North Briarwood Academy

Room 32B, Mrs. Alexander's Class

Monday, October 21st

1:23 P.M.

"I think we should go over there after school." Claire said as she closed her copy of Tuesdays with Morrie.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Josh asked, looking at the door, just to make sure that Mrs. Alexander, their old and frail American Literature teacher wasn't about to enter the room.

Claire gave Josh a questioning look. She was determined to be there for Massie, even if she had no clue who any of them were. Massie was her best friend, and Claire wasn't going anywhere... even if she bothered Massie, she wasn't going to give up.

"You said that when you were at the hospital she started to freak out-"

"Because Derrick showed up and her dad kicked him out." Kristen interjected.

"Oh and she welcomed both of you with open arms even though she couldn't remember?" Josh scoffed, "When I visited the nurse kicked me out because she started crying after I told her I was a friend."

"Look, the point is that we need to help her in her time of need." Claire insisted. She knew Kristen was on her side, the only problem was convincing Josh and Dempsey.

"Claire, I know that you're trying to help a friend, but Massie may never be the same." Josh said grimly. To any onlooker who didn't know him, they would think that he looked emotionless. But Claire (and Kristen) could both see the pain and sorrow in his eyes. "Her memory may never come back, and she may not want anything to do with us."

Claire glared at him. How could he give up so easily? Josh used to be so romantic and determined, but it was if that had drained away...

"Well I'm going over there." She said, turning away and crossing her arms.

She glanced at Kristen out of the corner of her eyes, noticing that she looked torn. Claire knew that she was in a hard place, agreeing that Massie needed them to be there for her, but Josh did kind of have a point (although Claire would never admit that to him).

Claire's iphone buzzed in the pocket of her AG jeans... which were hand-me-downs from Massie.

Derrick: meet me by the C-hall stairs at 1:30?

Claire looked up at the door to see if Mrs. Alexander was back, and then looked around to see if anyone had seen that the notoriously douchy Derrick Harrington had texted her.

Claire: why?

She looked up again, this time only looking at Josh and Kristen, both now suddenly focused on reading.

Derrick: need to talk to you

Claire: about?

Derrick: Massie

Claire inwardly groaned. Why did he care? Claire knew that him and Massie hadn't been acting like they wanted to kill each other a little before the accident, but when she and Kristen had run into him at the hospital, he had seemed genuinely concerned... Claire had thought that once Derrick and Alicia had heard the news that they would laugh. Instead, Alicia confidently strutted around North Briarwood's halls as if she now owned them while Derrick looked so... hollow.

Claire was about to send him a nasty text in hopes that he would get the message to back off, but she thought better of it. Something had happened between Massie and Derrick that had made them not hate each other as much as they once did... that made them friendly towards one another. But now that Massie could no longer remember anything, only one person knew everything. And it was Derrick.

Claire: ok

Mrs. Alexander walked back into the room with the copies of their homework in her hands. The room immediately quieted down as Claire got up from her seat and walked up to their adorably old (and not to mention gullible) teacher.

"Mrs. Alexander, may I please go the ladies' room?" She asked nicely.

"Sure!" Mrs. Alexander handed her a hallway pass and wrote the time on it. The small orange slip of paper only gave her about fifteen minutes to return, but she knew that Mrs. Alexander wouldn't really notice, but even if she did, Claire was one of her favorite students so she would let it slide.

"Thank you!" Claire took the paper, folded it in half and stuffed it into her pocket, quickly exiting the room.

Claire closed the door, but noticed that Cam Fisher was watching her through the small window of the door. His one blue eye and one green eye met her icy-blue ones, and she felt as if she couldn't look away. She searched his for any source of deception but she could only see pure curiosity and intrigue in them. She turned away and suddenly felt dizzy, as if she had just exited a trance-like state.

She shook her head. What is happening to this world?

Claire turned around and headed towards C-Hall, but when she rounded the corner, she gasped, almost bumping into someone.

"Ohmigod, I'm so sor-" Claire started, not even looking up to see who it was.

