Virtual

Chapter Two

Emma was in a sour mood when she woke up on Saturday. Not only had she not defeated ihopandpancakes, Trevor did a rage quit on both her and James, leading to their enemy quitting the battle.

"Emma," her dad knocked on the door and cracked it open. "Come down for breakfast so we can leave by two-thirty. You don't want to miss Luke's film screening."

Luke was Emma's twenty year old brother who had a severe addiction to movies. He also had Asperger's Syndrome, but the family didn't really like to talk about it.

When Emma walked down the stairs, she groaned when she smelled bacon and pancakes.

I hate pancakes. In fact, I hate both IHOP and pancakes, Emma thought.

The entire family was in their pajamas, chatting away and watching television. Emma frowned, knowing she sometimes took her family for granted. She knew they looked like the perfect family and she knew for a fact that they were and they weren't.

Her dad was a lawyer, her mom an accountant, her brother a soon-to-be successful filmmaker and her sister a child prodigy.

And her? Well, she was completely normal, which bummed her out a bit.

"Hey, Emma." Luke greeted her with a small wave and a slight smile. His perfectly stacked pancakes and the perfect drizzle of pancake syrup on top made Emma jealous.

"I'm not eating pancakes today. I just want bacon." Emma grumbled.

"Now, Emma. Don't be a sour lemon and eat your breakfast." Her mom said, finishing up the last pieces of turkey bacon.

Her dad was cleaning the kitchen and smiled at Emma. "What's wrong with pancakes now?"

"She played Arc of Aramag all night last night. I know because I heard her shout at some person at the middle of the night." Avery piped up.

"Wow, Avery, why don't you take your snitchy self and go over to snitchy town to interact with all your other snitchy snitch friends?" Emma snapped.

"Emma, what did we say about staying up all night and playing video games?" Her mom turned around and peered at her through her glasses.

"That it's bad." Emma grumbled.

"And what do we say when we unreasonably call out our siblings and friends?"

"Mom, I'm eighteen. I can say what I want." Emma reasoned.

She hated that her parents had to treat them all like children, especially since Luke was basically a child and Avery was actually one.

"Emma." Her mom spoke in a serious tone.

"Sorry, Avery." Emma eyed Avery, who pouted.

When her mom turned around, she whispered into Avery's ears: "When you snitch like that ever again, I swear I will not hold back any secrets you tell me from mom and dad."

Avery narrowed her eyes. "You wouldn't."

"Oh, yes, I would."

That was the end of the conversation. After breakfast, Emma headed up into her room to clean it. It had been far too long since the floor had seen the light of day.