Hola again people! I'm flattered at all ze wonderful comments, si? Lobz. Okiez, well, since I probably won't have time to update again this weekend, I'll be updating today and so and so… and yeah. Lobz. So, enjoy and don't forget to review! Hehe! P.S. if this chapter has any grammatical mistakes, I seriously apologize… it's a Friday and starting two weeks ago I've had to wake up at 5 and to RUN for volleyball and do weight-training and conditioning and practice and all that junk, plus we had a publications deadline on Wednesday. :dies: so yeah. Go easy on me today. I'm suh-ooh tired. So thanks!

It was getting closer to the holidays and Kori was stressing. That meant not only finals, (at my school, they're still called finals even though they're technically midterms), but it was also time to go out and buy presents for everybody. She sighed as she went into the shower. The warm water took away all her stress and when she came out, she curled her hair at the ends with her curling iron, and put on light make-up. It was almost time for Richard to come and pick her up. Exactly at that time, her phone rang.

"Yeah?" she said between talking and pushing out a tube of lip gloss.

"I'm at the front, kay?" came Richard's voice on the other line.

"Okay. Cool. Be right down," Kori said. She hung up and grabbed her bag and a pair of Ugg boots for the cold weather. She went downstairs and went to the front.

"Hey," Richard said as he unlocked the door to today's car: a Porsche.

"Hey," Kori said getting into the luxury car.

"Ready for school?" Richard asked.

"Never," Kori laughed as Richard drove out of the large driveway and onto the main streets. "So, did you think of the project yet?"

"No not yet," Richard said keeping his eyes on the road. Kori took this time to look at him closely. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt with a dark blue jacket on top. His hair was, as usual, spiked to perfection and his dark sunglasses covered his eyes.

"I was thinking that we could have the other guys in it. You know, Rach, Gar, and Victor?" Kori asked taking out a binder from her Louis Vuitton and tapping her bottom lip with her finger.

"How?" Richard said. He was good at multi-tasking. It just came easily to him.

"I don't know yet," Kori said slowly. "Maybe we could film like… a more recent version of it and shoot it at the Ritz or something," Kori said. She smiled at her idea and looked at Richard.

"I love it," Richard said. Kori smiled and Richard pulled into the school. It was filled with cars, but Richard quickly found his parking space (at my school, seniors get their own personalized parking space) and Kori grabbed her overlarge Gucci sunglasses and put them over her emerald eyes. They walked to the usual spot and waited for everybody else to arrive.

"I have to go to my locker really quick," Kori said. She nodded off towards the direction and Richard followed her.

"So do you have any ideas for the project?" Kori asked as she moved her books.

"Like I said, no," Richard said. He leaned against the other lockers and waited for her. "Want to get a Starbucks?" he asked her. He looked at his Burberry watch.

"Sure," Kori said, "If we have time." Richard nodded and they headed towards the kiosk at the school. It was filled and usually, in the lunch area, there were many other booths with other variety of clothes such as sushi and so forth and there was also a café if students didn't feel like any of those things. It was the joy of going to a high school for the highly privileged.

"What do you want?" Richard asked as they stood in line next to each other.

"We should get something for the others, too," Kori pointed out looking at the tall menu. She ordered a strawberries and crème drink for her and Richard ordered a Chai Latte for himself and the others.

"I'll pay for it," Kori said holding out her money to the cashier.

"No I will," Richard joked back holding out his Visa card to the cashier at the same time. The cashier took Kori's money.

"Ha!" Kori said. She playfully pushed Richard and he rubbed the spot.

"That hurt," he said sadly.

"Sure," Kori said taking the drinks. He took it from her and began to run. "What are you doing!" she shouted running after him.

"Are you guys finished flirting yet?" Rachel and Garfield said, both with the same look on their faces: eyebrows up and a smirk on their faces. Richard and Kori immediately stopped.

"We weren't flirting," Kori said softly giving them the drinks.

"Uh huh," Garfield said sipping his drink.

Later on in class…

Kori sighed and leaned against her chair pushing it back and forth. She had finished all her notes and Kori sighed. She was a little tired and it would have felt good to just go to sleep right then and there; she slowly began to close her eyes.

"Miss Anders, will you please tell me what happened to Pip upon his fourth visit to Miss Havisham's in Great Expectations?" the teacher asked Kori thinking that she hadn't been paying attention. Kori smirked.

"Miss Havisham asked Pip to bring Joe Gargery for apprenticeship so she could see his papers," Kori said lightly. She put her head back down on the desk and watched the teacher give a look of admiration towards her way.

