storybrooke pier
It was after four in the afternoon when I opened my eyes and looked at the clock on the nightstand. After arriving from Ruby's house, I had lunch and laid down as I always did to call her as she had asked. Usually, my phone alarm would ring at four so I could do some homework alone or with Graham and Ruby, but now, for almost 3 months, there would be no more lessons. Just long, hot, and fun days.
I got up and turned on the stereo before taking off my clothes and going for a long shower. Neal would be arriving soon and I needed to pick him up at the school bus stop, make a snack for both of us and wait for my dad to get home. We ate while watching Scooby-Doo and when my father arrived, we had dinner after a while before we all went to our respective rooms and plunged into worlds unique and isolated from the others.
I took my MP3, my sketchbook, a pencil, and sat on the bed against the headboard, waiting for sleep to come. Among small verses, stanzas, and sketches, I found myself drawing Ariel's old house and my thoughts traveled to Ruby's new neighbor. As if the brunette read my thoughts, the phone rang a second after the image of the girl became clear in my head, not that I was able to properly see her face, but it seemed pretty.
“Lucky for you I wasn’t sleeping.” I answered leaving the sketchbook and pencil aside. There was silence on the other side.
“Emma ... it's nine o'clock in the evening” Ruby replied seriously and I took a deep breath trying to suppress the urge to laugh.
“I could easily be asleep... but what do you want?” I questioned lying down and getting more comfortable. Ruby called me almost every night and the conversations were never something brief.
“What are we doing tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow is the opening of the festival, so I promised I would help with some last details and I would sell some tickets at the beginning. You guys could help me…” I suggested.
“Right...” Ruby said slowly. She was not as insufferable and prejudiced as her father, but she knew how to be mean, deny, and dislike certain things. Volunteer work was one of those things. “Maybe Graham wants to help you.” She adds and I roll my eyes, another pause was made and again I found myself thinking about the new girl.
“How was your dinner with the new neighbors?” I asked since Ruby didn’t say anything, but I was really curious and wanted to know a bit more about the family or the girl... Actually, just the girl. I didn’t know the reason, but she looked so sad and mysterious and that caught my attention. Ruby snorts.
“It sucked! Daddy kept talking about business with the man, mom kept talking about me with his wife, and the girl didn’t open her mouth for a single moment!” She complained and I was astonished,
“What’s her name?”
“I don’t remember, her mother’s too. I only remember the man’s because it was Mr. Henry here and there all the time. I think they want to build something in town to attract tourists,
“I see.” I felt frustrated for a moment, I wanted to know something about the mysterious brunette, not about her parents. But Ruby didn’t let my frustration build, she remembered a gossip she heard at school and started telling me about it.
It was close to midnight when my dad knocked on my door asking me to hang up and go to sleep. It was always like that, we never hung up, it was necessary that either her father or mine intimated us for this to happen, and let's face it, it was always better that it be mine.
“I’ll be going to the station later tomorrow. Do you wanna celebrate the start of summer vacation?” He asked taking me by surprise and I looked at him with an astonished look.
“Really?” My eyes gleamed and my dad smiled, nodding.
“Since it’s the first day of vacation I suppose you don’t want to wake up early, so when’s the best time?”
“I promised to be at the pier at 10, so we can go to Granny’s at 9 and enjoy a little more,” I answered with a smile from ear to ear and my dad agreed.
“Then at 9 will be. Good night, sweetie.”
“Night, dad!” I answered and waited for him to leave.
It still took a long time for sleep to get me, as soon as my dad closed the door after wishing me a good night, I turned off the ceiling light and was left only with the bedside lamp, my sketchbook, my mp3.
The next day I woke up to a noise coming from outside the house and when I reached the window, my dad was trying to turn on the old abandoned beetle he and mom used to drive when they were younger. When he saw me by the window he asked if he had woken me up and I denied before getting ready.
We arrived at Granny’s on time, my dad, Neal and I. Granny’s was a retro diner downtown, and basically the only decent restaurant in town. It was a meeting place for a lot of things and people and the main reference point, all the streets of Storybrooke ended in Granny’s.
The restaurant was owned by a lady named Eugenia, but everyone called her Granny and I remember discovering her real name only a year or two ago. She was an elderly woman, but extremely active and docile, she cared for everyone and everything and was willing to help in any situation. She was a true grandmother for the entire city, regardless of the age of the residents.
