Beware this chapter is not the best.

Emily's POV

"Why massacre? Why you got massacre up there?" Marley asks Mr. Matthews. "Why can't you teach us names and dates?" She asks.

"Marley Evans and what she learns today!" Matthews says. "That's the name and date I care about. All of you and right now, are you listening to me?" 

"Mm-hmm." We all answer. 

"Good. It was patriots who founded our new land and it was patriots who fought for it. Why do we remember the Alamo?" Matthews asks. He looks at Farkle and Smackle and says "Farkle, Smackle, a duet. Go." 

"The Alamo was a small, isolated fortress with a handful of patriots inside who felt it was important to stick together and fight for what they believed." Farkle says. 

"They were surrounded by a much larger number of people, coming at them from all directions, who believed this place belonged to them." Smackle says. 

Matthews nods. "The patriots desperately wanted reinforcements, but reinforcements never came. What happened to 'em?" 

"They stayed in their fortress and gave everybody a friendly smile, and eventually, they walked upstairs." Riley says. I scoff lightly. 

"They were massacred." Matthews tells her. 

"Then they walked upstairs?" She asks. 

"No, but that battle gave birth to a slogan."

I give him a confused look. "What was the slogan?" I ask him. 

"Remember the Alamo." Matthews says.

"Remember the Alamo!" Lucas repeats.

"And why do we remember the Alamo? Lucas, Zay, a duet." Cory says.

"Because the patriots gave their lives for a greater good." Lucas says. 

"That battle had only just begun, and some years later that land became ours, and the name of that land was-" Zay gets cut off by Lucas. 

"Texas!" Lucas says and hits Zay on the back. 

"Stop it!" Zay exclaims. I laugh lightly.

"Right, Texas, your home. So, guys, that's why we remember the Alamo and why we remember all the battles that we fight in an effort to make a new place our home. Now, you can stay massacred or you can realize the battle has just begun." 

"We were kings, Mathews." Maya says.

"Kingdoms fall." I say to her. Mr. Matthews nods.

"Everyone who believes they're gonna rule the world falls. Everyone who believes they're strong eventually comes up against someone that's stronger. And every patriot fighting for a cause, they're only as strong as the cause they're fighting for."

 "Even I know next thing he says, real important." Marley says. I smirk lightly.

"What's the cause you're fighting for?" Matthews asks the class. 

-------

"Still not talking to them?" I hear a voice say from behind me as I stood at my locker. I turn and see Sierra. 

"They don't believe in me. They were my best friends, one was my sister, but neither of them believe in me." I say to her. 

She nods. "So, I'll take that as a no." She says and leans against the locker next to mine. "Listen high school sucks, but these four years are your most important towards your future. I get they don't believe in you, I know how that feels, but don't lose what's truly important to you." I nod at her. "Want to here a story?" She asks me.

"Sure." I say. She smiles lightly before closing my locker on me. I look at her confused.

"You need to come with me if you want to here the story." She says and begins walking away. I go to say something but stop before quickly catching up to her.

-------

"What is this place?" I ask as she and I walk into a classroom. There was a solar system hanging from the ceiling and random quotes around the room.

"The journalism teacher created this room. She believes that each writer should have their own space to come write. This space was one of the most inspirational places for me my first two years here." She explains to me.

"What about now?" I ask her.

She sighs and sits down on a bean bag chair, motioning for me to sit next to her. "Now?" She asks. I nod. "Now, now is complicated. I began interning at different publishing companies or for writers my junior year, took up a lot of my time. But I was happy. I hadn't felt that happy since 8th grade. I had different friends then. Now I have Thor, Nikki, Francesca."

"What happened to your old friends?" 

"We grew apart. We don't talk as much as we used to, and when we do, it's different from how it used to be. People grow apart, it's how life is." She explains to me. I nod, understanding. The bell rings, signalling the end of the day. "I have to get to practice. But you can stay here, think a while."

I nod and smile at her. She smiles back before walking towards the door. "Hey Sierra."

She turns and looks at me. "Yeah?"

"Thank you." I say to her. She smiles and nods before leaving the room.

I lean back in my chair, looking around the room, smiling to myself.

------

"Hey." Farkle says from the doorway of my room.

I smile at him. "Hey come in." I say to him and he walks in, closing the door.

"How are you doing?" He asks me, looking at the bandages on my wrists.

"With the panic attacks or the self hating?" I ask him, looking away from him. He sighs. "I haven't had a panic attack in over a week, so I'm okay for now, I guess."

"What about-" He trails off.

"I haven't done it since the night you found me in here." I tell him.

He nods. "That's good. What about with the whole Riley Maya thing?"

I sigh. "I don't know."

"You know, I never want you to feel like you can't talk to me, because you can. About anything." He tells me.

I nod. "She said that I would be crushed by the yearbook and journalism and science club. She has no faith in me while for the past almost 7 years, I've had total faith in her and Maya but they can't have faith in me? No, I won't let them push me around." I say to him, pacing my room. "I let my dad push me around for years, I'm not gonna let her or those 3 seniors push me around. Because- because if I do,I'm gonna get hurt, again, and I don't want that"

"I know. I get it. I do." Farkle says, walking over to me grabbing my hands. "I'm not gonna let anyone hurt you."

