"I'm bored."

Jackson and Amelia slowly twist their heads behind themselves, looking at the person who piped up about their boredom.

This person, of course, is Roxy. Roxy isn't exactly much of a productive person, instead dedicating her free time to being a loud and proud otaku. It should come as no surprise that anime, manga, and video games are her forte and she does nothing to hide it.

Jackson sighs, setting his pen down on his desk next to his Methods textbook and readjusting his slipping glasses.

"Well, you're just gonna have to deal with it, I'm afraid. We're in study period, so whether you like it or not, you can't just have your phone out to feed your obsession over Kill La Kill."

Amelia glances towards Jackson, her brown hair tied up in a ponytail swishing ever so slightly to the side. "Kill-La-what now?"

Before Jackson could talk smack about the show, Roxy smiles and decides to educate her friend on her interests. Again. "You see, Kill La Kill is this fantastic anime about a girl who finds clothes that gives her powers! And she goes around looking for the person that killed her father! So then she joins... Are you even listening?" Her excited speech is cut short by the fact that Amelia is seemingly paying attention to something else, opting to freshen up her looks with the assistance of a tray of make-up.

"Yeah, I am, probably. Keep on going, Roxy."

Roxy doesn't seem convinced, and Jackson notices this with the edges of his mouth creeping up to form a faint smile. "I don't know how you expected to keep Amelia's interest like that. You know how much her looks control her attention span, isn't that right, Amelia?"

The subject of the conversation's only response is to flip Jackson off, brush still in hand. He raises an eyebrow, his trademark unimpressed frown showing in a flash. "That's a bit rude, don't you think?"

Amelia comes back with a roll of her eyes as she points to Jackson's unkempt shoulder-length hair. "Like you're any better. Look at you, you can't make a good first impression looking like that." She looks in the mirror of her make-up kit, flashing a satisfied smile.

Jackson instantly quips back with "Those Instagram likes aren't as appealing as you think. Teachers and employers will look at your work ethic, not your Kardashian mindset."

All the while Jackson and Amelia are bickering back and forth, an exasperated sigh is let out of Roxy, leaning her head on her arms until she feels two taps on her back. Looking to her back, she sees the cheerful smile of Matthew, the person sitting at the desk behind her flashing a thumbs-up. "It's okay, Roxy! I'm always here to listen to what ya have to say, aren't I?"

Roxy giggles mildly, turning herself around to better engage with Matthew in conversation. "Yeah, of course. But it feels good to share my interests with those two, though! Too bad they're never interested in whatever I have to say..."

Matthew shrugs. "Hmm... I guess it can't be helped in Jackson's case. He's doing six ATAR, ya know?" He holds up six fingers for a second, three for each hand. Lowering them down, he continues his talk. "So, he needs all the study he can get to even pass!"

Nodding in agreement and taking a glance back at the two in front of her, Roxy sees that Jackson and Amelia have finished their little argument and have gone back to their typical activities. She turns back around and leans towards Matthew, enough so that the other two won't be able to overhear her. "Yeah, but what about Amelia? For probably no reason, she takes care of herself and herself only, right?"

Again, Matthew shrugs. "Now, now, don't be exaggerating like that. Ya know she isn't all about how she looks." To complete his sentence, Matthew lowers his voice. "...Though, I don't see why she can be that passionate about something that only appeals to very specific groups of people."

That statement made Roxy fold her arms with a bit of a disappointed look on her face. "If that's true, then I don't get why she does that for such a small and boring audience. Anime's more interesting than any celebrity catwalks, ever!"

Matthew puts his hands on his chest and nods, appearing to whole-heartedly agree with his weeaboo friend. "I'm with you on that one, Roxy. I've known ya long enough to realise anime can have deep stories, engaging characters, lush locations, and a lot of other things."

Motioning towards Jackson and Amelia, Roxy huffs. "They don't understand..." to which Matthew pats her on the shoulder. "Ya never know, they might just so one day. Ya just gotta be patient, cappische?" Roxy nods in feigned solemnity before turning around again.

With her hand hanging over the back of her chair, she pushes her foot against the ground with her head tilted upward and her eyes staring at the roof. The front legs of the chair she sits on lift off the ground, more pressure being put on its back legs as Roxy begins to rock her chair.

Her mind begins to drift towards her friends that surround her. Specifically, their time in primary school was a time of some of her fondest memories.

. . . . .

"Haha, I'm king now! Get wrecked, Roxy!"

"That's not fair, I wasn't ready!"

"You always need to be ready, this is a game of four-square!"

"Hmph! Fine then!"

The four kids kept on bouncing the ball between each other competitively, all the way until a whistle was blown.

"That's it, Year 2 kids! Did you all have fun?"

The class cheered up a "Yeeeeeaaaaaahhhh!"

"That's great! Now, Phys Ed class is over for today, so get back into the classroom and be ready for lunch time!"

Everyone excitedly ran inside the school building, pushing against each other to see who could get into the classroom first. Roxy was one of the last, and she still had some workbooks and writing utensils left out on her desk. So naturally, she filed away her books in her chair bag and put her pencil and eraser into her pencil case. Just as she was finished, a familiar sound of four xylophone notes played over the PA system.

