Chapter 2: Chapter 2

The day is here for Emily. High school has always been a dream where she will meet the person who she is going to spend the rest of her life with, walking down the hallway holding hands, sharing kisses before class and being adored by the famous boy of school is all that she had dreamt about from her early age as a reader. The Sunlight enters from Emily’s window making her body sparkle like a water stream; the sunlight runs through her body onto her face waking her up. She slightly opens her eyes a little to see if the day she has been waiting for the time since she was a child is finally here.

She throws the blanket off and gets out of the bed, walking towards her dressing table in her pyjamas. She stands in front of the mirror, brushing her hair for the perfect first-day look. She takes a self-knitted white turtle-neck sweater out from the closet, which she knitted herself after watching Chris Evans in Knives Out and denim jeans with no stain on them as if it has just been picked from a rack on levis and heads into the bathroom to change.

The name Margaret appears on the screen of her phone with a picture of Margaret’s face, keeps on ringing when Emily comes out in a hurry from the washroom. She grabs the phone, “Hey, were you asleep?” Margaret asks.

To which she replies in her low pitch voice, “Nah! I woke up early just heading out in 10 minutes; where are you and the others?” asks Emily.

She picks up a long pink coat with black round buttons and a neon green leather jacket with a diagonal zipper and looks into the mirror to see which one goes with her look while talking to Margaret on the phone. “I was talking to Daniel and Claire; they will both meet us at school,” Margaret says on the phone.

Emily still thinks about which one she should go for, the pink or the green one, when her mother calls her name from downstairs, “Okay, I’ll see you guys there then bye”, she replies to Margaret and disconnects the call. “Coming, Mum!” she says in a slight high tone and puts on the green leather jacket.

Emily comes downstairs in her perfect outfit and goes into the kitchen where her mum is standing by the stove in her blue medical scrubs, making almond pancakes. She walks over to her mother and kisses her on the cheek; her mother sets a plate with two almond pancakes on the wooden table, and she tells Emily to sit at the table and help herself with fruit and yoghurt. Mrs Stone takes Emily’s hand and brushes Emily’s hair with her fingers, “I am very excited about today.” Emily says while eating her pancakes.

“I know, and I have something special to give you today.” Mrs Stone says and passes a small wooden box to Emily. Emily opens the box's lid, and inside she finds a shiny silver chain with a small silver crescent hanging to it. “Your father gave it to me when you were born and told me to give it to you when you have grown up, and I think you are a grown-up now.” Mrs Stone says with tears in her eyes.

Emily hugs her mother and comforts her, “Hey! There’s no need

to cry; Dad is in a better place.” says Emily.

Emily picks up the necklace, and her mother helps her to put it on. Mrs Stone clears her tears, smiles and kisses Emily on the forehead, “Now head out or you’ll be late” Emily grabs her bag, and they both head out.

They arrive at Darth High. Emily steps out of the car with her bag on her shoulder. She passes the parked cars; as she turns, she sees Claire coming to her in a blue denim short skirt and a white silk top and a denim jacket, her hair tied back. Accompanying her is Daniel with his short brunette hair in an army green jacket with sleeves folded and Margaret with her curly hair all down in a red vine sweater holding books in her arms. Claire and friends hug Emily, “I was looking for you all to find out how your vacation went?” Emily asks.

Clair says, “Well, my mum and I went on holiday to see my uncle Philip in England.”

Daniel wraps his arm around Margaret and pulls her closer, “Margaret here spent her vacation looking into ancient history as usual, and I have been busy with the Football team; since they have hired this new coach, the training has been way tougher, you know, I better go and see the coach before class, see ya.” and he leaves.

The girls walk down the hallway by the lockers, talking about how they each spend their vacation. When Emily mistakenly hits a guy’s shoulder and drops her bag. She gets onto her knees to pick it up, and her head smashes into this dark brown-haired guy. She looks up, and there is a pair of deep blue eyes staring into her. The eyes make a perfect match with that strong jawline. The guy extends his arm, “Here, I am so sorry”, the guy says in his deep soft voice.

