My Darling Shina - Book Three

Chapter Twelve

High school was nothing like Emily had expected it to be, the so called popular kids boring to her advanced mind as they chattered about useless things like what teen idol was popular right now, what diet/exercise program they had tried during summer so they could try and catch the eyes of whoever they happened to have a crush on at that moment in time or what classes they were taking to get an 'easy A' that year.

They sounded like a bunch of fools, unable to figure out what really mattered in life. Didn't they realize that what was important was getting a good education so you could support yourself and the one you chose as your beloved? Speaking of which, what foolishness was this talk about crushes? Didn't they know that crushes come and went as easily as the rain, there one moment and gone the next?

A crush was best left ignored and avoided, since it would only get in the way of finding the one you would actually fall in love with. Being with a crush would lead to heartache in the end, either yours or theirs, and leave you unavailable to jump at the chance should your destined future somehow end up in front of you.

Emily was not foolish enough to think that anything as flimsy as a crush could ever distract her from seeking out the one she would claim as her own. Besides, she knew she was too young for such things just yet and until the time came, she had her father to keep her company. He was everything she-

"Hey! Watch where you're going tubby!" The harsh words being said nearby caused Emily to look over with a frown, seeing some of the older students pushing a somewhat out of shape freshman boy away as he stumbled to the ground, their laughter following them as they continued their way inside.

Seeing the frown on his slightly rounded face, a few tears falling before he wiped them away with his sleeve, froze her on the spot as she felt her heart clench painfully. She didn't know who this boy was but already he had her feeling sympathy for him, something nobody out of her family had ever managed to do. With a few steps forward, she was soon kneeling down and holding a hand out to the boy, glad she had worn pants to school instead of the skirt she had been thinking of wearing earlier.

"They are unworthy of your tears. You should not cry for the people who torment you. Save your tears for loved ones, for those who would cry for you." Grabbing his hand, Emily pulled the boy up with only a little difficulty and found herself gazing into deep brown eyes, her cheeks heating up when she realized she still held his hand.

Quickly letting go, she mumbled a goodbye to the boy before rushing inside the building, her cheeks flushed red as she entered the bathroom and began splashing water on her face. When she looked up, she saw herself in the mirror and shook her head.

"I will not fall victim to a simple crush. I refuse."

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"I'm doomed." Emily's voice echoed off the tiles as she sat in the cooling bathtub at home, her mind wandering across the events that had occurred during the course of her first week at school.

Not only had she ended up sharing most of her classes with the boy who's eyes made her feel just as warm as the hot chocolate they reminded her of, she was seated right behind him in most of the classes, meaning he was in her field of vision for most of the day.

Every time she saw him, she had to fight with herself, forcing her heart to remain at a normal pace when it wanted to race at having him so close to her. During gym class, every time she watched him straining so hard to keep up with everyone else, she fought against her desire to hurry to his side and tell him he didn't have to try so hard, that he was perfect just the way he was.

Everything in her was fighting to tell her that it was okay, that he was the one for her but Emily kept telling herself that she was too young for love, that she should wait until she was older like her father did. So she kept fighting back, telling her heart that it was too soon.

Besides, how could this boy be the one for her? He was so weak, how could he protect her?

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It was another week before she realized the folly in her way of thinking. He wasn't meant to protect her like her father had protected her mom before he lost his memory. No, she was supposed to protect him, something that she realized when she saw him being bullied again in the hallways during lunch one day.

She'd planned on eating in the library where it was quiet, almost realizing too late that she had forgotten to bring a drink. It was on the way to the cafeteria that she'd seen it happening, a small group of students surrounding him as they threw his food into the trash.

Hearing the words they threw at him so cruelly, she couldn't stop herself any longer, pulling the apple from her lunch sack and throwing it as hard as she could at the laughing face of the fool who stood closest to her chocolate eyed boy. The loud crack as the crisp apple hit the boys nose had a ripple of satisfaction running through her.

Looking up, they spotted her standing there with a metal fork from her lunch in hand, held like she was ready to stab one of them with it. Which she was, if they hadn't scattered as they ran off, leaving her to calmly put the fork away before turning to the silently crying boy.

"I'll share my lunch with you, Mikaal. I made too much to eat by myself anyhow." Putting her now empty hand around his shoulders, she gently pulled him down the hall towards the juice machine that stood outside the cafeteria, smiling as she felt his own trembling arm slowly inch around her waist like we was afraid of having his hand slapped away.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad a thing to let happen, even if it did turn out to be nothing more than a crush in the end.