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It began, as it so often did, with a tantrum.
Megan was not exactly excited for the return to school, be it of the catholic variety or not. She wanted to stay home, to extend her summer far off into the horizon. After all, she was ten years old now. She didn’t need school anymore, why, she was practically a genius.
She knew how to say lots of words, many of which were large and unwieldy which of course meant she was smart for using them. She knew enough of these words to make people nod, to make them agree, she was smart. Therefore, what logical reason did she have to go to school?
She argued this point to her parents, yet within the hour, she found herself sitting in a classroom both familiar and alien all the same for yet another year of catholic school. Her pouting face sat upon her pouting chin that was planted firmly on her pouting palm. Not that she was pouting of course, she always pulled this face when she was deep in thought. Or at least that was what she had told the teacher.
The girl sitting to her right however, had not been so easily convinced.
“Hey kid!” The girl whispered.
Megan ignored the girl.
“Kid!” She repeated, this time with less of a whisper.
Megan’s scowl deepened.
“Kid!!” Now the girl was practically at talking levels, indeed it seemed likely her voice would only further raise with each intrusion, so with a sigh Megan turned to the girl.
“What?” She, and this was the important part, hissed.
The girl grinned the very widest grin she could manage, which Megan had to admit was quite wide. “Sup.”
At first, Megan thought the girl had a particularly pronounced shark tooth. Not to say a tooth that looked like a shark’s, but rather a literal shark tooth that had been haphazardly lodged into her gums. Of course, this was silly, and Megan berated her brain for daring to be silly on her. What had drawn so much attention to this tooth wasn’t the fact it was abnormally large, which It wasn’t. Nor was it that it was abnormally crooked, which it was. What had drawn so much attention to it was the fact that the teeth that should have been neighboring it on either side were missing, giving the remaining tooth more prominence.
How had this girl lost those teeth? Had she recently had both of them pulled? Or had she lost them in a fight? Either way it was undeniably intriguing, and the girl knew that. She knew that, and she was using that to get the exact reaction out of Megan that she wanted. The exact reaction Megan was currently serving to her on a silver platter.
Was that infuriating? Yes it was undeniably infuriating. Was it also intriguing? Yes, it was as infuriatingly intriguing as it was intriguingly infuriating. Megan had no reason to admit that fact however, and so she simply wouldn’t.
“I’m trying to pay attention.” Megan said, shifting her glance back to the front of the class as the teacher babbled on about useless nothings.
“No you’re not.”
“What?”
“I said no, you’re not.”
Megan glanced back at the girl now, her grin still plastered across her face.
“I know that face. You aren’t listening.”
Megan continued to glare at the girl, hoping she would understand that the very last thing Megan wanted right now, was chit-chat.
“My name is Emily!” The blonde shot out her hand, evidently missing or perhaps even ignoring the obvious cues from Megan.
“Okay,” Megan said, taking the hand tentatively in the hopes that doing so would finally shut her up.
As soon as their hands clasped, Emily’s hyperactive energy took charge, shaking Megan’s hand up, and then down, and then for good measure, up once more. Eventually, the ride stopped and Megan was able to return her hand to the safety of her side.
“What’s your name?”
“Megan.”
“Ah.” Emily nodded. “And what’s your number?”
“My... number?”
“Yeah!” Emily nodded again, evidently not seeing any reason to clarify what it was she was asking.
“I was... born in June, is that what you mean?”
Emily frowned, “no, like, your favorite number!”
“Why would I have a favorite number? That’s silly.”
Emily cocked her head, “what’s wrong with silly?”
“Being silly is for silly people. I’m not silly, I’m intelligent.”
“So, smart?”
“Intelligent.”
“You can be both silly and smart. I mean, look at me!”
Megan followed the command and glanced back at Emily. Looking away from her face that still transmitted that trademarked grin, she looked to the other features of the girl. Her mismatched and hastily picked out wardrobe, her scuffed hands and the band aid along her left palm, and finally her sketchers caked in dried mud that almost looked to be older than she was.
