I don't own these characters but I do wish I owned Mr. Knightley, aka James Knightley in my version. This is the story of Emma in present day and it will be a lot different from Clueless. I hope you all enjoy and please review and let me know what you think.

Emma plopped herself down at her lunch table and groaned at the sight across from her.

"Have you two forgotten that you're in the school cafeteria?"

The lovebirds paused only for a second to grin at her before turning their attention back to one another.

"Just checking."

Emma smiled to herself, remembering how it was just two weeks ago that she had set them up. Edward Churchill had a terrible breakup a month before, having his heart broken by the vicious Jacqueline Cunningham. Emma couldn't bear to see her family friend so devastated so she made a plan to get him to fall in love with her best friend, Caroline Taylor. She didn't think it would be that difficult- Caroline was really very pretty with her silky black hair and grey eyes and Edward was extraordinarily handsome. He looked like Prince Charming himself. Emma set things in motion and watched with excited eyes as the two quickly fell head-over-heels in love with one another. Emma was pleased with the situation and even more pleased with herself for having such amazing matchmaking talents. She looked around the cafeteria, wondering who would be the next lucky heartbroken person to benefit from her services.

"Hi, Emma!"

Suppressing a groan, Emma forced a smile at the girl who plopped down beside her. Laura Bates was another family friend and as a result, Emma had spent a great deal with her throughout their childhood. Once she hit high school, Emma instantly became popular but was still very kind to Laura. She dressed horribly because her family was quite poor and suffered from a horrible case of acne, things that often made her the object of many hurtful jokes. Laura was also socially awkward and talked incessantly about topics no one cared about, but Emma always made every effort to be overly kind to her- an example her friends followed.

"Laura, I love your shirt." It was definitely an improvement over what she usually wore.

Laura looked down at her lavender top and then glanced quickly up at Emma, pushing her glasses back firmly onto her nose. She blushed and giggled in a nervous way.

"Thank you! I just recently picked it up with the last of my allowance. The shirt came in other colors but I remembered I didn't have any purple shirts. This in pink was really nice, though, but like I said- I have so many pink clothes! Maybe you could pick it up, it would bring out the blue in your eyes. The navy would look good on you, too, but the pink was definitely nicer. I was debating picking up the pink one, too but I really didn't have enough money. Mom was mad when I came home with this, saying the color didn't look good on me, but I like it. And anyway she-"

"Well then, that's all that matters!" Emma said, politely cutting off the babbling girl.

"Yes, you're right! Mom has no fashion sense. Why should I even bother listening to her?" She readjusted her curly black hair into her messy ponytail and looked over at the clock. "Oh, no! I was supposed to have a meeting with my guidance counselor five minutes ago!"

"You'd better run then," Emma laughed.

She watched the girl hurry away with amusement. Laura was always running late for something. Caroline and Ed parted to laugh, too. Remembering something, Caroline brightened and turned her attention to her friend.

"Em, Eddie got an e-mail from his cousin, Frank. His mom's is going on a big business trip and his dad lives on practically the other side of the planet so he might be coming out to visit us for a while during winter break!" Caroline smiled, knowing the news would excite Emma.

Emma swooshed her head back to her friend, her golden blonde hair smacking her in the face. "Really?!" she exclaimed. She had seen pictures of Frank and had occasionally messaged him back and forth via the internet. Eddie always wanted to set them up but Frank was always too busy with school and he also lived more than three hours away, making a casual visit impossible. He was a year older than them, and being a freshman in college meant a lot of work. He was always promising to come out but it never seemed likely until now.

"Yes. He said maybe in a month or so." Caroline looked over at Ed who was smiling just as wide as Emma. "I'm trying to figure out which one of the two of you is most excited."

"Emma, probably," her boyfriend laughed.

"That's so exciting! We'll have to have a party for him as soon as he comes."

"Yeah, my mom said something about throwing him one," Ed said.

