Spring had arrived and everything was beautiful and shimmering. They were in Amsterdam, the city Emerald was born into. Memories returned to her about how she and her parents had been before the accident. This was the city where she used to live once with her family. Her childhood seemed so clear to her that tears began to fall from her eyes. Her father lived in a very far area, close to the country side. Emerald was still lost in her thoughts, not knowing what to talk about.
"Are you enjoying the ride, Emerald? We will be at the house soon, my darling," Mr. Morgan said politely to Emerald who seemed oblivious to what he just said.
Emerald didn't respond to him but rather looked outside. Somehow, she still hated him for what he did to her. Emerald deeply sighed now desperately waiting to see where she would be living.
They arrived to the most unpolluted area near the sea-side. Two rows of houses lined the beach, most made of a light colored wood and propped up in a way that flooding would not ruin them.
Mr. Morgan had been living near the sea ever since his recovery from the dreadful car accident. Apart and far away from the rush area. He wanted peace and relaxation so he decided to stay here. The driver opened the car door for Emerald. Three heavyset guards followed them.
"Welcome home!" Mr. Morgan said in a jolly voice, bowing down to his daughter. The house was decorated with bright flowers and painted streaks of lightning. It seemed that Mr. Morgan had prepared everything for his daughter's welcome. Emerald rolled her eyes even as her mouth hung open. She had no emotions or feelings beyond shock so she remained quite.
"Do you like it? Emerald? This our house; me and you! Remember, you always wanted to live somewhere near the sea so you could see the rainbows and sunset clearly?" Mr. Morgan remarked, trying to put a smile on Emerald's face.
"I don't remember ever saying anything like that. And if you excuse me, please show me my room so I can just go and rest!" she groaned, scrunching up her face in anger.
"Yes, my love," he said, smiling and ignoring his daughter's awful behavior.
The house was as large as a castle. There were many rooms and halls on the main floor and Emerald's room was supposed to be upstairs. The house seemed to be built of pure timber wood and glass windows. There were few pictures that were hung on the walls, most of sunsets and forests. Everything was tidy and in place; as orderly as it gets.
As Emerald walked around, she spotted guards, cooks, and maids watching her as they waited for orders.
"This your home now, you can do whatever you like; play music, study, watch TV; truly anything," Mr. Morgan told Emerald who was still glaring at the big house.
"Fine! Right now I wanna get rid of these dirty pants! So if you please show me my room so I can change! And, I'd do anything anyways!" she growled.
A maid named Anna showed Emerald her room and she quickly slammed the door. The room was painted just as sea green as the real thing, of which she had a perfect view of thanks to the entirely glass wall that faced the beach.
"This is freaking crazy! I can't believe I am going to be living here with my dad, after all that time he left me! He is such a jerk!" she murmured to herself.
Throwing her things on the soft bed and unpacking her bags, she opened the window and looked outside. Her room was large, with a king sized bed and a big mirror hanging in the corner. Outside her window was the window of a house next door. The house must have been closed for years; primer was chipping on the outside and Emerald could see the multitude of cobwebs cluttering the window across from hers. It seemed nobody had lived there for many years. After having a close look of her room she calmed herself and quickly slept.
***
Morning in Amsterdam was unusual for Emerald. The sun shown more brightly and the loud voice of birds chirping outside made the day immensely more beautiful. Anna had knocked on the door fifteen minutes ago, not knowing that she shouldn't.
Anna slowly entered the room, walking over slowly, she gently touched Emerald's arm and shook her awake.
"Mistress! It is time for breakfast," she said gently.
"What the fuck... Who the..." Emerald cursed not knowing who was standing in front of her.
"What do you want?" she sniffed when she realized it was her maid. She looked at the clock that hung above her door, rubbing her eyes.
"Mistress, it's almost 12:00 AM and you're late for breakfast." Anna explained to Emerald who looked annoyed.
"Whatever! Now please leave, I need some space to breathe, you know!" she always remained hyper while talking to people.
After having breakfast, Emerald asked Anna to show her the rest of the house. Mr. Morgan left the house as his duty called for him.
"Dad won't be home before 11:00 PM?" Emerald asked Anna.
"Yes, sometimes he doesn't come home at all," she replied somberly.
Emerald groaned,"I'm going to rot and die in this place!"
