The Incorruptible Bond

Chapter 6

"So, how's my favorite daughter?" Ember's dad asked animatedly when he picked her up from school that day.

"Dad, I'm your only daughter," Em replied with a smile, though it was slightly off.

"True, but that's beside the point. So what did you do to get detention this time sweetie?"

"Which one?" She questioned, with a teasing grin. "Lunch detention was for getting to class late this morning."

"And the after-school detention?" He slowed down as a pedestrian hurriedly crossed the street, the stranger's light hair in a tight bun.

For some reason, Ember didn't want her father to know the real reason. She tried to find a false name, a false statement altogether, but nothing came to her mind.

"Well, I was trying to talk to this one girl, but she was shy and then things turned a little physical and--"

"It was a shy girl? One who never talks to the others? Why were you talking to her, and what's her name?" Em's dad interrupted and shot out questions like a machine gun.

"Whoa dad, why the sudden interest?" Ember was scared to answer any of his questions. She felt she had wronged her father by talking to Aurora, yet it almost seemed okay to do this wrong.

"You know I have issues against girls like that. What was her name?"

Ember sat quiet until they reached their home driveway. Her father locked the doors. "Her name, Ember."

"Hey, dad, wanna hear a joke?" Her father's oppressive stare did nothing for encouragement, but she waged on. "Did you hear about the walker that got his whole left side cut off?"

Her dad growled out an, "Ember."

"He's all right now," she finished and laughed at her own joke. Her dad quickly reached towards the door unlocking it.

"Get out!" Ember snatched her bag and exited the car as fast as she could. "This isn't over!" Em heard her father yell.

Dinner time came and they had yet to speak about the matter. Ember had ran to her room and stayed there, racking her brain for any excuse she could use. It was pointless, her mind was as blank as a fresh sheet of paper. Nothing came to her mind and she was mentally exhausted when she made her way to the dining room.

"Ember, you need to tell me who the girl was, now." The daughter's fork was the only thing making noise, it's clinking off rhythm against the glass plate. She was starting to second-guess her motives, wondering why she felt the need to elude this information from her father.

"Aurora," she mumbled so low that her dad couldn't make out the name.

"What was that? Speak up, Ember!" Her dad was on edge, hoping against all odds that it wasn't who he thought he heard.

"Her name was Aurora, I don't see how this is a big deal be-"

"Not a big deal? Not a big deal? You disrespected me by your act of disobedience, and talked to someone I have trained you to stay away from! It is a big deal. Go to your room, I need to make a call." Em's dad was furious and she knew she should follow his rules now. She rushed into her room on shaky legs, and leaned against the door sliding all the way down to the floor.

Ember stayed there in the silence listening to her own breathing. The only noise was a few minutes later when a slamming sound drifted through the door and her father cursing out a, "Call back."

When the sky turned dark Ember changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed. She didn't know how to feel about any of the events that had happened this day. Meeting Aurora, the feeling she had around her, and her father's reaction to hearing Aurora's name. Finally, with a pounding head, Em slipped off into a light sleep. The last thing she felt was a light tingling on one wrist, but she was too far gone to question it.