"I'm scared." I whisper, tears threatening to leak from my eyes.

He looks at me confused. "Why?" He gently pulls me over to the bed, sitting down next to me.

"I'm scared that if something happens, if I get hurt again. I might try and-" I stop and look down at my wrists. "I don't- I don't want to do that again."

"I know you don't." He says, pulling me into his arms as I lay my head on his chest.

"And I don't want you to find me like that. When you told me you were the one that found me, that scared me. For you to see me like that." I say to him as a few tears fell down my face.

He hugs me tighter. "I know." He whispers.

"I don't want you to lose faith in me." I say to him.

"I never will. I promise." He says.

-----

"Our classroom is empty. Oh, come on! Who does this?" Marley asks.

 Me." Matthhews answers as he walks into the classroom.

Marley scoffs. "Okay, so what I want to ask now is why?"

"Everybody take a seat." We all look at him. "Go on, go on, have a seat." We all reluctantly sit down. "What have you learned in high school so far?" He asks us.

"We're not kings anymore." I answer.

Riley speaks up next. "We're Abagail Adams Patriots."

"Abagail Adams once said, "To be good and to do good is the whole duty of man." Matthews says.

"Do good"? Don't you mean do well?" Marley asks him.

"Do you know what the funny thing is about history, Miss Evans? It repeats. I mean "do good." That, right up there... That's always gonna be my lesson plan. Now, when the patriots looked out at this new undiscovered land, it was what?"

"Rough and undeveloped, like us." Say answers.

"Very good, Mr. Babineaux. But they stuck together and they made it their new home. So will we. Let's fill this room. Let's fill this room with knowledge. What do you know?" He asks.

"I have faith that in a new place you can learn from the people who have already been there." Riley says. I sigh.

"Very good." Matthews says to his daughter. "Go get your desk." She and Maya both stand. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, Where are you going?" He asks Maya.

"In any new place, or old place, or any place at all, I stay with her. I'm always with her. But I knew that a long time ago." Maya says, sharing a smile with Riley. I frown slightly.

"Lucas, what do you know?" Matthews asks him.

"There are stronger people than us here." Lucas answers.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Mr. Matthews asks.

"Get stronger." Lucas says.

"Farkle?" Matthews asks him.

"There are smarter people than us here." Farkle says.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Matthews repeats.

"I think you know." Farkle answers. I smile.

"Emily, what have you learned?" He asks me.

"What I have learned?" I ask he nods. I sigh and continue. "What I've learned is in high school, people show their true colors. They show who they really are. There are braver people here." I say to him.

"And what are you gonna do about it?" He asks.

I smile. "Become braver." I answer.

He nods. "Good job. Go get your desk."

I nod and Farkle helps me stand before Lucas helps me get my desk. "Thank you." I mutter to the two of them. They both nod at me.

"All right, everybody, go get your desks." Matthews says. "In this room, we find out how history relates to your present and how you can't get by on the successes of your past. This is your new school, guys. Stick together. Do good. That's how you're gonna have your best future. In this room, I'm your teacher... but we are going to discover this new land together." He explains.

"This is how he teaches?" Marley asks.

"Every day." I say and smile at her. She starts yo walk out where the desk are.

"You going to get your desk, Miss Evans?" He asks her.

"No, I'm going to get yours." She tells him.

-----

"Emily!" I hear an all to familiar voice.  I sigh and turn around from my locker. Riley and Maya were walking up to me.

"What?" I ask Riley.

"You're still ignoring us, why?" Maya asks.

I sigh and turn back around, closing my locker before starting to walk away. The two follow me.

"Come on Emily!" Maya says.

I roll my eyes, continuing to walk away. I get halfway upstairs for an arm to pull me around. I look at Maya. "Stop ignoring us!" She says to me. I scoff before trying to walk away. She grabs onto my wrist, hurting it. 

"Dammit Maya!" I say before pulling my wrist away from her, looking down at the bandages, thankfully there is no blood.

She frowns lightly but then stops. "Why aren't you talking with us? We made up with the others already."

I shake my head lightly. Riley walks up. I go to walk away again but Riley stops me. "Come on Emmy!"

I turn back and look at the two of them. "Riley, you said you had no faith in me. It might not have been those exact words, but it was greatly implied and I know that's what you meant." I say to Riley then look at Maya. "And you, you didn't defend me. You didn't once try to apologize, neither of you did, but Maya, you didn't even check if I was okay after that. You didn't once try to come talk to me and say that you believed in me. But guess what? I did it, I got into yearbook, and the journalism class. Unfortunately they don't let freshmen in to science club, which I'm gonna try and stop this year. But I did it. I did it when 2 out of the 3 people I care about most in the world didn't believe in me."

Maya goes to say something but stops, so I continue. "None of you believe in me. Maya I thought you would have at least believed in me. After everything, I thought you would have. You've hardly talked to me this past week. And before that you couldn't even be in the same room with me for longer than a half hour, after Farkle found me."

"I'm sorry." Maya mutters.

