Ember yawned and walked into the kitchen. She poured her coffee but drank the pot instead of the cup she poured.
"Dang. The other section already. The younger years disappearing from our minds. Anais forcing us to open our minds, but not literally. I'm glad she specified because I was just about to literally open—"
"Mornin'," Ken said as he walked downstairs, yawning.
"Norming," Ember replied, sipping more coffee from the pot.
"Sigh. It is time," Diamond said, following Ken into the living room.
"I know, right? Gumball? In ninth grade?" Ember paused for a second, took a sip of her coffee, and said "Nah, you got the wrong person," and then walked to the fridge.
"Dang, he must be your favourite cousin, I see?" Ken asked, "Thought that was Anais."
"No, you're silly," Diamond argued, "It's obviously Izzy."
"You're both right. Anais from show, Gumball from pre-Izzy, and Izzy currently," Ember explained.
"You got the list planned out, huh?" Ken chuckled.
"I do have it planned out," Ember agreed with his statement, drinking another sip of her pot coffee.
"Izzy will be in the first grade," Ken noted.
"Yeah," Ember looked at him, "I'm getting way too old for this."
Alana walked downstairs, yawning, "Mornin'."
"Norming," Ember smiled, "Today's the first day of ninth grade. Who's excited?"
"Me!" Ken exclaimed.
"Nervous," Diamond scratched her head.
"I am also very nervous," Alana replied.
"I'm sure it'll be perfectly fine! What's the worst that could happen?" Ken asked.
Everyone gave Ken the death stare.
Ken looked around and stopped smiling, "What?"
Ember facepalmed as Diamond replied, "You said it. Now everything's gonna go wrong."
"Ohhh!" Ken noticed, and then scratched his head with a slightly nervous smile, "Whoops."
"Well, things are probably gonna be stressful now," Ember crossed her arms.
"I didn't think it would actually work!" Ken argued, "It doesn't work in real life."
"This isn't real life, Ken, it's a cartoon!"
Gasping voices came from the window. Ember turned and saw Gumball, Darwin, Anais, and Penny on the other side.
"Great," Ember glared at Ken before walking to the door and opening it. "Sorry about that, kiddos. Ken and I were having a small disagreement."
"Way to ruin the fun, Emily," Anais snarled.
Ember sighed, "Sorry, princess."
"In other news," Gumball interrupted, "It is time to head to the new section of the school. Get rid of the lower years in our minds so we only see our class."
"Luckily, this is a cartoon. You can do basically any—"
Gumball elbowed Anais, "Anais, don't."
Ember sighed, "Lemme go get my bookbag and the others. Stay here."
Ember ran back inside and put her bookbag on her back. She turned to the others and said, "Let's go."
Understanding the assignment, the others followed Ember's orders, grabbed their bags, and headed out of the house following Ember and Gumball's group.
"So, what are y'all's schedules?" Ember asked, staring at her own, "Lunch group? First class?"
Most said Algebra 1 honors first, except for Gumball, Darwin, Penny, Alana, and Zach.
Gumball and Darwin had World History, and Zach had regular Algebra 1, along with Penny and Alana.
"So most of us is together first. Lunch groups?"
Everyone replied with 2, except for Alana. She replied with 1.
"Why am I the one separated?" Alana complained, "I wanna be with you all!"
"I don't know, angel," Ember hugged her as they continued to walk, "I'll have my phone on me. You can text or call me whenever."
"But I'll be all alone during lunch!" Alana shouted.
"Maybe the other main ones will be there. Maybe we'll get some new students. Who knows?" Ember kissed her forehead, "I believe in you, okay?"
"Okay..."
"That's the spirit," Ember smiled, "Come on, everyone. Let's start the year with happiness and smiles! And no saying those six words," she continued, glaring at Ken.
"It was an accident!" Ken argued.
"Alright, everyone. See you all at lunch?" Ember asked.
"'cept for me," Alana sighed.
Ember looked at her silently and pulled her closer into a slight hug, "See you all at lunch."
"Cya, Ember."
"Bye, everyone!"
"Cya, y'all!"
Ember walked Alana to her class and hugged her before she let her go. "Call or text me if you need anything, okay?"
"Okay," Alana replied, heading into the room.
