❝ only an idiot wouldn't see how perfect you are. ❞

―

THE CAMPBELL TWINS HATED SCHOOL.

It seemed like no matter where they went, their peers were constantly eyeing them or whispering about them to their friends. They wished that they could just go one day without someone making a cruel remark at their expense.

Most of the time, they were made fun of for reasons that they had no control over. Like the scar on Eli's lip for instance. He was born with a cleft lip and was left with a scar after surgery.

Emery, Dash, and Demetri hardly even noticed his scar. They knew it was there, but they didn't stare. The same cannot be said for the rest of the student boy. It was as if it was the only thing that people saw when they looked at him. Eli was constantly getting bullied because of his scar and it irked Emery to her core. Whenever she heard someone whisper in class about him to make a rude summer about his scar, she had to fight the urge to backhand them.

The last thing Emery wanted was to get in trouble. She was already on thin ice after what happened last year when she overheard a group of girls making fun of Dash because of his sexuality, a not so nice word coming out of their mouths. Emery did not hold back, resulting it her being sent to the principal's office for threatening to harm another student. He wanted to suspend her, but luckily, Eleanora Campbell can be very persuasive.

She had been angry when she found out that Emery has gotten sent to the principal's office, but when she heard why, her anger only intensified. She had marched right into the office after they called her, not hesitating to give the principal a piece of her mind.

The bullying just seemed never ending. Whether it be Eli getting made fun of for his scar, Dash's sexuality, or because of the fact that they were all considered to be nerds, there was no catching a break from the constant stares and whispering.

Today was no different. As Emery and Dash walked down the hallway to their first period class, hushed and some not so hushed whispers about them filled their ears. Several people were calling Emery the nickname 'Noodle Head' referring to an incident freshman year when she had spaghetti dumped on her head one day at lunch. It only took a matter of seconds before the video was posted online and shared with the entire student body. No matter what Emery did, she couldn't escape the nickname.

"Hey, Noodle Head," Yasmine, the most popular girl in school said as the twins passed her.

Yasmine was the one who had dumped spaghetti on her head. Emery rolled her eyes at her and kept walking, with Dash by her side.

"Who even came up with the nickname Noodle Head? I mean seriously, that's the best thing they could come up with?" Dash asked.

Emery shrugged. "I don't know, but I agree. It might just be the dumbest nickname ever."

Dash nodded his head in agreement as they entered their classroom and sat down at desks in the back of the room. They always preferred to sit in the back because it drew less attention to them.

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Emery and Dash walked up to their lunch table that they shared with Eli and Demetri. They set this trays down on the table before taking a seat.

"Hey," Emery and Dash greeted them at the same time.

Demetri pointed between them. "That is something I'll never get used to. How you two are so in sync is just so creepy."

"All these years and you're still not used to it?" Dash asked him.

Demetri shook his head and the four friends began to eat. After poking at her pizza with her fork, Emery set it down on her tray and leaned back in her chair. Dash ate his pudding as he stared straight ahead, watching as people walked by the table. His eyebrows furrowed together in confusion when a boy started to approach their table. No one had ever actively tried to approach their table.

Noticing the confusion on Dash's face, Emery turned her head. An expression that mirrored Dash's formed on her face.

"Is it cool if I sit here?"

"Ooh, sorry," Demetri responded. "Table's really blowing up right now. I can put you on the wait list, but it's probably next semester at the earliest."

"Okay," the boy responded as he began to walk away from the table, a disappointed look on his face.

"He's kidding," Dash spoke, causing the boy to stop and turn back. "Have a seat."

"Miguel," the boy introduced himself as he sat down between Emery and Dash.

"Demetri. This is Eli," Demetri said, motioning to Eli who gave Miguel a small smile. "He's a man of few words."

"I'm Emery," Emery told him, holding her hand out for him to shake. "It's nice to meet you."

Miguel hesitantly shook her hand. "You too."

He let go of Emery's hand and turned to look at Dash, waiting to hear his name.

"Dash. Emery's twin brother," Dash introduced himself.

None of them had the chance to say another word before Yasmine and Samantha walked past their table. Emery hadn't noticed them at first. It wasn't until she noticed all the boys minus Dash staring behind her that she turned her head to see the girls passing her.

Emery jolted forward when Yasmine purposely bumped into her chair as she walked by. Emery rolled her eyes, leaning forward to fold her arms on the table.

"Dude, don't torture yourself," Demetri told Miguel. "Those are the rich girls."

"Do you ever talk to them or...?" Miguel asked.

"Oh, yeah! All the time," Demetri replied sarcastically. "We hang out after school, make out, give each other hand jobs."

Miguel rolled his eyes.

"Now, Eli here is the homecoming king and Emery's the queen," Demetri continued. "Dash here gets laid more than anyone. Isn't that right, guys?"

Emery snorted and Dash just rolled his eyes as Demetri continued talking. "Talk to them? You realize what table you're sitting at, right? You've pretty much signed away all hopes of losing your virginity before college."

"Ignore him," Dash told to Miguel. "One thing to know about Demetri here is that he's the one of the most sarcastic people you'll ever me and sometimes I think he just talks so much because he likes to hear the sound of his own voice."

Demetri turned, giving him an offended look.

"Oh, shit, Yasmine's looking at us," Eli spoke quietly.

