Chapter 2: Day -5

In the small town of Riverside, there were two residential areas called Eastside and Westside respectively due to the neighbourhood's location- Eastside, in the southeast part of town and Westside, in the northwest.

It was proof Riverside's founders had no naming sense. One would only need to take a look at other landmarks to further confirm it. There was an 'Old Lane', a 'Founder's Square' and a 'Main Street'. How utterly boring and unimaginative. A five-year-old could have done better.

Speaking of children, the Brown-Murray family who lived in Westside, the wealthier of the two neighbourhoods, had three children. The oldest, Aidan Brown, had been the focus of small-town gossip for most of his teens because of his unruly attitude.

His sisters, on the other hand, were as far from rebellious as one could get. "Sweet girls-", the townspeople would often say, "not at all like the boy." Consequently, it was not at all surprising the rumour mill went into a frenzy after news of Emma's argument with her mother got out.

Amongst the passers-by, there was Mr and Mrs Robinson. The elderly couple lived down Old Lane and they were coming home from their usual evening stroll when they witnessed Emma's storming out of her house.

The young woman wore a thundering expression, hot tears rolling down her face. What was even more shocking was the yelling coming from the two-story house. Mr and Mrs Robinson couldn't clearly hear what was said- their hearing had unfortunately declined over the years, but they were able to catch a "Don't you dare run from home again!" and "Your grandfather left ME the house and I'm selling it!".

Nothing more needed to be said. The elderly couple had known the late John Roberts and had been aware of his house being put on sale. With the little they heard of the argument, it wasn't difficult to piece the conversation together.

Emma, they knew, had been particularly close to her grandfather. Being the middle child, the girl had been unintentionally neglected in favour of her siblings. Most children would start acting out since negative attention was still just that- attention. Emma, however, did not act out. Instead, she had sought love and attention from someone else- John Roberts.

Mr and Mrs Robinson still remembered how the young women had reacted when he'd died. Thus, it was no wonder her reaction to the unexpected news of Rob's house being sold was this extreme.

After unintentionally causing a scene in front of her neighbours, Emma power walked across town from her house in Old Lane all the way to Eastside. Mr and Mrs Lawson, her employers, lived in South Street the most western part of the neighbourhood, which was closest to the town centre. They weren't Emma's first choice of place to crash since she had a professional relationship with the couple. No, her first choice was Murphy's.

However, the brunette knew he would not be in Riverside tonight as he was spending the next couple of days at his girlfriend's. It was also probably wiser to put as much distance as possible between Emma and Jane Murray. Sadly, Murphy's house did not qualify- they were barely a minute away, after all.

Half an hour later, the brunette arrived at her destination. Knocking briskly, three times- something she always did whenever she was angry, Emma took a deep breath in order to calm herself. It wouldn't do to snap at Erica and Maurice because she was cross with her mother.

It was Maurice who opened the door.

"Oh- Emma, why are you-", his gaze scanned over the brunette's face and stopped at her eyed. Looking worried, he stepped out of the doorway, further opening the door.

"Go inside, sweetheart. I'll make you some hot cocoa. You'll feel better afterwards."

Emma nodded in thanks, took off her shoes and slipped on the extra pair of slippers in the entrance before making her way to the back of the house.

Five minutes later, Emma was sitting in the living room, a mug of hot cocoa in hand. Maurice was in the kitchen, preparing dinner- which had been in the making before she came. Erica was sitting next to the 23-year-old, rubbing soothing circles on her back.

"Everything will be okay, Emma. You can stay as long as you want until this whole situation sorts itself out."

Hearing dinner was ready from the kitchen, Erica stood up but not before sparing a last concerned gaze at the brunette.

"You can keep those pyjamas on if you want or you can take mine. Maybe taking a bath will make you feel better?"

Looking down at herself, Emma realized she had indeed stormed out of her house and walked all the way across town clad in her pyjamas.

