❝ i'd rather have them target me than you. ❞

―

AISHA WAS THE TALK OF THE SCHOOL.

Dash and Emery walked down the hallway beside her, listening to the name calling and laughter that was thrown her way. The video that Yasmine had posted the night of the dance was all anyone could talk about. All Emery wanted to do was punch Yasmine right in that pretty face of hers, but she had promised Dash that she wouldn't.

The last thing they needed was to give their mother yet another reason to call the school or tell Emery how worried she was that she was starting to spiral down the wrong path. Instead of wanting to punch every bully that so much as looked at Aisha, Emery opted for making sure that Aisha knew she was there for her if she needed a shoulder to cry on.

Dash and Emery stood on opposite sides of Aisha as they made their way towards Aisha's locker. They both stopped with her, leaning up against the lockers as they waited for her.

"I really appreciate you both, but I don't need you acting like you're my bodyguards," Aisha told them.

"We are not acting like your bodyguards," Emery replied. "Think of it as two friends who know what it's like to have insults thrown at you everywhere you turn so they want to be there to defend you."

Aisha didn't get the chance to respond before Sam began to walk toward them. She stopped in front of Aisha's locker, giving the twins a small smile as a greeting.

"Hey," Sam said to Aisha. "How are you feeling?"

"I've gone viral," Aisha responded. "How do you think I am?"

Emery placed her hand on Aisha's shoulder and Dash gave her a sympathetic look as a girl walked past them and called Aisha 'Cheeto pig.' These people seriously came up with the worst nicknames. Could they seriously not think of anything better?

"Look, they're mean, but they have short memories," Sam said, trying to make her feel better. "They'll forget."

Emery rolled her eyes. "Short memories? Yeah, right. It's been months and people still call me Noodle Head. I wish they would forget."

"Yeah," Aisha said in response. "I'm not gonna forget."

Aisha slammed her locker shut and then walked away, leaving Sam with Dash and Emery. She gave them a look as if she were giving them a once-over before Kyler came running over to her, pushing Dash and Emery out of the way. The twins exchanged a look with each other and rolled their eyes before they started to walk to class.

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During their free period, Dash and Emery sat with Demetri, Eli, and Miguel in the library. They were supposed to be in study hall working on their classwork, but instead Demetri and Miguel were talking about how Miguel's mom wasn't going to let him do karate anymore because of what happened at the dance. She was worried that Miguel's sensei was a bad influence and honestly, Dash and Emery couldn't say they blamed her.

"So, that's it?" Demetri asked. "No more karate?"

Miguel shrugged. "I guess so."

"It's probably for the best," Demetri said. "It was starting to boost your confidence."

Dash sat up straighter in his chair. "And what's wrong with having a little confidence? Lord knows we could all use some."

"Yeah," Miguel agreed. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"No," Demetri responded. "What has confidence ever gotten anybody except for a black eye and their backpack thrown in the trash?"

"I wish I could throw you in the trash," Emery said, causing everyone to glare at her and receiving a kick in the shin from Dash. "I'm kidding...kind of."

"I thought it was kind of cool how you stood up to Kyler," Eli spoke up.

"Are you insane?" Demetri said suddenly, causing Eli and the twins to jump slightly. "Let me ask you. What is the best superpower anyone can have?"

"Super strength," Miguel said quickly.

"Wrong," Demetri said, pointing at him with his pencil.

"Invisibility," Dash responded, remembering how Demetri had told him once that if he could have any superpower, he'd want to be invisible.

"Exactly," Demetri said. "A distant second would be super speed to run away fast."

"Run away from who?" the group heard from behind them.

They all turned their heads to see Kyler standing behind Eli, causing them all to groan.

Dash and Emery began to get up in their seats and gather all their things together as one of Kyler's friends—Brucks—said something about English class and prepositions.

Miguel, Demetri, and Eli followed the twins' actions, but Kyler grabbed Eli by the neck and started looking at his lip. They all stopped, panic covering their faces.

"Oh, at this freak," Kyler said, holding Eli's chin. "Oh, shit."

Kyler and Brucks started laughing as they continued to look at Eli's scar. Emery rolled her eyes in annoyance. Did they seriously not have anything better to do? It was as if their entire reason for existing what to pick on people who were even remotely different from them. It just made Emery want to scream.