Ember smiled and walked down the hallway to her own room. She walked inside and over to a desk with her name on it. She sat down before the teacher started to speak.
"Welcome to Algebra 1 honors, students. My name is Mrs. Jenkins and I will be your teacher for the term. Keep in mind that I don't give extensions for assignments, so be sure to have them in on time or you will lose points. Any questions?"
Silence.
"Very good. I'm looking forward to working with you all. Let's start off with a knowledge test."
Mrs. Jenkins grabbed a stack of papers and handed them out. "It's 20 questions. No cheating. You may begin."
1. Solve for x. 11 = x - 1
A. 12
B. 13
C. 10
D. 11
Obviously, it's A. I love equations.
2. -2 - (-12) plus 3 - 7
A. 0
B. 6
C. 20
D. -18
Okay, so you change the minus twelve to a plus twelve so it would be -2 plus 12 plus 3 - 7. Then I add -2 and 12 together to get 10, then at 3 to ten. 13 - 7 equals...6. The answer is B. Come on, Mrs. Jenkins, gimme something hard.
3. Is the ordered pair a solution of the equation? y = x 3; (1, 4)
A. N
B. Y
Okay, so if I plug in the 1 in the x that's 1 - 3 that would equal -2, not -4. No it is. Circles A. Why do I say my actions out loud, the heck?
Ember finally finished the review after a few minutes. She was the first to finish, which got Mrs. Jenkins suspicious.
"How are you done so quickly?" she asked.
Ember smiled, "I'm really good at math."
"Riiight..." Mrs. Jenkins replied, suspecting suspicious behaviour.
"Math is my favourite subject," Ember said.
"Interesting," Mrs. Jenkins responded.
Ember smiled back and walked to her desk. She took her phone out of her bag and looked at the notification she received during the test. It was from Alana.
A: Kitty please help idk what to do everyone keeps crowding me I'm haivng a breakdown please come to the bathroom please please
E: Okay okay I'm on my way it's OK calm down angel
Ember grabbed her phone and walked to Mrs. Jenkins, "Mrs. Jenkins, can I run to the bathroom, right quick, please?"
"Yeah, just hurry back," Mrs. Jenkins demanded.
Ember speed-walked down the hallway and to the bathroom. She looked around, but didn't see Alana. She ran out, and looked at her phone as she headed for Simian's Algebra class.
She peeked her head through and looked around for Alana, but couldn't find her.
"May I help you, Jade?" Mrs. Simian replied.
"Where is Alana?" Ember asked.
"She said she went to the bathroom."
Ember sighed and closed the door back. She called Alana's phone a few tines before hearing ringing coming the gym locker hall. She turned the corner and saw multiple Juniors surrounding her.
"What the heck are you all doing?" Ember shouted, "Get out of here!"
"And if we don't?" one of them smirked.
Ember slammed him against the wall and stared him deeply into his eyes. She frowned and tilted her chin up, "Wanna go there, Timothy?"
"N-No, ma'am," he replied.
"I want all of your friends OUT of this hallway. Do NOT crowd my wife EVER AGAIN. Do you understand me?"
"Yes ma'am," Timothy replied.
Ember moved her arms, sending Tim and his friends out of the hall quickly. Ember went from a demon to an angel real quick.
She bent down beside her and sat on her knees, pulling Alana in for a tight hug. Alana wrapped her arms around Ember, catching her breath from the breakdown.
"I'm here now, calm down," Ember told her, gently rubbing her side to comfort her.
"They just kept surrounding me, I just wanted a small break like this year was supposed to be easy, but no! It's worse," Alana cried, "It's just...worse."
"I know it is, but don't worry. You got this, I know you do," Ember kissed her forehead and looked in her eyes, "I believe in you."
The sentence echoed in Alana's head before her vision blurred up. She teleported back into the Algebra classroom. She looked around to see the room normal. Everyone was in their seats watching Mrs. Simian's boring math lesson. If only they were like Ember.
"Was I asleep the entire time...?" she asked herself, "Why did it seem so real...? The voices...emotions...everything...I need to text Ember."
Alana grabbed her phone and opened her messages with Ember.
