"Oh no, I'm not letting you skip school for me!" I told her. If I was able to get up, I would have pushed her out of the house and locked each door and window. Sadly, the breakfast tray that still had food on it was not helping, so I was stuck with telling her to get to school.

"Come on! Think of this as an 'I'm sorry' for last night!"

"Maybelle Cornelia Maple, get your butt out of this house to school right now!"

"Lyra, my middle name is not Cornelia."

"Oh well." I sighed. "No matter what I do, I highly doubt you're getting out of my room."

"Yup!" she chirped, sitting herself down on my bed.

One thing about May was that she was stubborn. No matter what anyone tried doing to persuade her to think in a different direction, she was bent on whatever she had set her mind on first. Although it mostly had its flaws, sometimes that stubbornness of hers helped.

Now, she was pretty much stuck at my house for the rest of the day until school ended. There wasn't anything to do, so I was sure that May would get bored, but I knew that she needed to talk to me about something. She never ever went to my house at all unless it was something important (although the word "important" had many meanings to her, sometimes it was just stupid stuff to me).

While I was eating the remainder of my breakfast, she just watched me in silence from her spot on my bed. When I finished, she took it down so that my mom could wash it before coming back up and sitting in the same spot she sat in before. She wanted to start a decent conversation, but it looked like she was having trouble, so I started it for her.

"So, you need to talk to me about anything?" I asked. "I know you didn't skip school just to keep me company for the day."

"Well, I need to finish what I was telling you last night since you hung up on me before I could tell you what happened. But knowing you, I'm sure you would have thrown me out of the window if I started anything on that topic, so I need to ask a few questions about Ethan."

"Are you interested in him?"

"No!" Although this response was considered as a sign of denial, I didn't think it was this time. Her face didn't flare up, and she didn't seem nervous.

"Ask away, but I'm telling you, I don't know him that well."

"Okay! Is he nice?"

"I'm sure he is if he saved me from falling."

"Is he a pervert?"

"Where the heck did you get that from?" Seriously, who asks "Is he a pervert?" with a straight face?

"Hey, I'm the one asking the questions here!"

"No, he is not."

"Lastly, was there anything that seemed amiss when you were with him?"

"Yes, yes there was."

Her eyes started to bore into me. She wanted more information like an interviewer and a celebrity interviewee, trying to squeeze every ounce of juicy gossip so that it could be the next celebrity scandal on the front cover of every magazine out there. There was no way for me to lie in this case since May could tell the truth from a lie in seconds, even if it was convincing.

"Well," I started, "it happened when I met him in the classroom after school. Unlike the little scenario earlier that day, I felt calmer as I approached him. Also, there was a time when I became flushed in embarrassment from being so close to him, but it felt like it wasn't my feelings, rather, it was someone else's. And he was so interested in wanting to hear the theater incident from my point of view, too."

"Interesting…" She yawned a bit, meaning that my long winded answer was too much for the barbarian-like, Neanderthal-like brain that Brendan accused her of having. "Anyways, it's my turn to tell you what was troubling me for the past few days."

"Go on ahead."

Her face turned as red as my Dahlia clip after I said that. Could it be that she wanted to talk to me about a guy? To be specific, could it be that she wanted to talk to me about a certain guy who went along to name of "Brendan"?

There was no way that anyone would want to talk about anything like that with me. It was a well known fact that I didn't have any experience with anything involving, love, liking, or crushes, but it was also a well known fact that my advice was the best in town. So, it was only natural that anyone who knew me would come to me for advice ranging from life problems to relationships.

"It's about—er—what happened yesterday morning…"

"Oh, you're talking about your epic-fail moment with Brendan?"

"Yeah…" Her face kept getting redder and redder by the second as she twiddled her thumbs. It was weird how she only started to take interest in Brendan now since they knew each other ever since they were little. I wonder why…

"What about it?" I raised my eyebrow, not only intrigued by her behavior but the topic that she just brought up.

She started twiddling her thumbs like crazy. "Well, our shrink told us to find a person that we can depend on. You know, like open up to them and stuff…"

"I thought your psychologist didn't know what he's talking about," I told her.

She laughed a bit as she pulled her thumbs away from each other, placing her hands on her sides as she leaned on them. "You have to admit, what he makes us do is pretty crazy, but it does work."

"And what does this have to do with Brendan again?"

"Well, he's the person I want to open up to. After all, I trust him the most." She flashed me a smile. "Considering the way he thinks of me, I don't even think he'll look at me more than a Neanderthal who doesn't know what the hell she's talking about."

"Hey," I warned, "watch your damn language."

May looked at me with a surprised look since I didn't curse much. But we ended up laughing because of the lame joke, thinning the atmosphere in the room before returning back to the conversation.

"How do you think I'll be able to get his attention though?" she inquired.

"Be yourself." She shot me a look like I was crazy. "Look, you can't turn into someone or something you're not. That'll just freak him out more."

"I guess you have a point—hey, your phone is ringing."

