STRANDED (THE WILDS KIRIN O'CONNOR)

PRE ISLAND PT 1

I groan as my alarm sounds signaling I need to get up for school, I roll over and turn it off. I pick up my phone from my night stand and scroll through Snapchat and answer all my friends.

I eventually get up and head to the bathroom and hope in the shower I play some music to help me wake up more as I wash my hair. Once I'm done I stand other the shower head and let the hot water pound on my back as I feel my muscles relax.

I sigh and shut the water off and brush out my hair and apply curling cream to my hair. I quickly brush my teeth as I hum along with my music.

"Hmm, am I feeling shorts or jeans?" I ask myself before going with the shorts. I picked out a pair of flowy army green shorts, a white cropped tank, and my birkenstocks.

I head downstairs and into the kitchen where my father sits at the table reading the newspaper and my mother at the stove cooking. "Good morning mom, good morning dad." My mom turns around and smiles brightly at me "Good morning sweet heart."

"Ah morning Emma, how did you sleep?" My father asks. I pull the chair from beside him out and sit down "Good, I was up late studying for a geometry test I have later today." My father nods in approval.

"Good, you know education is very important. A good education can get you a lot of things in life such as. Colleges, jobs, success." I nod at my father.

"Orange juice, coffee, or tea. Sweetie?" "Uh. Coffee is good." My mom nods and pours coffee into a mug for me and places at the placemat in front of me, "Be careful it's very hot."

Soon we are eating breakfast as a family and making small talk like we do every morning without fail.

"Ok I'm heading to school bye!" I shout from the door as I sling my back pack on my shoulders "Have a great day sweetie!" I hear my mom holler back as my dad comes up and hugs me "Have an excellent day and good luck on that geometry test."

I pull away from the hug and smile brightly at my father "Thank you."

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The bell rings as I walk out of my geometry class and head to world history when Victoria approaches me "Emma, hey! You look so stylish today." She flashes me her bright veneered filled smile. I smile back "Thank you Victoria, I love your heels."

"Oh, thank you! Daddy got them for me as an apology because he couldn't make it to my cheer competition." I nod "That's so nice."

She smiles as she walks off and over to her friends Taylor and Courtney. I roll my eyes as I open the bathroom door and enter a stall, Victoria and I aren't friends. Not really, she fakes being my friend and then goes and talks shit behind my back.

I fake being nice to her but I don't go and talk shit, I don't care too and I'm to busy doing other stuff. I hear the bathroom door open and more then one girl walks in.

"Oh my god! Sheila! Trevor just sent me a picture of Emma's dad at the diner kissing a girl." "Uh, yeah his wife."

"No! Sheil. This is like some bimbo blonde straight hair, tats on her arms." I press my ear into the stall to make sure I'm hearing this correctly.

"Oh my god, does Emma know?" "Doubt it, she came to school all happy and dressed so cute. Plus her dad is district attorney he could get in trouble if Trevor posts this online."

The girls leave saying how they texted Trevor not to do anything with the photo, I silently thanked them for being so nice and decided I was going to see this myself.

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I made it to the diner and sat myself at the far end of the room from my dad, I pulled the menu up to block my face. I watched my dad reach across the table and grab the woman's hand and rub his thumb over her knuckles.

I felt my blood boil, I watched as they stood up to say their goodbyes and my dad kissed her on the lips before hugging one another. I was enraged that my dad would cheat on my mom.

She works so hard at her job and then comes home and cooks dinner and makes sure both my dad and I are well supported, whatever we need my mother always provides it.

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I walk up my small stone drive way and pause at the campaign sign in our lawn that reads "Steven James, for district attorney. Loyalty, honesty, integrity."

"What a big fucking lie." I mutter angrily as I open the front door to my house, no one is home so I take this opportunity to chill in my room and think if I should say something or not. Time passes a lot faster then I thought I got home from school at 3:30 and now it is 7.

"Emma honey, dinner is ready." I hear my mother shout from down stairs, I get off my bed and make my way down the stairs and sit in my usual spot.

"Emma, how was school today?" My mother asks sweetly I take a bite of the dinner she made which consisted of chicken pot pie, and a grilled chicken salad. "It was good, how was your day?"

"It was fine, just usual boring work stuff." I nod my head at my mom "Dinner is great mom." She smiles at me "Oh thank you honey, I added something different to the pot pie."

"Well dinner is resplendent dear." My father tells my mother "Thank you darling, I'm always trying to better my skills and it's always best to start in the family." My mother speaks as she takes a bite of her food.

"Yes, I couldn't agree more Rose. Family is the most important thing a person can have, we must do all we can to protect and maintain the peace and love." My father boasts

"Oh fucking blow me." I say under my breath my mother gasps from across the table "Emma!" "I refuse to sit here and listen to you go on and on about how important family is when it's just a loud of bullshit to you." I snap at my dad.

"Emma!" "No stop it dad, you're such a hypocrite. I'm not stupid I saw you today, you're such a liar and a cheating piece of shit!"

"Excuse me?" "Oh stop, the diner today? Yeah I was there and I saw you with that woman. Holding her hand kissing her." "Steven, is this true?" My mother asks

"Emma. Honey, whatever you saw or think you saw-" I cut my dad off in shock "Are you seriously trying to gaslight me right now? I was there! I saw you with my own eyes."

My dad starts to speak and try to talk his way out of this situation he has found himself in, but I'm so livid all I hear is ringing as my vision blurs. I stand up not being able to take this ringing anymore.

I pick up my plate from dinner and smash it on the table shattering our expensive glass dinner table, "Stop lying, stop being a politician for one fucking minute!" I scream at my dad.

"Can't you just...be my dad?" My voice cracks at the end my dad sighs sadly "Emma, that women you saw me with wasn't my lover or some random girl. That was your birth mother."