Megan had met intelligent people before, and yet she did not see anything about Emily that seemed to suggest she would be adding herself to those ranks anytime soon. That would typically have been enough to make Megan dislike someone. Such a bold lie told so willingly, and yet when she looked into the bright azure eyes staring back at her, she found only the utmost confidence housed within. This girl wasn’t lying, she was simply mistaken.
Megan did not yet know what to make of this girl.
“Well, if you don’t have a favorite number yet, then I’ll just have to tell you mine!”
“Brilliant.”
“Are ya ready?”
Megan groaned.
“It’s six six six!”
Megan stopped groaning.
Megan slowly turned to look at the girl.
Megan frowned.
“Do you know what the number means?” Megan, and this was once again the important part, hissed.
“Uh, I think so.” Emily nodded. “It’s the mark of the best!”
“No, it’s the mark of the beast.”
“Well yeah, but I thought that was silly.”
“I thought you liked silly?”
“Well the bad kind of silly. So I decided to make it my number instead.”
“Because, you don’t like... the devil?”
“Nah, Satan’s rad!” Emily said far too loudly for a catholic classroom. “But I’m even radder! So I made the number my own.”
“Yeah...?”
“Yup!” Emily nodded, her eyes shut and her arms crossed as her stupid grin remained glued to her face. “I just took the phrase, ‘The mark of the beast’ and removed the one thing from it that I never get anyways.”
Megan cocked her head. Not because she was curious, no, that certainly wasn’t the reason. This was simply because she was intrigued, and that was far better than being curious Megan thought.
“What is it you never get?” Megan asked slowly.
“A’s!” Emily shot a thumbs up at the bewildered Megan.
“Like... the grade?”
“Yup! So I took the sentence, removed all the A’s, and ended up with...” Emily took a dramatic breath in, “the mark of the BEST!!”
Megan blinked at the girl.
“You... do realize that ‘mark’ has an A in it, right?”
Emily’s grin faltered, and as if mimicking Megan, she cocked her head. “Really?”
It took every ounce of Megan’s being not to slap her palm to her face in frustration. Deciding it best to ignore the blonde girl, who was currently mouthing out the letters to spell ‘mark of the best’ back to herself, Megan turned forward again just in time to see the sight of two boys making their way to the back of the classroom.
Evidently, in the time being distracted by Emily, Megan had missed the teacher ending the current topic of discussion and transitioning the class to a group project. A group project where, go figure, the students had to pick out their own groups, and from the look of the two boys making their way back to her, their only thought was on securing an easy A by finding the most obviously intelligent person in the room to carry them.
Megan cursed her own obvious intelligence under her breath.
“Hey,” said the first boy, a thick mop of hair nearly covering his eyes. “You wanna be in our group?”
“Uh...” Megan paused, trying to find the best way to say ‘No’.
“Don’t be stupid,” the second, skinnier boy said to the first. “Hey, you’re gonna be our partner, alright?”
“But I-”
“No buts,” the second boy said more forcefully.
“I-” Megan prepared again.
She wanted to fight back, but also, she didn’t really want to spark unnecessary conflict. Telling her parents off for sending her to this silly school was one thing. Telling two complete strangers who towered over her off however, was another thing entirely.
“Great, see you after class then,” the skinny boy said with a confident smirk, walking off as the larger boy with the mop for a head chuckled beside him.
As they walked off, Megan could vaguely make out the words ‘Dumb girls’, and ‘Cooties’, but she really couldn’t be bothered to try and get the teacher involved. It was probably best that she just kept her head down, did the work, and hoped beyond hope that they left her alone for whatever the next group project would inevitably be.
After all, if a teacher was so cruel as to give a group homework project out on the first day when nobody even knew each other yet, there wasn’t a doubt in Megan’s mind that there would only be more to come.
“Hey kid,” Emily buzzed beside Megan. “Why’d you let them talk to you like that?”
Megan glanced up at Emily, doing her best to obfuscate her confusion with a look of annoyance. Not that it did much good either way as the wide azure eyes simply stared back into her own, her shark tooth peeking out ever so slightly as she chewed on her lip.