Anna looked horrified, "No, no, no, no! I will make sure you stay very healthy, Ms. Morgan! You can even talk to me if you want. We can be friends!" Anna said, gradually calming down.
Emerald fought back a chuckle at how frightened Anna had been. She snarled, "And why the hell should I? Did I ask for your friendship? Your bugging me will just make me rot faster!" Emerald replied aggressively. Anna's eyes lowered and she turned away to busy herself with cleaning up dishes.
Not realizing she hurt Anna, Emerald went outside, stomping her feet as she went.
"I want to go to the beach! Just let me go, you egg-headed jackass!" Emerald was arguing with one of the guards who wasn't allowed to let Emerald leave the house grounds.
"Look, don't mess with me! Let me go or else I'll make sure you won't be here tomorrow!" Emerald threatened him, her eyes cold as ice.
The guard clenched his jaw as he seemed to consider the loss of his job as guard. Apparently it wasn't worth it, "Go on then." The guard turned his back and allowed her to leave for the beach.
It was evening and the beach seemed a bit filled up. Children were playing ball games on the beach. Couples were lying on the sand and relaxing.
"I hate people!" Emerald muttered to herself as she walked slowly towards the shore. The roaring voice of the waves crashing there was still unclear to her. Thankfully she couldn't hear all the shit people were saying. As she walked slowly towards the shore, a ball hit her head with so much force it knocked her face down and made her feel dizzy.
Two young boys far away from the shore were shouting but Emerald didn't know whose ball it was.
'What the hell? Are they blind? I am not giving it back.' Emerald held the ball tightly in her arms and stood, starting to walk again.
"Hey! Miss! Hey!" two young voices grabbed Emerald's attention. The boys were running after her.
"What?" she frowned, her eyebrows lifting in annoyance.
"Please give us our ball back, lady," they said, laughing.
"Not until you apologize!" she snapped and kept walking.
"What did we do?" they asked innocently as they didn't know their ball had hit her.
"Don't bother me! Or else!" Emerald was enraged. Her grip on the ball was so tight it threatened to pop.
"Or else what?" the taller of them laughed.
"I am..." before she could say anything they pushed her, only hard enough to distract her, and snatched the ball from her.
"You assholes! I'm going to crush you like bugs!" Emerald rubbed her side and ran after them. There seemed a whole scenario on the beach. People were laughing at the sight of her, an eighteen year old girl, running after two small boys.
"What is going on here?" a guy dressed in a black suit stepped in their path and came towards them, stopping the three of them.
"Mistress," he bowed gracefully and kissed Emerald's hands.
"I am Mike, your personal guard," he told her. She was still mad at those rowdy boys.
"Yes, these two idiots pushed me and I got hurt," she explained it to him who was smiling.
"Tom! Eric! Apologize now!" he seemed familiar with them. The two of them shook their heads, saying a complete no.
"Boys! I said now! Or you won't be coming here for a month!" he warned them with a firm, low voice.
They bowed their heads and muttered a rushed "Sorry," then bolted off down the beach.
"I am sorry for the trouble but those boys are a bit...naughty. By the way, what are you doing down here?" he inquired.
"It's none of your business! Can't you people leave me alone? I need to be all by myself!" she said rudely.
"Your father has asked me to do the exact opposite of leave you alone."
"I don't care! Whoever you are, just leave!" she yelled. Mike couldn't stand it anymore and left the beach before he acted rashly.
***
"Sir, she is very stubborn and aggressive; we cannot control her without risk of harming her...accidentally," Mike confessed to Mr. Morgan who had just reached the house, searching for Emerald.
"Who let her go?" Mr. Morgan was screwed up like a dog who lost his bone, from not seeing his daughter.
"She is still at the beach," Mike, who didn't like to take responsibility of such a harsh woman, said.
"She will be fine then. Give her some time and I know she will be...perfect." Mr. Morgan sighed, walking to his room and waiting for Emerald's return.
Emerald was sitting on a smooth rock that jut out of the beach, with her hair all around her face. Emerald was not happy seeing a lot of people because she didn't like noise and laughter; especially when she had to hear it. Seeing couples and young children with their parents wanted to make her burn alive in a pit of lava.
"Hey there! Take this! Don't miss your chance to find a perfect date." A red headed girl ran up and handed Emerald a flier then rushed off to bug the next person.
Emerald read the flier which said:
"Annual Spring Festival, for all ages of the family. Music, paint, games, dance, and much more."
