Alas it seems no matter how hard I try I still take a lot longer to write than most people, but in my defence this is an important chapter that I really wanted to get right. So I hope you enjoy Chapter 4 and please leave a review :)

Scott Williams was up almost the entire night, not a wise move on a school night but he wasn't a little kid anymore so he reckoned he could stay up as late as he wanted. He had played the events of that evening over and over in his mind without coming to any satisfactory conclusion. He had hoped that maybe Jeanette had just been too tired after the first day back, she was just eager to get home and get some rest. He'd acted like a jerk, bringing up her ex that soon in a relationship. She hadn't even dated Simon and yet he still thought of him as her ex, that's how close they were. How could he ever hope to compete with that?

He continued to scroll through web page after webpage, not really reading them or even paying attention to what he was typing. It was just one of those things that he'd started doing instinctively to help him think, and boy did he have a lot to think about tonight.

Without even realising that he was doing it, he found himself typing into Google again, 'What can I do to get a girl to like me'. Wow, there were millions of hits for that, most he could confess to having read already. Idly he clicked on one at random, some anonymous guy asking what he could do to get a girl to like him. The responses were so unhelpful and clichéd they almost made Scott feel sick. 'Best advice anyone can give, just be yourself bro' seemed to be the gist of what they were saying. He could argue against that of course, if you needed help then obviously being yourself just wasn't working.

He turned away from the screen towards his towers of DVD's, box-sets of Quantum Leap, Star Trek and Doctor Who laughing at him across the room, before his vision fell back to the desk, or rather the picture sitting on it. It was a picture of him and Simon on a field trip to the Science museum, posing in front of a life-size model of Robby the Robot, as if he was planning on coming to life and chasing them any second.

It was a good memory, one he'd always cherished; his first day out with his best friend in the entire world. How could he possibly compete with someone he respected and idolised so much?

But if Jeanette really loved Simon then why had she asked him out in the first place? Was he just the victim of a cruel joke or was there something else that he didn't know about?

There seemed to be so many questions nowadays, questions that it seemed nobody could answer. He wished that he could go back in time and politely turn down Jeanette's offer. Sure he might lose out on his only chance of finding love, but nothing could possibly feel worse than what he was feeling at the moment.

What was he supposed to do? How could he make everything work out?

He read the line again, 'Just be yourself.', 'Be yourself'. His eyes fell back down to the photo.

But what if you just aren't good enough?

The second day is never as bad as the first, that's what they say at least, what the chipmunks had always been told, but the sad truth was that never been quite that simple. After all it really depended on what the first day had been like. For Jeanette the second day back looked like it was going to be infinitely worse than the first if that was even possible.

She had woken early that morning, not that she had really got much sleep to begin with. Every time she had closed her eyes she'd relieved those terrible last few moments when she'd turned her back on Scott; Every time she was left wondering what she could have done differently, wondering if she'd done the right thing. Of course she'd known that it hadn't been the right thing, this whole situation had been messed up, and it was all her fault.

She skipped on breakfast that morning, deciding that it was best to try and avoid a grilling from her sisters, besides she wasn't feeling that hungry anyway. Right now she needed to focus all her time and energy on more pressing matters, but no matter how hard she tried she just couldn't understand it.

She liked Scott, she really did, they were great friends and got along really well, they had a lot in common, shared many of the same interests (Except for his sci-fi obsession), theoretically at least they should have been a perfect couple, but there was just something that didn't work. There just seemed to be no spark, no passion, nothing that could push their relationship beyond friendship. Perhaps if they remained in their 'relationship' long enough then something like that might grow over time, but was she really prepared to take that chance.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't even notice that someone else had entered her room, until a bowl of cereal was placed in front of her. Slightly startled she looked up to see Eleanor's kindly face beside her, "It's a bit soggy now but I thought you'd like some breakfast."

Jeanette nodded. She really couldn't have asked for a better pair of sisters. No matter how bad she may have felt she could always rely on them to be there for her.

"Is anything the matter?" Eleanor asked, well aware that her sister had been more quiet and reclusive than usual since she'd got back from school yesterday evening. Jeanette picked up the bowl of mushy cereal, not sure what to do with it, or what to say to her sister. She couldn't think of anyone that she could trust more than Eleanor, but even telling her would still feel like she was betraying Scott. This was something that they needed to sort out between themselves, no matter how much she might have wanted it she couldn't ask for help. "No, nothings the matter," she lied, "I just need to speak to Scott that's all."

