"Auntie, you really need to go to bed! You don't have to call me before I go to school," I said while checking my watch. It was 7:15 am at Sweet Amoris which meant it was 11:15 pm in Japan.

"You worry about me too much, sweetheart. I'll be fine. I was actually calling because, well, something has come up," Auntie's tone sounded apologetic but I could hear a hint of excitement in it as well. I sat down on the kitchen counter, a habit I had gotten from Auntie in the short time she and I lived together before her business trip.

"Okay, what's up, Auntie?" I asked as I ran my fingertips along the countertop.

"You see, I know I promised you three weeks and I'm going to move heaven and earth to make it back by then, I promise, but..."

"Did they ask you to stay longer?" I asked, reaching for my glass of grapefruit juice. Even though Auntie was in another country, there was a large store in Sweet Amoris that allowed you to shop online and would then deliver your groceries to your home; so every week I got a new delivery of delicious food and ingredients, many of which I had never tried before.

"Apparently the owner was a fan of mine in my designer days and he wants me to stay for an extra week after the business trip and look over their designs." I could hear both embarrassment and excitement in Auntie's voice. Ever since I could work a computer by myself I had followed Auntie's work. She had been a wonderful designer, bringing in bits and pieces of the Japanese culture into her clothes and making it modern. When she had been given an office job as a key employee in her fashion department she had been thrilled but sad that she couldn't design anymore. I knew that this was an opportunity she would love to take.

"Do it, Auntie! You always tell me that you miss designing. This will be good for you!"

"Oh, Opal, you're so sweet, but I can't just leave you alone for a month! What a horrible Auntie I am!" she wailed. I couldn't tell if she was being dramatic or if she really felt like that.

"Auntie, you call me every day, sometimes twice a day, you text me throughout the day, and you are forcing me to spend your money. Honestly, I'm not lonely. I mean, don't get me wrong, I can't wait for you to come back, but don't worry about me. I love you and I want you to be happy." Auntie let out a small laugh and I could picture her shaking her head at me.

"That should be MY line, sweetheart. Oh, Opal, we should have done this years ago! You really are the perfect teenager. I wish you were my real daughter." Emotion formed a lump in my throat and I didn't dare speak, knowing the tears would fall and it would worry Auntie. Luckily, Auntie hadn't quite finished. "Well, sweetheart, I hate to admit it, but I have an early meeting tomorrow so I'd better go to sleep. I love you, Opal. Have a good day at school!" I quickly cleared my throat and forced a happy tone.

"Sure thing, Auntie. Good luck with your meeting! I love you, too."

I pressed the end call button and laid my phone on the counter before looking around at the apartment. The place obviously belonged to Auntie Yuki. All the apartment walls were the same calm beige as my room, but Auntie had decorated each room with its own theme. My room was the purple room, the kitchen was an icy blue, the living room was green, the bathroom was pale yellow, and Auntie's room was red. Auntie loved all things colorful and it had been a little intense at first since mother had decorated our home with a monochromatic theme, but I had grown to love it these past weeks.

"What would it have been like, if I had moved in with Auntie years ago?" I asked my phone. It remained silent and I scooped it up to put it in the pocket of my backpack. I finished breakfast quickly, washed my dishes, and then headed out before securely locking the door.

It was Friday, the last day of my first week at Sweet Amoris High. Iris and I were on our way to becoming good friends, which still seemed foreign to me at times. Kentin joined us for lunch every day and since the cafeteria incident Amber hadn't bothered him or me which made me a little nervous. Gardening club was wonderful, taking care of the plants had become a delight for me, a quiet time to be myself. I had even checked out a couple of books from the library on plant care. Lysander continued to amaze me with his voice. The scenes where he tried to woo Kate in the beginning had actually caused me to blush and it had taken all my concentration to keep in character as a witty and independent Kate without devolving into a stuttering mess. Castiel hardly spoke to me, which wasn't really anything new. It had worried me when he had skipped class once but he came the next day so I didn't ask. And Nathaniel and I had talked occasionally at the end of the day.

My reflection was interrupted when I felt a small tug on my jacket sleeve. I had chosen a tight black undershirt with a purple half jacket with a large decorative bow on the front to wear today, along with jeans and sneakers. I turned to see Violette beside me and she looked like she was crying.

"Violette, what's wrong?" I asked worriedly. She and I always sat together at art and even though we rarely spoke I felt a strange connection to the shy girl; she always was quick to help me if she saw I was struggling with a technique. Violette met my gaze and more tears gathered in the corner of her eyes.

"Opal, they... they shouldn't have... It was so... I can't believe..."

"Violette, whatever happened I'll fix it. Who hurt you?" I asked, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. She shook her head violently, causing her naturally wavy hair to whip her in the face, but she didn't seem to care.

