Busted

The three had reached Ms. Wilder's office together without a problem. Emma didn't know how it was meant to work, especially since Kira was there as well. Were they going in together? That wouldn't be easy - Kira would never shut the fuck up about how horrible Emma was, no matter what they talked about. So when Aria told Kira to sit on the seating outside of her office, Emma was relieved. Though she was less relieved when she suddenly realized that meant she was going first.

"Inside, Ms. Kirkland." Aria stated as she held the door open to her office. The woman really hadn't dropped the harsh tone or look since she had adopted it. As soon as Emma walked through the doorway, she shot a glance back at Kira to make sure she hadn't somehow escaped in the half a second moment she had been taking Emma inside - which she hadn't. It was taking a risk to have Kira wait out there first, but she knew she needed to deal with Emma's behavior first.

There were two chairs facing a dark wood desk in the center of a small room. Emma hadn't been in there much at all in the five years she had been at the school - perhaps once or twice, and never because she was in trouble. Aria had walked around her to sit at her desk, so Emma took the cue to take a seat in front of the desk. As she sat down, she noticed a few pictures on her desk - a baby, which was likely her son, as well as a picture that was clearly a young Zelos, maybe six years old or so. Well, that was nice, at least.

"Tell me what happened, please. Your version." Aria said, leaning forward slightly in her chair as she rested her arms on the desk in front of her. She had the frown still on her face, and a slightly tilted head. Her expression clearly read disappointment in her student.

Emma knew she needed to be very careful about what she said about what had happened. Most people were against her already - Mrs. Hedervary would likely back up anything Rosemary had to say if they had been asked. But what could she really say? It wasn't like Aria would believe anything she said. "You won't believe me no matter what I say. You could just ask Mrs. Hedervary for whatever she has to say." She whined.

"I asked for your version, Emelia. Don't be difficult with me now." Aria responded with a tired tone. "And don't you dare try to test my patience. You are already on thin ice." She added on, her tone taking a very dark and hard turn.

Her words and voice were so sharp, Emma swore she was about to get shanked with them. Suddenly, she really wanted to go home. Aria was meaner than she thought she was. How could she have not known for this long? Her lip twitched a bit as she tried to not let tears well up again in her eyes. "Rosemary did it! She's just a big jerk to me and none of you even care. You just want to be on her side. You don't care what my side is!"

"Emelia Kirkland, that is enough!" Aria raised her voice at the timid student, lightly smacking her hand on the desk as well, just to add some fear to it and get her to knock it off. She realized she wasn't going to get anywhere with her, so she needed to just move on with it. "I can't believe you, of all the students in this school, are acting this way on the very first day of school. I am disappointed in you. You know that bullying is extremely wrong, and that disrespecting Mrs. Hedervary as you did by disrupting her class is inexcusable. Not only will you be attending detention today, but I expect you to apologize to Mrs. Hedervary, and I am going to call your father in right now."

Emma felt her heart stop for a moment as soon as Aria told her she was going to detention. And then it stopped again as Aria pulled her phone out to call her dad. Suddenly, it didn't matter anymore that she was trying not to cry as she burst into tears. "M-M-Ms. Wilder, pl-please!" She cried out in a sob, hoping she could stop the woman.

"Arthur? I have your daughter in my office. Could you please come meet with us here now? It's serious." Aria said into her phone as she held it up to her ear. She glanced at Emma, noticing her sudden tears and hysterics. Hopefully that meant she would be easier to deal with, and that the experience would convince her not to act up ever again.

It was already the first day back, and despite not having class, Arthur found already in the middle of work. Although he wouldn't be assigning homework any time today, he was already planning what homework tasks he'd be giving his students. All he had to do was make sure that the certain books needed for each task were available at the library. Thus, instead of being in the teacher's lounge preparing, he was walking the halls.

