A/N: I have no excuse. NO. EXCUSE. I know. But I hope you will all forgive me and read this story that hasn't been updated in EXACTLY six months. Seriously. It'a a pretty halfway-decent chapter trust me. And I'm working on Ch. 11 as we speak!! So read and review and make a starving (well not really) writer happy!!!

"That'll be $10.50, dude."

"...okay. Wait, what?"

"10.50."

"Oh." David shook his head and dug a twenty dollar bill out of his back pocket, handing it to the cashier and sighing.

"Ok. Your change is $9.50. Have a nice day and thank you for choosing Chick-Fil-A for your consuming enjoyment."

"You too, uh..."

"Ubaldo."

"Ubaldo." David pocketed his change and sighed.

"God, dude, what's with all the sighing?" Ubaldo asked.

"It's just been one of those days, you know?"

"Uh, no."

"Oh." David looked around himself and leaned over onto the counter. "Well, it's my girlfriend," he said quietly. "She's been acting really strange lately."

"Ok, ok, I see what you're getting at," Ubaldo said with a smirk. "You're having, uh, relationship issues and are trying to find someone to give you advice..?"

"I just need someone to talk to," David admitted, obviously embarrassed.

Ubaldo gave him an odd look and then motioned for David to follow him. David climbed over the counter and the two of them ducked behind the cash register.

"Listen dude," Ubaldo said quietly. "Guys don't do this. We don't go around talking about our feelings. That's not how it works."

"It's not?"

"NO. And you ESPECIALLY don't ask about that kind of crap from a random guy at Chick-Fil-A in the Mall. You have to be quiet about it. You have to ask people you know and trust and who won't tell anyone you came to them."

"You do?"

"Yep. Now get out. It's getting cramped back here."

David climbed out behind the counter, smoothed down his pants, and set off, drink and food in hand, to one of the polished black tables in the Food Court to gather his thoughts. Little did he know that less than ten feet away sat a teenage boy dressed in a dark hoodie that covered most of his forehead, sunglasses, and dark jeans, that hated David more than anyone else on the Earth. However, this same guy was also a pretty good actor, so he managed to put on a pleased face to get up, walk over to the table David was sitting at, and sit down across from him.

David peered at the guy suspiciously before talking a sip of his soda and asking, "Er, how can I help you?"

The stranger grinned. "Ah, but the question is not how you can help me, but how I can help you." He leaned over the table and grabbed David's drink, removing the lid and taking a big gulp of soda.

The annoyed teenager snatched back his soda and withdrew in his chair. "I don't get it. What, exactly, do you want?" The guy smirked, and David was filled with a sudden desire to tear those stupid sunglasses off his face and take him on, right here in the Food Court. Instead of acting on this, though, he gave him a rather strained smile and slurped his drink loudly.

"Well, the guy said, "I'm friends with someone who works at Chick-Fil-A...you know him I think; tall-ish, dark haired, vacant expression...?"

"Ubaldo?"

"Yeah, that's right. Ubaldo. Anyway, I'm friends with him—real good friends, trust me, we go way back–and was heading over to his station to say hi when I couldn't help but overhear the conversation you were having with him."

David grimaced. "Oh."

"Oh no, oh no, don't take it like that. It's nothing to be ashamed of!" the stranger said, reaching around and thumping David on the back (kind of hard, he couldn't help thinking). "We all have our…relationship problems. Now, what are yours?"

"My whats?"

"Problems. With your…girlfriend. Do you forget her so easily?" the guy asked, his voice rising slightly.

David took a deep breath in and out. Should he tell this random person (who didn't seem to like him very much) what had been worrying him? Should he really disclose his most private thoughts to this total stranger?

Hell, why not?

"Well, you see," David began, scooting his chair closer to the stranger's, "My girlfriend has been acting really weird lately."

"Ah yes. Now…how long have you two been together?"

David flushed. "Er…well, we're not exactly a couple…yet. But we both really like each other, so I think it's safe to assume that when she's acting a little more like herself, she'll agree to be my girlfriend."

He could've sworn he saw something strange flash in the guy's eyes for a moment, but the whatever-it-was quickly faded away and was replaced by a rather forced smile. "Yes? Well? Continue, please do."

"Anyway, we both go to this drama camp—you know, the one a couple of blocks away that's doing The Phantom of the Opera?—and we got the leads, so we've been spending a lot of time together…she's a very happy person, so it doesn't make sense!"

"What?"

