Once more a lack of proper order of stories on my part. After this one I might take a short break, JUST so I can properly organize my stories.

Harder to write this one. I worked late tonight. Or yesterday, since I just now posted this. ^_^"

Leah sighed mildly as she once more took a seat at her table, alone. No Thatch. Ever since Jake had come back to school, her batty was acting weird. And that was well over a week ago.. a full week of not having her vampire at her side, was really tough. And not that she'd ever tell them... but it was even tougher now that Casper and Lexi had gotten super lovey again. A reminder that her batty boyfriend was, kind of blowing her off...

Looking up, finding Thatch no where around in the cafeteria, she decided that if he was, once again, going to not be here, then she would at least sit with her friends. Maybe Jake could lift her spirits. He always could make people smile. Either on purpose or accident...~

Getting to her feet, grabbing her lunch box, she made her way over to to Slither, DummyGirl and Mosshead. They looked a bit lonely too after all. No Thatch to hang out with... maybe they could cheer each other up. Besides, she didn't really hang out with the, much, despite them being so close with Thatch. They were his friends, and she liked them too of course. But. She definitely needed to show it a bit better. Gently. She smiled to them, happy when they smiled back.

" Oh hey Leah! "

Mosshead greeted her gently, in his usual excited tone~

" How are you~? "

Smiling, the angel shrugged gently to this. Signaling that she was alright they assumed. Dummygirl, just chuckling to it though.

" Yeah I hear ya. Things have been pretty mellow here as of late. I kind of miss the days where Thatch and us would all cause pranks. Just because it would liven things up, be it good or bad. It was just fun really~ "

The angel grinned to this, mildly wishing she could laugh. It did sound fun, so long as no one got hurt after all~

" I mean, I get that Thatch turned over a new leaf, and we're happy for him! "

Slither continued for the other two.

" But. We do sometimes miss how things once were. Not the hatred, but the pranks and random mischief. "

Huh. It did sound like something that would take a long time to get over. Being one way for so long, mischievous children, then changing to behaving. Friendly. It wouldn't be an easy adjustment on any of them. Though... Leah liked how they all were now. Especially Thatch. She just couldn't imagine him as the bully everyone here remembered so clearly. She was grateful to never have known his nasty self...~

Slowly. She began to wonder if the trio had also begun to notice Thatch acting off too. After all, they did know him really well, and it wasn't an easy change to miss. Maybe they had even seen the odd behavior before even SHE had. They WERE all really close after all. Heck, maybe they even knew WHY he was acting so off. Maybe they knew if something happened to him or not. Maybe something at home?

It couldnt hurt to ask them at least.

Reaching into her bag, she pulled out her notebook, opening it to the next blank page. Noting mentally that she was running out of pages. She'd have to get a new notebook soon... shaking her head, she soon began to write. Trying not to write so fast she scribbled. Writing a note wouldn't matter if the others couldn't read her handwriting after all. Once certain she got it all down properly, she held up her message, which read.

" Hey guys. Have any of you noticed Thatch acting strangely lately? I can hardly find him, and when I do, he doesn't act like himself. "

The trio aoll turned to each other to this, looking a bit taken before... looking around the room, as if trying to think it over carefully. Slowly, Mosshead started to speak.

" Actually... I, haven't seen him much. But when I do, he... he acts a bit off yeah. Much more giggly than normal, and, bit clueless too. Like, he doesn't know things he always knows. Like his own school schedule... "

" Hey yeah, that's right. "

Slither agreed, turning to Mosshead now. Saying gently.

" The other day, he almost went into miss Headys class when we both had both had Mr. Burns class. "

" Hmmm. He also can't stand the creature food like he used too. He'd never had a problem with it before. "

DummyGirl soon added, looking a bit more shocked as she said it out loud. Leah, biting her lip to hearing all this. Thatch... that was really off, even for him. Hurrying to write, she held up beer notebook again.

" You guys don't think Jose is active within him again do you? "

The trio seemingly paled to hearing this. And which was a natural reaction as, they were there for the last time Jose was awake. It wasn't pretty Leah knew that much. She hadn't been there for it, but she didn't want to either. She could only imagine how bad it was based on the stories she heard from the others around school...

" I... wanna say we'd probably know if Jose was active... "

DummyGirl gently said, shaking her head a bit. No doubt, bothered by the mere idea of it. Leah, nodding softly, expression telling her apology. Not wanting to bring down the mood any more... she soon stood up. Giving the three a gentle smile and a wave, soon heading out of the cafeteria all together.

Walking down the hallway, munching on the apple from her lunch, she couldn't help but think of Thatch again. Truly... she wanted to get to the bottom of his weird behavior. This wasn't like him... it happened the weekend after Jake came back... Thatch had been off all week since then. So, something must've happened to him over the weekend then...

What could've possibly happened to do this to him...?

Phew. Made it. I got worried I'd fall asleep while writing this...~ X'D

Anyway. Hope you guys liked it~