Everything at school was always the same. Go there, learn something (if I could focus enough), and go home. I hated having to repeat the same things over and over again, especially with things as they were. I didn't want to have to face anyone after all that's happened, and yet, I forced myself to go anyway. Of course, that was mostly because I'd be in trouble if I didn't, but at the same time, I felt like my feelings would only get darker if I gave myself the time to sit and wallow in them. School was my prison and my paradise, in that respect. Today was no different; I got up, I got ready, I went to school. I was lost deep in my thoughts as I entered the school, too consumed to pay attention to anything around me. So, naturally, I once again collided with fate and ended up on the floor. To my surprise, "fate's" name was Chris.

"Geez, you really have to stop doing that. Someone's gonna have it out for you one day."

"No kidding..." I replied as he pulled me back up once more. "I'm sorry."

"No problem," he said with a smile. "I just want you to be careful, that's all. You really gotta keep an eye out now that...you know..."

"Yeah, I know. And I will. So...um...I guess I'll see you later..."

"Yeah...see you later..."

I didn't want to, but I knew I had to keep our conversations short. After all, a certain somebody might be watching. Plus, I knew I actually would see him later in class, so I had that to look forward to. I turned to walk away, but something held me back.

"Wait."

I turned back to see that Chris had grabbed ahold of my arm. He stood there and looked at me for a minute, as if he couldn't get out what he was trying to say. I waited for a while, but nothing.

"What is it? Are you okay?"

"...Yeah...it's just..." He looked away sadly. Something was bothering him, and I had a good idea what. But still, I needed him to say what was on his mind. "...What? It's just what?"

"I was just thinking..." He fell silent for a moment, and I felt his grip tighten around my arm. Then...

"How long are we gonna go on like this?" His voice got louder. "How long do we have to wait until this is over?" He stared intently into my eyes, begging me to give him an answer he wanted to hear. But...

"I'm sorry, Chris. I really am, but right now, this is the way things have to be. I'll fix this, I promise, but right now, I need more time."

Chris let go of my arm and shook his head. "Why? Why do we need permission to hang out? Why do you need the okay of some crazy guy to be my friend?"

I had to admit I was speechless. I didn't know how to answer that. Why DO I need Lysander's permission? Am I really that scared...? I don't want to lose Chris, but still... I hated upsetting Chris this way, but I knew what would happen if I didn't comply. Lysander wasn't exactly "all bark and no bite;" I knew better than anyone that he meant everything he said. But how would I explain that to Chris? In the end, I couldn't say anything...

"You know..." Chris continued. "If that's how it's going to be, then I'd rather not be involved at all."

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused. The longer I waited for his answer, the more worried I became. "What are you saying, Chris?"

"I'm saying..." he paused, "if I have to sneak around like this just to talk to you, just to stay friends with you, then I...!"

"No!" I screamed at him, dreading what I knew he was about to say.

"...I don't want to be friends at all."

I stood there, shocked. Hurt. Confused. I couldn't believe it. Why did Chris say that to me? We'd been friends for over a year now...had the past few weeks taken their toll on him that badly?

….Had Lysander won already?

"No." I refuted firmly. There was no way I would let him give up on our friendship so easily. Not like this. "This is exactly what that "crazy guy" wants. If you walk away, he wins. Is that what you want? Don't you care?"

With everyone gone except me and him, the hallway fell completely silent. The few seconds I waited for him to say something – anything – felt like an eternity. But in the end, all I got was...

"...Goodbye, Julia."

And then he walked away. I was so distraught, I didn't know what to think. Only two questions echoed throughout my mind:

What just happened? Why did this have to happen?

Those thoughts continued to haunt me until I got to my classroom. By then, it was already half-way over, but luckily this time, the teacher didn't notice. I really didn't need to be reprimanded now, of all times. In a desperate attempt to get my mind off of Chris, I tried extra hard to pay attention to the lesson. However, as I got there in the middle of class, it was hard for me figure out what the teacher was talking about. After a few minutes of staring at the whiteboard and trying to follow along, my focus gradually faded and my thoughts crept back in. As a result, I only ended up torturing myself more.

