Diana had knocked out hard during class again—half-drooling on her desk, arms folded like a fortress around her head. The classroom was quiet except for the low hum of the AC and the distant chatter from the hallway. Their teacher hadn't arrived yet. Perfect timing.
Emma, sitting beside her, leaned over. Her posture was perfect as always—straight back, calm expression, eyes sharp but relaxed. She lightly tapped Diana's forehead with the end of her pencil.
"Wake up," she whispered, tone flat but not unfriendly.
Diana twitched, snorted, and shot up like someone fired a starter pistol next to her ear.
"HUH—YES, I'M AWAKE, I WAS STUDYING—" Her voice cracked mid-sentence as she blinked at the empty teacher's desk. "…oh."
Emma rested her chin on her hand. "You were snoring."
"I don't snore."
"You drooled."
"I DO NOT—" Diana wiped her mouth immediately. A smear of evidence was there. "…that was condensation."
Emma stared at her with the slow blink of someone considering whether to call the paramedics for that brain activity. "Right."
Diana slumped in her chair, rubbing the back of her head, then peeked at Emma. "You woke me up gently today. Usually you poke me with your pen like you're testing if I'm alive."
"You're loud," Emma replied. "If the teacher walked in and saw you passed out again, she'd give us both extra homework."
"US? How does that affect you?"
Emma looked away, eyes narrowing at the window like she refused to answer a question that stupid. "…I sit next to you."
"Wow… you care," Diana said, leaning in with a grin.
"I didn't say that."
"You totally care."
Emma flicked her forehead again. "Stop talking."
Diana yelped, rubbing her head. "Okay okay okay—ow—"
The bell rang. Students shifted in their seats. The voices outside faded as the teacher walked toward the room.
Diana straightened up instantly, whispering, "Thanks for waking me up."
Emma didn't look at her, flipping open her notebook with graceful precision. "Don't fall asleep again."
"Can't promise."
Emma sighed. "…Idiot."
But she said it quietly.
Softly.
Almost like she didn't mind having to wake her up every morning.
The moment the teacher stepped inside—books under one arm, coffee in the other—the whole room snapped into that fake, perfect silence every classroom gets right before trouble hits.
"Good morning, class."
Everyone responded in a polite chorus.
Except for crunch… crunch… CRUNCH.
The sound echoed like someone stepping on gravel.
The teacher froze mid-sip.
Her eye twitched.
Slowly… slowly… she turned her head toward the source of the noise.
Diana sat there, cheeks puffed, chewing a neon-pink piece of gum like it wronged her entire family. Loud. Aggressive. Zero shame. Her eyebrows were scrunched in deep concentration like she was solving a math problem with her jaw.
"DIANA DEMARS."
The teacher's voice sliced the air clean in half.
Diana jumped, nearly swallowing the gum. "YES MA'AM?!"
"STOP. CHEWING. GUM. LOUDLY."
Each word was a bullet.
"It's… it's not loud…" Diana whispered.
Emma, beside her, didn't even bother looking up from her notebook. "It's unbelievably loud."
"Emma!" Diana hissed. "Don't sell me out!!"
"You sound like someone trying to kill a rubber duck," Emma replied.
The class snickered.
The teacher pinched the bridge of her nose. "Spit it out. Now."
Diana reluctantly stood up, walked to the trash can, and—very dramatically—spat the gum out like she was sending her last ally into battle.
When she sat down again, she leaned toward Emma and whispered:
"That gum was cherry flavor. You owe me."
"No," Emma said immediately.
"You DO. You woke me up, so I needed something to keep me alert!"
"You were chewing like a malfunctioning machine."
Diana sighed and slumped back in her chair. "Hate this school…"
Emma, still writing, gently nudged a mint candy onto Diana's desk with one finger.
"…Don't fall asleep again," she murmured.
Diana stared at the candy.
Then at Emma.
"Bro… you're actually nice."
"Don't start."
----
The hallway exploded with noise the moment the bell rang—shoes squeaking, lockers slamming, people shouting across the corridor.
