A/N: I hope you guys are ready for a long ride. You won't see our beloved girls interact in any romantic sense until much later in the story. I want to build these girls up before turning their worlds upside down. So hang on for a slow burn.

Chapter One

First day

The sound of birds chirping in the early morning was what caused Marceline Abadeer to wake an hour before Simon's first warning. This was one of the many reasons she hated the first day of school. It never failed; the birds would chirp at the tops of their lungs and the sun would shine bright rays perfectly into her face. There wasn't much that could make the day worst than it already was going to be but being woke up well before time equaled an even more shitty day than normal.

Sitting up with a curse falling from her lips she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before daring to fully leave the safety of her bed. Swinging her feet to the right side of the bed her feet touch the soft black rug made her so glad that she invested in the rug. It was one of the first things she bought with after landing a job at the music store. She hated touching the cold floor in the morning.

Standing and making her way to the bathroom, without thinking she grabbed her cell phone from her computer desk and began to scroll her Ubook news feed as she exited her room. Marshall just posted a selfie with London's skyline behind him glowing from dawn's warm light. Smiling she hit like. Every time she saw her twin brother doing better it brought a smile to her face. It has almost been a year since the incident but it seemed like a decade since they been face to face. Just three more months until that would happen again.

Opening Pyrrha she selected the Fleetwood Mac Station as she turned into the bathroom. Once the soft click of the door was heard Marceline reached into the cabinet that Simon just installed behind the door. Grabbing the black skinny jeans and Joan Jett tee she placed there the day before, she smirked glad that Simon didn't shoot them down the chute again.

Hopping into the shower she allowed the warm water hit her back as her mind wander to the rest of the day. Since it was the first day of school it was a half day meaning that they would be released by noon. Homeroom would be an hour long instead the typical 10 minutes on Mondays and the few classes she had today was cut in half. Nonetheless it didn't make her hate for the day any less. Everyone was louder than normal because it wasn't like they seen each other during the summer at all. Hell she went to most of the parties to know the truth. It was just a popularity contest that cause a pounding in the back of her head. Besides that she would hear the same speech that she heard since kindergarten. After that was over she would be going to band practice. Which since Guy wouldn't be back from vacation until next week it would more than likely become a jam session.

About four songs later Marceline was out the shower and dressed. She examined herself carefully in the mirror. The black mess of hair seem more unruly than usual. Running her hands through the mess she managed to lessen the look slightly.

Dreams by Fleetwood Mac began to play as she applied her eyeliner. A smile spread across her lips as the instruments played. By the time her eyeliner was perfect the chorus was creeping up. "Thunder only happens when it's raining. Players only love you when they're playing," she sang in perfect pitch. "Say women they will come and they will go. When the rain washes you clean, you'll know, you'll know."

The rest of the song played and Marceline mood was lifted. She walked out of the bathroom pausing the next song and made her way to the kitchen where Simon was placing her favorite on the table. Blueberry waffles, turkey bacon, and a small bowl of oatmeal.

"So who died," she jokes taking her seat.

"Your summer," he replied trying to keep a serious face but his eyes held the amusement that his face attempted to hide. "But no worries it'll be back in about eight and a half months from now."

"Woo, I can't wait," she cheered with little enthusiasm. Simon chuckled as he sat at the table with his normal breakfast; two eggs over easy, two slices of whole wheat toast, a banana, and a glass of milk. "You know you're allowed to eat something different once in awhile right?"

"You know what they say don't fix what's not broken."

She smirked but didn't bother replying back. Digging into her meal she wasted little to no time devouring her breakfast. Simon gave her the look that in short said "Can you pretend to act like I raised you better than that." Grinning with a mouth full she slowed down. It was the least she could do for the man that let her get away with damn near everything.

"Marshall is doing better," she stated off handedly.

Simon looked at her with said light blue eyes. Shifting her grey eyes away from his suddenly she lost her appetite. "He'll be back in a few months...we have to change a few things before then," Simon started. He knew it was still a touchy subject for her and normally didn't push it. But time was slipping away and before they would know it he would be home. "We need to show him that he's not fighting this by himself."

"I understand and before he comes back we will discuss in depth about that. But for now let's just be glad he's doing better," she replied a little too coldly.

"You know I'm happy that he's getting better Marcy," he stated not missing the mood shift. "I just want to ensure that he keeps getting better when he comes back. We want him to continue the progress that he made so far."