However, on his way his phone started to ring, and quickly he pulled it out of his pocket and answer it. "Hullo. Yes?" Aria was on the other end, and she didn't sound at all pleased. He furrowed his brows as he heard her say that Emma was in her office. What was his daughter doing there? Was she hurt? Sure, injuries did tend to happen in Erzsebet's class but she didn't usually go that rough on students the first day.

Sighing, Arthur nodded, despite that Aria wouldn't be able to see it. "Yes, I'll come right away." He said before hanging up. Fortunately for him, her office really wasn't very far from where he was now, so he hurriedly headed down to her office.

Once he got there, the first thing he noticed was that Kira was in the naughty seat, again. He wasn't even surprised at this point; she was essentially as much as a fixture here as the chair itself. It would have been more unusual if she wasn't there.

He didn't bother to say anything to her - as part of the punishment of sitting in that chair is that the student wasn't meant to be talking - as he knocked Aria's door, waiting to be allowed in.

As soon as the call was over, Aria placed her phone down on top of her desk. She looked at the student across from her, watching her cry for a moment. She felt like that there wasn't too much she could do to help her calm down that wouldn't deconstruct what she was trying to accomplish with Emma. So she just waited at her desk quietly, hoping Arthur wouldn't take too long to arrive.

Soon, there was a knock at the door. As soon as she heard that knock, Emma knew it was all over. She sobbed hard before leaning forward in her seat, her elbows on her thighs as she buried her face into her hands. Maybe it wasn't too late to drop out and join a circus island somewhere, if she could find one. She could possibly be good at that. But she shook the thought away and instead continued to cry into her hands.

Once there was a knock at the door, Aria stood up from her desk. She chose to go and open the door herself, as she wanted to make sure it was who she had intended to show up instead of perhaps another student that had questions for her or something. But it was who she was expecting - Arthur. "Arthur. Thank you for coming so quickly." Normally, around most students, she would have referred to him as Mr. Kirkland, but given that Emma was his daughter, she didn't find it as important to use his other name.

Aria moved back to her desk and sat down in her chair. She looked at Emma, noticing the girl still wasn't calming down much, and was refusing to look at anyone. She still had hopes that the girl would try to explain her side of the story. Maybe she was more willing to talk now that her parent was there. She waited a moment for Arthur before speaking again. "So, Emelia, would you like to explain what happened now?"

Emma hesitated for a moment before shaking her head slowly. She lowered her hands from her face, though continued to stare at the floor. She breathed heavily and continuously wiped the tears from her face. She was too afraid to look at either of them, knowing that she was in deep trouble.

"Hm." Aria shook her head. She really didn't seem to want to cooperate, which was strange to see from Emma. Normally she was one of the best behaved students. She looked at Arthur instead. "Emelia was sent to me from Mrs. Hedervary's class for bullying a student as well as being disruptive, and she has been very disrespectful ever since. When I tried to get her side of the story, she chose to snap at me. I am not sure what has gotten into her, but I was hoping you would have an idea."

As soon as the door opened, Arthur stepped into the office, and looked at Aria with concern as he closed the door behind him. "Yes, of course. Is Emma alright?" Those were the first words out of his mouth, almost in a frantic tone as he was worried that something had happned to her. However, it didn't take more than a second to notice that the expression that Ara held was not one of concern or sympathy. In fact, she looked quite stern.

As she spoke to his daughter - who he could see was crying in the middle of the office - it slowly became apparent to him that Emma was not only safe but also in trouble. Stunned, was the only way to describe Arthur's reaction, as he couldn't fathom how Emma could possibly be in trouble.

"She was bullying another student?" His tone was much higher as he said this, in utter disbelief of this situation. What the fuck was going on? This was completely unlike the daughter he raised. He frowned and looked at her again, noticing that she still refused to explain what had happened.

His own daughter, a bully. He couldn't let this slide. "Believe me, I am uncertain about where this attitude has come as much as you." No longer was he stunned or hesistant by the situation - his tone became more stern, a tone that would be familiar to any student who had seen him about to reprimand someone. Again, he had looked in Emma's direction, this time keeping his gaze on her. "The daughter that I raised should know better than to bully another student and should know how to treat her teachers with respect." He paused for a moment, then continued, this time turning his full attention on his daughter. "Emelia Elizabeth Kirkland, this is your last chance to explain yourself. You have until the count of three to start talking. One..."

