Chapter Two- Distracted

A/N: This has got to be the fastest I've ever updated something. Alert the media!

Yeah, I couldn't think of a better chapter title. Well, I'm trying to ease back into the characters and their stories and I want to fix some of the stuff that was wrong in the other story here. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I'm not S.E. Hinton.

"She's coming back tomorrow," Cam said on the way to school. His best friend, Rawley, was walking with him. "I can't believe it. She's really coming back."

"She" was an old friend. Kendi. Two and a half weeks earlier, she'd been sent to a psychiatric hospital after an attempted suicide. Originally, it was to only be for two weeks, but her stay was extended in order to stay on the safe side.

"She is, huh?" Rawley said absentmindedly. He'd heard this speech before about a few days earlier before they found out she was staying a bit longer. "How do you know they won't make her stay longer again?"

"There's no way they can. They already said that she's fine. What reason do they have to keep her still?"

"Things like what Kendi's dealing with don't go away after two and a half weeks Cam. She'll still need help after she gets out."

"Geez, the one time I try to be optimistic, you shoot me down."

Rawley smiled. "I was just saying. Don't get your hopes up in case you find more scars on her arms."

"She went there to get better. Not to end up feeling worse."

"Look Cam. You shouldn't let your whole life revolve around one person. You might end up letting everyone else down," Rawley said drowsily. He didn't get a lot of sleep the night before.

"Sorry. What's up with you? Something wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm just really tired. Roxie called this morning."

Cam didn't bother to ask. He knew Roxie well enough to know she did random stuff like that.

Language Arts wasn't too much to deal with. They were reading A Separate Peace but Cam had already finished the entire book. The rest of the class was still on chapter six. It wasn't a hard book to read but Cam found it boring. He decided to get it over with and finish it and when the time came to predict what would happen next, he'd fake it. Cam didn't understand the ending at all but it wasn't important. If you got through the story, how important could the ending be?

Social studies came next, and Cam sat in his seat. Seth and Jarod sat in the two seats behind him.

"I heard she's coming back tomorrow," Jarod said. "Maybe they're just sick of keeping her there." He meant this in a joking way but Cam wasn't laughing.

"Who's coming back?" Seth asked. He sat right between Cam and Jarod.

"Just a friend, "Cam said.

"Oh."

Mr. Morton stood in front of his class.

"I hope you've all gotten some work done on your projects on Greece. It's due next week," he announced.

In unison, Seth, Jarod, and Cam muttered, "Shit."

"What am I going to do about this, Rawley?" Cam said to his friend on their way home later on.

"How about starting on it?" Rawley suggested.

"Well, I need a topic first."

"What's the project on again?" Rawley said in a bored tone.

"Ancient Greece."

"The Olympics."

"That's too easy."

"Exactly."

"Yeah but probably everyone will do it so I have to come up with something original."

"Well, think about it. Everyone will want to be original so they'll avoid using it and then that leaves it all open for you!" Rawley reasoned.

"Hmm…" Cam considered this idea but he knew he most likely wouldn't use it. "Hey, why weren't you at lunch today?" Cam asked changing the subject.

"I was at the library with Roxie."

"Why?"

"She wanted to give me my birthday present."

"Your birthday- SHIT!" Cam realized what day it was as if for the first time. "That's today isn't it?"

"Yeah." Rawley didn't seem to care about it but it bothered Cam.

"Why didn't you say something?" Cam asked.

"I figured that since Roxie called me at freakin' five in the morning, I'd had enough of birthday stuff."

"She called you at five?" Cam said at first. "Nevermind. Aren't you sixteen today?"

"Yeah, but it doesn't really matter. Not like I'm coming home to a brand new car or something."

"But still-,"

"It's fine, Cam, alright?"

"Oh… okay," Cam said. "But you're still getting your birthday punches!"

"You punch me, you die."

"Birthday punches? Who said anything about birthday punches?"

The boys laughed and Cam hoped their laughter would be enough to drown out his stupidity for forgetting his best friend's birthday. Sometimes, he could get so distracted with everything else.

A/N: Bad ending I know. But I had to find a way to write this. Yes, I am slow I know that. Aren't you guys used to it by now? Anyways, hope everyone liked it and if you did, review. If you didn't, review and tell me what you didn't like. It would help a lot, really.