"Well, this past Friday, there was this big sleepover thing at Drama Camp. Everything was going fine, blah blah, until the next morning. We all woke up, and she was missing!"

"No."

"Yes! And when we finally found her, after much searching, I must say, she was slumped in the theater, crying and looking awful. I tried to talk to her, but was interrupted by this one girl who dragged her off and wouldn't let me even TALK to her! I called her all day yesterday, but she hasn't answered any of my calls once!"

"So your question is…why she's ignoring you?"

"Well…yeah! I mean, what could have happened that has made her so distant, so unlike herself?"

His companion didn't say anything for a moment. David twiddled his thumbs, feeling awkward in the silence. Finally, a response: "Did you ever think that maybe it's not her that's the problem?"

David's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Well, obviously she doesn't want to talk to you…maybe you should actually respect her wishes and keep your distance."

This was a completely new concept for David. He blinked a few times, not being able to comprehend what was wrong with him that made Laurel not want to see him anymore. "But…I can't think of anything I did that offended her…"

"Maybe there's someone else."

"Someone else? Someone else? It's Drama Camp, for god's sake, I think I would have noticed if she was interested in someone else!"

"It's definitely possible. From what you've said, you aren't the most observant person I've met."

The guy smiled, and suddenly David felt as if he was being made fun of. "Who are you, anyway?" he asked suspiciously.

The stranger stood up suddenly, pushing his dark glasses farther up his nose and shoving his chair into the table harshly. "It's been nice, this little chat, but I'm afraid I have to go now," he said, and walked away.

David sat still in his chair, staring blankly at his soda, for a few moments, thinking about what the guy had said. Maybe there was someone else. How could he not have noticed?

First thing tomorrow, he was going to find out for sure. She had to talk to him sometime!

-----

After some poking and prodding (some rather harsh poking on Sara M's part), Laurel had agreed to accompany the two Saras, Arielle, and Marissa to the mall. "You need to get out of the house!" Arielle had said, "You haven't gone anywhere since you got home!"

It was true. But how could she leave? She had spent all day Saturday watching television and thinking about when she was a kid, when she didn't have all of these awful things to think about. All the awful memories…but even cartoons and reruns of Gilmore Girls couldn't erase the memory of what had happened on Friday…

It didn't help that she had been getting calls from David all day. She had been sleeping when he called the first time and only vaguely heard the message he left on the answering machine: once she got up and listened to it more closely, though, and recognized David's voice, she resolved not to answer the phone. She needed to take a day for herself, a day where she could escape from the world and not pretend to anyone that she was feeling fine.

Oh well. It didn't matter now. Her friends had herded her into Sara M's car and then into the mall, dragging her along to several stores and trying to get her to try on things, trying to get her to smile or make a joke or act like she usually did. After awhile, the shopping began to cheer her up a little, and she found that her friends were actually making her forget her sad and confusing feelings. They were still there, perched at the back of her mind, but she forced herself to think of happier things, to enjoy her friends' company and the shopping and not dwell on the recent past.

After shopping for about half an hour (enough for Arielle, who wasn't really too big on the whole shopping thing but was enduring it for the sake of her friend's well-being), the company decided to go to the food court and get something to eat. Sara M. and Arielle headed off to the Chick-Fil-A area, while Sara H. and Laurel went to get smoothies.

As the two friends headed towards the smoothie place, Laurel spotted Adriana Spellman, a girl from Drama Camp. The two girls had never really gotten along—Adriana had wanted Christine almost more than Laurel did, but ended up getting Chorus…and Laurel's understudy. Laurel hoped that she would never be unable to attend a performance, for the audience's sake—Adriana had a good range, true, but her voice was shrill and obnoxious, and the girl was, frankly, a bitch. During blocking she argued with the director, she was condescending to every one she considered "below her", and, worst of all, seemed to have her eye on David, and would flirt with him every time she thought Laurel wasn't looking. David was oblivious to this flirtation, telling Laurel several times that they were just making polite conversation, nothing more, but Laurel knew better, and knew that Adriana would do anything to top her, defeat her, or make her suffer.

Please don't turn around, please don't turn around, I was actually having a halfway decent day until you—

"Ohhhh my GAWD, LAUREL!!!" Adriana had spotted her, and was heading towards her rapidly, shopping bags hanging on her arm.

"Adriana!" Laurel grimaced as Adriana practically slammed herself into her, hugging her and bruising her at the same time with all of her pokey shopping bags.

