I didn't want to be there, I just couldn't stand it. So, I ran. My tears blinded me as I made my way through the halls. People kept slamming into as I tried to escape, all of them talking about Charlie Brown, asking why he did it.

I wanted an answer, and I wanted Chuck to answer it.

I'm not sure how far I ran before I collapsed, all I remember is that at some point Marcie came to me. She sat next to me and held me, stroking my hair, telling me that "Everything would be okay." I could tell she was lying

Marcie's POV

I've often tried to figure out who I love more. It would make things so much easier if I could just pick one of them and be done with it, but I can't. Even after hearing about the announcement, my mind didn't rush to Charles in his hospital bed, or tell me to comfort Sir standing right next to me, but both.

It left me paralyzed. Mt heart wanted me to do two different things and it left my brain confused. It hurt so badly. Wanting to be there for the people I loved the most, and not being able to help either of them. All I could really do was cry.

It took a little bit, but I pulled myself together. Structure, that's what I needed, I needed to get to class. I looked at Linus, who was rotating his head, glaring at everyone in the hall. I placed my hand on his shoulder, and he twisted around looking like he was ready to pounce on me. His face softened once he saw me and I blubbered out that we should get to class.

History class is usually calming to me, but today, I just can't focus. The people I care about most are in trouble and I can't help either of them. With everything I know I couldn't figure out that there was something wrong with Charles.

I should have known something was wrong yesterday. No, I should have known something was wrong to begin with. Charles would often confide in me, tell me his problems. It never seemed to affect him much, at least not as much as usual so I never did anything extreme. Occasionally, I'd help him keep up with with his homework, or more often than not Sally's, but that was about it.

Suck, something like this was probably coming for years. I shouldn't have been helping him with Quadratic equations; I should have been signing him up for a psychologist.

Then it hit me. There was someone taking this much worse than me, Sir. She had run off earlier, probably crying. I had to go after her.

I raised my hand making a weak excuse about having to go to the bathroom. As soon as I hit the hallway I ran, hoping I wouldn't be caught by a hall monitor. Detention was the last thing I needed if I wanted to see Charles after school.

I whispered Sir's name up and down each and every hall. I'd made it through half the school, and was headed to the lunch room, when I heard sniffling. I looked over at the source of the noise, a janitor's closet to my right.

Sighing in relief, I flung open the door. There she was, sitting next to a mop bucket crying her eyes out. "Oh, sir" I sighed. She didn't acknowledge the fact that I was there, she just kept on crying.

I wasn't sure what to do at first. I'd expected her to be screaming, shouting about how stupid Charles was for doing something like that. Crying? Maybe a little, but I hadn't expected this. Sir was usually so brave about things, I don't I'd ever seen her cry before that point.

In the few moments after I found her I made a decision. If Sir couldn't be the strong one, I would. I knelt down next to her. Wrapping my arms around her I cradled her in my arms. When she was feeling up to it I would get her to the nurse's office, so she could rest. If she was feeling up to it, after school we would go see Charles.

We sat there for about an hour, me holding her, telling her that everything would be alright, when even I wasn't sure. Eventually I got her to stop crying and stand up. We hobbled off to the nurse's office, her leaning on me as if she was injured. I wonder if a broken heart could cause physical pain.

It wasn't doing this to me I know that. Was it because I didn't love Charles more than Sir, or as much as she did? Or maybe bit was because I had locked away how I really felt for the moment. I'd gotten pretty good at that over the years.

When we got the nurse, I told her that Patty wasn't feeling well. The nurse took a look at her and cringed a bit. I have to admit she didn't look her best. She must have been lying on that floor before I got there because she had a case of bed head. Her eyes were still bloodshot from crying, and snot was trickling down from her nose.

I sat sir down on the bed, and she fell back. Letting her head hit the pillow behind her. I sat down in a chair, and we just stayed there. Neither of us talking as the nurse looked her over and I watched.

The nurse said she couldn't find anything wrong with her (naturally), but that she could stay here and rest anyway. I told her that I would stay here and watch over her. Shrugging, the nurse closed a curtain around us while she went back to work.

As soon as we were alone she spoke up. "I'm such an idiot Marcie."

I thought she was talking about her grades, she's never done well but she's always hanging on. "You're not an idiot, Patty."

"Yes I am," he she growled, hand clenching into a fist. "I spent so much time worrying about whether Chuck would like me that I didn't pay enough attention to his problems." I held onto her hand and she seemed to relax. "I could've helped him Marcie."

She turned her head to look at me, her eyes pleading. "You know I tried to help him, Marcie. No matter how bad I beat him at baseball, I never let my team gloat. I tried to cheer him up when he was feeling down. I thought he was telling me everything, but I guess not, huh."

"It is okay, Patty. I don't think anyone saw this coming, because as much as Charlie Brown told us about how bad he was feeling he kept a lot more in." I reached a hand out caressing her face. "The only thing we can do is help him when he gets out, make sure there is no more pain, no more suffering, and no more secrets."

That is when the stupidest thing I have ever done in my entire life. I leaned over and kissed her. It was sweet, just like I had always expected it to be. My eyes were closed, but I could tell that hers were wide open, probably in shock.

The kiss lasted barely a few seconds before she pushed me away, shooting up into a sitting position. "What the heck, Marcie?"

That broke me out of my stupor, and I realized what I was doing. I tried to make an excuse, but I just made things worse. "No, Sir, it isn't what it looks like—I mean, I love Charles, I like boys." Our eyes widened at what I'd just said.

"You like Chuck?" She questioned. I could see the betrayal in her eyes.

"No, I mean yes, but . . ."

