From Broken Branches to New Roots

Chapter Two: Disowned

Fiore could feel the attention from that question with all the eyes on her. It seemed like everyone was curious about Fiore's situation. Let's be real. Everyone just LOVES to know everything about everyone.

She huffed.

"What does it look like? I'm perfectly fine." She stood up. "I'm not here to answer whoever's questions."

Connor frowned.

"I know, i wasn't trying to be too snoopy. Everyone else had someone to contact, I was just a little confused why you didn't?"

Fiore grew annoyed.

"Who said I didn't? Maybe i don't want people knowing my personal information on live tv." She began, arms crossing at this point.

This just made everyone look even more as some stopped talking on the phone and eyed Fiore and Connor's conversation.

Miriam walked over to the table.

"I wouldn't be bothered by trying to ask her questions. You'd get better answers by talking to a tree." She smirked.

Fiore rolled her eyes.

"Oh right, so, who are YOU calling? Are you calling your bingo friends?" Fiore shot at Miriam.

"No, not my bingo friends, they're nice. I actually called my maid to make sure to prepare for a fun party I'll be hosting for your little downfall."

Fiore was unfazed.

"So let me get this straight, I've been living rent-free in everyone's heads for what I did two years ago? Grow up." She leaned back in her chair. "I didn't even do anything this season, but heyyy I'm still a demon child."

Miriam raised an eyebrow.

"You do realize you still caused a lot of problems in our season."

Fiore again seemed to not care.

"If you're gonna mention Jake's gullibleness and believing anything anyone says, that wasn't me." She shrugged. "That's more of Ellie's work. Anyway, I'm heading back to my room." She got up and left.

This left Connor at the table with Miriam, who looked at him.

"I wouldn't take anything to heart with her. She's no good."

Connor nodded slowly, and he leaned against the table.

"I-I know, and I know I'm not a dad or anything. But she's just a kid. A lot of kids when they act like that something just isn't right mentally or emotionally wise." He admitted. "I just wanted to see if she wanted to talk about it."

Miriam seemed surprised by this. Sitting down next to him.

"As someone who's a mother, I honestly believe she's just a spoiled child who has no sense of consequences." She shook her head.

"So, do you know anything about her?" Connor asked.

"Not really. I don't, I've had a handful of interactions with her." She stared out the window. "She's mostly just sarcastic comments and an attitude problem when we have interacted."

Connor nodded to this.

"Whats got you so curious, Connor?" She looked at him.

"I just feel bad for her." He sighed. "When you think about this, her parents are severally irresponsible. One for letting her join such a show. Two imagine all the hate she must get?"

"It's well deserved if you ask me." Miriam told him.

"Three, she doesn't seem very social with anyone. When raising a child, they have to have proper socializing skills. She seems to lack that in some ways, making her believe she doesn't need them to be a proper functioning adult."

"I don't think there's anything proper about her, but I see what you mean."

Connor slowly nodded.

"With all that, that kid must be going through something that might be abuse, neglect, or something of that sorts."

Miriam seemed a little confused about something of this conversation.

"Hey, how do you know so much about this kind of thing? Are you a social worker or something?" She asked, scratching her chin at this point.

Connor weakly smiled.

"I read a lot of books on parenting, and I sometimes watch videos on child growth."

"Oh really? How so."

Connor looked away to the window.

"I did so because I wanted to learn how to be a proper father." Connor frowned. "I really want that. But I feel like it's too late for me."

Miriam huffed.

"Nonsense. You can do whatever you set your mind to."

"I guess so, I better get going, I have a business call to take," Connor looked at the clock near the window.

"If you ever want to talk dear, I'm always here." Miriam got up to leave for her own room. Leaving Connor to go and take his call outside the motel.

Meanwhile, back with Fiore.

She sat in her bed, her hands had a letter in them, her parents finally contacted her. Taking a breath in and out, she began to open the letter.

It won't be surprising to read that they're disappointed in her again. She pulled the letter out of the envelope.

She began to read its contents.

'Don't bother returning home. As of today, you've been disowned. You've disappointed us for the last time, you brat.'

It was a quick and short message that fiore wasn't surprised about. She knew this would happen.  She crumbled it into a ball and then tossed it at the wall.

She laid back in her bed. At least she had a while before she had to go back to that stupid boarding school.

All she had now was to hope for returning to the game for the merge if she was even wanted. She laid out the concept. Clearly, she would have to compete with a few others to be able to do such a thing.

That's even if the hosts wanted her back in the scene or if the audience wanted her there.

She thought about who she would have to compete with to get that spot unless they brought two people back, which kind of seemed possible but less likely. For starters, she would have to exclude James and Miriam as those two already won previous seasons so they wouldn't be back.

Next was Lake, that red-haired girl? She thought about it. She seemed like a fan favorite based on how she acted when she's seen her. Her being from Ellie's team and a big competitor was her downfall. Competing with her in physical challenges would make it impossible for some competitors. So she was a possibility.

Then there was Hunter, he was physically capable of winning any challenge anyone threw at him. His style was probably why a lot of people liked him. It would throw people off their game if he made a comeback.

Finally, there was Connor. That guy probably would make it for the drama factor and throwing Riya off her game if he was thrown in on a different team. The possibilities seemed endless with all these people.

But fiore thought about it more. This wouldn't stop the hosts from bringing back players who weren't part of the beginning of this season to bring back old drama. She didn't remember a lot of competitors, so she couldn't think about how they would affect the game.

Taking a deep breath, she just needed to sleep. It was too tiring going through all these factors. She eventually fell asleep after that, not realizing the next day would be surprising.