Internet Boy

Chapter 1

“Why would you do that?” She has tears in her eyes and many stream down her face. His heart breaks to see her so broken. “I had to, you would never have accepted me if I told you before! I had to.” He reaches out for her but she steps backward, away from his touch. “No, stay away. I would have accepted you, I’m not that cruel! You lied to me and I had trusted you! I’m done. I’m so done.” She turns and walks away, her heart and mind begging her to go back to him, to retract her words and just hug him for an eternity. “Emma,” he calls after her brokenheartedly, tears silently falling down his face as he watches the love of his life walk away because of his idiotic mistake.

***

Emma walks into her brightly colored room with a lanyard in her hand and her backpack slung across her shoulders. Encased in plastic is an ID attached to the lanyard. The ID includes her grade, a picture of her, and the school she goes to. She’s currently a sophomore at Cooper High School. She hangs the lanyard on a hook next to the door and sets her backpack down on the chair that belongs to her desk. She strides to the mirror to observe her appearance.

Her hair has always been a very dark brown, often carelessly mistaken for black. A new addition of a streak of pink in her hair gives it an eye catching affect and somehow allows people to see its true color. She takes in her dimpled smile next. Her lips are full and her smile is appealing, almost inviting. Her eyes and nose go well with her features. Her nose is the perfect size for her face, pairing well with her high cheekbones and sharp jawline. Her eyes are a piercing blue that often get complimented. Her outfit consists of a black top that she's paired with jeans and black high top Converse.

She walks over to her desk to do her homework. "My work is never done," she says deflatedly. She pulls work out of her backpack and sits down to start it.

***
Around 4:00 p.m. Emma finishes her homework and goes downstairs to the kitchen. Something on the counter grabs her attention before she reaches the refrigerator to grab an apple. "Yes! Score, Mom got cookies!" She takes the carton of milk out of the fridge and grabs a glass to pour it into.

She goes to the living room with the glass of milk and package of cookies. She sets them down on coffee table and sits on the sofa directly behind her.

The living room decor doesn't match that of her room; instead of happy and bright colors, the room is set with neutral colors like brown, tan and black. Around the room to contrast from the gloominess, hang painted landscapes, all brilliantly painted with bright colors to accentuate the land. Emma pulls her phone out from her back pocket to preoccupy herself. She messages her friends to check up on them.

She puts her phone away and turns the television on to a random romance movie playing. The door creaking open resonates around the living room and a string of unpleasant words following.

A woman, who looks like an older version of Emma but with blonde hair, walks into the living room with a journal and papers atop it. Emma smiles at her. When her mother doesn't smile back, she attempts something different. "Oh, my goodness. Ana Jones?" Her mother's name seems foreign on her tongue but she continues. "I am a huge fan of your work! Tales From A Teen and it's sequel Tales From A Mother are my favorite books by you! This is such an honor, I have the books, can you sign them?" Before she can continue to compliment her mother's life long achievements, Ana smiles. "Cut it out, will you?" Emma feigns a look of confusion, "So, it's a 'no' for signing?" Ana laughs.

Emma slides over on the sofa and pats the seat she'd left. Ana sets her journal and papers down on the coffee table next to the glass of milk and cookies and sits down with a frustrated sigh despite the uplift her daughter brought to her mood.

"So, what happened?" Ana smiles at her daughter's obvious curiosity. "My editor came in today about one of my books," she pauses as Emma interrupts. "Which one?" Ana sighs and says the name of her daughter's favorite novel. "Tales From A Teen, but that's not important. What is, is that apparently some article was written about me and the book." She pauses and grimaces as Emma congratulates her. "They misspelled my name."