The rest of my morning classes went by pretty quickly, and I hoped that the rest of the day passed by just as fast. Of course, the lunch break was always nice. I was at the very back of the line, so when I finally did get up to the counter, one of the lunch ladies saw the depressed look on my face and talked to me for a little bit to try and cheer me up. I'd never actually talked to any of them before – I never thought I would – but she was really understanding, so I actually did feel a little better afterwards. Unfortunately, that feeling didn't last long. Next up was floral design, and Mrs. Hana finally noticed that her flowers were gone. I hated the thought of lying, especially to one of my favorite teachers, so when she asked who stole them, I confessed. I hoped she would show me a little mercy, but instead, I was sent to the principal's office.

"So, Miss Chama, I heard you stole some flowers."

"...Yes, ma'am." I looked away in shame. I didn't want to face anyone today in general, but especially not now.

"Well that's very unlike you. You're such a good student; I'm sure Mrs. Hana would have given you some flowers if you'd just asked. Why did you feel the need to steal them?"

"I..." I fell silent. I wasn't sure how to explain my intentions to the principal. It wasn't like I wanted to steal them, but I knew she was right. "I needed them...for someone else. I'm sorry I didn't ask, but I needed them right away; I didn't think it could wait. But it doesn't matter now...I'm sorry."

"It does matter," the principal refuted. "Burglary is burglary, no matter who you are or why you did it. School property is school property; it doesn't belong to you. Honestly, I'm shocked that you would even do this at all. How disappointing..."

With that, my morale was back to zero, if not below that. It was a good thing the principal let me off with a warning (even if she gave me a long lecture to go with it) because even though I knew what I did was wrong, I might have lost my sanity entirely if I were actually punished for it now. Unfortunately, because of my little visit with her, I had missed the rest of floral and was running late for physics, so I made sure to get out of there as quickly as possible. However, as soon as I left the office –

"So you were here."

I looked up to see the very person I wanted to see the least. He said those words as if he had no idea I was here, but the fact that he was standing just outside made me think he already knew. "...Yes..." I replied hesitantly, frozen in place once again. I glanced at him every so often but couldn't make eye-contact for long. "What about you, Lysander? Why are you here?"

"Because you weren't there. In class, I mean. You're never more than a minute late, so I was starting to worry about you. What happened?"

"Um...I don't wanna talk about it..."

"Are you sure? Whatever it is, please don't be afraid to tell me. I know it's not your fault."

"But it is though." I argued. "I stole...something." I wanted to tell the truth, but I couldn't just tell him I'd stolen flowers, because there was no way I could tell him why. That...that was something he should never know – not ever. If I left my actions vague, I could at least try to brush off the reason like it was no big deal. That way, no one would have to worry.

"You...stole something? Really?"

"Yeah..."

"What was it?"

I didn't answer. I didn't want to, and I knew if I tried to make something up, he'd see right through it anyway.

Lysander walked up to me and took my hand. "Please don't keep secrets from me. If it's making you feel this way, then I want to know what it is. I want to make you feel better."

He was staring right at me, but I still couldn't look at him. His closeness was making me feel uncomfortable, yet warm and fuzzy at the same time. It was that same feeling he always gave me, and I didn't want to give in. "N-Never mind! I'm not trying to keep it a secret, I just don't wanna talk about it, okay? It doesn't matter anyway, it's already done; it's already been dealt with."

He squeezed my hand tighter. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!" I snapped at him as I finally looked into his eyes, staring as intensely at him as he was at me. I wanted him to know I was serious. I wanted him to drop it. "...Can we please just go to class now? We're really late."

He waited a moment before answering. "...Yeah...of course. You're right, we should go."

We walked all the way to class together without looking at each other or saying a word, but he never let go of my hand until we were at our seats. I of course had a good excuse for being late, as the principal sent me with a note to give the teacher, but Lysander was scolded for his extensive "bathroom break" and was told he would receive a detention if he ever did it again. Everyone in the classroom stared at us, including Chris, who looked even more depressed than earlier. I wanted so badly to try and talk to him, but I knew the risk was still there. So, we quietly worked on our lab assignment, only talking to each other to share instructions.

