"Hey, Boo!" Melanie called as she spotted the curvy blond dancer putting her books in her locker. She and Sasha sped up slightly until they were all three side by side.

"Yeah?"

"Don't you 'yeah' me Boo; we said we'd do lunch together today." Melanie snapped.

"But what about Carl?" Boo protested. "He wanted to have lunch together today and I couldn't say no, could I?"

"Yes." Sasha said firmly. "That is exactly what you are supposed to do – friends come first." She nodded wisely.

"Fine. I'm sorry. But what about you and Roman?" Boo countered. "You guys eat lunch sometimes."

"Yes, Boo, we eat lunch every together Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. But we plan it. Deal, okay?"

"God, you guys sound like Ginny and that guy." Melanie remarked snidely.

"'That guy?' Mel, they dated for years; how can you not remember his name?" Boo said in surprise.

"I don't know – because it wasn't important?"

"He was her boyfriend, Mel." Boo rolled her eyes.

"More like a bolster pillow."

"You did not just say that."

"Josh. It was Josh, okay? Can everyone calm down now?" Sasha snapped.

"Okay, wow. Sorry." Melanie said, rolling her eyes.

"Come on; we have class this afternoon."

"Big surprise there." Ginny said, appearing next to them as they exited the school. "Madame Fanny's really pressing it in, isn't she?"

"Yeah." Melanie said, agreeing with the tiny blond.

"Well, maybe you guy's just aren't taking dance seriously enough." Sasha snapped.

"God, Sasha, what's with you today? Fighting with Roman?"

"What? No. Roman and I are fine." Which, Sasha thought, was true enough. Amidst all the chaos in her life, she and Roman were, surprisingly okay.

"Then I guess you're giving him all the love and us all the snark, huh Sasha?" Melanie burst out; then looked slightly ashamed. Internally, Sasha wanted to slap her, but she didn't.

"Wow, thanks Mel."

"Hey, just speaking the truth."

"Come on guys." Boo pleaded. "We have to get to class.

"Fine." Sasha said, sneering at Boo." I'm getting. We're all getting. Let's go"

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Sasha sat on the floor lacing her ballet shoes, still a little annoyed at her friends; especially Melanie. Ever since the tall, brunette dancer had taken up the stupid hobby of roller-derby, she had been slowly pulling away from the rest of the group. Or had the group been pulling away from her? Sasha wondered. Without ballet trying the four of them together, could they still function? They had when Fanny had closed down the studio; she remembered. But then they had been united with the loss of ballet, so it wasn't really the same, was it? No, it wasn't. She looked around the studio. Melanie was in class today, yes, but the times when she wasn't were becoming more and more frequent. Sasha suspected that she might soon quit ballet all together. And that would be a pity, Sasha thought, as she smoothed her hair back into a bun. Melanie was a pretty good dancer, when it came down to it. A bit to distractible, but pretty good none the less. She missed Melanie already; the only one of her friends she could have a semi-decent conversation with. If she was being honest, she feared what would happen if her group fell apart. If she lost the only friends she ever had.

Suddenly, a wave of loneliness washed over her. She was already losing them, if she'd ever really had them to begin with.

She didn't want to think about this anymore, but it was as if she couldn't turn her mind off. She glanced at the clock – ten minuets until class. She glances around the room – Melanie was chatting with Cozette, Boo with Ginny and Matisse. she felt suddenly and forcefully alone. Because when it came down to it, she was. Melanie; the only one of her friends she could ever talk to was slowly distancing herself from the group, Boo and Ginny were totally oblivious, and Roman? It wasn't like she could talk to a boyfriend about the dark thoughts that swam around her head at night; the worthlessness and the guilt and the sadness that never seemed to go away. Boyfriends were for happy thoughts; which frankly, Sasha was finding very difficult at the moment.

Eight minuets until class started. She slid the razor out of her purse and headed towards the bathroom. Nobody cared anyway.

000000000000

"Michelle; would you go get Sasha?" Fanny asked her daughter in law. "Class starts in three minuets and you know how i feel about people being tardy."

"No problem, Fanny." Michelle said. "Be back in a sec."

000000000000

Michelle opened the bathroom door and was met with silence.

"Sasha? She asked softly. "You in here?" Nobody answered, but michelle noticed feet in the last stall. "Sasha?"

"Hold on" A small, hurried voice said, and Michelle heard panic in Sasha's response. Alarm bells went off in her head.

A few long minutes later, Sasha came out of the stall, head down, and started for the door. michelle saw that her eyes were red and her face was pale.