~Riley's Point of View~

That rat bastard better not touch Emma ever again. I hurried to get her out of there and to the Dining Hall. Merick's going to be so pissed, I know it. And he's gonna blame me for not being with her. Wonderful.

Emma was looking down like she had done something wrong. I felt bad since I was pulling her away like an angry parent. But Damien can't be trusted.

As we entered the Dining Hall, I instantly made eye contact with Merick. He was staring at us, searching for the reason why Emma was upset. We sat down awkardly and the table went silent.

"What happened," said Merick, trying to keep his cool. I could tell he was biting his tongue, holding it in.

"We had a little run in with Damien, but it's all ok," I said, trying to ease the mood of the table. Trinity and River were just staring around, trying to figure out what was going on. Merick glared at me, his dark blue eyes piercing me.

"If it's all ok, then why does Emma look like she had witnessed a murder?" questioned Merick with a demanding tone.

"Merick!" Emma suddenly called out. Everyone quickly drew in their breath. Emma has never yelled like that before. Merick stared at her, in shock.

"I'm fine! I don't understand why you always assign me a baby sitter! I'm not a little kid, I'm only two years younger then you!" she confessed, irritated.

Merick stared at her. He looked a little hurt, but only I could tell since I was his best friend. River and Trinity kept their heads down.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, then looked up and stared right at Emma, his face wrinkled slightly in anger. "But you have no idea who Damien is. If you don't want to listen to me, then fine. Just don't come crying to me when that monster hurts you," Merick said, in a dangerous voice. He then got up and quickly left the room.

Emma's eyes widened in fear towards his tone, then they saddened. She put her arms on the table and buried her head in them. Trinity was sitting next to her so she leaned over and comforted her.

The rest of lunch was terribly awkward and depressing. Emma just sat there like a zombie. A few times I heard a sob coming from her. River and I just looked at her with pity.

I mean, I remember when I first came here. I was ten years old, so I was terrified of leaving home. My first week, all I did was cry and kept silent. But then I met Merick. He's been here since he was seven, so he was so mature, so strong. I looked up to him. Heck, I still look up to him! He's my brother, but I'll never admit that to him.

Then River came this year and I had two brothers. River was lazy and laid back but I still admired him. He could keep cool in the middle of a hurricane!

The sound of the bell interrupted my thoughts. This time Trinity and I joined River as we walked her to her room. We waited patiently in the hall as she got all her homework. She had study hall now so we were now heading towards the library. As we entered, I saw Emma's eyes widen in shock. I grinned. The library was huge. I've even seen people get lost in here before. We lead her to one of the circular tables and sat down.

"Don't you guys have class to go to?" asked Emma softly. I could tell she was still upset.

"Lucky for you, freshmen and juniors have the same study hall time. And next year, we will be with you too since sophmores and seniors do too," smiled River. Emma lifted her head, her face was instantly perked up.

"See? She's excited cause she gets to be with me. We could even have some alone time....." I smirked. My head started to fill with not-so-good ideas. Instantly, Trinity and River leaned over and slapped each of my shoulders hard.

"Owww!" I complained. Those jerks then started laughing but then stopped when we saw Merick come in. Holding our breaths, we waited. Emma stared at him then shot up from her seat. She ran to one of the shelves and hid.

Merick walked to a shelf and started scanning its contents, ignoring us. I could see Emma watching him from behind a shelf.

~Merick's Point of View~

My stomach clenged in guilt. I know she's in here but she must be hiding. Suddenly as I was looking, I saw some of her hair as she turned away and ran. I ran after her, trying to not look like a weirdo since this WAS a library. How does she know where she's going? Oh no, she found the door. I saw Emma burst through the glass door that lead to the courtyard. Ah crap, she might get away now!!

Kids started staring at me now as I chased her and then they whispered to each other. I look so stupid right now. Why do I do this for Emma?

She swerved behind a crowd of kids. I wrestled my way through, frantically looking around. Then saw her heading to the forest. Shit!

~Emma's Point of View~

I panted as I ran through the field to the forest. Why is he following me?! He said it himself that he didn't care about me! Ugh! Why does he have to be so fast?! I could tell that he was already gaining on me and I didn't have a lot of time before he caught me. I jumped over roots and ducked branches as I entered the forest. I bet the kids in the courtyard got a kick out of this. The new girl randomly running away from Merick. Awesome.

I suddenly stopped and dove behind a tree. Leaning against it, I tried to control my breathing. My body was shaking from nerves, my heart pounding.

I shrieked as hands grabbed me at my right. Merick was holding my shoulders and staring deep at me.

"What do you want?!" I yelled, on the verge of tears. I had no idea why, I just felt like crying.

"I want to tell you I'm sorry," he answered. His eyes searched mine for forgiveness. I just couldn't look up at him. His index finger lifted my chin up towards him. I stared at him crazily, tears running down my cheeks.

'I didn't mean to.... talk to you like that. I'm just.... worried about you. I don't like how Damien wants you," he stated, embarrased. My mind started racing.

