So Eurovision was interesting, huh? I didnt see the whole thing, but Serbia rocked and i didn't think UK was as bad as everyone said they were. But that's just my opinion, .

Thanks to Bella, kamikaze-djali, rapunzel101 and guests for your reviews.

I've thrown in some random Pierre for y'all.


I was trying to take your heart
Keep it in a cardboard box
So when it gets hard
You'll never be far
And your love won't be lost
As the bridges fall apart
I still find a way to cross
And even if you are lost among the stars
Your love won't go off

For me me me me it's in this
But I need need need more of this
Can't turn away, feel it push me

And I keep falling
I keep falling for you
Like the rain fall
Like a cannonball

I keep falling
I keep falling for you
Like the rain fall
Like a cannonball

'Cannonball'- Kiesza


The hot summer sun beat down in our shoulders, starting to burn my skin through the coarse material of my uniform. My ice block was starting to melt, sticky, sugary water dripping all over my fingers faster than i was able to eat it. Beside me, Quasi looked like he was having the same problem, and i laughed at the sight of him desperately trying to eat his treat before it fell off the stick.

I swung my legs, airing out the backs of my knees, and shifted a little on the fence railing. My butt was getting numb, and i considered saying so, but i didnt feel like moving and i sure as hell didn't want to draw attention to my butt, of all things. It was hardly my most flattering asset. Instead, i finished my ice block and let myself stare at the boy next to me while he embarrassed himself with his.

The last chunk of flavoured ice lost its grip on the stick and plopped onto the ground like a huge, slushy raindrop, and Quasi groaned, eyeing it mournfully. I laughed and shook my head. "Well, that's the end of that."

He grumbled, licked the stick, and broke it in half. As he did, a warm breeze grabbed the wrapper in his hand and whipped it away. We watched it dance in the air before coming to rest on the ground about ten metres away.

I nudged him. "You gonna get it?"

He rolled his eyes at me and jumped off the fence.

Footstep on the path behind us distracted me from the sight of the wrapper flying into the air again, and i nearly fell off the fence in shock when i saw who was walking down the street. "Hey!" I slid off and waved at him. "Hey, you!"

The boy stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, frowning. "Do i know you?"

"Yeah, uh, aren't you the guy who helped Esme Azarola?"

"Yes...?"

"I warned you, remember? The second time. You crashed into me?"

"Oh!" His expression cleared, and he stepped towards me. "Yeah, i remember. How's she doing? Haven't seen her in a while."

"Who, Esme?" I shrugged. "She's ok, i guess. A bit messed up, but she'll be fine." I stuck my hand out. "I'm Michigan, by the way."

He shook it with a small grin. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Pierre."

"Nice to meet you." I glanced behind me and laughed at the sight of Quasi trying to grab his wrapper out of a bush without touching anything. "So, uh, what school do you go to?"

"None. I left last year. Finances and all that."

"Oh." There was an uncomfortable silence as i tried to figure out what to say next. However, i didn't have to wait long for something interesting to happen.

"It's my mother," Pierre said abruptly, scowling. "I had to take care of her while she was in remission, I had to privide for us, i had to stifle my creativity to work full time and budget our funds and now, now..." He kicked the sidewalk angrily. "Now she's in hospital, and I was just fired."

I was trying to keep up with this sudden information dump. "Why?"

"Why hospital, or why fired?"

"Why both. And, uh, why you're telling me."

"Mum's cancer came back, and this time it's here to stay. I suppose i should be sad, but i just feel... relieved. And i was fired for daydreaming, apparently. Too much poetry." He stuck his hands in his pockets and sighed, the midday sun glinting off his curly blond mop. "And I'm telling you this because you're here."

I couldn't believe this guy. "Oh. Well, I'm sorry."

"Don't be." He shrugged. "I'll get over it. It's time to do something different."

"Like what?"

"I want to get out of here. Find somewhere new and interesting to inspire me."

"Are you an artist?"

"A writer."

I straightened up, interested. "Me too!"

"What do you write?"

"Fiction. Mostly fan fiction. You?"

"Poetry, essays, religious or political stuff. The usual."

