"On this journey that you're making, there'll be answers that you'll see." - Tarzan (Disney film), 1999

...

I couldn't exactly focus on school today. Every class that I've had so far, my mind would be somewhere else. Ever since last night, when Alvin didn't bother to return my text messages and phone calls, I've been starting to question our relationship. As much as it killed me to think this, but I was beginning to think that Alvin has been ignoring me on purpose...

No, that can't be right. I know him, and I know that he isn't the type of person to do that.

But this morning, when my sisters and I were eating breakfast, and when Jeanette told me that Alvin did indeed receive my calls but was too busy to call me back, well, my heart just sank. I mean, I completely understand if he was busy. It was the first week back at school after all. But still, taking the time to call me back - especially since we haven't seen each other in over a week - doesn't even take that long! I mean, would it kill him to take a few minutes out of his time to call me?

It was frustrating, not only to me, but I was frustrated at Alvin. He's supposed to be my boyfriend, for God's sake. Doesn't he realize that I miss him? Ugh. Jeanette and Eleanor tried to convince me to just relax and to just let go of the situation for a bit. But how can I? I mean, not only does it make me mad, but it hurts.

All week, I've been so excited to call him again. Because of the fact that we go to different schools, I won't be able to see him as much as I did during the Summertime. But now, knowing that I won't be able to see him in a while just makes me want to run away.

My sisters said I was being a bit clingy. Okay, fine, maybe I am, but barely! And you can't exactly blame me! I haven't seen my boyfriend in over a week, and the moment I try to call him, he doesn't pick up his damn phone. Not that I don't exactly mind, but the thing that pisses me off the most was not knowing why he didn't pick up. But whatever. Like I said, it isn't worth worrying over anymore.

I was in English class. The teacher wrote down a topic on the board, and we had to write a few paragraphs on it. I sighed to myself. 20 minutes have already passed, and I still got nothing. I looked around the classroom, only to see people silently writing down stuff on their piece of paper. I looked down at mine. It was blank, empty.

Tiffany, who was sitting right beside me, looked at my paper then to me. "Brittany, you haven't written anything down." She whispered.

I sighed. "I know. I just can't think of anything to write." I whispered back.

"Do you need help?" She asked, as she ran her fingers through her blonde hair.

I shook my head. "No, it's fine."

Tiffany nodded her head before going back to writing. I sighed to myself as I picked up my pencil. I hate this feeling. You know when you get that feeling when you know something, but you just can't get it out of your system, and you just feel like running away while screaming? Yeah, that's how I feel right now expect a trillion times worse. At least 5 more minutes passed before I gave up once again. I dropped my pencil back on my desk and sat back.

Tiffany frowned as she looked at me. "Brittany, are you feeling alright?"

I looked at her. "What makes you say that?" I asked.

"Well, all day you've seemed kinda...sad." Tiffany said.

I sighed and sat up again. "It's nothing. Don't worry about me." I whispered.

But she just continued to look at me. "Are you sure?"

I said nothing at first. Was it really that obvious that I was upset? But I just shrugged. I honestly wanted to tell her, so I wouldn't have to deal with keeping my feelings locked inside of me. But again, I didn't want to say it out loud.

"It's nothing, really. It's just, well, there are a lot of things going through my mind." I answered.

Tiffany nodded then said, "I don't wanna seem all up in your business, but if you need someone to talk to, I'm here."

I sighed. I knew I should tell her. I knew I should tell someone to ease up my nerves a bit. I mean, I know I spoke to Jeanette and Eleanor about it, but my sisters weren't exactly helping me. All they said to me was to get over it for a while and just focus on something else. Okay, I really did try doing that, but it just made everything worse. I mean, I tried listening to my sisters, and I tried to forget about Alvin for a while, but it didn't make anything better.

