Later that day, school had ended for the day. Nate and Nicole met up with each other.

"I'm still worried about Tao" Nicole said. "I haven't seen her since lunch".

"I heard" Nate answered. "I got bigger problems, though. My friend, Matthew, texted me. He said a note talking about why his music stinks as much as Tao's is why he's thinking about dropping out of his own band."

"What?" Nicole asked. "Matthew's a star member. No way that band can perform without him."

"I agree" Nate said. "This bullying has got to end before more people's feelings get hurt. I better go find Matthew and make sure he's okay."

"Alright" Nicole responded. "I'm gonna go find Tao before this bullying hurts her even more. See you tomorrow, Nate".

"By Nicole" Nate said.

By the bathrooms, Nate ran into his crush, Stephanie. "Oh" Nate said. "Hey Stephanie".

"Hi Nate" Stephanie said. "What's up?"

"Have you seen Matthew?" Nate asked. "Someone just hurt his feelings and I just wanna make sure he's alright."

Stephanie answered "he did say he was gonna go to do homework with Emma. Did you know those 2 have a thing for each other?"

"That's great" Nate said. "See you Stephanie".

Stephanie wanted to know what has gotten into Nate.

That was when Nicole came over.

After saying hi to each other, Nicole asked "have you seen Tao?"

"What's a Tao?" Stephanie asked.

Nicole answered "the new kid in school. She got bullied twice and I just wanna make sure she's okay."

Stephanie answered "well, I did see a shy girl with a guitar saying she was gong to go get an after-school snack."

"Thanks Stephanie" Nicole said before taking off.

"What be going on when I'm not in the zone?" she asked. She really wanted to know.

At Emma's house, Matthew was doing homework with her. "You are one cute girl" he said.

"Thanks" Emma said. "You're quite handsome yourself".

Matthew couldn't help but blush. The blushing quickly disappeared when a knock was heard. Matthew went to open the door.

"Oh" he said. "Hey Nate".

"Hey Matthew" Nate responded. "Hi Emma".

"Hey Nate" Emma said. "What's the 411 with you?"

Nate answered "someone's bullying our friends".

Emma was shocked. "Who would do such a thing?"

"Nate's trying to find out" Matthew said. "I got a message saying my music stinks as much as Tao's".

"Who's Tao?" Emma asked.

"The new kid at school" Nate answered. "She's a real quiet one."

"Where is she now?" Emma asked.

"Nicole's looking for her" Nate answered.

At the cupcake café, Nicole spotted Tao. "Hey Tao" she said.

"Hey Nicole" Tao said back. "What are you doing here?"

Nicole answered "I haven't seen you since lunch. Did you get bullied again?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if she said yes" another familiar voice said.

"Hey girl" Nicole said. "Tao, this Naomi. She works here. Naomi, this is Tao. She's the new kid on the block".

Tao hid behind Nicole.

"She's shy" Nicole answered.

"Super shy" Tao commented.

"I can see that" Naomi responded. "Reminds me of my first day here. I was a little anxious myself.

"Really?" Nicole asked. "Did you think you was going to leave?"

Naomi answered "you know it, but after touring the place, I really got to enjoy this town. I even got a job at this café".

"Oh yeah" Nicole said. "I first saw you on your way home from school."

"I remember that day" Naomi commented. "You even let me stay the whole weekend at your house."

"Sounds like you 2 became great friends" Tao replied.

"Hey. Does anyone know how all this bullying started? My social anxiety disorder is why I can't speak up about it."

Naomi answered "that was Megan."

"What's a Megan?" Tao asked.

"My cousin" Naomi answered. "I still can't believe she's doing it to get revenge for when Livi fired her. Look, she's even saying don't go to Livi's concert tonight because no one wants her around. People are taking this stuff seriously".

"Ouch" Tao replied. "You think Livi will be okay?"

"I don't know" Naomi answered. "I never got to see Livi perform before. Now, it looks like I might never will."

"Not with that attitude" Nicole said.

"What are you going to do?" Tao asked.

"You'll be by tomorrow night" Nicole answered.

What do you think she is going to do?