Emma Watson North

Chapter 9

The song above is "peace" by Taylor Swift from her new album folklore! Absolutely in love with the album. I think it matched this chapter and brought out the meaning I wanted to convey, so I would recommend listening to it while reading! Thanks and enjoy :)

Finally being able to go back on set, helping out a bit here and there was pure bliss. All the memories came flooding back, and I kept feeling a surge of powerful joy flowing inside me throughout the afternoon.

After a day of hard work, it was done for the day. Time to go home.

To be frank, I was a little bit sad when it had ended. Who wouldn't be? Nonetheless I was ready to go home, relax (Mum seemed like she was too). And, I could always just come again.

After dinner, I climbed the stairs up to my room and collapsed onto the soft mattress of my bed.

As I went through the messages once again, I realized it didn't have the same effect on me anymore, because I knew what they were saying weren't true. I was silly to ever doubt Mum's love or my own worth. She helped me believe in myself. The corners of my mouth lifted, by themselves, as if they had a mind of their own.

They aren't worth it.

I did my usual routine then got into my pyjamas. I crawled into the bed again, pulled out a book, and breathed out a sigh of content.

-

I put down the book I was reading and decided to go to bed. 

While I walked near my bedroom door to switch off the lights, I heard a muffled sound that sounded vaguely familiar.

I started to panic. Not paparazzi.

The memories from the car ride home today from set flooded into my brain.

We walked out of Mum's workplace into the open space. I barely had time to take a deep breath because then, a huge crowd of paparazzi with cameras flashing appeared out of nowhere.

The crowd surrounding us was far more suffocating and the paparazzi hungrier for information than I had ever encountered.

I felt terrified as they bombarded us with questions. I supposed they had tracked us down and they knew somehow about me and people attacking me online. 

They probably had footage of my broken-down state on the way here, I thought, panicked. My confusion and the crowd made it difficult to breathe.

That was until Mum wrapped her body reassuringly around me tightly. She was so strong, so calm that it instantly made me brave again.

We shoved our way through, Mum holding me protectively, whispering words of comfort into my ears. 

I could feel a mutual connection at that moment, that me and Mum were afraid of losing each other.

When we finally made our way to the car, Mum shielded me as I promptly got in. She then got in on the other side and drove and drove until the paparazzi disappeared from sight. 

"Oh, Emma, you were so brave."

I looked up and saw both of our faces, covered in a mixture of sweat and tears from the frantic attempts to get to the car.

I wiped her face, and stared admiringly at her. "Wouldn't have been if it weren't for you." 

She gave a small smile, eyes fixated on the road. "My goodness, I'm so thankful that you're safe. What if I lost you in the crowd..." her already tiny voice faded.