Like I said, I know I'm being a bit clingy but I can't help it. Alvin didn't call me back or return any of my text messages and I just want to know why. I mean, if he gave me a reason to not return any of my calls, then that would be okay. But since he didn't, well, that feeling of frustration just stuck to me and it kept on increasing.

I took a deep sigh. "Well, it's just..."

But before anything else, our English teacher cleared his throat. Both Tiffany and I looked up at the same time, only to see our teacher glaring at us like a hawk.

"Is there a problem?" He asked us.

Tiffany and I shook our heads.

"Then I expect you ladies to do less talking, and more writing." He said, before returning back to his desk.

I looked over at Tiffany, who slightly rolled her eyes at the teacher. "I'll tell you later." I whispered to her.

She nodded, before we both went back to writing. An hour passed before the bell rang. I sighed in relief. I managed to get a few paragraphs down, but my mind was still somewhere else. I was just glad that English class was finally done for the day, but despite that, it was only the first class of the day. I had to get through all of my other classes.

After Tiffany swung her bag over her shoulder, she looked at me and said, "So, I'll see you at lunch time?"

"Um, sure. But where do you guys eat lunch? The cafeteria?" I asked.

"Oh, God no. We don't eat at the cafeteria because that's where all the jocks hang out. Don't get me wrong, I mean, they're all super hot, and we're all on friendly terms with us, but you know how boys can be. They can be complete assholes." Said Tiffany.

I forced a laugh. "Ha, yeah."

"And besides..." Tiffany lowered her voice. "Paula doesn't want to go near them."

I raised my eyebrows. "Why not?" I asked.

"Like I said yesterday, Paula's that type of girl that every guy wants to go out with. But she's gotten her heart broken once, and it really affected her." Said Tiffany. "She's had one serious relationship with this one guy, but he broke up with her afterwards. And now, she really wants to be with this other guy, but he's always turning her down."

"Wow." I said.

"And the worst part is that the boy who broke up with her, and the boy she wants to be with now, are best friends." Tiffany said, sighing.

I just looked at her. "What?" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know. And to make things even worse, all of the guys are best friends, and they have their other buddies to back them up. It makes Paula feel really bad about herself, and it brings her self esteem down. And as you noticed, she tries to cover it up by acting like she doesn't care." Tiffany said.

I said nothing at first. So Paula's had a serious relationship, but got dumped afterwards. And the one boy she likes now, doesn't like her back. I honestly have no idea what Paula could be feeling, but truthfully, I feel really bad for her. When I met Paula for the first time yesterday, I thought she was being a complete snob. But now, after hearing what she's been through, I couldn't really blame her.

Tiffany continued. "So yeah. That's why we don't eat at the cafeteria." She said.

"But does Paula still talk to them?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah. We all do. I mean, we've all been friends for years. Paula stills talks to them, but she tends to avoid some of them too, because the guys are always teasing her. But at the end, we know it's a joke, but it always hurts Paula." Tiffany said.

"But isn't she like, one of the popular girls at this school? She could get anyone, can't she?" I asked.

Tiffany shrugged. "That's why Chantelle, Scarlett and I said. But Paula never listens. Whenever she wants something, she doesn't stop until she gets it." She said.

I didn't say anything for at least 3 seconds before I finally said, "Hm, wow."

Tiffany nodded. "Yeah." She said, then sighed. "But anyway, just meet us at the courtyard at lunch, okay? That's where we always meet."

I nodded as I swung by bag over my shoulder. "Okay, see you."

But before Tiffany and I went our separate ways, she stopped and said, "Oh, and Brittany?"

I turned around. "Yeah?"

"Are you still feeling alright?" She asked.

And right after she said that, I felt the entire world crash down on me. My mind was completely free of Alvin, and to be honest, I almost forgot about the entire situation between me and him. But the moment Tiffany asked me if I was feeling alright, every single emotion came back to me. The feeling of hurt, knowing that Alvin might have been ignoring me on purpose, came back.