Adriana withdrew quickly, spotting Sara a few feet behind Laurel. "Oh, uh, hi…hi…"

"Sara?"

"Sara. Right. So, you guys, oh my god, it's SO WEIRD that we ran into each other!"

"Yeah. Weird." Sara nodded.

"Honestly, I didn't expect to see you at all, Laurel, after yesterday," Adriana whispered dramatically.

Laurel's face fell. "I didn't think that many people…how did you find out?"

"Oh are you kidding? Everyone knows! And personally, I think it's the stress of the part that's wearing you down."

"The…the part?"

"You know. The LEAD. Of the show? Maybe you'd be better off handing it off to someone more…deserving, maybe? Someone who won't disappear in the middle of the night and turn up the next morning looking like shit in the corner of the theater?" Adriana laughed. "An area which is, oh yeah, off limits if there aren't any counselors in the building. But I guess rules don't apply to you."

Laurel was speechless; Sara, however, had plenty to say. "How dare you, you self-centered, egotistical, half-witted—"

"Oh, I wouldn't continue if I were you," Adriana said, smirking. "My father, who, as you know, provides major funding for the Playhouse and all of it's programs wouldn't want to hear about me being harassed in the mall by someone in one of the programs he supports…he might just have to pull his money out of the whole thing, and then what would happen to the Drama Camp we all know and love?"

Sara and Laurel gaped at Adriana, the latter finding it hard to believe that Adriana could take their rivalry this far…could she truly be that nasty?

"Adriana," Laurel began, softly, "I don't want to argue with you, but I really don't think that threatening us will help anything."

"Speak for yourself, Laurel," Adriana sneered, "I find threatening you to be quite fulfilling."

"Laurel, I don't know about you, but I suddenly feel like PRETZELS instead," Sara said loudly, grabbing Laurel's arm and leading her away before Adriana could insult her further.

"I can't believe she would go that far," Laurel said when they were a good distance away.

"I can," Sara said with a snort, and gave Adriana's back 'the finger'. "She'll do anything to get her way, and won't hesitate to crush people who're in her way." She shook her head. "She needs to open her eyes and realize that no one is ever going to like her if her attitude doesn't change."

"Yeah. You're right," Laurel said, looking at the floor.

"You can't let her get to you, Laurel. She's just mean to you because she's…"

"Insecure?"

"Yup, not to mention jealous of you. You heard that remark about your 'lead'—it's obvious she wanted your part!"

"You're right, Sara. You're always right." Laurel sighed. "Let's just…forget about the pretzel. I suddenly don't feel hungry anymore."

------

Adriana sipped at her smoothie as she thumbed through the rack of clothes…50 off, not as if she needed the discount or anything, but she figured she'd check out the sale nonetheless. Her father had given her a few hundred bucks to spend that day, and she might as well make good use of it.

She suddenly caught sight of a lovely light pink cotton cardigan. She lifted it up and removed it from it's hanger, moving over to a nearby mirror to try it on. She slipped it over her shoulders and admired herself in the mirror, proud of her reflection.

"You might want to get a second opinion on that before you buy it, it makes you look a little chubby, wouldn't you say?"

Adriana stiffened, then whipped around from side to side, trying to spot the speaker of the voice. "Come on, who said that?" she asked angrily, tearing off the cardigan and throwing it onto the ground.

"Come now, we mustn't be a diva! Mind your manners, young lady, or else you'll see some trouble."

"You'll 'see some trouble' if you don't show yourself immediately!"

"Somehow I think your bark is worse than your bite, Adriana."

She had no "clever" response for this—he knew her name? "H-how do you know my name?" she asked shakily.

"That is none of your concern. What you should be thinking about is your attitude towards others, especially your peers. If you cannot act decently towards others, you may find that it will come back to hurt you some day...a day that might come sooner than you think."

"Ohhh, I see what this is about," Adriana said, thinking she knew what all of this was about. "You're one of Laurel Andersen's friends. Listen, I knew she was lame and desperate, but to hire some random guy to scare me in the mall? Come on!" And with that, she gathered her purse from where she had left it on the floor and left the store, laughing to herself.

-----

He had tried to drop hints, but it seemed that some people were just so thick that it had gone right over their heads. He was going to have to take more…direct measures. Immediately.

Maybe some nice, friendly letters would get his message across more clearly…

A/N: And you KNOW they won't. At last, we're getting into some good, Phantomy plot! REVIEW, PLEASE!!!!!