Standing Marceline walked to where her keys hung. She knew what he was saying had Marshall's best intentions in mind and there was no reason for her to feel upset about anything he was saying. Because she knew it was true; things had to change to truly help her brother. And she wasn't opposed to the change. It was the way Simon made her twin sound...weak that bothered her.

"When the time comes I'll make sure that everything will be ready for his return. You don't have to worry about it Simon." With that being said she took her keys and walked towards the front door trying not to let this bother her any longer than it already have.

"I believe you Marcy. I'll see you tonight," he called out as Marceline walked to the front door. For the time being she didn't have to worry about having the conversation because there was no way Simon would pushed the subject. It gave her little relief, it was almost time to seriously have the discussion about what would have to change. She didn't want to make her brother feel as if they didn't trust him. That would only push him away or make him turn back to the black hole of destruction they managed to pull him out of.

"Don't wait up for me," she shouted before walking out of the front door. Marceline hopped into her two door car and toss Keila a quick text.

Marcy: Are you up?

A few moments later her phone vibes with a response.

Keys: you know we don't have to be there until 8:30 right? Sometimes it amazes Marceline how stupid her best friend could be. It didn't take them long to get to school from Keila's house. It took her about fifteen minutes to reach the house. Keys: Unless you're trying to smoke before.

A smirk spread as she started the car. A bowl should help her get through the school day with ease. Marcy: I have enough for two bowls…

Keys: Same. We can mix a bowl together.

Not bothering to respond she started her car and sped down the street. It was 7:50 right now and Marceline knew if she wanted to smoke and make it to school on time she had to cut her normal drive time in half. Lucky enough for her the highway wasn't jam packed. In what felt like seconds she was getting off the highway excited for the wake-n-bake. Before she turned onto Keila's block she noticed the house that's been on sell for the whole summer was finally sold. The woman that used to live there put it on the market after deciding to follow her passion all the way to some village in France.

Pulling into Keila's driveway she blew her horn twice. It would take her about three minutes to come out since she had to say bye to all of her dogs. The dogs were cute but they got anxiety over being alone for a long period. Mrs. Rivers spoiled them too much which resulted in this behavior, at least that was what Keila always said. Reaching into her glove department she pulled out her grinder and new helix pipe (the second major purchase since getting a job). Kelia hopped in moments later. Without a word she handed over her share. Marceline happily took it and quickly grinding it with her bud. It wasn't too much longer before they were passing the bowl back and forth.

"We are going to reek," Keila giggled blowing out a large smoke cloud.

Rolling down the windows Marceline grinned at her best friend while pulling out of the driveway quickly. "We have a change of clothes in the trunk and I have my body spray in the glove department."

"You're always so prepared Marcy."

"Well it's the first day of school, we have to be somewhat decent man."

It wasn't long before they were pulling into their normal parking spot. With haste they changed in the back seat and then ran into the building. "So band practice tonight," Kelia giggled as they ran.

Marceline was already turning the corner at a speed that even she didn't know that she had. "Duh," she shouted amused. "I'll see you next hour."

The bell rang officially starting the beginning of the school year. Phoebe sighed as their homeroom teacher closed the door to give the welcome back spill. A whole hour in homeroom was a bit of overkill. There was only so much the homeroom teacher could do to extend their spill. Before the bell rang to officially start class she was marking off people as they walked in the room and handed out bus cards to all the public's transportation kids. Every desk had all the handouts that they needed neatly place in the corner. She had made what would really take a whole hour be done in 10 wasn't like she didn't like school, she honestly could care less, but the first day always annoyed her. Every teacher would give the same old speech with maybe a joke thrown in. Pulling her flame like waves into a loose ponytail she looked over to her best friend , Bae, who was working on a sketch. It was as if they were lost in their own little world. That was something that she envied about Bae, they could get lost in the work so easily. While her mind was always burning through thoughts like a forest fire. Phoebe glanced at the clock and sure enough it has only been six minutes since the bell rang. This caused her to clench her calligraphy pen tightly. It hasn't even been ten minutes yet which means the rest of the day was going to drag on just as slow. It wasn't like she hated school or anything but it wasn't one of her favorite thing to sit through.