"It's lunch time! Here are the teachers on duty..."

Once again, Roxy is the last one to sit down in the lunch area. Approaching her three best friends, she sat down on the ground and opened her lunch box.

"Hey, did any of you hear about the new Super Smash Bros game last night? So cool, right?"

The enthusiastic voice came from her left, where Jackson sat.

To her right, Matthew spoke up. "Yeah, I know! Wii Fit Trainer? Really, who would've guessed?!"

Roxy smiled widely. "And Mega Man too! He's really popular!"

In front of her, Amelia giggled. "Really, you three? It's not that big of a deal..."

Looking down, Roxy saw a sandwich sitting there in the tupperware container she carried, cut diagonally.

Matthew turned towards Amelia. "It is! It's so hype, ya know!"

Roxy grabbed a slice of her sandwich out of her lunch box by the crust, holding it in front of her mouth before being suddenly cut off by Jackson. He pointed to her, proclaiming "Hey, your sandwich is just like mine!"

Jackson took out a slice of his sandwich, with Roxy seeing it was cut the same way as her own.

Amelia looked to the two and scoffed, about to chortle on them for being sappy fools before striking a look of astonishment. "Wait, mine too!"

Matthew, as well, held up a slice of his sandwich and pointed at it with a wide grin. "I think this tells us something!"

Holding his sandwich slice out in the middle of where the four friends were seated, Matthew looked to his companions who sat with him. "This is a sign! It means that we're gonna be great pals for the rest of our lives!"

Jackson looked at Matthew quizzically, as if he said something super crazy. "Wait, really?"

It was Roxy's turn to speak up and hold her sandwich slice next to his. "Yeah! It's like those necklaces best friends always have!"

"Ooh, those! I likey!" Amelia held out her sandwich slice and placed it against the other two.

Everyone then glanced towards Jackson, who was feeling more and more pressured by the minute. Roxy's smile grew a bit wider, with him feeling slightly nervous.

Eventually, he gave in. "Fine then! I'll do this as well!" He held his sandwich slice out next to the other ones.

Satisfied, the four friends shuffled closer, until their sandwich slices touched each other at the edges.

It looked just like one sandwich.

Matthew beamed brightly. "This is us, sticking together like a sandwich! We're best friends from now on!"

"This is for a great friendship!"

"Yeaaaahhh!"

. . . . .

"...I wonder what happened to those days."

Again, Jackson and Amelia turn behind them to look at Roxy. Even Matthew takes a glance up from his leftover classwork, somewhat confused at the implications of Roxy's words.

Roxy notices this, her eyes widening slightly in surprise. "Wait, did I just say that out loud?"

Jackson pushes his glasses up. "I did indeed hear about you wondering what happened to those days, whatever you mean by that."

Amelia speaks up, similarly puzzled. "What do you mean, 'those days'? Is that just a you thing?"

Roxy is caught flabbergasted by the attention she's suddenly getting and smiles awkwardly. "Oh, it's nothing. Nothing really, just some dumb thoughts."

Jackson huffs and says "Okay then... I don't really need to know what you're thinking," before turning back around along with Amelia.

For the second time, Matthew leans forward and taps Roxy on the back. "Roxy, are ya doing alright? If something's bothering ya, we can always talk."

Roxy turns around and shakes her head. "Nah, seriously, it's nothing important." to which he nods. "Alright then." Her mood is calmed slightly by his care for her wellbeing.

Matthew gets back to his work, again leaving Roxy to think by herself.

Her friends, the ones that promised each other to stick together throughout life, had split apart after Year 2 as they went to separate schools and never heard from each other in 9 years.

The first thing most people will recognise about Roxy Perrema is her super-messy hair that goes down to her shoulders. It's spiky and partly covers her right eye, almost giving her an emo look. She is passionate about her few interests, and can talk about them for hours on end, having barely any concept of people having things they need to do.

True to what has been said before, Jackson Helvetmin is an ambitious academic, dedicating all his spare time to studying anything that might have been taught within the week. Tests are important to him, and his choice of six ATAR subjects (Maths Methods, Maths Specialist, Literature, Psychology, Chemistry, and Law) gives him plenty to study for. He may be a bit of a nerd, but is definitely no social slouch.

On her most recent Instagram post, Amelia Beverly had amassed more than 1500 likes, which is pretty much the average for most people within her demographic. However, people closer to her do realise she has her own personal matters, those far more important than any modelling career. She truly considers the three people she hangs out with as best friends, though she wouldn't just declare it outright.

Popular in the school's Hockey Academy is Matthew Griffiths, possibly the friendliest man in the cohort. His personality contrasts heavily with his attributes: a deep voice, a cool-looking stubble, and a height of 6'0". It can be off-putting at first, but his friends have learned to appreciate and respect him since he's done so much to help everyone he knows stay happy.

This is the story of these four friends, and a happening that would flip their school experiences around and put their impressionable personalities and traits at the forefront for new students to see.