"Watch where you're going!" A nasally voice sneered.

Claire's head snapped up, meeting the dark blue eyes of Olivia Ryan. Claire studied her for a second. Olivia's nose seemed... different, and her boobs looked a lot bigger than they had the last time Claire had the unfortunate luck of seeing her. But Olivia's hair was wet, and she was wearing an oversized sweatshirt and sweatpants along with flip-flops. What in the world was she doing wearing that stuff?

But Claire suddenly felt lonely as she stood there, staring at Olivia. If Massie had been there, she would have snapped a genius comeback at her, causing her to go crawling to Slut-cia. While normally Claire was fairly clever, she wasn't used to dissing people with comebacks. That was Massie's territory. Claire often stood on the sideline and cheered her on. And it wasn't in her nature to be so... cruel. At least it wasn't in her nature to do that to normal people, the only exceptions were Olivia, Dylan, Alicia, Cam, Derrick, and Dune. But Claire's mind was too busy processing all that had been happening lately to snap at Olivia.

"Whatever." Claire muttered under her breath as she made her way towards C-Hall. She was going to have to yell at Derrick for it.

She stomped the rest of the way, not caring that she was dragging her Burberry mid-calf suede boots.

When she turned into C-Hall she could see Derrick leaning against the brick wall, with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"You better have a good reason for this, Harrington." She hissed, pointing a finger at him.

"I do!" He said, lifting his hands in surrender.

"And this better not be a trick." She crossed her arms over her chest. She usually wasn't so hostile and accusing, but it was Derrick, so she didn't really care all that much, "So don't waste my time."

Derrick gave her a pointed look before asking, "Is there a bathroom anywhere around here?"

"What?" Claire asked, confused, "Why?"

Derrick nodded to the opposite side of the hall, where classes where in session. And even though the doors were closed, Claire knew that it was still possible to hear.

"Down the stairs to the left." Claire whispered.

Derrick nodded and they both started to quietly walk down the steps to the lower level of the school. Claire could feel her palms begin to sweat as she continued silently. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt this awkward.

Probably when I first met Massie... She thought, causing her shoulders to slump in sadness. But she straightened her back, knowing that if Massie was there (along with her memory) she would tell her that her posture needed to be ladylike.

When they reached the bottom Derrick grabbed her upper arm, causing Claire to gasp. He pulled her into the boy's restroom and dragged her into the large handicap stall. Claire was just grateful that no one had been in there to see her.

"Why couldn't we go into the girl's bathroom?" She snapped.

"Because I don't want to be seen in there." He rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Well I don't want to be seen in here!" She whisper yelled, punching him in the arm a little harder than she intended to.

"Too bad." Derrick sneered.

Claire glared at him. She wondered how in the world she thought that this wouldn't be such a bad idea. Derrick was the same asshole he had been for the past five years. Whatever Massie had seen in Derrick to all of the sudden make her stop hating him as much was a mystery to Claire, because he was still a douche.

"Whatever you needed me for, you can do it by yourself!" Claire spat, turning on her heel and walking out of the stall, but was pulled back in by Derrick.

"I'm sorry!" He sighed, placing his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look up at him, "I just-"

"Just what?" Claire swatted his arms away.

"I don't know what to do." He said quietly, looking down at his feet.

Claire's features softened, seeing how defeated he looked. She knew it must be something big if he was asking her of all people for help with something... which meant it probably had something to do with Massie.

"So..." She started, "What happened between you and Massie before the accident?"

He looked back up at her with big puppy-like eyes before they looked back down at the marble floor. At first, Claire thought that her eyes were deceiving her... but when she saw his cheeks start to flush she realized that for the first time ever, she was seeing Derrick Harrington, the overly confident, basically cocky jock of South Briarwood, embarrassed.

"I realized that she was never apart of it, and that I was just taking my anger out on her for her dad's mistakes." He admitted, "And that she's not really anything like her parents."

"You just realized that after five years?" Claire asked skeptically.

