It was a clear blue-sky day when Paulie looked up towards the sky. Her best friend, Tory, then interrupted her. "See anything interesting?" Paulie smiled and looked towards her, "Yah…actually I have." Tory couldn't help but blush and felt that Paulie could actually be talking about her, but quickly brushed it off. "So are you ready for the 30 hr. famine tonight?" she tried changing the subject. "Yah, now all I gotta do is finish setting up the gym before everyone else starts coming." "Oh, really? How is it that all the other co-ordinators are all busying themselves in setting up banners and water stations in the gym, for an event that will last at least an entire school day, and a half, while I find you, here, lounging herself on top of the schools roof?" Paulie snickered and smiled. "You got me their, Tor." They looked at each other and just started laughing. As the laughter subsided, Paulie started to get up and brush herself off from the pavement. "Do you need any help setting up?" Tory asked with a grin. "Yah, we could use all the help we can get," she said smiling appreciatively at her best friend.
Evening time came and people were just about finishing setting up activities for students to do, so they wouldn't think of their empty stomachs. "I need to get a ladder to string that rope up there," Paulie said to one of the co-ordinators. "Well, there should be a ladder in the janitor's closet." "Okay, I'll go grab it then," replied Paulie. "Wait! I know you think yourself capable of lifting the whole ladder yourself, Paulie, but just in case, please get someone to help you?" "I will," Tory volunteered. Paulie turned towards her, "Great, thanks!" and smiled. Tory couldn't help but smile back. As they walked down the hall, nearing close to the janitor's closet, "Hey Tor…" "Yah, what's up?" "I should really show you the roof of the school some time…" "The roof? Why? We go there, like, almost every day!" she replied incredulously. Counting in her head, how many times they've actually have been up there. "Yah, but every time we go up there it's always during the day, and I've discovered lately that it's a cool place to be to look up at the stars," replied Paulie. "I didn't know you go up there at night. We sleep in the same dorm room, with Mary B, how did I not notice you sneak out late at night?" asked a very confused Tory. Paulie just snickered, "Maybe it's because you're such a deep sleeper, that even if a hurricane hit our school, you'd still be asleep. And by the time you wake up, you'd realise you're not in Kansas anymore," she said the last part mockingly which earned her a light push from her friend. They continued on laughing until they've reached the janitor's closet. Paulie took a hold of one end of the ladder and Tory the other. As they walked back down towards the gymnasium, Tory all of a sudden let out a silent, "Oh great…" "What is it?" Paulie asked, "It's Jake." Paulie quickly looked over in the direction Tory was looking at, and started to glare, as she saw Jake walk towards them. "Hi!" he said shyly. "H-hi" Tory replied back nervously. Paulie couldn't stand them being together, but thought that it was none of her business who Tory talks too, and all of a sudden grab a hold of the entire ladder, herself. "I'll just take this back to the gym myself, and leave you two…to, uh, whatever…" and just walked off. Tory started to protest but saw how Paulie was handling the huge ladder all by herself and was quite impressed, all in the while forgetting Jake was standing just 2 inches away from her. She started to walk quickly towards the gym after Paulie and found Jake following her. "You want something?" Tory asked, trying to be polite. "I…um…you…um…something" he mumbled. Tory just looked at him with one eyebrow up. As they entered the gym, Tory tried to look all over to find Paulie, and soon found her cutting off some wires for some of the decorations. She then turned back around to tell Jake that she needed to go and help out with setting up and stuff. But soon found herself being pulled into a kiss. She was taken off guard. As Paulie was cutting the wires carefully, she looked up to see if she could find Tory anywhere. Her eyes went wide as she saw Tory and Jake kissing. She then felt a terrifying pain on her hand and looked down and found that she cut herself deeply with the scissors. She then heard a cry "Paulie!" one of the co-ordinators have noticed that Paulie had hurt her hand and blood was coming out, she glanced back at Tory who knew that she saw what happened. She quickly jumped off from the ladder and ran out of the gym. Before Tory could push Jake back and yell out Paulie's name. All that came out was silence as she watched her friend run out.
Running down the hallway, Paulie clutched her bloodied up hand and rushed to the bathroom. But to her, nothing had hurt more, than seeing Tory kissing someone else. As she reached the sink, she turned on the tap as cold running water greeted her bloodied hand. She winced in pain, as tears slowly fell down her face. "How could she! How could she have kissed him!" She kept asking herself in her head. "But why shouldn't she? She doesn't know how I feel about her…" as she started bandaging her hand up the best she could, she fell into sadness and started ignoring people around her who called out her name. Especially, Tory. Every one just figured it was due to the fact of her injured hand, that they decided to stop calling out for her and leave her alone.
The first night had passed, and there was only 10 hours left, it was getting close to bedtime, everyone was having a great time, except for two best friends. Who haven't talked to each other since that "incident." As everyone was soon falling asleep, Paulie waited for a few minutes, making sure every one was asleep, before taking her own sleeping bag, pillow and jacket and crept up towards the school roof.
