Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Revenge, I Just Love It

A/N Before I say anything I really want to thank all you guys for keeping up with this story despite how inconsistent I am with updating (uni life keeps me stressed and busy :/). I was really surprised and really happy about all the comments I received on chapter 7. I honestly had not expected that, and I'm really glad you guys stayed and are enjoying my story. I really love writing it, and it may not seem like it but your comments really do keep me motivated :)

I was reading the comments and it seems pretty close between Team Jack and Team Daniel... however I think Team Jack had the edge in the comments xD.

Anyway, without further ado.

Chapter 8: Cockblock

She was being stared at and whispered about, Amanda could tell from the way the girls leaned into each other talking in quiet hushes and by the way the guys nudged each other playfully, their eyes lingering over her body taking in her first appearance. She was used to it... Being the subject of attention, it came as soon as her name was first revealed, but Collins Prep, Daniel's preppy, rich kids school was different, for she went by a different name now, one that held no connotations.

"They act as though, they've never seen a new student before" Amanda muttered snidely to Daniel, as he walked her from the office to her homeroom class. Conveniently, he was in the same homeroom, though their class schedule differed from there.

"Be nice, you promised you'd try... and smile, you'll make friends, people already like you".

"Based on what?" Amanda scoffed, as she eyed all the glossy, well-done up girls with their skirts clearly hitched up, and the arrogant looking boys rough-housing obnoxiously in the middle of the hallway.

"I don't know, you're uh..."

Pretty, Daniel thought but couldn't say. He meant it sincerely and as a compliment, but he felt as though Amanda would somehow take it offensively and he didn't want to make things awkward. It also sounded shallow and admittedly it was, but at this school people gravitated towards one of two things; good looks, and power, hence why he was put on such a pedestal.

"... you kind of give off a cool vibe, and plus, you're already friends with Daniel Grayson, which people make a big deal out of here."

"Oh yeah... you're mister king of the school... how cliche", Amanda muttered, as she looked up at him, taking in his good looks and smooth composure, matched with his kind chocolate coloured eyes. She could understand why, he was the definition of the American dream boy... and for some odd reason they were friends.

Sighing in frustration, Daniel shook his head, "I don't care if they see me like that," he replied quietly, "but you're…."

"Grayson!" Austin, one of Daniel's football teammates yelled loudly across the hallway as he jogged over with a group of five other guys who surrounded Daniel with obnoxious voices and their testosterone levels on high. "How do you always find the prettiest girls," they asked, eyes turning to Amanda, as though she was fresh meat... which in their eyes she probably was. "Is she the new girl people are talking about?"

"What's your name?" one of the guys asked, finally addressing her himself, as he arrogantly wrapped his arm around her shoulder, "Need me to show you around?"

Pushing him away from her ready to snap at him, having little tolerance for annoying guys or people in general, Amanda found another girl had already spoken for her.

"God Tyler, it's 8am, do you have to look so desperate so early in the morning".

"I'm sorry Ashley" he replied with a smirk, "I can't help it that you weren't enough for me last night".

Scowling at him with daggers, as the guys behind him began snickering, Ashley shook her head, "as if I would ever even let you touch me Tyler" she replied disgustedly, before turning to Amanda and grabbing her hand.

"Let's go new girl, I'm not leaving you here with these idiots", Ashley muttered, as she turned on her heels; her posse of four following her, encircling Amanda in the middle, and separating her from Daniel, who too was encircled by all his football peers.

Turning her head to look back at him, she watched as his lips mouthed, "I'm sorry, be nice".

To which she mouthed back, "Screw you".

God, she hated high school... she had so little tolerance, and though she may not be Amanda Clarke anymore she'd be damned if she spent her time at Collins Prep faking nice or faking friendships.

It wasn't until last period when she saw Daniel Grayson again, she'd unintentionally spent lunchtime with the Queen Bee and her posse, aka Ashley Davenport; the popular British bombshell. Surprisingly, the popular girl had taken an interest in her, and it amused Amanda to her core. Amanda constantly put up a nonchalant facade, but she too was a teenager, as fickle as any other, and she would be lying if she said that she hadn't at least at one point wondered what it was like being one of the popular kids.

She clearly hadn't missed much though, they had absolutely nothing in common, Ashley was all about makeup, boys, gossip, spa days, hot celebrities, and clothes. And she was all about well... definitely not any of those things.