It didn't take long for Scott to make his way to the Millers house; after all it was becoming a route that he was getting quite familiar with. Just like yesterday he found himself running a free paw through his hair, as if expecting that to calm his frayed nerves at all. Needless to say it didn't.

Yesterday he supposed he had no real reason to be nervous, today was different though. What if he turned up and Jeanette didn't want to see him? He wondered if he should keep a lower profile for a few days, after all if Jeanette was having second thoughts about their relationship then maybe he should just back off and give her some space. That was what girls always said in those films wasn't it, 'I need more space.'

Oh course the alternative was that he was getting himself all worked up over nothing. It had been known to happen in the past and he suspected that it would happen again in the future.

As he finally reached the Millers house, after what had felt like an eternity, it seemed like all his fears may have been unfounded after all. Jeanette was just leaving, almost as if she'd been expecting his arrival to the second. He could barely hide his pleasant surprise as she turned away from the closed door and, seeing him ready to walk her to school, her face cracked into a warm smile.

That was a good sign, had to be, perhaps she had just had a bad day yesterday and that was why she had been so unusual. He returned the smile, trying not to end up beaming at her like an idiot, an endeavour that he ultimately failed in.

"Hi Scott," her voice alone seemed much more lively than it had last night, as if this was in fact an entirely different person he was talking to, "looking forward to school?"

He finally managed to pull his smile back to a reasonable grin as he watched her close the front gate behind her "Does anyone?"

She laughed a little, "I suppose." The conversation died right there and then as awkward silence once again descended between them. Scott willed himself to come up with something to say, anything; Ok maybe not anything he should try and avoid last night.

"I'm sorry about last night." Jeanette's smile had disappeared as she spoke. Damn, well he supposed since it was already brought up then there would be no problem discussing it now.

"It's alright Jeanette," For one brief and blissful moment there, the events of yesterday had been completely forgotten and they were once again boyfriend and girlfriend; just like he'd always imagined, like he'd always hoped. Now it was gone and another hated silence descended between them. He found himself willing to say something, to think of something to talk about, anything to alleviate this silence. It seemed once again that Jeanette was reading his mind, "I was planning on going to the library after school" she said, hoping that she might be able to get the conversation going again. "I was wondering if you wanted to come with," she asked hopefully, "Like we use to"

Scott smiled, if only a little "You mean like you and Simon used to" he corrected her, without showing any hurt or anger at the statement. It was as if he was merely correcting her after making a mistake rather than suggesting that she was much closer to Simon than he could ever hope her to be to him.

Jeanette paled slightly at this attack, even though there was nothing accusing or hostile in Scott's voice. He was simply stating facts, but it still felt like he was trying to accuse her of something. "What are you trying to say?" she managed to respond, trying to keep her voice cool.

Scott sighed and stuffed his paws deep into his pockets. It was strange but it seemed to him as if a weight was being lifted off his chest as he talked. In a way it was almost a blessing. He'd been up all night worrying about what if and what should I do, now that he was able to voice his concerns and maybe get some answers, it actually made him feel better. "I'm just asking the same question that everyone else in the school is asking; why did you pick me over Simon?" Again there was nothing angry or aggressive in his voice, although there was the faintest trace of frustration. He wasn't accusing her of anything, he wasn't looking to hurt her in any way, he was simply looking for facts.

"How can you ask that?" she said softly, lifting her gaze up from the pavement to look her boyfriend in the eye. "Can't I go out with who I want to?"

Scott shifted closer to her, lifting one paw out of his pocket to run it through his hair and shake his head. "I didn't mean it like that Jeanette. Of course you have every right to choose who you want to go out with, but I'm your friend Jeanette," he said, trying his best to stay comforting, "and I know that he means much more to you than I ever could." His gaze fell back to the pavement beneath his footpaws "I just want you to be happy."

Jeanette reached out her own paw, and gently wrapped it around his. She wasn't sure what she could say now, what she could do. Scott's mind was made up and there was nothing that could be done to change it now.

He sighed once again and gave Jeanette's paw a soft squeeze as he tried to say those most difficult of words, the words that he'd hoped he would never have to say. "We're just friends Jeanette," He finally said after the short pause. "We can go on pretending all we like, but the simple truth is we're nothing more than friends. If we keep this charade going then we're only going to end up hurting the people we care about." As softly and gently as he could he slowly pulled his paw from Jeanette's. "I think it's best if we break up."

Brittany Miller had never been particularly fond of Maths. It seemed like she did nothing in this class except sit around from day to day and watch the seconds tick slowly by; one by one. It was the first class of the day, why did it have to be SOOO boring?

