Judgement from the Heart

Stupid uniform. Damn hallways. Annoying locker.

Emi stood in front of her school locker, scowling bitterly at it. No, she hadn’t forgotten her locker combination; she had committed that to memory the moment she received it. She just hated school. Not because it was too hard for her; she had always excelled in school and was very clever. She just wasn’t very social. People annoyed her and sometimes even disgusted her. But, her parents had insisted she go to an actual school for her last year before University.

With a small sigh, Emi turned the dial of her locker to the three correct numbers and pulled the door open. She put the unneeded books into the small space and removed the materials she would need for her final class.

Final class. Just the thought brought a tiny smile to Emi’s face.

After closing her locker, Emi started down the hallway for the last time that day. Her fellow students also swarmed in the hallways, some with the same intentions as her: to get to class to avoid the embarrassment of their teacher calling them out in front of everyone and the unwanted attention that came with it. Others seemed in no hurry to get to class. They were either conversing about minute things like weekend plans or making out with their significant others.

Why anyone would want to publicize such acts was a mystery to Emi.

Emi turned a corner, skillfully dodging a nervous-looking freshman. Not far down the corridor, Emi felt pressure on her loosely-held books and watched them fall to the ground. Laughter filled her ears as she took in her attackers: three guys that got a cheap thrill out of knocking a girl’s books out of her hands.

The middle one, probably the ringleader, stopped laughing long enough to say, “Well, aren’t you going to pick those up, sweetie?” His cohorts high-fived behind him, smiling like deranged clowns.

Emi glared at the three and clenched her fists. Without a second thought, she swept her leg around, knocking her attacker off his feet. She then assumed a fighting stance, in case he decided to make a show of their meeting.

The boy landed with a thud, then pushed himself up on his elbows to scowl at Emi. “What the hell? What’s your problem?” The other two looked absolutely terrified.

Emi didn’t reply to his question, but continued to stare and took a step forward. The two boys standing recoiled slightly and the third jumped up, looking ready to fight. “Why you-”

His insult was cut off by his friend on his right placing a hand on his shoulder. “C’mon man. This girl’s freaky.”

Emi smirked slightly. At least one of them has a little sense.

The leader scoffed and straightened his collar. “Yeah, you’re right.” The three turned away from her, and she faintly heard, “She’s just lucky she’s a girl.”

Emi chuckled to herself and straightened to her full height. She brushed the dust from her skirt and swept a rogue strand of hair from her face, even though it wouldn‘t stay. Just as she was about to kneel and pick up her books, someone from down the hallway said, “Wow, that was really impressive.”

Emi froze and shifted her eyes to the source of the voice, half expecting to have to show someone else what she was capable of. The guy who complimented her started coming toward her. He was about five feet ten inches with medium-length light brown hair and brown eyes. Wearing the usual male version of the school uniform, he looked like your average, clean-cut high school student.

“Um…Yeah. I guess it was,” she said, not really knowing what else to say. “I’m not going to have to use that on you, am I?”

The new guy laughed and knelt down in front of her. “I hope not.” He began helping her gather up the fallen books. Even though he showed no sign of being like those other three, Emi still had her suspicions.

The two stood up once the floor was free of Emi’s textbooks. After he handed the books to her, Emi thanked him politely.

“Don’t mention it. Those guys had no right to do that. I’m Light by the way.”

“Emi,” she replied with a slight smile.

The two began walking down the hallway to their classes. But now, they were practically empty, most people having already made it to their classes by then.

“So, I don’t remember seeing you around. Are you new or am I just that unobservant?” asked Light smiling.

Emi returned the smile. “Don’t worry. I am new. Up until this year, I was home schooled.”

“Well, it seems like you’ve already made an impression on people with that performance back there. I don’t think you’ll have anymore trouble with people knocking books out of your hands.”

Emi nodded, staring down at her boot clad feet as she walked. “I really hope that’s the case. That was rather annoying.”

Light was glad for Emi’s distraction with her boots, otherwise she might think he was a creeper because he kept stealing random glances at her. Something about her was different than all the other girls. Well, besides that fact that she had added her own style to the uniform (i.e. the boots and pentagram choker) and she didn’t clamber all over him like most of the other girls he came in contact with. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but she seemed…interesting.

Emi halted in front of one of the many doors. “This is my class,” she stated, pointing at it.

“What a coincidence,” Light stated with a sly smile.

Emi raised an eyebrow questioningly at him, mainly because of the smirk. The coincidence part was fairly obvious. Deciding it was probably best left alone, she pushed the door open an motioned with her hand for Light to enter. He chuckled quietly and stepped into the classroom followed by Emi just as the bell sounded.

“Ah, Mr. Yagami.” The teacher peeked around him to get a look at Emi. With a grin, he said, “And you must be the new student, Emi. I see you’ve already made friends with our brightest student.”

Emi glanced at Light, then returned her attention back to the teacher and nodded. Even though she was doing extremely well at hiding it, Emi felt herself wanting to blush being put on the spot like this. She had actually avoided it all day, the other instructors just saying something simple like, “Nice to meet you,” then beginning the lesson.

Light made his way to what Emi assumed was his desk, leaving her alone at the front of the room with the teacher having no idea what to do.

“So, why don’t you tell us a little about yourself, Emi.”

Light watched the scene at the front of the room. He could easily tell that Emi definitely wasn’t comfortable in her current situation. She was biting her lip and kept making fists.

He smiled slightly to himself. She’s really socially awkward.

“Sorry for the interruption.” Light stood up behind his desk, causing both people at the front of the room to turn their attention to him. “Aren’t we a little old for this? No offense of course.” He added a charming smile for effect.

The teacher looked taken aback for a moment, but it was replaced quickly with a good-humored laugh. “Sharp as ever, Light. Just take a seat anywhere Emi.”

After bowing politely, Emi hurried back to the open seat next to Light. By then he had lowered himself back into his chair.

Once the lesson had begun and was in full swing, Emi whispered, “Thank you,” only loud enough for Light to hear.

Without looking up from the notes he was studiously taking, Light’s lips curled into slight smile. “You’re welcome. But just because I stopped that, doesn’t mean I don’t want to get to know you.”

Emi blinked, being completely thrown off guard by his statement. She sighed softly, unable to think of a clever way out of this one. After all, he did just save her from having to speak in front of the class, something she obviously dreaded. “Alright.”

“Meet me in front of the school after class.”

Emi responded with an affirmative and returned her attention back to the front board. A tiny sigh escaped her lips involuntarily. I blame my parents for this.