His jaw worked as he watched Gerald walk toward him. His nose was bandaged and he  looked annoyed. His hands were tucked into his pocket and he had the aura of a mafia boss.

" What do you think you are doing Gerald? You know I never meant to hit you like that. " Charles defended. He didn't say it because he was scared of being beaten to a pulp but because he meant it.

Gerald halted in his tracks and smiled with his eyes closed. " But you did, didn't you? " He asked and stared at Charles. " And for what? Because you thought I was trying to take her from you? " He said and began to laugh menacingly.

Charles swallowed hard as he was taken by surprise. He never believed that his feelings for Emily were obvious. He took two steps backward and his mind went into survival mode. He knew he could take down two or three of them but ten? That was way too much.

" Don't bother… There is no way you can escape. You are trapped here. " Gerald said, jolting him from his thoughts. Gerald sprinted towards him but before he could attack, Charles gave him a punch of his own.

He quickly began to run, and the boys followed in hot pursuit. He ran until he got to an end. There was a wall and it was high. He could hear the sounds of running footsteps approaching quickly. Before he could turn to avoid an attack, a baseball bat hit him on the arm.

Grabbing the bat, he twisted it loose from his attacker's grip. Swirling around, he whacked the attacker on the head. A punch landed on his face, throwing him off balance. The boys punched and kicked him till he was too tired to fight back.

Gerald walked toward him and crouched to his eye level. " Now we are even." He said and stood up. He kicked Charles on the thigh " F**k you!!" He yelled and ran his hand through his damp hair.

Charles winced in pain, as the bruises he sustained from the beating were excruciatingly painful. He was bleeding from the corner of his mouth, and his insides were like they were set ablaze. Being sapped of every ounce of energy left in him, Charles could do nothing but watch as the boys left not without a warning " Don't ever come in my way again." Was Gerald's warning to him.

Picking himself up, he staggered out of the alley towards the road. His shirt had blood stains and it attracted the students, who were walking home.

He decided to walk home, as he did not want to raise suspicions should he use the school bus. He was ready to be interrogated again by the school authorities.

He could see Gerald and Christine walking toward a black porch car. It was more appropriate to say that Christine didn't seem to want to be close to him. She was maintaining her distance, as they walked toward the car.

It was a well-known fact that Christine and Gerald were siblings. They both had almost the same personality. They were mean, spoilt, rich, and intelligent at the same time. Though they were siblings, they never got along with each other.

Gerald turned and saw Charles. He winked at him and gave a short smile. Whirling back around, he hopped into the bus after Christine.

" F**k you." Charles cursed under his breath and quickly gave the middle finger. He felt annoyed with himself that he didn't put up a good fight back then.

" Wow," Emily said as soon as he was done with his story and burst into laughter. Tears were streaming down her eyes as she laughed.

" What is so funny?" Charles asked her with furrowed brows. He watched her struggle to stop laughing.

" I'm Soo sorry." Emily apologized with a wave of her hand. " Whoever lured you into that alley was a genius…So you are telling me that someone took you to an alley and you didn't find it weird or suspicious?" She asked him with her serious expression.

" Well…" Charles responded with a shrug of his shoulder. Thinking about it, Charles realized that Emily was right. Why didn't I see it before? He thought to himself. " I feel so dumb." He said.

"  You can say that again….are you hungry? I got chips." Emily asked and stood up from the bed, with folded arms.

" I'm good…I came to apologize to you about what happened at the cafeteria today." He replied standing up.

" Nah don't worry about it. I forgive you. "Emily said and picked up her guitar that she abandoned just a few minutes ago. She sat on the bed while Charles took the seat opposite her while staring intently at her as she positioned herself to play. Plucking the strings rhythmically, musical notes coming to play, Charles sat listening to Emily and admiring the melodious times that rang out of the guitar.  just did not know why Emily never saw him as more than a friend.

"I love you, Emily." He mumbled to himself, as he began to admire her beauty and her melodious voice.

" Did you say something?" Emily asked him with a questioning look. She had paused her music and was looking at him.

" I love it, but I got to go," Charles informed and stared at his wrist. " I think it's late." He added.

" Dude, you don't even have a watch on." Emily reminded with a concerned look, as she dropped the guitar.

" My bad." He said with a nervous laugh and stood up to leave. " See you tomorrow." He added and headed toward the main door. Emily followed him to the door and waved him goodbye.

*********************

The next day at school during lunch, Emily and Charles sat together as always. She was staring into space, as her mind drifted to what Charles told her last night.

The sound of chatter and plates clanking filled the air, as students trooped in and out. Charles was looking intently at her.

" What's wrong Emily? " He asked, jolting her back to the present. He looked really worried and concern was written all over his face.

He followed her train of sight and saw Gerald talking to some girls. It seemed like Emily was looking at them, at him, to be precise.

" What? " Emily asked back in confusion. It was pretty clear she didn't hear a single word that he said, as she gave him a questioning look.

" What's wrong?" He repeated, " Don't tell me it's what I'm thinking." He said and dropped his fork. His brows furrowed and he watched as she switched her gaze to her lunch.

" I still don't know why…" Emily stopped, as she noticed Gerald walking toward them with some of his friends.

Her fist was clenched under the table and she gritted her teeth. She could notice that the students were looking at them, including the lunch lady.

Gerald walked toward them and nudged Charles. " Hi, Emmy. I was wondering if you'd like to join us at the table." He offered with a smirk.

She looked toward Charles and noticed he was staring back at her. " No, she doesn't," Charles replied and held her wrist.

Gerald looked surprised and smiled. " That's not a problem." He said and walked toward a table with his friends.

" Why did you do that?" Emily asked Charles, as she yanked her hand from his.

" Because I did not want any trouble," Charles replied with his hand on his table.

" You know, you should…" Emily began but was rudely interrupted by Gerald.

" Hey, you! Come cool me…" He ordered a girl with a smirk on his face. His friends were laughing while the female was looking quite nervous.

She took two unsteady steps toward him, while his friends burst into laughter. Emily noticed Christine and her friends, laughing from another table.

She could see that Christine was glaring hard at her and she quickly turned toward Charles.  " I'd love to do it," Emily said out loud and stood up.

" What do you think you are doing?" Charles asked her in a whisper. He couldn't believe what Emily just said. Knowing Emily, he knew that whatever she planned to do, would land her in trouble.

" You'll see," Emily replied with a smile and strode toward Gerald's table.

The female student, Gerald, and the other students watched as Emily made her way to Gerald's table. " Hi." She greeted with a smile.

" I thought you did not want…" Gerald started but noticed that the students were staring at them. " What brought you here?" he asked after some moments of hesitations.

" I heard you want to cool down, right?" Emily asked as her eyes scanned the table. Looking at Christine's table, there was a smoothie on it.

Walking toward the table, she took the smoothie against Christine's wishes " Thank you." She said and opened the lid.

" Here my prince," Emily began and walked back toward Gerald. " Cool down." She added and poured the liquid on his head.