I didn't try to tell him that his writing was not at all usual. "Oh. Cool. So, um, what are your plans?"

"I have relatives in Melbourne. It seems fitting to start my new life in the Arts Capital, hey?"

"Totally." A thought crossed my mind then, something surprisingly coincidencedental. "Hey... Esme's moving down there too. At the end of the year."

He looked interested now. "Any idea where exactly?"

"No, but it would be nice... I mean Melbourne's a huge city and the chances of you two ever meeting are slim at best... But she's been through a lot, and you have helped her before. If you ever bump into her..."

"I'll be sure to offer my friendship."

I laughed at his slightly old-fashioned speech. "No one really talks like that, you know. Well, no-one except Quasi. Must be an artist thing."

"Quasi?"

I pointed behind me, where i could see him heading towards a bin. "My, uh..." I stopped, brow furrowed. I hadn't actually thought about titles until now. What were we, exactly? Could i call him boyfriend? We weren't exactly dating, but then, we weren't not. How together were we? Well, joined at the hip mostly. We were friends that loved each other. Was there supposed to be a word for that? I cleared my throat and opted for the safest bet. "My friend, over there. He's a bit of a poet himself."

"Him?" I could just hear all the stupid things Pierre was thinking, but fortunately for him, he kept them to himself. Instead, he looked up the street and checked his watch. "Well, it's been fun..."

"Yeah, i think break's nearly over. It was nice to meet you. Sorry about... everything."

He shrugged again. "Life is a cruel mistress. We have to live with it. See ya."

I stared after him as he continued on, one eyebrow raisesd. "Oh, boy."


I met Quasi at the bin, where he had finally managed to catch and dispose of his rubbish. It was interesting, our school, how strict they were when it came to littering and jumper colours, but how they seemed to overlook the kids smoking in the bathroom or doing drugs and other things at lunchtime. The bullying crackdown was an exception, but without me to push the issue with so many 'parent complaints', i bet they wouldn't have done anything about that either. The justice system was warped.

"Hey, want another ice block?" I asked, pulling a few more coins out of my pocket.

"Oh, no, i don't need any more-"

"You lost half of yours, it's hot as Hades out here, and besides, I want you to have it. Come on, it's not often i get to spoil my friends." Again, that word. Were we still allowed to use it? I wondered if i should ask him.

He gave in with a shrug and a smile, and we headed back towards the tuckshop. I handed him the money, to his surprise, and told him what to get, and wandered over to the noticeboard while he stood in line.

I reached for a colourful flyer, eyes catching on the word 'music' and sparking my interest immediately.

Greenbank Music and Recreation Camp

Term 2 of 2014

Exact dates TBA

"Huh..." I stared at the words, briefly wondering if i should go this time. I had never qualified for music camp before, but after this year, maybe i would. I was good enough at guitar now to join the band, and if i got more involved in school stuff... maybe.

"You gonna go to that?"

I jumped and scowled at the tall, blond, annoying boy who so often liked to sneak up on me. "Geez, Phoebus, do you get a kick out of scaring me half to death?"

He shrugged and waited for me to answer.

I folded up the flyer and shoved it in my pocket, glancing at the tuckshop line. "I might."

He stepped over and leaned against the board, arms crossed, and inclined his head towards Quasi. "So, is everything resolved now?"

I smiled, but refrained from telling him everything that had gone on between us. "I'd say so. Why the interest in us?"

"Maybe I'm trying to flirt with you."

"Better not let my... boyfriend... catch you doing that." I felt a few butterflies stirring inside me as I tried out the strange-sounding word, wondering if i would have time to get used to it.

Phoebus' eyes gleamed. "I knew it! I so knew it! So you admitted it at last!"

"Don't expect intimate details- you're not getting any."

"Aww, come on Mich, i practically made your relationship happen!"

"You did not!" I rolled my eyes at him. "Okay, so maybe you encouraged me when i needed it, but i don't owe you anything except a thank you. So, thanks. But that's it."

He gave up then, sensing that he wasn't going to get anywhere. "Well, congratulations anyway. You look really happy."

I smiled bigger, a warm feeling settling in my heart. "I am really happy."

