring at her nonstop. And his stupid, stupid, stupid hand! I wanted to break it off. He wouldn't stop touching her shoulders, her back, her hair.

As if him being a complete fake wasn't enough, Emma looked like she was totally buying all of it. She kept smiling up at him and nodding and getting closer to him and ARGH! I wanted to break his face in. It would be so easy too. I could just throw him right into one of the big, fancy chandeliers he was telling Emma allllll about. Who cares about some stupid chandelier? I would have thought Emma wouldn't, but she just seemed totally mesmerized by his every word that no matter what he talked about, she probably would have listened.

I was at the very limit of my self control by the time the tour was over. Once Alejandro was out of our room, I quickly shut the door.

"Wow. This place is amazing, isn't it, Luna?" Emma was grinning like crazy, which softened my rage slightly. I was in no mood to be chipper and bouncy like she was though, so I just smiled and then threw myself onto the massive bed and buried my face in the pillows. My mood must have caught Emma off guard as she was silent for a few minutes. Good. She wouldn't be bugging me with her annoying bubblyness.

"Hey, Luna?" she said quietly after a few minutes.

"What?" I grumbled into the pillows.

"POUNCE!" She landed on my back with a thud, knocking the wind out of me for a moment.

"Ow! Ah! What the hell, Emma?" I pushed her off of me and sat up. She had some stupid grin on her face, once again weakening my bad mood.

"I'm a ninja!" she announced cheerfully.

"Uh, I don't think real ninjas tell other people they're ninjas."

"Exactly! See, now you don't believe I'm a ninja just because I told you! So that means I AM a ninja!" I couldn't possibly stay grumpy at that arguement. I just started laughing. "Hey! Don't laugh at me!"

"Rawr!" I pinned her down and started tickling her. "Take that, you ninja!"

"Aaaahhh! Nooooooo! Not the tickling! It's my weakness!" Emma laughed melodramatically. She squirmed around for a few minutes, acting as if I was killing her or something, and I could feel her body heat going up quickly. If I wasn't used to her always being exceptionally warm, I would have thought she had a fever. I had to admit she made a very good heater, better than using those stupid electric blankets too . . .

"Superninja catches the Tickle Monster off guard!" Emma giggled, pushing me off of her and jumping back on top of me.

And then my heart started pounding like crazy and I couldn't explain why. I felt weird. My mind seemed to have shut off. I was just a crazy mess of emotion with no logic left. Emma's laughter stopped, and she sat up, looking at me curiously. I thought I should say something, but it was almost as if language had never existed. I shifted my weight around and managed to sit awkwardly next to Emma. Neither of us said anything. Emma looked away from me and started at a painting on the wall. Her hand twitched next to me, and I impulsively grabbed it. She looked back at me, and I let go.

"Sorry," I muttered. This time, I stared at the painting, hugging my knees to my chest. She pulled my arm away from my legs and took my hand in hers awkwardly. I didn't want to look at her. She squeezed my hand, let go, and then stood up.

I don't remember how long she stood there, just staring off into space while I watched her carefully, but I do remember seeing her knees buckle in slow motion. I remember my body instantly springing up and catching her before she hit the ground. I remember seeing how empty and dead her eyes looked. And I remember hearing her breathing suddenly stop.