Prologue

 

He stood there, staring at me. I didn’t know what to say—what could I possibly say to make things right between us? I’d messed up.

 

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, silent tears rolling down the apples of my cheeks.

 

He said nothing, but continued to stare at me. I wanted him to speak… to say anything, but I knew that was too much to ask. There was nothing I could do.

 

* * * * * *

 

Prologue

Emma's Story

 

I’m not someone who writes down what she feels. Trust me, if something bothers me I normally just say it out loud and try to fix it. This is not the case here. I was told that I have a duty to tell my story to others, and here I am.

           

Life comes at you unexpectedly. You don’t need me to tell you that, of course. Sometimes life is wrapped like a Christmas present, with a gold bow plastered neatly on the top. Sometimes it’s not so nice, Dollar Tree paper covering the oddly shaped package. Growing up in a small town in North Carolina never deterred me from trying to find the perfect Christmas present.

           

I’m not looking for sympathy, but my family hasn’t had many shining moments. The parental units divorced when I was six. Dad moved somewhere out of state, out sight and out of mind. It was as if he’d not only divorced Mom, but divorced his children as well.

           

See, my younger brother, Theodore (he hates being called that, so we refer to him as Theo) and I adored our father—so for him to just leave us without letting us know when he’d be back to see us was not exactly easy to cope with. Theo was five at the time, and since I was a year older, I had to explain what was going on to the best of my knowledge to him. I was stuck with that sort of responsibility throughout my young adulthood.

           

I cried in my bedroom every night for about a year after Dad left, thinking about all the wrong things I could have done to drive him away. After all, he wouldn’t have left for any other reason, right?

           

Yeah, I kept telling myself that.

           

Mom was a wreck for a while, and she was gone a lot, leaving Theo and I to kind of raise ourselves. I don’t blame her for not being there, though. She had enough on her plate to deal with.

           

That difficult year passed and I grew up. Dad had left on his own accord. He’d left because he was tired of us. He wanted to follow his dreams.

           

Good moral teachings, Dad. Following your dreams doesn’t mean leave your kids and your wife high and dry.

           

Theo and I were forced to grow up quicker than most kids. We attended school like the good little children we were, putting on a happy face for those who didn’t know us very well.

           

Elementary and middle school passed by quickly, and then the hell known as high school entered my life. I was ready to get the classes over with and to graduate and be on my way in life. I was completely ready to resist peer pressures to drink and do drugs and whatever else people my age did.

 

The only soul I met who seemed to understand me on my very own level was a girl named Sabra. She was quite the strange one, always speaking her mind on different (and, in my opinion, boring) pieces of literature and comparing them to every day life.

           

We met in the ninth grade, and clicked as soon as we started speaking. With my sarcastic demeanor and her knack for fiction, the two of us created the most idiotic and ridiculous plan ever created between people who are not exactly adults:

           

We vowed to lose our virginity by graduation.

           

But that isn’t the entire plot of my story. I’m here to tell you the events that occurred in my final year of high school. It might be that as you read on, you’re going to try and predict what’s going to happen—but in honor of one of my favorite directors, M. Night Shymalan, there’s a twist at the end. And don’t even think about reading the last page first.

           

This isn’t one of those “moral-filled” stories that in the end basically tells you that everything worked out and we all lived happily ever after… that’s called make believe. This story is my life whether you like it or not.

           

Get over it.

Author's Note

Hope this sounds good! Let me know what you think! CC is welcome! <3 Bella

Reviews

[Hairythoughts]

I don't usually read or even like stories that are too close to real life. Nonetheless, I read through this and I even kinda liked it :) keeps you going, nice story flow

[Alex Thomas]

The character has an excellent voice. And no offense to your protagonist, but after "Lady In The Water", "The Happening" and "The Last Airbender" I have absolutely no faith in M. Night anymore. The introduction feels a bit forced, but that's okay.

[Constance]

Looking good, sounding good, makes me want to read more. :) You may try combining some of your paragraphs to make it flow more smoothly. The ideas in Paragraphs 3 and 4, for example, can really fit into one longer paragraph. 1 and 2 could also be combined.

[Samuel Dickens]

I'll soon be sounding like a broken record, but you display a skill and maturity in your writing that is way beyond your years. Your english teachers must have cried when you left thier classes. Unfornunately, I'm too ill-educated to fully explain all the things you're doing right. I know what looks and sounds good, so based on that, I think you've got what it takes to go far.