E is for Emery

The Branson sisters are all part of the Saturn world, but Emery is a bit too young to attend events, walk the red carpet, and do the many things her older sisters (who are Saturn girlfriends) get to do. However, Emery is very popular with the Saturnite fandom, so today we’re celebrating her on the Kids In Love countdown with Emery’s top five moments!

5) Crushed ladybugs
Emery picks up the remote, turns the TV on, and flips directly to the music channel for the premiere. As the beautiful boy next to me predicted, she invites herself to divide Jenji in half and inserts herself into the equation.
Ten seconds later, Emery stands up. 
“I can’t sit by you, Jules,” she says.
She gravitates in our direction and crawls into the gap between Tate and Noah. 
Then she makes her announcement. “Jules smells like crushed ladybugs.”

4) Being Forced to Keep Secrets
“Next month,” Lauren says. “We had planned to go sooner, but since Paige’s trip got unexpectedly cancelled, we rescheduled so she could go with us. It’s not really fair that she has to miss out since other people apparently had issues.”
“Yeah,” Emery agrees. She props her little elbows on the table and leans forward. 
We all wait in this epic moment of silence – like in a movie – waiting for the building to explode or zombies to erupt from the ground. 
“That’s like…” Emery pauses and looks at me. Then she looks back at Paige and Lauren. “It’s like when you tattle on someone because they are naked in your sister’s room. Then you get in trouble for tattling, but the naked person doesn’t get in trouble for being naked.”

3) The Scarf
“My blue scarf,” I say. “Blue is subtle and serious and…”
“Boring,” Emery says with her mouth full. “Can we talk about something else? This is my birthday, and I don’t wanna talk about those stupid boys.”
The gig is up. Emery really does know. I don’t know what she knows or how she knows, but she spilled my Milo secret moments ago inside. She definitely knows. 
Aralie sighs. “Have you heard us say their names? No. We’re talking about clothes and accessories.”
“No, you’re not,” Emery says. “No one wears a scarf in the summer. It’s too hot.”
*****
Aralie tackles us and kisses Emery on the cheek. Emery laughs and tells us that we’re annoying just like Tate and Noah, but she giggles until we hear the ladder creak again. 
We pull apart instantly and sit perfectly still. I can’t even hear myself breathe. I knew it’d come down to this. Someone would eventually come out here to offer an apology on behalf of the band. 
Then Emery says exactly what we’re all thinking.
“Uh oh. Here comes a scarf.”

2) Life sucks
“Is our house always this damn quiet?” she asks, hands on her hips.
“Aralie, language,” Mom reminds her. “We’re just used to having company.”
“Mom,” Aralie says in that ‘who are you kidding’ tone. “The house was never this quiet before lockdown. Emery isn’t even talking. It’s like someone died. Do you know how much our lives are going to suck after lockdown ends?”
Emery stabs the elephant with her gray crayon, over and over, like she’s murdering the paper. It rips, and the crayon marks on the table. 
“My life sucks right now!” Emery screams, throwing her crayon against the wall. 

1) Playing House
Emery stands up and walks around the room. She stops in front of Jules. 
“Since Aralie won’t marry you, I guess you can be my dog,” she says. 

As one of the original Saturnites, Darby McMillon has been a longtime face of the fandom. From the days when the boys were just a YouTube band trying to gain fans up through their recent lockdown, Darby's channel - Darby's Daily Dose of Drama - was the "go to" spot for all things Spaceships Around Saturn. 

Until now, she's been trusted by most and envied by few, but her meet up with SAS girlfriend Chloe Branson shakes Darby's world. She learns quickly that when you're with the band, everything isn't always red carpets and music videos. 

And the closer she gets to her SAS crush Tate Kingsley, the closer she comes to losing her Saturnite status forever.