Emma and Diana stepped out together.
Emma walked with that calm, straight posture of hers, hands behind her back like she was inspecting the hallway for structural weaknesses. Diana walked beside her, stretching her arms and yawning like she hadn't slept in fifteen years.
"Break time!" Diana cheered, already forgetting she nearly died from gum exposure.
Emma didn't reply, but the corner of her mouth twitched just slightly. Her version of enjoying the moment.
Then—
A shadow slid dramatically across the floor.
Followed by a slow, arrogant footstep.
And then he appeared:
Mostang.
Hand in his hair.
Collar popped for no reason.
Jacket draped over one shoulder like he was in a shampoo commercial.
Walking like the hallway was his personal runway.
"Ladies," he purred, giving a wink that physically hurt the air.
Diana stopped walking. "Bro, why are you posing like that?"
Emma blinked once, expression blank. "…Are you trying to attract someone? Or blind them?"
Mostang ignored both of them, dramatically leaning his elbow on the wall—then immediately losing balance for half a second and pretending it didn't happen.
"Another beautiful day," he said, flipping his hair, "a perfect time to spend it with the two most gorgeous girls in the school."
Diana laughed. "You flirt with everyone with a pulse."
"Incorrect," Mostang said proudly. "I flirt with everyone with a pulse and good fashion sense."
Emma stared at him. "You once flirted with the janitor."
"He had a very stylish broom."
Diana wheezed.
Emma exhaled slowly. "…I'm leaving."
Mostang immediately stepped in front of her, blocking her path with a dramatic hand to his chest.
"No! Emma, my queen of silence, my empress of death stares—please, grace me with your presence during break."
Emma gently pushed his face aside with one finger. "Move."
He slid out of her way like he had been struck by a divine force.
Diana grabbed him by the hood so he wouldn't fall over. "Dude. Chill."
Mostang straightened himself, fixed his hair again, and followed them dramatically.
"So! Where are we going today? the school restaurant? Courtyard? Maybe the roof? I hear the lighting up there is perfect for taking pictures of me."
Diana groaned. "You're unbelievable."
Emma walked ahead without looking back. "We're getting food. He can come if he doesn't talk."
Mostang gasped like she stabbed his soul.
"But I'm charismatic!"
Diana laughed. "You're loud."
Emma corrected calmly:
"He's annoying."
Mostang
"You two wound me… but fine. Lead the way."
And with that chaotic trio energy, they headed toward the cafeteria—Emma emotionless, Diana energetic, and Mostang flirting with every passing shadow.
The trio had barely taken ten steps toward the cafeteria when—
"EMMAAAAAA!!"
The voice tore through the hallway like a missile.
Emma froze.
Diana froze.
Mostang spun around like he expected a beautiful woman sprinting toward him.
Instead—
A blur of Crimson, heavy boots, and way-too-much-energy launched itself at Emma.
"WAIT—" Diana reached out too late.
Valeria flew down the hallway and straight-up jumped onto Emma, arms wrapping around her neck, legs around her waist like she was some overexcited koala.
Emma staggered half a step back—just one—but caught her effortlessly.
"Valeria," Emma said, voice flat with a hint of tired acceptance. "Get off."
Valeria only hugged tighter.
"Nope! I missed you sooo much!"
"You saw me yesterday," Emma replied.
"That was a whole day!! I almost cried!"
Emma blinked. "…You actually did cry."
Valeria sniffed proudly. "A single tear. That still counts."
Diana grinned wide. "Oya, Valeria! You're still repeating the year?"
Valeria puffed her cheeks. "It's not my fault! School is dumb! Tests are dumb! Time is dumb!"
"Bruh… you're older than all of us in this class," Diana said.
Valeria dramatically put a hand over her heart. "And wiser."
"You failed twice," Emma reminded her.
"WISER," Valeria insisted, hanging from Emma's neck like she was glued there.
Mostang stepped forward, tilting his head with a sparkly smile.
