You find the table outside the school buildings which, for all intents and purposes, belongs to you and your small group of friends. You sat there pretty much on the first day of school in your first year and just never bothered switching. Three years go by pretty fast once you get used to the rhythm. And you know all about rhythm, don't you? Of course you do.

Here, we'll let you demonstrate while we wait for the rest of your crew to show up:

Hopping in place, trying to extend my reach

Keeping shit outside my range I do beseech

Just hook a brother up with some goddamn stability

But for some fucking reason that's beyond my ability

Like Kim and Kris my game is naught but abject pathos

Like Zeus and Hera, add dysfunctional to my mythos

Ok no that was actually really shitty and you're sorry for subjecting anyone to that God are you glad that no one was around to hear it. You're really not in the best state of mind for good raps right now. You don't even really want to be here right now. But you'll revisit the topic later, probably.

Rose appears noiselessly, sets her bag aside and sits down next to you, a godsend distraction.

"Hello, Dave."

"Hey."

"How are you feeling."

"Fine."

She gives you a look. She knows it's not true, shouldn't take a genius to figure out you're not. You can probably hide it fine from outsiders, but Rose knows the situation. She doesn't pursue the line of the questioning any further. Bless her fucked up lovercraftian soul.

You talk with her about various things, none of which are important or even relevant. It doesn't matter what it is. Anything. You know the moment you aren't distracted your mind will regress to a different topic. You won't be able to avoid it forever, obviously, but you'll take whatever you can get.

Unfortunately, certain things can very easily break down the wall you started building around it. One of them being Her.

You go to the same school, of course. How could you not see Her or run into her at some point?

You spot Her from across the campus. She probably just showed up. In a normal situation She would have walked over to you, an honorary addition to your humble little group. It helped that John and She were already friends from before.

But this isn't a normal situation, and She doesn't come over. You think She turned her head in your direction for a moment before walking in another direction. Was Her head tilted down? Was She upset? You simultaneously hope She's okay and wish that She is at least a little bit sad about you.

You wonder who drove her here. That had been your job before.

Rose's hand lands on the top of your head and forces you to look away.

"Come on, playboy. Eyes over here."

You thank whatever higher being has decided to pay attention for your glasses. You can keep a straight face, but something must have gotten in your eye to make them water. Stupid fucking dust or some shit.

You feign a yawn and rub your eyes a bit. The perfect crime. The two of you resume talking until John shows up.

He comes up behind Rose and places his hands over her eyes.

"Guess who!"

"Hey, John," you say.

"No hints, you ass!" he yells at you.

"Hmm... Well it must be none other than Colonel Sassacre and this has to be one his pranks. Am I right?"

John laughs. "No, Rose! It's just me."

"I know John."

He takes his hands off her face but doesn't sit down. You and Rose turn around to face him.

"But hey! She's here, you know. In the office, getting some things sorted. She should be here in a bit," John says.

"That's nice. You'll have to introduce us, then," Rose responds.

"Who?" you say. You have no idea who they're talking about and it weirds you out. Rose clearly knows what's going on.

"Ugh. I told you dude! My cousin transferred here today."

"Oh. Right." You do recall him saying something like that now. A bunch of times, actually. Dude was super excited about it for a long time and wouldn't shut up. Must have slipped your mind around the time when your world fell apart. No biggie.

What had he said her name is? Jane? Jake? No that's a male name, idiot. Well whatever. You'll find out soon enough.

A few minutes later, a girl hurries to your table and stands by John. She looks at all of you and waves sheepishly.

"Hi!" The sound escapes from her lips as a tiny squeak.

John introduces her as Jade Harley, his cousin from Hawaii of all places. She lived there with her grandpa who had to leave on business matters and didn't want her to be all on her own. She moved here, to be close to her only other relatives. That would be John and his dad.

You all share most of your classes and a lot of time is spent on acclimating Jade to her new surroundings. This works well in occupying your mind for the most part. You didn't even share many classes with Her to begin with. Thankfully?

Anyway, she seems to take well to her new school.

At the end of the day you are all sitting around the parking lot, getting ready to go your separate ways.

John is going to drop off Jade at her place. She's staying in a hotel. For now, you guess? She didn't specify, but you can't imagine she'd be in a hotel for more than a few weeks at most.

"Almost there," a faintly recognizable voice says from behind you.

"Thank you for the help," a very recognizable voice says from behind you.

She's holding the arm of a girl, you think her name is Aradia. One of Her friends that you've met a few times in passing.

You stare at both of them as they walk past your group. Aradia gives you a reassuring, understanding smile and nod. You nod ever so slightly in return. She doesn't do anything and you wonder if She even knows you are right next to Her.

John and Rose say nothing. You can only assume either Rose told him, or She told him. Either way, he most likely knows, and that's probably something you couldn't have avoided anyway. Better than having him awkwardly call her over or something idiotic.

Jade gives you a puzzled look as she looks back and forth between you and Her.

She'll find out soon enough, too, you guess.

You part ways and drive home. The house is empty. No bro and no strife to take your mind off anything.

You climb into bed and try to get to sleep. Being all alone and conscious is the last thing you want right now.

You can feel the dark tendrils of sleep lapping at the edges of your consciousness. You are so emotionally and physically tired.

You sleep but don't dream.