Hi everyone, I'm back with the second chapter of my new story! I hope you're enjoying it so far, I'm really enjoying writing it, but then again, I love Malcolm in the Middle so it's easy to write stories about!
By the way, thank you to MangaFan14 for the review, I really appreciate it!
Anyway enjoy!
~ CHAPTER TWO ~
MOVING IN AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Emily Johnson was sat in her parents' car on her way to their new home in California, desperately trying to block out her parents seemingly never-ending argument about why they had to move from Chicago to California. Neither her mum or her dad were happy about having to move to a completely different state, but they had both received a promotion from their company and one of the conditions of them accepting it was that they and Emily had to move to California, much to Mr and Mrs Johnsons' disdain. It had caused so much upheaval for them, because after all they had to sort out a new house, their new jobs and get their daughter into a good, respectable school for her to complete her education.
Emily on the other hand was looking forward to moving to somewhere new. Back in Chicago she did not have any friends and had never been very popular at school or in her neighbourhood, so she was seen as a bit of a loner. However, Emily was excited about a move to California because she saw it as potentially being a fresh start for her as a person in general, as well as socially. Emily hoped she would be able to make at least one friend here and perhaps even find a boyfriend, although in the back of her mind, she knew she was just being optimistic. After all, she had always been an outsider, so she wasn't sure that she would be any different in California.
Emily was eighteen years old and about to start her final year at school. She was very intelligent and she got mostly A's and B's at school, in fact some people even considered her to be a genius, but she didn't care what they said because she had no interest in being a genius, her most important goal in life was to have fun. Emily was incredibly beautiful, as she had long light brown hair with red and blonde streaks in it, which fell down past her shoulders. Her eyes were green and beautiful. They showed all her emotions and they were truly the window to her soul that would allow anyone to see directly into her heart.
Emily had a heart of gold and would help anyone who needed her help. She would always listen to people's problems and try to give advice on them. She loved wrestling, despite being a girl and she was very unique as a person, which could have been one of the reasons as to why she did not have any friends, because after all, Emily knew it was strange for a girl to like wrestling.
Although Emily was very beautiful, she had never had a boyfriend in her life, and she had never been kissed. It was true that if Emily had a boyfriend, he would mean everything to her, but because she had never had a boyfriend, Emily was also very nervous about the whole idea of love, and this fact had haunted Emily for most of her life. Despite being scared of love, all Emily desired was to be loved, be it by friends or by a boyfriend, all she wanted was someone who would treat her like she was actually important for once.
For Emily, her family was the central thing in her world. She wan an only child who lived with her mother and father, but sometimes she felt like she lived all alone because she never saw her mother and father. Emily's parents were both property developers and were always busy with their jobs, so they never had much time for their daughter. Emily was always at home on her own, so much so that she had developed fantastic practical skills and a great survival of the fittest instinct, which she often used to her advantage.
However, all Emily wanted was for her parents to spend time with her and love her. They barely even talked to her and that upset Emily more than anything, because it meant that she had to deal with all her problems by herself and she never had anyone to be there for her.
Because Emily's parents were always away at work, they brought Emily lots of gifts to compensate for this. Emily had so many DVD's and CD's that she had lost count of them all. However, Emily, although she was grateful for these gifts, did not really want them, because all she wanted was for her parents to pay attention to her and show her love.
Emily's parents argued a lot and they always seemed to be stressed. It worried Emily when her parents argued because Emily was convinced that their arguing would lead to her family being broken up and her life being even worse than it already was.
With that thought in mind Emily sighed as she looked out of the window at the beautiful passing countryside, as the Johnsons' car entered California.
"Why do we have to move to California anyway?" asked Emily's mother Carol angrily.
"It's part of our job!" said Emily's father Peter, just as angrily.
"But we still shouldn't have to move to a completely different state, it's an injustice!" shouted Carol.
"Well the alternative was losing our jobs!" shouted Peter "did you want that to happen?"
"Of course not, our jobs are the most important things to us!" screamed Carol "but look at the upheaval it has caused!"
"I know, but there's nothing we can do!" shouted Peter.
"We could move back to Chicago!" screeched Carol.
"But then you'd probably whine about the upheaval that would cause too!" roared Peter "there's just no pleasing you is there?"
"Well I'm sorry if me not being happy because I've had to move away from my home and my family is an inconvenience for you!" yelled Carol.
"Well you're just going to have to accept it!" bellowed Peter "because nothing is going to change, no matter how much you whine or moan, it is not going to change. The whole world does not revolve around you, you know!"
"Well it sure doesn't revolve around you does it?" shouted Carol "and I don't moan and whine, I've learnt not too because it gets me nowhere with you! You just do not listen!"
"It's hard to listen to someone when you are constantly bored by them!" shouted Peter viciously.
"Oh you're bored by me are you?" shouted Carol "well why did you marry me then? Tell me, I'm dying to know!"
