Alright! Here's Chapter 2! There may be romance later on though, I'm still thinking about 're a little young to be in full out relationships. Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 2

It was slightly shocking to wake up the next morning and see August hanging over her with a grin on his face.

"You sleep for a long time," he said, "We have to be ready to go in like twenty minutes."

"Then why didn't you wake me up earlier?!" Emma asked angrily as she pushed the boy out of the way. August smiled and shrugged.

"I don't know."

"Jerk," she muttered. August grinned again.

"Well come on then! We have to be on time or we'll miss seeing your boyfriend!"

"What?"

"Graham-Cracker. It's obvious that you like him," he said smugly as he pulled a jacket on. Emma rolled her eyes and went into the bathroom to change before hurrying out after August to get to the bus. The boy handed her something to eat as they walked down to the bus stop.

"I don't like Graham," she said, "He's just a nice guy."

"You've said like four full sentences to him."

"He's nice," Emma said, trying to end the conversation. August laughed softly and then the bus pulled up. They climbed on and then walked back towards their seats. She was surprised when she sat down to see Graham pop up from the seat in front of her.

"So did you read it?"

"What?"

"The book? Did you read it?"

"Yes of course. It was really good."

"I know it was," Graham said with a grin and then held his hand out, "I want it back though."

"Of course," Emma said as she handed him the book. Graham nodded and then rested his head on the back of the seat.

"So how are you?"

"I'm alright. What about you?" Emma asked. She still wasn't sure why Graham talked to her. Why had she made him talk? The bus stopped at the next stop but they didn't notice. Graham was explaining why the Huntsman was the best fairy tale character ever.

"So you see, he goes after Snow White but he never kills her because of what a good person she was. And then…..then he gets punished for it, but he continues to defy the queen because he knows it's not right. He helps the prince escape from the castle and then pays for it. And eventually he defies the queen to an extent that she has to kill him by crushing his heart."

"I know. I did read the whole story," Emma said with a small smile.

"Wow. I want to be just like him," Graham said with a dreamy grin on his face. And then a hand grabbed his collar and tugged him backwards into the seat in front of Emma. Regina was here.

"Shut up Graham. Don't bother them."

It was quiet and then August came forward, "Hey don't talk to him like that. He was just talking with us."

"You can leave my brother alone. It's bad enough he's in your group for that project, but you can leave him alone when you're not working on it."

"Why should we?" August countered. The whole bus was quiet. No one had ever stood up to Regina like this before. And then again, Graham had never talked before.

"Because I can make you stay away from him by reporting you to the principal. And if that doesn't work….," she leaned in to talk to August but Emma heard what she said softly, "You wouldn't want your little friend to get hurt in some way would you?"

Emma was shocked to hear that. Regina would hurt her own brother to get what she wanted? That was awful. Slowly, conversation returned.

"This isn't good," Jiminy said softly, "She's never gotten that angry before….well ok maybe she has."

"Why would she threaten Graham like that?" Emma breathed back.

"Graham's adopted. They're not close at all, they live on separate sides of town and Graham lives with her father. Regina likes her father much more than her mother. She controls Graham because he's too afraid of her to try and stand up to anything she says. Until….Until you came along."

"What does this have to do with me?"

"I don't know Emma. But Graham has never talked before and now he's talking to you without being forced to and he's actually smiled. He must trust you a lot," Jiminy said. They arrived at the school and then hurried off the bus. She saw Regina drag Graham away from their group and start yelling at him. Emma felt so bad for that boy. Why couldn't he have friends?

"I smell a rescue coming on!"

Emma turned around to see David and Snow standing there with August who was obviously leaning on one leg. They were all grinning.

"What?"

"Let's go rescue our Huntsman. And your boyfriend," August snickered. Emma rolled her eyes at him again and then started towards the brother and sister.

"Regina! Leave him alone!"

Both siblings looked up in surprise. Regina pushed Graham back into the wall of the school and took a step forward. Emma knew she just had to distract her until David could pull Graham away.

"Who do you think you are?" she hissed.

"Someone who is concerned for Graham's life unlike yourself," she said and there were a bunch of whispers from the kids around them. David was next to Graham, helping up from where he'd fallen.

"You need to stay out of business that is not yours," Regina said scowling, "Come on Graham, we're going."

But there wasn't an answer and Emma smiled. Regina turned around and Emma got to see that David had his arm around Graham and they were talking quietly with one another. The boy was completely ignoring his sister.

"Yes! And that is why I want to be him. I'm an unknown hero!" Graham said excitedly.

"It's going to be fun," David said with a smile, "Come on, let's walk to our class together yea?"

"Cool!"

Regina turned back to her and glared at her, "You will not be able to steal my brother away from me. He always comes crawling back."

"We'll see," Emma said, "I don't want to steal anyone from you. I just want him to be able to do what he wants."

She hurried off after her group of friends. They were sitting outside waiting for the door to be opened to their classroom. David was sitting next to Graham who was talking still. August sat next to him on the other side and Snow sat next to David. Another girl sat next to August. Emma recognized her as Ruby.

"I love animals," Graham said with another smile, "I've always wanted a dog but my father won't let me get one."

"I have a dog," Jiminy chirped with a smile, "You could come visit him if you want after school."

"Really? That'd be so cool!" Graham said with a smile, "Thanks Jiminy. Hi Emma!"

"Hey Graham."

August looked over at her, "How did Regina go?"

"Alright. Nothing to be worried about."

"Ok. Graham, how are you feeling?"

"I'm ok," Graham said quietly, "I'm sorry for making you guys get on my sister's bad side. You should really stay away from….us."

