Paulo found himself staring out to space sometime during the next day. He paid no attention to the world around him as it went about its business, he thought nothing about it or anything else — he just stared forwards, looking out into nothing. Moments before he'd been thinking back to last night, when Mike finally appeared out of the blue after half a year of disappearing. He couldn't help thinking even further to the year prior; back when Mike told him their plan to move to Richter. He remembered how he felt, he remembered telling himself he would make the last few days with Mike count; they'd do the last few things they could between close friends; go to the movies, ride bicycles (after all, he never won that bicycle they were after. He'd be okay with renting them — he had no problem dipping into his savings this one time), and go on a mountain trip, and all the functions that Roseville had to offer. Paulo had committed himself to the idea, and it was quite something to behold. That event caused Paulo, for the first time, to plan something in advance. A first-time thing to be sure, but it would be his last holiday with Mike.

Ah hell. . .It wouldn't be just with him, Paulo knew his friends wouldn't forgive him if he kept him to himself. They'd all go; David, Daisy, Sue and Abbey. . .Well. . .he wasn't so sure if Abbey would come along, he'd try regardless. He was sure Daisy wouldn't forgive him if she learned otherwise. Abbey was also Mike's friend. It was only fair that he would try to bring him on board, Paulo supposed.

Mike's last holiday, with them.

But it wouldn't be.

They all found Mike's seat empty that following morning, the same day as graduation. It wasn't the only thing; he remembered how empty he felt.

That evening, Paulo had taken the long way home that evening once school was finished for that year. He stopped on the side walk just outside Mike's house. He turned towards it, and for a moment he thought as if his instincts were telling him to climb up the side of the house, and looking through Mike's bedroom window. It felt reminiscent. He'd realised he had done much the same with Lucy's that one time when she had left the school during their sophomore year. That feeling of that stuck with him. Suddenly, it didn't sound so good.

He was sure Mike was long gone. He was pretty sure Sandy had dropped in as convenient as it was for her. His shoulders fell with his sigh, and he continued home, watching the side walk passing his feat.

He reached home in no great shortage of time, he made his way upstairs to his bed, he wrapped himself up in the blanket, and sobbed to himself for a few hours.

His closest friend was gone, and he felt alone.

There had been so many things he wanted to tell Mike last night. He'd only just managed to tell him he was dating Sue, the only thing that. . . well, felt important to get out the door. There were so many things he wanted to catch up on. He wanted to know everything about Richter after all, there was no saying when Mike would be back online again. But above all, he wanted to tell him how much he missed him.

And that was about as much that he thought about. Afterwards, nothing, and Paulo was alone in the world, like back then. He saw nothing, heard nothing, felt nothing. . .

But he did smell something.

Something good. Something delicious. Something that had found its way under his nose. Miraculously, it managed to snap him out of his stupor. He sat back and observed the object that was ever so held out before him. It resembled a chocolate muffin. His stomach growled — he was starting to remember. He hadn't eaten yet. It was lunch. He was at school. . .

And importantly, he was surrounded by his friends.

He followed the hand that held the muffin back to the person who owned it. He found Sue. 'What's this?' He asked, 'Mine?'

'I'm holding it out for you, aren't I?' She said, seeming rather agitated given how slow he'd been to get the point, but the look she gave dissipated once Paulo took it from her hands and smiled in her direction. It caused her to shake her head, roll her eyes and smile back. He properly thanked her and put it down in front of himself. He was about to return to his thoughts again, before noticing Sue hadn't moved. She stood there as if she was expecting something. He looked up at her with a puzzled. He was going to say something to her, but she got in first. 'I would've thought you of all people would've been hungry. You're not even going to have a bite?' She asked, her hands going to her hips. 'Could've sworn you think with your gut most of the time. Are things okay? You were kind of phased out there for a bit.'

'It's nothing.' Paulo told her.

'He was staring into my eyes' David cut in from across the table. 'Lost in an endless sea.'

'Yeah, Sue, the only thing empty was the space I was peering into.' Paulo cut in.

