emmatheeklund

[emmatheeklund]

Emma nodded with a smile, taking back the pack Vivienne had handed to her. " Yes, thank you" She said softly and gave her a nod. " I was jus...hungry" she said and laughed a little

Vivienne wasn't one to keep up with whatever the city council blog said about her or about anyone else, it wasn't her business but she wanted to be supportive of Emma, so she gave her a small smile and helped her pick up what had been dropped. "Hi." She greeted. "You okay?"

[emmatheeklund]

Emma had managed to remain strong in public and not cry in front of anyone, but Juliette's words and reaction just made her well up. It was so hard to keep up an appearance and straight face, so when her friend was so caring, concerned, and understanding, it was hard not to let her feelings out. " You're right, Jules..it's hard, it's been really hard.d" She sniffled and gave her friend a hug as she let her tears slowly and silently roll down her cheeks.

Juliette ran over as she saw who it was, bending down quickly and picking up the last box, handing it to her. “Wait a sec…” She said, her voice quieter now, more attentive. “Are you okay? I mean… I saw what happened—getting blasted like that… I know what that feels like, and—" She cut herself off, pressing her lips together for a moment. "I just, I’m here if you need to talk, you know? It’s a lot, and I can tell it’s hitting you harder than you’re letting on. You don’t have to brush it off with me.” She met Emma’s eyes with a steady, caring look. "I'm here for you, Em." She assures to her friend, giving her a genuine smile.

[emmatheeklund]

Emma had just finished her day of work when she heard that she had lost the contest and had been blasted. Her heart beat fast as she read the blast, and then it just dropped. It had been something weighing hard on Emma ever since she was a teen. She had, for the longest time, done a great job and kept all her regrets and bad feelings at bay. She had managed to feel good about herself and Atlas again after everything that happened between then...and the baby..he baby was her biggest regret, the only thing in her past she could never fix or forgive herself for. Alas, and she never even talked about it when they got back together. They had just acted as if they had broken up because he left for College, but they both knew deep down the truth was so much messier than that. She had forgiven him for his part in the whole mess a long time ago, but she hadn't and would probably never forgive herself. And now it was brought back to the surface, and not only was Emma feeling hurt, guilty, and as though she was reliving the whole thing... now she knew they couldn't pretend anymore; they had to talk about it. After reading the Blast, Emma checked her phone. No message from Atlas, he had probably not seen the blast yet. She sighed and went straight to the freezer and grabbed the last tub of ice cream they had. it was time to drown her feelings with food. By the time Atlas came home, Emma had eaten all the ice cream and was halfway through the movie Annie and crying her eyes out.

@atlasxquinn

[emmatheeklund]

" That's silly....must be hard to take them seriously then" Emma speculated " Wait, what show is that?" She said, wondering if maybe it was something she should watch.

"It doesn't take much to get dance moms mad." Calliope laughed. "That fucking show with Abbey Lee Miller was not making it up how these women act, it's truly pathetic."

[emmatheeklund]

"Very funny" she said and rolled her eyes at his ghosting comment. " No, not quite, I'm sorry, I must have blurted it all ou in a very confusing form." Emma chuckled a bit. " No, Atlas has been struggling with adjusting to his brother being gone. And I've been trying to help him but it's just been difficult. And then I got blasted. It had nothing to do with the engagement..the blast was about something that happened in my past, but it jus brought back a lot of complications and bad...hurtful memories...so because we are both struggling right now, we decided to put the engagement planning on hold, its supposed to be happy times, we want to enjoy the planning" Emma tried to explain better as she hugged Donny back tightly. " Wait.. you and Mila went back to being friends? Why? Why on earth...." She pulled away from the hug to look at him" Are you ok? You seemed so happy with her..." Emma said wildly surprised at the news. "Wait, if the vampire woman is hot, how on earth could she remind you of me?" Emma teased playfully"Okay yes, lets hang out now, I'm totally free"

"Yup, that's what you call it when someone ghosts on you." He was teasing of course. "Wait, so you're telling me that ever since Atlas left, your fiance's been struggling with the relationship, and it didn't help when you got blasted, revealing that you are having second thoughts about the engagement, and now things between you two are so bad that you had to stop everything until you figure things out again?" He shook his head and hugged her tight. "Don't apologize, I had no idea all of that was going on. I guess I should mention, Mila and I went back to being friends." He nodded. "Yes, you are suppose to! It's about vampires in the south. Also, the vampire woman is really hot, and she kinda reminds me of you." Donny nods. "Let's hang out right now!"

