Lovely Warfare

Chapter One

"Watch where you're going," Charlotte sneered, her pink lips curled into a snarky smirk.

Emma lowered her head instinctively and clutched her books tightly to her chest as she pressed past the small group of girls and headed to class.

No matter how hard she tried, Emma Lee couldn't escape Charlotte Hutchinson, well know Queen Bee of Orchid High. It was like life wanted to torture Emma, going out of its way to force her to bump into Charlotte every single day.

Barely making it to class, Emma slid into her seat and released a tense breath, placing her books onto her desk. Her books weren't the typical textbook, they were How to's explaining the world of her latest obsession; Assassination Domination.

Assassination Domination was a new game that had been withheld from the public for over ten years, constantly being pushed back and delayed. The game would finally be released on PC using the latest gaming tech, Vitro, an advanced sensory processing device that enhances gaming performance like no other, capable of placing a player directly into the game.

To say Emma was excited was an understatement; she was brimming with uncontrollable desire. She needed that game. Luckily, the game would be released in two weeks time which also happened to be when spring break was. Emma fully intended to be one of the first to get her hands on the game, even if it meant spending her entire spring break camping outside a local store.

Emma's attention was snapped back to reality when the teacher began calling roll and beginning their lesson.

When school ended, Emma had to rush. Holding her books tightly, she ran through the halls and towards her bus hoping to get there before the crowd of loud and highly annoying boys stole all the seats. Slipping past slow walkers and chatting girls, she made it her goal to make it to the bus and snag a seat.

Then out of nowhere Charlotte Hutchinson popped into view, her blue eyes locked onto her sparkly pink cellphone texting away.

As if God himself wanted to ruin her life, Emma had a split second to decide what to do. She forced herself to the side hoping that she could slip past but knew it was pointless.

Ramming straight into an unknown boy, Emma and the male both hit the ground sending her books and his all on the floor spreading their contents all across the hall.

"My God Emma, could you be any clumsier?" Charlotte questioned, ripping her eyes from her phone to stare at the mess created behind her.

At the moment She couldn't decide which was worse, the knowledge that she could have run into miss Queen Bee, possibly breaking her phone if she had run and suffered utter humiliation or a lawsuit, or the fact that not only did she ram right into a fellow nerd trying to keep low but that her and his things were everywhere exposing their secrets.

Emma glanced at the brown haired male whose face flushed red as he quickly tried to gather his things which were...pink heart shaped notebooks and pens?

She didn't have too long to question the oddity of his items for her own things were exposed; her how to books and Assassination Domination catalog.

As Emma collected her things she could hear Charlotte scoff before saying loudly, "Don't you guys have your stuff mixed up? Wait, don't tell me honor boy Mason Collins is actually gay? Looks like that rumor was true!"

Mason Collins. The name was familiar. Emma grabbed her things and stood up, glancing back at the boy named Mason and feeling terrible. His face was bright red and he said nothing as he ran off, leaving the scene. He had the highest grades at school and was always harassed by the guys who everyone knew beat him up every time they lost a football game.

The way the people at school behaved disgusted Emma, and she found herself wishing she had ran into Charlotte and ruined her day, the same way she ruined everyone else's.

Emma glanced at her laughing with a set of girls looking content, as if there was nothing wrong with what she had done.

Saying nothing, Emma turned and rushed to her bus.

By the time she reached her bus, she was forced to sit scrunched up on the edge of the seat by two other girls who obviously didn't want her sitting there. Emma did her best to ignore them and wait to get home.

Once she reached her house, she headed up the stairs to her bedroom and threw her things down, running her mind through what had happened. Wanting to forget, she forced herself to pack for the long waiting she would be doing.

"I'm ready Dad," she said, standing in front of her father as he read from a book in his lap. He hummed and looked up, examining her cargo pants and long sleeved shirt.

"You look like you're going on an adventure," he commented.

"I'm camping out," She said, a look of determination etched on her face.

"Oh, yeah, for that game. Well I suppose we should get going then huh?"

Emma nodded as her dad put his book down and stood up.  He yawned and dug around in his pocket for his car keys while Emma quickly headed to the front door.

She rolled her eyes at her dad's slow movements. He wasn't that old to be moving so slowly.

When he finally reached the front door, Emma grabbed the keys from his hands and ran towards the car.

Getting into the car and driving to the game store took longer than Emma wanted, and by the time they arrived, a long line had already formed.

Emma opened the car door and pulled out her sleeping bag and camping gear.

Emma headed to the back of the line while her dad parked the car and seemed to take forever to reach her. She occupied herself with setting up her things and sitting down with her books, going over the promo for the new game.

She took no notice of her dad who sat beside her, his own book in his hands. All she could think about was the feeling of the game in her hands and the experience she would have while playing it.