"What the hell is this?" Emerald asked herself. She rolled the paper up and put it in her pants pocket, leaving for home.
Upon entering the house she saw her father waiting for her. She passed by without saying a single word.
Mr. Morgan grabbed her wrist as she passed and said, in a cold voice, "Emerald, where were you? Do you even know what time it is?"
"I may be deaf, but I can still read a clock!" she scowled.
A deep frown etched itself into her father's aged face. "Emerald! If you're going to be this way, this isn't going to work and I will be forced to send you somewhere else! You cannot disregard the rules I set, I am your father!" he desperately tried to keep his voice from rising. It didn't work well.
The familiar pang of betrayal and memory, shot a bullet through Emerald's frozen heart. "Well there it is; I knew you never gave a rat's ass about me; you still don't! You brought me here because you had your reasons and I came here because I had my own reasons, if you leave me alone I'll let you imagine I was never born!"
Mr. Morgan couldn't fight as a sense of dread filled him to the brink. He remained silent because he did not want to lose her. Not again.
"Sir, she is much too stubborn," Anna whispered after Emerald had stormed off.
***
The days passed with more and more time that Emerald spent locked up in her room. No one dared to speak to her our even ask her where she was going anymore. Even Anna stopped talking to her because of her behavior.
It was now just another day and Emerald was lying on her bed, not knowing what else to do when she remembered about the Annual Spring Festival.
'Who should I ask? Who could I ask?' she thought as she quickly stood up and ran to Anna, a renewed excitement making her a little more tolerable.
"Hey Anna, look, I apologize for what I did. So...still want to be friends?" she asked Anna who's face revealed nothing but shock.
"Um...of course. Do you want to talk about something?" she asked hesitantly.
"Yeah."
"What is it?"
"I heard about a Spring Festival and I want to go. I don't know if Dad is going to let me go because of what I've done. Can you help me out?" she asked Anna who grinned.
"You want me to ask Sir to let you go?" she asked.
"Yeah, can you? I want to go so badly! I want to improve on myself too. This will help me socialize with people!" Emerald explained happily.
"I'll ask him, but under one condition," Anna joked, waggling her finger out in front of Emerald.
"What...?"
"I'm coming." Anna replied.
"Okay! Done!" They both clapped hands like little school girls and slowly Emerald began to open up to Anna.
"No! She doesn't even know how to talk to people without being rude! What if someone finds out she is half deaf? I will not allow it, Anna!" Mr. Morgan declined Anna who desperately trying to persuade him to let Emerald go.
"I promise that nothing will happen, Sir! Please!" she begged but he didn't say yes yet.
"Dad! Please!" Emerald, who was watching from around the door, finally came out and asked her father.
After a moment of silence, she added, "Dad, I'm sorry. I won't hurt you again. I promise! Just let me go!" she pleaded and finally he agreed.
***
It was Sunday in Amsterdam and the Spring Festival seemed to be exciting the whole city. People from all over the country gathered here yearly to celebrate such an event. Game stalls were everywhere with young people enjoying themselves. A few smaller rides were set up, mostly children rode them. Lights were strung back and forth over the whole area, lighting it up with a bright array of color. The sun was setting and people were starting to get wild. Food stands emitted wonderfully sweet and salty perfumes that made mouths water, and vendors shouted loudly for people's attention so that they'd buy something.
The place was packed and garbage cans already overflowing with food wrappers and useless fliers. Groups of people laughed and carried on as the excitement went to their heads.
Brandon and Austin, two young men, were wandering around the festival, staring around at all of the happy faces that crowded around.
Brandon and Austin were both high school graduated boys and were, at that time, preparing for selection into the army.
"I can't find a chick!" Austin complained as he took a look at some of the more scantily dressed women walking here and there.
"Maybe because your eyes don't work properly when it comes to women," Brandon mocked him.
"What? Hey, I am the man here when it comes to hooking up with hot chicks," Austin said proudly, puffing his chest out and flexing his arms.
"Are you fucking kidding me, man? Let's do a bet! You ask one hot chick to come with you and I will ask one. Whoever loses will have to buy food for the winner. Agree?" Brandon punched Austin's shoulder jestingly.
"Done!" Austin said with a grin.
A/N:
HEY GUYS! Sorry for the late update I have a busy life but anyways please tell me did you like the update? please give me your reviews on this chap! Waiting desperately