[emmatheeklund]

" Exactly, and worst case scenario, you're not feeling it and you just go home" Emma agreed with her.

"Thank you, Emma." Illiana smiled and looked at her. "Hey, it's better to come and hangout and just see what kind of vibes the night brings." She laughed. "I'm doing good." She shrugged.

[emmatheeklund]

Emma laiughed playfully"Uh, no, I was just trying to buy me some breakfast and then it started raining" she explained with a soft laugh

"Hey, are you okay?" Declan asked and helped her up. He looked at the boxes and raised a brow at her. "You going somewhere?" He asked.

[emmatheeklund]

Emma giggled at"Oh no, I'm craving some cerial but not all that" she said and smiled softly as Serena helped her get the cerial packets back up on the shelf. " thanks for the help, I've been alright. That blast kind of threw me off and made a lo of drama between me and Atlas, but..yeah things are okay..what about yourself? How have you been Serena?"

"Hey Emma." Serena smiled at her. "How...how are you doing?" She asked. She knew that Emma had been blasted again, but hadn't bothered to read it. It wasn't her business what someone else's secret was.

"Do you need help?" She asked, though as she was asking, she was already picking up a box to help her. "Please tell me these are for storage purposes and you aren't going anywhere."

[emmatheeklund]

"Me ghosting you?" Emma chuckled a little" Yeah things got really hectic after the engagement. We got really busy planning and then Killian left, leaving Atlas struggling and then I get blasted for a second time. We just decided to put wedding plans on hold because...things are crazy right now" Emma explained" I'm sorry if I made you feel ghosted, but it goes both ways, I haven't seen much of you since you and Mila got together" She mentioned but not in a bitter kind of way at all. "Sinners? No, was I supposed to watch that? Sorry, I guess I forgot," she said and chuckled again"Ok, now I feel like I have seriously neglected my twinny. Can we hang out soon so I can make it up to you?"

"That's what you get for ghostin' me." Donny replied, with a small frown that quickly broke into a laugh. "I feel like you got engaged and suddenly I never see you anymore." He moved to help her with the last box. "But seriously, what's up, twin? Did you watch Sinners yet?"

[emmatheeklund]

"I'm just kind of dumbfounded that that's all it took to make them mad" Emma said and chuckled a bit.

"There is no way in hell you could get me to go deep sea cave diving." Calliope shook her head and put her phone down. "One of the moms of the daughter that I teach dance to suggested that I do that and I was like 'hell no' and they got mad because I said I didn't want to go. Was I wrong?" @rededgerpstarterblog

[emmatheeklund]

Being blasted for the second time around was no fun, but it felt so much different than before. The first time had been something she did wrong, something she hid because she was ashamed for what she had done. As soon as people showed her support, her shame was gone and she made peace with he past. But this time around....it wasn't even the same...it was the fact that now the whole town something really personal and intimate about her, something she wanted to keep for herself, something she feel wasnt anyone else's to tell but hers, and she felt like he blast took that from her, something pressious she'd never get back, just like her baby, all those years ago.

This time around, she didn't hide away from people like before, but she was sad, very sad, and anxious about...well, everything. There was so much going on with her and Atlas right now, this blast cpouldnðt have come a worse time, and Emma just didn't have it in her to even think about what others would think, right now she just felt sad, and that was that. She had gone grocery shopping in spite of not feeling like it, and was trying to get to the top shelf where all the cereal was, but instead of getting that one box she was reaching for, she managed to knock down a few boxes that fell on her. "Ow," she mumbled and rubbed her head before she started picking up the fallen boxes. As she was about to pick the last one, someone picked it up and handed it to her." OH, hey there..."

@rededgerpstarterblog

[emmatheeklund]

Emma smiled seeing Illiana approach and ask if she could join her" Of course you can, the more the merrier" Emma said with a smile welcoming the company. " I just arrived myself really, I wasn't sure if I wanted to come, but im glad I did, this is a nice change from all the indoor time I've been spending a home" Emma said and gave her a friendly wink" how about yourself? how are you doing?"

Illiana stepped out of Florez Bar with her tips stuffed deep in the pocket of her leather jacket, the night air still humming with the bass thump from inside. Her hands reeked of lime and bourbon, but her mind was crystal clear—sharper than it had been in weeks. She was done pouring drinks for people who reminded her too much of him.