A: ember help pls... please...I had a nightmare...during class...that I was surrounded by these bullies but thankfully you were there...but everything felt so real...I was crying a-and stressed...are you done with the test..? can we meet in bathroom...not across from gym pls...that's where the nightmare was...
E: yes I'm done I'm coming right now ok?
A: ok
Alana walked straight out of the classroom not even asking Mrs. Simian.
Penny saw her leave as Mrs. Simian shouted at her.
"Where do you think you're going, Jade?"
"Leave her be," Penny said, "I think it's a stress thing...Ember's probably meeting her."
Alana jogged down the hall and into the abandoned bathroom. She walked over to the back wall, slid down, and glared at the entrance door.
"Come on, come on, Ember...come on..." Alana started to cry softly. She hid her face in her legs and started crying, "Please let this day end...I wanna go home..."
Ember opened the door and saw her crying. She slid over to her, skint her knee, but hugged Alana, "It's okay, it's okay."
"I don't wanna do this anymore, Ember...I wanna go home..."
"You got this, okay?" Ember told her. She kissed her forehead and looked into her eyes, "Tell you what. If you can last all day, I'll send Diamond and Ken, and Izunami and Jacob onto a date. Then me and you can relax, maybe Elmoreflix and chill? That usually helps my stress."
Alana wiped her tears, "Okay...I-I'll try..."
Ember smiled, "That's the spirit."
Riiiiing!
"Finally, lunchtime," Ember sighed in relief, "I hope Rocky got my request for a pinwheel."
"Kitty, please walk with me to my third period..."
"Of course," Ember took Alana's hand and walked with her to Mrs. Karienne's class, the new writing and speech teacher.
"Oh my god, do I have Ember as one of my students?" Mrs. Karienne asked, "This is so exciting."
"No, no, you only have Alana. She just wants me to bring her here. If she runs out unexpectedly, don't ask," Ember told the teacher.
"Alright, no problem," Mrs. Karienne replied with a warm smile.
Ember smiled back and hugged Alana tight, "You got this, okay? Same as first block. Text me or call me if you need me, okay?"
Alana nodded, "Okay..."
Ember headed down to the lunchroom behind the crowd. When she entered the cafeteria, she went straight to Rocky, got a pinwheel, and walked to the table with the others.
"How's it goin'?" Gumball asked.
"Average," Ember replied.
"How's Alana?"
"Stressed," Ember replied.
"What class you got next?" Ken asked.
"Physical Geography. I hope Mr. Jones is good at teaching dumb people..." Ember informed with a slight chuckle, "I-"
"I'm not doing anything wrong!" Zach shouted as him and Twyla sat down at the table, "I just want a normal relationship that isn't sexual...not yet, at least. I don't want the whole world to know what we do!"
"Neither am I! I just want to show my love for you, Zachery..."
"Well, I just want a normal, sweet relationship, not one for adults. We need some space."
Twyla sighed, took her tray, and sat down at another table.
Zach sighed and took a bite of his chicken leg, "She never learns..."
Ember stood up and said, "I'm gonna go pee."
Ember threw the tray in the trash, without eating any of her pinwheel, and jogged out of the lunchroom. She speedran down the hallway and to the bathroom near Alana's class.
"Anyone gonna go check on her or...?" Penny asked.
"She's gotta pee. Leave her be," Gumball demanded.
"Just let her be," Zach replied, "She needs to learn not to be so gosh-darn emotional."
"Hey, don't talk about her like that," Gumball scolded, "At least she didn't just break up with her boyfriend!"
"Yeah, 'cause she's gay! It don't work like that!" Zach shouted.
"What's so bad about gay people?" Gumball replied, "Are you homophobic? You know Tobias is dating Les-"
"I didn't say there was anything wrong with gay people. I like Tobias. I also like Leslie. I don't mind Ember and Alana being married. I meant she can't break up with her boyfriend because she doesn't have one. She has a girlfriend. Also, mind your own damn business. My relationships are none of yours."
"I'm going to check on Ember," Penny said.
"She'll be fine, Pen," Gumball replied, "She's strong. She'll get through it."
When Ember entered the bathroom, she walked to the counter, put her hands on it, and looked up at her face in the mirror. She reached her hand to the glass and touched the mirror.
"Please let this day be over soon...I do not like the start of this school year...why is it so stressful? What ever the reason may be, please stop it, dear José. I beg you," Ember prayed.