Wincing, she took up Erica on her offer. For lack of better words, Emma felt gross. Going upstairs, the brunette opened the second door on the right. It was the bathroom. Opening the closet, she took out a towel and one of Erica's nightgowns. Blocking the drain, Emma turned the faucet to a warmish temperature and sat on the edge of the tub.

This situation was eerily familiar. Actually, it had happened before, the first time she slept over at her employers'.

Five years ago, when her grandfather had died, she had come here too. Emma had been given hot cocoa by Maurice and Erica had coaxed her into taking a bath. Strangely, Emma had not fought against it, not like when her family and friends had told her to do the same. Sometimes, you just needed someone uninvolved to listen. It had been Mr and Mrs Lawson then, and it was still them now.

After taking a bath, Emma went downstairs, more relaxed. Erica and Maurice were waiting for her on the sofa, a movie ready to play. The brunette joined them. It was a comedy and while Emma didn't laugh as much as she usually would, her spirit had lifted considerably. Maurice had gone to bed half an hour ago- he had to be up much earlier than them, so Emma and Erica were alone.

Getting comfortable on the sofa, Emma laid down on the armrest as Erica put the throw blanket on her before lightly patting the brunette on the shoulder.

"I already called your family to tell them you'll be staying here. Your sister said she will come by tomorrow with your stuff so don't worry 'bout a thing and sleep well."

"Erica, thank you." Emma's only answer was a warm smile.

The next day, Abigail did indeed come by to bring her sister clothes and other necessities, including her phone and bicycle. Evidently, Emma had left with only the clothes on her back- aka pyjamas, and the shoes on her feet. The strawberry blond girl tried convincing Emma to go home but the older girl categorically refused to do so.

Jane Murray and Emma Brown were as different as night and day, both physically and otherwise but if there was one thing they had in common, it was their stubbornness. As such, days passed.

Emma's day to day routine did not change much. The brunette still woke up to cook breakfast only instead of starting her day at 5 am, Emma started even earlier since she had to go bike home since she was staying at the Lawson's.

It wasn't until a week after the whole ordeal started that things began to change. Like in most cliché movies, it started with a phone call. To be more precise, Aidan called Emma.

"So, sis, I heard from Murphy you haven't been home in a week. Way to be original- emulating your older brother. Do remember I did it first, there's no point in you doing a reboot."

Emma rolled her eyes, picturing punching the infuriating smirk that was most likely on Aidan's face right now.

"Your first call of the year and that's what you say, really?"

"Anyway- I'll be back in town tomorrow. Mom called back her troops to clean out grandpa's house. Just thought I'd give you a heads up."

For a second, Emma froze. Then, anger bubbled up deep within her, making her eye tick.

"How long have you known this and who else knows?!?"

"A week and everyone- except you. You would have known if you hadn't stormed out the house like a child throwing a temper tantrum." Aidan replied nonchalantly.

Emma fumed but didn't rise up to the bait- for that is what it was. Aidan enjoyed getting a rise out of people, her most of all.

"Prick." The brunette rubbed the bridge of her nose and sighed, already regretting her decision. "What time is it at?"

"Oh! Changed your mind, did you? It will take the whole day. Be there at ten."

After that, Aidan hung up. He didn't say goodbye but again, Emma hadn't expected him to.

Making her way around the Lawson's house, Emma packed up her belongings. It was time to go home, not that she would stay there for long. There was only a month left of summer vacation after which Emma would permanently leave her parents' house.

Phynes had helped her move her stuff to her apartment two days ago. Emma could technically already move out but for necessity's sake, she stayed in Riverside. The brunette still had two weeks left working at the café. It would be impractical to live in Duskville only to take two trains and one bus to get back to Riverside.

Unpractical and costly- transportation was expensive. Emma had never been big on spending and she would certainly not start now.

On the way to her parent's house, Emma stopped by the café to let Erica and Maurice know she was leaving. Today, the brunette had an afternoon shift which was why Emma had been at the Lawson's in the first place when her brother had called.

Understandably, Erica and Maurice didn't question her decision, merely wishing her well and sending her out with a "see you later".