Aria only nodded in response to Arthur. She didn't have many details on the incident in Erzsebet's class, as she had only gotten the information from the note Emma had given her and nothing else. As his voice got sterner toward his daughter, Aria only watched from her side of the desk. She didn't want to interrupt since Arthur could likely get her to speak more than she ever could. She looked at Emma expectantly.

It was the dreaded full name treatment. Emma sobbed in response. She knew her dad was definitely watching her and she mentally panicked. What could she say that wouldn't be stupid and that they would believe? She didn't know for sure if they wouldn't believe her. However, she only had about three seconds and she had already wasted one of those, so she needed to talk.

"I-I-I d-didn't d-d-do it, dad..." Emma responded to Arthur shakily, finally looking up at him from the floor. She knew she couldn't stop there - nobody in their right mind would just stop and accept that for an answer, and she would rather not find out what was going to happen at the count of three. "R-Rosemary... sh-she w-was being mean t-to me, in class. Sh-she w-wouldn't leave me a-a-lone..." She was struggling a bit, but what could she do? She could barely speak, so a fully coherent answer was hard, and she just hoped it was acceptable.

Not wanting to risk getting in more trouble, Emma decided to continue despite her sobbing. "H-her and K-Kira, th-they pi-picked on m-me." She took a deep breath in and felt her head starting to hurt from all of the crying. "An-and, they f-f-followed me, R-Rosemary l-locked me in-in the cl-cl-closet...c-cause th-they w-wa-wanted me to get in m-more trouble."

The girl was obviously frantic to get out of trouble, that much Aria could tell. Unfortunately, a lot of her details didn't seem to add up. Aria had a hard time believing Rosemary would be picking on her - but then again, she also had a hard time believing Emma would have been bullying as well, had she not received the note from Erzsebet. "Emelia, I was there, and I did not see Rosemary anywhere nearby." She said as though she didn't believe Emma's story. It wasn't as though Emma's story had explained why Emma had behaved so disrespectfully toward Mrs. Hedervary or herself anyway.

"Sh-she was there!" Emma cried. "Sh-she knows n-nobody will be-believe me, s-so she gets a-away with ev-ev-everything. It's not fair!" She pouted, tears still coming down her face. She hated Rosemary. She hated Kira. She hated that school so much right at that moment.

Arthur ended his count the second Emma spoke, willing to give her the opportunity to explain herself now that she was speaking. And of course, the first thing she was going on about was Rosemary. Ever since their bad break up, all Emma spoke about was how terrible Rosemary was to her. Although there was never any support to her claims, so there really was little that can be done.

Except for the one thing that Aria had said, Arthur kept his full attention on his daughter, his counterance never wavering. For all the explanation that was given, he was not hearing a single thing about her behaviour towards her teacher and principal though. Everything was entirely centred on Rosemary.

"And do you think it's fair to take out whatever issues you have with Rosemary on Mrs. Hedervary and Ms. Wilder? Was it fair of you to disrupt your teacher's class and disrespect her in front of all of her students? What about the way you regarded Ms. Wilder, when she was giving you the opportunity to say your side, was that fair? Or was Rosemary behind all of this too?"

Despite the tone, Arthur managed to refrain from yelling long enough to treat this in the same manner he'd treat any other student. Although he did want to smack her across the head to knock some sense in, that wouldn't be professional in this situation. "You say that no one would believe you that Rosemary had been picking on you, but instead of telling your teacher what was happening, you decided to take the matter in your own hands. And don't pretend that you didn't know what to do, every student was informed on their first day that if they are being picked on, they should report it to their teacher, immediately."