"Ms. Florence I know you don't want to be here like the rest of your classmates but please try to pay attention," her homeroom teacher stated with a warm smile. "Same goes to you Romano." Bae sighed closing their sketch book and looked forward completely uninterested.

"Now as I was saying with this being your senior year there will be a lot of things that you have to attend. Like graduation planning, senior field trips, and of course college planning. During those important events you all will meet in this room. Think of me as your advisor that's here to make this year as painless as possible. You should feel free to talk to me about anything."

Somewhere after that Phoebe found herself lost in her thoughts of last night's bonfire at Brady lakefront. Fin and Jake promised one last hoorah before school started again and they kept their word. Bae had informed her that they spent hours before the party started getting everything ready. They dug a decent size hole for the bonfire and with the sand they dug up benches were made for everyone to sit on. From what Bae told her it took them about 3 hours to get everything set up and another hour trying to convince their father (who's in charge of the police district near the lakefront) to turn an eye with the fire they were planning on starting. Everything was just plain out perfect. But that was yesterday. Today held none of the excitement and pure joy that was felt throughout the whole group.

The one thing that today holds that yesterday didn't was the fact she didn't feel so lonely. Yes last night she was surrounded by her closest friends that had her back no matter what but it wasn't that type of loneliness. It was the type that lived in her heart and has been growing since the start of the summer. At first she just thought it was because her parents were spending so much time on her mother's campaign for governor. But it didn't seem to nag her when they canceled dinner plans with her. No, it seemed to gnaw at her when she was hanging out with Jake and Rayne, Bae and Fin, or even the new couple Fiona and B-Mo. She craved the closeness they had and that's what bothered her.

It wasn't like she never had a boyfriend or even a girlfriend before just never had someone that deserved to stick around. They all wanted her for one reason or another just not the right reason. Ricardo wanted her body. Jess wanted to use her popularity to boost his own. Rachel wanted the leading role in last years play. It was always something and it was never too hard to find out what it was once they started "dating". Maybe that was the reason why this loneliness was filling her heart. She never had a relationship that was pure like the rest of her friends.

Ms. Grof clasped her hands together snapping Phoebe out of her thoughts. "Now before I release you guys to your first hour class I just want to say make some memories with your friends now. You'll be surprised by how fast the year will go by. Have a great school year," she stated with the most gentle smile that Phoebe has ever witnessed. With that Ms. Grof sat down and the rest of the students around her got up.

"You missed the last part," Bae stated gathering their things into their bag. "The staff voted against the opening ceremonies this year. That's why we have a buttload of handouts. I mean look at this we could make a book out of all of these."

Standing up she smiled at her best friend. It was just like them not to push on where her mind was at this whole time. Instead they filled her in on what she missed. "Is there anything important in here," she asked flipping through her packet.

"Nothing that won't be on morning announcements or stated in one of our homeroom meetups. So you can recycle them now if you would like."

Following her out the door they both dropped their packets into the recycling bin and turned left. "So what class do you have first," Phoebe asked examining her own schedule.

"IB English 2 with Doktor. You?"

"IB Chemistry 2 with Gracia."

"I heard she was hell from my brother last year. Dennis passed with a D- but of course science is his worst subject. So maybe that played a part in it as well."

"If I can remember correctly none of the classes he took he was any good at," she chucked as they stopped at their lockers. "Maybe she isn't that bad."

"Who's not that bad," Fin asked as he threw his arm over Bae's shoulders. Bae smiled as they leaned into his chest.

Smiling to herself she turned to open her locker and threw her book bag in without a care. "Mrs. Garcia," Phoebe replied grabbing a random notebook. "I have her for chemistry."

"Jake has her too. I heard him complaining to Rayne about how she's going to be the reason his gpa drops."

"Now I'm worried," she sighed shutting her locker. "What class are you stuck in next?"

"Latin IB 1."

"You know there's still time for you to drop that class right?"

He laughed shaking his head as they began to walk. "It's not that bad you just have to have patience"

"It still doesn't make it useful," Bae giggled.

"As much fun as it would be listening to you lovebirds bicker about how useless Latin is it seems like we have arrived to my location," Phoebe stated pointing to the room number 112. "You guys have to run up to the 3rd floor right?"

"Yup. Enjoy Chem," Fin shouted as both them ran up through the doors and up the staircase.