10 minutes had passed and Tory couldn't help but think why Paulie was avoiding her so much. Every time she had the chance to be alone with the other girl, she made up some lame excuse of leaving her. She was starting to get annoyed and was thinking that Paulie was acting like a child. Her mind then went back to the moment when Jake kissed her. "The look in Paulie's eyes was so….hurt?" Confused, she turned over in her sleeping bag and tried to see pass the other sleeping silhouettes, to see her best friend. But found that the spot, once occupied by Paulie, was now empty. "Where did she go?" she wondered in her head worriedly. Soon, she suddenly remembered the last conversation her and Paulie had together about the school's roof. She gathered herself up and put on her shoes and headed towards the gym doors, but was soon stopped by a hand, which she noticed was Jake's. "Where you going?" "I'm going to go see if Paulie's okay," she replied quietly, as to not to wake the others. As she motioned again towards the exit, she turned around, "Jake," taking a deep breath, "you know I like you, but only as friends. I can't give you everything you want. And, if I or we somehow, actually managed to be together…it wouldn't have been fair to you, because…. because…" Jake, finally realising what Tory was talking about, replied back sadly, "It's okay, Tory. I understand." He then smiled sadly, "just promise me, if you ever find that special person in your life…don't ever let that person get away." She smiled in understanding and quickly walked away and said to herself silently, "I won't."
Paulie gazed up towards the dark night sky and looked up at the stars and took a huge breath and let it out. "So, what if she kissed him…I mean as if I care!" but she knew that she did. She couldn't fool herself into thinking otherwise. She let out a defeated groan, and punched the hard cold cement floor and winced in pain as soon as she remembered her injured hand. "No wonder no one wants to be with me, I'm a complete idiot!" she lectured herself in her head. All the while, not noticing a tiny silhouette approaching her, who saw what she had just did. "Paulie!" she exclaimed. Paulie quickly turned around and saw Tory walking quickly towards her, concerned. Ashamed of herself, Paulie quickly turned her back towards her, cursing herself with such bad luck. Tory couldn't help but feel so helpless and sad as she walked towards the retreated form of her best friend. She sat herself down beside Paulie. Uneasy silence came between the both of them. Not knowing what to say, Tory looked up at the sky and noticed all the stars, twinkling in the sky. Then, trying to be brave, she decided, that if Paulie wasn't going to say anything, she would have to do it herself. "Paulie…" Paulie jumped at the sudden use of her name. "Paulie…" she began again slowly, "about that kiss you saw the other night…" "You don't have to explain," she said, cutting her off, trying to save what ounce of a broken heart she still had left, with a stifle out laugh. And looked away again. At seeing this, and realising that if she doesn't tell Paulie now, she might not be able to have another chance too, and everything between them would be…well, not the same. "It didn't mean anything!" Tory blurted out. "It's all right. I'm glad you finally found that special person you've been looking for." She wanted to cry and scream and run away right then and there but used all her strength to hold it in. She couldn't let Tory see her be so weak. She can't break in front of her. Strong front. Strong front. Is what was repeated in her mind, to stop herself from breaking down right in front of her. Tory just looked at her disbelievingly and saw a glance in her friends' eyes, which was full of sadness. A cold breeze passed between them and she gathered herself in her arms and clutched her knees shivering. "Just like you to not bring a jacket," Paulie chuckled lightly, and used the blanket she had around herself and placed it over her shivering best friend. "If I can't tell her how I feel, I rather have her friendship and her with me like this, then nothing at all…" was all that was playing in her head. They continued to look up at the stars. "He's not the one I've been looking for," she said in an almost-whispered type voice, that you'd have to be as close as Paulie was, to hear Tory's confession. Upon hearing this, Paulie took a deep breath and started to fall back onto the sleeping bag while staring up at the night sky, in disbelief. "He isn't?" she finally replied, relief in her mind, while staring at the back who was now towards her. "No," was her simple answer and she let out a small smile, she continued, "The one I'm waiting for, is a person who knows me so well that they'll know instantly of what I'm thinking, and knows when to comfort me. Someone I can trust, completely." Glancing expectantly towards Paulie. Paulie smiled, catching on. She took Tory gently by the arm and pulled her down beside her, underneath the blanket. "Sounds like you've already found that person," she joked, nudging Tory playfully. Tory took Paulie by her uninjured hand and start intertwining their fingers in the air. She then got up, and looked down at her surprised best friend, and smiled while taking her other hand to gently grab her friends' injured hand, and lightly kissed where the wound was. Paulie, not one for blushing, was instantly feeling her cheeks warm up. She got up slowly, staring face-to-face with the girl she was falling even further for, used her other hand to gently cup Tory's face, lovingly. She careful removed strands of hair away from her friends' eyes; Tory reciprocated by placing her hand on Paulie's cheek to sweeping some hair behind her ears and neck and pulled her close to a sweet, innocent, kiss. They pulled back for just a quick second, to see if there was any doubt in the other person's eyes. Seeing as there were none. They continued on kissing more passionately with more emotion, from all the wait and stored up feelings towards one another. Finally stopping, with arms still around each other, forehead against forehead, they breathed in oxygen into their lungs, trying to catch their breaths. Slowly they lay back down and covered themselves up warmly underneath the covers, wrapped in each other's warm embrace. Paulie whispered an "I love you," and tightened the embrace a little more between the two. "I'm totally lost without you, Paulie." Tory stated. They both smiled at one another before sleep overtook them both as they fell asleep in each other's arms.