After her stop at the café, Emma went to the grocery store. Since the Lawsons had been kind enough to lend her their couch for a week, the least she could do was to bake them a cake in thanks. Baking ingredients weren't the only supplies she was getting. Emma had noticed other things were running short at home so she might as well buy everything now.

Balancing her grocery bag on one hip, the rest of her stuff thrown over the opposite shoulder, Emma opened the door to her house. In the entryway, Jane and Frank were putting their shoes on. The mother and daughter had a short standoff before the brunette broke it by putting away the groceries.

Uncomfortable with the tension in the room, Frank ushered his wife outside. No words were exchanged which suited Emma just fine. A week might have gone by but the opened wound had not gone away. If anything, it had actually festered.

Faithful to her motto, Emma completely ignored what just happened- a very unhealthy thing to do, to focus on her current task- baking a "thank you" chocolate brownie.

Two hours and a fully baked brownie later, the most awkward lunch in the history of the Brown-Murray family took place which was saying something. There had been lots of tense family meals during Aidan's rebellious phase.

Frank and Abigail- who had returned from her friend's house, exchanged a nervous look with each other. The tension was so thick, you could cut it with a knife.

Ignoring the elephant in the room and the sound of forks forcefully stabbing steaks, Frank engaged in nonsensical talk with his daughter. It failed at diffusing the tension but at least, they weren't plunged in an eerie silence with questionable background scratching. Thankfully- or not, depending on how you saw it, the rest of the meal continued on the same pattern.

For the rest of the day, nothing interesting happened- which made sense since Emma followed her routine religiously. Mr and Mrs Lawson had liked her "thank you for lending me your sofa" gift as she knew they would. Maurice was a chocolate lover and Erica, the biggest sweet tooth Emma had ever met. There was no way a chocolate brownie would go wrong.

After her shift at the café, the 23-year-old met up with her best friends at Murphy's house. They then proceeded to do a sleepover because Ines had pointed out it had been "ages" since she'd gone to one. Neither Murphy nor Emma contradicted her knowing full well doing so was a pointless endeavour. All in all, Emma had great fun. It was a great distraction from what awaited her the following day.

The next morning, Emma was up earlier than usual. The brunette did not have work today but she hadn't slept well. Just knowing what she was going to do in a couple of hours had been enough to cause her a restless sleep. So, Emma did what she would always do whenever she had too much pent up anger. The brunette went for a jog.

This was advice she had gotten from her grandfather. As a child, Emma struggled with her anger. She hated it when people would dismiss her concerns as childish temper tantrums. She loathed being compared to her brother so she bottled it all up which was not the healthy thing to do.

John Roberts had taught her to evacuate it through exercise. It started with swimming, then jogging and it eventually led to one of her passions, soccer.

After her run, Emma decided to return home since both her friends were still sleeping. The brunette immediately noticed the addition of a black Chevy in the driveway. It was her brother's car which he affectionately called his "Doll".

Emma did not get it and neither did any members of her family. Certainly, it was a nice car but was it necessary to address it as you would a person?

Of course, the 23-year-old did not tell that to Aidan's face. He would blow a gasket if she did. This was not important enough an issue to warrant going through that ordeal. Every time Emma heard her brother talking to his car, she would get chills. It was strange to think Aidan treated his car better than he ever did either of his sisters. It was unsurprising, though.

Quietly unlocking the door, Emma carefully made her way into the house, searching for the light switch since all the blinds were closed. Before she ever could, Aidan who had just come from upstairs did it for her. Leaning on the wall, he smirked.

"Well, well, well~ Look at what the cat dragged in! Am I about to have the talk about not sneaking out with my 23-year-old sister?"

Emma rolled her eyes, something she did rather often when interacting with her brother. "Lay off, Aidan. I was at Murphy's- not that it's any of your business. You are the last one who I'd ever willingly take a lecture from."

The brunette was about to head upstairs when she was tugged backwards towards the kitchen.

Freeing her hair, Emma glared at her brother and his childish antics.

"Stop tugging my hair! You're 27 already. Grow up!"

