Emma was Real

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

There’s this new girl at our school. She’s bright, happy and pretty. She doesn’t care what others think of her and I admire that. She’s what this school needed in my opinion. Everyone worrying about what they are going to wear to such and such’s party. Who cares? I don’t.

To be honest I never quite felt like I belonged here. Like I mean I have friends, I can’t complain really. But I still feel like maybe I wasn’t supposed to be at this school...

Since Emma started here, I feel different though. Like maybe I’m not the only one who doesn’t want to be put in a category, labelled for how they look, what they wear. I mean she doesn’t have three nose piercings and bright green hair (although that would be pretty cool- the hair part), what I mean is that she’s different on the inside. Her attitude is different.

I’ve seen Fi, the ‘I’m so popular and better than you’ girl, try and talk to Emma and ask her why she wears ‘such weird clothes’. I honestly think Emma is gorgeous (and not just in her attitude), and that Fi is just jealous. Of what I do not know. I just have this feeling…

You see, Fi and I had a bit of a ‘thing’ happening last Summer. I honestly thought she was a well-meaning girl and meant no harm. Boy I was wrong. You see she wasn’t popular before she met me. After news got out that we’d ‘split’, (honestly I didn’t really think we were that serious or anything), she became popular for being the girl that had her heart broken by Josh.

Yeah Josh. That’s me by the way. Apparently I’m popular. No idea why. Can’t stand most of the people in that crowd anyway. I just wanted to be under the radar. No such luck. For some reason though, Sam, my best mate, keeps bugging me about ‘dropping’ Fi. He thinks we’d be perfect together and keeps telling me to hook back up with her…. Liam is always nagging me as well. Saying that we looked perfect together. Yeah that’s right. They thought just because we apparently ‘looked good together’ we therefore should be together. Kinda like the King and Queen Bee of year 11… Arghh, don’t get me wrong. Those guys are great but sometimes they can be really annoying.

Anyway how did this all get on to Fi again? Seriously, I feel as though she is taking over. I thought I was talking about how I’d approach Emma. Yeah, Emma. God, how was I going to start off this conversation. We hadn’t met yet. (In person that is). I’m no good with girls….

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“Hey Emma,” I started, walking towards where she stood by her locker. “How are you settling in?” God who asks those sorts of questions? Real smooth Josh. Real Smooth.

“Um, hey” She started, “It’s Josh right?” 

“Yeah, that’s me..” I began, when I was interrupted by a stifled laugh behind me. One guess who that could be…

“Don’t wanna get involved with him..” Fi warned from behind me. “He’s trouble..”

“Oh really?” Emma started, intrigued, shooting a smirk in my direction. “Do go on”

“Yeah, he’s big trouble. Break your heart in one summer. We had this thing going last Summer and tru-”

“Um Fi?”, I interrupted, “We didn’t have anything going on-”

“Let the girl finish”, Emma cut in, clearly amused.

“Yeah, thanks Emma…” Fi started uncertainly. “So we had this thing happening and he makes you believe it’s all great until the day he leaves you… get me?”

“Oh yeah, I get you. So your basically warning me not to get involved with this one then?”

“Basically- I just don’t want you getting hurt”, Fi pouts, “because it really does hurt in the end… I don’t want this being a repeat of last Summer… for your sake” she quickly added.

“So basically your telling me to not get involved in an Autumn ‘thing’, I guess, with this fellow here?”, Emma started, jerking her head slightly in my direction, her orange curls swaying with the sudden movement.

“Autumn ‘thing’,” I started clearly amused but trying not to let it show. “Really?”

“Glad to see someone finds it amusing” Fi smirked and then turned on her heel and with that she was gone. Like I said, she could only mean trouble.

“Emma, look, don’t listen to her-” I started, begging her to hear me out.

“I’m not into popular boys anyway, Josh,” Emma laughed, and with that she turned around and started off in the opposite direction. “They’re too mainstream!” her voice echoed down the year 11 corridor.

Great. That went well. We just met and she already thinks I’m a ‘heartbreaker’ and ‘another popular boy’. Just great.