"Very good," she said. "Now, back to The Great Gatsby…" the teacher said.

Meanwhile, Richard was staring at his notes as if they made no sense at all. He wasn't focusing at all in class. There was something inside of him that kept him thinking about Kori. He had always known that Kori was something special to him, but now that he thought more about her, maybe she was something else? He sighed and jammed his pen into the paper. Why was life so complicated? He turned to look at Kori. She was sleeping peacefully on the desk across from him.

'Do I love Kori? Maybe I love her… but then again… maybe I don't,' Richard thought. He was so deep in thought, he hadn't noticed the bell had rung.

"Mr. Grayson, I love having you in my class, but I think your second period teacher would love it more if you made it on time," the teacher said. Richard gazed at the teacher and pass her. Kori was waiting for him at the doorway.

"Thanks," he muttered and grabbed his things and headed towards Kori.

"Tired?" she asked him. He lied and nodded his head. "I'll see you later," she said as she headed towards the other building where her next class was.

"Bye," Richard said. Maybe he'd have more time to think about his relationship later.

Lunchtime…

"None of us have a sixth period. I think we should all go out and eat somewhere," Victor announced at lunch. (Some people have sixth periods but if you don't you can go home if you have a ride at my school)

"Sounds good to me," Garfield said. "I feel like… TOFU BURGERS!" Victor began to gag.

"Nasty, man," Victor said. "Why don't we try that place down the street that just opened?"

"Okay," Kori said. She pulled out her sunglasses again and the five walked towards Richard's Porsche.

"Fine. Use up all the mileage on my car," Richard said jokingly.

"You're rich, dawg. You're richer than all of us, Richie Rich," Victor said. Richard shrugged. He didn't really enjoy talking about him inheriting the Wayne money.

The new restaurant down the street…

The restaurant was actually a casual restaurant for all to enjoy. There were mostly teenagers there, though. It was a peaceful restaurant with a waterfall at the front and it was a dark place enough to be a club at night.

"Do you have tofu burgers here?" Garfield asked the waitress. She rolled her eyes.

"Not tofu burgers… but other tofu stuff," she said. Garfield looked at the menu.

"I'll have everything with only tofu in it," he said.

"I want five hamburgers," Victor said.

"Just tea, please," Rachel said.

"I would like a small salad with an order of fries," Kori said smiling at her.

"And one order of hamburgers for me," Richard said. The waitress walked away getting ready to fulfill their orders. Kori took out a magazine and began reading.

"Why do you always read?" Richard whispered in her ears.

"Because I want to," Kori said. She looked up at him. "Why?" she asked.

"I was just wondering. I mean, you're always so laid-back and everything and you're always reading these magazines," Richard said grabbing her magazine and hanging it up in the air. "It's all about stuff like plastic surgery, and how to be beautiful and stuff."

"And your point is…?" Kori said stealing the magazine back from him.

"Nothing. Just… you've never been bored of having your looks and stuff foretold by a magazine that sells millions?" he asked her.

"Are you saying I'm fake?" Kori said looking straight into his sunglasses. She was getting close to angry now.

"No… just," Richard panicked. He hadn't expected Kori to think of him like this. He was just trying to tell her that he wanted her to have more fun.

"Just what?" Kori said. She got up and crossed her arms.

"Look, Kor, don't get mad-" Richard said but she cut him off.

"Don't get mad! What do you mean don't get mad?" Kori practically yelled. Rachel, Garfield, and Victor watched in stunned silence. "My best friend in the world is calling me FAKE! Are you saying I shouldn't get mad over that?" Kori shouted. She began to feel the tears coming down her eyes, but she refused to show it. She grabbed her bag and stomped out of the restaurant.

"Kori, wait!" Richard shouted getting up after her, but a hand held him back.

"Let it go, dawg," Victor said watching her leave. "Just let it go."

"I have to get her," Richard said.

"No," Victor said. Richard looked down at him.

"She'll be over it," Garfield said. "Sometime," he muttered after Richard sat back down.

Kori…

Kori cried and cried as she walked back up the pathway towards Gotham High. Her eyes were stinging and red, but she didn't care. Her best friend, supposedly even the guy she had been in love with this whole time, had called her fake. She couldn't take it.

When she got back into her car, Kori drove away towards him. She knew what she had to do.

'I have to get out of here,' she thought to herself. 'I need a break.'

And with that thought in mind, Kori packed her things and headed out towards the desert, determined with one location in mind.

TBC. So where is she going? What will Richard do? Well, we'll just have to find out now. So drop by a review and tell me what you think kaiz? Well, thanks! Love always, -lali lala