I've said this a million times, but the fact that Alvin didn't call me back didn't bother me. But the fact that he didn't call me back on purpose and me, not knowing why, was the reason that hurts the most.

I sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine. I-I'll just tell you later at lunch."

Tiffany nodded. "Alright. So, I'll see you later."

I nodded. "Bye." I said, before I walked out the classroom, and into the hallways.

The next two classes were a complete pain in the ass to get through. Not because of the classes, but because of the things that were on my mind. I know, I know, I'm being a compulsive girlfriend right now, but put yourself in my shoes. If your boyfriend decides not to call you or text you back on PURPOSE without giving you a reason, wouldn't you feel worried? I know I shouldn't be worrying about the topic of cheating, but what if...

No. I've got to stop. Alvin would never do that. I know he would never cheat on me - ever.

Ugh, I've just got to stop thinking about him. Not only is it affecting my mind, but it's starting to get plain annoying. That's it, I'm done. I'll go home after school today, and call Alvin again. And if he doesn't pick up again, then I'm going over to his house. No exceptions.

If Alvin doesn't want to talk to me, then fine. But I just need to know why. I mean, would it kill him to call me and say, 'I can't talk right now, Britt, I'm busy.'? Does he really have to ignore me like this? God...

But by the time the lunch bell rang, I sighed in relief. Well, it was about time! I gathered up all my bags, and walked out the classroom. I arrived at my locker, put my books in, closed it, and began to make my way to the courtyard where I was going to meet up with Tiffany, Paula, Chantelle and Scarlett for lunch. When I walked into the courtyard, I saw Tiffany, Chantelle, Scarlett and Paula sitting at one of the lunch tables, so I walked over to them.

Scarlett smiled when she saw me. "Hey girl!" She said.

"Hey!" I said, sitting down beside her. Paula, Tiffany and Chantelle were sitting on the opposite side of the table.

"I like what you're wearing." Chantelle said, as she removed her sunglasses and placed it on top of her head.

"Thanks." I said. Today I was wearing a pink Summer dress with white sandals.

We all began to eat out lunches as we engaged into our own conversation. It was so nice talking to these girls. Even though I just met them yesterday, they were super nice to me. And even though I'm the new kid at this school, they've been treating me as if they've been friends with me for years. Through our conversation, all we did was gossip (Like all girls do), laugh and basically spoke whatever was on our minds. Even Paula seemed to be laughing.

After a while, Chantelle turned to me and said, "So, Brittany, where did you say you were from again?"

"We moved from Santa Barbara because my mom's job moved here." I said.

"Oh. Well, Santa Barbara is only a few hours away from here, right?" Asked Chantelle.

I nodded. "Yeah, around 4 hours away."

"How long have you been living here in Hollywood?" Asked Scarlett.

"We only came last June." I said.

"It must've been really hard to leave all your friends behind, huh?" Scarlett asked, as she twirled her red hair around her finger.

I nodded. "A bit."

"It must've been really hard to leave your boyfriend too." Said Chantelle.

I almost choked. I looked at her and said, "Oh, no. I didn't have a boyfriend."

Chantelle gasped. "You didn't?"

I wasn't sure if she meant that as a good thing, or a bad thing. "Um, no..." I said.

"But you're so pretty! I'm sure you had one." Scarlett said.

I laughed. "No, I actually didn't."

"Well, whatever. I mean, who needs boys anyway?" Chantelle said.

But before anything else, I saw Tiffany give Chantelle the eye. And as if we all read each others mind, we all took a quick glance at Paula, who acted like she didn't hear us. I guess the topic of boys was forbidden, at least around Paula.

Chantelle cleared her throat nervously. "I-I mean...nevermind."

Tiffany turned to me. "It's okay, Brittany. We're all single anyway. You know what they say. Sisters before misters."