"What kind of girl would ever kiss this shit?" Kyler asked.

Emery stepped forward. "I would."

Everyone turned to look at her including Eli. They were all surprised and hadn't expected her to say that. Dash was more surprised by her sudden boost of confidence than her words. He knew full well that Emery thought of what it would be like to kiss Eli. She had talked about it so many times before.

"You'd kiss this, Noodle Head?" Kyler asked. "That's disgusting!"

Kyler and Brucks laughed before going back to making fun of Eli. It was suddenly like Emery wasn't even there. She crossed her arms as she glared at Kyler. Just as she was about to say something else, Miguel beat her to the punch.

"Just leave him alone Kyler," Miguel said.

Kyler pushed Eli to the side. "What'd you say? You haven't had enough, 'Rhea?"

Dash and Emery turned their heads to look at each other, rolling their eyes in unison. There he goes again with another stupid nickname. Cheeto pig, Noodle Head, Lip, 'Rhea. What stupid joke book did they pull these nicknames out of?

Kyler smacked Miguel on the head, pushing him away. "Get the hell out of here, man."

Brucks pushed Eli towards the bookshelf, but he caught himself before he ran into it. Demetri, Dash, and Emery started to walk out of the library. Kyler grabbed Demetri's backpack strap and yanked him back, causing the twins to stop and turn around.

"Hey, you don't want this shit," Kyler said as he pulled Demetri's backpack off and held it over the trashcan.

"No, come on," Demetri said. "Not the trash."

Kyler pushed him back as he held his backpack over the trash can.

"I just threw a..." Kyler dropped his backpack in the trash before Demetri could finish his sentence "...yogurt in there."

"Now it's double dip," Kyler said.

Demetri slowly pulled his backpack out of the trash can. It was covered in yogurt. Dash and Emery stared at it in disgust. With a sigh, Demetri walked away. Dash glared at him.

Kyler tilted his chin up as he stepped closer to Dash. "And what about you? Huh? You got something to say?"

Dash just rolled his eyes before he started to walk around the bookshelf to exit the library. He turned around, expecting Emery to be behind him, but she wasn't. Rather than following him out of the library, she stood in place in front of Kyler and Brucks, staring them down. Dash as he walked up to her, grabbing her by the arm before she had the same to say anything.

Dash pulled her out of the library, letting go of her arm once they stood in the hallway. "What were you doing?"

"I was going to give that asshole a piece of my mind," Emery responded, crossing her arms.

"Are you insane?" Dash asked her. "Remember what happened last time you gave someone a piece of your mind? You wound up with an entire tray of spaghetti on your head."

Emery sighed. Dash was right. She was just so sick and tired of Kyler and his stupid friends thinking it was okay to pick on them. It just didn't seem fair. What gave them the right to think that it was okay to pick on someone because they were different? Just because someone was a nerd, had a lip deformity, or had a different sexual orientation didn't mean they should be bullied.

Unfortunately, that was just the way the world was and as much as Emery hated it, she knew things were never going to be different. It seemed as though she, her brother, and their friends were destined to be bullied for the rest of their lives.

"Yeah...I guess you're right," Emery nodded her head. "I'm gonna get to class and make sure Eli's okay."

Dash nodded. "Yeah. I'll do the same with Demetri. Meet me at the front of school at dismissal?"

"Yup," Emery replied.

The twins walked separate ways down the hallway. They both had their last class with them, so it wasn't like they had to go out of their way to find them.

When Emery entered the classroom, she found Eli sitting in his normal seat next to the window. He stared out of it, his hand covering his mouth.

"Hey," Emery said as she took her seat in front of him. "Are you okay? I'm sorry Kyler's such a jerk."

Eli shrugged as he turned to look at her. "I'm used to it."

"And that's what sucks more than anything," Emery responded. "We shouldn't just be used to being made fun of."

Eli nodded in response but didn't say anything. A silence came over them. The only sound that could be heard was the chatter of other students in the classroom and the hallway.

Emery continued to look at Eli, staring at his mouth. The thing was, she wasn't staring at the scar. She couldn't care less about that. She was lost in her own world as she imagined what it would be like to kiss him for the ten millionth time.