Sue and Amaya snickered as David's eyes narrowed onto Paulo in such a way as if Paulo had just betrayed him.

Paulo turned to Sue, 'I'll eat in a little bit, I'm just not as hungry right now.'

'Really? How come?' She asked, folding her arms. 'You didn't skip out of the class before for an early lunch earlier, did you?' She asked.

He shook his head, 'What? No! Look, I'll eat, alright? Just not now. I was just thinking about stuff, stop babying me.'

'Oh?' She said curiously. 'That doesn't happen often.'

'The babying thing? Seriously you've been doing it daily.'

'No, I meant the thinking thing.' She laughed.

'Oh, har har.' He bought his hand up onto the table and rest his head off it. 'What's with the attitude today?'

'Nothing. You just need to eat! But, if you're not going to, you're going to tell me what's gotten into you, right?'

'Gee, do I want to tell you?'

David waved his hands around like a magician getting ready for his biggest trick, 'You're dying to tell us.' He said.

Paulo stared at David, and sighed — he was right; he wanted to tell them about Mike. But at the same time, a feeling inside of him didn't want to. They'd all been happier for the last couple of weeks. Did he really want to ruin it by bringing this up? He turned to Sue, the look she gave him a look that made him wonder if she was serious about telling her, and this was one of those times where she really wanted him to tell her what the problem was. He felt agitated thinking about it. Technically, he'd agreed to doing that from now on. It was part of the renewed agreement between them.

As it had been; If Sue was going to make any kind of request for Paulo in their relationship — and she did — she made her first demand that if there was any kind of problem he thought he could fix by himself, he'd at least talk to her about it as well. Not just with a problem in their relationship, but with anything in general. Paulo had originally thought Sue was just being nosey, but Sue said it was something to do with two heads being better than one. It was only a little later Paulo realised Sue looking to stave off the main element that caused Paulo so much grief in the past — and that was his reluctance to talk to anyone about his problems. In a way, he felt that maybe there was some truth in it. His reluctance to open-up had almost cost him some close friendships. It also decimated others beyond repair, those ones he'd rather not think about. It felt like such a harmless request but as he thought about it, he started to feel like maybe it wasn't such a good idea. He just didn't want to feel like a victim. Nevermind that he was born into a broken family. He just didn't want to feel any different from his other well-off friends. It killed him inside worse than anything else to feel so different and disadvantaged.

But Sue promised they'd work through anything. And he knew he couldn't keep this to himself.

Sue was growing concerned in the meanwhile. 'Is everything alright?'

'Mike was online last night.'

They atmosphere in around the table almost froze. His friends their eyes grew wider as the message sank in. Naturally, Sue was the first to react.

'H—He was? What did he say?'

'Not much. Only managed to speak to him for a few minutes before he had to go.' Paulo replied sombrely.

'W—Was he alright? Are he and Sandy getting along?'

Paulo shook his head. 'Didn't stay on long enough to find out.'

Sue's ears fell. 'Do you know when he'll be online again?'

Again, he shook his head, 'No, didn't even give me a second to catch him up on events. He fell offline as soon as he came up.' He shrugged. 'I tell ya, he misses us, surely. I'll let you guys know if he's back online again.'

Sue's sighed, 'Of all the days when I choose not to be online.'

'Oh?' Paulo said before sitting straight. 'I noticed that, what were you up to?'

'That's a secret.'

'Are you serious? You can't even tell me that? You know, we spoke about this. . .'

She didn't forget. 'Oh, I know! And it's not that! It'll be obvious soon enough. I assure you. More importantly, about earlier; what happened? Why did they pull you out of the class?'

'It wasn't for anything! I just got called up to the guidance councillor.' He turned to the muffin Sue handed him from before. He decided he was finally getting hungry. He held it up in front of him. 'It was just a check-up, seeing how I was going, and all that.' With that, he bit into the muffin, his eyes grew a little wider. 'Oh! This is good! Was this from the canteen?'

'What? No! I made it!' Sue said.

'You're kidding! This is really good!' He shouted.

'What are you trying to say? Did you expect worse?' She said, looking cross.

