Cause maybe, You're gonna be the One that saves Me

[Alisha]

When Emma awoke that morning, she knew that this day was going to suck. She just had that feeling, you know? That one where you just know something is going to go wrong. Something like your best friend being an ass, or forgetting to do an important term paper. She couldn't quite place it, but she had the sneaking suspicion as she dressed for school, and threw her book bag over her shoulder on the way out of the house. She shoved her ear buds into her ear as plopped down in the passenger seat of her brother's truck and turned on her music right away. Liam gave her a curious look and raised a brow, the usually very chatty blonde was silent in the passenger seat as he drove them to the school. Emma gave her brother a smile when she got out of the car, and closed the door behind her.

Emma's suspicions were confirmed later that day during her fourth period English 5 class when she received her paper back from the teacher and it had a large D on it. Emma hated the red ink that was marked over the pages. Who was he to determine whether or not her words were the truth? How could he say that she lacked emotion? He knew nothing about her, or her past. Later that day, at lunch, the blonde decided to bypass the whole cafeteria scene all together and hide away in one of the music rooms. She needed to get her frustrations out, and to do so she would need to dance, considering there was no pool around. She looked around before entering the dark room, making sure the door closed behind her. She opened the blinds on some of the windows, opting to use natural light. Emma moved some of the desks out of the way and plugged her iPod into a boombox, hitting shuffle. The strains of Maroon 5's, She Will Be Loved played through the room. Dropping her bag on the floor, Emma kicked off her shoes and begin to move to the music.

[Kelli-wa]

Malachi was asleep on the floor in the corner of the room opposite the windows when the girl came in. He had skipped his fifth and sixth period classes, the day was going terribly and he decided that he was done with it, and since he would get caught if he left the building, he chose the music room. Mister Eaton had given him permission after third period to do so if he needed to and he'd give him a pass that said he was helping him with something all day. He didn't notice the room becoming lighter since he was already asleep, he did, however, notice a bit as the music started to play.

He woke up slowly, not wanting to get up and move. He heard what sounded like foot fall, which confused him. He knew they had dance classes in this room, but he thought they were over for the day. He raised a brow and finally opened his eyes to see the blonde, curly-headed girl moving around the floor gracefully. He licked his lips and wondered who she was, he hadn't seen her before, but he'd missed a lot with the move to a new town, maybe she was from Riverside originally. He watched her for a few minutes, but he started to feel a bit creepy so he sat up and looked down at the floor, leaning against the wall, waiting for her song to finish. He didn't want to disturb her.

[Alisha]

When Emma saw the movement out off the corner of her eye, she froze, stumbling slightly with the abrupt halt in movement. What she was doing wasn't really personal, just a way for her to relieve the stress and pressure she felt from everyone's expectations of her. She was by no means shy, and didn't even have stage fright, she just never expected someone else to be in the room with her. Her mouth dropped open in surprise and she pushed her hair out of her face to get a better look at the stranger. The dance she was doing was forgotten as she watched him silently, wondering who he was and what exactly he was doing in the music room. Emma took walked over towards him with a small smile on her face, and hopped up on a desk across from him. "Who are you?" She asked the blonde boy, her blue eyes watching him curiously. "And what gave you the idea to hide out in a dark room," She paused to look at the clock. "when you should be in class?" Her eyes traveled back to him and she tried to place his identity, he looked oddly familiar, but she couldn't place him in the halls of Riverside High in the year that she had been there.

[Kelli-wa]

Malachi glanced up at the girl when he heard her speak and he shrugged lightly, blushing at her questions. He knew that she probably wouldn't want to know the details of his horrible day, so he would answer as simply as he could. "I was taking a nap," he said, looking straight at her before he smirked and looked back down at the floor. "I didn't mean to be weird or anything... I wasn't really watching you, I just woke up." He bit his lip and stood, "But I can go sleep in the piano closet if you want to dance in peace." He gave her a warm hearted smile and started toward the closet at the other side of the room and realized half-way there that he hadn't answered her first question. "I'm Malachi, by the way. Pardon my asking, but... I don't think we've met before..."

[Alisha]

Emma let out a small laughed when he explained why he was in the music room, nodding. Her eyes followed him as he got up and walked away from her. Was he really going to sleep in the closet? She grinned and stood from her perch on the desk. "Care to explain why you were napping in the music room, Malachi?" She asked, taking a few steps towards him. Why does he look familiar? She couldn't quite place it, but there was a nagging though pulling at her mind. "I don't believe we have." She agreed. "Emma. You don't have to go, you know. You can stay, if you want, I mean." She didn't want to kick him out, after all, he was there before she was in the first place. She wanted to figure out where she knew him from, too.

[Kelli-wa]

Malachi smirked at her question, letting his hands dig into his pockets before he shrugged lightly, "I don't know. Mister Eaton said that I looked like I was having a lousy day so he fixed it so I don't have to go to class for the rest of the day. Apparently I'm helping him with something important. So if anyone asks, that's what I'm doing. Not napping." He shrugged lightly again as she said he didn't have to go. He really didn't mind, the piano closet wasn't too small, and was basically empty aside from a few boxes full of sheet music that he and Mister Eaton had gone through to deem 'not disgusting' and worthy of keeping when they cleaned out the closet the week before. "I don't mind really. Since I had to explain myself, I think you should too. There's no dance class scheduled after second period. It's now seventh."