They all turned their heads to look at the group of girls. Emery's face scrunched up in disgust. Yasmine had to be the meanest girl in all of West Valley. Her best friend Moon was nice for the most part, but she never stuck up for anyone that Yasmine bullied. All she ever did was laugh, assign to the hurt that came from Yasmine's cruel remarks and comments.

Emery tried not to let Yasmine and the other popular girls bother her, but at the same time, she cared too much about what others thought about her. She liked to consider it one of her biggest flaws.

As for Samantha, neither Emery nor Dash she a problem with her. Emery had only ever spoken to her once last year and she thought that she was a really nice and sweet girl. But then she started to hang out with Yasmine and Moon. Now, it was like she was a completely different person.

"Probably just making fun of me," Eli said.

"I don't think she's making fun of you," Miguel replied. "I mean, just because they're hot doesn't mean they're mean."

"You don't know those girls. They make fun of practically everyone," Emery told Miguel before directing her attention to Eli. "But don't worry about them, Eli. Only an idiot wouldn't see how perfect you are."

Eli's eyes glanced down at the table. "You're just saying that because you're my friend."

Friend. Just hearing that word felt like a stab right to the heart. Every time Emery heard that word come out of his mouth, she just wanted to scream. She wanted to just blurt out how she really felt about him, but she never did. She was too afraid to tell him her true feelings, fearing that he wouldn't feel the same way. So, she kept it to herself and didn't say a word.

Emery turned her head, looking away from Eli. She noticed Dash giving her a sympathetic look. Emery
knew that he understood how she felt because he had a secret crush on Demetri. Emery could at least admit to herself and Dash that she had a crush on Eli, but Dash refused to do the same about his crush on Demetri.

It wasn't because he was afraid that he had a crush on another boy. Dash was very proud of his sexuality and didn't shy away from it. He didn't care if people bullied him for it.

Everyone that he was close to accepted him with open arms. Emery had been accepting of course, claiming that she knew all along. Their parents told them that they were proud of him and accepted him without giving it a second thought. Even his grandparents who held traditional values accepted him. Demetri and Eli both accepted him in an instant, thinking nothing of it. Demetri has even wanted to throw him a coming out party, but Dash insisted that it wasn't necessary.

His reasoning for not telling Demetri the triumph was for the same exact reason as Emery had for not telling Eli. He didn't think that Demetri reciprocated his feelings and didn't want to ruin their friendship.

"I don't care if Yasmine is the meanest girl at school. I'd kill all of you just to get her to spit in my face," Demetri said, looking at her from across the cafeteria.

Dash crossed his arms. Demetri was always talking about Yasmine. It was always Yasmine this and Yasmine that. It didn't even seem to matter that she was one of the biggest bullies in the entire school or that she made fun of all four of them on a daily basis. He put her on a pedestal and practically worshipped the ground she walked on.

Dash couldn't understand what was so special about her. She looked just like every other mean, popular girl. Yet somehow, all the girls wanted to be her and all the guys wanted to date her.

"Yeah, well, if you don't make a move, you're never going to have a shot with her," Miguel said.

Emery looked at Eli at the same time that Dash looked at Demetri. Miguel was right. If they never made a move, then how would they know if they had a chance or not? Even though they were both convinced that there was no way they would ever have a chance to be more than their friends, it wasn't a sure thing.

Dash was still on the fence. He thought about it for a split second before deciding that there was no way in hell that he was going to tell Demetri.

Emery on the other hand, actually considering it. Maybe I should just make a move, Emery thought to herself.

At least, she was considering it until Demetri decided to open his mouth and make all her doubts and anxieties come rushing back.

"True, but I'll also never suffer a humiliating rejection," Demetri responded. "I'm at peace with my depression. Last thing I need to be is suicidal."

Emery let out a sigh and glanced down at the table. She looked up when she saw movement out the corner of her eye. Miguel pushed his tray and stood up from his chair.

"What are you doing?" Demetri asked.

"Striking first," Miguel responded.

"Oh, shit," Demetri rolled his eyes as Miguel began to walk towards the popular table. "Hope we don't get hit with the shrapnel."

Emery tilted her head to look at Dash. "Five bucks says that it ends horribly."

"Ten says he doesn't even talk to them," Dash said.

"You're on," Emery nodded.

The four of them watched Miguel closely, practically on the edge of their seats just waiting to see what happened. There was no way this was going to end well, but Miguel didn't seem to care. He kept walking towards them slowly, but before he had the chance to walk up to the table, Kyler and his friends were slamming themselves down into the empty seats.

Miguel just stood there as Kyler waved before turning back around. Emery sighed as Dash smiled at her. Looks like she owed him ten bucks.

"So how'd it go?" Demetri asked as Miguel sat down at the table.

Miguel just shook his head and before the group knew it, lunchtime was over. They stood up cleared the table, putting their trays away before exiting the cafeteria. They went their separate ways. Emery and Eli walked to their next class, while Dash went the other direction with Demetri and Miguel.

The rest of the school day had been like all the rest—boring, repetitive, and completely uneventful, but it wouldn't be long before Dash and Emery would find themselves wishing that every day could be just as uneventful.

— EMILIA'S NOTES

not too many changes to this chapter compared to the original. just the part that the beginning & some of what was originally chapter one was added to this and reworded!

honestly, besides making the writing better, i wasn't entirely sure how i could make this chapter more interesting. it's an improvement and that's all that matters.

hope you enjoyed. <3