'Oh my god. I was not! I'm complimenting you!'

Sue's eyes narrowed onto him judgingly. Before she smiled again, she crossed her arms. 'Spent a couple of hours doing a bit of cooking at home yesterday.' She said, feeling proud. 'Though I was really worried I went too hard on the sugar. Not too sweet?'

'Not at all! This is really good!'

She gave a sigh of relief. The feeling she got from seeing someone enjoy her cooking won out over the disappointment that she missed out on catching Mike that evening. But she became concerned. 'Are you sure you're alright? You've been spaced out since you came back. Are those bags under your eyes?'

Paulo took his time to reply, he went to washing down the meal with a drink. 'Really, Sue. It's great you're worrying about me, but you shouldn't. I just didn't sleep much last night.'

A bit of concern in her voice, 'Because of Mike?'

'No. Not Mike. I told you he's probably doing fine.'

He partially lied. Mike was only half of the reason.

'What time did you go to bed?' She asked.

'Seriously? 9PM. Are you happy?'

'No.'

'Why not?! That's when I went to bed!'

Sue cupped her hand to her chin. A thought came across her. 'No, because I just remembered something.'

'And what the hell was that?'

She sat forward from her chair. 'I just remembered that you're cheeky with words; how long did you actually sleep?'

'I'm not answering that!'

'Aha! You're lying!'

'I am not! I told you I went to bed at 9PM.' He looked towards David and Amaya. 'Can one of you please tell Sue to quit micromanaging me.' He looked back to Sue. 'We spoke about this.'

'Spoke about what.'

'This micromanagement thing.'

'I never agreed to anything, and I'm not micromanaging you!'

'Then what is it then? I just had trouble sleeping, alright? Take my word for it.'

'I'm supposed to care, aren't I?' She sat back in her chair. 'So, it was just that you couldn't sleep.'

'That's what I said.'

David let his elbows rest on the table while his hands supported his head. It wasn't ever a dull moment with these two, but he sighed to himself — It was like this since the two got together. He was interested in seeing where it was going, but after so many infights between the two sorting out their differences he started to wonder if things really would work out. Which of them would balk first. That was interesting, he couldn't help but make guesses. But he also wanted it to work out — his best friend's happiness was his upmost priority, and he knew he was lying to Sue just now. If things kept up, it was sure to end in misery.

He glanced at his phone and to the message Paulo sent him last night, then looked towards Amaya as if looking for an answer. The look she returned to him seemed to imply the same concern. David muttered an apology under his breath. 'If you weren't studying then why did I get a message about an English question. I'm not even in your class.' He asked.

Paulo's jaw dropped. 'Dude.'

'In bed at 9PM huh? As I suspected, it doesn't mean you slept.'

Paulo grit his teeth, he shot David another look. 'Dude.' He said.

'Shouldn't lie to your wife.' David shrugged.

'Shut up, she's not my wife.' He turned to Sue. 'I really can't take it when you ask about every little thing.'

'I have to know, I'm supposed to be tutoring you and if you're getting fatigued during the lessons that affects me as well!'

'Can you just stop it?' He asked. 'I'm not tired. This was a once only thing.'

'I'll stop when you can manage yourself.'

Paulo sat back in his chair and gave an exasperated sigh, he folded his arms, he took a moment. 'If you really want to know; five.'

'Five?'

'Hours. Five hours.' He clarified.

'That's not a lot. What were you doing?'

He shrugged. 'Study, what else?'

'You need to sleep! I know mid-terms are coming up but you shouldn't crucify yourself.' Sue said.

'I know! I know. You said that before, I just thought I'm not ready.'

'You'll do fine.' Sue said, 'The teachers said you did pretty good in the practice run. I wouldn't be too surprised if you get a high-A.'

He looked at her as if what she said was a joke, 'That's a bit too optimistic. . .' He thought aloud.

'No, you've always been a pessimist. Come on, it'll be alright.'

Paulo sighed, he bought his hand up and rest his head off it like she had. He watched her in much the same way she'd been watching him. Then he noticed it, he was surprised he didn't notice before. He scoffed a little, 'You know you're not looking much either.'

