The Hidden Princess

Chapter Two: What Is Friendship?

Emma's P.O.V.
As we walked into the bakery, Alex seemed to be taken away by the smell. "You live here?" Alex looked around. "Our living quarters are up those stairs." I pointed over to the long staircase. "This place smells amazing." Alex sniffed the air. "If you would like, we are able to eat before we begin our project. Well, it seems to be more of a resume rather than a begin." I let out a quiet sigh.

I always work alone. I do not like this one bit. I thought in faint annoyance. "Cool. So what do we eat?" He looked at me, his eyes sparkling. "We are able to eat anything you would care for?" I fought the urge to walk upstairs to get away from him. He was starting to get on my nerves.

Sure, he was the only one that was being nice to me, but he sure has a way of silently pushing a few buttons now and then. He is as far from proper as it gets as well. I just don't understand the whole reason he is being nice to me. It makes no sense.

-Skip to the next day at school, second period-

"Oh look, if it isn't Miss China herself." A blonde girl sneered in my direction. Ignoring her, I sat down at my desk and took out my sketch pad. I was not in the best of moods at the moment. "Is she deaf And blind? I mean seriously, who picked out that outfit, her mom?" The girl laughed. I did my best to ignore her, but I couldn't go by without defending my mother.

"Why can you not be silent for a single moment?" I looked over at her sharply. "So it does speak. Listen here, I rule this place and if you don't abide by my rules, you may as well consider yourself trash." She walked over to my desk. "I would prefer to be left alone, thank you." I resumed my sketch.

"What did you just say to me?" She slammed her hand down on the desk. "I would prefer to be left alone, thank you." I repeated. "How dare you speak to me in that manner!" A hand collided with the side of my face, causing a stinging feeling to cross my cheek. I never once looked at her. I kept my eyes fixed on my sketch pad, refusing to let anyone see what I wanted to do...and that was cry.

"I hope you have satisfied yourself." My gaze slowly made its way to hers. "I was just getting started." She grabbed my arm and pulled me up, throwing me across the room like a rag doll, making my back slam into the professor's desk. Groaning in pain, I stood up slowly.

"Samantha, stop. You're going to hurt her." A girl in all black walked in. She was the first student to walk in outside of Samantha and I. "Do not worry about me. I am fine." I gave a reassuring smile. "You won't be in a little while." Samantha growled as she grabbed me by the hair and slammed my head onto a nearby desk. Let me tell you, that hurt like crazy.

She repeated this action a few times before I had finally had enough. Grabbing her hand, I twisted and pulled her hand off of me. "Rule number three, a student should not engage in actions that would harm or distract fellow students." I growled. "How dare you..." She started, but the girl in all black dragged her out of the room quickly before she could say anything else.

I sighed and walked back to my seat, my head throbbing in a pain like never before. I guess when she threw me against the desk, it made quite an impact. I looked over at the slightly dented desk. The professor would not be very pleased. "Hey Josephine. Are you alright?" Alex walked in. "Quite alright." I tried to cover the pain with a smile.

"Are you sure? Your nose is bleeding a little." Alex studied me closely. "Oh dear. Excuse me while I use the washroom." I stood quickly before almost running out of the room. Finding my way to the washrooms, I inspected my nose. He was telling the truth. Dabbing the blood away with a paper towel, I did my best to get all of it.

The bleeding stopped after a while, just in time for me to walk back to the room to gather my things and head off to my next class. I was not looking forward to dealing with Samantha again and my luck was not very good. She was in half of my studies throughout the day and it was awful.

-After school-

"Josephine!" I heard a familiar voice yell. I am so not in the mood for this today. Maybe if I walk quickly, he will fall behind. I thought as I quickened my pace to the bakery, not looking back. "Josephine, come on. I just want to talk to you." His voice was closer than I would have liked it to be.

"Just leave me be for now! I do not wish to speak with you as of this moment!" I cried out, spinning on my heel. "I-I'm sorry...I just thought that you might want to talk about whatever happened this morning." His expression saddened. "I am truly sorry, but I cannot speak of it." I turned back around and ran to the bakery as fast as I could.

Running up to my room, I closed the trapdoor and locked it. I needed to be alone. I fell onto my bed, tears threatening to spill from my eyes. Who cares if I just lost a potential friend? So what if he would have been my first friend? I know nothing of friendship. I thought angrily. I hugged my pillow and cried until I couldn't cry anymore. It wasn't long before I felt myself drift off to a dreamless sleep.

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Hey guys, so this chapter was a bit different than I'm used to. Haha. I feel so horrible putting Emma through all that. I kinda hate myself for it now, but the story will go on. Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. I've been really busy with community stuff and preparing for a competition. So, it's been a while. Sorry again, guys. Love y'all.

Word Count: 1,077