I turned around to face my desk to see my phone dancing on the polished wood. Picking it up, I saw that I received a text message from Dawn, which didn't make any sense at all. School was in session and the only reason that Dawn would text me during a time like that was when it was an emergency. Of course, we had different definitions to the word "emergency", but I hope this wasn't her stupid definition of it.

To: Lyra

From: Dawn

LUCAS IS A FRIGGIN' DOLT!

To: Dawn

From: Lyra

How come?

To: Lyra

From: Dawn

He just gave your number to HIM.

To: Dawn

From: Lyra

Ethan?

To: Lyra

From: Dawn

Yes, HIM.

To: Dawn

From: Lyra

Okay, thanks for the heads up?

I tossed my phone to May. "Just look at the next text, but don't tell me what it's about."

"Okay?" My phone started vibrating in her hand, so she looked at the incoming text. An understanding look replaced the puzzled expression on her face before she tossed it back at me. "No wonder you didn't want to look at it."

"Would you always want to be on the other end of Dawn's rant?"

"No, I guess not. And thanks for the advice, even if it was pretty simple and obvious."

"It's fine," I said. "Anyways, how do you want to pass the rest of the day?"

May eyed my TV and the Wii beside it. "Wanna play Brawl?"

"You. Are. On."

…

That was how we spend the rest of the day until school ended, playing Brawl in front of my TV upstairs. I was sure it was going to get boring fast, but May proved me wrong. Unlike Dawn (who usually went over to my house to rant about stuff), she actually knew how to play Brawl. In fact, she won most of the time.

"What do you expect? Being a barbarian has its good points!" she answered when I asked her about her playing skills.

Actually, this was the first time that May ever enjoyed herself at my house. Back when she visited, it was a nearly video game free zone. The only thing that I had in my room was my DS, which was used to play each and every Pokémon game released. But I didn't want her to mess up any of my files, so that was off-limits to her.

Yes, I was a Pokémon freak, I admit that. In fact, I would go as far to say that I was a Pokémon master. Although it was difficult to assert my title back then with the Game Boy, it was confirmed by the time the DS came out with the GTS. After that, I held every record possible for the game. They were unbreakable.

Or so I thought…

One day, I was informed by a few internet friends that my records were broken, so I naturally turned on my DS to check it out. I was surprised that they did get broken, so I went back to getting my name back on the records. One day, my name was there. Next day, it was off.

It didn't take long for me to get ticked off at my game. Everyday, it was annoying to work my butt off just to maintain my title, so I gave up trying. When the new game came out, I didn't try much. I just played the game like any normal person, keeping track of the records on the GTS to see if that same person appeared.

Of course that person did, but that was all history. I became another Pokémon trainer "aiming" to become a Pokémon master, clearly forgotten ever since I dropped off the records. Well, my internet friends still knew, but I stopped talking to them a while ago.

When school ended, May and I stopped playing Brawl. We went downstairs to be greeted by a gracious amount of snacks that my mom made. They weren't just for us, but for the others who were definitely going to come…according to my mother's intuition that is.

Dawn came in first with all of the stuff that I missed, helping herself to my mom's snacks before teaching me things that I would need to know to finish my homework. Although she wasn't exactly the spitting image of an honor student, she was extremely knowledgeable in things ever since we were younger.

Lucas and Barry came shortly after Dawn finished helping me with my homework, with Lucas stuffing half of the snacks down his throat, causing Barry to smack some sense into him. Lucas also apologized that he gave someone my number without my permission, but I told him it was okay.

Leaf and Gary came once the trio went upstairs to watch some stand-up comedy acts on my computer. The two of them asked if I was okay, glad that I told them so before eating some snacks and telling me about the events that happened at school in May's and my absence.

Lastly, Brendan came with Ethan in tow, entirely surprising me. Brendan said that he was glad that I was okay, and then asked where May was to tell her about her unacceptable behavior that morning. Ethan, on the other hand, seemed kind of embarrassed that he was at my house, even after he called me on my cell phone to see if I would allow him to come over...

Wait, what?

I forgot about that. Ever since Dawn sent the texts, I turned off my cell phone so that I didn't get anymore, completely forgetting about my phone until Ethan brought it up. Although I had one, I wasn't exactly overly possessive of it. I didn't text or call people that often, so I didn't exactly keep track of it that well.

"Yeah, I kept trying to call you, but it immediately went to your answering machine. Eventually, I asked Brendan to take me to your house," he told me, giving me a sheepish smile.

"Why exactly did you ask Brendan to take you to my house?" I asked.

He thought for a bit before replying to my question. "That's because I went to the bayou to get some fresh air and then I saw him. He kept mumbling something about May, but I couldn't exactly understand what he was saying."

"That's a shame," I said. "I mean, if you were able to understand, that would be great."

For a moment, he shot me a confused look, grasping what I meant. "Why would that be great for you?"

"Ah—"

Brendan started tumbling down the stairs and he hit the floor with a resounding thump. On the second floor, I saw May looking as angry as ever with her face beet red from frustration, with Lucas, Barry, and Dawn trying to calm her down as best as they could.