I laughed gently, but said nothing. At first, I wanted to tell them that I do in fact have a boyfriend, but at this point, I'm not even sure if it's true. But what the hell am I saying? Of course Alvin and I are still together, but recently, it just doesn't seem like it. But we're still together. I mean, just because we haven't seen or talked to each other for a while, doesn't mean that we're not together anymore...right?

"Well, actually...I do have a boyfriend now." I said.

Tiffany, Chantelle and Scarlett gasped. Even Paula looked up to look at me.

Tiffany squealed. "You do? Ohmygod, is he cute?"

I smiled. "Well, yeah."

"Is he hot?" Scarlett asked.

I laughed. "Well, I guess you could say that..."

"How did you meet him?" Scarlett asked.

I laughed again. "To be honest, we met each other coincidentally. We met each other around June, and we just started to go out with each other ever since."

"Awwwww! Oh my gosh, I'm so jealous!" Said Chantelle. "Is he a good kisser?"

Tiffany smacked her forehead as Scarlett turned to Chantelle. "Oh my God, Chantelle. You just can't ask someone if their boyfriend is a good kisser. You're so weird." Said Scarlett.

"Well sorry for being curious." Chantelle muttered.

I laughed. "No, it's fine." I said, but I was glad I didn't have to answer the question. I mean, hell yeah Alvin is a good kisser, but people didn't need to know that much.

"So, wait. You met him here in Hollywood after you moved?" Asked Tiffany.

I nodded. "Yeah. I met him like, a week after we moved here."

"That is so cute!" Said Tiffany. "So, do you guys see each other everyday?"

I froze for a bit. "Well, we used to, but not recently."

Scarlett frowned. "Why not?"

I shrugged. "He's busy with school, and I'm busy with school. We don't really see each other that often anymore."

"So he goes to a different school than you?" Asked Scarlett.

"Probably. The moment I found out that I was going to this school, he left for a one week trip and I didn't get a chance to tell him." I answered.

"When was the last time you saw him?" Asked Chantelle.

Ugh, I hated this. I knew I shouldn't have brought this up. I promised myself not to think about Alvin anymore until school ends so I can call him again, but now, talking to the girls about this, it just made everything worse.

"Like, a week ago. More than that, actually." I sighed.

"What? Why?" Asked Chantelle.

I shrugged again. "He's probably just busy. I mean, I'm busy too." I said timidly.

"Does he love you?" Tiffany teased.

I laughed. "Yeah, of course he does."

"And do you love him?" She asked.

I nodded. "Of course I love him. I mean, he's already got my mother's approval."

Scarlett squealed with excitement. "Oh my god, that is so cute! You two must be in a serious relationship then."

I shrugged and smiled. "I guess."

Tiffany flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder and sighed deeply as she looked at me. "Brittany, I am so jealous of you. Have you guys talked on the phone at all ever since the last time you saw him?" She asked.

I sighed deeply. "No."

Tiffany raised her eyebrows. "You haven't? Why?"

I sighed. "I dunno. I tried calling him all day yesterday, but he never picked up."

Chantelle shook her head. "Well, boys will be boys. They always pick their friends first."

I said nothing. I mean, what Chantelle said may be true for some boys, but I know Alvin. I'm not trying to sound selfish or anything, but I know that Alvin would never pick any of his friends over me. I know that as the truth. But I decided not to say anything, but I just smiled.

Tiffany scoffed. "Same with girls. I'll always pick my friends over some boy. I mean, you girls will always have my back, right? Like how I'll always have yours."

Chantelle nodded. "Of course we will."

Scarlett turned to me. "So Brittany, if you're ever having some boy problems or whatever, just come to us. We'll plan like, a shopping trip or a sleepover to make you feel better."

I smiled. "Thanks, guys. I really appreciate it."

I looked at the time on my cell phone. We only had 5 more minutes left until lunch ended. I noticed that Paula never said anything. I felt bad. She must've felt really uncomfortable when we were talking about my boyfriend, due to the fact that she has gotten her heart broken so many times. Maybe Paula isn't who I thought she was. She may seem bitter on the outside, but like Tiffany said, if I get to know her, we may become friends.

