Chapter 1
The weather is bright and clear. Birds are tweeting, and the endless rustling of leaves as the breeze blows against the trees surrounds the air as Emma finally drops the last of her books into her little backpack. She zips it up quickly and slowly exhales with exhaustion as she looks ahead, thinking about how the day might go.
It is her mother's birthday today, and thoughts of it had plagued her throughout the previous night, giving her endless sleepless moments as she kept having all those painful, unforgettable memories that made her toss and turn on the bed without cease.
She has tried everything within her power to let go of it, but it is just impossible right now. Something suddenly reminds her of an important item, which makes her eyes instantly go wide.
She sprints away from the dinner table and quickly heads back up into her room where she has kept that precious, beautiful artifact she has never forgotten for over five years, ever since the traumatic incident that changed the course of her life.
She takes a look at the beautiful porcelain mug perched on her reading table, and a slight smile graces her lips.
She slowly makes her way over to it and picks it up, examining its beautiful design with her eyes already glistening with tears when a sharp voice startles her, calling from the living room downstairs.
"We do not have all the time in the world, Emma! What the hell are you still doing up there?"
She quickly looks around as she picks up a little towel dropped without any specific purpose.
She picks it up and wraps it around the mug with the intention of keeping it safe as she holds it tightly to herself, sprinting down the stairs and bursting straight into the dining room where her stepmom is standing, digesting her own breakfast.
She is already dressed in her office uniform, and from her countenance, one can tell that she is extremely impatient and wants nothing more but to get out of the building as fast as she can to attend to her duties.
Emma knows that the worst thing she can do right now is to delay, so she decides to skip the early morning breakfast. She picks up a toast from the tray and drops it into her mouth, slinging her backpack over her shoulder.
"I am ready," she says instantly, forcing the young woman to lift her head to look up at her sharply.
"Are you sure about that? You just took a slice of bread."
Emma nods her head quickly.
"Yeah, I'm totally sure about that. It's what I want. I'm not really in the mood, and I don't have the appetite for heavy meals right now."
The woman scrutinizes her deeply before finally shaking her head nonchalantly and settling down on her own part of the dining table as if ready to devour a large plate of meal.
"Well, that's your business. I'm not sure I will be able to take you to school today, so I was able to contact the principal to get the bus. It's going to be here in a few minutes, so it's a good thing that you are already ready."
She is barely done speaking when the honking of a vehicle catches their attention from outside, and she stares at Emma with a raised eyebrow
"Right on time. Now get out, okay? I might not come back early today because I'm having an evening shift, but I will try my possible best to see if I can make it before midnight. Your meal is going to be waiting for you here, and everything you need will all be set."
"Yeah, right. Got it," Emma says instantly and exits the large mansion without even waiting for the next words of the woman.
What else is she to expect? Her life has literally been lonely for a very long time now, so the least thing she expects is a woman promising she's going to be there when, in the actual sense, she is not going to make it.
Thoughts about all that are beginning to stir some strange, unwanted emotions within her, but she struggles to keep them at bay as she quickly stumbles into the bus and observes the long row of students who instantly become quiet the moment her presence reveals itself in the bus.
"It's shadow girl," she hears whispers coming from different students as some of them begin to gossip amongst themselves, but she closes her eyes and walks in the middle of the bus, ignoring all the stares as she makes her way straight to the back empty seat where no one is.
It's nothing new to her. It is something that she has experienced endlessly without cease for a very long time now, so she has kind of gotten used to it and has figured out the best way to deal with it.
She opens up her backpack and begins to scramble through the items, trying her possible best not to break the mug in her bag as she finally takes out her headset.
She places it quickly against her ears to block out the world and closes her eyes sharply, allowing the music to drown straight into her soul to help her forget about the pain she has been trying to nurse throughout the night.
But unknown to her, the bus has come to a stop at a certain junction, and the most feared individual in the entire school of Silvermore steps into the bus in her elegant grace, commanding so much attention and looks of admiration from every student in the bus. Her girls walk behind her in all their glamor and splendid style, heading straight towards the very back of the bus where Emma is currently seated, trying her best to drown out her sorrows.
She is currently unaware of the situation approaching her as everyone maintains their cool, watching and observing to see what is going to become of her since she actually attempted to take the position of the Queen of the seniors.
"Hello, pipsqueak," the girl tries to call Emma in her sassy manner, but Emma is totally blocked out with the music loud in her ears as she continues to nod her head slowly to the rhythm of the music.
The girl is already losing her cool and her patience, and she can no longer contain it as she quickly takes the headset away from Emma's head with so much frustration and tosses it aside, allowing it to fall beneath the chair of another fellow student. This forces Emma to instantly open her eyes.
"Hey!"
"Well, I guess now I got your attention, little pipsqueak."
Emma immediately comes to a stop the moment she sees who is standing in front of her, and she tries her possible best to maintain her cool and calm herself down so she doesn't burst out and lash out at her.
"This is not the right time for this," she thinks to herself as she continues to look at the girl.
"So, how may I help you?"
The girl looks at her for a long moment and then scoffs, rolling her eyes in a certain manner and turning back to look at her other friends who are standing behind her, giving her their support as always.
"Well, isn't she bold? She even had the audacity to ask you a question."
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I don't know when students began to have the boldness to actually ask me questions."
Emma is confused as she continues to look at the girls, wondering what the hell she has done to warrant this confrontation.
"Okay, I am really, really sorry, but I only just requested what you want. I just—"
"You're in my seat, pipsqueak, so it will do you a lot of favor if you can get up and find somewhere else to sit down."
The moment that sentence gets into Emma's head, her eyes widen with realization as she scans the back seat and gives a sigh of relief.
"Oh, okay. I'm sorry, I didn't know about that. It's fine," she says and quickly shifts towards the far end of the back seat close to the window, giving enough room for the three girls to sit down, but they are not making any move as they continue to look at her with anger written over their faces.
Emma looks confused as she gazes at them, wondering what wrong she has done this time.
"Uhm, I'm sorry. Is the space not enough for you?"
The leading girl rolls her eyes once again as she begins to rub her fingers sassily against her temples.
"Oh good Lord, I seriously cannot deal with this right now. Haven't you been fucking told that the entire back seat has been occupied by Nevermore girls?"
"Say what now?" Emma wonders to herself as she continues to look at the three girls standing in front of her, giving her this authoritative look that tells they are going to mess with her if she doesn't do as they wish.
