"Push off, Eman! You're in the way!"

The loud bang echoed through the hallway as the wallflower rubbed their shoulder, aching from being thrust into the metal sheet by Yronica. Although being shorter than the generally reclusive girl, Yronica had no issue forcing Eman out of her line of sight. Even though Yronica was already out of view, the pain on Eman's back still lingered, leaving a bad taste in her mouth.

"What's her problem..." Eman mumbled, still aggravated by what just occurred. "What a bitch! I didn't even do anything to her!"

"Y-Y'know, it's not okay to swear..." muttered Aaaqil, gripping his leather satchel tight.

"Whatever, Aaaqil. How are you?" Eman asked, trying to be polite with her words.

"I-I'm okay, b-but, are you? S-She pushed you kinda hard..." 

Appreciating Aaaqil's kind gesture, Eman couldn't help but smile. "It's nothing, really. Nothing I haven't already dealt with from Yronica, anyways."

Silence delayed any further conversation as Aaaqil eyed Eman's shoulder nervously. "I-I know that, b-but... y-you guys are supposed to be friends... w-we all are, Eman..." Aaaqil stated, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

As kind as he was, he was oblivious. Eman knew that. Sighing, she took a deep breath and spoke plainly, "Aaaqil. We aren't friends. I-I mean! Of course, we are friends. You and I, Aaaqil, but... I'm not friends with Yronica."

Aaaqil looked defeated and was practically stunned, "O-Oh... S-Sorry, then..." 

His disheartening reaction almost made Eman want to retract her statement. She was about to apologise until Aaaqil said something that caught her off guard, "W-Well, I-I still don't want you getting hurt, s-so..." murmured Aaaqil before taking out his phone, shakily pressing the buttons on the handheld device. "T-There, I sent you something. J-Just think of it as insurance... s-so you don't get hurt! R-Remember, I... I-I care about you guys... both of you..."

Confused, Eman took a moment to watch him gradually trudge away, still clutching tight onto his leather bookbag. Finally, after what could be a good minute, Eman stopped massaging her shoulder and seized her phone from within the pockets of her goth attire. Opening her phone, she found a notification of the 'message' Aaaqil had sent to her. Tapping in the password to her phone, she opened her messenger and stared down at the attachment Aaaqil had sent her. 

It was a video. "What on Earth did you send me, Aaaqil?"  Eman thought, the hushed hallway helping Eman think to herself. Opening the attachment presented a rather strange and almost distressing scene.

And, as sincere as possible, Eman couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks, Aaaqil."

✰

"Yronica!"

"Ugh! Who is shouting my name!" Yronica exclaimed to herself, irritated with having been called out. Arms crossed, she turned around and stared down the wallflower approaching from the other end of the hallway. Smirking, Yronica hazarded a guess as to why she was pacing towards her.

"Well! Look who decided to speak up! What do you want, Eman?" Yronica spat, grinning as she showed off her perfectly whitened teeth. "Do you want an apology? Want me to say sorry because you got in my way?" she continued, not allowing Eman to give her input.

"Mhm! You got it right, Yronica! That is what I want," Eman replied, the same smile still branded on her face from when she opened the attachment.

Covering her mouth, Yronica couldn't help but obnoxiously chuckle, "Hah! You're even more pathetic than I thought. Wipe that smile off your face, Eman. What honestly makes you think you'll get one?" 

"Oh, I know I'll get one," Eman responded. She tapped the same password onto her phone, unphased, while Yronica continued to laugh. Finally opening the attachment, she held it up to Yronica, watching as her smile turned into an unnerving expression of shock and horror.

"Of course, Yronica. That is, not unless you want this to go around."