(A Fight in the Moonlight)

*December 1st, 1941*

*11:35 pm*

*Miller Manor*

Judith and Emily stood outside of the manor, awaiting their upcoming conversation together as Judith had an annoyed look on her face.

"What do you want, Emily? You better make this quick, or else I'm going to be pissed." Judith warned Emily, tapping her foot impatiently as she saw the smile coming from Emily's face.

"Well, I wanted to ask you why you are hanging out with Anya and Calvin. I thought you hated Anya, while Calvin dropped you as a friend at Anya's request. It's rather embarrassing and sad, honestly." Emily spoke to Judith with concern; however, it was mostly a fake concern nonetheless.

"I still hate Anya. I'm only tolerating her, that's all. If I can tolerate her, then Calvin will become my friend again, and he promised he'd take me out if I treated Anya kindly." Judith responded with a hint of snarkiness in her voice; however, Emily could tell that Judith was lying about a few things to sound demanding or to hide her true feelings.

"Oh? Maybe you've slowly grown fond of Anya, hm? I've seen you laughing and smiling at her. That's not the Judith I usually know. However, I used to know Judith as a spoiled bully brat who's a failure, so maybe I like the new you." Emily responded rather coldly while maintaining her annoying smile as Judith glared at her, sighing.

"I don't care what you think of me, and yes, I'm a bully; however, I'm slowly realizing that I don't want to live such a life anymore. It's hurting Calvin, and I do not want to see him in pain. Unlike you, I KNOW who I am." Judith responded with annoyance, while Emily began to laugh in a loud and annoying way that some could hear of the people.

"Oh, Judith. Where did all of this development come from? You are a failure who changes her little act when it's convenient for her. You should honestly die since you want people to feel sorry for you all of a sudden. You are a failure to the family name. My aunt should have never had you." Emily responded in a pissed manner, still smiling at her cousin, giggling to herself as well.

Judith's expression turned into hurt and anger; however, she kept calm as she spoke again; however, she felt herself losing her cool.

"You need to shut up. I don't care what you think of me! You are nothing but a little goody two-shoes tramp who constantly puts up an annoying smile. Honestly, I just want to punch you.." Judith responded with slight anger as she could feel her emotions stirring up while Emily laughed at her quite loudly.

"Awww, is the baby going to punch me? You have anger issues, just like Anya. I only wanted a little talk, but you can't get that right; however, what you can do is die like the worthless piece of crap that you are, my dear cousin." Emily responded teasingly while her innocent demeanor slowly began to drop, thus revealing her true colors.

Judith could feel her anger finally exploding, and there, she ran towards her cousin, tackling her onto the ground as she began slapping her repeatedly.

"You little bitch! Leave me the hell alone! Who gives you the right to talk badly to me in such a manner! You don't know shit about me!" Judith screamed to Emily while continuing to unleash a barrage of slaps toward Emily as the outside guests could hear the girl's struggles.

The fight between Judith and Emily continued as a small crowd began to form around them, with some going inside the manor to alert others to stop the ongoing conflict.

"G-Get off of me, you crazy gorilla! You're ruining my hair and outfit! Stop!" Emily pleaded to Judith angrily as she felt the hard slaps impacting her while her hair was pulled around; however, Judith did not intend to stop.

"No! I'm tired of your annoying self! It's because of YOU that our grandmother thinks I'm a FAILURE! It's because of YOU that I feel insecure! You should be on my side, like how Neville is!" Judith screamed back, continuing to slap her cousin repeatedly while Emily struggled to break free from the grasp as things got more heated by the minute.

Judith and Emily continued to wrestle with each other while Judith continued to slap Emily, which went on for a few more seconds.

"G-Get off of me! You're crazy! I will have grandma put you in a nuthouse when this is all over!" Emily screamed back at her cousin while trying to shield herself from the barrage of slaps.

"Not until you apologize to me! APOLOGIZE TO ME!" Judith roared in fury and anger as she could feel tears coming down her face while continuing to slap Emily.

The scuffle would eventually end as the fight was broken up by Calvin and Judith's parents, who would pull her back.

"Judith, enough! This ends here and now!" Mr Miller sternly told Judith as he continued pulling his daughter away from Emily.

"N-No! Emily needs to be taught a lesson! I'm tired of her! This is why I didn't want to attend this stupid event! It's because of her!" Judith screamed at her father while staring at the slightly bruised Emily, who Mrs Miller was picking up.

"Stop acting like a child. I want you in my office, NOW!" Mr. Miller responded sternly while adding a bit of emotion at the last word as he finally saw his daughter turn to face him, breathing heavily with flustered cheeks as she had an angered expression.