José was one of her ancestors from that dimension, and she always prayed to him for problems or situations that she could not handle herself.
Molly entered the bathroom and waved at Ember, who then quickly wiped away her tears.
"Hey, Ember," Molly waved.
"Hello," Ember waved back.
"How's the first day?" Molly asked.
"It's been very...interesting," Ember replied, "But this is Elmore, I'm used to it."
"Real," Molly replied, heading into a stall.
"Is Twyla okay?"
"I dunno, she's in my second block though," Molly replied.
"Her and Zach had a fight at the beginning of lunch. They even broke up. Might head back in there and hang with her. She if she's okay," Ember responded.
"Probably a good idea," Molly replied.
"I'll leave now, cya Molly."
"Cya, Ember."
Ember exited the bathroom and walked back into the cafeteria. She looked around and then walked over to Twyla's table and sat down.
"Leave me alone."
"I'm just coming to ask if you're okay. That's all. Now, are you okay?"
"Go away..."
"Twyla," Ember looked into her eyes, "Are you okay?"
"No..."
"Do you want to vent? I'm free. I'm here for you."
"I'm fine, Ember. I'll be fine. You should get back to your friends. They're probably worried about you."
"They're fine, I said I had to pee."
"But still."
"I'm going to bed. Good might," Ember waved before heading back to the other table.
"But it's only 12-"
"Good might," Ember stated again, sitting down at her own table.
Zach asked, "How was the bathroom?"
Penny hit his elbow.
Zach replied back, rubbing the injured spot. "What?"
"What Zach means to say is," Penny turned back to Ember, "Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine," Ember nodded, giggling nervously, "Just had to pee."
"Somehow I don't believe you," Penny replied.
"You ran out without eating any of your pinwheel. You bribed Rocky to fix it, yet you didn't eat it," Gumball noted, "Why was that?"
"Appetite problems," Ember lied.
"Right, sure, " Gumball replied, not believing her.
The bell rang, prompting everyone in the lunchroom to stand up and tidy their areas or dispose of their trash.
Ember entered the classroom and sat down at her seat. She got her notebook out and started writing random sentences like 'can't wait to get home' and 'is alana ok?"
"Just two more classes, Ember...you got this..." She whispered to herself.
"Hello, everyone, welcome to Physical Geography. My name is Mr. Hibachi and I will be your teacher for this semester. Any questions before we get started?"
"What kind of name is Hibachi?"
"Yeah, that's a type of restaurant."
"Everybody SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO MR. HIBACHI. STOP MAKING FUN OF HIS NAME, GOD DAMMIT!" Ember shouted, causing the entire class to shut up.
"Okay, great!" the teacher continued casually, "I'll pass around the packets now!"
"Oh no, someone's trying to protect Mr. Chinese guy. What are you gonna do, make a potion to kill me?" the guy giggled, "Weak. Just fight me like a normal person, weirdo."
"You probably shouldn't do that, Julius. Ember's pretty scary," the guy giggled, "It'd be impossible to win against her. She is a triangle after all!"
Ember slammed her fist on the table, sat up, and turned around. "Say that again, I didn't quite hear you."
"Uh oh, I think we triggered her, Fisher," Julius giggled.
Ember walked to the back of the room in front of Julius and Fisher and punched them in the face. "Say. That again. I didn't quite hear you."
Fisher went in for a punch, but Ember grabbed his arm, pulled it back and sent him to the front of the room. Ember turned to Julius, pulled his shirt and slammed him against the wall.
"Someone get Principal Brown!" a student shouted.
"I need popcorn!"
"I got my phone camera recording!"
Ember punched his nose, which then started pouring blood. "TELL ME AGAIN. I DARE YOU, JULIUS OPPENHEIMER JUNIOR!"
Julius tried to wiggle loose to punch her back, but she punched his jaw and knocked him unconscious. She turned to the rest of the class and shouted, "ANYONE ELSE WANT TO MAKE FUN OF ME OR MR. HIBACHI?"
Mumbles of 'no' and 'no ma'am' came from the room. Ember glared at Tobias, who was taking the video, "Stop recording and delete it now."