It made her wonder though if she would have grown up to be one of the popular girls if her father hadn't been a terrorist. The girls had pulled her into the group almost instantly as though they saw that she belonged or at least looked the part, and she'd heard the fellow whispers of her classmates, "the new girls so hot, so pretty, so cool".

When she had been a little girl she had loved dressing herself up and acting girly and feeling pretty, just as much as she had loved rolling around in the sand and collecting clams. As she had entered the foster care system though she had stopped caring about pretty dresses and nail polish and her hair. Her looks hadn't mattered anymore... but then eventually they had again, not to her but to others. As Amanda hit puberty, she had started getting some stares which had made her feel uncomfortable; she hadn't known what to do. Amanda hadn't felt particularly pretty but boys would look at her as though she was, as though they wanted her... though she quickly came to realize that they only wanted one thing.

From there it hadn't taken her long to notice what happened to the pretty girls in the foster care system and she hadn't wanted to be one of them. So she had dyed her pretty blonde hair raven black, worn over-sized sweaters, and jeans even in the hot summer months, and hid her vulnerable brown eyes behind thick black eyeliner and mascara.

But now all that had been shed. Her hair was honey blonde and fell in soft waves against her back, her clothes were worn to fit her slender frame, and her eyes were shed free of such heavy cheap black makeup so that only a thin layer of eyeliner and mascara remained.

She was different now, she was Emily Thorne, but she was also still Amanda Clarke and she didn't fit in with these girls, and nor this school. So at the end of the lunch period when Ashley had asked her to come to the beach with them after school, she had looked at her indifferently and declined the offer, explaining that she had little in common with them, and saw little reason to be friends. Ashley's eyes had widened in shock at her response, it no doubt being uncommon for her to be denied. She had recovered quickly though with a hard scowl plastered across her perfectly made-up face and a petty threat which escaped her red lips.

Amanda was unbothered by it all though, she had no ill-will against Ashley Davenport and had no intention of getting wrapped up in petty high school drama with her, she just simply refused to spend her time at Collins Prep listening to Ashley gossip and talk about irrelevant things, such as the newest Louis Vuitton handbag collection.

She really didn't care, she was only here because she had to be.

Three Days Earlier

"Although the Judge granted you emancipation Amanda, she has asked me to keep an eye out for you for any problems will reflect badly on her practice of law, do you understand?" Victoria Grayson questioned, her voice ringing with clear authority.

"Of course" Amanda responded steadily, she had no intentions of starting any trouble here in the Hampton's.

"With that in mind emancipation comes with some requirements, the first being that you can adequately support yourself. We, of course, are going to kindly help you with that, and have set you up in a nice little apartment about ten minutes away from the school. However, the judge has also requested that you work a part-time job and so Conrad has set you up a little job in the filing room of Grayson Global."

"What if I can find a job on my own?" Amanda questioned quickly, the idea of working at Grayson Global where her father had once worked making her stomach churn in anxiety.

"You have no experience and no resume Amanda, and quite frankly the only things on your record are delinquent acts," Victoria responded snidely, to which Amanda had to hold her tongue and hide the irritation behind her dark brown eyes. Around Mrs. Grayson holding back was common, that woman never failing to rub Amanda the wrong way with her icy and pretentious attitude. "I just don't think it's wise for me to work where my father once did. If this secret was ever somehow exposed and people found out that the Grayson's let David Clarke's daughter work anywhere near Grayson Global there would be an outcry."

"If your secret was ever exposed Amanda, you would be out of the Hampton's before the town could even outcry... remember that," Victoria responded curtly, her sharp eyes holding Amanda's unflinching gaze. "However, I'll give you a week to find your own job before we're finding one for you".

"But this" she added, handing Amanda a neatly folded pile of clothes which consisted of a Navy Blue blazer with an embroidered crest on the left-hand side, a plain shirt, and a pleated skirt with stockings, "is non-negotiable, you'll be starting Collins Prep on Monday with Daniel. As Emily Thorne you are a wealthy friend of the Grayson's and you will reflect this accurately. This means maintaining good school attendance, keeping track of your studies, and refraining from getting into any school trouble or fights. If that cannot be accomplished then this arrangement will have to be reconsidered."

"I'll be good" Amanda responded candidly. She wasn't stupid, and although she wasn't going to pretend that this situation was perfect, it was still the best chance and the biggest break she'd ever gotten. She didn't plan to ruin that or leave the Hampton's to return to the foster care system where she'd be completely isolated again. She was tired of being alone.

