Nicole stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, examining the dark bags under her eyes. Her hair was messy and tangled and she didn't feel like picking up a brush and making it all nice and pretty again. She sighed and slowly tied her hair into a ponytail, washed her face with hot water one last time, and then left for work.

She had received the Pants in the mail just the other day. She was filled with happiness to see them, but also with sorrow. The Pants made her remember how much she missed her 'sisters' and how much she longed for her mother to get better. Nicole's mother was still in the hospital and her father spent most of his time by her side. Nicole wanted to be with her mother as well, but her father told her that the best way she could help was to earn that money.

Nicole walked to work that day, wearing the Pants and feeling a heavy dread in her heart. She felt like just as everything was going her way, something terrible would happen and spoil her fun. The thought of that made her frown and want to burst into tears, but she had to be strong. She had to stay strong for herself and everyone else around her. She took deep breaths of air and entered the shop where she found a surprise waiting for her.

Betsy was back from her emergency. She looked absolutely exhausted and worn out, but nonetheless she greeted Nicole with a smile. She stretched her arms out and Nicole rushed to her to give her a hug.

"Wow, it's been ages," she said, smiling wearily. "How have you been?"

"I've been…" Nicole's voice trailed off. She was uncertain how to answer. She just lowered her eyes and changed the subject instead. "How have you been doing? What was the family emergency you had to deal with?"

Betsy sighed and stretched her arms out. "My grandmother has been very sick so we all had to attend to her." She smiled sadly. "She passed away yesterday."

Nicole could feel her heart crumple for her friend. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

Betsy quickly turned away so Nicole could not see the gathering tears in her eyes. "No matter," she said, her voice cracking. "Everyone must go sometime or another. She lived a good live." She took a deep breath and wiped her tears away before facing Nicole again. "Anyways, Josh informed me that you got a job here. That's excellent! Now you'll be able to buy that outfit you admired."

"Outfit?" Nicole's mind blanked for a second before she remembered the outfit with the white belt with the star buckle. She smiled and said, "Oh Betsy, you were going to save that for me for a week. It's been past a week now and… well, I'm sorry, but I still won't be able to buy it."

"That's alright," Betsy said kindly. "Maybe some other day."

Nicole nodded and after a moment of silence she asked the question she was dying to have answered. "Um, Betsy," she said uncertainly. "If you're back then… what about Josh? Will he still be around?"

"Yes, I will," said a voice, and Nicole turned around to see Josh enter the store, smiling. Nicole felt an urge to rush toward him and give him a huge hug, but she managed to refrain herself. He walked closer and gave Betsy a quick wave of acknowledgment before turning his eyes to Nicole.

"Hi," he said. Then he looked down and saw that she was wearing the Pants. He frowned.

"What?" Nicole said, feeling scared all of a sudden.

"Your pants," he said. "They have… a huge nail polish stain on them. And there's writing all over it. What does that say? Basketball camp… I Heart Logan… I Heart Michael… Crying in the bathroom stalls… what's with those freak show pants, Nicole?"

"Josh," Betsy said, frowning. "Don't be rude."

Nicole felt as if her entire body had turned to stone. She didn't like the idea of having the one boy she truly liked making fun of the Pants. In fact, she didn't like the idea of having anybody making fun of the Pants. It was just not done. How could he?

"Excuse me," Nicole said, her voice dripping with ice. "But these Pants are-"

"Extremely weird," Josh concluded. "Yeah, I know."

Nicole was just about ready to slap Josh across the face. But then she realized that without him she wouldn't have a job at the shop and without that job she wouldn't be able to raise money for her mother's surgery. So instead, she pressed her lips together and stomped off to organize some clothes.

"Dana?" Logan called out, his voice coming out in an icy whisper. "Dana?" He knocked on the door of her dorm, hoping that he wouldn't wake up Zoey. To his relief, Dana opened the door, rubbing her eyes. When she saw him, her face became expressionless.

"Oh," she said. "It's… you."