I shake my head. "No, you're not. The only reason you are apologizing right now is because I'm calling you out on it. You both don't want to believe in me, fine. I won't tell you what I want to do with my life. I wont tell you my hopes or my dreams. One less person you both have to deal with."

"Emily-" Riley trails off.

"I'll sit with you guys at lunch and in the mornings before school, and I will go to the cafe after school to do homework. But only because my other friends are. Because they actually believe in me." I say to them before turning around. I see Farkle standing there. I sigh and walk around him before walking down the hall away from the three.

---------

"Farkle told me about what you said to Riley and Maya." Lucas says as he walks up and sits next to me. I was sitting on the stairs of the auditorium.

"You mad?" I ask him.

"No, I'm proud actually." He says, laughing lightly. I give him a confused look. "Ever since I met you, I knew that something was always troubling you. And when Maya and I found you in your room, I knew what it was. But they last year, you still always had that troubling look on your face. Whether the others noticed or not, I did. I think that you wanted to grow more. Get more out of your shell, break the walls you had down. And now you're doing that. You're breaking down your walls and I'm really happy that you are. You deserve it."

I smile at him. "Thank you Lucas. For everything." I say to him. "You believed in me, when neither Maya nor Riley did, so thank you."

He looks at me and smiles. "I'll always believe in you Em." I smile at him and lean my head on his shoulder.

"You're a really great friend Lucas." I say to him. 

"So are you Em." He says.

-------

I was sitting in the room Sierra showed me, the next morning. No one was in here yet besides the teacher who created the room. she said I could come in here whenever.

I was sitting in the corner with the bean bag chairs, writing, something I haven't done in a long time.

People Change People. People have always changed people, whether it be for the best or the worst. And people change over the years. They become better, or worse, versions of themselves as they grow older. We grow up. We change and change is good. Change is always good; even if it causing friendships to end or new relationships to form. Change may seem hard, and it is, but you have to have faith that everything will be okay, because if you don't and you lose that faith. It won't be good. You have to have faith in people and believe they will do their very best at what they set their minds to. You need to believe in people because if you don't they'll lose faith in themselves and it's a terrible feeling.

There's a quote from Albert Einstein that says, "Everybody is a Genius. But If You Judge a Fish by Its Ability to Climb a Tree. It Will Live Its Whole Life Believing that It is Stupid." You cannot expect people to do the impossible. I believe in this quote because it's true. Everybody is a genius, whether it is in science, or history, or sports. Everyone is smart in their own way. Everybody is a genius. Everybody needs faith that everyone can conquer their dreams. My dream is to be a writer. My best friends didn't believe in me. But that's okay I guess, because one day I will prove them wrong. I will become better than I am today. I will be smarter, stronger and braver than I am today and I will succeed; whether I do that by myself or with my friends by my side, I'll never know until it happens.

I have faith that everyone will succeed. My friends, strangers, myself. I believe we will all succeed because if we truly focus on the goal we set for ourselves in life, nothing can get in our way. We will succeed and I will continue to believe in people and have faith in them. This week has taught me that people, no matter how rude they are or if they are stuffing you and your friends in a hole, maybe they are trying to help. You just have to have faith. And change, when things change, you cannot face it with fear, you need to face it head on and believe in yourself, even if others don't. You are your own person. Your own mind, don't let people push you around. If you want to change the path you're going on, change it. If you want to have faith in everyone in the world, then have faith. If you want to believe in something, then believe. Never let people dictate your life because you will regret it. Change is good. Believing in yourself is good. Having faith is good. Never forget that.

-Emily Daniels. 9th grade.

(I feel like I repeated a lot of stuff in that^^^ it's shitty ik I'm sorry)

---------------

"Hey Em." Sierra says, sitting next to me on the other chair.

I look up and smile. "Hey." I say to her.

"You writing?" She asks me.

"Yeah. I thought I should start again." I tell her.

She nods. "That's good. It'll help a lot when you start journalism." She says. I nod. How is everything?"

"As good as it can be. They may not have faith in me. But I have faith in myself, and that's all i need." I answer. She smiles at me and stands.

"I have practice but I just wanted to see how everything was going." She says to me. "I'll see you around Emily Daniels." And with that she left the room. 

I smile to myself. I think I made a new friend.

--------

"You ready?" Farkle asks me as we stood outside of Topanga's. I sigh and nod.

I grab his hand and smile. "Yeah." I say. He smiles and pulls me into the cafe. The bell chimes. I look around and see the seniors. I send them a small smile before turning to my friends.

"Em!" Zay says.

"Hey!" I say smiling at all of them as Farkle and I sit down next to each other on one of the couches.

"So, should we start with science?" Farkle suggests, the rest of us agree, pulling out our science books and homework, beginning to work.

I haven't forgiven Maya or Riley but that doesn't mean I'm not gonna hang out with the others, they were my friends too.

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Idk how I feel about this chapter. Can you guys please comment what you thought. I'd truly appreciate it. And I'm sorry that writing up above that I wrote is terrible. I felt like I kept repeating stuff and idk how to feel about it. I put a little Lucas and Emily in there. But like I said, please comment. Thanks for reading. Bye.

-Kelly.