"And Amanda, one more thing," Victoria spoke with warning eyes. "I don't want you getting too close to my son, he's growing into a very good young man".

"And you think I could ruin that?" Amanda questioned with narrowed eyes, feeling provoked but unsurprised by Mrs. Grayson's comment.

"Trouble seems to follow you Amanda, whether you create it I don't know, but I do know that no trouble's touching my son".

"Well you have nothing to worry about," Amanda replied stiffly, "Daniel and I are only friends".

"And that's all you'll ever be, darling", Victoria responded in a sickeningly sweet voice, her words like many, no doubt her warning to the young girl in front of her.

"Of course" Amanda replied slowly, wetting her lips as she opened her mouth to speak again knowing full well that she shouldn't. She couldn't help it though, wanting more than anything to ruffle Mrs. Grayson's silky feathers. "I can understand why given the history, I suppose ". History of course being the torrid relationship between her father and the queen herself; a Clarke and a Grayson.

"There is no history", Victoria responded icily, her eyes darkening as they bore into Amanda's steady gaze, knowing exactly what she was alluding to. They were both very good at that; reading between the lines of each other's words. Maybe it had to do with the shared but unvoiced animosity they held for the other. "Another thing you'll do well to remember".

"How did you manage to get on the bad side of Ashley Davenport on your very first day of school?" Daniel groaned to Amanda as they walked to the sleek silver Tesla his parents had bought him for his 16th birthday.

Stepping into the car, Amanda just shrugged as he turned on the engine, "I don't know, I just told her I didn't care to be friends, we don't have much in common that's all".

"Jeez, Emily, you were supposed to try and be nice, and at the least not offend the most popular girl in school".

"I did try", Amanda quipped with a nonchalant roll of her eyes, "I even sat with her and her posse at lunch, but their incessant talking about boys and clothes and stuff quickly became irritating. They seem shallow I just couldn't... why do you even care Daniel?".

"Because I caught Ashley trying to spread nasty rumours about you in fourth period, and I don't want you to have to deal with such bullshit. I stopped her and let her know you were off-limits though".

"My hero" Amanda replied sarcastically, "I could have handled her".

Sighing, Daniel shook his head, "This school is supposed to be trouble-free for you remember?"

"I know" Amanda muttered, as the car finally rolled into motion, "Speaking of Ashley, she made sure to mention how you two used to be a big item and stuff. I never thought of her as your type?"

"She is definitely not my type", Daniel objected with a frown, "If she was my type I'd still be dating her, which I'm not. I mean when we were together we did have some nice times and stuff but she's full of drama, and like you said very shallow. I just wasn't as into the relationship as she was, it wasn't fair to her which was why I broke up with her".

"Makes sense" Amanda murmured, "of course she told me a different story though".

"Yeah, I know it well", Daniel sighed in frustration, "she told the whole school as well... how I broke up with her a day after taking her virginity. She wanted the whole school to see me as just another popular asshole, and herself as the popular victim. I'm not the type of guy to do that though".

"I know", Amanda replied simply, "That's what I told her".

Smiling at Amanda, relieved she hadn't bought into the lie about him, Daniel tried to smoothly segue into the next topic, knowing she wouldn't like the lie he had made up about her. "Also", he began to say slowly, "Speaking of relationships... I kind of told all the guys that you have a boyfriend who goes to NYU".

"Daniel!" Amanda snapped at him, her eyes narrowing in a mixture of annoyance and surprise, "Why would you do that?".

"You're the cool new girl everyone wants to get to know, and I heard the guys making bets on you, like who'd be the first to take you out and stuff... They're all idiots and assholes though, I didn't want them bothering you, so I told them you were dating a cool college guy and that they stood literally no chance with you".

"So you basically cockblocked me from all the guys on my first day of school?," Amanda responded with raised eyebrows, trying to be mad at Daniel for overstepping, but watching with too much amusement as Daniel shifted uncomfortably in his seat, before awkwardly turning his dark brown eyes to meet hers unsure of how best to respond.

"I just..."

"Relax", Amanda muttered with a smirk, unsure of whether to be annoyed or thankful for his interference. "But seriously Daniel, I know you're trying to look out for me but I can take care of myself."

