Tiny Crown

Chapter 2

"Em, have you taken your tablet?" Kat asked as a friendly reminder.
"Yeah," replied Emilia as she stuffed a dinosaur pencil case - so full with pens the zip almost broke - into her bag with notebooks and textbooks. Once the pencil case was in, she spotted the plastic tub and pulled out the pencil case and put in the lunch box then the stationery.
"Are you definitely sure?"
"Yes, I am sure," she groaned.
"Don't forget the bus pass," she reminded.
"Okay, okay, I've got it!" said Emilia as she grabbed the pass off of the table.

Three knocks on the front door surprised the both of them. At the door was a boy with messy hair with a smile on his face.
"Hey, Mom said Emilia could have a lift since it's her first day," he said politely to Kat
"Tell Melissa thank you, I'll just tell Emilia and she'll be here in a minute or two." Kat left the door open and walked into the living room.

"I heard," said Emilia before her aunt could start talking. Putting her backpack over one shoulder, she headed to the front door. "Nathan, right?"
"Yep," he said, still smiling. Aunt Kat appeared behind her.
"Love you, see you later, Em," she said.
"Okay then," groaned Emilia.

"And here's the keys you'll be needing in case I'm kept over at work," she said as she dangled a key attached to a mickey mouse keyring in front of her niece's face. Emilia grabbed it and stuffed it into her pocket. She stepped down and found herself feeling short next to Nathan. Following Nathan to the car, he opened the silver car door and she got in. Nathan followed and slammed the car door shut with enough force to shake the car.

"Thank you for dropping me off at school," thanked Emilia. Melissa took the compliment and smiled.
"It's okay, dear, I drive past on Monday mornings anyway."
"Oh, but thanks anyway," she said. Emilia shut the door and began to walk towards the school while Nathan headed over to his friends.

Emilia took a seat in the middle of the class in the only empty seat. Luckily, the teacher was not set on causing awkwardness for the new student and just mentioned it before starting the music theory lesson. As he finished the lesson, the bell rang and the teens started to leave.
"Emilia, can you wait back for a minute?" asked Mr Miranda. Emilia waited for everyone to leave and awkwardly waited for the man to address her. "Thank you. You don't know an Evan Harper do you?"
"Nope, sorry sir," she said.

"He was an old student and really good at music, you remind me of him, I thought you might be related or know him or something," he said.
"I have a friend with that last name though, he's a twin called Nathan, his sister is Olivia," she said. Mr Miranda nodded and apologised for wasting her time.

When lunchtime came, Emilia found herself alone. Glancing to her left, she could see Nathan with all of his friends. Friends which she didn't know and didn't feel like awkwardly introducing herself to, at least not on the first day. They seemed kind of loud and rowdy too and she didn't really want to deal with that. She barely knew his sister so sitting with her was probably not the best option.

Her gaze focused on a table of teachers and students who sat at the back of the hall. She began to make her way over to them and saw a free seat next to none other than her music teacher.
"No one's sitting here, right?" she asked.
"No, no, er..." Mr Miranda hit the table with his hand as he struggled to remember her name. "Emilia?"
"Yep, that's it," she said as she took off her bag and sat down.

"Welcome to the musical trash table!" shouted a dark-haired boy at the other end of the table. "What's the last musical you listened to and which song?" Startled, Emilia froze as her mind went blank.
"Edwar-"
"Eddie."
"What have I told you about randomly asking people that question?" scolded another teacher at the table.
"It's okay," said Emilia. "It was... Hamilton and It's Quiet Uptown." Mr Miranda seemed happy at her choice of musical as he high-fived one of the other kids at the table.

While Emilia ate, she listened to other people's conversations. Mr Miranda was taking ideas for the next school play or musical as it seemed to be.
"There's too many for Dear Evan Hansen, Eddie," said the music teacher. "It has a cast of eight and everyone is getting a part."
"What about In The Heights? Twelve main characters but we'd need an ensemble," said Eddie who had his fingers crossed. Seeing the man's hesitance, he then suggested another musical. "Be More Chill? Twelve and no ensemble."
"We'll see," sighed Mr Miranda. Emilia chuckled at the excited conversations taking place.

Eddie stood and walked over to Emilia. He put his arm around her shoulders.
"What school did you come from?"
"Littlerock High School," she said. Seeing his blank face, she then added: "It's at least a few hours away from here."
"Oh," he said as he nodded. "Well you're part of the musical trash table now, there's no going back."
"Officially, we're the Musical Theatre Club," Mr Miranda pointed out. "We meet every Friday lunch time in the music room."
"Yeah, so musical trash," said Eddie.

"Can you stop standing behind me like you're a Squip?" joked Emilia. He just laughed and tried to slide across the floor to his seat. Instead there was a horrible squeaking noise most of the table winced at. "Can I sit with you guys tomorrow?" Her response was smiles and yeses as she found herself among friends.