I was staring at the back of her head, like usual. She was wearing a sweatshirt, her hands stuffed in her pockets, and her baggy sweatpants damn at the bottom from the puddles outside. Her hair was frizzy today, unlike every other day. But she still looked wonderful.

"Cinderella re-enactment, GO!" Sikowitz shouted, pointing at Cat, who was sitting next to Tori. Cat looked up at him, holding her hair above her lip as a mustache.

"But Sikowitz, I want to be Ariel." Cat pouted, hugging the small stuffed fish she brought to class against her chest.

"Oh-kay, then Tori! You may be Cinderella today."

Tori stood up slowly, trudged to the front of the class, and stared at us all. I smiled brightly at her, but she didn't smile back. "Hi, I'm Cinderella."

"Awe, you wore rags today to match your part." Jade clapped, "I give you props!"

"Sikowitz, I really don't feel like doing this-" Tori was interrupted by an announcement on the loudspeaker. It was the principal, announcing that auditions for the Christmas play were rescheduled to after school today, rather than next week. Tori's jaw dropped. "Oh, no."

"If you audition like that, at least you're sure to get a part," Jade giggled to herself, "You can be the rug."

"Sikowitz, can I go to the girl's room?" Tori sniffled loudly, ran her fingers through her hair, and then walked out of class before he could answer her. I watched her leave. I didn't know what was wrong. I wasn't sure if she was sick or upset about something, but I wanted to know. Bad.

"Does anyone want to be Cinderella?" Sikowitz looked at the class expectantly, "No?"

"I still want to be Ariel," Cat stood up, "But I don't know if it's such a good idea, because I'll have to live in the ocean, and cats don't like water."

"Do you like water, Cat?" He asked, taking the fish plush from her hands.

"I do!" She giggled, running to the front of the class, "It's my favorite thing to take a shower in."

"Hey," I spoke up, raising my hand, "Can I go to the restroom, please?"

"Sure thing, Andre. Find Tori while you're out. But don't go inside the girl's room. You might get suspended." He winked at me but I ignored him. I grabbed my bag and left class, walking down the hallway until I saw Tori sitting on the steps near our lockers. She was tying her hair in a ponytail and adjusting her glasses.

"You okay, Tori?" I sat next to her, and put my hand against her forehead. She didn't feel warm. "You sick?"

"No." She shrugged. "Just not having a good week."

"I noticed." I actually had noticed, because on Monday, she fell asleep in class, on Tuesday, she told Cat off at lunch, and today, she looked like a hobo. "What's going on?"

"I just haven't been in the mood for things lately." She shrugged again. "I don't really want to talk about it."

"Can I come over tonight? We can have popcorn and watch a movie to cheer you up." I put my hand out for her to take so I could help her stand up. "Or wait- you're auditioning today after school, aren't you?"

"Well, I was going to audition for the lead." She sighed loudly. "But now this is just another thing gone wrong. I can't audition looking like this or feeling like this. Jade's right. The only part I'll be able to get is the rug."

"I don't think they need someone to play the rug. They can just buy a rug." I laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

"I'd be a free rug." She slouched. "I'm not even going to audition. There's no point."

"Tori, what's gotten into you? You never talk like this. You're always confident." I put my hand on her shoulder but she nudged it away.

"I already told you. I'm just not having a good week." She started walking away from me in the direction back to class. "Thanks for being concerned, though."

After school, I found Cat near the auditorium.

"Cat," I walked up to her. "Are you auditioning for the play?"

"Yup yup!" She smiled at me, "I'm so excited. I either want to get the role of the elf, or Mrs. Claus!"

"That's great-"

"But if I don't get either of those parts, I guess I'll be okay with playing a snowman or something. I really like snowmen, they're so cold but also so cute. Kind of like Jade! But I guess that Jade would be better suited for that part, then, right? And I'd feel bad if I got a part that Jade should have, because that's almost like stealing and stealing isn't good, or nice." She stomped her foot, "I'm so confused now."

"That's great, but can you do me a favor?" I pointed at her bag, "Do you have extra clothes in there, and your hair... stuff?"

"I do! I always bring extra clothes around with me, because sometimes I get really clumsy and I spill food on myself. And I also always have things to do my hair with, because I really do love my hair. Sometimes I put products in my hair that smell really good because I want to make my hair taste really good, but it never works." She shrugged. "I guess dyeing my hair the color of a red velvet cupcake wasn't such a good idea, because now I always want to eat it."

"Can you come with me, and help Tori look a little more presentable for an audition? She really wants the lead, but she didn't really come to school dressed-" She cut me off again.

"Wow! Andre, you're such a good friend. That's such a great idea. I'll go find her." Cat picked up her bag and ran off, down the halls.

I stood outside of the auditorium awkwardly, not knowing if I should leave and trust Cat to take care of things, or wait and give Tori some support when she got there. I took out my phone and texted both girls, but neither answered. I hoped they were getting Tori ready in the bathroom or something, but I didn't know.

I didn't know what was bugging Tori, but I knew that I had to fix it, and this was step one. She had to get the lead. If she didn't get the lead in this play, whatever funk she was in lately would last a lot longer.

After a while, Cat strolled back to the auditorium, right past me, and inside.

"Cat, wait!" I ran inside after her, grabbing her shoulder and staring right into her eyes, "Where's Tori?"

"Tori?" She tilted her head to the side. "Oh! Tori! I couldn't find her. I called her but she didn't answer, so I just came back here."

"Why didn't you answer my text?" I asked, groaning loudly.

"You asked where Tori was but I didn't know so I didn't think answering would be much help to you. So I didn't answer..." She frowned. "Was that the wrong thing to do? I'm sorry!"

"Ugh, it's okay." I slapped my forehead, then turned to leave.

I drove to Tori's house, and knocked on the door. Over and over and over again. Trina answered.

"Hi Andrew," she smiled at me, munching on a Kit-Kat bar. "Tori's sleeping on the couch right there. I think she's sad about something. I'd totally ask her about it but she doesn't tell me anything! All she does is yell at me. I think it's about a boy. She's been writing songs lately, and she never writes songs. You know how bad she sucks at writing."

I stared at her blankly. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever." She stepped aside so I could walk in, then slammed the door and pranced back into the kitchen where she was making what looked like cookie dough with chunks of Kit-Kat inside. I saw Tori sleeping on the couch, her face crinkled as she hugged a pillow tightly against her body. There was a bit of drool dripping from her mouth. I sat next to her, staring. "You know, you two sure do hang out a lot to be just friends."

"We aren't just friends," I laughed quietly, trying not to wake her. "We're best friends."

"I think that's some bullshit, buddy." She laughed