Emma just watched and listened to Arthur as he lectured her, silently - minus the fact that she was still sobbing. She shook her head occasionally as Arthur asked if she had been fair to her teacher as well as her principal. Strangely, it had only just occurred to her that she had been disrespecting both Mrs. Hedervary as well as Ms. Wilder and that she couldn't blame that part on Rosemary. Her lip twitched a bit in response. How could she destroy her relationship with her teacher and her principal over stupid Rosemary and Kira?

Once she was sure he was done for the moment, Emma let out a shaky sigh. "I-I'm s-so-sorry, Ms. W-Wilder." Emma stuttered apologetically while turning to look at her principal. Now she just felt guilty for the way she had treated both Ms. Wilder as well as Mrs. Hedervary, and she wasn't sure how she was going to be able to make it up to them. "I-I-I'm an i-idiot. I-I di-didn't m-mean t-t-to... I-I'm s-sorry, dad." She sniffled and looked back at Arthur guiltily.

That was more like it. At least Emma was finally seeming to understand the true issue behind it all, Aria figured. Though she did want to talk to Erzsebet about what had happened later from her perspective and possibly get Rosemary and Kira's as well. It would be easy to get the latter's, though she was unsure she could trust anything Kira would say, as she was going to speak to her next, once they were finished with Emma.

Arthur was glad that Emily very quickly realised where she had been wrong - not that it'd change his expression or tone with her currently. She still had to be punished and be made to understand that there are serious reprocussions to her behaviour. "It's all well and good to be sorry now, but I want you to understand your mistakes and ensure they never happen again. That's why I want you to write a thousand word apology to both Mrs. Herdvary and Ms. Wilder, each. You will also be explaining in your apology what your mistakes were, and examining why they were wrong and unacceptable."

He glanced at Aria for a moment, seeing if she had anything to say. For now, it didn't seem like she was going to interrupt him, so he figured he should let her get back to her job here. He looked back at Emma. "And that is only your punishment as my daughter. Now, I want you to explain to Ms. Wilder anything that she asks of you, and then she'll decide for you what you'll receive as a punishment as a student."

That was the end of that, for him. Now he was turning back to Aria, waiting for her to say whatever she needed to say. A part of him hoped that she wouldn't punish Emma too harshly, but considering her offences, he knew that it would be difficult to expect anything less than a detention.

Emma watched Arthur carefully, afraid of what he was going to say or do for a punishment for her. It seemed now was the time that she dreaded, however, the moment he told her that he wanted her to write, she felt a little stunned. However, it was stunned in a good way, despite being in trouble. She waited until he finished talking to make sure she wasn't interrupting him. "Y-you're n-not... gonna...?" She half-whispered, nearly squeaking while still sobbing. It was not as if she wanted to finish that sentence, especially not in front of Aria.

Aria nodded to Arthur, appreciating that he was there to make dealing with Emma easier - even though she never was that challenging to begin with. She then looked at Emma. She had told her of her punishment before, but she figured she may as well repeat it now that Arthur was there. "I think we have sorted the situation out well enough now. As your first offense, I think a detention this afternoon would suffice. Hopefully, we won't have any repeat visits, as it will only become worse for you then."

"N-no, Ms. Wilder." Emma shook her head. She didn't want anywhere near being back into her office ever again. Honestly though, she felt a bit relieved that she was only getting detention and apparently some essays to write, which sucked enough. She wasn't completely sure what she had been so afraid of happening, but at least she felt like she could calm down a little bit now, now that the bad part seemed to be over. Her sobbing was starting to let up, though the headache that had appeared didn't feel like it was going to go away at any point any time soon.

It seemed like Emma was expecting something else. At that point, Arthur was sure he knew what she meant, but he decided not to confirm anything yet. At least, not now that he was stepping back to allow Aria to fulfil her duty as principal here. Especially since she didn't appear to need his help now.

Not having much else to do now, Arthur just nodded at what Aria had to say. A part of him was relieved that Emma's punishment wasn't too harsh, but at the same time, he was also still very disappointed that she had allowed herself to get into that much trouble in the first place. Especially over her ex-girlfriend, who was honestly not worth ruining her record over. He made a mental note to himself to discuss this with Emma later on, when they had the time to. But now, he just looked at Aria and waited for her to dismiss his daughter.