Brittany sighed gloomily to herself. She knew fine well that maths was a very important subject, and that she needed it if she wanted to succeed in life. She'd been told that so many times she was convinced that it was now burned right across her brain. However, that did not stop it from being one of the most incredibly boring and uninteresting subjects ever invented in the history of forever. The 'mind blowing excitement' she was currently experiencing wasn't helped one little bit by the teacher.

Mr Brown looked as if he was well over a hundred years old, and sounded it too. You could not find a slower and more boring voice if you tried. That and he was prone to forgetting things and even teaching the same lessons twice, like he was today. As the class dragged on, a battle of wills was being fought out inside her head, one half telling her to pay attention and the other that just couldn't be bothered and wanted to escape from the prison of dullness, needless to say it was a pretty one-sided battle in her mind.

Nobody really wanted to do any work let alone work they'd done twice already. So instead Brittany doodled in the margins of her notebook and allowed her mind to wander as she day-dreamed about nothing in particular.

Her dreaming and doodling were simultaneously interrupted as a folded bit of paper was flicked onto her desk.

Slightly startled by this unexpected event, she glanced down at the folded paper with 'Brit' written on it, in handwriting she instantly recognised as Jeanette's.

Passing notes? Really? That wasn't like Jeanette at all. Mr Brown's class had to be more boring than she'd imagined if even Jeanette had sunk down to the level of passing notes.

She unfolded the paper.

'We need to talk, in private. Jeanette'

She scrunched up the note and looked up towards her sister's desk, a few rows in front of her. She could already see Jeanette glancing over her shoulder looking for Brittany's response whilst trying not to be caught by Mr Brown.

She gave her a reassuring smile and a curt nod and mouthed 'later.'

Jeanette nodded before turning back towards the blackboard, only to see Mr Brown staring at her with mixed annoyance and disappointment in his eyes, after all Jeanette was one of his top pupils and if she was losing focus then there really was little hope for the rest of the class. "Please pay attention Miss Miller."

Jeanette's face fell back to her book "Sorry Mr Brown."

"This is a very important subject" he continued, now speaking to the entire class, "And I'm not going to go over this again."

'We should be so lucky' Brittany murmured under her breath as she returned to her day-dreaming and doodling, only now she had something to do, try and work out what Jeanette could want to talk to her about.

When the bell finally rang, there wasn't one student that could get out of that classroom fast enough. It was one of the most violent rushes for the door that Brittany had ever seen. It seemed that everyone had woken up in the last few minutes and were suitably refreshed as a result. As for herself, she was about to join the mad stampede for freedom when she remembered her sisters note. She turned round towards Jeanette and indicated that she'd catch her outside.

Jeanette emerged from the classroom only a minute behind everyone else and true to her word Brittany had waited for her. "So what's the big emergency Jean?" she asked as they made their way down the corridor towards their next class, which thankfully they had together. She knew already that it had to be something pretty important for Jeanette to have been caught passing notes in class.

She was equally surprised to see that Jeanette seemed to freeze in response, almost as if she had reconsidered asking her sister for advice. "It's... Kind of personal," she said after a short silence "can you promise that you won't tell anyone?"

Brittany couldn't help but feel hurt by the question. Sure she'd been known to gossip occasionally, but never anything that she considered to be private and certainly not anything about her sisters. "Oh course I won't tell anyone."

"OK," Jeanette paused again, boy this had to be something pretty big, "Me and Scott, we… we split up."

"Finally!" the exclamation was torn from Brittany's lips before she could do anything to stop it. She immediately regretted saying it, and the hurt look on Jeanette's face only made her feel worse, "Oh, I'm sorry Jeanette. I didn't mean it like that." She had really messed up this time. "Scott's a great guy," she continued this time succeeding in leaving out the 'If you like that type of guy' "But I just don't think he's right for you."

Jeanette seemed fixated on the floor directly beneath her footpaws as they continued to walk along, "I really did like him though Brittany, and we got along so well before." The sorrow she was feeling at the break up was evident in her voice, even though she suspected that Brittany knew their relationship had not been working out. "He told me he wanted me to be happy, that I deserved a chance to be with Simon." She clutched her books a little closer to her chest " I do like him Britt, I mean really like him, I always have," she seemed to be getting more upset as she spoke, "Even when I asked Scott out, even when we were dating, I seemed to be thinking of Simon all the time." She focused her eyes back down towards her feet, "How can I even talk to him after what I did? I'm a terrible person"

Brittany swung round in front of her sister, holding out a paw to stop her mid stride "Jeanette, you are not a bad person. I don't ever want to hear you say something like that again. You made a mistake, well Newsflash, we all do it." Jeanette looked back up over the brim of her books, actually glad to be late to class as it left all the corridors empty. "Scott willingly broke up with you because he wanted you to be happy. If you spend the time he gave you beating yourself up and being miserable then you are doing a much worse thing than asking out the wrong person. He's given you a chance to be with the person you really care about, whether it works out or not, the very least you can do for him is try?"

