"Hey, Em', are you gonna sign up for the basketball team?" Elizabeth asked when Emma walked up to her the next day. Emma shrugged.

"My parents said that they would talk about it." She admitted. "They're nervous about putting me on an actual team."

"Your parents are too overprotective." Elizabeth scoffed, looking around. "Have you seen Kage yet?"

"No," Emma admitted. Elizabeth caught sight of Kage walking in and freezing when he saw them, and she smirked.

"Oi, Dork! About time you arrived! You're usually earlier than this!" She called out, and Emma turned around to watch as Kage jogged over to them, scratching at the back of his neck.

"Yeah, m-my younger sister turned my alarm o-off for me."

"Excuses excuses." Elizabeth shook her head in mock disappointment. "Did you do the homework?"

"O-Of course I did." He said. "Though, i-it might've taken a while…"

"I did it during class," Emma admitted, and they both turned and stared at her in shock. She looked between the two of them. "What?"

"How?"

"Well, it's easy, you just have to remember the Pythagorean theorem and-"

"Girl, I think you being homeschooled made you smarter than the rest of us." Emma blushed and laughed nervously.

"No, Papa and Mama made sure that I was learning things at the same pace as most schools, so I'm not that much smarter. Papa must've just taught me a little more last year."

"Excuse me." A soft, emotionless-sounding voice spoke, and all three of them turned to look at the girl that had walked forward. She had straight bangs framing her face, and they were black just like the rest of her hair- which was long and placed in a side ponytail. She fiddled with the glasses resting on her nose, calmly looking at them. She wore a black jacket and some skinny jeans.

"Oh, hello Layla." Emma greeted happily. "Did you need anything?"

"I, uh, just wanted to warn you." She admitted, shifting onto her other foot. "That, uh, Amy's on the warpath." Kage and Elizabeth groaned simultaneously.

"Great, you better go and hide in the janitor's closet again, Kage." Elizabeth pointed out.

"Who's Amy?"

"Sh-She's in a different cl-class, but her father is a major business owner," Kage answered, looking around nervously as his hands reached for his guitar case. "E-Everyone fears her- she's merciless."

"What's got her in a fit this time?" Elizabeth asked, and Layla pointed at Emma. Emma blinked and pointed at herself for affirmation.

"Me?"

"Your family's company is one of the few that's bigger than her father's," Layla confirmed with a nod. "She knew that you were coming, but then she must've overheard some people talking good things about you."

"How do you know this?"

"Layla is what you could consider Amy's 'friend'." Elizabeth used her fingers to use air quotes. "But Layla's always up to giving us a heads up- so thanks. We better hide now."

"Wait- hide?" Emma asked, her eyebrows furrowing. "Who said anything about hiding?"

"Girl, you do NOT want to get on Amy's bad side." Elizabeth tried to push Emma away while Kage and Layla nodded in agreement, but Emma didn't budge an inch.

"She's a bully, right?" Emma asked, her gaze hardening.

"Yeah, e-everyone knows that." Kage pointed out.

"Then I'm not going to hide. Let her come at me- I'm not scared of her." Emma said confidently. The three others stared at her like she had grown a second head, so she sighed. "Layla, do you know how long it is until this Amy gets here?"

"Yeah, in about a minute." Layla checked her watch on her wrist. "I-I should go now to meet her." The Blackett turned and walked away.

"E-Emma, I'm serious, we should go a-and hide," Kage said as Elizabeth began to try and pull Emma away instead of push, seeing as the latter option didn't work. "Whatever you're pl-planning, she will make it her personal goal to-to make your life miserable."

"I've encountered a bully once," Emma replied, not moving. "I hated them more than anything. I hated what they did to me and my cousin, and I hated how I felt because of them. I'm not going to let that happen again- to me or my friends."

"That's really brave of you Em', but-"

"If you're n-not gonna change your mind…" Kage interrupted, moving to step behind Emma. "Th-Then I'll be here for y-you."

"What?!"

"Thanks, Kage." Emma smiled up at him.

"You guys watch too much anime- you can't be serious!" Elizabeth exclaimed.

"A-Are you gonna go?" Kage asked, raising an eyebrow. Elizabeth scoffed.

"No, I'm just pointing out how stupid you two are being." She huffed, folding her arms and staring pointedly at nothing-in-particular.