"You bastard!" May screamed. "You would never understand because you never had them!" She disappeared into my room, slamming the door shut to emphasize on her anger.

"Hey, can you take care of Brendan for a bit?" I asked Ethan. "It seems as though something happened."

"Yeah, sure, go ahead."

I ran up the stairs and went into my room to see May hugging my pillow as she buried her face into my sheets. She must have been frustrated with Brendan since the main reason he came was to nag at her behavior. Although she might not have known, nagging meant that he cared.

"Why the hell does he have to nag me so much?" May screeched as she lifted her head from my sheets.

"Nagging means he cares. And who knows, maybe the way he treats you is the way he shows his affection," I answered, having her stare at me like I was crazy.

"What have you been smoking?" she queried as her voice boomed in my room.

I sighed at her behavior. "I don't smoke, and it's the truth, okay?"

May pouted, doubting that I was telling her the truth. Eventually, she decided to think things over and came to the conclusion that I was telling her the truth, asking me to get Brendan upstairs so that they could talk.

"I don't exactly think he's going to come up after painfully tumbling down a flight of stairs," I told her with a smile.

"Well, convince him! You're good at that, right?"

"I guess so, but I can't guarantee he'll be coming up, okay?"

I exited my room and slid down the railing on the stairs. In the living room, Leaf and Gary were talking about the little incident while Ethan was casually chatting with Brendan about May, halting the conversation when I came down. Ethan stood up from his seat, telling Brendan that he would be right back before approaching me.

"How is she?" he asked.

"Utterly paranoid. She can't even stand his behavior anymore. She's completely fed up with it."

"Is there a way to fix it?"

I sighed before shaking my head. "You have to let them have a one-on-one talk upstairs."

"Which is nearly impossible considering the way May just treated him a while back…" I nodded, completely agreeing with what Ethan said.

"Well, I'll see what I can do," he said. "Maybe he might even come up."

"And thanks for helping, even though I unwillingly dragged you into this mess."

"It's fine." He returned back to the sofa to tell Brendan that he had to go back upstairs to have a one-on-one talk with May.

Just like I thought, Brendan was adamant on his decision to not see her. He was afraid that she was going to attack him once again, giving him more pain. Ethan managed to convince him that May wasn't going to do anything like that, but have a supposedly meaningful conversation with the girl. Brendan hesitated for a bit before standing up to head to my room.

"I guess that takes care of it." Ethan looked up at the door that just closed.

"Yeah, all that's left now is to leave them alone and sort things out."

…

For some reason, everyone's parents let them stay over longer than usual, meaning that they were going to eat dinner at my place tonight. We all naturally helped make the feast that we would be digging into lately, bringing out the foldable chairs to allow more people to sit at the dining table.

During that time, May and Brendan were still talking up in my room. Through the dinner chatter, I could still hear their voices, soft and subtle as they tried talking things through. Meals like this weren't the same without the two since May would constantly be chastised my Brendan because of her horrible table manners, but it felt less jovial without them.

When dinner was done, we decided to save two plates of food for them since they were eventually going to eat. But it was already nearing nine. They were still talking since I often dropped by my room to see if they were hungry or were doing okay. It was all up to them right now and if all they needed was some more time, it was best to just give it to them.

When ten was approaching, everyone was getting ready to leave. Lucas and Barry were already downstairs with their backpacks in tow, sitting down on the sofa while they watched the sit-coms that were on TV at that time. Dawn was with them as well, with her stuff at her feet.

Leaf and Gary were still talking about some ancient book that I didn't know about. It was funny how Leaf was a person who looked like she couldn't stand books, but in reality, she shared the same passion Gary had for them. That was the reason why they always ended up going to the library after school.

Ethan and I stood at the bottom of the staircase, wondering when the two upstairs were going to come down. Of course, given the time elapsed ever since Brendan entered, one might have thought that they were doing something else, but I could still hear their voices, muffled up by my wooden door.

I was glad when my door opened to reveal the two of them casually talking about the bayou. They grabbed their stuff while my mom handed them the dinner that they missed before they settled down at the dining table, trying to eat some of it before they were going to leave.

And that was when it happened.

While I was talking to May about what happened, glad at the results that the two of them compromised on their relationship, I heard the doorbell ring. The first thought that came to my mind was that one of their parents came to pick them up, but they were back at their respective houses, waiting for their teens to come home.

"I'm coming!" I called, standing up from my chair and walking over to the door.

It swung wide open because of the fall breeze, allowing the fallen leaves to come flying through the doorway. Although I should have been concerned about them, all I could do was stare at the person who was smiling at me.

"I'm home!" she announced.

…

A/N: Actually, I'm pretty disappointed with this chapter since it didn't exactly go the way I wanted it to go. Also, it's shorter than the previous two, but I decided to cut it off short for the cliffhanger since I love my cliffhangers. XD

Also, I'd like to apologize to those who were given false hope by my quick updates, but something came up in my life and I started a one-shot in order to cope with some feelings from the event. I'm planning on posting it here soon, but it's still only halfway complete…