So as the months flew by, I was determined to get my life back on track. I was no longer failing Biology, my friendships were as strong as ever, and life was starting to feel great again. I was beginning to feel myself again. I even joined the basketball team. It was pretty enjoyable. We didn't have the best season, but it was fun to have something distract me for a while. Especially because I discovered some bad news. It was right after our drama class had performed its spring performance. It hit me hard, and I couldn't believe it was happening. It all came crashing down, once again.

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I had walked backstage to change out of my costume and grab my belongings to go say hi to all my friends who came to watch the show. When I glanced at my phone, I had noticed there 3 missed calls and a voicemail waiting for me. It was Rapunzel. I decided to see what she wanted real fast and then text her that I would call her later.

"Hey, Essie," the voicemail started, her voice a little shaky. "I totally forgot you had your show today, so just call me when you can, but my parents told me that they've finally finished our house. I move in this weekend. Just wanted to let you know. Talk to you soon. Bye."

I couldn't believe it. I knew her parents had bought land to build a house, but some part of me wanted to believe it would never be done. That she wouldn't move an hour away from me. That she would always be close to me. I felt like crying. I couldn't believe we were going to be separated. I rarely see her enough as it is, now it's going to be 10 times harder. I just sat there, phone in hand, not moving, heavily breathing, just in shock. I must have sat there for about 5 minutes before Phoebus came wandering in and noticed me.

"There you are," he said approaching me. "All your friends were looking for you. I figured you might still be back here." I didn't respond. I just remained still and ignored him. "Hey, Essie. You okay? What's wrong?"

Finally, I broke the silence saying, "It's my best friend, Rapunzel. She's moving." He didn't say anything. He just sat right next to me and put an arm over my shoulder.

"Look, I know this hard," he began. "Trust me, I've been in this situation. It's going to be just fine."

"I know that," I whined. "Life's just been so hard recently. And as soon as I think everything is going to get better, everything gets worse."

"What do you mean?" He questioned. "You have great friends, a great family, a-"

"Because of what I almost did!" I exclaimed without thinking.

"What do you mean, what you almost did?" he asked confused. I stared at the ground in shock of what I had just said. I didn't want to go back to that. I didn't want to tell anyone about that. All I wanted was to move on and never think about it again. So simply saying it was nothing, I walked away from Phoebus to where my friends were waiting for me.

"There you are," started Belle. "You were great. We all loved it."

"Yeah, total kick-ass performance," Tiana added.

"Thanks guys, but I have to get going. My mom's waiting for me in the car," I said trying to act like nothing was wrong. "Thanks for coming. I'll see you Monday." And with that I walked out the door before any of them, or Phoebus, came after me.

After I got home, I collapsed on my bed in tears. I couldn't handle any more bad news. I didn't have the energy to even call Rapunzel back. I figured I'd come up with an excuse and deal with it tomorrow. But for now, I just wanted a moment to myself. So I could think about everything that's already happened in my first year of high school. Sure I made some new friends, and even reunited with old ones, but there were so many more things that went wrong. Could I actually finish high school happy? Or was I doomed to have another three years feeling the same way I do now? What's it going to take to finally be the person I was before last summer. The person everyone knows me to be.

Sorry this chapter was a little shorter, but I hope you enjoyed it. Any guesses on what Esmeralda is hiding? How is she going to handle her best friend moving? Will she ever let her friends be there for her? Let me know in the reviews. All Love:)