August 4th 2012…

Peach Creek Community Pool was quiet this time of night, something Emma was thankful for after the fight between her and Nazz at the bonfire… it wasn't the first time the two friends fought, it was normal for any pair of friends to have an occasional disagreement and then mend things later whether they were children, teenagers or adults.

But this was worse than the past fights Emma and Nazz had gotten into with each other or the other kids in the neighborhood… Nazz had thrown a beer in Emma's face and blamed her for Kevin ending things and Emma responded by throwing her half full glass of vodka at Nazz and tackling her to the ground and the two hitting each other.

They had been pulled apart and both left the bonfire in separate directions… and after getting cleaned off and changed at home, Emma left again and found herself at the pool.

She shivered as it was chilly, which was normal in late summer as Peach Creek wasn't too far from Canada and the occasional cold front would blow through… and then felt a naugahyde jacket being put on her after hearing "You'll catch a cold out here if you're not dressed warmly enough.".

Emma knew it was the same jacket that Kevin had taken away from Eddy after the fight between Edd and Jimmy at the pit a few years ago, just resized to fit Kevin's now muscular frame… and she saw Kevin and the two hugged.

"I'm so sorry she went off at ya, Doll." Kevin responded as they let go, Who'll Stop The Rain by CCR playing on a nearby radio.

"Trying to keep peace and civility won't be so easy at first but we all just can't take sides. We all grew up together." Emma replied as they sat down on the lounge chair, Kevin wrapping his right arm around her shoulders as she tiredly rested her head on his right shoulder… and Kevin held up a mostly empty bottle of Grey Goose vodka, letting Emma drink out of it first and him drinking out of it afterwards.

"You know, what you were talking about back there at the bonfire… I can imagine you being an attorney, Doll. You've got a no nonsense nature and the determination for it. That and if I get in legal trouble, I can call you for advice." Kevin responded.

"My advice would be say nothing not protected by attorney/client privilege. Cops tried using something against Lee and the DA wasn't happy about that." Emma replied, Many Too Many by Genesis playing on the radio and both smiling slightly. "Before I start dreaming about opening my own law firm in Westbrook again, let's get on back to the Cul-de-Sac because the others are gonna start looking for us." She responded before they stood up and left after Kevin threw the now empty bottle away.

She attempted to slip the jacket off of her once they were outside of the McGee house but Kevin gently stopped her.

"Keep it, Em. It's gonna get colder here before we know it." Kevin replied before they hugged and she walked into the house… and Kevin left.

Emma wandered upstairs and into her room before closing the door, gently tugging the jacket closer to her and smiling after noticing the warm scent of Kevin's cologne… and finally pulling it off before carefully folding it, putting it on the dresser after changing into pajamas.

As she hadn't reapplied her makeup after getting cleaned up, Emma brushed her teeth before she curled up into her bed and closed her eyes.

And she hoped that she and Nazz could mend things…

Present time, August 20th 2012…

The cold A/C blasting through the cafeteria basically left Emma no choice but to put on the jacket before she sat down at a table and grabbed her lunchbox before unlocking it… right as Kevin, Jonny, Plank and Rolf joined her.

Kevin sat next to Emma as they ate, Jonny looking to Plank who was propped against a book and moving his right ear close to Plank's drawn on mouth… and his eyes widening before he made a zipping motion over his mouth and continued eating.

Something about that gave Emma a bad feeling as she remembered Nazz taping up a piece of paper on the back of a dry erase board earlier.

"Emma girl!" Rolf responded loudly to get her attention, Emma jumping out of fright and Kevin glaring at Rolf.

"Apologise for that jumpscare!" Kevin replied, Rolf turning back to Emma.

"Rolf is sorry, Emma girl. But you're distracted, are you okay?" Rolf responded.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'll be right back." Emma explained before she stood up and headed to the girls' restroom.

She walked into it, taking a deep breath after closing the door… and then saw Marie holding a paper she had found, handing it to Emma.

"This isn't gonna cool down anytime soon, Emma." Marie responded as Emma saw that on the paper was a copy of the pictures from earlier with handwriting below it.

'I wish I never trusted you two to begin with! And by the time I'm through destroying your reputations, no one else will either!'

Emma closed her eyes briefly and Marie knew that she was pissed, Marie lightly pulling her into a hug.

"Take a bit to calm down, okay? She's still upset after what happened and is just lashing out." Marie replied before they let go.

"And it's gonna stop one way or another. Thanks for letting me know, Marie." Emma responded before she left… and found Kevin.

They finished eating and put their lunchboxes away… and Emma slipped the paper to him, Kevin's brown eyes widening before he and Emma abruptly grabbed their things and left.

Standing up, Eddy followed after them from a distance… and Ed and Edd followed after him, Edd trying to talk Eddy out of this.

"Quiet, Sockhead! I don't know what's going on here and I don't like that or clandestine conversations!" Eddy responded through gritted teeth before the boys stopped a distance away, close enough to listen in but far enough to not be spotted.

"I can't believe she'd sink this far, she's the one that broke up with me!" Kevin replied as he held Emma's right hand in his left one in a platonic manner.

"She's regretting it but you both grew apart… so much for group civility, some close to us are gonna take sides even if they won't verbally admit it." Emma responded, Kevin lightly rubbing his left hand up and down her back.

Eddy narrowed his eyes and had to be physically dragged away by Ed and Edd as he was shouting… and Emma and Kevin looked back at each other, shaking their heads.

Her right hand remained clasped with his left one, Emma and Kevin feeling comforted by the small gesture.