"I'll just have to pick up a new outfit." Emma grinned at her two laughing friends.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The afternoon was a perfect fall day. Multicolor leaves drifted down from the trees, painting pretty mosaics along the streets. The air held a hint of the burning odor associated with Autumn and the temperature was chilly. Afternoon sun offered some warmth and shrouded the town in beautiful golden hues.

Emma sighed as she walked home from school, lost in thoughts of Frank's possible arrival. She had heard so much about him and now she was going to finally meet him! He was definitely cute and was the star of his high school and college basketball teams. He had told her once in one of their few brief conversations online that he wanted to be a doctor someday. She was extremely impressed and considered him to be the perfect candidate for her date at the winter dance. Eddie certainly would help her in that department; he'd wanted to set them up since they were little. Finally, an opportunity had come to get them together.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't yet noticed the car that was tailing her.

"Want some candy, little girl?"

Freezing in her tracks, Emma's pulse quickened and she quickly calculated the distance to the nearest safe haven she could run to.

She took a deep breath, preparing herself for the run when she heard a distinct laugh.

Slowly, she turned her head and saw James laughing his head off. James was another family friend. He was around a lot due to the fact his brother John was dating her sister Tara. He was constantly teasing and criticizing her. He loved making fun of her faults, as though he were perfect, and called her a kid all the time even though he was only four years older. Despite his constant nitpicking, they were very good friends and hung out frequently. He was probably more so her best friend than Caroline and he was very good in the advice department. She tried to remember his positive attributes whenever he pissed her off but this time it wasn't working.

"That was not funny," she managed, sucking in air.

"Em, don't you think you're a little old to be kidnapped by an old man offering candy?"

"No!" she yelled. "Girls my age and older are kidnapped all the time. I was just watching the news this morning and a girl about my age was kidnapped! No one even knows what happened to her."

James sighed and looked at his rearview mirror. "Want a ride home?"

"No, I want you as far away from me as possible."

He looked over at her and grinned. "I'm going there anyway."

Groaning, Emma got in the car and scowled. "Why can't Tara ever go to your house?"

"Because my mom can't stand hearing them fight all the time and because your kitchen is always filled with food."

"Well, why do you have to come over?" She pouted and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I thought you liked my company!" James said, feigning outrage.

"Yeah, whatever," she grumbled. She reached over and went through the radio stations.

"Don't worry, I won't be staying long anyway," James said after a few minutes of silence. "They got into yet another fight and John called me to pick him up."

"Oh, God," Emma sighed. John and Tara were always bickering over something. Emma couldn't see the point in dating someone who drove you up a wall but Tara was constantly reminding her that when you loved someone, nothing else mattered. Tara only said that when they weren't fighting. "What happened this time?"

James shrugged and reached over to change the station.

"I was listening to that!" Emma yelled.

"Oh, well. It's my car."

Emma opened her mouth to say something else but realized they were pulling into her driveway. It hardly mattered now. As quickly as she could, she unfastened her seatbelt and jumped out of the car. James followed slowly, chuckling softly. She ignored him and raced into her house only to be smacked in the face with something. Pulling it off her head, she realized it was a pair of boy's shorts.

"What the-"

"And don't even dare calling me tonight!" her sister screamed shrilly. "You are a pig! A lying, useless pig!"

"Oh, yeah? Well don't even dare calling me!"

"Ha! That would never happen!"

"I recall it happening on many an occasion!"

"Hi, guys," Emma murmured.

John looked over, his face blotchy with anger, managing a nod in her direction.

Her sister ran back into her room and came running back out, carrying another load of clothes.

"Take back all of your smelly sweatshirts, too! I don't want them contaminating my room!"

"Honey, they only got smelly after you put them on."

Her sister stopped flinging his sweatshirts down the stairs and froze in place. Her eyes were wide with shock and when she spoke, her voice wavered. "I can't believe you just said that to me."

"Oh, jeez," John groaned, running his hand through his hair. "You called me smelly first!"

"I didn't say you smelled, I said your sweatshirts smelled."

"I don't see a difference."

Emma was tugged away by James, who was laughing exuberantly. He led her to her room down the hall and closed the door behind him.

