The girl’s face goes red and the boy sitting on the log beside her puts an arm around her She shoves him away The teens laugh at that and the old lady laughs with them but her laughter dies first and her eyes fall on the fire once again It was morning she says The teens quiet down and watch her though she hardly seems to know they’re there anymore It was a bit past sunrise the woman goes on but Emily Lemon was still asleep
CHAPTER 2 Emily Lemon woke to the alarm on her phone She always did She had an alarm clock her mother had picked it out ages ago but the red numerals bugged her and the radio hardly worked And who listened to the radio these days anyway So Emily had unplugged it and hid it in the back of her closet last summer Ever since she kept her phone right in bed with her each night At 6 30 every weekday morning her phone would vibrate and blast a random song from her vast collection of music This morning though Emily woke to nonstop beeping thrashing guitars drums bass and the deafening screams of a heavy metal singer that definitely had not come from one of the songs in her own music collection
Ah she screamed as she sat up clutching the misbehaving smartphone in her hands What is wrong with this thing She poked the screen She shook it and swiped the screen but the beeping and thrashing wouldn’t stop Emily her father shouted through the door What are you listening to in there at this hour It’s my phone Emily shouted back She thumped the phone’s screen with the side of her fist as her father thumped the locked door Turn it off this instant he shouted I’m trying Dad she wailed back at him But the phone wouldn’t stop In fact it seemed to be getting louder Emily her dad roared from the hallway Turn that thing off Emily rolled her eyes and flipped the phone over She popped off the back and knocked the battery onto the floor Finally there was quiet Emily dropped the phone on the bed and let her head fall back on her pillow She sighed as she sank into it wishing she could just go back to sleep Ugh she said It’s not even breakfast yet and
this day is already a mess Such a typical Tuesday Thank you her dad snapped through the still closed door Now get yourself dressed and come down for breakfast Emily sat up on the edge of her bed and glared at the door What’s his problem she muttered to herself Emily’s shower was cold That happened sometimes when you live with your parents and two older brothers the hot water doesn’t last very long But when Emily thumped down the stairs she passed her brother Liam still in his robe and carrying a towel his hair still dry You didn’t shower yet she asked stopping on the landing He knocked into her with his shoulder Out of the way squirt he said Emily snarled at him as he passed Well there’s no hot water left so have a fun cold shower she shouted as he reached the top of the stairs When he’d closed the bathroom door she added Moron Emily stepped into the kitchen feeling cranky