Emily can’t move her eyes from the guy even though she wants to. She takes her bag and says, “It is okay. I watch where I am going.” and laugh lightly.

“I am Ethan, Ethan Price,” he says with his eyes fixed on Emily

and extends his hand out.

“Emily, Emily Stone.” Emily takes his hand.

Claire jumps in from Emily’s back and says, “Hi, I am Claire, and this is Margaret; we are her friends.”

Ethan and Emily break eye contact and let go of each other’s hand. “Hi, good to see you all. I better get going.” he says in a breaking hesitant voice, “Bye.” Then leaves.

Emily turns, and Claire is standing with her chin high as an eagle, her arms folded on her chest, and she is looking at Emily with a smirk on her face. “What?” Emily says with a laugh in her voice and walks by them.

“C’mon, we saw you two; your eyes were locked into each

other’s,” Claire says in a childish tone.

Emily opens her locker and put her bag in, and asks Margaret, “

can you please tell Claire to stop daydreaming.”

Margaret puts her arm on Emily’s shoulder and says to Claire, “Yeah, Claire, stop teasing her about her boyfriend.”

Both the girls give each other a high five and burst into laughter. Emily walks away and heads to her class with a smile on her face.

The bell rings, and Emily comes out with Daniel from the

classroom. “So, I heard you met Ethan Price,” Daniel says.

“Not you too, please; we have just met; it’s nothing,” Emily says

while she hit Daniel with her notebook.

“What? I am not teasing or anything, but Claire told me how you both were lost in each other’s eyes.” with a laugh, Daniel says.

Emily blushes. The two meet Claire and Margaret, and three of them continue teasing Emily when Margaret sees Ethan coming and says, “Hey, we are going to Rob’s after school, right?”

Claire, in her accent, “For sure, gal. It’s a tradition, c’mon.” Emily, while looking into her locker, “Of course, we are.” Ethan stops at the group, “Hey guys”.

“Ethan! Hey.” all three says together.

Emily turns, and the two smile at each other. Daniel shakes his hand with Ethan. “Hey, we haven’t met yet, right? I am Daniel.”

“So, you guys heading somewhere after school?” Ethan asks the

group while looking at Emily.

“Yeah, Rob’s. It’s something we have been doing since

childhood.” Margaret tells him

Claire jumps in as usual, “Why don’t you join us? It would be fun. Knowing each other better, right Emily?” and looks at Emily.

Emily, with a clear face this time, looks at Ethan and says in a confident voice, “Yeah, it will be fun if you come.”

Ethan agrees then leaves.

Clair parks her car right outside Rob’s. The red sign on top of the

America diner is red with a yellow outline around Rob’s name. The group can see Ethan sitting inside by the counter. They enter, and a chubby guy with a bald head looks at them, “Hey, I was wondering when you four will drop by”. the kid has been waiting for y’all,” says Rob.

“Hey, Rob. Hey, Ethan,” all say together while walking to the counter and get seated.

“Let me see, the usual cheeseburgers for the ladies and meatball sandwich for Daniel and 4 Robby special milkshakes?” Rob says while looking at the kids.

“You are the best, Rob,” Claire says while blowing a kiss to him.

“Yeah, I have known you since you were kids, little miss.” He winks at them “what will your friend here have?” asks Rob while cleaning the deck.

“Robby’s special, I guess,” says Ethan.

Rob heads inside, and Ethan leans toward the group and asks in a low voice, “what is Robby’s special?”

Emily trying match his voice, “We don’t know.” and they all start to laugh.

Rob comes out with the order and serves the plates to the group. Ethan lifts up his glass of Robby’s special to drink it but stops with the straw in his mouth. He looks at Emily, and she gestures him to take a sip, and so he does, “This is good; I wonder why I never tried it before.”

“Told ya!” Margaret says while taking a chip from her plate. Claire turns to Ethan and asks, “So Ethan! We haven’t seen you

in Darthwood before; where are you from?”