Phoebe smiled as she watched them rush to their destination. Walking into the class she sighed in relief when she saw Jake sitting by the window bored out of his mind. Quickly taking the seat next to her burly friend she could relax a bit. "Thank goodness. I thought I was going to be the only one in here," his deep voice mumbled before turning towards her. "I almost regretted not taking Biology."

"Don't worry your brother and Bae haven't helped with wishing I took Biology," she replied not too thrilled about the teacher.

"Yeah I heard she was wicked tough with grading." rubbing the stubble on his chin as he turned something over in his head. "Do you think my parents will buy it if I blame my grades on her harsh methods?" Laughing she shook her head. "Damn you're probably right."

"Normally I am," she joked. "We can study together that way at least we can walk out of here with a 'C'."

"Ah that is what I like to hear from my students," Mrs. Garcia commented as she walked to the whiteboard. She wrote the class name and hers onto the board before continuing. "This is one of the hardest courses we have to offer and if you don't study you will most definitely fail. My name is Vanessa Garcia and this is IB Chemistry 2. Since my time is so short today I will just assign your seats today. The person next to you will be your partner for the semester."

"Now if you will come to the front of the class then I will assign your seats." Once everyone was in the front the class she quickly assigned the seats. Phoebe was assigned to the front of the class right next to Ricardo. The sleeze ball winked at her as he slide into the seat. Feeling her stomach churning she found Jake's eyes and slowly the sick feeling disappeared from the pit of her stomach. There was no way he would make a move while Jake was in class. "After the first test I will reassign seats based off of how well everyone does. I have emailed you all the syllabus, no need in killing more trees right?" The class chuckled lightly. "Now it seems like we have a few minutes left get to know your partner." Phoebe began to scribble in her notebook random designs ignoring Ricardo effectively.

Bonnibel Butler hated missing school more than anything, especially the first day of a semester. She would get her favorite seat in the front and write down everything that came out of the teachers' mouth. Today was supposed to be the day she got ahead of her class so she could focus all of her attention on interesting experiments. But here she was stuck in her room packing the last few things she been pushing off to the last moment. Mostly college level science books with a handful of her favorite books of all time. What made matters worst she wouldn't be in school for a whole week. It was bad enough that she was missing the first day but a full week? It was devastating! Now she would have to play catch up and her experiments would suffer from that. The mere thought of it alone gave her a headache. Checking her watch disappointment washed over her. 9:45. Everyone been at school for an hour now and here she was packing the rest of her life up. In another hour or so she would be in the backseat of her parents' Prius for who knows how long. Her dad loved to site-see which usually double eta.

Sighing she taped the last box shut and slide it across the floor. Poking her head out of the door she called out to her dad, "Dad I have one more box."

A few seconds later her dad, a middle aged man that stood at 5'11" with a small gut, walked up the stairs with a warm smile on his face. He could easily pass for someone in their mid to late 20s if it wasn't for the grey beard. Maybe it was just his youthful personality that made him seem younger than 52. At least that's what her mother always said. "The last one," he asked picking up the box as if it stored feathers. She nodded her head but still turned to look at her now empty room to make sure. "Alright kiddo, I will put this in the truck and then we'll grab breakfast before hitting the road."

"When will the movers get to the house," she asked hoping by the time they got to the house she would be able to unpack right away and get a good night sleep for school that Wednesday.

"Well it's a little over a day drive from here to Milwaukee. So I would imagine they would get there Thursday afternoon if breaks are taken," he answered looking off to space like he normally did when he was calculating something. "Friday Morning at the latest."

"And we will be there?"

"Tuesday Morning," he answered smiling as he saw her eyes light up. He knew that she already timed the trip out and was hoping to start school the following day of their arrival. "If you want I can maybe try and get us there Monday night."

"And then I can start class Tuesday," She asked practically squealing.

"Ye-" Before he could answer her fully she was hugging him. Laughing he hugged her back with his free arm. "I take it that you're excited about school then?"

"Ecstatic!"

"Go down stairs and see if your mom needs help with anything."

Nodding her head Bonnibel practically skipped down the stairs with her mood lifted. To some people it was weird that she was actually excited about the chance that she could start school sooner rather than later. But learning was only thing she was passionate about. Sure she hung out with her friends but they didn't hold a candle to how long she spent researching, experimenting, and discovering. Walking out of the front door she found her mother looking over what Bonnie was guessing to be the contract. Ever since she could remember she could hear the multiple voices commenting on how she look like a spitting image of her mom. And every time she would think about how amazing biology was.

