Emma Aline Radley needed caffeine. Now. The femme fatale herself was striding purposefully toward the local Barnes and Noble, because there was a Starbucks in there and books were always a good thing to sort through while drinking some sort of caffeinated beverage. Under normal circumstances, she would’ve gone for a cappuccino or caramel macchiato, but it was summer and Emma wanted to have a few more Frappacinos before autumn kicked in and warm beverages were more appropriate. As the sixteen-year-old strutted down the sidewalk to the heavy oak doors of the bookstore, she turned heads. Or, at least, she liked to pretend she did, but she might’ve, the way she was dressed. She looked simple but sophisticated in her short-sleeved mock-neck black dress and short, slouchy suede boots. A gold necklace with ivory and gold baubles on the end adorned her neck, and her eyes were masked by large Chanel sunglasses. She was looking good. Like some sort of celebrity, even. Emma extended her hand and grasped onto one of the brass door handles, causing a tinkle of bells to occur when she yanked the heavy door open. God, Emma hated bells. Especially the small tinkly ones. Something about them just seemed so tacky. She walked quickly toward the small Starbucks area, not gaining much attention once inside the store because of the variety of strange people in there. That was something Barnes and Noble was always good for. Emma pushed her dark brown hair out of her eyes and quietly ordered a grande java chip Frappacino from the boy working behind the counter, giving him a small smile as she did so. Emma was always polite; she’d been brought up that way. Once receiving her drink, she sauntered over to small counter near the window where different powders and spices and milks and straws had been placed so you could ‘customize’ your beverage. Emma always found this someone funny. She took the plastic bubble lid off of her drink and shook the jar of chocolate powder onto it, sticking her finger in and tasting it once done. Starbucks had the indisputably best whipped cream ever, and the chocolate powder only made it better. After using one of the signature green straws to scoop up all the whipped cream, she replaced her lid and took the rest of her drink into the store. She’d ‘discovered’ the java chip variety by accident, because someone heard her incorrectly and gave her the wrong type of Frappacino. It turned out to be a good, thing, though, because it ended up being her favorite kind. Emma browsed slowly through the biography section, running her finger over each of the books’ spines, stopping at a hardcover copy of Mein Kampf. After giving the surrounding area a quick once-over to make sure nobody was around, she slid the book out of its place on the shelf and opened to the first page. Unfortunately for her, she was so engulfed in her reading that she didn’t hear anyone come up behind her.