[Alisha]

Emma smiled. She liked Mister Eaton, he was a middle aged man with a good sense of humor and easy-going attitude. "That's a nice alibi, I must say. I wish I had one that good." She said, giving him an appreciative nod. She shrugged when he questioned her reasoning. "I come here sometimes when it gets to be too much." Emma walked over to an empty table top and sat on top of it, pulling one leg under her. "I swear, Ms. Malich hates me." She said, referring to the English teacher who should have retired at least ten years ago. "She's a bitter old lady who has lost any sense of how to teach, let alone grade." Emma shook her head, a small smirk forming on her lips. "As for how I got here, I freaked out Mr. Welch, the Calculus teacher, by telling him I was having lady issues. I swear, he turns into a stuttering mess anytime it's mentioned."

[Kelli-wa]

Malachi smiled gently at her. "Yeah, that's what I thought." The smile faded from his face as he remembered the morning he'd just had. It had been quite a doozy and he really didn't want to go back to class. He nodded as she told him why she came into the room. "I know what you mean. It's got a sort of peace to it, doesn't it?" He nodded at her comment about Ms. Malich, agreeing with her. He smirked at her again when he heard how she'd gotten out of class. "Wow, I wish I had that excuse some times. You must be way smarter than me, though... Calculus? Seriously? I'm only in Algebra II and I'm a senior." He was trying to take all of her focus away from asking him why the teacher had let him off the way he did. He wasn't really ready to explain everything to a perfect stranger.

[Alisha]

Emma looked around the room, taking in the quiet that surrounded them. Other than the music that played from the boombox, it would have been completely silent. He'd picked a good place to nap, that was for sure. The room held a sense of perfect serenity that Emma not only enjoyed, but craved. Life could get so crazy for her at times that she just needed to get away before she broke down. A blush covered her face when he mentioned that she must be smart, and she looked down at her hands that rested in her lap. "I doubt I'm that much smarter." She threw out, "I'm just badass at math, I guess." Emma shrugged, lifting her eyes. "So, Malachi, how long have you been here in Riverside? Is it me or are the people here so... unsavory?" Emma had yet to make friends with anyone who was really capable of having a meaningful conversation, this is why she often spent her free time at school holed away somewhere.

[Kelli-wa]

Malachi shrugged lightly and smiled at her again. "Maybe so. Maybe you're just a math wizard of some sort. All I know is that I totally suck at it." He watched as she sat on the desk and raised a brow at her and laughed lightly. Unsavory? he thought. He didn't think that people around here were too bad, then again, he hadn't really met anyone new since he'd been back in town, simply sticking to the small circle that he'd been a part of before, only talking to Zane at school and then only when he saw him in the hallway, maybe once a day. He didn't talk much at school. "I've been here since the beginning of August. So I take it you aren't from around here?" he asked her, licking his lips as he pulled his hands from his pockets, using the left one to rub the back of his head.

[Alisha]

Emma smiled at his comment, looking down for a moment, she tugged one of her curls and watched it pop back into place. "Maybe I am." She shrugged, looking back up at him. She wasn't really sure where she got her skills from, but she was thankful she never had to struggle in math class. "If you're that bad, I am a pretty good tutor." She joked, knowing he probably didn't even want to bother with her. "I moved here at the end of last year." Emma said, "I haven't really met anyone that was worth spending time with, I guess. The drama kids are kind of outcast at this school." She never really branched out from the group of kids she had met when she joined the drama club, and was pretty content with the people she did know. She just hated being looked at different just because sometimes she would sing in the halls, or be caught dancing in empty classrooms, and acted onstage. Sure, things were very different at Riverside, but she still preferred it over MABtown. Her time there wasn't very pleasant. "Where are you from?" She asked Malachi/

[Kelli-wa]

Malachi shrugged lightly. It wasn't that he wasn't good at it, he understood the math just fine. It was that he didn't care. What was the point of caring when everything you love in the world can be ripped from your grasp and you can never do anything about it. He shrugged again, "I don't know. I might as well not exist here, aside from Mister Eaton, I could not exist and no one here would notice. No one cares about anything, this place is a mud hole." He'd said more than he meant to. He didn't mean to convey his feelings so strongly, but like he'd said. It was a bad day and he couldn't help it. He tried to be cheerful when he answered her question. "Evansville. In Indiana. But before that, Mabtown. Y'know, that place with the hurricane."

[Alisha]

Emma watched him. Malachi seemed to have a pretty bleak outlook on life, and it made her wonder what happened in his life to make him feel that way. But, Emma knew it really was none of her business, and decided that if he ever wanted to tell her about it, she'd try and help, but she wasn't going to press him for information she knew she was by no mean entitled to. "That cant be true. There's me now." Emma said, offering a shrug and a smile. "I'd notice. I'm not much, but I'm capable of following a logical conversation at least." Emma let out a small laugh, dropping her gaze to her lap again. She picked at a frayed piece of thread coming off her jeans. Her head rose sharply with his next words though, a small 'o' forming with her lips. "You were from Mabtown?" She asked, her eyes widening. No wonder he seemed so tortured... He must have lost everything. "That's a crazy coincidence." Emma spoke, shaking her head again.