Brandon couldn't believe that he was fired from the job. He was feeling extremely flustered upon hearing such. Clenching his jaws and trying to control his temper, he spoke slowly, "May I know why, sir?"

        Now his attitude shifted dramatically and he softly continued to smile. Emerald was smirking contentedly since she'd succeeded in getting Brandon fired.

        "You have neglected, disrupted, and outright bullied this young woman, Brandon! Accepting such a foolish and discouraging man like you is a teacher was my biggest mistake of the year!" Mr. Richard howled in anger, his face red and the veins in his neck and forehead pulsing. 

        Brandon knew that Emerald must have told Mr. Richard things that weren't even true.

        "Sir, it was a misunderstanding; I apologize! You know how long I have been in the Student's Affair Society and not a single time you heard a complain from my students. But if still you think I am the one to be blamed I apologize again but please, don't fire me! You know how experienced I am!" Brandon snatched a blank notepad from his superior's desk and pulled a pencil from his pocket. He scratched down a flower to show off his skills as Mr. Richard contemplated the situation. Brandon quickly made an innocent face and looked down staring at Mr. Richard as if he is going to give him a chance.

        "You bullied a student, and that will not be tolerated! You must apologize to her and then, if only she agrees to, I will allow you a second chance. I hate to see talent such as yours go to waste..." Mr. Richard said slowly as he watched over Emerald who was beaming happily. 

        Brandon frowned and thought to himself, 'Fuck this shit! I am not going to apologize to this bossy rich girl! She is such a bitch!'

        Brandon had never asked someone for forgiveness as he considered himself somewhat superior to all others. He had no choice left but to apologize to Emerald who was watching him in contempt, surely believing that he would not apologize and therefore lose his job.

        "Yes sir. I am sorry Miss..." the words coming from his mouth weren't loud enough to be audible for Emerald who was so damn happy that she actually made this jerk apologize to her.

        "Wait what? I didn't hear you!" Emerald said in a loud voice, getting up from the chair and standing in front of Brandon who wanted to just grab her by the neck and wring it like he would a chicken. 

        "Ehm... I said I am sorry!" he yelled in a louder voice that even students who were downstairs could hear him.

        Turning to Mr. Richards, Emerald said, "It's okay, sir! I am a very elegant woman and so I feel pity for him. Sir I think you should give him a chance." Emerald grinned looking at Brandon's contorted expression.

        "Are you sure, Emerald? Is it truly okay by you?" Mr. Richard tried to ask again.
        
        "Yes sir, I suppose forgiving people and giving them a second chance is just yet another part of my beautiful personality." With saying that she moved towards Brandon.

        "Mr. Brandon, you are, for now, allowed to return to your students. You should be thankful to this young woman for having mercy on you," Mr. Richard groaned. 

        Brandon swallowed his anger. 'Fuck this chicken! She should be the one to forgive me!' he thought.

        "Thank you Miss..." Brandon tried to speak but not knowing her name he stopped.

        "Miss Emerald Morgan," she replied sarcastically.

        "Thank you, sir!" Brandon bowed and, without waiting another moment, he quickly got out of that damned room.

                               ***

        "Hi, Dad, I am back from my first day of school!" Emerald came home throwing her backpack on one of the many armchairs that set in the living room and tying her hair into a pony tail. Mr. Morgan was resting on another arm-chair, reading the day's newspaper.

        "Hello my precious daughter! Come here." He leaned forward and extended his arms as Emerald scrunched up her face in annoyance. He hugged her and placed a gentle kiss atop her head.

        "How was your day, my kitty?" he asked with amusement as he watched Emerald's facial expressions continue to change.

        Her light mood went out the window. "Don't even ask, Dad! People are all asses! They are so annoying! There were at least a hundred students and they all were from the same high school! They were barking like dogs and it was so messy and smelly! Lord! And I can't even tell you the most surprising part of it!" Emerald scoffed as Mr. Morgan interrupted her.

        "My girl! What happened?" he carefully listened to what Emerald responded with.

        "That asshole! I mean, that guy whom I picked on at the Annual Spring festival, do you remember him?" Mr. Morgan nodded and Emerald continued her rant. "Okay, that bloody jerk, he is my art teacher! I mean, what the hell! He insulted me as soon as he saw my face! He even bullied me in front of the whole class! I reported him to Mr. Richard and he almost fired him." She laughed as Mr. Morgan watched her closely.

        "Emerald! You should not use those words for your teacher! And...why did you do that to the poor man?" Mr. Morgan scolded her as if she hadn't been the one bullied all day long.

        "Dad! You don't even know... Fine! I knew you would scold me anyway! I know I am a worthless creature to you! To the whole world!" she cried and stomped upstairs to her room.

        "Emerald! Ah...this girl," Mr. Morgan sighed but couldn't do anything more.

        Emerald was fuming. She hated when her father treated her like a little kid but never listened to her. After resting a while she packed her art things into a bulky purse and marched off down the steps and out the door, headed to the beach.