Aidan laughed it off. "'Been told that already and I'm still here, aren't I?"

Pausing, the brown-haired man tugged his sister by the arm to the kitchen. "Make me breakfast. I'm hungry."

Emma clenched her teeth as she rubbed the bridge of her nose in annoyance.

"There are so many wrong things with that statement, I don't even know where to begin."

Sighing, the brunette combed her hand through her hair, trying to soothe herself. "First of all, I don't have to do or make anything for you. You're a grown man, start acting like it. Secondly, if you're going to ask something of someone, the least you could do is say please."

Aidan grumbled under his breath before turning back towards her.

"Fine, Emma, can you please make me breakfast?"

Emma's answer was a short nod. This might have seemed trivial- it really was, but coming from Aidan, it was progress. The brunette would take whatever she could get.

Her brother might have been the oldest at 27 but he was far from mature. Aidan was childish and petty which by itself was not that bad. However, if misogyny was added to the mix, it was another story entirely.

What was even worse was his reaction whenever Emma called him out on his behaviour. He'd call her sensitive, too stuck up to take a joke. Emma had made peace with it. Still, she secretly hoped he'd one day offend the wrong feminist and finally get his mouth shut.

As she was making her brother an omelette, Emma asked something she'd been curious about for a long time.

"Do you even know how to cook?"

Aidan shook his head, making his fringe fall in his eyes. "No. The last time I tried, I burned a pan so Jeremiah forbid me from ever cooking again. He's the one who cooks in our flat. Sometimes, Seb cooks but mostly, it's just Jeremiah."

Aidan lived in a flat with his band Rivoutlet, called Riv for short by their fans. How they were able not to strangle each other was impressive. Each and every one of them was as eccentric as one could get. Emma knew from experience living with her brother was hard. Kudos to the five members of Riv for bearing with each other.

After fixing up a plate for her brother, Emma went to her room. She needed some alone time to charge herself up, what with the day that awaited her.

By the time Emma returned downstairs, everyone else was already awake. Frank was just done with cooking breakfast so the four who had yet to eat, everyone apart from Aidan, went to sit at the table. Despite having already eaten, Aidan decided to join them which was very much unlike him.

The 23-year-old quickly figured out why her brother was so eager to join them. As the family ate, Aidan would constantly bring up how their mother informed them of their grandfather's house getting sold at the last minute. Emma didn't know which annoyed her more, bringing up their mother's faux pas or Aidan's obvious enjoyment of the drama.

Thankfully, Aidan's taunting was put to a stop when they finished breakfast. After all, it was hard to tease people when they were showering. Once everyone was ready, the two cars headed to Hillford, a village twenty minutes away from Riverside, where John Roberts used to live.

On the way, they picked up Maeve and Ryan Brown who had been roped into helping. At that point, the sitting arrangements became a serious problem. Jane and Emma were in a silent but charged standoff, Ryan Brown was disliked by Jane and Aidan, the latter of whom Maeve could not stand.

In the end, the sitting arrangements were decided by playing rock paper scissors. Emma lost and ended up in her parent's car with Maeve and her birth father. Abigail was alone with Aidan. In the end, maybe the blonde was the one who had it the worst.

Emma couldn't get out of the car- and its tense atmosphere, fast enough. However, upon facing her grandfather's house, she strongly reconsidered her choice. It was an old wooden farmhouse that had been build by Emma's great-grandfather when the Brown family arrived in Hillford.

The house itself wasn't that big. It was probably the same size as Emma's house. The yard, however, was enormous. Emma remembered playing hide-and-seek with Murphy in her grandfather's backyard. The games would last so long what with the numerous hiding nooks. One time, Murphy even got lost. It took hours to find him.

Spending her summer vacation at her grandfather's had been the best part of Emma's childhood and it was hard for her to let it go.

She had to, though- and not just because Jane had decided to sell the house without warning any of them beforehand. The way Emma had found out about it was far from ideal. Yet, after thinking about it, Emma knew keeping the house was not an option.