“You must have heard of the new mayor Byron Price, the one who moved here from Falls Church. I am his son. My family used to live here, but my grandfather moved to Falls Church when my father was very young.” Ethan tells them while taking another sip of Robby’s special.

Margaret interrupts, “Wait, you’re from the Price Family? As in

one of the founding families of Darthwood?”

Ethan shakes his head in agreement and asks, “Hey, you guys have any plans for tonight? If not, then you all must come to my

place. I am throwing a fresher’s party tonight, and well, the whole school is invited, but I wanted to invite you guys by

myself, so will you be there?” he says while looking at Emily.

“A party? Of course, we all shall be there, right Em?” asks Claire with excitement.

Emily looks at her and agrees. “So, it is settled. I’ll see you guys at my place by 8’o clock.” He picks up his bag from the floor and turns to Emily. “I’ll wait for you.” He whispers the words into her ear and leaves.

Emily gets up after finishing her meal. “I gotta go, have to return

this book and get a new one,” she says while getting her things.

Daniel picks the book Emily put on the table. “To All the Boy I’ve Loved Before! Well, books can be real too,” he says, and they all laugh.

Emily takes the book from Daniel and goes outside.

Emily enters the bookstore. At the front, she can see the shelf for sci-fi which she never liked. She takes a left and heads to the counter, “Hi, Mr Riley; I have finished this book.”

She returns the book, and Mr Riley takes it with his shivering hands. He gets up from his chair, and the chair makes all the squeaky noise it could have. He puts the book on the shelf behind him, where he keeps all the old books. He turns and let out the words with his squeaky voice, “Great dear, would you like another book? You can roam around and see what you like.”

Emily smiles at him and starts looking through the shelves. She passes through the sci-fi section without even giving it a look; she heads straight to the stand with the tag Romance on it and starts looking through the books. She closes her eyes and starts running her index finger through the books. This is something she always does while choosing a book. She keeps her eyes

locked and her finger running over the shelf to let fate choose a book for her. She runs her finger on the frame. She stops and opens her eyes; her finger is on a book named “Opposite of

Always by Justin A. Reynolds”. She takes it out of the shelf and heads to the counter. She gives the book to Mr Riley; he takes the book from her, blows the dust off his counter and sets the book down. He stops for a moment and starts looking here and there. “Now, where are my spectacles?”

He keeps on looking around the counter. “They are on your

head Mr Riley,” says Emily with a bit of a giggle.

Mr Riley takes his spectacles off his head and puts them on. He opens a drawer on his left and takes out a stamp and an inkpot. He dips the stamp into the ink and stamps it on a slip which he slides out from a basket next to him. He puts the date on the slip and gives it to Emily with the book. “I’ll see you next week, my dear”, says Mr Riley while giving Emily the book.

Emily takes the book from him and heads out of the door. She steps out of the shop and bumps into a stranger; they both fall to the ground. Emily gets up and looks at the stranger; the stranger is also getting up, shaking his head. His dark, messy hair falling onto his forehead. He dusts his black t-shirt, which is all covered with coffee; Emily approaches him. “Hey, I am so sorry. I spilt your coffee.”

The stranger turns the paper cup he is holding upside down and says in his sarcastic solid tone with his American accent, “Yeah! You did.”

“I said, I am sorry,” says Emily with a shrill in her voice.

“Watch where you’re going.” says the stranger with the same tone as he leaves.

Emily reaches home and heads straight to her room, and where she realises that she has spilt coffee on her sweater as well,

which she did not notice with that stranger scolding her. She heads to the washroom, opens the cabinet and takes out a box of detergent. She takes off her sweater and puts it in the washing machine with one spoon of detergent, and starts it up by pressing a button. She comes back to her room and slides open a drawer of her dresser. She takes out a violet top with sleeves down to her wrist and puts it on. She sits on her window seat and looks through the curtain to see outside. She opens the book which she just bought and start reading the first page.

