Start Again // [SQUEL TO THE POPULAR KIDS]

Chapter 5

Once JJ and I watch 21 & 22 jump street, and have eaten the whole pizza, I doze happily off to sleep. I dream of JJ and I being back together, I dream of the sidemen being happy that I'm back and I dream of seeing the world with Jide. Normal dreams for me. I've been having dreams of JJ and the Sidemen for months.

When I wake up in the morning its still dark outside, I guess its around 4 or 5. I'm cuddled into JJ's arms on my futon. He's sleeping peacefully beside me, which makes me smile since we've never really slept so close. I wiggle in closer and rest my head against his chest. He smells the same way he did in October, musky and manly but with a twinge of sweetness. I lay there in his familiar arms for what seems like forever before I fall back asleep, listening to the steady rhythm of his heart.

When I wake up the second time JJ isn't beside me anymore. I stand up hesitantly and walk over to the kitchen. I see him sitting at the breakfast bar on his phone.
"Hey what time is it?" I ask.
"Good morning," He laughs looking back at me, "Its almost 6:30."
"Okay I'm going to go upstairs and get ready for school." I tell him.
"Okay. Talking about school, what's going to happen today?" He asks.
"Should I eat with you guys? Do you want me to?" I ask.
"Well of course I want you to," He says, getting up and walking over to me, "You can eat with us today or I'll just take you to the house tonight. I'll tell the guys I need to talk to them about something and then bring you in." JJ suggests.
"Okay lets do that, just in case they don't want me, then they won't have to tell me to leave in public." I decide.
"Em, they want you around almost as bad as I do." He tells me wrapping his arms around me.
"Alright. I hope your right." I mumble.
"I can't say I'm always right, but in this situation I know I'm right." He says.
"Okay. Now can I go upstairs and get ready so you don't have to look at this mess anymore?" I ask, motioning to myself.
"Yes you can go get ready but your not a mess." He responds.
"Yes I am." I say, already on my way up the stairs.
"A cute mess, then!" He yells after me.

He drops me off in front of the school and then drives to the parking lot alone since we don't want the sidemen to know we're together and they might be here already. I walk inside to my locker. After I get my things for my first class I start walking to math. When I get to the hallway where the math classroom is I see the 6 other sidemen, Cal, Deji and Manny leaning against the lockers. I also see the primary sluts walking towards me.
"Emma!" Maya shouts and does that prissy little run to me. The guys all turn to look at me.
"Hi Maya." I respond calmly once she's stopped running and is standing in front of me.
"So you and JJ are back together?" Ari asks from behind her.
"Thats honestly none of your business." I say.
"Actually I think it is our business since we were basically the ones who got you two back together." Maya say bitchily. (I don't know if thats a word but I'm using it) .
"I honestly don't have the time or energy for this conversation so I'm just going to go to class. Bye." I say and walk away from them. All the sidemen are still watching me.
"Don't you dare, walk away from me. Nobody walks away from me " Maya shouts. The whole hallway goes quiet.
"Oh? Who's going to stop me?" I half-yell back.
"Come back here you little bitch!" Ari yells.
"I'll pass. Thanks for the offer though guys." I respond with a smirk. All of the sudden Ari starts running at me. she grabs for my arm but I pull it away before she can grab it. She crashes into a locker. She grabs me from behind and swings me around and smashes me into the locker beside me. I pull my arm out of her grasp and kick her, she stumbles backwards swearing at me. I take a second to compose myself before I notice Kate running at me. Great. She rams into me and slams me into the locker. The whole hallway seems to be going crazy, yelling. I look at the sidemen. They're all staring, speechless. I bring my knee up and slam it into Kates stomach. I push her back away from me. She recovers quickly and runs at me again. I shove her when she gets close but not hard enough because she kicks me in the stomach. I don't take anytime to think or breathe before swinging my arm and punching her. Immediately after that I get shoved from the side into the lockers again. It's Maya.
"You may be able to beat Kate and Ari up, but you're an idiot if you think you can do that to me." She growls, holding me up against the lockers.
"Maya. Don't be stupid." I say. I take all my strength and slam my elbow into her stomach. She stumbles backwards for a second before coming back at me. She throws her fist into the side of my face. I feel dizzy for a second but decide not to let that stop me. I run forward and grab her around the waste. I slam her into the lockers.
"Bitch." She whispers. She pulls her arm back to punch me but I catch her fist in my hand.
"Don't." I snarl.
"Who's going to stop me?" She asks and slaps me with her other hand. I back away from the locker and she does too. Now we're standing in the hallway staring at each other. Ari and Kate are nowhere to be seen. She sprints at me and grabs me around the waist. We fall backwards onto the floor. She sits on top of me.
"Now, where were we?" She says smugly. I shift my eyes around the room, looking for something to help. I see molly standing against the wall to my right. She's holding a math textbook. I make eye contact with her and move my eyes to make her understand what I need. She drops her textbook and kicks it to me. I pick it up and hit Maya in the face with it. I scramble to my feet. I'm about to kick her when someone catches me around the waist, picks me up, and pulls me away.
"That was pretty badass, I won't lie, but you're going to be in shit." The familiar voice says. JJ.
"Yeah. I'd say." I respond.

I sit in the principals office while she paces back and forth behind her desk.
"Okay, what was that about? I got the story from Maya, Kate and Ari but I know what they're like." Mrs. Slade, the principal, asks. I sit there for a moment before speaking.
"Well they came up to me and we're asking me about my relationship with JJ. I told them it wasn't their business and tried to walk away and then they got mad. Ari ran at me first, and I was just defending myself, and then after Ari gave up, they other ones felt like they needed to try too, I guess." I tell her.
"You know that I need to suspend you for 3 days for this, right?" She asks.
"Yeah, but they're suspended too, right?" I ask.
"Yes. I know you're a good kid, Emma, and I know that you were just protecting yourself and that they were stinking their noses in your business, but I have to suspend you." She tells me.
"Can I use today as one of my days that I'm suspended? I mean, schools only been started for 20  minutes." I ask her after looking at the time.
"Yes. Now, if they try anything like this again, just walk away, or run if that helps." She advises me.
"I will." I say before getting up and leaving. When I get out of her office I see JJ and the guys all standing in the main office.
"I told them that we're back together." JJ tells me.
"Surprise." I say. They all laugh and I smile. JJ decides that he'll drive me home but we end up going to the sidemen house. A few minutes later all the guys show up too. I sit on the couch while Vik uses a wash cloth to clean the dried blood off of my face. I go upstairs to JJ's faniliar room. Its almost exactly the same as it was in October. I quickly change into sweat pants and a SDMN sweater before I go back downstairs.
When I get downstairs I catch up with the guys. It's the exact same as it use to be. We're laughing and having fun. After that I call my mom and tell her about everything that happened. She was mad at first but she told me she understands what was going through my head. I tell her that I'm going to stay here over night before hanging up. After that we decide to watch a movie. We watch movies for most of the day. We getting chinese food for supper and after that the guys all go to their rooms to record. I fall asleep on the couch with a huge, idiotic smile on my face.