To my sweet, beautiful Lia- I hope this makes you nearly as happy as your presence makes me.

"Rednerd! Rednerd!"

"Stop being such a teacher's pet, Jeremy."

"I know why he tries so hard. He has a crush on Mrs. Yeong."

"Stop trying to impress her. She doesn't like you anyways. It's just her job to take care of you."

The bigger boy delivered a painful punch to Jeremy's arm. He winced, hanging his head so that his hair fell over his eyes. It was to hide the tears that he didn't want the others to see.

"Come on, Rednerd. If you're so smart, why don't you use your head and fight back?"

"He can't. It's because he's a weak loner. His only friends are his books."

"Well your books can't save you now, loser."

A forceful shove.

Jeremy stumbled back, losing his balance. He fell to the ground, hard. A soft cry escaped his lips, and it brought forth a fresh wave of leering and laughter.

"Show us what you know, dweeb. You were so eager to show off in class…"

"Why aren't you saying anything? Are you scared, you wimp?"

Jeremy hugged his scrawny arms to himself. He couldn't fight back; he just wasn't strong enough. They'd beat him to pulp.

The bullying had gotten much worse over the past few months. And the last time he tattled… well, that was an experience he did not want to relive. The blood that ran from his bruised nose had ruined his best shirt.

He told his parents that he had walked into a door.

"You're a loser, Jeremy. Nobody likes you."

He squeezed his eyes closed, trying to shut them out.

"Crybaby Rednerd. You're such a girl…"

Another shadow suddenly fell over him.

"What's wrong with being a girl? It's better than being a dumbass bully. "

The entire group was soon silent with shock. Words like that were not allowed to be used. If it was heard by a teacher, you would be stuck on desk-cleaning duty during every recess for a week.

The boy on the floor opened his eyes. He found himself staring into the back of a grass-stained skirt.

"And I'm the only one who gets to call him 'Rednerd', got it? Not you."

The skirt belonged to the infamous Blaise Corso. She had messy blond curls, merciless fists, and an attitude that always got her in trouble.

Don't mess with her. Do so, and you're dead meat.

A swift kick was delivered to the bigger boy's shin. As he hobbled backwards on his remaining good leg, Blaise grabbed his hair, pulling him down to look directly at her menacing expression.

"If you go after Jeremy again, I will break your face. Got it?"

He frantically nodded. The blonde released her grip and he scrambled off, the rest of the group trailing after him.

Blaise watched them go, scowling. She stuck out her tongue at their fleeing backs before turning to Jeremy, roughly helping him up.

"Don't listen to them. They're just stupid and jealous."

Jeremy quickly wiped his tears away, sniffing. He stared at her tattered, muddy shoes, unable to meet her eyes.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled.

She pouted, lifting his chin up and forcing him to look at her. "No! You're doing it again."

"Doing… it…?"

"Saying 'sorry'! Stop being sorry for stuff that's not your fault!"

His fingers fidgeted with the edge of his shirt. "I-I'm sorry… I won't…"

"You're 'sorry'?" A pointed look.

"Oh." A deep breath. "I won't do it again, I'm really sorr—"

"Jeremy!"

"—thank you!" he blurted, unsure of what to say to her that would not involve apologizing again.

A bit taken back, Blaise just stared at him for a while. His cheeks instantly turned bright red.

Was that the wrong thing to say?

But then she grinned, the corners of her bright blue eyes scrunching up. Her dimples showed. "Any time."

And though he was a bit busy blushing, he still noticed that she was missing a tooth.

Without further warning, Blaise grabbed his hand. "Come on, Rednerd. I'll let you push me on the swings."

Her contagious smile tugged at the corners of his lips, and Jeremy couldn't help but smile back.

"Oka—"

Before the short word could even be fully uttered, she yanked on his hand and ran in the direction of the playground.

There was nothing else he could do but run along with her.

Alright, so this is my first time writing something more focused on the story than how the story is being told. (Basically, I didn't bother with my usual vomit of metaphors and synonyms and similes all over the place. Also, I literally just wrote it at 1am and everything's gross and choppy. Now I'm just making excuses, I'm sorry.)

If you guys like the elementary school setting, please let me know and I'll continue it, adding in extra chapters when the inspiration comes. This fic will be a collection of oneshot Elementary School AU drabbles. I'll even throw in the other canon characters, so that Blaise and Jer won't be the only kids here.

What do you think? Is this a good idea? Should I continue?