Wow..., I thought. He's really mad at me.

I could swear I heard Lysander chuckle under his breath in the background.

For the rest of the day, I moved as fast as I could, making sure to watch where I was going every step of the way. I didn't want to talk to anyone about anything or bump into someone by accident; I just wanted to get through the day and go home. For the most part, it was working. After physics, I made it on time to Choir and then P.E. with no problems, and nothing else went wrong. Since they didn't require as much focus as my earlier classes did, I was able to make my mind let go and try to forget about everything. I almost didn't hear my P.E. coach when he told us it was time to go home, and I wouldn't have had the last bell not been so loud. When I finally snapped out of it, I practically raced towards the exit as if my life depended on how fast I could get home. But of course...

"Oh, hey!" A familiar voice shouted to me. I looked around until I found the person walking towards me. It was that girl from a few days before, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't recall her name. "It's you! You're Julia, right?"

"Yeah." I replied, guilty I wasn't able to reciprocate. "I'm sorry, but I forgot your name. What was it again?"

"Oh, no worries!" she said cheerfully. "My name's Rosalya. I just saw you, so I thought I'd say hi. How've you been? How are you feeling?"

"Oh..." I looked down at my legs and found the scrapes and bruises I'd gotten that day. With everything going on around me, I hadn't thought much about them. After all, they were already healing. They certainly weren't getting any worse. "I'm fine, everything's fine. How are you?"

"Good, thanks for asking!"

"Good. Well...nice seeing you again." I smiled at her and started to walk away.

"Wait!" She called out. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

I turned back around. "Sure, what is it?"

"Well..." she continued. "This might be a weird question, but what do you think about Halloween?"

"Um..." I thought for a second. "I dunno, it's fun. I like going trick-or-treating and all that. I like the dark colors and themes. Why?"

She became disappointed for a second. "Trick-or-treating? Isn't that for little kids?"

"U-Uh...well, I mean...yeah, but..." I looked away, embarrassed. It's true that I was a little old for that, but it was honestly the best part, in my opinion.

"Well anyway," she interrupted, "forget about all that. What do you think about school events?"

I got confused. "I don't know, what do you mean? Like field days and stuff?"

"No!" she snapped at me. "Not like field days! Like dramas and dances and stuff! You know, formal events!"

"Oh...I dunno, they're okay, I guess."

"Just okay? What kind of girl are you? Don't you at least enjoy dressing up?"

"...Eh."

"You know what? It's a good thing I asked, because we're gonna change that!"

"What do you mean?"

All of a sudden, Rosalya went from being utterly disgusted to as happy as can be. "I heard there's gonna be a Halloween dance here at the school! And now that I know what kind of sad plans you had before, I'm gonna take you with me!"

Now it was my turn to be disgusted. "No."

"What do y–"

"No."

"But–"

"Absolutely not."

"Why?!"

"Because!" I yelled at her. "Because I don't like stuff like that! I went to one once in middle school and it was boring as fuck!"

Rosalya gasped in shock. "TAKE. THAT. BACK."

"Wha–No! I will not!"

"RIGHT NOW."

"No!"

"You know what? I don't care what you say. You're going. And I'm gonna make you the perfect costume!"

"I don't want it!"

"Too bad!"

And with that, she stomped away, but not before threatening to take my measurements at some point in the near future. I had no intention of letting her do so, of course, but I looked forward to seeing her try. Finally with nothing else in my way, I managed to make it home. I was so tired that I locked my door and slid to the floor as soon as I got inside. For a few short hours, I was finally able to relax. Of course, I got some of my homework done, but since none of it was due for a while, I didn't do very much. After all, I wasn't in any mood to. All I wanted to do was eat, play some games, and go to bed, and that's exactly what I did. I was just about to fall asleep when my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID:

Chris

"...What?"