"It's not me..." she started to say before looking up at me with helpless eyes. She then took a sheaf of paper out of her sketchbook and handed it to me. Furrowing my brow in confusion I took it and studied the paper. It was me. It was my picture I had taken for my photo ID and the words, "Freak, go home!" were written on it. A mustache had even been scribbled on my face. I blinked, turned the paper over, then back to the front, then looked at Violette's silently dripping tears.

"Violette, this is why you're crying?" I asked carefully.

She nodded miserably and I couldn't help but laugh. She looked up at me in shock and I waved a hand.

"I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at you. It's just that... why would you cry over something like this? This is just.... juvenile." I said, trying to hold back my giggles.

"But... those are all over the school. Everyone is going to call you a freak now and they'll mock you and..." I stopped laughing and met Violette's eyes.

"Will you call me a freak?" I asked seriously and she gasped.

"Of-of course not!" she said with a small squeak in her voice. I blinked in a brief moment of surprise and then a genuine smile spread across my lips.

"Well then, what do I care if everyone else does? I have friends who'll stick by me. That's more than I've ever had before. This?" I said, waving the graffitied picture in my hand, "This means nothing. This is Amber trying to get back at me for not being afraid of her."

From the corner of my eyes I saw a group of three boys walking by and I looked down at the picture Violette had handed me. After a second of thought I turned and smiled at them.

"Hi there, you can have this if you want," I said while giving the tallest of the guys the picture. His friends looked at the picture then up at me. I smiled again before looping an arm around Violette's shoulders and walking towards the school.

"But... but... those were the BASKETBALL boys!!!" Violette stuttered, glancing back over her shoulder with a deer in the headlights expression. I shrugged, remembering back to a time when my classmates were too scared of me to even come near me. If a shy girl like Violette would cry for me then I thought having my picture strung up in the hallways was a very small price to pay.

"They'll see the pictures once we get to school anyway, so it doesn't really matter?" I said logically. Violette gaped at me as we walked through the school doors.

"Awww, Freak, have you made a new friend?" I bent down and whispered in Violette's ear,

"Go on ahead. I'll see you in Art."

She turned and looked like she was about to protest but I gently pushed her, flashing her a soothing smile. Violette nodded slowly, throwing a terrified look at Amber and her friends before turning to walk down the hall. Once she was on her way I took stock of the hallway. My pictures, some ripped in unflattering ways and all drawn on, were strewn on the floor and taped to the walls. The obvious effort that had gone into this was actually impressive. I turned around to find Amber, Li, and Charlotte all standing next to the entrance doors in their designer clothes looking triumphant.

"That's cute, Freak. First you date the wimp Ken, and now you're friends with little Miss Shy? You really don't know how high school works do you?" Amber asked almost piteously before gesturing around her. "Do you like the new decorations?"

Taking one more look at the mess these three had created I opened my mouth to say something, but just then the three boys I had given my picture to walked in. I watched as the boys looked around and then surprisingly the tall one's eyes met mine. I blinked in shock as he confidently strode towards me, his two friends following him naturally.

"Yo, Amber," the guy in front said casually. He was tall, well over six feet, with dark skin and cornrowed black hair pulled back into a short ponytail and he was wearing a basketball jersey in the sweet amoris colors. He came and stood next to me and Amber wrinkled her nose at him.

"What are you doing here, Dajan?" She asked, but I was surprised that her tone was actually borderline civil and I could see the uncertainty in her eyes. Dajan held up the picture I had given him and waved it in front of her face.

"This is so middle school I'm almost embarrassed for you," he said with a piteous look. Amber's face flushed red and Li and Charlotte exchanged confused looks.

"Oh, come on, Dajan. Are you... are you defending this freak?" she asked, giving me a death glare. I opened my mouth but closed it quickly when Dajan's two friends flanked my other side. Dajan smiled at them and then put his arm on my head casually, using me like an armrest.

"Yah. I don't know who she is, but everyone saw what happened earlier this week. So what if she's new? Leave her alone," Dajan said, and I was surprised at the sudden dip in his voice. With his arm on my head I couldn't see him very well, but as I glanced up I saw a his face change from a slightly threatening expression to a lazy smile and he glanced down at. "She seems like a cool girl."

I could feel my cheeks heat up from embarrassment and shock and for a second I almost wished that they hadn't interfered. I knew how to handle people not liking me, but having a complete stranger defend me was something I was not prepared for. Amber gasped in rage, and I looked over at her to see that her face had turned completely red.

"You... you... I OWN THIS SCHOOL!" she screeched, causing me to startle slightly. Li and Charlotte exchanged worried looks from behind Amber's back. Dajan leaned towards her and smiled while still keeping his arm on my head.

