"Huh? Oh damn!" And this is what all her blubbering got her almost. Harley raced to send her paper over to the printer, only mere seconds before the bell rang. "Phew! Made it!" She sighed and wiped her brow, almost in a dramatic fashion. "Oh, right! Lemme check my schedule." Again the process of having to dig it out of the back pocket of her jeans and smooth it out on the table. Maybe she should consider getting one of those fancy planner things like Nat has.

"Hmm...looks like I got..." She read her schedule, but shortly, her face wrinkled with disgust. "Ewww...Calculus. More math."

---

m.youtube.com/watch?v=KX8ebGCzGeo

Hell...who was she to deny it? Even after so long they were separated, the guy could still make bitter, cynical her crack a smile. She laughed at him, the first time she's ever had a good laugh in a while. "Nah, I'm pretty sure I've been wicked lately. I mean...getting high and fucked up every night, selling drugs at school...being a bitch to you for like ever... not exactly a goody two-shoes princess." Helena sighed, a brief pause. She felt her phone buzz in her pocket, but ignored it.

If it was Darren, then fuck him. She didn't have to answer him at all. The redhead looked up at Jason. It was weird how tall he was now. Back when they were kids, he was always the short one. She smiled, a small curl of her lips.

"I'm really glad you showed up though, Jase. Things have been...really screwy lately, and I needed someone to talk to. Truth be told...you were the first person who came to mind."

@Flightless_Soul
Natalia removed Harley's paper from the printer and placed in front of the cowgirl. "Calculus...", said the blonde-haired girl as she rapidly moved around the room turning off the electronic devices and returning to their place all the things she had taken from the wooden cabinet.



"I think I have Calculus, too!", the blue-eyed girl expressed. "Could you please erase the whiteboard while I check my schedule?", asked the petite girl handing the whiteboard eraser to her friend.

---

Returning his frame to a standing position, Jason sweetly smiled. Hearing Lena laugh filled his heart with so much warmness. He had not seen her laugh like that in a long time. That day at the cemetery, it was not only Helena's mother who had been buried, the brown-haired boy had felt that his Lena, his dear childhood friend, had been buried as well.

Jason and Helena had been the best of friends all throughout Elementary School and the majority of Middle School; however, they had started to drift apart during their last year of Junior High. The brown-eyed boy had been accepted into the basketball team and this had significantly decreased his time with the red-haired girl. He focused more on getting better at playing basketball and focused less on his friendship with Lena.

Things got even worse between them when they began High School. It seemed that the more Jason tried to recapture their closeness, the more he drove them apart.

It was strange though, now that they were just the two of them alone, standing in front of each other with nobody else around them, it felt as if the flame of their friendship had never died out.

"And I am really glad you called Lena," expressed the tall boy with kindness. "I have been wanting to talk to you for a long time."

---

As soon as Thomas walked out of the room, Madison grabbed her bag and looked for her cell phone. The pink-haired looked thru her contacts until she found the one she wanted.

Pressing the call button on her cell phone, the green-eyed girl waited for the person on the other side of the line to answer the call.

"Why are you not answering?!", thought Madison to herself with impatience. "Why are you making ME wait?!"

"Sure thing, partner!" Harley nodded with a smile, though she wasn't too happy her next class was a math class. Oh well, at least if she had trouble, her study buddy could get her out of it. Closing her laptop and stowing her things in her bag, Harley stood up and erased the whiteboard as asked.

"So we still up on that trip to Central Park?" She asked. It looked like after her moment of apathy, she was right as rain and the same bubbly cowgirl once again. It felt good actually to get that off her chest, though...she still worried about her brother. "I can't wait!"

---

"Hmph...Really..." Helena replied muttering. True, even after so long, she still felt her friendship with Jason never really died out, but it would take some time for her to let go of her resentment towards him abandoning her all those years, especially the day of her mom's death. Her voice was still a bit bothersome and aggravated. It was not much towards Jason, but...well...everything in general.