“What do you expect me to do against them?”
“Well I dunno, you just didn’t strike me as the ‘lay down and let it happen’ type.”
“That’s not a thing,” Megan pouted.
“Is to!”
“Well whatever, not like it matters now.”
“Sure it does. Just tell ‘em you aren’t gonna partner with ‘em.”
“What?” Megan spat out at Emily. “If I do that they’ll probably try to fight me up or something!”
“So?” Emily asked, cocking her head once again.
Megan’s brow fell as she realized that probably sounded more like a fun time than a scary one to the blonde.
“Why don’t you just tell the teacher?”
“What, and be labeled a tattler?” Megan crossed her arms. “Besides, they'd only get mad. It's smarter to avoid conflict.”
“You mean more intelligent to avoid conflict?”
“I- yeah.”
“Well it doesn't really matter in the end, either way what it actually is, is stupid!” Emily, as if mocking Megan, also crossed her arms. She even went so far as to nod her head as if giving sage advice.
“Stupid?” Megan sputtered out. “Who said I was asking your opinion anyway?”
“Stu~pid! They’re only gonna keep it up if they know they can get away with it.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because it’s what I do,” Emily shot out her tongue in what was likely meant to be a playful gesture. Or a mocking one. Honestly, it really could have been either.
“Yeah well like I said, I wasn't asking for your opinion anyway,” Megan grumbled, turning to look forward again.
“Hmph,” Emily pouted, sucking her tongue back into her mouth. “Well, you’re getting it anyway.”
Then, before Megan had a chance to stop her, Emily did the very most horrifying thing she could do at that moment. She stood up, and she opened her mouth.
“Hey dicks for brains!” she shouted out without a moment’s hesitation, earning the attention of not only the two boys intended to receive that message, but the entire class as well.
The teacher’s face was already contorting into one of rage, but she too was unable to interject before Emily continued.
“Megan’s gonna be my partner, so you two can just beat it, alright?”
“What did you say to me?” The skinnier boy asked in a voice that sounded artificially lowered to increase its threat.
“What, you want me to mail it to ya?” Emily asked.
“Why I oughtta-” The larger boy with the mop said, walking up to Emily, a glint of violence in his eyes.
He didn’t get far however before fists flew, and not Emily, but rather the boy was sent flying to the floor. For such a small creature, Emily managed to make up for that in her speed, having hopped forward, propelling herself off of the desk, and in a blur incapacitating the larger brute near instantly.
Landing back on her feet, her fists at her side, she turned to give a proud grin to Megan.
“See? That’s all you gotta do!”
“Miss Sawyer!” The teacher exploded.
“D’aw poop.” Emily’s face fell to an agitated glare as she turned to face the teacher.
“What exactly do you think you are doing?” The teacher huffed, practically marching her way across the room and towards the scene of the incident.
“Just taking care of the TRASH!!” Emily yelled out, perhaps too proudly for what was by all accounts a mediocre line at best.
The teacher didn’t look to be amused by it either as her glare then shifted from Emily, up to Megan.
“And you...”
“Me?!” Megan jumped up in her seat.
“I expected better of you Miss Hayes.”
“But I didn’t-”
“She didn’t do anything!” Emily cut in, literally hopping between the teacher and Megan. “It was all me, I punched the stupid dumbass.”
“Language!” The teacher practically screamed out.
“Sorry, I punched the stupid asshole.”
“Not what I- ugh, to the principals office with you Miss Sawyer!” The teacher shot her hand out towards the door, and after a moment Emily began to trudge towards it.
However, as Emily reached the door, she stopped, turning to look back towards Megan with a mad glimmer in her eyes. A smile revealing her shark-toothed grin once more as she waved back to Megan. Megan didn’t even realize she was waving back, until she saw the back of the blonde’s head as she exited the room.
“Some kids these days.” The teacher tutted, walking back up to the front of the class.
Megan was fairly sure that from there she continued her lecture, but she hadn't really been paying attention by that point. Rather, her mind was still drifting elsewhere, wondering just who exactly this Emily Sawyer was.