As soon as we sat down, she came to take our orders and today my father had approved everything, Neal and I could order whatever we wanted and so we did, waffles with lots of fruit, chocolate, and whipped cream, pancakes with ice cream and even toast. I was wondering if I should order eggs and bacon too when someone came into the diner, I looked to find out who it was and recognized the man from yesterday go to the counter. It was Henry, according to Ruby.
“Did you know they were moving here?” I asked quietly to my father, who wasn't even paying attention. He looked at me confused and I nodded at the man.
“Oh yeah.” He replied, surprised. “I just completely forgot that it was this week. Are my teeth dirty?” Asked showing his perfect teeth to me and I laughed while denying.
“No sir,” I replied and he got up, heading towards the counter.
“Mr. Mills?” My father called as he approached, the man looked at him and my father held out his hand. Henry was Henry Mills.
“You are the sheriff, correct?” He questioned and my dad nodded.
“Sheriff Swan.” He presented himself and pointed at us then. “Those are my children, Emma and Neal.” He added and Henry looked at us, he smiled briefly as he stared at me, as if holding his laughter for a few seconds when he realized who it was, and then he directed his attention back to my father.
“A Beautiful family, indeed.” Said. I was hoping that he would say that he had a daughter the same age as me and then reveal her name, but he didn't. “And it seems to be a beautiful city too. But do tell me something... Do children often ride a bicycle around here?” I felt my face flush and burn completely. I avoided eye contact with both of them just in case he looked at me and my father questioned anything.
“Yes! But we regularly reinforce the idea that they ride slowly and look around. Ride safely.”
“Of course you do.” He said with irony only I was able to perceive at that moment. I dared to look at them and he looked at me quickly, smiling, and I broke eye contact in the very moment feeling embarrassed.
“You know, maybe for you, I say you and your family, to meet the residents of Storybrooke would be nice if you attended the opening of the summer festival tonight. It’s very fun. Lots of food, stalls with traditional games, rides, good music, and probably everyone in town will be there today. But the festival lasts all summer if you're all too tired of the trip from Boston to here and aren't in the mood to go out.
“I think it could be a great opportunity, sheriff. We will probably be there.”
“If you need more information you can ask Granny or my daughter, Emma, she’s involved with the organization of the event.” My father spoke and at the same moment, I closed my eyes tightly, asking quickly and tirelessly under my breath to no one in particular that he would not ask me anything. When I heard the two of them ending the conversation, I thanked the heavens and decided that I would order the eggs and bacon, all the nervousness had made me hungry.
I turned to the counter to try and get the attention of Granny or some attendant and Mr. Mills was placing his order. He ordered normal pancakes and an apple one, plus a few bottles of juice with the same flavor, and waited for his order. Now me, I ordered mine and I was so focused on it that I didn't even see the man leave.
When we were done, my dad took Neal to the station with him and I walked to the pier. Almost everything was ready, we just needed to finish decorating the food and game stands, there were only “easy” things left to do like hanging the prizes in the tents and some final painting that anyone could do. The most radical or "heavy" rides were already assembled, and before, I couldn't wait to go to one of them with Ruby and Graham.
Now, I couldn’t wait for the festival to start and finally quell the curiosity that was whether Mr. Mills would or would not come, and especially if he would bring his family.
☼☼☼☼☼☼
We finished everything at the pier at around 4 and the festival was set to start at 7. I sent a message to Ruby and Graham as soon as everything was ready and we were strolling there until about 5:30 before we went to get ready. They would arrive later, but since I was going to sell tickets for the festival entrance, I needed to arrive before the scheduled start time.
The festival was a tradition in Storybrooke, and given the size of the city, it was gigantic. A very well structured and organized event, many people from other cities around drove here to enjoy the party, and each year the number of visitors increased more and more.
Since I was a child I remember participating in the festival, that’s why I always loved summer and counted the seconds for the summer vacation, and July specifically. The only year I didn’t participate at all was the year of the accident that left my mother in a coma and that my grandparents died.
They all used to be volunteers, and if I didn't see them there as I was used to, my pain would increase and I would not be in the mood to have fun, so that year I decided to stay home. But when my mother was completely gone, I decided to take on the festival's tasks, so I would feel much closer to her and my grandparents, plus it would occupy my head.