Sue appeared puzzled, she wasn't sure what he was trying to tell her. But then there was a realisation that spread across her face. 'Oh. . .shoot!' She withdrew to her back pocket and withdrew a tiny pocket mirror. She looked into it; Paulo was right, the bags under her eyes were showing, she missed a part of her face that morning.

Paulo was a little surprised. 'I didn't even notice the makeup at all. How long have you been doing that?'

'Not saying.'

He gave a frustrated sigh, 'Sue.'

'I suppose I'd been using it for a little while. I guess it's not half obvious, huh?' She said, trying to dab what little make up she could to mask the faint black outline at the bottom of her eyes.

'Guess I only noticed because you forgot this time.' He smiled. Sue didn't say anything, she wasn't so sure that was the whole answer.'

'You realy ought to get some sleep and just give the advance study a rest for a bit.'

'Anything to sleep in on the weekends, huh?' Sue asked.

'N—No.'

Sue rolled her eyes and took her time. Paulo trying to find a way to convince Paulo to sleep in during a weekend was a regular weekly event. But then she remembered. 'Actually, you might be happy to hear about this; but how about we do something else?'

Paulo sat up, he couldn't hide his surprise, they hadn't missed a weekend study session. 'What did you have in mind?'

Sue stood from her chair. 'Katie's Christmas party, of course!'

'Someone's hosting the Christmas party this year?' He stuffed the remainder the treat Sue gave him into his mouth. 'Why Katie?'

'She volunteered of course. She's got a large house, so she can fit a few people inside.' Sue explained.

'I guess it'd be only right if that's the case.' Paulo said, he gave it some thought. 'Are you sure it's not too early to party? Midterms start Monday.' He said, feeling the need to remind her.

She didn't need it. 'I think we'd deserve the break, we've made some good headway. Let's take the occasion!'

'Well. . . if you insist. Though, I never received an invite. I'm assuming that's what those little white envelopes I saw a couple of people handing around?'

'What do you think I'm giving you? Lame-brain? I'm giving you one myself! It's on the weekend around 6pm. You're gonna go, right?'

'Huh'. He said. 'Well I suppose I could miss study this week and party it up.'

'Oh my god. Just shut up and say you'll go with me.'

'Alright alright, I'll go, since you're being all too enthusiastic about it. Why though?'

'It'd be fun! I thought you wanted time off from study?'

'Course I do. But how did you even get invited? I've never seen you hang around Katie.' He asked, feeling curious.

'I actually got it through Stacy.'

Paulo ahh'ed, but couldn't help but wonder more about the party, or Sue's encouragement to go. It didn't seem to click with the amount of effort she spent trying to convince him to show some discipline in their study regimen, and now this. Though, on the other hand, he considered, he knew it was going to be rare they could hang out like this. It could be a lot of fun. 'Are you sure you want to go to a party? Wouldn't you prefer something quiet, like a movie?' He wondered.

'Well, a movie would be nice to go to, but Stacy really wants some of her friends over there.'

'How many people are going to this thing? Who's Katie inviting?'

'A few people?'

Curiouser and curiouser, 'A few people. . . from this school?'

She shook her head. 'Katie's got more friends outside of school. I think Stacy is outnumbered on friends there.' She explained.

'Ah, so it's more to keep Stacy company. Why didn't you just say so?'

'Because it feels lame like that. Isn't it good to just go do something different for a change?'

'I never meant that.' He said, scratching his chin. 'Just feels weird coming from you.'

'What, because I'm having to force you to study?'

'Can you blame me?'

'I can be fun! We could be having fun if you didn't put yourself in this predicament in the first place!'

'Alright! Sorry! I'll take your word for it!' He said. 'I mean, I guess Stacy could use the company, and we had been going at it pretty hard in the books. Whatever. Saturday at six, right? Count me in.'

'Are you sure that's all?'

'It'd also be fun to see you get embarrassingly drunk again.'

Sue made her sigh audible to him, 'It'll be fun to hang out together with you, too.'