Emma bit her lower lip to keep herself from crying.
Another day, another endless shower of teasing for her. Was it her fault she was so plain looking? Boring straight black hair and boring brown eyes with a boring plain face, it wasn't her fault she was born that way, wasn't her fault her little sister was way prettier than her, wasn't her fault everyone else just looked darned better than her!
What was wrong with her classmates anyway? It was like every single one of them was out to get her to cry! Maybe it was that darn Ruby Faint's doing. The golden head always seemed to have the hate out for her, but whatever she did to deserve it, Emma could never know in her entire life.
Maybe it was for answering correctly and getting that gold star in physics and receiving the teacher's good words that set her off. Ruby liked being on top, she liked getting everything for herself, every boy in their school had the hots for her... Well, everyone except that Samder kid though.
"Hi."
She jerked her head up to see who spoke, and speak of the devil, there he stood, Oliver Samder, a foot away from the grass she sat on. He was the tallest sixth grader in their school, every girl falling head over heels for him in just one smile, she'd heard, and who wouldn't?A head of well-kept blonde hair that looked so devilishly roguish on him, it didn't matter that it needed a trim, beguiling bright blue eyes that could put the clear skies to shame, a jaw-dropping smile that could make the weak-hearted faint, a face as handsome as an angel's, a flirting mischief even worse than the devil's residing in him. He was the school's heartthrob, and might as well be a heartthrob for the rest of their natural lives, and she knew that he was out of her league, so what was the point in pretending to be okay?
She let the tears roll down her cheeks, though she tried her best to keep a straight face and failing miserably. Oliver immediately showed his surprise with a stutter.
"W-what's wrong?" He asked in worry, dropping his backpack to the grass and kneeled next to her. It seemed so natural for him when he wrapped an arm around her and started comforting her, and that was when she knew that even for sixth graders like them, Oliver was definitely more mature than the rest of the boys in her grade.
"Nothing!" She immediately denied but never pushed him back. His cologne smelled too nice to make him go away.
"Of course it's not nothing!" Oliver shot back, patting her back gently. "Come on, you can tell me, Anderson. I'll understand. If it's a secret, I'll keep it."
As if she was stupid enough to believe that! They weren't even acquaintances, classmates at best, and let alone not friends! "Why are you even here anyway!?" She asked, digressing from her problem at hand.
"I always come here after basketball practice!" He said with obvious perplexity. "It's a nice spot!"
She sniffed. It really was a nice spot. She made her eyes wander to the surroundings she had gotten so familiar with, she was sure she could find it blindfolded. A trickling, gentle stream crossing the small clearing, tall yet soft grasses dancing to the summer breeze, flowers closed yet pretty all the same swaying along the banks of the brook, and the tree she and Oliver sat under was the most glorious and beautiful acacia she had ever known, its tall, winding branches reminding her of fingers reaching for the heavens. Officially, the place was called Troffer Brook, but secretly, she had been calling it her magical getaway. Her getaway from bullying, from life, from a worthless existence...
She raised her brows when she realized something in his words. She looked up at him, completely oblivious to the small space they had between them.
"Doesn't basketball practice end at six? It's only around four." She stated, knowing full well of the time since she had just checked her watch recently.
Oliver looked away, his arms still around her though, before he shrugged. "I got captain to let me get out of it early." She didn't think too hard about the small red in his tanned cheeks.
"Why?" She asked, this time it was her turn to be perplexed.
"Because..." He trailed off, as though uncertain on how to proceed, before he sighed and answered, "I saw what happened, and I thought it wasn't cool to just gang up on one person like that. When you ran off, I told them to back off and they did before I followed you. I didn't know you came to this place. I always thought I was the only one who knew about Troffer Brook."
Her face went red from embarrassment when he said he had seen her terrible ordeal, her mind completely disregarding his last two sentences. Worse, he had actually told Ruby Faint to get off her back!
Great! Just great!
Now what was going to happen to her? Obviously, more teasing, more shunning, more bullying, duh! Maybe she should just stop going to school there and start packing her bags and move to the ocean and live like a hermit for the rest of her days... Yeah, that sounded like a pretty good idea. Actually, it sounded like a great idea!
"Um... Anderson?"
She wiped the tears out of her cheeks harshly before she jerked her head up to Oliver with a straight face. "What?"
He stared at her then, Emma waiting for him to say something, but he never did, and instead looked away and said "Nothing."She cocked a brow at him. Well, talk about second-thoughts. Speaking of second-thoughts, she sure wasn't having any with his arm still around her shoulders. She liked it. It felt like a warm blanket, and she liked warm blankets. They were always so warm and... blanket-y.
She looked at the gently flowing stream across from where she was then, birds singing songs and insects most probably singing their own songs, leaves and grass fluttering by the wind, peaceful, calming silence...