"And so is he." Phoebus laughed incredulously. "That dork loves you so much. It's almost pathetic sometimes."

My eyes widened in disbelief. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, no disrespect intended, I only meant that you can tell that he's crazy in love with you."

I was curious now. "How?"

"It's way he looks at you. It's like... It's like..." He paused, trying to think of the right words. "It's like, uh, other girls are faint stars, and you're the sun. Like he revolves around you. Like he worships the ground you walk on. He's so in love, everyone can see it. It's sad, really."

"Oh, you're just jealous." My cheeks were burning by now. I had no idea how to react to this revelation of the intensity of Quasi's feelings for me. It felt so strange, that someone could adore me so much. Boring old me, who never spoke to strangers and, in the looks department, had more bad days than good.

"Eh, you might be right."

I stared. "Really?"

He shrugged uncomfortably. "Well, it's not something I've experienced, at least not for a while anyway. Being with Esme... it's not fun anymore. She's so difficult. It's a chore to try and pretend that we're still in love. I think she knows as well as i do, now, that it's not going to work anymore."

"Oh, Phoebus." I sighed, knowing that nothing could be done to help anymore. "I'm sorry. I wish there was something i could do, but I've seen her too. After everything that's happened, she's changed, and not for the better. I won't try to deter you anymore."

"You mean you approve of me... you know..." He gestured helplessly with his hands. "Breaking up with her?"

"Let's just say I'm not going to try to talk you out of it anymore. But, Phoebus," I touched his arm briefly, my voice low and serious. "Please be gentle. Don't leave it to someone else. Talk to her, explain the situation, try to reason with her. Basically, do everything you didn't do with me."

He made a face at that. I think he hated being reminded that he was a cause for heartbreak once. Whatever he was thinking, neither of us had to dwell on it for long, for when he saw Quasi coming back with the ice blocks, he wasted no time in making things right between them.

"Hey man, how's it going?" He held out his hand for a high five, which Quasi hesitantly returned. "I hear you've got a girlfriend now? Well done dude. You've got game."

Quasi looked completely bewildered, whether by the wording or the fact that this particular person was being nice to him i wasn't sure. But he smiled and nodded just the same, while my cheeks starting burning up again at the mention of the word 'girlfriend'. I guess we'll be talking about that pretty soon, then.

"So, uh, I just wanted to say," Phoebus continued to my amazement, "that I'm sorry for beating you up that one time. I'll never do anything like that again. Can you forgive me?"

"Yeah, ok." Quasi sounded a bit dazed. "I forgive you."

"Sweet. Alright, i gotta go. You two, go be cute." And with those parting words, he was gone.

We shared a confused look as he walked off. "That was... interesting."

"Yeah," he agreed, passing me a new ice block. We opened our treats and started walking towards the back oval, and i thought about raising the boyfriend/girlfriend thing with him, but I felt really shy all of a sudden. I was hyper aware of our shoulders brushing as we walked and our steps becoming in unison, and the stares from people around us weren't helping. I couldn't stop thinking about what Phoebus had said, about me being 'the sun'. Did he really love me that much? I snuck a glance at him, and he caught my eye and smiled. The butterflies that had been disturbed before starting flapping their wings again.

This is ridiculous, i thought. I can't be too shy to talk to my boyfriend, if that's what he is.

"Phoebus, he, uh," I coughed, focusing on my ice block, "he called me your girlfriend." I had his attention at that word. "I haven't thought about it before. Is that what i am?"

"Do... Do you want to be... m-my girlfriend?" Quasi asked hesitantly, stumbling over the word.

"I'd love to be your girlfriend."

"Then, I guess y-you are."

I grinned and nudged him lightly. "And i guess that make you my boyfriend, hey?"

He nodded, smiling widely and blushing furiously, and i laughed and slipped my arm through his as we went to make the most of what was left of lunchtime.


The rest of the week would've been pretty ordinary, except it wasn't. I mean, i knew that there were those who st

ill didn't accept Quasi and were closed-minded d-bags, but this was different. This was completely unexpected and a little puzzling.

Because they weren't targeting him.

They were targeting me.