Emma really didn't like how her dad wasn't answering her question. She was beginning to calm down anyway, but she still felt that bit of anxiety that she was still going to be in more trouble anyway. Maybe she could somehow convince him to leave her alone afterward and not be mad at her anymore. She definitely hoped her mother wouldn't hear about what had happened, that was for sure.

Aria looked between the two, Arthur and Emma, for a moment. She noticed that Emma seemed particularly nervous, though at least she was calming down enough to stop crying. "Alright. If that's all, then you are dismissed. Please head back to class." She knew she needed to deal with Kira after that which was likely one of her least favorite parts of her job. Yet, she still had to do it so often.

"P-please, can I stay here? I-I don't want to go back..." Emma pleaded lightly. She didn't want to push anyone into being more angry with her, but she definitely didn't want to go back to class and possibly run back into Rosemary again if she was back. She was absolutely sure her dad would just kill her immediately if she was sent back to the principal's office again.

"No, Emelia." Aria answered simply, though her tone while speaking with the girl had softened some. She wasn't going to elaborate on that - she figured that would be enough of an answer. Judging by the way Emma sighed, Aria figured she was unhappy with it. It didn't matter too much though - as long as she didn't go back and cause more trouble, it was fine. She then stood up. "I have to speak with Ms. Honami now. Again, thank you for coming here quickly Arthur. I appreciate it."

Now that it seemed like the ordeal was over, Arthur felt like he could relax - if only a bit. At least it wasn't as bad as it could have been. His daughter could have received a harsher punishment than what she was given today.

"You're welcome, and it was no trouble." Arthur said in response to Aria, nodding in acknowledgement to what she said. Fortunately he hadn't had a class at the time; he was certain he would have been in a more foul mood if he had been pulled from a class because Emma had been misbehaving. Which he'd be certain to tell his daughter the moment he had some privacy to talk to her over what happened.

"Emelia, I'll walk you back to class." He stated to her, making it clear in his tone that there was no room for argument. Considering how she wanted to keep out of class, and he knew her well enough to try run and hide if left to her own devices, he decided he'd not give her the chance to. She had already gotten herself into enough trouble today; he didn't want skipping class to be added to her transgressions. He walked to the door of Aria's office, and held it open, waiting for Emma to walk out so that he could make sure she got back to class.

At least it had gone somewhat well. Emma couldn't complain too hard. However, when she heard her father's tone as he told her he was going to walk her to class, Emma couldn't help but feel a sense of dread looming over her again. She pouted her lips before getting up quickly and wiping her eyes a bit with her hands. She wanted to look as normal as possible before she left the office and had to go past Kira, but she knew she wouldn't be fully free from that. She sighed.

"I would go back on my own, dad..." Emma pouted more and spoke quietly. She didn't really want to push him but she also didn't want to be escorted around by her father either. Especially when she could have possibly escaped and hidden in a closet somewhere as Rosemary and Kira had intended. It wasn't like she'd be able to escape Arthur long enough to actually make it into a closet and be able to successfully hide in there. Even if she somehow miraculously did that, she didn't want to know what he would do if he found her again.

Deciding it wasn't worth truly fighting over, Emma quickly walked through the door as Arthur held it open. She continued walking, not stopping for a second, as she knew Kira was right outside. She refused to give her any eye contact as she began down the hallway, not waiting for Arthur.

Arthur had been about to argue against Emma's point, but stopped when he saw her comply anyway. Expecting that Kira was going to be called in next, he left the door open as he walked after Emma. Normally, he walked around the school at a fast pace, wanting to get to wherever he needed to as early as possible. So catching up with Emma wasn't difficult.

"Emelia, I want to talk with you in my office before you go back to class." He kept his tone the same as he had when they were in Aria's office, hoping that would be enough to stop her from trying to argue against it. After what had happened, he definitely wanted to hear the story from Emma's own mouth. Particularly as she refused to say much on the topic when asked to in Aria's office.