"So Brittany, if you don't mind me asking - since he goes to a different school and all that - but what's his name?" Asked Tiffany.

Ugh, I did NOT want to say Alvin's name right now, but I didn't have a choice.

"Alvin. Alvin Seville." I said.

And that's when all four of the girls froze. Scarlett stopped eating her apple, Tiffany put her half eaten banana down and Chantelle raised her eyebrows. Even Paula snapped her head up to look at me. They looked at each other, then back at me.

"Wait, WHAT?" Paula asked. It was the first time I heard her speak today, which shocked me.

I blinked as I looked at them. "What did I say?" I asked slowly.

"Sorry, could you repeat his name again?" Scarlett asked.

"Why?" I asked, giving them all weird looks.

"Did you say his name was Alvin Seville?" Paula asked me.

To be honest, I was shocked that Paula was talking to me for the first time. But what surprised me even more was the reason to why she's speaking to me. I mean, all I said was Alvin's name, right? So why - of all reasons - is she talking to me now?

"Yeah. I mean, that's his name..." I said.

I saw Tiffany glance at the other girls before turning back to me. "So that's your boyfriend''s name. Alvin Seville?"

I nodded slowly. "Why? Do you guys know him or something?" I asked, beginning to feel extremely uncomfortable and suspicious.

"What? NO! Of course we don't. We were all just wondering, that's all." Scarlett said.

"Oh. Um, okay then..." I said, but I was starting to feel unsure about everything.

"So you said that you haven't seen him in over a week? And he didn't return any of your calls?" Asked Chantelle.

I said, "Well, yeah. I mean, he's probably really busy with school and-"

But before I could say anything else, the lunch bell rang, signalling the end of the lunch hour.

"What class do you have now, Brittany?" Asked Scarlett.

"History." I sighed.

"Oh. You better get going now before you're late. I hear that all of the History teachers will throw a fit if the students are late." Scarlett told me.

I nodded as I grabbed my bag. "Thanks for letting me have lunch with you girls today."

"Of course! You're always welcome to hang out with us." Tiffany said.

"I'll see you guys later." I said, before I walked out of the courtyard and into the hallway. But before I could disappear from their sight completely, I turned to look past my shoulder and saw that all four of them were looking at each other with seriousness written all over their face.

But the thing that stood out the most was the fact that Tiffany, Chantelle and Scarlett were looking right at Paula.

Why did Paula talk to me all of a sudden? I wasn't confused to why she began to talk to me in the first place, but I was wondering why she began to talk to me right after I told her my boyfriend's name is Alvin Seville. I mean, do the girls know him? No, it can't be possible. Scarlett herself said that they don't know him.

But then again...why did the girls react the way they did?

I decided to just forget about it the moment I arrived at History class. The lesson went on and on, and I thought it would never end. It was as boring as a History lesson could be. To make things worse, my History teacher spoke in the same boring old monotone voice that would make anybody want to jump off a building. It was boring as hell. I decided to stop listening once the teacher put on a movie about the American Revolution because it seemed like no one was listening. It seemed like the teacher stopped listening to the movie too.

But a few minutes later, I heard my cell phone vibrate in my bag. I secretly pulled it out, making sure the teacher wouldn't see, and flipped my phone open, only to see that I received a text message. I raised my eyebrows when I saw that it was a text message from Paula.

Brittany, meet us at the courtyard after school.

I instantly replied back, suddenly feeling confused.

Why?

After a few seconds, Paula texted me back.

Me and the girls have a little surprise for you.


Uh oh...

Things are not looking pretty well right now. So what do you guys think will happen next? Do you guys trust Paula? Why do you think she reacted the way she did?

But most importantly, what is the 'surprise' that the girls have for Brittany?

Thanks so much for reading, guys! Please REVIEW :)