"Why are you worried about me?" I whispered. Merick hasn't even know me for a week! And how does he know that Damien wants me? Guy's flirt with me like that all the time! What's so bad about this Damien guy?

He just stared at me with nothing to say. I sighed.

"You said you don't want me crying back to you," I said steadily, my voice comfident now. I mean, that's exactly what I'm doing now. Crying to him.

"You can come cry to me every day, but nothing's going to keep me away," Merick answered. I stared at him and slightly blushed, a little shocked. Merick looked up at the sky then back down at me.

"Come on. You don't want to be late for E.P.E" he murmured.

'What's that?"

"Just imagine normal gym class and put in elements and a crazy teacher."

~Trinity's Point of View~

I saw Merick and Emma come back in to the library, side by side. They looked fine now, but seemed to be feeling a little awkward. I wonder what happened out there?

Oh my gosh! Maybe they had a moment! But that's crazy, Merick barely knows her! And he's so quiet and he avoids girls! Well, maybe that's because every female is in love with him. And the ones who are not are either infatuated with Riley or with River. And she's younger then him! My heart sank at this last thought. I was the same age as Emma, and Riley was the same age as Merick. Maybe it could happen with me and him....

~Riley's Point of View~

What's up with Merick and Emma? They seem weirded out. Oh god, did Merick get some action?! No way! That lucky bastard! I'll kill him in his sleep!

This isn't fair. Normal girls like Emma (meaning not the fangirls) find me a creepy flirt and they think Merick's all "mysterious and charming!" Bleh!!!

~Emma's Point of View~

Trinity, Riley and River just stared at us as we walked up to them and sat down. An awkward silence passed.

"So....how about the weather we're having?" said Riley. We shot him are-you-serious looks.

"Wow Riley, way to kill it," mumbled River. Then they started arguing and we all joined in, taking River's side. A feeling of relief passed through me as everything was normal again. But I couldn't help thinking about what happened in the forest.

Suddenly the bell rang and students poured out of the library. The boys then left to go to their own classes and Trinity walked me to E.P.E

When we got there, I was shocked to see that this school had a gym. It seemed to old and grand looking to have one. Just imagine seeing Hogwarts have a gym. A stern looking man approached us and tossed me a uniform and walked away. It was just plain blue shorts and a white t-shirt.

Trinity lead me to a room and I saw it was the girl's locker room. So many voices could be heard inside. I shared her locker and we walked back into the gym.

I was surprised to see that the gym was full of stuff. It looked like an obstacal course! Ropes, climbing walls, balance beams placed ten off the ground. And their were random piles of dirt and puddles of water around the room. The window was also open, so alot of air came through. But the strangest thing was that their were torches against the walls. This was the weirdest gym I had ever seen!

"Alright, listen up!" boomed a voice. It was the man who tossed me the uniform. He wore regular blue sweat pants and a white sweat shirt that said "Angel Academy" on the front in red letters. The man had brown hair that was very short and he also had a receding hair line. His mouth seemed to be in a permanent frown. Cold, hard brown eyes searched the kids faces. There was about thirty kids in my grade in here.

"Since we have a noobie, we're going to do a simple obstacal course that you will keep going around. Your goal is: survive until the final whistle is blown," he ordered. Kids groaned and got up and formed a line at the front of it. I was scared. Trinity kept close to me though and went right infront of me in line.

'That's Mr. Larson. Scary guy. Now be sure to stay behind me," she whispered. I nodded, shaking.

"Ready. Set. GO!" the man blew his whistle. The line started moving forward as the kids ran through it. This thing looked impossible to complete! I'm going to fail this class!

A boy infront of me yelped as a shot of fire blasted at him. I gasped and saw that it came from Mr. Larson. Why is he shooting at his students?!

The boy quickly doused it, using a puddle that was along the floor and kept going through the maze. It all made sense now.

Mr. Larson kept shooting random fire balls at students. They seemed scared but stayed burn-free. It was suddenly my turn to start. Trininty grabbed my wrist and pulled me. We climbed a climbing wall and swung on a rope at the top and landed on a mat on a platform. Then we hurried across the balance beam. I let out a small cry of fear. We were so high up! I could see mats at the bottom but it would still hurt to fall!

When I was half way across, a fire ball was shot at me. I let out a scream. Trinity dove in front of me and used her wind to blow it away. She then pulled me once again forward. We clampered down another wall and jumped over a random fence. This was hell!

It seemed like forever until finally the whistle blew. We went through the course ten times before we were done! Kids had there hands on there knees and were panting. I wanted to fall down but Trinity kept me up right. After we changed back into our uniform, we headed down the hall. When we got to the entrance room, I saw Ava waiting there for us.

"Emma," she said. We approached her. What does she want with me? Doesn't she hate me?

"Come with me. We have work to do," she said and started walking away towards the big door that led outside.

I looked at Trinity and she nodded and pushed me to go with her. I jogged to catch up to Ava and followed behind her outside awkwardly.