"Dana…" he said, feeling his heart start to pound louder. "Dana I… I had to be with you."

Dana froze. "What?"

He took one step towards her. "I… had to be with you."

"Logan…" Dana glanced around to see if anyone else was watching. "You're… sleepwalking. Go back to your dorm." She started to close the door in his face when he quickly stuck his foot in so she couldn't close it.

"Dana, Tammy Ale said she'd hurt you if you didn't leave me alone," Logan said, speaking quickly. "I didn't want to see you get hurt so I had to leave you. Now I know it was stupid of me to do that and I just want to be together again because life without you… isn't life at all." He took a sharp intake of breath, realizing that those last words he had spoken were completely true and that he had never felt this way about anyone before.

Dana stared at Logan and then, all of a sudden, she crouched down and started to cry. Logan, feeling alarmed, crouched down in front of her and pulled her into a hug. She cried into his shoulder, sobbing, "You… stupid… jerk…" She took deep gasps for air and started to pound her fist on Logan's arm. "Don't you… know that… not being with you… is the most hurtful thing ever for me?"

Logan buried his head in Dana's hair and felt tears running down his face. "I'm sorry."

Zoey awoke to find herself sitting in the nurse's office, holding Quinn's hand. She looked at her friend who was lying in the 'sick people' bed, her eyes closed and her face pale. Zoey still trembled all over when she thought of how Quinn had almost committed suicide right before her very eyes.

"Quinn," Zoey whispered, her eyes feeling with tears again. "Quinn… why? Why would you do something like that, Quinn? You're the smartest girl I know, yet… for some reason, you almost let your live end in the ocean. Why, Quinn? Why?"

Quinn's eyelids started to flutter and soon she was looking at Zoey with damp eyes. "Zo…ey…?" she said, her voice hoarse and quiet. "Zo… ey? Zoey?"

"Quinn?" Zoey said, her voice lifting in hope. "Quinn? Are you… alive?" She was shaking all over and her grip on Quinn's hand tightened.

Quinn stared at Zoey with silent tears running down her face. "Zoey…" she sighed. "I'm… sorry. What I did was… stupid." The tears just kept spilling down like a waterfall. Zoey could not recall when she had seen so many tears.

"Quinn… I'm so glad you're ok," Zoey said, closing her eyes and opening them again to make sure it wasn't a dream. "Quinn…" The two girls clasped hands together in the nurse's room, tears running down their faces, just thanking God that Quinn had not died and that Zoey was there for her.

"Is there anything you need?" Zoey asked, wiping her tears away.

"Not water…" Quinn said, her face turning paler. "Orange… juice?"

"Okay, I'll be right back." Zoey smiled and let go of Quinn's hand. She left the nurse's room and hurried to the cafeteria to get some orange juice. As she made her way there, she accidentally bumped into a girl who was talking on her cell phone.

"Sorry," Zoey apologized. Just as she was about to keep walking, the girl said something that made her freeze in her tracks. Zoey turned her head slightly. The girl she had bumped into was Tammy Ale who was chattering away to her friend on the phone.

"Oh my gosh, that Michael fellow is seriously killing me," Tammy said, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, he broke up with that dweeb girlfriend of his, Quinn. Imagine that, breaking up with a girl who loved him for a girl who's only using him to get to one of his friends." Tammy laughed a horrible, cruel laugh. "Well, duh, I don't really like Michael. I'm just using him to get closer to Logan. What about Dana? Oh no, Logan broke up with her after I threatened to hurt her if she didn't leave him alone…"

The gears in Zoey's brain were spinning at a fantastic rate. She continued to walk toward the cafeteria, deep in thought. Did Quinn try to commit suicide because Michael broke her heart? Michael broke up with her so he could be with Tammy Ale who was really just using him to get together with Logan who broke up with Dana because Tammy threatened to hurt Dana if she hung around Logan? For Zoey, the puzzle pieces were flying together at a fantastic rate and she was almost done solving the most complicated jigsaw puzzle she had ever encountered.