ONE.
( and she took my breath away. )

"Class! Can I have your attention please?"

Emmy turned away from her conversation with Eli, seeing their English teacher, Mrs. Williams, and an awkward looking boy standing next to her.

"This," Mrs. Williams gestured to the teen boy. "Is Miguel Diaz. He is a new student to our school so I expect all of you to treat him kindly while he is with us. Now, I have you seated next to Ms. LaRusso. Emmy, could you raise your hand so Mr. Diaz can find his seat?"

The girl listened, raising up her hand, her bright pink jacket immediately catching Miguel's eye. They locked eyes, and she could see him gulping. It made her smile, and she pointed to the empty desk next to hers. He gave a small smile too, and he hurried over, dropping his bag on the floor and took a seat.

Mrs. Williams then turned to the board, and Emmy leaned in closer to him. "Hey, I'm Emmy. Everyone calls me Em."

She stuck out her hand, and he took it with no problem. "Miguel. And everyone calls me ⎯ well Miguel."

Emmy quietly giggled, pulling away her hand and folded her arms on her desk. "Well, Miguel, welcome to Hell."

There was a second silence between them before they burst into silent chuckles and turned to the board.

✸

"Hey, I'm gonna go get a bottle of water, you guys want any?" Emmy scrolled on her phone as she stood up from her seat.

"I would," Eli spoke up, and she turned to Demetri with a raised eyebrow.

He shook his head. "I'm good. I got my juice."

"Okay," she laughed, typing in a text to her younger brother as she walked on over to the vending machine. He had found out that she was the one who hid his gaming console and was furious. He had been looking for that thing all morning, causing him to be late to school. Her parents weren't happy that either but it was the worth the look on his face.

Pulling out a crumpled up five dollar bill from her jean pocket, she quickly tried her best to straighten it out, unfolding the corners before placing into the money placeholder her. She punched in two waters before standing back with her arms crossed.

Her foot tapped against the floor impatiently, watching as the coil slowly unraveled and let a single bottle out first before dispensing the other one out next. It dropped into the catch tray at the bottom, and she bent down before pulling them out.

She smiled in satisfaction as she held the bottles in her head, walking to head back to her table when something caught her eye. She recognized that face to be Miguel Diaz, the new kid in her English class. He was looking around for a place to sit like a lost puppy.

She knew that is wasn't easy being the new kid, especially in a high school where everyone already has their own friend groups.

With a hum, she made a detour and headed towards him.

"Hey!" Miguel turned at the voice.

"Hey, Emmy," he quietly greeted.

"Looking for a place to sit?" she asked, giving a knowing look.

He felt his face heat up, and he looked down. "Yeah. Haven't had the time to ask anyone and I don't have any friends."

"Hmm," she tilted her head. "Come sit with me."

His head shot up, eyes wide. "Really? You really don't have to do that for me ⎯ "

Emmy waved him off. "Oh, hush that. Our table is only made up of three people and it looks empty all the time. No harm in adding someone else. Come on."

Miguel didn't argue this time, mostly because Emmy didn't give him any time to talk as she just began to walk away. His feet quickly followed after her, and he stopped right behind her, seeing two other boys sitting at the table.

Not what he was expecting, but this works. Really works.

"Guys, this is Miguel. He's new. Miguel, you already know Eli, he sits behind me in English. And that fellow is Demetri," Emmy sat back into her seat, sliding Eli his water bottle which he quietly thanked her for.

"Sorry, table's really blowing up right now," Demetri said, and she paused opening her water bottle. "I can put you on the waitlist, but it's probably next semester at the earliest."

Miguel sighed, "Okay."

As he was about to leave, Emmy grabbed onto his wrist, stopping him. "Hold on. Dem, don't be an ass. You, sit. He's just kidding."

"Oh," he gave a small chuckle, pulling up the seat beside Emmy and put down his tray. "It's nice to meet you guys."

"You will be sitting with us from now on, okay? No more wandering the the cafeteria like your mom abandon you at the mall," Emmy pointed her fork at him before jamming it into her strawberry jello.

Miguel looked at her oddly, glancing over at Eli and Demetri who just shook their heads. Don't ask.