"Well well well… who might this lovely lady be?"
Valeria didn't even glance at him.
"Not interested."
Mostang staggered back like she roundhouse kicked his ego.
"…Emma… she didn't even look at me."
Diana patted his shoulder. "She has standards."
Valeria finally loosened her grip just enough to slide down, still clinging to Emma's arm like a stubborn toddler. "Emmaaaa, let's eat together! Everyone in class is scary. They keep looking at me like I'm some kind of adult."
"You are an adult," Emma said.
"I AM A HIGH SCHOOL GIRL IN MY HEART."
Diana burst laughing.
Emma sighed.
Mostang recovered enough to strike another pose.
The hallway, once loud, now stared at this chaotic group of four.
Emma looked over them all—Diana yawning, Mostang flirting with a window reflection, Valeria hugging her arm like a koala that refuses eviction.
"…Fine," Emma said. "Let's go eat."
Valeria lit up like a firework.
"YESSS!"
Mostang smirked, rubbing his chin. "Looks like our squad just got even more stylish."
Diana snorted. "More like more chaotic."
And with Valeria glued to Emma's side, they headed to the cafeteria as the real chaos of break time began.
----
The school restaurant was packed—students laughing, chairs scraping, trays clattering. Their table, however, was its own ecosystem of chaos.
---
Emma
Calmly eating her food with perfect posture, quietly, methodically, like she was conducting a scientific experiment on how to chew without making a sound.
---
Diana
Eating like she hadn't seen food in three days.
Shoveling.
Devouring.
Inhaling.
Every few seconds:
"Emma this is SO GOOD—"
chomp chomp chomp
"Do you want a bite—"
Chomp.
"No wait I'm eating it all."
Her tray looked like it survived a natural disaster.
---
Mostang
Sitting sideways in his chair, one leg crossed over the other, waving fries like they were rose petals.
Flirting with a table of girls behind him.
"My heart is taken, ladies… by all of you."
The girls giggled.
Diana gagged.
Emma pretended she heard nothing.
Valeria… didn't even notice.
---
Valeria
For 20 minutes, she stared at the menu like it was an ancient demonic scripture written in Latin.
The waiter stood beside her.
Still waiting.
Dead inside.
"Um… miss… are you ready yet?"
Valeria squinted. "I'm thinking."
"You've been thinking for a while," he said, trying not to cry.
"I don't know if I want spaghetti… or chicken… or pancakes… or that other thing… what was it called again?"
"You mean the burger?" the waiter asked.
"YES! No. Maybe. I don't know. What if I choose wrong? What if I ruin my entire day?"
The waiter blinked slowly. "…It's just lunch."
Valeria clutched her head. "Everything is pressure!!"
Emma finally set her fork down with a very quiet sigh.
"Just order the chicken," Emma said.
Valeria's eyes widened. "What if I don't like it?"
"You've eaten it yesterday."
"…True."
"Then order it."
Valeria nodded, dramatic as ever. "Then… I choose… the chicken!"
The waiter wrote it down so fast the table shook. "THANK YOU."
He practically sprinted away.
---
Diana looked up mid-bite, cheeks full like a chipmunk.
"Valeria, bro… how are you older than us and still like this?"
Valeria stabbed her straw into her juice. "Life is complicated."
Emma returned to eating. "Not when ordering chicken."
Mostang leaned over, grinning. "Valeriaaa, if you ever need someone to help you choose—"
"I don't trust your choices," Valeria said instantly.
He clutched his chest. "Why does everyone reject me today?!"
Diana raised her hand. "Because you're you?"
Emma didn't even look up. "Correct."
Valeria nodded. "Facts."
Mostang sank into his seat, defeated.
---
And the table continued:
Diana devouring her food,
Mostang flirting with the air,
Valeria sipping juice while clinging to Emma's sleeve,
Emma trying to finish one peaceful lunch.
A normal high school day.
Chaotic, loud, stupid—but perfect.
Who knows––What comes next?.
Chapter end