"Wow," he laughed out. "They're crazy."

"Worse than that. I can't wait to find out what your brother did."

"How can you be so sure my brother did something? You Woodhouse girls are nuts."

"Well, whether he meant to or not, he must have done something to have incurred her wrath."

"Good point," he said. He leant back onto her bed and picked up her remote. He was so tall that even sitting against the headboard, his legs hung off the bottom of the bed. Emma sighed at the familiar sight- he was constantly coming over and hanging out in her room, watching her television, and poking around in her drawers and closet.

"Make yourself at home," she said sarcastically. He just smirked at her and turned his attention back to a baseball game he'd put on.

Sighing, she sat down next to him. "That is why I don't date."

He snorted and looked down at her. "Not every relationship is like that, Emma."

"Maybe you're right, but I don't want to take that chance."

"You may be crazy, but you're not as crazy as your sister. I think it's safe to assume that you and your boyfriend wouldn't be arguing constantly about nothing."

She shrugged and ripped the remote out of his hands.

"Hey!" he cried out. "I was watching that! There was one inning left!"

"Oh, well," she said grinning. "It's my room."

Knowing he couldn't argue a point he'd made himself earlier in his car, he rolled his eyes but said nothing.

"Just please don't put on the Lifetime channel. Or the Women's Entertainment channel. Or," he made a show of shuddering, "Oprah."

"Relax," she said.

After listening to him complain about her choices for five minutes, she glared angrily at him and threw the remote in his direction. He caught it with no effort and laughed. "If you dislike my taste so much, why don't you go back to your dorm and watch what you want there!"

He ignored her tone and smiled sweetly at her. "My TV is broken."

"You're so annoying."

"Emma!" Her sister flung open her bedroom door, her hair a mess and her face not much better. "It's over! It's really over! He actually told me he hated me!"

"Did he really say those words?" Emma replied calmly, standing up.

"Well, not exactly! But it's what he meant!"

"Rest assured, no matter what he said or what he meant, my brother does not hate you." James offered a sympathetic smile and stood up too.

Tara glanced around Emma's body at James and smiled weakly. "Thanks, James. You'd better go, that man is waiting for you. Oh, and you can tell him I may or may not show up to work tomorrow!"

Emma and James exchanged a look. Her sister and his brother co-owned a restaurant, trying to start up a decent business. The deal was that in a few years, after they'd saved a nice amount of money, they would get married. Though she partly owned it, Tara didn't do much there and only came to be with John.

"Okay," James said, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "Will do. Take care of yourself and don't let my big brother bully you."

"Thanks," she replied flatly, flinging herself onto Emma's bed.

Emma shot James a suffering look and he mouthed "good luck" before jogging out to comfort his brother who was likely to be in the same condition as Tara.

"So, what happened?"

"I saw text messages from his ex-girlfriend on his phone."

"The one who is now married with two children?" Emma asked, trying not to laugh. They were always fighting over this girl who had long since been out of the picture. Supposedly she had always been a family friend so John kept in touch. He had no interest in her anymore and she was married and thirty-years old, five more than both John and Tara. Her sister had nothing to worry about.

"The very same," her sister sniffled. "One text message said he missed her. He told her he missed her! Can you imagine?"

"You shouldn't be going through his phone," Emma said softly. "It only leads to trouble."

"I have to go through his phone because he lies! He told me just the other day he hadn't talked to her in over three months."

"Maybe he started talking to her after that."

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I checked the dates." She stood up slowly and sniffled. "I'm going to my room now. I need to be alone. Don't tell Daddy. You know he'll just eat this up."

Emma nodded, knowing her Dad absolutely detested romance and relationships. He had discouraged them from dating and falling in love since they were kids. Emma knew it was really only out of bitterness- their mother had left when she was only five and Tara was twelve- but she couldn't help but agree now that she was older. He had his heart broken in the worst way imaginable and was left to deal with two small girls on his own.

Her sister ran out, hysterically crying again. Shaking her head, Emma picked up her book, found a comfortable position on her bed, and started reading.