        "Emerald, where do you think you are going?" Mr. Morgan grabbed her hands and peered into her fiery eyes.

        "If you have a problem with me leaving, come with me!" she yelled and yanked her hands free from his hold.

        "Emerald, stop behaving like a five-year old!" Mr. Morgan shouted back, beyond upset by her behavior.

        "What are you going to do? Lock me up? Send me back to live with my witch of an aunt? You know what, go ahead, I don't care!" she snorted.

        Mr. Morgan stopped himself from snapping back. He knelt down and, gently taking hold of her hands again, he said, "Look, Emy, you're my only daughter. I love you. I don't want you to spoil your life, but if you keep acting like this you will end up hurting yourself."

        "Yeah, whatever! If you're done now, I need to go," she exclaimed.

        "To the beach?" he asked softly so as to hide his growing frustration.

        "Where else?" she smirked.

        "Take Anna with you." He called for Anna.

        "Please take care of her, Anna!" Mr. Morgan said loudly as they both rushed towards the beach.

                              ***

        Brandon, after reaching his house, threw all his stuff onto his bed so hard it bounced right off. A storm was rising inside of his chest, swelling up like a devastating tsunami held back only by his weakly sealed lips.

        Mariah had gotten home earlier and was busy preparing supper. When Brandon came down the stairs and stomped into the kitchen she asked, "Why do you look so mad? Did something happen?" 

        "Don't talk to me!" he groaned as he opened his bag and emptied his arts materials onto the table.

        "Don't you pull that on me! Spill it!" she insisted as she diced up some vegetables.

        "That chicken face girl, she almost got me fired! Like, who the hell does she think she is?! She is a rich, spoiled brat who thinks herself a princess from another world!" he muttered as Mariah laughed. She laughed and laughed until she had tears in her eyes.

        "You mean the girl you insulted?" she tried to control her laughter so she could focus on the vegetables and not cut her finger.

        "It's not funny!" Brandon growled.

        "Well, you deserved it! Does this mean you're really not going to work there anymore?" Mariah was beginning to get on Brandon's already stretched nerves.

        "No, I said almost fired me. Well, they fired me but then hired me back. Anyways, I need to go and find a topic to teach my students tomorrow," he went back to his room still annoyed.

                             ***

        Emerald was watching the sea at night, the beach seemed to be rushy and crowded at night as it was summer break.

        "So I heard that guy... I mean, you both fought again?" Anna started, breaking the silence.

        "Yeah, that asshole!" Emerald bit her lips, still half lost in the beauty of the waves reflecting the moon's glistening light.

        "Oh, forget him! Let's talk about um... Did you find a handsome guy at school?" Anna wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

        "Don't you know? Men are all bloody idiots!" Emerald spat, her hatred for men dripping like venom from her words.

        "Not all of them," Anna laughed.

        "Whatever! Let's go to the other side!" Emerald held Anna's hand as they walked along the other side of the crowded beach.

        It was now Tuesday; Emerald's second day of art class. She was already late and Mike, who was supposed to drive her, had yet to show up with the car.

        "It's not too late! You can still go!" Anna explained to Emerald as soon as Mike pulled up.

        "I really want to kill you but I can't before I get to the school!" Emerald cried as she practically jumped into the car.

        They stopped in front of the school in half an hour and Emerald quickly rushed to her class. Her jaw dropped when she found every single student painting meticulously. She was half an hour late. Brandon smirked as he saw Emerald standing at the door, watching the class with wide eyes.

        "May I come in?" she asked quietly.

        "Oh why not Miss Emerald, you're so early, but I suppose I can make an exception for my favorite student."

        "I think...I am a bit late," she explained.

        "Yes just a bit. You missed half of the class!" Brandon yelled, turned around, and continued to teach.

        "But..." Before she could say more Brandon closed the door and she was left out in the hall.

        "Fuck this guy! This is just an art school, not some award winning academy!" she mumbled, standing out of the class. Seeing that he was not going to be calling her back anytime soon, she decided to walk through the corridors and wandered aimlessly. Bored, she entered every empty unlocked room she found. Sighing, she went into a room which had a big aquarium that spread along the length of one of the  ten foot walls. 

        Emerald stood stock still in awe. The aquarium was filled with all kinds of creatures, from neon fish to spiky sea urchins. Bright green algae shifted with the water's gentle flow made by the flurry of passing fish. Tiny red crabs scuttled along the pebble lined bottom of the tank as snails inched up the thick glass walls. It was like an entire world in the crystal clear water.  

        "Beautiful!" Emerald remarked as she gently touched the wall of the aquarium.
        
        "Continue working class, I'll be back!" Brandon said to his students. The class engaged in their conversations once more. Going out into the hall, Brandon searched for Emerald but couldn't find her anywhere near the room.

        "Where is that chicken?" he cursed and ran all around the school to find her.

        "Did she go back home? She is such an annoying little ass!" he sighed as he remembered that it was time to feed the fish; the older teachers had dumped the task onto him to feed the fish in the giant aquarium which resided in the marine sciences classroom. He quickly ran towards hall number five and opened the gate.