A distant sound behind her made Emmy turn around, only to turn back around and roll her eyes. "Someone stab me."

Miguel, however, seemed mesmerized by them. Demetri saw him, and lightly scoffed. "Dude, don't torture yourself. Those are the rich girls."

"Do ⎯ do you ever talk to them or..."

"Oh yeah! All the time. We hang out after school, make out, give each other hand jobs."

Emmy pulled a look of disgust. "Dude, one of them is my sister. Gross."

"Eli here," Demetri pointed his thumb at his best friend. "Is the homecoming king. Gets laid more than anyone. Isn't that right, Eli? You realize what table you're sitting at, right? You've pretty much signed away all hopes of losing your virginity before college."

"Ignore him," Emmy said immediately after, throwing him a quick warning look. "He's just projecting. Demetri wishes he could get all the girls he wants but he's too much of a loser to pull."

A water bottle cap was the chucked at her head. "Ow! Asshole."

"Oh shit," the three turned to Eli. "Yasmine's looking at us. Probably just making fun of me."

Emmy rolled her eyes, muttering, bitch, before taking a sip of her water.

"Um..." Miguel leaned in closer to her. "Who's Yasmine?"

"The Laa-Laa looking one," she simply answered.

His eyes narrowed for a moment. "That's the yellow Teletubby, right?"

"Mhm," she eyed him with amusement. "Cool that you know that."

Miguel's eyes moved to the one that was dressed in all yellow, and he nodded. "Oh, ok. Well, I don't think she's making fun of you. Just because they're hot doesn't mean they're mean."

Demetri and Emmy glanced at each other. "Don't even think about it. Blondezilla is like the worst person to exist. You'll just end up crying yourself to sleep."

"What about her?" Miguel pointed to Sam, Emmy's older sister.

The two LaRusso girls had rather...complicated relationship. They cared about each other and loved each other like all sisters did, but they would never go out of their way to do things together. Plus, Sam was becoming a real bitch this year.

"That's my sister, Sam. She's alright but I'm not sure you're her type. Her taste in boys consist of the lowest scums of the earth. And you're like...the flowers people pick off from their neighbor's yard."

Miguel's face scrunched, eyes moving to Eli.

"That's a compliment," Eli quickly reassured. "It means that even though you're in someone else's yard, people are going out of their way to pick you."

"Oh," Miguel nodded and breathed out a laugh. "Thanks."

"I don't care if Yasmine is the meanest girl at school. I'd kill all three of you just to get her to spit in my face," Demetri stated.

"Awww, I love you too," Emmy said with a smile before throwing her water bottle cap at his forhead. "Raise your standards, please."

"If you don't make a move, you'll never have a shot with her," Miguel commented.

Demetri pointed at him. "True, but I'll also never suffer a humiliating rejection. I'm a peace with my depression. Last thing I need to be is suicidal."

"Because that would be the worst thing for mankind," Emmy grumbled before she felt the impact of a straw. "Yeah, okay, I deserved that one."

Movement beside her made her look over at Miguel, seeing him up on his feet. "What are you doing? Bathroom?"

"Striking first."

"What the ⎯ " Emmy scrunched her face. "What does that even mean?"

When she saw him move towards the rich girls' table, she dropped her head. "Oh, my god."

"Oh, shit," Demetri groaned. " I hope we don't get hit with the shrapnel."

"At least Miguel will get most of the impact," Emmy said, before her face dropped in realization. "But that's also not a good."

"What's up, ladies?" Emmy's head whipped over to the girls' table, thinking that it was Miguel who had said that, but she gave a breath of relief when she saw that it wasn't. "Oh, thank god."

Then she realized who said it. "Oh, ew."

Kyler gave a finger wave to Miguel, who scoffed and turned back around.

"See ya later, 'Rhea," Brucks called out after him.

"Rhea?" Emmy asked.

"Long story," Miguel grumbled.

Emmy snorted. "We got time. Pony up, Rhea."

✸ AUTHOR'S NOTE ! FIRST CHAPTER DONE YOU GUYSSSS!!! this was a hidden away draft i had that i had really big plans for but then delaney stole my heart BUT it's here nowww