Emma: Seventh Grade

Chapter 48: New Beginnings

Emma knew she had so much homework to make up from her hospital stay, she was on the verge of tears. Just thinking about it made her want to cry. But she was sitting in her first class of the day, Mr. Matson's math class, and now was no time to cry. It was a new semester and everyone's class schedule had changed slightly, so instead of Lizzie sitting beside her, it was none other than her former friend Maggie.

Maggie was sitting comfortably in her desk, with her dirty blonde hair curled nicely. She was wearing a pretty pink and gray floral top with blue jeans and brown boots. She was scrolling through Facebook on her phone and did not seem to notice Emma when she sat down beside her.

Upon seeing Maggie, Emma swirled a strand of her blonde hair around her finger and stared down at her own low-cut long sleeved top and her black leggings, which clearly outlined her thin legs. Should she make the first move? Or should she wait until Maggie acknowledged her?

Still twisting her hair, Emma cleared her throat and glanced up at Maggie, who was completely oblivious to Emma's presence. "Hey Maggie," she began.

Maggie immediately looked up and turned towards Emma. "Oh, hey Emma," she greeted her. "What's up?"

"Well, I just wanted to apologize for my behavior," Emma started, as tears welled in her eyes. "I can't blame you for not wanting to be my friend because of the way I've been acting lately. I just wanted to say, I'm really sorry, and if you don't want to be friends anymore, I understand."  She held her breath as she waited for Maggie's response.

"I forgive you, Emma," Maggie finally replied after a short silence. "But you really need to learn to control yourself. I honestly didn't think you would ever get into a fight at school."

Emma was disappointed by Maggie's reaction. It sounded like she was scolding her, as if Emma were her child. "Okay," Emma agreed softly, knowing full well that she and Maggie would never go back to the way things were.

"All right everybody, let's get this class started," Mr. Matson called over the noise of his students. As the room quieted down, he continued, "Whoever wasn't here yesterday, please go sit outside while we correct yesterday's assignment."

Emma got up from her desk and, taking her phone with her, briskly walked outside the classroom, letting the door fall shut behind her. As she sat down on the floor in front of the lockers in the hallway, she opened up Instagram on her phone and started scrolling through the pictures. Tears welled up in her eyes and she spotted pictures of Briana and Josh together. It wasn't fair that such a mean girl like Briana had a boyfriend while Emma ended up single. If it weren't for Briana, maybe Josh would be taking Emma to the winter dance.

"Hey loser!" a familiar voice called. "How's single life going?"

Looking up, Emma spotted Briana and Laken walking down the halls together, both of them grinning mischievously upon seeing Emma sitting there. Emma didn't respond to their question; instead she simply glared at them, then continued to scroll through Instagram.

"Gonna ignore us, huh?" Briana huffed. "Who do you think you are?" She walked up to Emma and slapped her phone out of her hand with a scowl on her face.

"Leave me alone!" Emma cried, reaching over and picking up her phone. She really didn't want to get into an argument right now, especially after what Maggie had said to her. So she buried her head in her phone once again without looking up.

"Now you're telling me what to do!" Briana exclaimed, suddenly kicking Emma in her left side.

"Ow!" Emma cried, holding her ribs where she was kicked as a shooting pain surged through her body. "I didn't mean to boss you around! I swear!"