It wasn't long before her mother's similar hazel eyes met hers. A tired smile spread as Bonnibel walked over to her. "Ready for the big move," she asked looking back at the clipboard.

"As ready as I will ever be," Bonnie answered truthfully. It wasn't like she had a choice about it. If she did she would have her best friend Grantt over planning their next partner experiment. And during that time they would talk about their favorite shows and/or things going on in school. For the first time this morning she thought of something other than missing school. She was going to miss her best friend...

"Are you okay sweetheart," her mother questioned as she handed the clipboard to one of the movers.

"Yeah...I'm-"

"Don't tell me you were going leave without seeing me one more time," a deep amused voice shouted cutting Bonnibel off.

Spinning around so fast her strawberry hair whipped across her face. Grinning she ran over to her burly best friend and jumped into his open arms. With ease he caught her and hugged her tightly. She couldn't believe she forgot about her best friend in all of the craziness. Putting her down he pushed his deep brown locks out of his face. "Shouldn't you be at school," she teased.

Tilting his head back he let out a hearty laugh. "Yeah, I should be. It feels extremely weird not being there but there was no way I wasn't going to see you before you left. Would you believe the heart attack I gave my mom when I told her I wasn't going today."

There was a reason why he was her best friend. They had the same passion when it came to school and science. Only he also balanced being their high school's starting quarterback.

"I figured you would be in school,you know, in the memory of my memory."

Smiling he shrugged nonchalantly. "I'll go tomorrow. Have you had anything for breakfast yet?" Shaking her head she looked over to her mother with pleading eyes. This would be the last time at least until winter break that she was going to see him in person. All she wanted was just one more hour with him.

"Be back by noon," was all she needed to hear before she was dragging Grantt in the direction of his truck. It wasn't too much longer that they were driving off to their favorite dinner.

"I can't believe you're leaving ," Grantt sighed. "Summer went by way too fast."

Bonni knew exactly what he meant. When her parents announced the big movie at the beginning of the summer it felt as if it would take forever for the day to arrive. But the days flew by as they spent their summer completing experiments and just hanging out. Looking back at it now it felt as if it was Only yesterday that her parents made the announcement.

"This is really going to suck," she mumbled as they parked not realizing that she spent so much time in her thoughts. "I wish they would've just waited until I graduated."

"Jobs like the one you dad landed doesn't come around everyday. I mean your Dad will be the lead researcher at Ooo." Grantt slid into the booth motioning for her to do the same. She did without missing a beat. "They asked him the minute the last guy announced his retirement."

She smiled and nodded her head. "I know it was something that he couldn't pass up. I'm happy for him but…"

Sensing that Bonnibel was getting close to being lost in her thoughts again he placed his much larger hand over hers. "You're going to miss it here...but think of it as a test run for college next year."

She stared into his light brown eyes and felt a weird feeling in her stomach. Smiling she examined the menu. "You know what I'm going to miss more than anything," she questioned glancing back up to him.

"The blueberry pancakes," our usual waitress Sandra jokes.

Bonnie turned her head and smiled at the 33 year old mother of two. Sandra always made sure to take their orders even though she had a great waiting team. Bonnie had a feeling it was because Grant helped with her bookkeeping and taxes. While he did that Bonnie would tutor, play, and/or watch cartoons with her kids.

"They are amazing," Bonnie replied.

"So today is the big day huh?" Bonnibel nodded her head. "Are you coming back to visit?"

"For a week during winter break and a few random times over the year." Both Grant's and Bonnie's parents already agreed to allow them to visit each other. They've been best friends since day care and knowing that was enough to convince their parents. "So it'll be like I never left."

Sandra studied Bonnibel for a few moments before smiling. Bonnie turned back to Grantt with a small smile on her face hoping that the conversation would change. And luckily it did. With everything going on she didn't feel up to talking about how much she didn't want to move. How she hated the thought of making new friends and trying to figure out how to get to places. She wanted to keep the life she had here instead of starting all over.

As Bonnibel's mind raced about everything that she was going to miss about her life time flew by. Before she could even attempt to pull her mind away from the sea she was already in the back of her parents car waving bye to her best friend. Grantt was still grinning and waving as her parents drive off. And as she watch everything she grew up with fade into the background a strange feeling swished around her stomach.