I walked into the classroom and went up to the front of the class to hand Mr. Garrison my assignment.

"Are you new?" He asked me as I tried to hand him my paper about the environment.

"Um, Mr. Garrison…" I said, confused. "It's me, Emma."

"Emma? Oh, jeez, I'm sorry," He said and took my paper. "Okay, take your seats class. If anyone else has their assignment, please bring it to the front."

I took my seat in the back row, as usual. Right away, I felt uncomfortable; I felt as if the world was judging me and I wished I could go put on my hoodie and tie back my hair; I felt exposed. There were murmurs and glances towards me, mostly from the girls, but some from the guys – especially the ones who haven't been speaking to me.

"Quiet down, class."

Lunch came quick as I had zoned out halfway into his discussion. Once lunch started, I met with the Goth kids in the hall.

"Hey, guys," I said.

"Hey, are you going to come with us today?" Henrietta asked.

"I would if I could. I just needed to be around people who wouldn't look at me like I'm a walking parasite for a few minutes before going to the cafeteria."

"You just have to ignore them," Pete said.

"Yeah, ignore them," Michael added.

"Yeah," Firkle, also, added.

I shrugged, "I know but it's just weird. Do any of you guys have a hoodie I can borrow? I just feel like hiding…"

Henrietta shrugged, "My brother does in his locker, but I wouldn't recommend touching it."

"We only wear Victorian styled trench coats," Michael said.

"Okay, well have fun," I said. "We should get coffee after school sometime soon."

"We don't have fun," Firkle said. After a moment, he added, "But that sounds non-conformist, so I think we could do that."

"Awesome, well, see you guys," I said.

The cafeteria was full of students once I arrived. I didn't know where to sit; should I sit with Eric and the other three or with the girls? I'd sit with Craig's group, but I still feared rejection. Unsure, I sat with the girls since Wendy was my safest bet of someone who would treat me normal. The other girls, not so much. As I approached the table, I was greeted with a silence and staring.

"Hey, Wendy," I said, awkwardly, and sat next to her in the last empty seat.

"Hey, what took you so long, girl?" She asked as she munched on her sandwich.

"Oh, I was talking to Henrietta."

"Isn't she the Goth girl?" One of the girls, I think Nelly or Jenny said and gasped.

I sighed, "She's actually really nice if you guys wouldn't judge her."

"Girls," Bebe corrected.

I ignored that and drank my tea.

A few moments later, I heard steps approaching the table and all the girls looked up; I did the same.

"H-hey, Em… Emma," It was Jimmy.

"Oh, um, hey, Jimmy," I said, awkwardly. "I thought you guys were ignoring me."

"Well, I wasn't," He said. "Th-they muh-made me."

"So, what changed your mind?" I asked.

"Well, thuh-they wanted to know if yuh-you wanted to… sit with us?"

I looked over. His table consisted of Craig, Tweek, Clyde, and someone I'd never seen before; was he new? They were all looking except the new kid at our conversation; probably trying to tell what I was saying.

"Um, I don't know, Jimmy," I said. "It's not you, its them."

"I underst-stand, Emma," He sighed. "You look pruh-pretty to-today."

He walked back to his table.

The girls table was half silence and half laughter. I was the half silence part.

"I can't believe that was his pick up line," Bebe laughed.

"I know," Another girl said. "He thinks that he has a chance with her."

I stood up, "You guys are so insensitive. You all pretend to be politically correct and nice, but you're all bitches. I'm out of here."

I ran off. I could hear feet in pursuit. I assumed it was Wendy. Once I reached the hall, I turned around. It wasn't Wendy.

"What do you want?" I asked, tears beginning to fill my mascara covered lids; it wasn't waterproof – waterproof hurt.

He pulled down his hood so I could actually hear him. He knew I hated it when he talked with his hood up. "What happened?"

"The girls are jerks," I said.

"Is this why you did all the makeup?" He asked.

"No, I actually kind of like this stuff," I admitted. "They're just horrible people. They made fun of Jimmy. He's so sweet I don't understand how anyone would make fun of him. They also made fun of Henrietta. I'm done with them. Wendy's the only nice one."

He sighed, "Why don't you come sit with us?" He put his hood back up.

I followed him back into the cafeteria, a bit nervous; I should've just ditched with the Goth kids.

I sat next to Kenny at the other boys' table; this one had everyone except Jimmy's group. Immediately, however, they noticed, but thankfully didn't say anything. I'm sure the girls noticed too; I just hoped Wendy would calm them down; I didn't need any more bullies. My seat was across from Eric, who sat next to Butters; Kyle, Timmy, Stan, and a few others were farther down the table, however still within talking distance.

