The Dawn of Autumn

A New Beginning (I)

A/N: I have a tendency to have extremely high word-counts in chapters, so for palatability I've split it. When I write, it tends to be like an entire episode instead of short little bursts. A lot of my chapters are long. I'm going to need some feedback on if you all prefer the breaks or if you're down for the longer chapters. On other platforms it's easier to digest. I don't know about here on Wattpad.

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Chapter 2:

A New Beginning

Emily spent the rest of her weekend unpacking boxes, which she thought was pointless. She was just going to be moving again after she graduated. Maybe even before. She didn't want to have to pack again.

Sunday night she was exhausted, but she couldn't sleep. She'd been suffering from insomnia since before the move. She couldn't relax. All she could do was stare at her ceiling and stress about her future. She'd really screwed up her shot at college by losing her swimming scholarship. Her mother had been giving her a lot of grief about it.

It's not like Emily didn't already have a lot of stress in her life. She didn't need her mother nagging her at every turn. She was trying really hard to make some semblance of a normal life for herself.

She could hear the distant sound of her parents talking in their room. Her dad was getting ready for his overnight shift. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she knew they were talking about her. They were always talking about her.

She would have been the talk of the town if they'd stayed in Texas. Her junior year hadn't been easy. She'd been struggling to find a balance in her life, and living in a strict conservative home had made her feel like an outsider to her family. Over the summer she had come tumbling out of the closet to her mom and dad in the worst possible way.

She wasn't ashamed of who she was. But she also didn't go out of her way to tell people. She kept to herself. She had friends, but not in the sense that they were her closest confidants. She was friendly with people, but she wasn't friends with many people.

Not many people knew the real Emily Fields. She had secretly dated girls before she came out. But the first time she'd ever felt like herself was when she'd met Maya St Germain. She'd met her at jazz night at café during freshman year. She hadn't been able to take her eyes off of her during the band's set. The group was on the stage, but Maya was the only person she saw. She was mesmerizing when she played.

Maya had been flirtatious and funny. She'd forced Emily out of her comfort zone. Unfortunately, it wasn't far enough to push her out out. Emily had reservations about telling her parents. Maya understood at first, but became resentful the longer they had to keep it a secret.

Maya had been a bit of a rebel with a dangerous streak. Nothing too crazy at first. She dabbled in drugs and alcohol, and Emily went along for the ride. The highs made every touch seem hotter, every kiss seem more explosive.

But then one day, Maya's parents caught her doing drugs. She had been yanked out of Emily's life. Emily had felt like a rug had been pulled out from under her. Her heart ached in ways she didn't even know were possible. She felt alone even though she was surrounded by people.

She had other friends, but none of them knew about Maya. She kept others at enough distance so that she could keep her private life out of high school. The mysterious element to her personality only made her more popular.

Courtney hadn't liked that Emily had become popular, but instead of lashing out at her in a public setting she'd attacked her in a more intimate way. She'd always known how to hone in on people's weaknesses, and Emily was no exception. She'd earned her trust and then crushed it.