2 Chapter Two

Emmaline growled and spit in his face. "Touch me again and you lose your hand." Gross Guy winced and stepped away, "Smart choice."

She got off the bus and stood in front of her school. Another deep breath and she started walking. The closer she got to the school, the smaller she felt. Her shoulders hunched down and she kept her eyes on the ground.

"Hey freak, move it!" Some jock said after ramming into her.

"Sorry." Emmaline whimpered. She hated that she could never stand up for herself here. This place and these people always made her feel so small. She hated them. She wished them all dead but she couldn't do anything to them and she hated that. She hated herself for giving them so much power over her. She hated all of this. She hated the fact that she agreed with them. She was a freak. She didn't deserve love. She wasn't capable of love. She had accepted that but it still hurt. No name adorned her wrist and that hurt the most.

Emmaline went about the rest of her school day with little to no incidents. She did well in all of her classes. Her teachers may hate her but they won't fail her on purpose. Then lunch came around and she let out a sigh of relief. She wasn't alone at this school and contrary to popular belief she did actually have friends. She made her way to the library with her lunch box and walked over to the dark, dusty corner in the back. The library was their safe haven. The librarian was really nice and actually liked them and since she knew about the bullying going on, she always let them eat in there. The only people allowed in were people who were actually going to study and be quiet so that meant they were safe from their tormentors.

"Hey! Took you long enough," Drew said. Emmaline sat down next to him and smacked him upside the head.

"Don't give me attitude." Drew was just like Emmaline. He too did not have a soulmate and has been ridiculed his whole life for it. Riley was the other member of their group. He has also been bullied for his soulmark. Riley has two soulmates and then to top it all off they are both boys. He's gotten a lot of hate for it. They make up her best (and only) friends.

"Hey, can I have your apple?" Riley asked Drew and Emmaline smiled. She lived for lunch. They were the only reason she was still sane. She could live with this. It wasn't so bad. At least she had friends. Some people didn't even have that. It wasn't so bad.

"Hey, catch." Emmaline threw a grape at Riley and he caught it in his mouth. They cheered and she smiled. Yeah, she could live with this.