Her heart was so golden, it rivaled even the sun.
In which a girl is tired of living by everyone else's rules, so she decides to make her own.
[Outer Banks season 1]
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EMERSON WASN'T AN inherently anxious person. She had learned from a young age how to address and work through her emotions in a healthy way so as not to get overwhelmed. This was with absolutely no thanks to her parents — who had always just told her to suck it up — but after her nervousness of letting them down for not getting straight A's in school started interfering with her grades, she knew she had to do something. She didn't get anxious very often, and she was sure she didn't have anxiety. She always got nervous before tests and other big school-related events, but she knew that was normal.
Now, however, she was a nervous wreck. This party was completely new and unfamiliar territory for her, and she didn't know how to handle it. There was going to be loud music, big crowds, drugs, and alcohol — none of which she was very fond of. But after her mother's incessant nagging that entire day, Emerson was almost eager to feel anything other than sober. It was the dealing with people part that was making her nervous. Especially people her own age. Emerson was not good at talking to them.
The brunette sighed as she finished her makeup and fluffed her hair. It felt unnatural to have so much product caked on her face and her eyelashes were heavy with the sticky mascara. But she wanted to fit in, and weather she could admit it or not, she wanted people to think she was pretty.
She had drawn on a thin layer of eyeliner and used a subtle eyeshadow along with the mascara. Her face was coated in tinted moisturizer, concealer, and bronzer, and her hair was down and slightly straighter than it usually was. A white tank top covered her top half and jean shorts her bottom half, along with flip flops that she could take off once she got onto the sand. Emerson took a deep breath as she put on some casual jewelry and and grabbed her backpack, which she'd snuck some of her father's beers into earlier in the day while no one was home. After giving herself a final once-over in her vanity mirror, she nodded curtly and quietly opened her window. She wasn't sure if her mother was home, but there was no way in hell she was going to risk walking out the front door and finding out. If Ashley saw her daughter all dolled up at this hour, she would know immediately what Emerson was up to and would probably be grounded for life.
Once she was successfully out the window, she closed it as quietly as possible and took off through the darkness. The sun had just set below the trees and despite its absence, it was still rather hot and sticky outside. Her hair stuck to the back of her neck as she walked along the beach, taking comfort in the cool breeze that blew by every now and again. It wasn't long before the deafening music could be heard as she approached the Boneyard.
Taking a deep breath, she forced her nerves away as she slowly approached the already crowded beach. The party was in full swing by now; Emerson knew that the teens always started gathering before the sun even set. She slowly swung her backpack off of her shoulders and pulled a beer out, cracking the tab open and taking a swig. It was hard to hide her expression as the bitter liquid corrupted her tastebuds, but thankfully everyone else was too intoxicated to notice.
