many of her new peers would say emmaline looks like she belongs in some cheesy high school drama movie, where she stars as the female antagonist who tries to ruin the protagonist's life. on the contrary, she's more like the soft female protagonist who just wants to read books and play video games without making any trouble. it probably came from how she grew up, but emmaline is incredibly scared of social confrontation and would rather stay silent than have to act like the adult she will soon have to be. she's just a softie with a warm smile trying to make some new friends at this new school she just transferred to. yet, why is that so hard?

 

  

 

 

if you want to stereotype emmaline, then she's your edgy bad girl type. she's the highschool student wearing a leather jacket and illegally smoking during lunch break. her bad case of rbf doesn't help her case, since most of her peers think she's too y and stuck-up to try to talk to her. yeah okay, maybe she took a smoke break behind the school once. but nicotine is hard to ween off of--she can't help it. she may look all grunge-like and badass, but deep down she's just a softboi who wants to be loved.

 

since young, emmaline has always had a soft voice. as a result, she learned that even when she spoke up, her opinion was usually overridden by someone else with a stronger voice. still, it doesn't mean she doesn't have individual thought. when she cares enough, she'll put in the extra effort to raise her voice a tone louder than usual just so she can be heard. she's the girl in class discussions that only speaks when there's been a beat of silence because she doesn't want someone else to talk over her. however, she always fears her opinion is the "wrong" one, so it's rare to hear her say her thoughts. yet if one were to let emmaline straight speak her mind, they'd find out just how much is running through her imaginative brain.

 

because she's typically quiet, she observes a lot. and what she observes turns into her inspiration. in ap calculus ab, she's quietly doodling the image of kevin o'donovan sleeping in class. in english, she's outlining a short scene inspired by the fight that happened just before lunch with different characters in mind and amplified drama. the gears in emma's mind are always turning. even when she's not doodling or writing, she's silently judging everyone in the room. taliya rodriguez thought no one saw her almost fall off her chair, but emma did, and she's stifling a laugh behind her hoodie. she finds interest in the little things. like how some girl wouldn't stop looking at some guy in class, and how she obviously has a crush on him. it's those small gestures that make her smile.

 

she may act hard, by pretending she doesn't care about most things, but she does deep down. her friends and family are her life, and she'd give everything for them to be happy. still, she rarely verbally expresses that. instead, she venmos them money for a coffee when they have bad days, and takes them out to eat when they've accomplished something big. she can write very eloquently, but can barely use her words when speaking to others. she doesn't like to talk about herself, and would rather listen to her friends, giving advice only when asked. and don't tell anyone, but she's secretly really sensitive. she pretends not to care that people think she's stuckup, but she's hurt that she has a hard time making friends because of that. she dislikes change but is too passive to try and prevent it. emma is the type of person to run from her problems instead of confronting them head on.

 

one of her biggest flaws is her inability to make decisions. she always does things half way, and never commits. even though she has so many creative projects started in her notebook, they're never finished. and even deciding what she wants to do with her life--she has no idea whether or not she wants to listen to her parents or go her own path. she's obedient, and rarely ever breaks the rules. she's a goody two shoes, and the teachers know it. she even only juuls when she thinks no one's watching.

 

tl;dr: she looks hard, but deep down she's soft as a cloud. she's artistic, quiet and observant, but is easily frightened and very sensitive. she also cares a lot for her friends, and is maybe a little too selfless. still, she cares for her "image" and tries to pretend like she's this edgy bad girl type when she's the complete opposite.

 

  

 

 

emmaline was always a quiet child. even when she was little, she would rarely cry or throw a fit. it was only when her brother, ethan, came and hugged her would she finally release her emotions. her parents constantly fought, so she learned at a young age to try and cause the least amount of issues as possible. she lived her childhood trying to please her parents, and to try and make sure she was one less issue in their seemingly complicated lives.

 

having emigrated from china, her parents struggled financially and emotionally. they were far from family, and only had their children around. emmaline was their shining star, always making sure everything around the house was fine and her academics outside the house were up to her parents' standards. ethan was considered the "problem child", always going out with his friends and never listening to his parents.

 

but if there was one thing their parents said that ethan listened to, it was to "take care of your younger sister". he always made sure she was doing alright, since their parents never asked. she never stood out much, and always blended in no matter where she was, so her peers and her friends never really questioned her typically blank expression. up until recently, her older brother was the only one emmaline showed her sensitive side.