"Em?" Eli's voice broke her out of her trance.

"Huh?" Emery asked, staring at him with wide eyes.

Eli looked down at his hands, picking at the skin around his fingernails. "Did you—did you actually mean what you said in the library? That would kiss me?"

Emery's breath hitched. She had a feeling that he would ask her about that at some point. She just didn't think it would be so soon. Eli looked up, looking at her as he waited for his response.

"I—I—um..." Emery stammered. "Uh..."

"It's okay," Eli glanced down with a disappointed look. "I get it. You were just trying to stick up for me."

"No, no, Eli, no," Emery said quickly, causing him to look up at her again. "That's not what I meant. It's just that...I mean, I totally would."

Eli's entire face lit up. "Really? Y—you would?"

"Yeah, sure," Emery nodded following by a nervous laugh. "But I mean, it'd be awkward of course since we're best friends and all."

Eli licked his lips, hanging his head down. "Right. Yeah. It definitely would."

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Dash caught up to Demetri in the hallway, calling out his name as he ran up to him. Demetri stopped walking and turned around. Dash started walking next to him toward their classroom.

Being shorter than Demetri, Dash had to look up at him. It was one of the things he loved so much about him. While other people tended to make fun of him for being tall, Dash didn't care.

"How's the backpack?" Dash asked, looking at the bag that Demetri dragged on the ground.

Demetri sighed. "I managed to wipe some of the yogurt off using a wet paper towel in the bathroom. I think it'll be fine after a good wash."

"I'm sorry," Dash said with a sigh.

"For what?" Demetri asked as they stepped into the classroom and took their seats. "It's not your fault that this school is full of assholes."

"I know that, but I could have tried to stand up for you or stop Kyler from dropping your backpack in the trash," Dash responded.

"And what would that have gotten you?" Demetri asked. "A busted lip and your own yogurt covered backpack? I'd rather have them target me than you."

A small smile tugged at Dash's lips. "You always say that."

"Well, it's true," Demetri responded. "I wouldn't want you getting hurt just because you decided to stand up for me."

Dash nodded his head in response as the bell chimed, signaling the start of class. Dash swore that every time Demetri said things like that, he fell even more in love with him. But it also gave him false hope. He had to remind himself that Demetri didn't like him like that. He was just his best friend and that's all he would ever be. Demetri was just a caring best friend.

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Dash and Emery met at the front of the school just like they said they would. Dash shad been the first to get there and played Tetris on his phone until Emery walked to him. He hadn't even noticed her at first since she had snuck up behind him.

Emery placed her hands on his shoulders, causing him to jump and let out a small yelp as she shouted, "Boo!"

Emery started laughing as she pouted at him. "Oh my God, you should have seen the look on your face!"

Dash rolled his eyes as he tucked his phone back in his pocket. "I hate you."

"You couldn't hate me if you tried," Emery responded.

"Trust me, I've tried..." Dash teased her.

Emery chuckled as she looked around, trying to spot their mom's car. When she found it, she pointed at it.

"She's over there," Emery announced. "Come on."

Dash followed behind her and walked to the car. They opened the car door and got in the car. Emery sat in the passenger seat while Dash sat in the back. They took turns sitting in the front seat and it just so happened that or was Emery's turn.

"How was school?" Eleanora asked her children.

Emery shrugged her shoulders. "Same old, same old."

Dash nodded his head in agreement as Eleanora looked at him through the review mirror. "Nothing new."

"Hmm," Eleanora hummed. "How are Demetri and Eli? They haven't been over since the last day of summer."

"They're doing okay," Dash spoke first. "And of course they're the same Demetri and Eli they've always been."

Eleanora continued to ask them questions the entire drive home. As much as they loved their mother, the twins were happy to get out of the car.

When dinner time rolled around, a repeat of the car ride ensued. Eleanora was back to asking questions, except this time the twins caught a break. All the questions were directed at their father.

— EMILIA'S NOTES

the main changes in this chapter was the added conversations between emery & eli and dash & demetri after the library + plus the scene at the end.

there were some dialogue changes as well as additions throughout the chapter. as well as some reworked wording.

so much prouder of this story already. i can't wait until we get to the good stuff. rewritten version of chapter 5 coming soon :)