Chapter Two

"So where did you move here from?" Lizzy asked Emma as they walked into the lunchroom.

"Beverley Hills," Emma replied, looking around for a good place to sit. The room was filled with unfamiliar faces but Emma would not be intimidated. Still she was very glad that she had found Lizzy.

"Let's sit over there," Emma said, pointing at the table of what she assumed were the popular girls. The girls didn't look very nice, but Emma wanted to make a good first impression.

Lizzy wrinkled her nose. "Gross!" she said. "Those girls are all bitches. Come on, my tables over here". Emma couldn't help being a little relieved. Did she really want to be involved with pretty much the same group of people she had just escaped from? 'No', she decided, 'not this time'.

Lizzy lead the way across the cafeteria to her table. "The cafeteria is so damned crowded!" she exclaimed as a group of freshman cut her off. "I can't wait until spring."

"Why's that?" Emma asked.

"Well when it's warm we can eat outside. It was so nice at the beginning of the year, but now that it's November…brrr!"

Emma laughed. "Yeah, it's diffidently been a shock. I'm not really used to this cold weather."

Lizzy smiled. "You'll get used to it."

Finally, they reached the table. The people sitting at it all looked very nice, and Emma recognized a few people from some of her classes. "Hey everyone!" Lizzy said. She was greeted with a chorus of heys as she slipped onto the bench. "This is Emma. She just moved here from Beverly Hills," she added smiling at Emma.

Emma looked at the group of people who were staring at her, took a breath, and smiled. "Hey everyone, I hope you don't mind if I sit here," she said.

A pretty red headed girl smiled up at her and patted the seat next to her with her hand. "Plop a squat," she said. Emma thanked her and sat down. "I'm Marianne," the redhead continued. "And this is Elinor." A blonde girl on the other side of Marianne smiled and waved.

"Nice to meet you, Emma," Elinor said. Emma opened her mouth to respond but Lizzy cut her off.

"Jane!" she called, waving at a small blonde girl. She girl waved back and made her way over to the table.

"Hey everyone," she said as she slid onto the bench next to Lizzy.

"Jane, I want you to meet Emma. She just moved here from Beverley Hills," Lizzy said nodding her head at Emma. Emma smiled, but inside wondered if she was always going to be introduced as Emma from Beverley Hills.

Jane smiled, "Yes, we already met. We have English together."

Lizzy smiled and turned towards Emma. "I bet you'd never guess it, but Jane is my twin sister." Emma could truthfully say that she would've never guessed it but before she could respond Lizzy was pointing out more people to her.

"See that boy down there?" she said, pointing at a tall brown haired boy at the end of the table. Emma nodded. "That is Elton. He's kind of an ass, but we still like him." Elton frowned and threw a french-fry at Lizzy. Lizzy ducked, giggling.

"Oh and see that boy over there. The one with the glasses who's just sitting down?" Lizzy continued. Emma nodded. "That's Brandon."

"Ugh! Is he still sitting with us?" Marianne exclaimed.

"Marianne!" Elinor yelled slapping her on the arm.

Marianne shrugged. "I'm just kidding," she replied rubbing her arm and glaring at Elinor. Elinor looked like she didn't believe what Marianne said, but kept quiet to keep the peace.

"And that boy next to him," Lizzy continued in a loud voice, "is Frank."

Emma looked down the table. A cute blonde boy nodded at her and smiled. He had the biggest smile she had ever seen and huge, friendly brown eyes. She immediately liked him. "He seems nice," she said smiling at Frank.

"Oh yeah, he's a sweetheart" Lizzy replied.

"Speaking of sweethearts," Marianne interrupted, nudging Elinor with her elbow, "here comes Eddie." Elinor turned bright red as a tall, brown haired boy walked over to the table.

"Hello ladies," Eddie said sitting down next to Jane.

"Hey Eddie," Marianne replied smiling at Elinor. Elinor glared at Marianne and turned an even darker shade of red.

"Eddie, have you met Emma?" Elinor asked, stepping on Marianne's foot underneath the table.

"Yup!" Eddie said nodding at Emma. "Emma and I have math together, which reminds me. Lizzy! You are one lucky girl. You should've heard Mr. Burns when the bell rang and you weren't there. I thought he was finally gonna have a heart attack."

Lizzy laughed. "Yeah, I have Emma to thank for that one."

Emma shook her head. "No, I should be thanking you!" she exclaimed. Eddie looked at her questioningly. "She saved me from Lydia this morning." Eddie laughed.

"Well, it's been great seeing you all, but I've got to go find Mrs. Hutchins about making up a test. I'll see you guys later." Emma caught him glance over at Elinor before he walked away.

"So Elinor," she said as soon as he was out of earshot. "What's the deal with you and Eddie?" Elinor, whose cheeks were only now returning to their normal color, blushed red again.

"Nothing. We're just friends," she said looking down at the table. Marianne snorted and Lizzy burst out laughing.

Emma grinned. There was nothing she loved more than matchmaking. Eddie and Elinor would be easy. They both obviously liked each other. She was sure she could get them together by Christmas.

Jane looked from Marianne and Elinor and could sense a fight beginning between the two. Not one for confrontation, Jane quickly changed the subject. "So you're from Beverly Hills?" she asked Emma. Emma took the hint and nodded.

"Yes, Papa was a doctor in L.A. for a long time. My older sister, Bella, still lives out there, and Papa had the most difficult time leaving her. But he was so depressed after his last divorce that he decided to retire and move out to the country. He thinks the fresh air will do us both some good."

Jane looked shocked. "Oh Emma, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed. "I didn't know that your parents were divorced."

Emma laughed. "No, my mother died a long time ago. She was just my step mom, and believe me, we're much better off without her."

Jane smiled at her sympathetically. "Well still, the divorce must have been hard on your father."

Emma rolled her eyes. "He'll be fine. I don't think he ever really loved her anyways. In fact, I think the only reason he married her in the first place was because he liked her son so much. As soon as Knightley transferred to UVA the marriage went downhill."

"Your brother goes to UVA?" Lizzy asked, trying to keep Jane from commenting on the divorce again.

Emma laughed. "I wouldn't call Knightley my brother, but yes. He's going to graduate school there. In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the main reason Papa chose to move to this particular area was to keep a relationship with him."

Lizzy was about to respond when the bell rang, dismissing them from lunch. Groaning, everyone got up to leave. Emma whipped her schedule out of her pocket and looked at it. Lizzy looked over her shoulder. "Does anybody have Ms. Bates next?" she called out.

"I do," Elton said, walking over to Emma. "Come on, I'll show you where to go". Emma nodded, said goodbye to Lizzy, and began to follow Elton when Lizzy grabbed her arm.

"Are you doing anything after school today?" she asked.

Emma thought for a moment. "No, I don't think so," she said.

"Well, I was gonna go visit my friend, Carla, after school. She works at a coffee shop downtown and I really want you to meet her."

Emma smiled. "Yeah ok, cool," she replied.

"Great! I'll meet you at your locker after school," Lizzy said walking out of the cafeteria. Emma couldn't believe her luck. Her first day and she already had a group of friends.

Elton grabbed Emma's arm and pulled her along the hallway. "Come on!" he said, grinning at her. Emma smiled and followed him to the classroom.