"Oh, hey Emma!" Butters said excited; he looked at me the same way he did every time he saw me and it made my heart melt; he was such a sweet person.

"Hey Butters," I smiled.

"Butters," Eric began. "Just because Emma is looking… girly today doesn't mean you should get all excited."

"What?" Butters asked, genuinely confused. "But I love Emma; she's so cool. Don't you guys think?"

Eric sighed, "No, Butters."

"Mmmph!"

"Calm down, Kenny," Eric said.

"So, Eric," I addressed. "How has your day been?"

Eric cleared his throat and was quiet for a minute. "Um, my day has been cooool."

"That's good," I smiled. Kill 'em with kindness, Em.

"Wow, fat ass, you got a girl to talk to you today," Kyle said from across the table. Stan and Kenny laughed at this.

"Timmy!" Timmy said, smiling.

"Hi, Timmy, how are you?" I asked.

"Timmah!" Timmy said enthusiastically.

"Awesome!"

The bell rang shortly after for class; recess finally came not too long after and I retreated to the Goth kids' corner outside.

"Hey, guys!" I smiled.

"You have some pep in your step, conformist," Michael commented.

"Oh, sorry, am I supposed to act emo and spooky?" I giggled.

"Um, no," Firkle sighed.

"We're not fucking emos," Pete and Michael said at about the same time, using the same inflection in their voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I sighed, sitting down next to Michael on the staircase. "I was just trying to be funny. But yeah, my mood got kind of better. The girls are total bitches though; except Wendy; so, I think I'm done with them.

"I bet that doesn't sparkle with them," Henrietta said, mimicking their voice, whilst lighting a cigarette. I was baffled and stared at her for a minute. I'd never seen her do that. "Um, what?"

"That's kind of bad, Henrietta… I don't mean to be an ass, I'm just worried."

She shrugged, "Don't be. I hate the world anyways, so if smoking kills me, whatever."

That made me really sad, but I didn't say anything. Instead, I kept thinking about what Wendy had said about needing to find a crush and getting to know them; it was kind of bothering me. I didn't really want to date yet but I knew that Wendy would be disappointed if I didn't come up with someone soon. So, I decided I'd try something. The Goth kids weren't especially talkative, though, so it would be difficult.

"So, Michael, what made you want to be Goth?" I asked. It was normal, right? I mean, he was their leader basically…

This caught him off guard. He seemed like he didn't want to say, but after a minute, mumbled, "Um, Edgar Allen Poe, obviously." I don't think he was telling the truth; he seemed upset, but his face looked as if he'd just been impaled with a spear.

Pete immediately came to his defense, "Yeah. Edgar Allen Poe is the Goth king."

"Yeah," Firkle added.

It was silent after that. The last five minutes of recess, Henrietta asked me to join her in the bathroom, so I did; girls were supposed to do that, but she never asked before, so I agreed without hesitation.

"If you're trying to break him out of his shell, it might never happen," Henrietta said, sighing. "I know you want to be friends with us, but we each have dark pasts that have led us to be this way."

"Even Firkle?" He was a kindergartener.

"Um, probably not… but otherwise, the rest of us…" She stopped.

"I'm sorry I tried to pry," I sighed. "I just… I think you guys are cool and I want to be friends with you guys."

"You already are," She insisted. "It's just… listen, don't tell him I told you. Michael's biological father is a piece of shit, okay? He goes to therapy from time to time when his mom makes him, but he still holds a resentment."

"I won't tell," I said. "If he doesn't like to talk about it, why do you know?"

She cracked a small smile, "I've been friends with him and Pete since preschool; the pre-Goth era. Our parents used to put us in Gap clothes, can you believe it? Actually, Michael was the first one to transition to Goth, in first grade; we were in kindergarten and didn't understand it for a while. That's why I'm so surprised Firkle is Goth, but he also never made friends, so I guess he decided to dress like us to be like us and he now embraces it."

"That's a cute story, Henrietta," I said. "C'mon let's go back out there."

"Okay, but first, I have to ask and I swear if you tell anyone how feminine I'm acting, I'll tell everyone you're dating Eric Cartman, but," She paused. "Do you like Michael?"

I blushed, "What? No? I'm in fourth grade, he's in fifth. That doesn't work."

"Maybe not in New York, but –"

"Come on," I dragged her arm out of the bathroom.

The rest of the school day went by as a breeze into the night. I slept pretty easy that night, besides worrying over Jimmy and Tweek – I missed them, a lot.

Hey, guys, it's Cadet! Leave me a review and let me know if you like it or not!