That afternoon, i had a note in my locker, calling me 'an ugly troll who didn't deserve to live'. I threw it away, wondering why i was suddenly at the recieving end of someone else's malice. What had i done recently that might've pissed someone off? Nothing, unless you counted Esme being constantly mad at me. But why would she suddenly decide to do this?

On Wednesday, I found my locker trashed from top to bottom. This was strange, as i didn't think anyone had my locker number except for me. Someone was pretty serious about their revenge, going to all the trouble of finding out my combination. Later on, Quasi showed me a note slipped into his locker, with language i couldn't repeat, directed at me. I have to admit, by this time i was starting to worry about our safety.

On Thursday morning, it was slim, and I had to admit that it was pretty clever. Some kind of contraption had been rigged to pour slime on me when i opened my locker door, but thankfully it wasn't a lot and it only caught my arm. I didn't fancy a trip to the bathroom to try and wash the stuff out of my uniform.

That afternoon, it was powder. I wasn't expecting another prank so early, so i wasn't as careful as i had been in the morning and the cloud of fine powder exploded over my head and shoulders like a tiny bomb. It took me ages to brush it all out of my hair.

Friday was the worst. On Friday morning, when there were more people than usual crowding the halls and I was rushing to get to class, I opened my locker and was shocked by the avalanche of tampons cascading out of it. Tampons, of all things! And of course people stared and laughed and pointed and pretty soon i had a substantial crowd around me and my ten thousand tampons, giggling behind their hands like they hadn't seen a sanitary item before, the twits. She had gone too far this time, I decided.

When i had recovered from the shock and everyone was waiting for me to say something, I grinned and grabbed a few from the pile. "Finally, a gift i can use!" That got a bit of a laugh and sort of broke the tension in the crowd. "I don't know if I can use them all, though. Does anyone need some? I can't fit them all in my bag, so whoever needs some, take some please."

No one moved, so i put all my books inside the locker and shovelled as many tampons in my bag as it could hold, announced to everyone that i was giving them to sickbay, and left. When i got back, the crowd had disappeared and so had the last few tampons that had been left. It had been a surprisingly easy situation, everything considered, but i had to stop this thing before it got out of hand. So that lunchtime, I went to find Esme.

She was pretty hard to track down these days, but with some help i eventually found her with some friends and asked to talk to her.

"Why are you doing things to me?" I asked her as soon as we were out of listening range.

She raised her eyebrows, like she didn't know what i was talking about, but i knew she did.

"Seriously, though. Angry notes? Slime and powder? And mother-flipping tampons? What, you ran out of ideas so you turned to a horror movie for inspiration?" I laughed at the ridiculousness of it. "You are so pathetic, you know that? What were you trying to do? Embarrass me, at best?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." I think she was trying to sound haughty, but all she managed was bitchy.

I signed and tried to speak rationally with her. "Look, i know you think i ruined your life and all that, but i didn't. You did it yourself, trying to make yourself feel good by hurting other people. It was always going come back to bite you. Petty pranks aren't going to change that."

She crossed her arms, eyes narrowed. "Are you finished?"

I nodded.

"I hate you," she started bluntly.

"Well i knew that-"

"Shut the hell up!" she screamed shrilly, taking me by surprise. "I wish you would just die, you stupid bitch!" And here she proceeded to call me every expletive under the sun, including a few that i hadn't heard of before. I was too surprised and even a little amused to feel angry or even attacked by her outburst. Instead, as i watched her scream curses at me and stamp her feet, all i could feel for her was pity.

When she was out of breath and had run out of creative things to call me, she turned on her heel and marched back to her friends, who were all staring incredulously at her. I sighed and yelled back "I forgive you!" before going my own separate way, wondering why i thought i would be able to reason with her.


Bit short this time. It kind of ran away from me. Sorry about that.

I've been planning revenge on Esme for ages now. It was probably part of the plot from the very beginning. But the more I write about her and try to make out that she's just a bitch, the less i want to get revenge on her. I still feel sorry for her, and I don't think i could make Mich feel any different. There was supposed to be a scene at the end of the story, but i don't think I'm going to write it now.

I have more interesting chapter planned, i promise.