Tobias panicked and quickly stopped recording and deleted the file. Principal Brown slammed the door open and asked, "What is going on in here?!"
"Ember beat up two students!"
"Cause they kept making fun of Mr. Hibachi, calling him Mr. Chinese restaurant guy. I wasn't letting that go! Take me home, I don't care, but that was defending a teacher!" Ember shouted.
"Come on, Ember, let's go hang out with Mr. Small," Brown demanded.
"UGHHH!" Ember groaned loudly. She grabbed her bookbag and stomped past Principal Brown out into the hallway.
"Ember Jade, what is wrong with you today?" Brown asked, chasing her down the hallway.
Ember formed back to her solid form and turned to Principal Brown, "Why? Why?! Because everything is so darn stressful! All the time! Always the worst at school. You never even expelled Julius even though he's gotten god knows HOW many detentions and suspensions, yet he's still somehow at this school!"
"You know he's scary! I can't just expell and expect not to get thrown out the window. It's the same thing with Lucy."
"Then just don't be scared, Nigel," Ember replied.
"That's Principal Brown to you, madam."
"I don't care what I call you," Ember said, "I'll respect you either way. I' going to the bsthroom."
Ember took a left at the bathroom entrance and entered. She let the door close behind her as she walked to the mirror and started crying.
"Ember?" Anais exited one of the stalls, "Ember, what's wrong?"
"Life," Ember wiped her tears and turned to her, "Life."
"Do I need to get Alana?"
"No, no," Ember replied instantly, "I'm fine."
"Really? Because it seems to me like you were crying just as you walked in. You were probably holding it in."
"Why did you automatically come out of the stall?" Ember asked, "Barely a pause."
"I, uh-"
"And you wouldn't skip because you love school. Or at least I think-"
"I do love school," Anais replied.
"What were you doing in the stall?" Ember asked.
Anais tried blocking her from entering the stall, "I was just using it. It's nothing to question."
"Anais."
"Ember, I'm being serious, there's no reason you need to check-"
Ember glanced above Anais and opened the door wide enough to see a knife laying on the floor. Anais stepped out of the way and behind Ember. Ember started shaking, and without turning around, she firmly asked, calmly, "Why?"
"I don't know," she mumbled.
Ember turned to Anais, "After all we say to you, you're still trying to commit suicide..?"
"I can't help it..." Anais replied.
"I'm getting Gumball," Ember went to exit the room, but Anais grabbed her shirt and stopped her. Ember turned to her, "What?"
"Don't," Anais replied, "Please..."
"Honey, you can't just let this go on. If Nicole found out I wasn't telling her this, she'd be pissed. Not to mention Richard or Gumball and Darwin."
"But life is hard, Emmy...I can't anymore...bullies, teachers..."
"I know, Ana...I know...I feel the same way...but you know what might help? A lover. Find someone who gets you. Who you get. Girl or boy, it doesn't matter."
"You know dad wouldn't like that..."
"Pssh, dad's, amirite?"
Anais laughed, "Yeah. Dads."
"There's that pretty smile. Now get out there and be happy," Ember smiled back, "You got this."
"Who knows where'd I be without you," Anais collapsed into Ember's arms.
Ember contemplated life before smiling and hugging Anais back.
"Finally, this day's over," Ember said, exiting Mr. Small's room. She walked down the hall and met up with the others.
"We did it!" Gumball exclaimed.
Ember smiled, "Yep. Hey, I have a request. Gumball, Penny, Diamond, Ken, can y'all go on dates tonight? I wanna do something for Alana...something special."
"Yeah, we can. How long?"
Ember thought for a moment and then replied, "12 am."
"We'll be back tomorrow," Gumball replied.
"Fine by me," Ember smiled, taking Alana by the hand and teleporting to the house.
"How was the rest of your day, madam?" Ember bowed like Alana was a princess.
Alana giggled, "It was better. And yours?"
"Mine was good. But it's about to get better," Ember picked Alana up and brought her to the couch, "I got us a movie, popcorn, and—"
Alana pulled Ember in for a kiss, in which caused Ember to fall beside her into a confident, tighter kiss.
Alana let go and smiled at her, "High school, huh?"
"I'm too old for this," Ember replied.
Alana smirked and then covered them in a cover, "So am I, babe. So am I."