Maybe she won't move away to the ocean just to live as a hermit. She could just live like a hermit here!! Yeah! That was an even better idea! Living off the land in this place was sure to be better than by the ocean. She didn't even know how to swim, so what was she thinking?
"What are you thinking about?" Oliver asked her then.
She answered truthfully. "That this place is way better than the beach." Oliver nodded agreement. "And that I could probably pull off living like a hermit here."
She grinned when he looked down at her as though she was crazy, then cocked a brow when he smiled in realization.
"What?" She asked.
He grinned wider. "You finally smiled. Good."
She frowned, just to spite him.
He shook his head at her, and only then did she realize that they now sat next to each other, his arm around her, their back leaning on the trunk of the acacia, the brook as their view. Perfectly enough, she felt at peace.
"So," She heard Oliver say, "You come here often too, right?"
She nodded. "Every lunch break and afternoon I get."
"Oh, so we just miss each other. I come here early every morning and after practice. Sometimes, when I just want a break from other people, I come here too."
She felt a bond form between them. "I come here to get away from everyone."
"Everyone?"
She nodded. "I was never a people-person. Everyone always rubbed me the wrong way."
She felt his hand raise slightly off her shoulder. "Do I?"
She looked at him, in thought. Did he? She shook her head.
He looked relieved. "So not everyone rubs you the wrong way." He smiled. "Maybe you should give others a chance."
"You think so?"He nodded.
She thought for a bit. "Are we friends?"
He looked a tad surprised, then looked up in thought. A scant second later, he looked back at her with a smile and nodded. "Yeah. I guess we are."
Her face lit up. "Cool! My very first actual friend is one of the school's popular kids."
He chuckled. "Well, hang out with me and you'll be popular too."
And then the thought struck her. Popular? Her? Like the snooty I'm-too-good-for-anyone-else-less-hotter-than-me Ruby Faint?
"No!"
"No?" Oliver repeated.
"No." Emma calmly reiterated. "I mean... um, can we be friends without me being popular?"
He shook his head. "That would mean we'd have to keep it a secret."
"I'm fine with that." Emma stated, almost too quickly. "I mean, well, um... like, no offense or anything, but I'd like to keep my privacy. And if I'm popular like you are, I don't think it'll be a constant in my life anymore."
As she spoke, comprehension lit up at the boy's face, and once she was finished, he was nodding sympathetically.
"Say no more." He said then. "I totally understand. Our friendship will be true but kept in the shadows to protect your privacy."
"You don't mind?"
"Nope. Not at all. Sometimes popularity strains me down at times too."
She sighed in relief. "I'm glad you're not mad."
"Why would I be?" He raised his hand then, balled into a light fist, and she grinned. "Pals?"
She gave him a fist-bump. "Friends."
The next day at school, Emma was glad that Ruby and posse were late, and by that, she meant she was way too early as always. She looked around her classroom first for a good seat, and as usual, the best seat, which was at the corner-most part of the room, had already been taken by the only other person ever to be earlier than her.
So she took the second-best seat in the room, the one next to the best.She placed her things on her desk and sat down, but instead of taking out her notebook to draw stupid doodles, she decided to peer over at the girl sitting beside her for once.
Long, brown hair as straight as hers, a face unnoticeable t first, but once looked close enough upon, would be seen fairly pretty. She wore a thin white jacket suitable for the coming summer season, and her wrists were lightly adorned with multiple bracelets, her hands were busy writing on her notebook about something, so Emma looked up at her when she suddenly stopped.
Brown eyes met with cold gray ones.
"May I help you?" The girl quietly asked.
Not everyone rubs you the wrong way. Maybe you should give others a chance.
Emma smiled friendlily, before sticking her hand out. "Wanna be friends?"
The girl looked slightly taken aback by the sudden proposal, but calmed herself a scant second later. From surprised, she suddenly looked suspicious.
Emma tried to look dejected. "You don't wanna?"
The girl shook her head first, before nodding, then shook her head again. Was she conflicted?
"Hello?" Emma called.
The girl raised her index finger. "Firstly," The girl stated in her quiet tone. "Why?" She then raised a second finger. "Secondly, do you even know who I am?"
Emma thought for a bit. "Well, I just want to start making friends is all. And, I guess I only know you as the girl who's always earlier than me, and aside for that, nothing else." She realized how dumb her approach was. "Sorry."
And for the first time since Emma first saw her, the girl smiled, before taking her hand for a shake.
"Katalin Cho. Kat for short."
Emma grinned. "Emily Anderson. Emma for short."
Kat let go and raised three fingers. "Thirdly, please do not make any unnecessary noise when we hang out. I really don't like it."
She thought it was strange, but didn't bother questioning it. Instead, she nodded with a broad smile. "Let's get to know each other for as long as we have left in this school, shall we?"
Kat smiled. "Sure."Emma went back to her doodles then, a slight drop of joy filling the pit of her stomach.
Maybe other people weren't as bad as she first thought.