Joseph walked upto Aria and stood facing the four students. He said, "What now Zach? Heard about a new powerful student and came crawling to see her?"
Aria could tell Zach was very humiliated by what Joseph said as he ground his teeth and said, "None of your business Joseph."
Joseph slid an arm around Aria's shoulders and said, "Yes it is. She is my rival."
Aria looked at Joseph and said, "Joseph, that's not a very polite way to talk to anyone."
She then turned towards the four, smiled and said, "Anyone can have more than one rivals. I'll accept your rivalry and your challenge. But you'll have to wait for this to heal. As I'm sure you would not want to fight an injured person."
While speaking this, Aria very subtly wriggled out of Joseph's embrace which no one but him noticed.
Zach was visibly taken aback a little at Aria's reply. He looked from Aria to Joseph before saying, "I thank you for accepting my challenge. Of course I'll wait for your hand to heal, but on one condition."
Aria raised an eyebrow.
Zach: "You will have to fight all four of us when you're healed."
Aria's face broke out into a smile, "I'll gladly accept your condition."
Zach also smiled and the four said goodbye to Aria before descending the stairs.
After they were out of sight, Aria turned to Joseph, "That was a very rude way to talk to anyone."
Joseph waved a hand, "They're nobodies. They have no control over themselves and you'll see. They will charge at you with their fists because they will not be able to beat you fair and square."
Aria crossed her arms, "I don't want to argue here."
Joseph walked in her room, "Then let's do it in your room."
As Aria closed the door, she asked, "You said that they will charge at me with fists, have you ever fought even one of them?"
Joseph said down on her bed, "Of course not. These four challenged me a year ago. But I could tell by the colour of their eyes that they were not very powerful, so I rejected them outright."
Aria sighed as she walked over to her dressing table, "You need to stop judging everyone by their power. People have a lot of other things that are important too."
Joseph: "Yeah? Like what?"
Aria: "Brains. And manners. Which you clearly seem to lack."
Joseph clutched his heart, "Oh, that blow went straight to the heart. I have no reason to live anymore. Tell my parents I love them."
Aria laughed, "Shut up you drama queen. And get out. I seriously need some sleep."
Joseph wriggled his eyebrows, "It's still early, you sure you want to sleep?"
Aria's interest was pitiqued. She raised an eyebrow, "What do you have in mind?"
Joseph: "I was thinking of going somewhere nice to practice bending and then maybe some midnight snack?"
Aria was clearly conflicted. Joseph knew her pressure points, he added, "You can even take a book or spar with me."
Aria sighed, "You win. Let me just wrap myself up."
Joseph: "But it's a fine night. And it's not even cold."
Aria: "Okay. But I'll still need to change and tie my hair. I'll look like a ghost in this white dress. So, out you get."
As Aria pushed him out, Joseph mumbled something like girls and said, "Come knock on my door when you're finally ready."