Since no one actually lived in the house, the costs for the upkeep of the farmhouse and the maintenance of the garden were simply not something a family like hers could afford. Of course, renting was an option but it wasn't popular in the area. Most newcomers were people leaving big cities for houses of their own. They would want to own the house, not just live in it.

Emma could understand her mother's decision. In fact, in Jane's stead, the brunette would have probably done the same. What Emma hadn't liked was the way her mother had gone about it.

It was true Jane owned the house, not Emma. Still, a heads up was not too much to ask for. All the members of the family were affected by this decision. Merely telling them a cleanout was in order was not the proper way to go about it.

Going on a family trip despite both Emma and Abigail having made plans with their friends beforehand was rude. Ordering furniture and expecting her husband who had barely caught four hours of sleep to mount it on the wall was inconsiderate. But to Emma, this had been far worse.

After overcoming a strong wave of nostalgia, the family made their way inside. Jane divided them into three groups, assigning each one a room to clean and pack up.

Emma's group composed of Aidan and Maeve were given the attic. Unsurprisingly, none of them had been particularly excited at the prospect. No one had gone to the attic in years. The chances of there being dust and cobwebs were as high as Aidan's self-esteem. In other words, there was a 100% chance of encountering spiders and dust bunnies.

Armed with rags and a bucket of soapy water, the siblings made their way to the aforementioned attic. Opening the door had been hard. The hinges must have been old because it took Maeve giving a strong push with her shoulder for the door to open.

Emma didn't like the screeching sound the door made when it was forced open. It would probably need to be replaced. Making their way inside, they started dusting off. It took them the rest of the morning.

After a quick lunch break, the siblings started wiping the entire attic with mops and wet rags. It wasn't until everything was squeaky clean that the siblings started tidying the numerous boxes littering the floor.

Amidst the organizing, the siblings were able to find many items from their childhood, like the friendship bracelet Maeve must have lost one summer playing in the grass, one of the first partition Aidan ever wrote or Emma's favourite scarf.

The true treasure, however, was when Maeve stumbled upon a carved wooden box.

"Look, guys! Grandpa Roberts must have kept the bucket list we made five years ago."

Snapping to attention, Emma motioned for her sister to hand it over. Sitting next to her older sister, Maeve opened the lid and took out the first piece of paper. Coincidentally, it was her bucket list.

"Uh, I did seven out of ten. That's not bad. What about you, Emma?"

The 23-year-old went through the different lists until she found her own. It was at the bottom. Looking over the things she wrote, Emma's brows furrowed.

"I've got only one."

Maeve stared at her sister, surprised.

"Seriously? Only one? Did you write anything difficult?"

Before Emma could answer, Aidan took the list out of her hands, reading it out loud.

"Let's see- get a dog, be in a genuine relationship, get a pixie haircut, go to a party, dye Aidan's hair a hot pink, study computer science, create a video game, travel outside the country, get Aidan to cook for a week, go bowling with friends… Wow, the only thing you accomplished was studying computer science. That's- sad."

Emma tore the list away from his hands, glaring at him furiously.

"I didn't allow you to read my list, Aidan!"

The brunette secretly agreed with him but it was one thing for her to realize it and another for someone else to point it out.

After reading the bucket list she wrote five years ago, Emma had a revelation. For the past few years, she hadn't been happy or at least, not as happy as she could have been. The brunette could not remember the last time she was eager to do something.

When was the last time she'd been thrilled over something? Graduating high school had not made her especially happy, neither had graduating from college with a master in computer science. But, wasn't that what Emma's dream had been all along? When did her life become so- morose?

She turned towards her siblings, studying them.

"Don't you ever feel bored to the point everything becomes numb?"

Aidan and Maeve exchanged a quick look before settling in a deadpan expression. Emma sighed.

"Sorry, I forgot who I was talking to."

Of course, neither Maeve nor Aidan could understand. Both of them had pursued their dreams with fervour. Aidan had already realized his, and Maeve was well on her way to realizing hers. They didn't fear disappointment nor failure. They never shied away from the unknown. For all Maeve disliked Aidan, it was clear those two were very similar.

