Chapter 1: This is gonna be one heck of a day...

Margaret Silver sighed. It was another Monday morning and her daughter was still, supposedly, asleep in her room. It was either that, or the possibility that she had her nose in another one of those annoying Japanese comic books.

All of her bets were on the, "annoying-foreign-graphic-novel" theory.
Ever since Emerald's father, Jonathan Silver started a new top-secret project with his company, he had been constantly traveling back and forth between America and Japan. Hence why Emerald had so many One Piece volumes.
"EMERALD!" Margaret called up the stairs, "EMERALD GET UP! YOU HAVE TO GO TO SCHOOL! REMEMBER?"
There was no response.
"For Pete's sake..." She stormed up the stairs.
Emerald D. Silver, huddled under her covers and still in her PJ's, flipped through her new volume of One Piece. She absolutely adored the series, and the sense of magic portrayed in each and every one of Echiiro Oda's characters. The book that she currently held in her hand was a point in the series in which, the Straw-Hat Pirates meet up with Nefeltari Vivi, the princess of a desert kingdom, and quickly learn that her homeland is in grave danger. Vivi, Luffy and the crew search frantically for the man behind it all. This man went by the alias of Mr. 0, but was publicly known as-

Suddenly, the bedroom door knob rattled.
"EMERALD."
The door flew open and in came her mother, blond bed-head, and blue eyes piercing like sharp knives.
"Wake up! It's already 7:00! You're going to be late for the bus, again!" She prodded at the lump under the covers. "Emerald Diana Silver, get your butt out of bed and into the shower, right now! Are you even listening?"
"Mum! Knock it off. I'm coming."
"Then come out from under there."
"I will..."
A few minutes passed in silence.
"NOW, Emerald."
Emerald didn't respond.
"Emerald, are you reading those stupid comic books again?"
Still no response.
Frustrated, Mrs. Silver ripped the blankets up off of Emerald.
"HEY!" Emerald shouted in surprise.
"Emerald. Stop reading those stupid picture books. Besides aren't they for five year olds?" she snatched the book from Emerald. "Give me that..."
"Excuse me? A: They're called Mangas, and B- HEY! WAIT! I was reading that!"
"And you can read it later when you get home this afternoon and finish your homework."
"MOM-"
"I don't want to hear it Emerald. Now get yourself out of bed and get ready."
Emerald pouted in frustration and jumped out of bed.
"Stupid uncultured mother..." She grumbled.
"What was that, Missy?" Her mother snapped.
Emerald felt a sudden wave of arrogance wash over her. "You heard me."
"Emerald!"
"I don't have to listen to you."

Her mother bit her lower lip. Margaret Silver was famous for biting her lip whenever she felt angry or upset. "Give me your phone and your car keys. You're taking the bus."
"No."
"NOW. GIVE THEM TO ME NOW, EMERALD."

"Well maybe I don't want to."

"Well maybe you're going to. I don't want to ask you again."

Emerald groaned again and threw the keys to her mother.
"I'm so sick of you always taking control of my life! You do realize that I'm seventeen now, right? I think I can handle myself and my problems on my own, don't you think?"

She stomped down the stairs to the bathroom and slammed the door shut. Her fuming mother followed.
"EMERALD, THAT IS NO WAY TO TREAT YOUR MOTHER! OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW!"
"I DON'T HAVE TO!" Emerald shouted through the door.
"EMERALD I WILL COUNT TO THREE AND YOU BETTER OPEN THIS DOOR." Her mother was enraged now. "ONE."
"I'M NOT THREE MOM! YOU REALLY THINK THAT'S GOING TO WORK?"
"TWO."
"ALL YOU DO IS RUIN MY LIFE! I CAN'T HAVE ANY TIME TO MYSELF OR EVEN TAKE CARE OF MY OWN PROBLEMS! DID YOU EVER WONDER WHY THAT HAPPENS?"
There was a cold silence.
"Is that really what you think of me?" Margaret spoke in an icy tone. "After I take you, and your brat-friends out every single day. I drive you around and never get anything in return. And then on top of it all your father comes home with these stupid books to distract you from your chores. THEN I'm the only one left to do all the work around the house. I clean your room. I do the bills. I wash the dishes. And what have you done? What do you do in return? Absolutely nothing!"
"That's a load of Bull," Emerald retorted. "You always complain that your life is boring and you go out all the time. We always go where YOU want to go. And also since when do my Manga books and Dad have anything to do with this? Mom, do you have any idea how unbelievably hypocritical you sound-"
"Just take your shower and get ready."
"Ooh. Looks like Mamma's giving up." Emerald taunted in a sarcastic tone; she couldn't seem to stop herself. "Come on you want say something else?"
The air grew still on both sides of the door.
"Until you learn to grow up, I suggest you say goodbye to your precious little picture books..." She muttered.
"I told you their called-"
"But until then they'll find a great home in the garbage can." Margaret interrupted.
Emerald whipped the door open. "You can't just do that! Besides those books have nothing to do with this!"
"Watch me."
"MOM-"
"Get in the shower, Emerald, you're going to be late for school."
"IF DAD WERE HERE, HE WOULDN'T LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS INSANITY!" Emerald flung the door so hard that it almost crashed though the framing.
She whipped the shower on and pulled the curtain shut. Grabbing the shampoo, she squeezed a flowery-scented liquid into her hand and frantically scrubbed her hair. The suds cleansed her anger and the sweet smell calmed her as well. Sometimes she liked to pretend that the shower was a hot spring or a secret spa that she only knew about.

The hot water melted her emotionally and washed away the remaining suds.
After turning the shower nozzle again she stepped out of the showers short steamy trance and immediately recalled her frustration.
In her towel, she ran back up the stairs to her bed room to finish getting ready.

Clothes were flying everywhere as Emerald ripped out her draws to find a suitable outfit for school.
She stopped. Something dawned on her.
Why did she always have to look nice for school? Why did she even have to worry about her studies?
Everyday she'd come home and stress constantly over her work.
If she missed one day, it wouldn't make much of a difference. Not once had she taken a sick day off of school, so why not take one off today?
But, her mother was probably frustrated enough, and wouldn't fall for a faked illness. Then again, what if she pretended to go to school?

It was a beautiful day. "Such a beautiful day shouldn't be wasted." She slyly whispered to herself. "I think I'll take a walk to the dunes at the beach."
Emerald emptied all of her text books, binders and supplies out of her backpack, stuffing them under her bed, then searched around her room for items to take to the town beach. Keeping an eye on the time, she slipped on a red, two-piece bathing suit, jumped into a pair of jeans, and threw on a blue and white striped hoodie over the bathing suit. By the time she finished getting ready, the clock read, "7:00 AM."

She ran downstairs, and without her mother noticing, Emerald grabbed the One Piece book she had previously been reading. She flew out the door like a shot and headed down the street towards the beach.