She sighed, turning away from Jason with a frown and facing the Manhattan Skyline. It could always be seen from over the treetops, even in her crappy ass neighborhood. From her pocket, she fished out a crumpled cigarette, clenching it between her lips and lighting it, taking a few drags before continuing. "You...never really made much of an effort in the first place. I mean, I called and texted you I don't know how many times...but you never answered. Guess you had...better things to do, right? But I didn't call you here to guilt trip you."

She turned to face him again. The look in her dark green eyes...it was a familiar one to her, one of pain and desparation. "I need your help, Jason. I hate this fucking city so much, and I want to leave. I can't though, because some fuckhead is always sucking me dry, and dad's still chugging the fucking bottle down blowing what little money we have on booze! I swear, Jase, my life just went to shit after mom died! I fucking hate it here now!" The redhead shook with anger, the tears practically welling in her eyes. She wiped them away on her sleeve and sighed.

@Typhon

Roxanne is passing by the cafe looking for someone to hang out with before going to class. She runs her fingers her purple hair as she orders coffee. She wonders what happen to the teacher she help earlier and also wonders if she did not miss drama class.She sips her coffee as she stands near the wall.

@Flightless_Soul

Opening her pink-leather Hello Kitty schedule book, Natalia checked what class she had next. "Wow!", exclaimed the blonde-haired girl with a happy grin on her visage. "I have Calculus as well!"

Shifting her gaze from the schedule to her friend, the petite girl confirmed. "Of course! We are definitely going to Central Park after school!"

Finishing packing all of her things inside her handbag, Natalia uttered with urgency. "Let's hurry to our lockers!"

The petite girl looked at the clock once again. It was 11:00 a.m., which meant they were already late for the math class. "Hurry up!", said the blue-eyed girl while running out of the study room. "Hopefully our next teacher allows us to be a few minutes late!"

---

Helena's words felt like a sharp knife to Jason's heart. It was as if with every word the red-haired girl said the blade cut deeper and deeper into the young boy's heart.

It was true that the brown-haired boy had neglected their friendship by focusing more of his time and attention on playing basketball and spending time with his girlfriend; however, he had always wanted to rekindle his friendship with the green-eyed girl.

It was just that they had become so different from each other that he did not know how to approach her anymore. And then there was the agreement the basketball boy had made with his parents. They would pay for Helena's tuition but in return, Jason had to stop being friends with the red-haired girl. The tall boy's parents did not approve of the "new" Helena and did not want for their son's image to get tarnished because of her.

They had forbidden the boy from contacting the green-eyed girl before but it had not worked. They knew he would still find ways to interact with Helena, even if that meant for him to buy whatever drugs she was selling or talk to her skater friends from time to time.

However, things were different at the moment. He was fully aware that if he did not keep his end of the bargain, the red-haired girl would immediately get kicked out of the school. To fulfill his agreement, Jason had stopped talking to Helena's skater friends and had tried to stop interacting with the green-eyed girl as much as he could.

So why was he in the park with Helena now? Even though the brown-haired boy knew that he should not have gone to the skate park to meet Helena, he still did it. Something inside his heart had urged him to meet her. Maybe it was the fact that despite all the signs saying no, Jason truly believed that the real Lena, his Lena, was still alive deep down inside the skater girl.

Seeing the sorrow and hopelessness inside the girl's emerald eyes, the brown-haired boy had to fight his strong desire to go and tightly wrap his arms around her as he had done it plenty of times before to console her when they were children. However, seeing her cry in front of him was more than he could bear.

The tall boy dropped his backpack on the ground and ran towards his friend. "You are not alone, Lena!", said the brown-haired boy throwing his arms around the girl's frame and involving it in a warm hug. "I will never again leave you alone!", expressed the tall boy with utmost sincerity.



He had left her cry alone at the cemetery, and he still regretted doing so. So there was no way he was going to let cry alone now that she was in front of him.

---

Madison heard the phone ringing and ringing but nobody answered. The pink-haired girl ended the call and open Whatsapp on her cell phone.

"Stupid Amelia! She had better have a really good excuse for not answering my call", said the green-eyed girl with indignation as she tapped and hold the microphone button.

"Why are you not answering my phone call?!", shouted Madison. "Who do you think you are to make me wait?! You better call me back as soon as you hear this message!". She removed her finger from the microphone button, grabbed her bag and stormed out of the room.