"I don't see your name anywhere. Do you boys?" There were a lot more than two voices answering Dajan. Moving carefully, as to not disturb Dajan's arm, I glanced over my shoulder and saw at least four more guys, all wearing basketball jerseys, standing behind us.

I turned back to Amber who was glaring daggers at me and I shrugged helplessly, not sure what was going on either. She looked at each of the basketball boys then spun around and stalked away, Charlotte and Li close behind. Dajan took his arm off my head and watched her walk away with a smug grin.

"Uhhh," I began, not exactly sure what I was I was supposed to say. Dajan looked down at me and stuck out his hand.

"My name's Dajan; I'm the captain of the basketball team. And these are most of my boys," he said while gesturing to the boys that were now in a loose circle around me. I took his hand and smiled hesitantly.

"It's nice to meet you Dajan, I'm Opal Sato. I started here on Monday." Dajan's handshake was firm and he arched an eyebrow when I matched his pressure. I then went around the circle, shaking each boy's hand.

"We were in the table behind you when Amber came over to rough you up. That was pretty cool when you broke away from Charlotte," one of them, a tall brunette with short hair said with a grin.

"And when you ducked under her purse! That was, like, Jedi ninja!" a boy only a few inches taller than me interjected enthusiastically.

"Uh, thanks, I guess," I said awkwardly. "But, why did you guys help me?"

Dajan smiled and looked at the guys he had walked to school with.

"Well, when you gave us that picture it was obvious you didn't care a bit, which we thought was pretty cool. When I saw you with Amber I put two and two together and I figured you could use a little back up," he said with an unconcerned smiled.

I blinked, not knowing what the proper response was, but I found myself saying, "I probably could have handled it myself."

The boys all laughed and the brunette even clapped me on the shoulder, which made me jump in surprise. That set off another round of laughter and I rubbed my arm awkwardly, but found myself smiling.

"You're okay there, Sato," the brunette said and I smiled, uncertainly.

"Hey, if Amber ever bothers you again, you just let me know," Dajan said, looking at his teammates and they all nodded. "We'll be your bodyguards."

"I don't think I'll need bodyguards," I said, not being able to keep a chuckle from escaping and Dajan grinned widely.

"Of course you do, and how about in exchange you help out our club every once in a while? Nothing big, just come cheer for us once in a while and help us with homework if we need it. You seem like a nerd," Dajan said with a teasing smile. I grinned at him and all the boys.

"That I am! I really don't think I'll need bodyguards, but I don't mind helping either. I owe you guys after all," I said, surprised that there had actually come a day where I would owe someone a favor. It was a neat feeling. They laughed and the bell rang. We all dispersed quickly, heading to our different classes and as I got everything together for Chemistry I smiled in wonder. Who knew that there were actually boys that stood up for girls in this world?

"This is confiscated. Give me this! Take those down immediately. Take them all down!"

I turned around, not believing my ears. Nathaniel was walking down the hall, ripping all of my pictures down, picking them off the floor, and ordering students to throw them away. His face was serious and his eyes were bright with anger.

"Nathaniel?" I called to him, he looked up and instantly his face clouded with guilt. He ran up to me, ripping a picture out of a random students hand as he made his way to me. His arms were full of pictures when he reached me.

"Opal. I'm so sorry. I don't know who could have... I keep the files in the student council room, no one should have been able to get this picture! This is all my fault. I'm so sorry," he said in a rush and I blinked, completely taken aback. I hadn't expected this kind of response from him.

"Nathaniel, it's fine."

"No, it's not! Someone defiled your picture! Your SCHOOL picture that only I had access to!" Nathaniel said with force.

"Nathaniel, Nathaniel calm down. I don't care," I said, holding up my hands in a calming gesture.

"You... what?" he asked, giving me an incredulous look.

"I don't care. I don't know any of these people. If they want to laugh and call me a freak, it doesn't bother me. I've got friends who will stick by me, like... well, like you," I said, glancing casually to the side and wondering why that had been so difficult to say. "Besides, I already confronted the people who did this and I'm pretty sure they're going to back off."

"Wait, you know who did this?" Nathaniel asked looking at the pictures with disgust. "Who was it?"

"Don't worry about it; it's taken care of. But, Nathaniel... we're going to be late to class," I said, inching towards the staircase. He shifted the pictures, looked at his watch and turned pale.

"I forgot about the time! I walked out of the student council room and saw these pictures and I got so angry..." he trailed off, looking at me and then looking back at the pictures before clearing his throat. "Well, anyway, I'll get these cleaned up later, I promise. Come by the student council room after school, okay?" I nodded and he turned away, speed walking down the hallway. I watched him for a second before making my way to Chemistry.

A/N For anyone who has been a victim of bullying I am so sorry. Please don't think you are alone and please know that you are absolutely fantastic!

The picture above is what Dajan looks like, just so you know (although in my story he would be wearing a blue jersey)