It is half-past seven, and Emily is still waiting for Claire to come and pick her up. Emily heads down the stairs to the sitting room; she takes out a sticky note from the antique American cabinet and writes on it, “Going out with friends.” she sticks it on the fridge door and heads out. She is wearing the same violet top but with a brown jacket on this time. Claire wears an ace and beige shimmy dress with an orange jacket with her hair down to her shoulders. Emily gets into the car, and the three friends Emily, Claire and Daniel, head to Ethan’s place. “Margaret could not come because her grandmother got sick, so she had to stay with her,” says Ethan as Emily sits in the front seat.

The three drive through the city to the west of Darthwood, where Ethan’s lives. Daniel is sitting in the back, listening to music on his phone. Ethan’s lives in his ancestor’s mansion, His parents are out for a meeting with the council, so he has the whole place to himself. The three reach his home, and Claire drives in through the big metallic gate with spikes on the top. “Wow! He is rich,” says Claire.

She parks her car, and the three head inside. The whole school is here. They can see almost everyone here, from the biggest sporty to the biggest geek. Emily’s eyes are looking for Ethan, but all she can see is people from her school. Some by the bar drinking mocktails, some in the pool playing and spilling drink all over them, some playing beer pong. As they walk further, they

see a dance floor almost 20 feet long and wide and people dancing to the beat. “Hey, there he is,” says Daniel while pointing at the staircase.

The three see a storm of people heading down screaming with Ethan high up in their arms. Ethan sees Emily and her friends and asks the people to put him down. They do, and he heads to Emily. “Hey, you guys made it. Where Margaret ?” asks Ethan.

Daniel replies, “ill grandma, she had to bail.”

Claire looks around and then to Ethan, “You are rich.”

Ethan laughs and says, “Nah! My parents are.” He pauses for a moment and says, “Why don’t you guys enjoy the party.”

Daniel and Claire leave Emily with Ethan. Claire heads straight to the dance floor. She where she starts dancing with all the boys. Ethan takes Emily and shows her around the house. He takes her into a hall with five pictures hanging on the wall. On the other wall, there is a fireplace with logs in it, but the fire is out. Ethan takes Emily’s hand and takes her forward, and shows her the pictures. He stops in front of a picture, it is of a black and white picture; it has lost most of its colour and is now more greyish.

The man in the picture looks a lot like Ethan but 20 years older. “This is my grandfather. He fought in the First World War. It is from the time when he came to Darthwood with the other founding members.” He takes a break while speaking and looks at Emily. “Tell me about you.”

Emily clears her throat and runs her fingers through her hair; she takes some of the hair and put them behind her ears. “Well, I like to reading books, romance mostly. I live with my mum. My dad died three years ago”.

Ethan looks at Emily, “I am so sorry”, he says in a low voice.

Emily runs her fingers around her face. “Thanks! There was a fire at the church three years back on a Sunday, and he got in to save some people but couldn’t survive the burns. Well, my mom is a doctor, she works at the D.wood hospital, and that’s about it, I guess.” and she laughs confusingly.

Ethan holds Emily’s hand, and she stops laughing and looks at him. Ethan moves closer to her, and Emily does the same they both are close enough to hear each other’s heartbeat. Ethan moves closer to Emily’s face with his eyes closed. Emily lowers her eyes and locks them softly. The tips of their nose touch, and the lips are an inch away. Then suddenly, an intense light flashes through the window and interrupts the moment.

The sound of tires screeching is coming from outside Ethan’s house. The music stops, and everybody looks outside at the Jaguar standing in front of the entrance of Ethan’s house. The door opens up, and a guy steps out in black jeans, a black t-shirt and a shiny black leather jacket. He steps out, and following him comes four ladies in short dresses, two of them with long brunette hair and two with short blonde curls. The guy takes out a pair of black Gucci sunglasses from his jacket and puts them on. He grabs the girls from their back and heads inside to the party. Everybody is looking at this mysterious guy who has just appeared from nowhere. As he approaches the crowd, they all step back to give him way. He enters and stands at the main door, lowers his glasses and looks at the dance floor; he spots Claire still dancing. He smirks and pulls his hand from the girls he was holding, and heads to the dance floor. He approaches Claire, takes her by the hands. He spins her into his arm, raises the other into the air.