When I was leaving home my dad and Neal were coming, they would just shower and then go so as not to miss the start, or the chance to mess with me when they bought their tickets. The line didn't take long to form at the four ticket booths, I saw people I had never seen before, I saw schoolmates, I saw my dad and Neal and at one point I saw them.
Actually, I saw her.
The brunette wore a cute black dress with a constellation print. Like the day I first saw her, her hair was tied up and her gaze was turned to the floor. Her parents seemed to try to distract her by pointing out a few things, she even looked up for a few seconds at times, but nothing held her attention completely, and then she lowered her gaze again.
“Look if it's not the bike girl.” The girl’s father said when it was their turn to buy their tickets. I caught a glimpse of the girl raising her face briefly, curious and watching me, but I didn't dare to return the look at that moment, it was as if I stopped and went into a state of shock for noticing that. “And the sheriff's daughter too.” He added mockingly. He smiled and I returned the smile. “It's Emma, right?”
“Yes, sir.” I replied, the smile still painting my face. Mr. Mills looked incredibly friendly and playful, his wife hung beside him without expression, and when I dared to look at his daughter, she had already lowered her eyes, staring at the floor once again. “Well! Admission is free, but to do or eat anything you need a ticket, so... what’s it going to be?
“I think for today I will only have three hot dogs. In case I change my mind I will come back here and buy more tickets.” He answered taking the wallet out of the purse and took out a 20 dollar bill, he extended his hand with the bill, but then stopped at his tracks and looked at me and I realized that I hadn't said the price.
“That’ll be 9 dollars,” I informed him, took the money, and gave him the change. “Have fun.” I said, giving them their tickets and only the man thanked me before going their way.
I attended three more groups of people and finally Granny came to tell me that I was free. It wasn't my job to stay at the checkout all the time or every day, she just was needed to give extra support to other people at the beginning of the event and I offered to cover her place at the booth. Fortunately, I was released right when Graham and Ruby arrived, so they bought some tickets and we entered the festival.
The pier was full of people, the music was good, everyone seemed to be having a good time and I felt very proud of being a part of that. Ruby was looking for cute boys from neighboring towns with friends, cousins or sisters to Graham, she always tried to push someone to me too, but I was never interested in anyone and preferred to stay with my father and brother or look for other people in our class to hang out with. That was the good part of being nice, at least I thought I was, but always felt comfortable in the different teenage groups from our class and got along well with almost everyone.
“Hey, Emma” I heard Merida call and looked in the direction of the sound. “Blue handed these cameras over and asked us to start with the graduation photos.” She said approaching. Blue was what we called Tracy, the school principal, and the choice of the nickname was because she was rarely seen without something, obviously, blue.
“But we didn’t even start senior year.” I said confused, but taking the camera she was offering me. She shrugged.
“She said since the class will be the same there’s no reason to wait.” She clarified and I nodded.
“Ok, then.” I said and Merida said her farewells, disappearing through the crowd. I searched for Graham and Ruby and they had vanished, I roll my eyes in impatience puffing air out of my mouth in irritation and went looking for interesting things to photograph.
Fortunately, we could use our cameras freely, so I photographed the toys, rides, the festival’s decoration and when I found people from our class, I asked to photograph them.
I wandered around until I saw her, again. The Mills Family was sitting at a table by the protection grid that prevents us from falling into the water and separates the pier from the sea, but when I got up the courage to approach and ask for a photo the loud noise of a microphone being tested stopped me in my tracks.
The start of the festival was being announced, Granny was the primary organizer, so she said a few words, welcomed folks who aren't from town and explained how the festival works, the attractions, how the money from the tickets helps the school, our graduation and several other sectors of Storybrooke. When she finished her speech, a wave of fireworks lighted up the sky of the small town and everyone stopped what they were doing to watch it. Her too.
The brunette stared upwards as if nothing else existed. I didn't know what was wrong with her, because she looked so sad, but at that moment, she seemed to forget that, or at least put whatever it was aside. At that moment she looked happy, and that made me a little happier as well. It was strange that I cared so much about someone that I didn’t even know the name, but if that was the problem, not knowing her name, the problem would be solved tonight. After the fireworks display, I’ll approach the Mills family and not leave the table until I find out her name.