        Brandon stopped when he saw Emerald giving the food to the fish and smiling fondly at them. Her eyes gleamed and her beautiful long hair swayed as she lifted her arms to drop the flaky giblets into the tank for the eager fish.

        "At least the chicken can do something good," he murmured.

        "Hey, chicken!" Brandon said but she didn't even turn to look at him; had she not heard?

        "Hey! Can you not listen?" Brandon said but she was still throwing the food into the aquarium and smiling.
        
        He stepped next to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

        "Oh my God!" she shouted as her heart leaped inside her chest. She hadn't noticed Brandon until then.

        "What are you doing here?" Emerald asked, pushing his hand off and rubbing her shoulder.

        "I should ask you the same question," Brandon said, ignoring her shaking shoulders.

        "You should know! You didn't let me into the class so I decided to stay here with these fish rather than seeing your ugly face again!" she replied.

        "Who said I wanted see your face?! Anyways, these fish and this whole aquarium belongs to me! So keep your dirty hands off!" he said angrily, even though he was lying.

        "Really? You think it's yours? A jackass like you doesn't deserve to take care of this aquarium so you back off!" 
        
        "What is your problem? Why are you here ruining my life?!" he bit his lip so hard he tasted the odd iron tang of blood.

        "Why are you here? Every time I see your pig face I feel like vomiting!" Before Brandon could respond, someone interrupted.

        The handicapped man screamed, "Brandon, you jerk! Don't you feel ashamed of yourself?! You punk! What are you doing all alone with this girl?!" he came closer, limping heavily.

        "Jason!" Brandon and Emerald looked at him as Brandon went all red. "What the hell! It's not..."

        Before they both could give an explanation Jason interrupted again, "This is not the right place!" Jason chuckled as they both laughed nervously.

        "Who the hell are you?" Emerald asked.

        "I am Jason. What's a pretty, smart, and delicate woman doing with this jerk? Sorry for the joke, I know no woman can bear the pain of being with a sick minded man like him," he bowed and gently kissed Emerald's hands as she blushed slightly.

        "Whatever," she withdrew her hands.

        "Wait, Jason! The only sick minded person here is this woman!" Brandon cried indignantly.

        "I think you should go back to class. though I just came here to visit Brandon," Jason said to Emerald who nodded in agreement.

        "Do you mind if I walk you back to your class?" he acted like a gentleman and she followed him as Brandon ground his teeth together and sulked behind them.

        "So are you two...?" Jason cleared his throat.

        "This jerk is my art teacher; he forced me out of the class!" Emerald liked Jason's kind and friendly persona.

        "Damnit, Brandon! I am sorry for his behavior, Emerald!" he smiled.

        "Why are you apologizing?" Emerald asked curiously.

        "Because I am his friend and I always feel sad when a man disrespects a woman."

        "Thanks for walking me back," Emerald smiled as Jason left.

        Entering the noisy class behind Brandon, Emerald sat on the last open seat and plugged her earphones into her ears then began taking out her art supplies. The same guy who tried to talk to her last class attempted to seek her attention yet again.

        "Hi!" he waved his hands wildly.

        "Hi," she pulled out her earbuds with reluctance.

        "I am Ross!" he said, blushing.

        "I know," she cut him off.

        "May I know your name?" he smiled.

        "Emerald," she replied as she dipped her paint brush into a puddle of blue paint on her template.

        "Beautiful name! I like it. So how did you get back in here?" the guy seemed to be interested in Emerald and annoyingly Emerald changed her seat and began to place her sketch book down. Ross seemed disappointed but he knew that he liked Emerald.

        "Okay, we're going to work in groups for the rest of class! Hurry up, everyone, make groups! And no more noises!" Brandon exclaimed. Despite his last statement, there was a huge commotion and disturbance and the whole class broke into groups. Mariah came to Brandon and her whole group joined with them.

        "Everyone in a group?" Brandon asked loudly, noticing Emerald who was sitting alone and didn't care about being her own one-person group.

        "Yes sir!" the class shouted.

        Brandon, without a care in the world, walked around to the different groups and began to explain the project; to create an elaborate drawing of scenery with the idea of a group somehow involved. The best work would win a prize from Brandon. The whole class soon became engaged in their work.

        "What about that girl?" Mariah pointed towards Emerald.

        "What, she ignores everything I say and do so why should I care?" Brandon ignored her and continued to talk to other people.

        "Hi!" Mariah said, slowly approaching Emerald.

        "Hey," Emerald said in a low voice without looking up from her sketch.

        "Want to join our group?" she asked politely.

        "Do you really want me?" Emerald questioned skeptically.

        "Of course!" Mariah said cheerfully.

        "Okay then," Emerald shrugged.

        "Great! I am Mariah by the way!" They shook hands awkwardly.

        "Emerald," she introduced herself simply.

        There was one person in the room who immediately hated this new friendship and it was none other than the pig faced, fish owning Brandon!

A/N :  Here it is ! Hope you enjoy; ) please do leave a comment 💓  ..