The gates of Riverdale University stretched wide, grand and brimming with promise. The morning sun glinted off the ivy-covered buildings, and the campus buzzed with first-day excitement. Freshmen darted around with maps, upperclassmen leaned coolly against benches, and somewhere, music played faintly from someone's Bluetooth speaker.
Emma Morgan adjusted her bag on her shoulder, taking in the scene. She wasn't just here to study criminology-she was here to dominate it. She'd worked hard, fought harder, and she wasn't about to let distractions mess with her path. No nonsense, no drama. That was the plan.
Then she heard it-laughter, but not the joyful kind.
Up ahead, a group had gathered, forming a loose circle near the main quad. In the center, a nervous-looking boy stood cornered, his backpack on the ground and two smug-looking guys circling him like sharks.
Two guys, clearly upperclassmen and full of themselves, were cornering a nervous-looking first-year boy. One shoved his bag aside while the other poked fun at his clothes. The boy mumbled weakly, trying to back away. Nearby, a tall guy with dark, unruly hair leaned casually against a tree, arms crossed, watching the scene unfold with a smirk tugging at his lips.
Emma didn't even hesitate.
She cut through the circle like a storm.
"Back off," she snapped, stepping between the boy and his tormentors. "Is this how you get to welcome the new students? Bullying kids who just stepped foot on campus?"
One of the taller guys smirked at her. "Just welcoming the newbies. You wanna join?"
Just what, trying to make yourself cool ha... Emma said while staring the boys without any fear.
The taller bully come closer to her and try to push her back by pushing her with his hands.
The taller bully scoffed." Hey sweetheart, don't try to be hero here, mind your business, understood, go away..."
Emma stare him and said, " control your hand otherwise it won't be good "
The taller bully laughed, " oh really what you will do ha, what a little girl like you can do, come on go your way otherwise from next 4 years you will regret your actions"
Emma scoffed," Really, you will make me regret, do you have that much guts in you, it would be better for you to stay away from me or else you will regret on all the bullying you ever had done"
The taller bully shout at her in anger, " you brat, you are gone now"
He throw a punch at her, she avoiding the punch give him a good kick on his stomach.
He trembled from the kick and fall backward on floor. He stared at her with pain on his face. On the other hand she stared him back giving him a chill in his body, after a couple of minutes he finally accepted defeat and lower his stare.
On the other hand, the other guy raised a hand instinctively, but froze when he saw her stance-feet planted, eyes locked, calm and ready to strike again
"Try me," she warned, voice like ice.
He slowly lower his hand in fear.
The crowd went silent.
Even the smirking guy against the tree straightened up, his amused expression wiped clean. For a moment, his dark eyes locked onto hers, something unreadable flickering through them-respect, maybe... surprise?
The boy Emma had defended stared at her like she was a superhero.
Emma turned to the smirking boy behind her " Hey you man, does it felt cool to stand like that when someone is getting bullied like that"
The boy turned to her" might not but why to bothers when someone is actually dealing it "
Emma replied with a annoyed look" yaah ofcourse it would be better for guys like you to stay away from such matters"
The boy smirked at her" dear never judge a book by its cover "
Emma rolled her eyes " it is not need to be said by someone like you and yeah I never judge book by its cover and in your matter I won't even bothered to do that"
The boy give a quite laugh and shake his head.
Before they can argue any longer that's when come a commanding voice cut through the tension.
"What's going on here?"
Professor Harrow, head of student affairs, pushed through the crowd with a hard frown.
Before Emma could speak, the tall guy who had been watching stepped forward.
"Professor, I'll explain. These two were bullying this freshman," he said, gesturing to the shaken boy. "She"-he nodded toward Emma-"stepped in. A bit... aggressively, but I think she got the message across."
Emma raised an eyebrow at the sarcastic tilt in his voice.
Professor Harrow narrowed his eyes. "Names?"
"Jaydan Rivera," the guy replied smoothly. "Computer Science, third year. And these two,"-he grabbed the bullies by their sleeves-"need to apologize."
Under the professor's glare, and Jaydan's tightening grip, the bullies mumbled apologies to the boy, who nodded uncertainly.
Professor Harrow sighed. "I'll see the rest of you in orientation. Rivera, bring them to the office."
Jaydan gave a small, sarcastic salute. "Yes, sir."
As the group dispersed, Emma turned away, still fuming-but also slightly confused. The smug bystander wasn't just not part of the bullying... he'd taken charge. Cleaned up the mess. And clearly, the professor trusted him.
A short while later, she found herself at the criminology department lobby, cooling down with a drink from the vending machine. That's when the same boy she had defended walked up to her shyly.
"Umm, thanks... for back there. And also... sorry."
Emma blinked. "For what?"
"I thought you should know," he said quietly, "the guy with the dark hair-Jaydan-he's the one who stopped them first. I guess they just started back up again when he walked off to get the professor. He's the one who told me to stay put and said he'd handle it."
Emma's heart dropped half an inch.
"Oh," she said slowly.
"Just thought you'd wanna know. Anyway-thanks again!"
He scampered off, leaving Emma standing in the middle of the corridor with her pride slightly dented.
Great. So she'd stormed in, threw a punch, and went off on the wrong guy-who was, apparently, already solving the problem.
She groaned inwardly.
"Smooth start, Emma," she muttered to herself, sipping her drink.
From behind, someone cleared their throat.
She turned-and found herself face to face with none other than Jaydan Rivera.
He gave her a crooked smile. "Nice kick, by the way."
Emma hesitated. "...Thanks."
A beat.
Then, reluctantly: "I may have jumped to conclusions."
Jaydan shrugged. "Happens."
Emma raised an eyebrow. "You're not gonna say I told you so?"
He smiled wider. "I could, but I think you already told yourself."
Before she could reply, he offered a casual nod. "See you around, Miss Crime-Fighter."
And just like that, he walked off-hands in his pockets, whistling under his breath.
Emma stood frozen for a moment, watching him disappear down the hallway.
She hated to admit it, but there was something about him. Something irritatingly intriguing.
And just like that, her first day wasn't nearly as boring as she expected.