His office wasn't very far, at least. Each teacher did have their own office in the same building as the classrooms. After all, they didn't have many classes to fill up a building with.

Emma hoped by walking fast her dad wouldn't feel as inclined to say anything scary to her. Maybe he'd even just stay quiet while they hurried her back to class. However, that didn't end up happening. As soon as Arthur mentioned wanting to speak with her in his office, Emma felt her heart sink into her stomach. Why did he need to see her in his office before she could go back? Didn't she get punished already? What exactly was he planning? Emma breathed heavily and shook her head. She slowed her walk down, suddenly not feeling the urge to rush toward her future anymore.

"D-dad. I thought we talked already." Emma responded nervously, her walk becoming much slower. "I-I said I'm sorry. And... I am really sorry. I won't do it again... and I gotta get back to class." Her tone became increasingly worried and a bit shaky. She suddenly really wished she could redo the entire day over again.

Glad that was enough to get Emma to slow down, Arthur was able to ease his own pace, now walking just besides his daughter. Of course, just because she was easy to deal with now, doesn't mean he would put his guard down. He didn't need her to run off on him to avoid taking more responsibility for what happened.

"I've already heard your apology." Coming down to the a corridor leading off to the right that'd take them to his office, he began heading down that way. "I won't punish you any further, but this is not optional. You can return to class after our discussion is over." As he had already walked down that corridor, glancing back to make sure that Emma was following him, he had given her little choice in trying to convince him otherwise.

Emma briefly wondered if she could get away from her dad fast enough to hide and lock herself in a closet somewhere. She looked down the hallway, away from Arthur. However, as she noticed him looking back at her, she realized there was no way she'd be able to move quickly enough, and even if she had, wouldn't he just get more angry at her? As much as she hated it, she realized she had better just face whatever was going to happen in his office. Maybe it wouldn't be too horrible. He did say he wouldn't punish her any further, so she just hoped she could count on that.

Sniffling a bit, she hurried to keep up behind Arthur along the corridor going to the right. She hoped that by following without too much protest that he would let her go sooner. However, she knew they were coming up to his office soon, so she wiped the tears from her eyes that refused to stop forming. "P-please don't be mad at me..." She pleaded, her voice still shaking from before. She considered apologizing again, though she didn't think it was actually helping her.

As they walked, Arthur continued not to say anything about what this discussion would be on. Though Emma was continuing to cry behind him, he did want her to understand what it'd feel like to be truly in trouble so that she'd never do this again. It was easier to allow her to think that something worse could be on it's way.

His office door was in sight. He kept walking towards it, taking his keys out of his pocket before he reached it. Quickly, he opened the door and held it open for his daughter to enter. After she was inside, he would close the door behind her then make his way to the seat behind his desk. He assumed that Emma would know to take one of the seats that were in front of his desk, allowing them to talk to each other.

"About this morning's incident with Rosemary... would you care to explain to me what exactly happened?" Though she had told him and Mrs. Wilder about how Rosemary had gotten her angry, she never did explain what had transpired to cause her outburst towards her teacher and principal.

They got to the office way too quickly for Emma's liking. She pouted lightly, her lips quivering ever so slightly as Arthur closed the office door behind her. She hesitated momentarily before dragging her feet to one of the chairs directly in front of Arthur's desk as he sat at the chair behind it. She dropped down in the chair regretfully, wiping her eyes free from tears once she was sat down. She only looked up at Arthur from the floor once he spoke to her.

Admittedly, it was easier to speak just to him than with Aria being there too. She just knew she had to be careful unless she wanted to get into worse trouble. "I-it's cause... I was almost late for class, cause mom... she just had t-to come get me and bring me to class. Sh-she was being really embarrassing... and then, I guess Rosemary and Kira heard it, cause I had to sit next to them and...and they were making fun of me. I-I know I shouldn't have, but I got mad and reacted, and then Mrs. Hedervary took Rosemary's side. She told me to say sorry to Rosemary but I didn't want to." She hesitated a moment, her pout growing a bit more. "She made me g-go to .... time out... and I felt really dumb. S-so, I asked if I could get out. She got really mad at me and sent me to Ms. Wilder... and... stuff happened..."