It left Emma all on her own, neither fitting with the picture-perfect family that was Jane, Frank and Abigail Murray nor the dysfunctional, yet bold one, that was Maeve, Ryan and Aidan. How could she be so different from them? Why was Emma the only one dissatisfied with the way her seemingly perfect life was doing? What had she done wrong to the point a mere piece of paper written years ago had such a strong impact on her?

Emma checked the bucket list once more, almost believing she had imagined it. But she hadn't. There really was only one wish that was checked out of her list.

Emma had always wanted a dog but Jane had forbidden it. It wasn't until Emma saw the list that she was reminded of just how much she had wanted one.

The brunette had always wanted to try short hair but had never done so because she already looked like a boy with long hair. It wasn't Emma's fault if she had androgynous features. It wasn't wrong either to have an androgynous appearance but, Emma must have been subconsciously avoiding having her hair cut because of what people would say if she did.

Reading the bucket list was like diving in the past and Emma was shocked at how little she had changed. The brunette realized she was still as insecure about her looks now as she had been back then. The 23-year-old had thought she had started shrugging off her mother's internalized misogyny when in truth, she'd internalized it herself.

After cleaning up the attic with her siblings giving her odd looks, Emma returned home uncharacteristically silent, holding the carved wooden box in her hands.

Once home, the brunette decided it was time to do some much-needed introspection.

She didn't like what she found. Many times, there had been things Emma had wanted to try but she would hold back because it would have inconvenienced others.

While it was true it would have inconvenienced them, Emma's life had still taken a back-seat in favour of others. There was understanding and there was being overly considerate.

Emma realized she'd been giving too much, in hopes of receiving what she gave. She would hold herself to the highest standards and be disappointed while being envious of others. Truth was, Emma could not envy the life of others when she herself had not fully lived her own.

Surely, she couldn't be the only one not to have accomplished all her wishes. Maeve was proof enough. And wouldn't it be a great homage to John Roberts if the Brown-Murray family could finally accomplish the bucket lists they wrote the Christmas before he died?

Mind made up, Emma proceeded to read the rest of the bucket lists, starting off with her grandfather's. There were four unfinished items in his list; climbing over a mountain, seeing the Northern Lights, beating Emma at chess and going fishing with the family for a day.

Emma proceeded to do the same with all the members of her family. In the case of her mother- whom Emma still wasn't talking to, the brunette tasked her younger Abigail to transmit the message. Jane had been surprisingly on board, probably out of guilt for selling the house her father, John Roberts was born in.

Once all the accomplished wishes were crossed off, Emma made a new list, compiling all the remaining wishes. They were as followed:

• Go fishing with the family for a day (J. R.)

• Beat Emma at chess (J. R.)

• Climb a mountain (J. R.)

• See Northern Lights (J. R.)

• Get a dog (E. B.)

• Be in a genuine relationship (E. B.)

• Get a pixie haircut (E. B.)

• Go to a party (E. B.)

• Dye Aidan's hair a hot pink (E. B.)

• Create a video game (E. B.)

• Travel outside the country (E. B.)

• Get Aidan to cook for a week (E. B.)

• Go bowling with friends (E. B.)

• Learn how not to poison myself (A. B.)

• Get Emma to wear makeup (M. B.)

• Have Abby cosplay a cute chibi anime girl (M. B.)

• Successfully prank Aidan (M. B.)

• Have Aidan as a guest of a tea party (A. M.)

• Climb a tree (A. M.)

• Make your own pizza (J. M.)

• Start a herb/fruit/veggies garden (J. M.)

• Clean out the closet (J. M.)

• Go fishing with the fam (F. M.)

• Homemade pizza (F. M.)

• Father-son bonding time (M. B.)

• Attend my kids' weddings (M. B.)

• Clean my apartment (M. B.)

Now, though came the fun part- convincing Emma's family to finish the bucket list before her grandfather's house was sold. So, in basically less than three weeks.

Emma had a feeling it was NOT going to be easy.