Looking back years later, neither one would be able to say what exactly had caused it.
Of course, they would each blame the other.
If their friends knew, they hid it well.
Most likely for fear of dredging up old issues.
But Tanis and Adena never had any problem recounting the oh-so-dramatic moment when they first heard the news…
"Gary Furlong and I are through!" Adena's head shot up from the book she had been flipping through. She was met with an extremely irate Cody standing furiously in her doorway.
And by the looks of things, her mascara was running.
A lot.
That simply would not do.
"Sweetie," Adena all but leapt off her bed, shifting into 'motherly mode', "what's the matter?" She took Cody by the arm and led her over to her bed, shutting the door quietly and grabbing a box of Kleenex on her way.
"I am finished with that stupid, egotistical, hair-brained, idiot-,"
"What's going on out here?" Tanis entered from the bathroom, clad in only a bathrobe and a towel wrapped around her hair.
"Um, I think Squib and Cody are fighting-,"
"Not fighting!" Cody cut her off in what Tanis thought to be an unnecessarily loud voice, "Broken up!"
"What?" Tanis asked.
"For good!"
"Okay, okay, calm down," Adena pulled a Kleenex from the box and began to gently wipe the black smudges away from under Cody's eyes. "Start from the beginning." Cody nodded, taking a few deep breaths, while Tanis sat herself beside her friend.
"Okay, so, I walk into the cafeteria for lunch, right? And I see him sitting with that dumb Isabelle chick, and she's all-,"
"Oh, Squib," Isabelle giggled flirtatiously, "You were so great today! I wish I had your talent…"
Squib chuckled, smiling in what he hoped was a dashing manner, "Oh, please, I'm not all that great…"
"Yes you are!" Isabelle quickly assured him. "It must be all that working out you do. I mean, you must work out; with arms like those…"
"Hey guys," came I decidedly tense voice. The two looked up (although not that much, because she'd always been pretty tiny) to see an angry Cody.
"Oh, hey, Cody," Squib said cheerfully. Obviously the very notion that a pretty girl was talking to him made him oblivious to the fact that his girlfriend looked like she was about to slap the pretty girl.
"What's going on here?"
"Oh, Isabelle and I were just talking…"
"Really? How nice. But if you don't mind, Izzie, I need to steal him away for a moment." Without waiting for an answer, Cody grabbed Squib by the arm and dragged him out of the room.
"…And then she just freaks out on me! She's all Why the heck were you talking to Isabelle? Don't you know she only wants one thing? And I'm all Well soooor-ry! Didn't know I was your property!"
"Sounds tough, man," Cameron nodded sympathetically, sitting on his bed and listening to Squib's tale of woe.
"It was ridiculous!" He exclaimed. "So I tell her it didn't mean anything, but she's all-,"
"Oh please, Squib! It meant something to her! You always do this!"
"Do what?" He asked indignantly.
"Fall for the first piece of-,"
"Hey now!"
"-that lays eyes on you!"
"It's not my fault some girl actually shows an interest in me!"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You spend more time in your darkroom than with your boyfriend!"
"Well, maybe if my boyfriend wasn't always off with other girls-,"
"Well, maybe if you weren't so jealous-,"
"It's not my fault you can't control yourself!"
" That's it! We're through!"
"…So he dumps me!"
"Seriously?" Tanis asked, looking slighting horrified. "Just right there in the hall?"
"Right there!" Cody confirmed.
"He dumped you?" Adena asked.
"In the hall!"
"That's it! We're though!"
"…So she dumps me!"
"Wait, she dumped you?" Cameron asked in disbelief.
"Dumped me! Right there in the hall!" Squib exclaimed.
"That's…harsh, man."
"Damn right, it's harsh!"
"…So then he just walked off in a huff! I mean, what a jerk, right?"
"He can't get away with this!" Tanis exclaimed.
"What do you mean?" Cody asked, substantially more clam but no less angry.
"I think she means," Adena explained, "if that you deserve revenge."
"She can't get away with this," Cameron informed his friend.
"What do you mean?" Squib, never the brightest crayon in the box, asked.
"I mean we need to get revenge."
Squib sat up excitedly, "You mean, like, kidnapping? Cement her feet into concrete blocks and toss her in Lake Memphre?"
"…We'll talk about this when you've calmed down."
Don't ask me where this came from. And I know it's out of character for Cody to be sobbing over a guy, Cameron to seek revenge, and Squib to plot her murder, but…
Artistic license?