As the bell rang, the kids began to pile out the building. All of them making a mad scramble for the parking lot where all the buses were parked, and amongst the sea of smelly preteens, was Megan, being more carried along by the crowd than actually following it. As she began to drawl behind however, she took the opportunity to stand on the tips of her toes, and scan the top of the crowd for any signs of the blonde menace she had met earlier that day, and yet, almost to her disappointment, she found nothing.
Which was odd come to think of it. Emily was a troublemaker, someone destined to be the problem child of any classroom, so why was Megan worried about her? It wasn’t like she had really done all that much for her, after all, the teacher's wrath had only been brought on by Emily herself, so it made sense she should be the one to suffer the consequences.
And yet, as Emily tried to stuff the worry out of her mind and make her way for the exit, she couldn’t help herself from looking back over her shoulder, and as she did, she almost immediately regretted it as she spotted what could only be described as a human blur rushing towards her at mach speed. It appeared that in Megan’s ultimately vein and admittedly shallow attempts to search for Emily, Emily had instead found-
“MEGAN!!” She shouted, propelling herself forward like a jack in the box whose spring had been loosened so as to transform it into a projectile weapon. However, she had clearly misjudged the distance that she would be jumping, as her full body began to tumble forward. Fortunately, Megan got out of the way and Emily was able to hit the floor uncompromised.
“Ow,” she grunted, before quickly managing to right herself back up. “Hey!”
“Uh,” Megan glanced to her side, “hey.” She glanced back to Emily’s gaze.
“So, you’re welcome!”
“Welcome for what?”
“Uh, getting you out of that group project?”
Megan thought about that for a second, and then realized that while the teacher’s wrath might never have risked falling upon Megan’s shoulders had it not been for Emily, neither would the relief of not having to work with the two lugs who Emily had picked the fight with in the first place.
“So, uh, what?” Megan asked, her hands finding their way to her hips. “You want me to thank you?”
“Nah, you don’t gotta do that. But you’re welcome all the same.”
Megan looked the girl up and down, as if inspecting her for any signs of an ulterior motive. Emily just smiled back, seemingly finding nothing off about the way that Megan was scowling at her.
“Oh!” Emily finally broke the silence, yelling out suddenly enough so as to cause Megan to jump. “I do have one request for you though!”
“Here we go,” Megan rolled her eyes.
“Wanna work on that group project together?”
Megan stared at Emily, she seemed genuine, and given the point at which she had been removed from the class, it was very likely she would be going at it alone. Then again, Megan also considered her grade. Finally, she considered something she hadn't even realized she had bothered internalizing. The very words the girl across from her had insisted she stand by.
“No,” she ultimately settled on. “I’m gonna work on it myself, alone.”
For a moment, Megan half worried the blonde might go psycho and punch her to the ground as well, but instead, she was met by the all the more surprising sight of the blonde’s signature grin warping its way across her face once again.
“That’s the spirit!” She smiled, reaching out a hand to slap Megan’s back as if she were a proud parent congratulating their child on a job well done.
“Don’t talk down to me!” Megan huffed.
“Sure, sure. Anyway, I gotta dash. There’s this bike I saw earlier and I really wanna see if I can break the chain to steal it before the owner gets to it, so I’ll catch you on the flipside!”
“I really hope not.” Megan yelled out towards Emily who was already making a mad sprint for the exit, waving her hand behind her. Soon, Megan was left alone again in the hall, bewildered, and annoyed.
But also, somewhat intrigued. If nothing else, she had something exciting to anticipate for the rest of catholic school. Even if not necessarily something to look forward to. Whatever, as far as reasons to continue going went, this would do.
So with that thought, Megan hardened the grip on her backpack, began to make for the exit, before halting in sudden realization.
“Wait a second,” she announced out loud to no one in particular. “That’s MY bike.”
Then, wasting no more time, Megan too began a mad sprint for the exit, and for Emily so that she might manage to reach her in time so as to strangle her for trying (and as she would come to find, succeeding) to steal her bike.