Derrick shrugged, "Yeah... I know, I'm an idiot."

At least we agree on something.

"I know that I had been an ass to her, and to you and Kristen."

"Don't forget Josh and Dempsey." Claire said, "Also Landon, but he actually deserved it after the way he treated Massie."

He gave her a small chuckle of agreement, "Yeah them too, and I really am sorry."

She looked at him, trying to detect any ounce of insincerity, but all she saw was pure honesty.

"I was trying to patch things up with her." Derrick continued, "And it was going well, but then the accident happened..."

Claire cringed at the mention of it even though it had been on her mind ever since it had happened.

"Now she can't remember what happened, or who I am... and her parents are never going to let me within a five-hundred foot radius of her."

"Oh. " Was all Claire could say at the moment.

"I saw her Saturday night." He revealed, stuffing his hands back into the pockets of his jeans.

"What?" Claire gasped, shocked that Derrick had been able to see her without being killed by Massie's dad, "How?"

"I snuck into the yard." He shrugged as if it was nothing, and Claire knew that he must have gone through the hole in the stone wall.

"She seemed so... broken." He sighed, finally looking Claire in the eyes once again. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but she couldn't. The last time Claire had gone to see Massie, she had thought the same thing, but she had hoped that Massie would get better... but Derrick was confirming Claire's fear that Massie wasn't going to get better.

"And her parents aren't making any of it any better." He said, his tone changing from heavy-hearted to angry.

"Oh I can believe it." Claire admitted. The Blocks had a certain way of... getting under people's skin.

"They're only making it harder for her." He seethed, and Claire could see that his hands were balling into fists.

"So where do I come into all of this?" She asked, fearing that he would suddenly explode.

"I need you to help me see her." Derrick said so quickly that Claire had to ask him to repeat it.

Claire watched him carefully for a second. Even if he and Massie had been trying to "patch things up" between them, there was still something that he wasn't telling her. He cared too much.

"Why?"

"Because she needs us." He answered, "I know that you're not going to give up on her, and neither am I... we might as well work together."

He stuck his hand out, waiting for her to shack it. She starred at it, knowing that if she shook it, there could be consequences but if she didn't she would regret it forever.

"Fine." She shook his hand, hoping that nothing bad would come from it.

North Briarwood Academy

The Pool

Monday, October 21st

1:32 P.M.

"Olivia, get in front of me!" Alicia ordered as she crossed her arms over her boobs in an attempt the sheild them from the eyes of Chris, Kemp, and just about all of the other guys in her swim class.

"Why?" Olivia said as she slowly reentered the pool from where-ever she had disappeared to a while ago.

"Why else?" Dylan snapped as she tried to fix her messy bun on top her head, "Alicia has had big boobs for as long as any of us can remember and you still don't know why?"

"What's your problem?" Alicia rolled her eyes at Dylan. While normally it was easy to tell that Dylan would get annoyed at Olivia's stupidity, she seemed to have less of a tolerance lately... along with an attitude.

"Why don't you ask Olivia and Dune?" Dylan shot Olivia a glare before pulling herself out of the pool, and ferociously grabbing a towel on the bench.

What's going on? Alicia thought to herself.

"What did you do?" She asked Olivia, trying (and failing) not to sound accusing.

"She's upset because she saw Dune give me a ride home the other day." Olivia adjusted the straps of her red swimsuit, which made her look too pale.

"And?" Alicia knew there was more to it than that. Olivia wasn't called a slut for nothing. She flirted (and slept) with just about every guy in South Briarwood, and was close to doing the same thing with the guys from North Briarwood.

"She's also jealous that he offered to tutor me for Algebra class." She said before looking over to where Dune was daring a guy Alicia had never seen to dive off of the high board.

"Ugh." Alicia climbed out of the pool, trying not to blush as she felt everyone's eyes on her. Had she been fully clothed, she would have loved the attention, but being in a hideous and mandatory one-piece swimsuit that was a little too tight in the chest made her cheeks turn red.