"No, I haven't done anything wrong," Judith responded angrily, glaring at her father, which surprised him as he raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me? Is there any way to talk to your father? You WILL go to my office…" Mr Miller advised his daughter once more, with more strictness in his voice, and this time, Judith walked over toward the backyard door, huffing and puffing to herself.

Mr Miller would sigh before going over to check on Emily, who had bruises after being tackled.

"What happened? Explain to me.." Mr Miller asked his niece rather sternly while waiting for an answer as Emily hesitated to speak; however, she began to spill the beans.

"W-Well, I-I..J-Judith was being mean to me! I was trying to have a simple conversation, and she attacked me like a wild animal!" Emily lied to her uncle while Calvin and Mrs Miller had looks of confusion on their faces.

"What do you mean? Judith wouldn't attack someone unless she had a reason to, even when wrong." Calvin asked Emily curiously while helping her get back on her feet along with Mrs Miller.

"I agree with Calvin, so please tell the truth. We know how bad things can get between you and her.." Mrs Miller voiced concern to her niece as she waited for a response.

"W-Well, I-It's true..I-I was trying to talk to Judith, and she attacked me.." Emily responded, lying once again while wiping some of the dust from her dress; however, Calvin and Mrs. Miller were unsure to believe Emily, while Mr Miller was quick to take her side.

"I see. Judith has been acting strangely lately. She's my daughter, so I expect her to be a mature person when it comes to situations, and with that, I shall ground her and send her to Scotland for boarding school once more." Mr Miller responded to Emily with a stern tone; however, a familiar voice began to speak up, and it belonged to Alice.

"A-Alice?! What brings you here?" Calvin spoke in surprise, seeing the girl running over toward them as she began to speak.

"I-I saw everything. E-Emily was bullying Judith and saying mean things to her, and right when I was going to defend Judith, that's when the fight happened…" Alice spoke to Mr Miller rather politely with a hint of fear in her voice due to the possibility of not being believed.

This revelation made Mr Miller's face light up with curiosity as he turned toward Emily with a stern look.

"Is this true? I don't believe Alice; however, I want to get things from you." Mr Miller asked Emily with strictness in his voice while he glared at his niece. Eventually, Emily sighed as she finally gave in.

"A-Alice is right. I told Judith that she should die and other horrible things, but I only did it because I was in a bad mood." Emily responded with her head down as this surprised Calvin and Judith's parents.

"Why would you say such a horrible thing?" Calvin asked Emily, feeling hurt by this as he could see the guilt in Emily's eyes.

Emily didn't respond to the question and remained silent while Mrs Miller looked at her home and walked toward the backyard door.

"I'm going to talk to Judith; you guys stay here, okay?" Mrs. Miller advised everyone before quickly heading toward the exit. Mr. Miller had a surprised look on his face after hearing everything.

"Well then, I can't punish you since you're not my child; however, I shall be phoning your parents, and they'll deliver the punishments. Is that clear?" Mr. Miller spoke to Emily once more as he saw the young girl nodding her head, remaining silent.

*Ballroom*

Anya saw Judith angrily walking upstairs toward her bedroom, prompting the girl to follow her until they were in the hallway.

"Judith, what happened? I saw some people running outside, so Louise and I were going to check, but Calvin told us to stay here. I wanted to know if you were okay." Anya asked Judith with concern in her voice, attempting to touch her shoulder comfortably; however, Judith angrily pushed Anya back, which made her eyes widen with surprise.

"Leave me alone! I'm tired of you always pitying me! Just leave!" Judith screamed at Anya, feeling the tears flow down her face; however, Anya remained firm and stood her ground.

"Judith, let's talk. This is perhaps the only moment we can talk without our separate friend groups interrupting us." Anya advised Judith, letting out a warm smile while Judith was unsure before giving in.

"F-Fine! I'm only doing this so you can shut up. What do you want from me? Are you here to tease me about my little fight with Emily?" Judith responded with smugness in her voice while smiling snarkily at Anya despite feeling emotional.

"No, I just want to talk to you about everything. Girl to girl. No interruptions. I also remember seeing a balcony here during my sleepover, so let's talk together on the balcony, okay?" Anya advised Judith, reaching out to the girl while smiling warmly.

Judith was unsure initially as she wasn't in the mood; however, she remembered all the times Anya had shown her kindness throughout the previous days until finally, Judith accepted the offer with a faint smile.

"Fine, you win. I'll talk to you. Let's see how this goes.." Judith responded, gently accepting Anya's hand as both girls began to walk toward the balcony area, holding hands as Judith slowly hoped that this conversation would work out.