The breakup was, messy everywhere. He’d just left. Said he had a job to do and then just left. Didn't offer to take Illiana with him, didn't tell her when he'd be back. Gone and she needed to move on.

She tugged her jacket tighter around her shoulders, feeling the weight of the bills pressing against her side, and remembered the whispers she’d caught all night from the bar regulars: there was a bonfire at the beach tonight. The kind of party where nobody asked questions and the only rules were the ones you made for yourself.

The idea lit her up inside. Something reckless. Something to match the spark in her veins.

The city streets blurred past in a rush of neon and half-empty storefronts as she made her way down to the shoreline. The low roar of waves greeted her before the flickering glow of the fire came into view—a beacon of wild promise in the darkness.

The beach was already alive with music and laughter, shadows dancing around the fire as people moved to the beat of some distant speaker. She could smell the salt and smoke in the air, taste the adrenaline already bubbling up inside her.

She didn’t pause to think. She didn’t hesitate. Illiana just picked the first person she spotted standing a little too close to the flames—someone with a beer bottle in one hand and mischief in their eyes—and she walked right up to them, her smile sharp and bright.

“Hey there,” she said, a teasing edge in her voice as she tilted her head. “Mind if I join you?" @rededgerpstarterblog

[emmatheeklund]

"I wonder if the fire has some weird effect on your body or something...or maybe bonfires just make you drink more" Emma wondered curiously"I'm good, no hangover whatsoever."

"I don't know what it is about bonfires, but the next day, I always wake up with a horrible hangover and today is no exception." Aspyn said. "Please tell me you feel better or just as worse than me?" @rededgerpstarterblog

[emmatheeklund]

Emma chuckled " No not at all, because we will be happy and fed " Emma said with a hopeful smile, she was really excited to eat.

"It does, yeah. I feel like when we leave here, we'll be ten pounds heavier. Not that that's a bad thing."

[emmatheeklund]

"Oh, I think wedding plans are on hold for now, things arent exactly planning friendly with Killian gone and me being blasted" Emma explained.

Brittany smiled and looked at Emma. "You two getting any wedding planning done or has he been kinda MIA since Killian left?"

[emmatheeklund]

"Okay yes I can see that" she said and nodded "It's really odd when people cast actors that are way older than their character, I can totally agree with that"

"Well for one, someone that wasn't pushing forty when the character was supposed to be in her early twenties." She laughed. "Maybe someone like Sadie Sink from Stranger Things."

[emmatheeklund]

Emma hadn't exactly been thrilled about having to do a talent show. She wasn't one to be on stage or stand in the spotlight. She didnt really see herself as a person of many talents, but something she had learned in her free time, something no one really knew she could do, sign language, was something she decided to showcase as a talent for this challenge.

When her name was called, she stepped onto the stage with soft footsteps and steady breath, dressed in pale blue with her hair gently pulled back. She offered the audience a shy smile and a small wave, then positioned herself center stage. A soft spotlight followed her—not too bright—just enough to hold the room’s attention.

The opening notes of “Imagine” floated through the speakers, and Emma raised her hands.

She signed the words gently, each motion fluid and full of meaning.

“Imagine there’s no heaven…” Her hands moved upward, then brushed away the sky, as if asking the audience to let go of everything they knew—just for a moment.

She didn’t perform to impress. She communicated. Her expressions carried as much weight as her hands—soft brows, a hopeful smile, quiet urgency in her eyes as she signed:

“Imagine all the people, living life in peace…”

There was a stillness in the room, a kind of hushed awe. No one whispered. No one scrolled. They just watched.

Emma didn’t need backup dancers or pyrotechnics. Her hands painted meaning in the air.

“You may say I’m a dreamer…” Her expression turned inward, a small shrug and a wistful smile, like even she knew the world didn’t always make space for kindness—but she’d never stop hoping for it.

By the time she signed the last line—

“And the world will live as one…” —there was a deep stillness in the room. The kind that holds respect.

Emma paused for a heartbeat at the end, hands resting gently at her heart, before bowing with her head down and a soft smile. No curtsy. No over-the-top gesture. Just gratitude.

As she got off stage she let out a deep breath she felt like she had forgotten to let out before. She did it, she survived standing on stage in front of everyone, what a relief. Now she just hoped it had been worth it and she wouldn't get blasted for the second time. @rededgechallenge