The Unexpected Love

Chapter One

"For your weekend homework you will need to finish your ten page summary on how peer pressure effects society today. Thank you, that will be all. Enjoy your weekend. I expect your papers in my hand Monday morning!"

Oh crap!! I totally forgot about that paper. Ughhh, way-to-go Emma! I was walking out of psychology when Professor Monroe made this wonderful announcement. I now have all of two days to complete a ten page assignment.

I'm in complete focus mode as I walk to my car and head home. I'm twenty so I'm in my second year of college now. I plan to be a therapist, but that could change at any point. I am way to determined to finish college to have a boyfriend and I currently live at home with my parents Bob and Rachel.

We live in a little subdivision near Nashville, Tennessee. My parents aren't exactly rich, but we are comfortable. My mom is a journalist and my dad owns a very successful restaurant in Nashville itself. I worked there all through high school and saved to help with my college fund. It wasn't much but it was enough after I got all of my scholarships in a row. I am not working right now so I can focus completely on paving my way to what I want in life.

I pull into my driveway and park my blue Ford truck behind my parent's car. They totally have what I call a "mom car", you know the whole hatch back deal where you can just imagine three little kids sitting in the back. Yep I make fun of them for it any chance I get.

I snicker a little as I grab my bag and exit my truck. I walk to the front door and quickly turn to lock my truck. I always forget to lock that old thing. I shake my head as I walk in the door and take off my shoes.

"What are you shaking your head for dear?" I turn to see my mom standing in the kitchen door way mixing something in a bowl. My mom has light red hair and brown eyes. She's a little on the short side, but she's amazing when it comes to cooking.

"Oh you know the usual, I almost forgot to lock my truck again," I say as I walk to hug mom.

"You know one day someone's gonna steal that thing right from under your nose," mom says while laughing. I look down into the bowl she's holding and see the mix for my favorite Italian cheese bread.

"Um, is that the mix for my Italian cheese bread?" I ask raising my eyebrows.

"Yep, I'm also making Chicken Parmesan." OK now I know something is up, she never makes this unless its my birthday or if she did something and she's feeling guilty.

"And why exactly are you making my favorite dinner?" I just can't wait to see her reaction.

"Oh no reason. I can't make your favorite dinner without questions?" She has her nervous laugh going on as she says this. Yep its deffinetly the guilty thing going on today.

"Alrighty. Well, I'm going to go to my room and do my homework," I say as I make my way up the stairs to my room. I'm kinda scared to find out what she did this time. The last time she made that dinner it was to tell me that my fish died and she flushed it down the toilet that day.

When I got to my room I immediately went to my desk and got out my notebook and started on my essay for psychology. I had complete faith that I would finish this by Sunday night. I started writing and didn't stop until I heard mom call me for dinner. When I looked down I realized I had three pages done.

"Coming mom!" I holler down as I walk down the stairs. I soon make it to the kitchen and grab a sprite from the fridge. I walk into the dinning room and find dad sitting at the table.

"Hey dad! How was your day?" I ask him as I go to hug him then sit in my spot to his right and mom sits on his left.

"Mine was good, how about you Emma?" Dad asks me as he begins to dish out some food to himself then pass it to mom.
"Supprisingly good." I soon get the food and dish myself out some and then grab a bread stick and dig in. Silence soon falls on us as we eat. I'm just waiting for the perfect moment to ask what the heck is going on.

Now or never! "Soooo, what's got y'all all nervous and guilty?" I never really like to tip toe around things so I just go for it and I know they will have to give me a straight answer. They both look up as their forks stop hitting their plates.

Mom has the nervous laugh going again as she says, "What do you mean honey? Nothing happened, right Bob?" She looks at my father who then places his fork on his plate and wipes hs mouth with his napkin. Well, I know I will at least be getting some kind of answer tonight.

"Its OK Rachel, we need to tell her."  Oh shoot not good! NOT GOOD!! "Sweetheart  a man came into the restaurant the other day and he made me an offer. It was wonderful and I just couldn't refuse."

Oh no he like sold our house, or we are moving to a different country or we have to go into hiding! Oh my gosh why do I have such an overactive imagination?? "What was his offer dad?" I really didn't want to ask, but I had to know.

"Well, he offered me a sum of money in exchange for you to marry him." Dad kinda leans back as he says this like he's waiting for an explosion or something. I can't help but laugh!

"Oh I get it y'all are joking with me! Very funny! You guys had me going for a minute there!" I wipe away a tear from my eye I was laughing so hard. I look at mom and dad and soon realize, they were way too serious to be kidding. They kept looking at each other with worried glances then looking at me. "Wait, y'all are joking right? Mom? Dad?"

"No sweetheart, we aren't." Mom says this with a little hesitation.

"WHAT!!??" I yell dropping my fork. I can't believe this. "What am I cattle to be sold off?" I scream as I push back from the table to stand.

"Emma calm down, you are overreacting." Dad says as he goes to stand up too. "This man can give you a future and you'll be moving to New York and living with him in a beautiful house. You'll be better with him."

"Oh, you did not just tell me to calm down! You just informed me you are forcing me to marry a stranger and I don't even have a say in this! Oh and to make it worse you did it for money! I don't even know his name!" I yell throwing my hands in the air dramatically.

"Look I know it seems bad, but it is a wonderful situation. His name is Nathan Summers and he will pick you up tomorrow. You should probably pack now. We will be up for the wedding in two weeks." Dad says and I know I officially have no choice. None, at all.

I turn and walk to my room, dinner completely out of my mind. "Wait Emma you need to eat!" Mom yells after me.

"No thanks. I don't want to look at y'all for a while." I open my door and close it. There's no lock on the door so I can't completely lock them out. I fall onto my bed and look towards my desk. It won't matter now if I do my essay. I just want to lay here and sulk.

I sit up as I get a thought in my head. I can run away! I totally don't need to stay. I can go to my best friend Sarah's house. She will understand and help me stay hidden. I jump up and grab a bag from my closet and fill it with jeans, tank tops, my favorite leather jacket, and my other essentials. I then hurry to my bathroom and grab my shower and other important stuff. I then rush back to my room to grab extra shoes and socks and my laptop and all of my charges I will need.

When I'm done I grab my keys and my hidden stash of money. Its a little over six hundred dollars, not much but enough for now. I open my door and kreap down the stairs as quietly as I can. I hear my parents yelling as I exit the front door. I run to my truck and start to drive off without a second look back.