 

towards the end of her sophomore year of high school, when emmaline came back from trying to wash the cigarette smell out of her hair, her parents confronted her and told her they'd be moving to california to be closer with her aunt and uncle. the thought of such a drastic change of environment scared emmaline to the bone, and all she could do was smile and nod to make sure her parents didn't know of her dislike of their decision. and even though ethan fought as vehemently as he could for the both of them, their parents had already made their decision.

 

so emmaline and ethan moved to tolstone, california during the summer before her junior year. she arrived at summit high school as the new transfer student, unable to cling to her older brother's sleeve, and tried to keep her expression blank as always. yet, maybe it backfired on her, because all of a sudden she found it hard to make friends. in ap psychology, when she was paired up with the talkative and surprisingly hardworking summer kang for a group project, she finally made something resembling a friend. (of course, she ran home to tell ethan about it that same day).

trivia 
⚡️started smoking at the end of freshman year since her friends were doing it, and it's become her biggest regret. she's still trying to ween off of nicotine, but it's hard.
⚡️yes she owns a juul. and yes she vapes, but she tries to hide it.
⚡️owns a journal with all her incompleted doodles and story outlines.
⚡️has tried to start a bullet journal, but couldn't keep up with it. she does have a planner though, to keep up with everything.
⚡️her asian american identity is really important to her, so she's all about asian american activism.
⚡️her first experience drinking alcohol was a party her friend liam hosted for her before they left. she cried and drunk called her ex boyfriend, and it was that day she realized she was a sad drunk
⚡️will sometimes switch to speaking cantonese when surprised or frightened, or even when she's half awake.
⚡️a virg. and the closer she gets to graduating the faster she wants to get rid of it, honestly. her v-card is just one of the many things that give her anxiety, haunting her at the back of her brain.
⚡️played volleyball in new york, and took that love for it to tolstone when she auditioned for the team and made it on varsity.
⚡️lmao e-girl. she's more of a pc gamer, since the only console she owns is her 3ds which she uses to play pokemon, harvest moon, rune factory, and fire emblem. most of her weekends are spent playing league of legends and occasionally overwatch. recently started getting into apex legends, but she's still eh about it.
⚡️big about family. she helps out around the house a lot, and hangs out with wyatt and ethan more often than not.

hello, thank you for agreeing to meet me for an interview! i'm allie jeong from newspaper, and if you don't mind, please state your grade and name. emma fiddles with her fingers--a nervous habit. "i'm emmaline zhu, currently in 11th grade."

great! now, my story this issue will be about stress levels at summit high. would you say that you are stressed regularly because of schoolwork? "i mean..." she starts and shrugs. "it's only natural for students to be stressed because of schoolwork. so yeah, i guess."

about how many hours a week do you spend studying on average? she blinks and looks down at her fingers as she starts to count. "...i don't really keep track. it kind of just happens naturally depending on the week. probably 4-6?"

what other factors in your life other than school gives you stress? emmaline wants to laugh bitterly but instead she sighs. "...everything? as a transfer student, it's hard to make friends--especially if i don't talk to others. i have no friends, and i don't feel at home here. the only reason i haven't thrown myself into a river yet is because of summer, ethan, and wyatt."

do you have a message towards the faculty at summit high about students and stress levels? "...to be more understanding of everyone's situation, and to not be fake about being sympathetic." she murmurs the last part before she blinks and smiles sheepishly. "ah, please don't include that last part, sorry."

thank you for your answers, and you're free to leave! please look forward to next month's issue of the summit gazette. emmaline murmurs a quiet goodbye and gets up to leave the instant she's prompted to.

comments OH GOD okay tbh i have no idea what i just spit out but my brain put it out there so i hope everything is ok bc i can't think properly rn :') i think i got everything but i'm not sure. my brain erased majority of my high school memories so if anything's off do feel free to yell at me ahaha i cry. anyhow i hope u like her, and i hope she makes friends bc she's a soft cinnabon.

scene requests
⚡️i'm weak for sleepover scenes.
⚡️friends sneaking out to each other and knocking on each other's windows
⚡️pls let my cinnamon roll fall in love
⚡️interaction between emma and her family (aka wyatt and ethan)
⚡️group antics going on and emma just giggling in the back while watching bc she's just so happy to have real friends :')
⚡️someone making emma finally snap and cry somehow--how does one stop that LOL