Jay leaned back in his chair. Who is this Chester? He contemplated.

Jay's POV

I can't focus. I can't stop thinking about who Chester might be. The thought of him asking out my Emma—I mean Emma, makes my skin crawl. Wait, why do I even care?

Anger raged thru his bloodstream. He had such a grasp on his pencil that it began to crumple into diminutive pieces. Jay needed to find Chester. He had to.

x

Emma pushed a curl of hair out of her face. She was bothered that Chester had taken a liking to her. How was she supposed to tell him that she didn't feel the same way without breaking his heart?

Emma's POV

Ugh! Chester! Why does he have to like me? I'm not going to think about this. I need to reflect on happy things…

She found herself thinking about Jay. Jay's not a happy thing! She told herself, he's a first class jerk… She was lying. She'd felt Jay's good side. His caring side. She wanted to believe otherwise, but she couldn't deny it.

x

"Issacs, just the man I was looking for."

Toby opened his locker, "What do you want now, Jay?"

Jay frowned, "Aww… I thought you looked forward to our little visits."

Toby didn't say anything.

"So… would you happen to know anything about a kid named Chester?" Jay asked.

"Not really."

"Have any idea where I can find him?"

"Nope."

Jay began to crack his knuckles.

Toby turned to him and said, "He has Armstrong."

"Ahh," Jay replied while he pushed Toby into his locker.

"Jay, come on!" Toby pleaded.

Jay shut the locker and stood with his back against it, "Thanks, Issacs."

x

Emma sat alone at an outdoor picnic table.

"Emma!" JT called, "Emma I'm so sorry about yesterday."

Truth be told, she'd completely forgotten about yesterday.

"Huh?" she questioned.

"About the whole Media Immersion thing, it was wrong."

She looked him up and down, "Oh yeah. It's no big deal."

"Yeah it is. You're my friend. I shouldn't have acted like that."

She smiled sheepishly, "It's fine. Really."

JT seemed hopeless, "We're cool, right?"

Emma pondered this for a moment, "Yeah. We're cool."

x

"You're grades are excellent, Chester. You should be very proud," Armstrong handed Chester a few graded assignments.

"Thanks, Mr. A," Chester replied.

"Mr. A?" another student asked, "How'd you get away with that one?"

Chester turned around to come face to face with Jay.

"Jay Hogart… is it? I've heard a lot about you."

Jay answered him, "Yeah. I am pretty special."

Chester laughed, "You wait outside class for me? I should feel special."

Jay crossed his arms and leaned against a nearby locker, "You know an Emma Nelson?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I've heard some things," Jay responded.

Chester knew what he was getting at, and shrugged him off.

He began to open his locker, until a hand shut it.

"They weren't good things," Jay continued.

"So what? I might ask Emma out. I don't know yet," Chester said.

Jay glared at him, "No you won't. Not if you know what's good for you."

Jay began to walk away.

"Why do you care so much? It doesn't concern you. Unless…"

This fueled Jay's anger, he went in for the punch.

x

Emma noticed a large crowd of people gathering at the end of the hallway.

Manny ran to her, breathlessly, "Emma! Chester and Jay are fighting!"

The two ran over to where the action was.

Chester wasn't a wimp. He fought back. But he was no match for Jay. In an instant, Chester was on the ground, thriving in pain.

Jay brushed against Emma and weaved thru the crowd. Emma ran after him.

"What was that all about!" she steamed.

He glanced at her, but kept walking.

Jay's POV

Great! I don't need Emma to blow up in my face. It's her fault I'm in this mess.

x

Emma continued to follow him, "What's wrong?" she asked. She seemed more concerned than angry.

Jay stopped. Emma stood still for a moment and then walked up to him.

"Can you answer me?"

Jay looked at her, "Nothing… He didn't do anything."

"He must have done something," she continued.

He turned around, "Emma! Why do you always stick your nose where it doesn't belong! Go! Save the trees with your little friends!"

Emma was hurt. She wanted to slap him across the face, but she didn't dare. That was Alex's thing. She did not want to be Alex. Instead, near tears, she ran to Manny and Chester. She couldn't allow Jay to notice that she felt like crying.

Jay slammed his locker and left the scene.