Jeanette's face broke into a weak but no-less warm smile, "Thank you Brittany."

Brittany lowered her paw and returned her sisters smile "No problem Jean. I'm your sister, it's what we do."

The evenings chess game arrived sooner than expected and was a welcome relief after rather boring day, Scott however appeared more distant than usual. Simon had to admit that he was still as confused, if not more so, by recent events, but he was nonetheless feeling much better today.

He guessed that it must have been the unknown that had been bothering so much.

He had felt angry at Scott for 'stealing his girl' and betrayed by Jeanette for choosing his best friend over him, but since his talk with Scott he had realised that there had been no malice behind what had happened. He'd remembered that Scott was after all his best friend and he was right when he'd said that Jeanette had the right to date whoever she wanted. Besides she seemed happy enough with Scott.

There seemed to be little point in him stressing out over it, what's done is done, spilt milk and all that. Besides what could he do? Confess his love to Jeanette and try to win her over? If he did that then wouldn't he be doing exactly what he had been so angry at Scott for doing?

Most of the game passed by without event until Simon just couldn't take it anymore.

"Something the matter?" Simon inquired. He couldn't help but realise just how quickly he and Scott had switched over. Sure Simon still wasn't back to his usual self, but right now Scott looked as bad as Simon had imagined himself looking only yesterday. It truly was amazing just how quickly and easily a person's mood could be changed, how even the smallest and seemingly insignificant event could lift you up or knock you down in an instant. All that aside he wondered what event could possibly have happened in a few short hours that could change Scott's mood so quickly and so drastically.

Scott gave him a rather surprised look "You mean Jeanette didn't tell you?"

Simon shook his head; Jeanette hadn't really said anything to him since he'd been back. In fact, they hadn't 'really' spoken since she had said no. He hadn't even seen Jeanette today. All the same, the mere mention of her name, despite everything that had happened between them was still enough to immediately grab his complete and undivided attention.

Scott shrugged as he pondered the best way to break this important piece of news. "Me and Jeanette split up" he said after a pause, his voice was sad, but at the same time gave the impression that it was for the best.

"I'm sorry," Simon offered.

Scott simply smiled and gave Simon an 'I'm fine really' look "nah, its okay. It wasn't really working anyway. She loved someone else" Scott felt the sudden urge to tell the whole story even though he knew he couldn't. If he told Simon that he had broken up with Jeanette just so that she could have a second chance to be with Simon, then Simon would never forgive him. He knew Simon well enough to know that he would be wracked with guilt for the rest of his life if he knew, and he shouldn't have too. He had broken up with Jeanette of his own free will, it hadn't been working out between them and that was all that Simon really needed to know. Besides he'd broken up with Jeanette so that she and Simon could be happy, not so that he could pile a ton of guilt on both of them.

"I'm sorry," Simon repeated, almost unable to think of anything else to say. There was a part of him that was overjoyed to hear what Scott had just said and he felt wretched because of it. He struggled to keep his voice emotionless and even, as if the news was no big deal to him, and kept his eyes fixed on the chess board. "Is it someone you know?" he found himself asking, as he slowly moved his bishop and took one of Scott's rooks off the board. He wondered just who Jeanette could possibly have chosen over both him and Scott. He certainly couldn't remember seeing her spend time with any other boys in the past. Just who could it be?

Scott smiled and nodded "Yeah I know him," he gave Simon a proud and approving nod, "He's a good guy and they deserve to be together. They make a really good couple."

Simon, clueless to the end, completely missed the giant hint that Scott had just thrown in his direction and completely misinterpreted what his best friend was telling him.

The bell rang and Simon got up, still trying to hide his emotions from Scott. Just who could Jeanette possibly want to go out with, if it wasn't him or Scott then who. He got the feeling like he'd be distracted by this all day, "Well, see you later."

Scott nodded and smiled to himself. He felt like he should be sad right now, but he wasn't. Simon and Jeanette were his best friends, his only real friends. If his breaking up with Jeanette was all he needed to do to make them happy then it was a sacrifice he was glad to make. He picked up Simon's queen off the side of the board and slid it back into place beside the king. He gave a soft chuckle before picking up his bag. "Yeah, that's better" he said under his breath.