"Thanks." Emma smiled. "It's nice to know that I have such great friends."

"Y-Yeah, and now you're gonna wi-wish that you had listened to us," Kage said as he pointed ahead, and Emma looked forward only to see a girl walk into the school with her head held high. The student population instantly moved to let her and Layla, who was walking behind her, pass. She had her blonde green-highlighted hair hanging loose, her emerald eyes sharp and almost deadly as they took in the scene around her. She held a clutch purse in one hand as she looked around, her eyes landing on Emma and growing sharper (if that was possible).

She walked over, swaying her hips and showing off her designer clothes as her high heels clicked across the floor. Emma stood strong under her gaze, her emerald green eyes full of determination as Kage and Elizabeth both scooted a bit more behind Emma. Layla was giving Emma a sympathetic look while Amy looked Emma up and down.

"Agreste." She greeted promptly, her voice harsh and full of false sweetness.

"I'm afraid that we've never met before," Emma responded in a similar tone, and that seemed to throw Amy for a loop. "You might know me, but I don't know you."

Amy tched, resting a hand over her cocked hip as she stared Emma in the eye. "I'm Amy Caron, daughter of Harry Caron, owner of Caron Incorporated." She looked behind Emma at Kage and Elizabeth and rolled her eyes. "I can see that you've already made friends with the losers instead of with the right sort of people."

"I think you have your definitions mixed up," Emma replied calmly. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you talking to me?"

"This school is mine." She said, nearly growling. "Everyone here is under my beck and call, and even though your parents are famous, that doesn't make you any different. Agreste is such a dull name, anyway." Amy rolled her eyes, but when she opened her mouth to continue, Emma interrupted her.

"Excuse me?" A terrifyingly scary vibe was coming off of Emma as she glared at Amy, who appeared to be unaffected by it. Emma's eye twitched.

"What?" Amy asked.

"You need to correct your sentence." Emma hissed. "This school does not belong to you, no one here is your servant, and don't you dare insult my family."

"What, are you saying that it's yours?" Amy asked.

"No, I'm telling you to get down from your 'high and mighty' pedestal before someone gets hurt." Emma replied, her hiss growing louder and being nearly constant throughout the conversation. The hair on the back of her head stood on end, and Amy actually looked taken aback for a moment before quickly hiding her shock.

"Oh?" She asked. "Well listen here, Agreste-"

"No." Emma took a defiant step closer, and the crowd that had been watching gasped. "You listen here. I'm not gonna let you bully me, or my friends, or the rest of the school, around. I don't care who your parents are or how influential they might be, but whatever control over the school and tyranny you used ends right here, right now."

Amy growled and looked around at the crowd before leaning in, and green met green in a competitive staring contest.

"You better watch your back, Agreste." Amy finally hissed before walking away and snapping her fingers. Layla sent a small smile to Emma before quickly rushing off after Amy. Emma let out the breath that she was holding as the crowd began to go wild.

"Emma, that-that was amazing!" Kage said in utter awe as Elizabeth punched Emma lightly in the shoulder.

"Girl, you totally got her!"

"Thanks," Emma replied. Everyone began talking to her at once, congratulating her.

"But, I-I have to ask…" Kage spoke after the crowd dissipated and they made their way to class. "Wh-What was with the hissing?"

"Hi-Hissing?" Emma asked, growing a bit pale. "What hissing?"

"You were hissing while you were telling her off," Elizabeth said, raising her arms up to place her hands behind her head. She was smirking- almost knowingly. "It was actually really intimidating. Remind me not to get on your bad side."

'Crap.' Emma thought. 'If Mama and Papa find out, I'm dead.'

"I-I didn't know that I was hissing!" Emma said worriedly. "I-I didn't mean to hiss!"

"Chill, girl." Elizabeth rolled her eyes as she opened the door to class. "You've made a name for yourself. Everyone but Amy's gonna love you!"

"But I didn't want to be popular. I just wanted to go to school and fit in." Emma muttered sadly to herself. Kage opened his mouth to try to reassure his friend, but the bell rang and their teacher called for everyone to get to their seats.

And Kage sat in the very back on the opposite side of the classroom, while Emma and Elizabeth sat together in the very front.

He sighed, planning to talk to her about it later.