"So what, all this time I've been telling you about how I feel, and you've just been plotting to grab him for yourself."

"No," I shrieked. "I would never do something like that to you. I mean I've thought about him and myself, but. . ."

She didn't let me finish, instead she hopped off the bed and started running. I followed, at some point the nurse had left us alone so she didn't stop us. "Sir, Patty," I shouted after her. She had always been the athletic one, so she had no problem outrunning me.

She stopped turning around and shouted, "Go to hell, Marcie!" That hurt, but I couldn't stop. Except that's exactly what I did. By the time I'd made it to where she'd stop, I was tired and needed to rest a bit.

That's when I saw he out of the corner of my eye, Sally, Charles' little sister. I smiled slightly. "Oh, Sally, how is Charles?"

"Fine," she muttered. What was I doing?

"Well when you see him, can you tell him I said hello." I could tell I was blushing, but I shouldn't have been. I didn't have time for this, Sir needed me.

I didn't wait to hear Sally's response. I started running after Patty again. She'd already run to who knows where. Talking to Sally had cost me time, but it also made me think.

Was Sir right? Had I really been waiting to steal Charles from her? I know I loved them both, but if it came down to it, which one of them would I pick? And when it came down to it, after yesterday, could I have either of them?

I hoped Sir hadn't gone far. I'd never been the athletic one in our friendship that had always been Sir. I had always been the brains, and that's exactly what I needed, to use my head. Sir wouldn't run forever, she'd try to hide.

Sir never went to the bathroom in this area of the school. They were too "gross" for her. So I doubted she'd hide there, there weren't any empty classrooms for her to hide in. The only place she could go—was to class.

Patty had Algebra this period, with Ms. Lutz; luckily I knew a short cut. Our school was designed strangely, as soon as you come in through the front entrance you're greeted by the massive hall at the end of which is the lunch room. Sir was probably running through that hall. To the sides are a sort of spider web of intersecting halls that can be almost labyrinth like if you don't know you're way.

I still remember when Franklin got lost for half a school day. I however had memorized all of the routes, which meant I knew about the passage that would have me pop out right in front of the Algebra room.

I took a left, running to a nearby flight of stairs. When I called a passage I might have over used a misnomer. Really it's more of a gap, just big enough for someone small enough to fit through. It's one of the few times my lack of development in the chest area comes in handy.

Even with my lack of development, the passage can still be incredibly tight, so standing up straight. I started to shimmy through the passage. I know I've said it was small, but I don't think I've made it quite clear how small it is. The space is so small that even when I'm against one wall, my chest is grating against the other. I have to completely flatten myself against the wall, to make it through.

Since no one uses the passage, dust and spider webs collect like dirt on Pig pen. I have to be careful not to sneeze or cough, or else I'll end up hurting myself. I can't tell how many times I've banged my head or scraped knees against those walls because of an ill-fated sneeze.

Inch by inch I squirmed my way through until I was almost out. That's when I saw her, or more specifically, her arm. I lashed out my hand, grabbing onto her. She tried to jerk away, but I held on tight, poking my head out so that we could talk.

"Let go me, Marcie," she cried. I didn't though I just held on as I worked the rest of my body out of the passage.

When I was finally out, I let go. She tried to make a break for a classroom, but I moved to block the door. She held up her fist. "Marcie, I swear to god if you don't move right now I'm gonna. . .

"Please, Sir, we shouldn't fight." I held up my hands ready to block if she did try to fight me. "I know I'm sending mixed signals, about what I want, but right now we have other things to focus on."

"Like what," she spat.

"Like Charles, we need to figure out why he did what he did. If we figure that out maybe we can help him."

"Fine," she relented. "She still looked ad, but not as much as in the nurse's office. "The last time I saw Chuck happy was when we were with him Right after we . . . kissed." I rubbed the back of my neck; it was going to be a while before we got back to normal.

"I remember," I said, trying not to let any of my emotions through. "After that he said he was going to see Lucille."

"Damnit, how many times have I told him to stop going to her for advice. She's never fricking helped him, if anything she's only ever made him feel worse about himself. Now that quack of a doctor's 'advice' has pushed him over the edge." I could see her stiffen, and could practically see the blood boiling in her body.

I placed a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off. "Look, Sir, we don't know if it really was Lucy that did this to him. I say we find out what we know and then try to piece together what happened."

She pressed her palm to her forehead, her eyes closed, and rubbed. It took a few moments, but she calmed down and said, okay. She reached for the door handle and I moved aside. Before she opened it she sighed and looked at me, a sad expression on her face.

"Look Marcie, I don't know what you want, whether it's me or Chuck, but I know you can't have me. My heart belongs to Chuck, and I think he likes me. After everything that's happened to me I'm not sure really. What I do know is that I don't want to have to fight you over him. You're practically my sister Marce, always have been. I don't want to ruin that by having us fight over a boy, no matter who he is.

What I'm trying to say is, just stop. Whatever you want from either of us, I don't think you're going to get it. I'm sorry, but that's just how it is. So please Marcie, for the sake of everything we've been through, just stop." With that she opened up the door, letting it close shut behind her.

I have to admit I put up a good front. I didn't start to cry until the door was closed. I couldn't let my emotions rule me at the moment though. No, like I'd said to Sir, there were more important things to worry about at the moment. So, drying my tears, I wandered back to class

I hope everyone has had a good new year so far. I know I'm not quite done with Patty and Marcie, but since I'm starting to pack so much more in. I'm going to have to finish them up in a third chapter. Poor Marcie, carrying around a double case of heartbreak, but don't worry, I'll fix that soon.