She grabbed a towel and raced off towards the locker room before their swim instructor could see her.

"Dylan?" She called as she entered.

Alicia heard a locker slam shut, and before Alicia could speak, a now clothed Dylan walked passed her, forcefully bumping her shoulder as she passed.

"What is going on with you?" Alicia demanded, placing her hand on her hip.

"I could ask you the same thing!" Dylan yelled over her shoulder.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Alicia screeched. While Dylan usually didn't go along with everything, she was usually the most cheerful and loyal one out of the three, but lately she had been a priss.

Dylan stopped dead in her tracks and slowly turned around.

"Ever since we came here, you've been worse than usual." Dylan said with clenched teeth, "And Massie's gone, there's no one to stop you and yet you're acting like a bitch."

"Not to mention you're acting just as stupid as Olivia." Dylan put her hands on her hips.

Alicia narrowed her eyes, and opened her mouth to say something, but Dylan beat her to it.

"Bye, Slut-cia." Dylan whirled around and walked out the door into the hall.

Alicia stood there, frozen in disbelief. Had Dylan just said Massie's obnoxious nickname for her?

By the time she snapped out of it, she noticed that there was only ten more minutes before class ended. She went to her small locker, put in her combination and dressed as fast as she could. She had to go find Dylan and remind her that she had absolutely no tolerance for her behavior.

She walked out into the hall, wondering where Dylan could have possibly ran off to in this hell-hole that was called a school.

The bathroom, Alicia thought, remembering that there was a bathroom by the stairs.

Alicia entered the girls' bathroom, noticing that every stall was empty. She growled in annoyance. There really weren't any other places she could go to hide during class though.

She was about to leave, until she heard muffled voice. Silently wondering where the voices were coming from, she realized they were from the other side of the wall. Was that where Dylan was? If Alicia's memory was correct, the next room over was the boy's bathroom. She leaned her head against the wall in hopes of hearing better.

"I agree as long as you help me with something." A girl said. Dylan?

"Name it." A male voice said back.

"Help me prove that-"

What? Prove WHAT? She tried to hear more but the girl had lowered her voice. Alicia's stomach dropped to the floor and she suddenly felt cold. Whoever it was knew something about what she had done.

"What makes you think that?"

"I just have a really strong feeling." The girl said.

"Uh, okay." The guy agreed, "But I need you to give her something for me."

Alicia pressed her head against the wall even more. She could no longer hear whoever they were.

She walked over to the entrance of the bathroom, and peeked outside of the door, feeling as if she couldn't breathe when she saw who the guy was.

Oh my gawd NO!

Derrick waved goodbye to the girl (Alicia still wasn't sure if it was Dylan or not). Alicia couldn't see who the girl was because if she opened the door anymore she would reveal herself.

It must be Dylan, she thought as she waited for Derrick to walk away, She's the only other person who would know.

Alicia's nerves suddenly got the better of her, and she ran for the toilet, spilling the contents of her lunch into the bowl. She dry heaved once before she tried to compose herself, which was proving to be extremely difficult. She couldn't get caught for what had happened. The consequence meant doing jail time... and she was not willing to wear an orange jumpsuit and rot in a cell.

Alicia trembled in fear as she pushed open the bathroom door.

"Hey." She turned around and saw Landon walking towards her. He winked, but Alicia wasn't in the mood for any of his man-whore tendencies.

She walked up to him and dug her nails into his arm.

"Ow!" He tried to get away from her clutch.

"We need to talk." She said sternly.

"Why do you smell like vomit?" He asked, covering his nose, "Did you throw up?"

Alicia covered her mouth, wishing that she had brought some breath mints or gum with her today, but that wasn't anywhere near as important.

"Someone knows." Was all she had to say for Landon to look at her with a fearful expression...

School is finally over with :) YAY! But I dunno, kinda wondering if I should continue this story. I have it all planned out, but I just feel like it's not very good :( Oh well. I guess I'll continue for the time being :/ But Massie and Derrick see each other in the next chapter :)