Fearing suddenly that Arthur wouldn't believe her story anymore, Emma stopped abruptly and looked back down at the floor again. She sniffled a bit before letting out a sob. It was definitely the worst start to the school year she had ever experienced.

Arthur listened intently to the story, being sure to pay careful attention to everything being side as Emma was in the midst of crying. Being a teacher and parent came with learning how to decipher the sobs and sniffles into something coherent. And Arthur had a lot of practice with that by now.

The first thing he heard confused him; why was River escorting Emma to class? Although he did know River had been there today, and admittedly, she had been acting a little too... affectionate, he didn't expect she'd find Emma to insist on taking her to class. It would have been faster for Emma to go on her own to class, especially since Emma lived on campus. He had to remind himself later on to talk to River about this.

Deciding that for now, he'd focus on Emma's problems, he kept those thoughts to himself and continued listening to the story. He laces his fingers, resting his chin atop them. His expression furrowed near the end of Emma's explanation. "Mrs. Hérdeváry got angry at you for asking to leave the corner? Are sure that was all you did?"

Of course he had to narrow in and ask about that. Emma had been hoping he'd just let her brush over the topic, but no, he wanted more information. With a sob, she turned her attention toward the ground, looking at the floor's details as a distraction from the question. How could she answer that and not get into more trouble? It wasn't true she had only asked and if she told him that it was, would he believe her anyway? Wouldn't Mrs. Hérdeváry just tell on her? "I-I don't know... I d-didn't m-mean to b-be m-mean..."

She sniffled and cried a bit before shaking her head. "I-I d-didn't m-mean it... I-I was embarrassed... I j-just wanted to g-go..." If it was going to get worse, Emma assumed it would get worse right then. She was having a hard time coming up with anything that could help save herself in that time. She coughed a bit, finding it a bit hard to breath from all of the sobbing. It was kind of exhausting by that point and her head was beginning to hurt pretty badly.

Emma hadn't said much on what she did, but her response was enough for Arthur to know that Emma had intentionally misbehaved. That was all he needed. "So you admit to misbehaving in class, and that Mrs. Hérdeváry had every right to be angry at you for the way you behaved?" Whether Emma decided now to go into detail on how she angered Elizabeth wasn't necessary, but it would be some nice additional information to have.

There was a box of tissues on his desk, which he reached over to nudge in Emma's direction. She really was beginning to look like a mess from all the sobbing, and although he was trying to understand where she went wrong, he didn't want to see her continually sobbing for hours on end. "Here, take some." Maybe it'd help ease her crying if she finally wiped the tears away. Or at least give her a reason to give herself some time to calm down.

Emma quickly took some tissues from the box then Arthur pushed toward her, wiping down her eyes and nose to clear her face a bit. She didn't want to admit her fault in it, but it wasn't like she had much to lose at that point. She nodded hesitantly. "Y-Yeah...I guess so." She stared down at the ground guiltily. There wasn't much else she could do. She just hoped he'd be less angry at her if she had admitted it.

That was an improvement. Arthur decided that'd be enough for today, especially when Emma still hadn't stopped crying this entire time. "Good. And don't forget, you don't have to like Rosemary, but don't give her the satisfication of letting her get you in trouble." Finally, he could drop the stern tone and sound more gentle. Although he would like it if Emma didn't get in trouble because of Rosemary again, it wasn't going to help for him to yell it at all.

He then reached into one of the drawers behind the desk and pulled out a notepad of green slips. "Now, I'm assuming you won't want to go to class in your current state. But you should be fine for the next period?" He had begin writing her name on the paper and paused, looking up with a raised eyebrow to see what his daughter's reaction was going to be.