"I know" Daniel responded firmly. But someone has to worry, he couldn't help but think to himself. Amanda had no parents or family looking out for her, so as one of her only friends he at least wanted to try. Though if he was being completely honest, the boyfriend lie was just as much for him as it was her. He knew how his football friends talked about girls and treated them. Admittedly, they weren't all bad but regardless, they'd been talking about Emily like catching her would be a prize to be won, and he couldn't stand the thought of any of those idiots trying to get close to and hit on Amanda Clarke. As he'd told Ashley, she was off-limits.

Sitting on the barstool, watching as Jack wiped the counter and restocked the liquor at the Stowaway. Amanda waited until Jack finally turned around again to face her, "So first day on the job today, how do you feel Amanda?" he asked with a crease of concern in his kind blue eyes.

"I don't know, I just never thought this would be happening... I heard my boss can be a real hard-ass", she added looking up towards Jack with a playful smile.

"Hey now!" Jack replied faking anger as he threw the rag in his hand towards her, a smile cracking through his fake composure, "that's my dad you're talking about".

Chuckling, as she threw it back at him, Amanda let out a quiet sigh, feeling relief at how the job situation had worked out, "I'm excited to be working alongside the Porters here at the stowaway" she replied honestly this time. Jack had pulled through for her again, like he always did.

"It won't all be fun though, around 6-9 on weekdays it can get pretty busy because it's around the time most people get off from work. And Fridays and Saturdays we always have a steady crowd. Some customers can get impatient and cranky too, but just let my dad, Steve or Chris handle those types of people. Also doing inventory is the biggest drag. And remember, we're underage so we're not supposed to be serving the alcohol, leave that to the bartenders or my dad could get in trouble. And one more thing my dad does tend to be a hardass about workers who show up late".

"Gotcha", Amanda murmured, nodding her head, "don't worry I'll be good".

"I know, I'm not worried" Jack replied easily, as he instructed her to pass him the empty glasses along the bar table. "So how's it been at your preppy rich school, you've officially made it through one week. Congrats".

Shrugging her shoulders Amanda, sighed, "I don't know it's just like any other high school except kids are a lot more pretentious, I can barely stand them. Though for some reason they seem to like me, I guess my new kid status hasn't worn off yet. Lessons are harder to bullshit at this school too, so I actually have to try and focus, but they've all learnt a lot of stuff I've missed, so I feel like I'm always going to be behind".

"You're smart, Amanda, it may take some time, but I'm sure you'll catch up... It might be quicker if you made some friends though... they can't all be bad".

Rolling her eyes at him, Amanda shook her head, "I don't need friends there, I'm fine".

"So what do you do then?" Jack questioned, "Just hang out with Daniel most of the time?".

"Not really, Daniel's always surrounded by people, I just do my own thing, which I honestly prefer".

"I wish you'd come to my school, can you imagine that?" Jack said with a gentle smile, "I wouldn't let you be alone even if you wanted to".

"Is Emily still locked in her room" Daniel questioned Charlotte, as she waltzed into his own room and plopped down onto his bed with a heavy sigh.

"Yeah, I wanted to show her my new hairstyle but she's busy drawing again".

"How long does it take to draw one picture", Daniel murmured, referring to the picture she had promised Jack that night on the boat ride. The night they had actually ended up fighting though by the next day they were fine again; their heavy argument having been shoved under the rug more than resolved.

Charlotte shrugged her shoulders as she replied, "she told me she hasn't actually started the picture yet, first she's practicing with the new art supplies, getting used to their feel."

"Oh," Daniel exclaimed, wishing he could see at least something of her art, even it was just the scribbles. "I'm glad she's enjoying the set".

As a present for her emancipation, Daniel had gone to the huge art store downtown and bought her a fancy set of new art supplies and equipment. He hadn't known what she liked best so he had kind of overcompensated and bought not only sketching pencils, coloured pencils, and sketching pads, but also a nice paint set, with brushes and canvases, and whatever else the lady in the store had said was necessary.

He had kind of realized he'd gone overboard after the fact, so feeling embarrassed he had made Charlotte present her with the gift. Amanda had known it was all him though, and had gone into his room to thank him, her chestnut coloured eyes having twinkled with such excitement and gratitude though she'd held her cool composure.

It was the sweetest thing, but with her new art supplies, she'd been even more occupied and secretive with her artwork. She hadn't gone down to the bench with him for days.