This study examines the significance of emotion in the lives of culturally and linguistically diverse students within the ESL classroom. In the classroom 'underlife', students not only replicate the ideologies of the official world, but also cultivate shared cultural practices in response to the world around them. The study's findings shed light on the pivotal role that emotion plays in the formation of unique child cultures at the margin of classroom life. These child cultures in classroom underlife were where culturally and linguistically diverse students disrupt ESL labels that might position them as deficient to build their own cultural understanding, foster intimate relationships, and enhance their classroom experiences.