"I don't know why I married you!" bellowed Peter "you used to be fun, but now I just don't know who you are anymore and I'm losing sight of the reason why I did marry you in the first place!"
"And you don't think that it's the same for me!" shrieked Carol "I miss the person you used to be Peter, and for that reason I've also lost sight of why I married you which is so sad considering how quickly I fell in love with you. I just can't believe you're making me go through with it!"
"Hey don't pin this all on me!" shouted Peter "you agreed to the new job too, so it's not all my fault!"
"Whatever," said Carol venomously "it doesn't matter now anyway because we're here, so this is our new home then?"
"Yes!" snapped Peter "is that all right for you?"
"I guess I'll adapt to it!" muttered Carol.
With that Emily's parents got out of the car and slammed the doors, leaving their daughter in the car in shock. Emily had never heard her parents argue that viciously before, and it scared her. Emily climbed out of the car and as she did this she wiped a few stray tears out of her eyes.
Emily grabbed her suitcase, which lay on the pavement. Her parents had already stormed inside the house in a bad mood, so this gave Emily time to look at the house she would be living in for the foreseeable future. The house was a bungalow, and quite a big bungalow at that. It looked like an old country cottage, and it had a quaint charm, which Emily loved, because it instantly made her feel at home and incredibly safe. The front garden was full of roses and Emily loved the scent that hit her nose as she walked through the small wooden gate and up the garden path.
Emily opened the front door and walked into the living room, which had a cream carpet, and a nice open fire, as well as all of her family's furniture which had been moved in earlier that day by the removal company.
Emily could hear her parents in one of the two bedrooms, arguing viciously once again. She sighed as she realised that she was far less important to her parents than their jobs, so she dragged her suitcase to the other bedroom ready for her to start unpacking. The other bedroom was pretty big, it was about the same size as Emily's room in her old home, so she didn't have much to adapt to, although she wouldn't have minded if her bedroom had been incredibly small. All of Emily's furniture was already in her room, so all she had to do was unpack her stuff, like her CD's, DVD's, books and clothes and this suited her just fine, so she started, hoping to get it done quickly, so she could go and explore.
Sure enough Emily's plan worked perfectly and within half an hour she had unpacked everything and was ready to go and explore the strange new world that she had only moved to today. Although Emily did not have any friends and was not very confident when it came to socialising, she had an unparalleled sense of adventure that was never satisfied. She loved to go and explore new places and even in places that she knew, Emily still enjoyed simply wandering around in the wilderness, because she loved the feeling of freedom she got from being able to wander around.
Again Emily could hear her parents arguing. It really upset her every time her parents argued because, although Emily knew her family was quite dysfunctional if she was honest, she always thought her parents were close with regards to their marriage. After all, when she was younger Emily never heard her parents argue, but then again, it was only when she was ten years old that they got these high flying jobs and they became stressed. Emily had always believed it had been the stress caused by their jobs, which had started the arguments and the unhappiness within her parents' marriage and her family in general.
Emily lay on her bed gazing up at the ceiling, trying desperately to shut off so that she could escape from the arguing, which was getting louder and louder. However, as hard as she tried, Emily just could not escape from the noise and it started to upset her more and more. Maybe the hurt that Emily was feeling was down to the fact that her parents were arguing, but in Emily's mind, she thought that the upset was more likely down to the fact that she felt all alone in this world because her parents paid no attention to her. This had been evident to Emily since she was thirteen years old and it had haunted her ever since because all she wanted was love from her parents, but she was always second best to their jobs. In fact, Emily's parents hardly ever talked to her, they just left her to her own devices, which upset Emily even more, but had also worked to her advantage in helping her to develop fantastic practical skills.
Suddenly Emily heard her mother shout;
"Emily can you come here for a minute please?"
"Just a second Mum!" replied Emily.
Emily was for some unknown reason, slightly nervous about going into the living room where she knew her parents now were, after they had moved rooms about ten minutes ago. Despite her nerves Emily took a deep breath, which calmed her down, even if it was only slightly. After that, she climbed off the bed and walked down the corridor and towards the living room where her parents were sat on either side of the room glaring at each other.
"What is it?" asked Emily curiously.
"Sit down Emily!" said Carol sombrely.
"What's wrong Mum?" asked Emily curiously and worriedly, as she sat down on the sofa "Dad?"
"We have something to tell you!" said Peter.
"OK then," said Emily, who was now getting seriously worried "what is it? Please tell me!"
"It's something very serious!" said Carol.
"Yeah I gathered that!" said Emily quietly, as she became more and more nervous about this inevitable news.
"It's something that will change your life forever!" said Carol in a slow voice that made Emily panic even more.
"OK…" said Emily slowly.
"It'll probably upset you too!" said Carol.
"All right then," said Emily "but I think even if I do get upset, I'll be fine in the end, so just tell me!"
"I don't want you to think that we don't love you!" said Carol worriedly "you won't think that will you?"
"No Mum of course not!" said Emily, who wasn't lying because she already thought her parents didn't love her so therefore nothing could change "I know you'll always love me no matter what!"
