"Emily Hart!" Cece shouted as she paced the school hallway. Oh, great. The queen bitch was pissed, and I hadn't the slightest idea why. What could've gone wrong now? I could have sneezed with Cece, and she would throw a hissy fit.

   My sneakers glided against the hallway floors as I weaved through the crowd of nosy students. Cece grimaced as she whipped her head around, and a loud screech broke through her vocal cords, rattling my weak eardrums.

"Emily Hart!" Cece snapped again, flipping her long red hair, and twirled on her precious Lou's Benotains, only the most expensive brand of shoes in the entire country, might I add, as she breathed in my mouth. Later that day, I took a mental note to wash her dragon breath out with bleach as I amused her with a grimace and a tongue click.

"Why is your name on the prom board?" she nearly screeched again. The real question she should have asked was who put it there.

"What, you think I wrote that?" I retorted, pushing my way past her twig arms.

"It's your chicken scratch, bitch." She growled, following close behind. My eyes dodged the many looky-loos as I approached the bulletin board.

   Cece had been right. Someone forged my name onto the nearly blank sheet in some of the worst scribble writing I have ever seen below Samira Johnson and Cece Greenwood in big, black letters.

"There is no way you will ever become the queen of my Halloween dance or any," Cece grunted behind me. Her foggy breath brushed my neck, and I was preparing to bat in bleach.

   My heels flipped, and I turned as I swiveled my head towards a puffed Cece and grinned. "What's the matter," I cooed.

"Scared of a bit of competition?" Cece rolled her eyes and huffed as she wailed back at me.

"No, I'm not. Samira has a much better chance of winning than you do."

"You think I care?" I growled back in disgust. Cece's teeth ground together as her lips tugged slightly at the edges.

"You should care," she finally grunted. The tiny wheels in her head turned as she looked for a fight, but I flipped on my heels, slapping them against the floor as I shuffled off to class.

   Cece and her gang of misfit Paris Hilton wannabes sat in the classroom's corner, glaring at me as I entered. I lugged my bag against my desk and plopped hard on the chair before noticing Jeremy missing from his seat. I prepared a loud screech as he slid into the desk next to mine and scooted closer to me, but it never escaped my lips.

"How can I help you, Jeremy?" I seethed, turning to face him. His big green eyes brought out his gremlin features nicely, and as his feral smile pulled at his fuzzy devilish face, I realized how adorable he was, which was scary.

   Jeremy's sarcasm slurred through his speech as his left hand dragged along my right biceps. "Well, hello, Emily," he inched closer, then my eyes widened.

"What?" I growled back.

"So, who are you going to Halloween prom, babe?" His tongue brushed my ear, tickling my right lobe as if it were a canvas, but as I pulled away, he yanked me towards him, whispering into my ear.

"Girls like you don't get to wear crowns, Emily," he murmured. Jeremy pulled away, releasing the pressure in my shoulder blades as he let go of me.

   Aaron walked in with his hoodie tucked over his hair and tapped Jeremy on the shoulder. "Are you bothering this young lady?" Aaron snarled through his teeth.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Jeremy snapped back. Aaron's eyes grew as the two of them exchanged looks.

"Well, she doesn't want to be bothered," Aaron continued, but Jeremy stopped him as he slurred his following words.

"Well, it should be obvious that you're bothering her and me." I suddenly slammed my palm against the desk, and the two turned their heads toward me as a grimace bubbled across my lips.

"Jeremy, go. Aaron, sit," I growled, suddenly needing to hold back a sneeze.

"Whatever, Emily, but this little wimp can't protect you," Jeremy muttered as he pulled himself from the seat. Aaron slipped into the chair next to me as I held onto the bridge of my nose.

"Is something wrong?" He asked.

"No, I just have to sneeze," I answered, excreting air from my nostrils. Releasing pressure from my frontal bone, a small smile formed on the border of my lips, but as I spoke again and a swift "thank you" left my tongue, a tiny sneeze escaped as well. Aaron's eyes widened as he stared at me in amusement.

"You're very welcome," he spoke, showing off his teeth as he touched the edge of my shoulder, but I pulled back in surprise, mumbling the words, "Don't touch me," under my breath just as the bell had rung.

✽✽✽

   Aaron sat with me during lunch that same Friday. I would have snapped at him for even daring to take a seat. However, I was more interested in the chatty Cathy sitting three tables from me. Jeremy adjusted his leather jacket and kept his eyes on me, but Aaron brought me out of my gaze, staring at me as I looked over at him.

"So..." Aaron cleared his throat. He glanced over at Jeremy briefly before conversing again. "Why, again, do you let them bully you?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow as his fork slammed into his salad.

"I don't think you should ask questions," I growled, snatching a fry off his plate. He didn't seem worried because he said nothing about it but gripped the edges of his tray.

"What's with the bad girl act, Emily? We're not mean girls on rerun, and I know this isn't you." He nearly yelled. I caught a few eyes staring as I gripped my tray.

"How do you know? You're just the new kid. You don't have any idea who I am."

"I know you're not a monster like Cece. You would know if you remembered the first year."

   With a grunt and a growl from the both of us, we both stormed off in our separate ways and as I was picking up the pieces of Aaron's words because I hadn't even gone to Payton High when I was a freshman.

   I walked past Jeremy, sitting directly across from Cece. His leg swung forward, hitting the back of mine, and I stumbled as my chest dropped, and I collapsed into his lap. Cece pulled the drenched salad, fries, and milk from her hair, face, and body. A scream echoed in the dining hall. Brennan and Jeremy giggled like two-year-olds and left Jessica and Jennifer rushing to Cece's aid as I pulled myself to my feet.

"What the fuck, Emily?" she yelled, and the room suddenly quieted.

"Oops," I squeaked under my breath and breathed as much air as possible. You know, this could have been my last breath.

"Emily Hart, you've done it now," Cece screamed, slopping food from her dress and arms. Brennan's smirk grew as the wheels in his head turned, and Cece's head swiveled to face him.

"What are you grinning at, Brennan? It is not funny." She nearly yelled the last word before Brennan cut her off.

"Food Fight," he maniacally screamed before the cafeteria turned into a war zone.

   Food flung every which way. I ducked behind a nearby table and grabbed a new tray for armor. Most of the students threw food, stood there, and cried like poor little Cece, and others took shelter or were lucky to evacuate. Our five minutes of war were over after Mr. Bellingham, caught with a half-ate Twinkie and some pudding smashed against his forehead and glasses.             

"Okay, who started this?" He deadpanned. Everyone paused, staring at Mr. Bellingham, pulling dessert off his bald head.  

"Well, if no one's going to confess, you're all going to be in trouble," he yelled, slopping more pudding to the floor.  

   Looking at the doorway, I saw Aaron. He peered in, looking at me. I took a deep breath, pulled some unknown food particles from my hair, and stood up.                                                    
"It was me, Mr. Bellingham. I started it." I said. Mr. Bellingham took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.  

"Mrs. Hart, please report to Mr. Davis's office. He'll want to speak to you."                                   

   I looked at the doorway again for Aaron, but he disappeared. Students pulled more food from my hair and glared at me as I walked off.