"You're our friend though," Snow said quietly, "And we're not going to leave friends behind."

Graham smiled slightly and David ruffled his hair. Emma saw that David and Snow seemed to act a lot older than they were during serious times. They seemed very protective of their friends. This little group of kids that they had together was just something that they wanted to protect.

"We should go in," August said as he yawned and then stretched. They walked inside and Emma noticed that a book was laying on each of their desks. It looked like they would be reading something new today. Graham smiled at her as he sat down next to her and leaned back in his chair slightly.

"Don't stare Emma, that's not nice," August's taunting voice appeared behind her. She didn't know how many times she would roll her eyes about something that boy said.

"So today, we're going to read the first chapter of our new book. Would anyone like to read first?"

No one did. And everyone was surprised when Graham raised his hand tentatively.

"I can start…..if no one else wants to."

"Ok then….Graham. Go ahead. Whenever you're ready."

Graham smiled and began to read out loud. He read very well. He could put emotion into every word and it actually felt like the story was being laid out in front of them. And soon his turn was up and other people were starting to read.

"Stop staring Emma," August snickered, "Don't be so obvious. We only have a month and a half left of school before it's summer and we'll all be in seventh grade. Then it will be legal to date him."

"Will you shut up!?" she asked quietly. Graham turned to her and frowned.

"Me?"

"You're not the one bothering me," she said glaring at August.

"Whatever."

The time passed slowly. The group of them worked on designing their costumes for their play and the lines of each of them. The day came to a close with David standing on top of a desk shouting the same words over and over again.

"I will find you Snow! I will always find you!"

"And I shall help you, my good prince. Snow is a fair princess, she does not deserve to die," Graham added as he walked forward.

"But you are not coming with me? Why is this!?" David asked as he pretended to sheath his sword.

"I cannot leave here without the queen's permission. I am trapped here. I cannot escape. But you can and you need to get to Snow. I will take the blame for your escape."

"You will not suffer here long," David said moving forward slightly, "As soon as I find Snow, we will end the queen and free you from this prison!"

"Nice work you two!" August said with a grin from his seat on the floor, "That was perfect!"

"It was pretty great," Snow said with a smile, "Next scene will be Emma and Graham and then it will change to David looking for me. Then the battle for the castle with all of us."

"Yes!" August said, "Finally action."

They'd been practicing for at least a half hour and now it was time to end with a little recess before getting ready to go home. They hurried outside and Emma watched as they parted ways. David and Snow headed off to play on the playground and Graham went towards the swings. August limped up to her.

"So how are you? You ok with being the evil witch who stole Graham's heart?"

"Yes," Emma rolled her eyes, "I really wish you would stop making jokes about me and him. He's just a friend."

"You just keep telling yourself that. Say, what's with that creepy guy who runs the orphanage?"

"Mr. Gold?"

"Yea."

"Oh….well….he's actually not too creepy. He lost his son a while ago."

"Lost him?"

"He vanished. Ran away from home. It really hurt him."

"Oh," August said quietly, "I guess I kind of know how that feels."

Emma glanced over at the boy who sighed and then hurried off to the playground to join David and Snow. She wondered why he limped so badly. What had happened to his leg? She walked over to where Graham was sitting on the swings and sat next to him. He was staring off at the picnic table next to the playground. A girl was sitting there with a book in her hands.

"That's Belle," Graham said quietly, "She loves to read."

"I can see that."

"Yea."

Emma glanced at Graham who was still staring at the girl. She smiled slightly and put her hand on Graham's shoulder.

"You like her don't you?"

"No…I just want to be her friend but I don't know how."

"Ask her about what she's reading," Emma said, "You book people always want to talk about books."

Graham laughed quietly, "Yea I guess we do. You really think it will work?"

"I bet you it will."

Graham grinned and then jumped off the swing to run towards the table. Emma watched as he sat down shyly and leaned over. He asked the girl something that made her look up. She smiled slightly and said something and Graham grinned before saying something else. Soon they were talking enthusiastically about something. Emma smiled. She was glad that Graham was able to make friends. He needed that.

The bus ride home was loud and noisy. Jiminy was talking about how great their play sounded and how he was excited to see it. Graham wasn't sitting by Regina and instead sat next to August. He would be getting off at the same stop as her and August would be so he could run across the street to Jiminy's house and play with his dog. Surprisingly, Regina hadn't made any comment about this.

"Let's go," Jiminy said with a smile at Graham who grinned back. The four of them got off the bus and then started to walk down the sidewalk. They glanced up and down the street and waited as a few cars passed.

"My dog's name is Pongo. He's a Dalmatian. You'll like him," Jiminy said and Graham nodded. Jiminy headed across the street and then Graham grinned at her.

"Alright. I'll see you around," he said. He took three steps off the curb.

"Oh my god!" Emma yelled as a car came speeding out of nowhere. Graham was going to get hit head on. There was shouting and all of a sudden, Graham was leaning on her, sobbing in fear. He was alright. But there was a loud bang and they watched in horror as the body of another was hit by the car and landed hard on the pavement.

"911? Please help, someone's been hit by a car on Main Street," Jiminy was already on the phone. She hugged Graham tightly. The boy had almost been hit by a car. Whoever had been hit by the car, had saved his life.

"You're ok," she said quietly, "You're safe. You aren't hurt."

"Who got hit?" Graham asked softly, "Who got hit instead of me?"

"I…..I don't know."

Who is it? Guess you'll have to wait for the next chapter. Thanks for reading everyone, if you liked, leave a review!