7) New Girl: Emma

"She is just another stupid new girl who will be off with the popular girls in no time. I am not going to waste my time trying to be friends with her only to have her spreading stories about me within a few weeks!"

"You never know, Emma, she could be really nice, and from what her mother says, I think she is actually a lot like you. She likes reading too, and she also struggles to get along with people in her grade."

Emma looked into her mother's pleading eyes. She was reluctant to meet this new girl that Mom so wanted her to meet with. More to the point, she was reluctant to open up to someone who would soon be associated with other people who hated Emma and could then use her leverage of spending time with Emma as a great fuel for nasty tales about her. Emma knew how it went, she had been through this situation multiple times.

Besides, Emma hated meeting new people. She always felt like she could trust them at first, and then she let her guard down, but no sooner than she had, the person would become untrustworthy and just like everyone else. Nasty, unkind and unfair to people who were different, like Emma.

Most teenagers or people her age were nasty serpents who hated people who were different to them. Emma had attempted to make friends with many people, but in less than a few weeks, they had either turned against her, were ignoring her or had spread some sly, untrue rumour about her.

Mom did not know about how much she struggled to make friends with people in her grade. She was oblivious to the fact that they hated her, and always blamed Emma for not trying hard enough to be friendly to them. All Mom knew, was that Emma sat alone in break times and was always last , and sometimes not at all chosen to be in anyone's group for school projects.

There was no point in meeting up with someone who was just going to end up being another person who hated her in the end. In fact, it would be detrimental to her as it would only end in Emma being hurt once again, and that, Emma could not bear.

"Please Emma, it will be good for you, and it will be good for her. Her mother says that she is really struggling to make friends. You never know, she could become a very good friend of yours."

Reluctantly, and with an expression-filled roll of her eyes, Emma finally agreed to the meeting. She was not going to try hard though. She was tired of trying to be friends with people who were never destined to like her anyway, and she most certainly would keep a good guard on her tongue, she could not have a repeat of what happened last week.

"I'm coming too, right Mom?" Katrina interjected, sending a sly grin in Emma's direction.

Emma glared at her younger sister. This was exactly what Katrina did all the time. She always wanted to do everything that Emma did, even if she did not like doing it. It was just another way for her to get some inside information on Emma's life and use it against her at the next possible moment. Katrina was such a blackmail, there were countless examples of times when she had listened to conversations that Emma was having with someone or gone and looked at Emma's private things then used her information against Emma.

When Emma would confront her about, she either denied doing it at all or told Emma that she had meant her no harm. It was so flipping frustrating!

Mom did not seem to realize though, and annoyingly, Katrina was invited to this coffee date too. Emma was so tired of Katrina always getting her own way. She was undoubtedly Mom's favourite child, not that Emma wanted to be the favourite, but could Mom not choose a nicer child to be her favourite, like Nat or Lee?

Nat and Lee were small and cute, and seldom caused any trouble for Emma, although they both had big mouths. Nat was eight, and Lee only six, but already they were nothing like Katrina, and Emma hoped that it would stay that way.

It felt as if the world was against her. That nobody cared, that nobody loved her. Emma tried to tell herself that it wasn't true, that there was someone out there for her, that somebody would see who she was and actually like the person that they saw, maybe even want to be friends... but it was a hard idea to convince herself of, especially when Emma felt low and weak during her depressive episodes.

Emma was tired. Tired of spending every break sitting outside her next class, alone. She was tired of being passed by her peers and having to wonder if they were laughing at her, talking about her. She tried to tell herself that they were not, she tried so hard to convince herself that nobody cared enough about her to want to talk about her, but she knew that people did talk.

Mrs Arense said that it was just the social anxiety speaking, and Mrs Arense was always right, yet somehow Emma still had difficulty believing it.

Social anxiety was a tiring thing, a deeply challenging mental issue that was detrimental to almost all relationships. Emma was prone to judging herself incredibly harshly in social situations, harder than anyone else was liable to evaluate her. She was constantly considering herself as unworthy of friendship, unequal to her peers and unfit for society.

But Mrs Arense said that this little bit of social contact with the new girl would be a good thing, a way to branch out, and Emma wanted more than anything to please Mrs Arense. Besides, in her heart, she knew that it would be good for her.

Promising to try her very best for Mrs Arense, and Emma never broke promises, she left the house on Saturday morning with a hopeful, yet wary heart. She felt afraid, and wished that she could back down, but she had made her promise, and to Emma, breaking a promise was as bad as lying.

"Don't say anything stupid, Emmy!"

Katrina reminded from the back seat of the car, her high pitched voice piercing Emma's ears like pins. Katrina always said those kinds of things. She was always acting like Emma was socially stupid and needed to be reminded of how to act like a little child did.

"You know I won't!" Emma snapped back "You don't need to say that to me!"

"Emma, Kat was just being nice." Mom chimed in.

Her usually soothing voice infuriating Emma, although its words were intended to go with peace.

Katrina always got her way, Mom was always on her side! It was so darn annoying! She did not even want to be going to this stupid coffee date!

But this was for Mrs Arense. She would try for her.