"That's good then," said Carol, managing a weak smile "but I'm not sure how to tell you!"
"Just tell me Mum!" said Emily sighing "I'm sure I'll be able to handle it even if I do get upset!"
"No, I'm not sure you will be able to handle it Emily!" said Carol defiantly "I know how tough you are mentally, but this might be the thing that throws you over the edge and I don't want to do that!"
"Mum I've been through so much in the past, I'm sure I'll be able to deal with this," said Emily "why don't you just tell me?"
"Are you sure?" asked Carol, who was desperately seeking reassurance from her daughter.
"Yes Mum, please just tell me all right?" said Emily, in a slightly exasperated voice "I will be able to deal with it!"
"But what if you can't?" asked Carol.
"I will be able to, I promise!" said Emily.
"But…" said Carol in an unsure voice.
"Oh for goodness' sake Carol!" snapped Emily's dad Peter, nastily "just tell her will you. We need to get this over with and she's said she can deal with it, so just tell her now!"
It was as if time had stopped for a couple of minutes. Emily glanced backward and forward between her mother and father, waiting, desperately wishing that someone would say something and break the awkward silence. Meanwhile, Emily's mother and father were glaring at each other, just like when Emily had first walked into the room. However, there was one key difference this time and that was that the glares were far more intense, and this meant that Emily was sure something very serious was wrong and also that she became even more worried.
"You want me to tell her?" asked Carol in a soft, but dangerous voice that oozed malice.
"Yes that's why I told you to hurry up and tell her!" said Peter nastily.
"OK then, well I'm going to tell her the whole story then," said Carol, smirking "she'll know the whole truth!"
"Fine by me!" said Peter nonchalantly.
"What is going on!" shouted Emily in an exasperated voice "will someone tell me please?"
"You want to know do you?" asked Carol in an angry voice "you want to know the whole truth?"
"Of course I want to know!" said Emily "what is going on?"
"You're father and I are getting a divorce!" said Carol.
"What?" said Emily in a shocked voice, as she looked from her mother to her father and back again "why?"
"Because we've just fallen out of love with each other!" said Peter, trying to pacify his daughter.
"You know full well that's not the only reason," exploded Carol "tell her the whole truth!"
"That is the truth!" said Peter defensively.
"No it's not and you know it!" said Carol viciously "another reason we split up is because you decided that I wasn't good enough for you so you started sleeping with your twenty four year old receptionist, and I found out, and you know what? I won't stand for it!"
"What?" said Emily, who was now close to tears, as she realised her family was falling apart "is that true Dad?"
"Yes," said Peter "but you have to understand Emily that I just couldn't put up with your mother's moaning all the time!"
"That's no reason to go and sleep with your receptionist!" screamed Carol.
"Well it was the only thing I could think of at the time!" said Peter defensively "besides, you forgot the other reason why we're splitting up!"
"There's another reason?" asked Emily incredulously.
"What do you mean?" asked Carol.
"The fact that we're both so stressed that we've given up!" bellowed Peter "the fact that we don't care anymore and we both want out of this marriage!"
"Oh yeah I forgot!" shouted Carol "but trust me, no one could want out of this hell more than me!"
"Oh yeah?" yelled Peter "you don't know how I feel!"
"Whatever!" said Carol venomously "so Emily are you all right with this?"
"Of course I'm not!" shouted Emily "the whole family is breaking up!"
"You're just going to have to accept it Emily!" said Peter "nothing is going to change this!"
"I know," said Emily "I just wish this was all a bad dream!"
"Yes," said Peter "by the way, I'm not moving out for a couple of days, I have to wait until my new apartment is sorted, so hopefully you should have time to get used to the changes!"
"I'll never get used to it!" shouted Emily "I need some time to think, I'm going out for a while!"
Emily's parents didn't say anything so Emily got up and walked into her room and grabbed her jacket, phone and keys, while still trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall. After that, Emily simply walked out of the house without even stopping to talk to her parents.
Emily felt the cool breeze hit her face and she started to relax, even if it was just by a little bit. She didn't know where she was going but her feet seemed to guide her to a small park that was not far away from her home. As she walked down the street Emily saw there were various bungalows that were just like hers. She loved where she lived instantly because it made her feel safe and like she actually belonged to a community for once.
Soon Emily was at the park, and she breathed a sigh of relief as she finally felt at peace. She glanced around the park which was bathed in sun and saw families playing together, willow trees and various benches. This place was so beautiful that Emily got goose bumps. Emily decided to sit under one of the willow trees so that she would be in the shade and so that she could relax, so she sat under a willow tree, breathed in the scent of the bark, and let the tears that she had held back for so long, fall with increasing pace, as the fact that her parents were getting a divorce finally sunk in.
So what did you think? Let me know!
In case you're wandering Reese and Emily meet each other in the next chapter, but that's all I'm telling you! :)
Anyway thanks for reading! I'll update soon, so I'll see you then!
