Morning came and with it brought panic into my gut as realization hit that I wasn't in my bed and didn't even call my Father last night to tell him where I was. I wondered if Van even slept last night; I hoped he did; he always had separation anxiety. Fearful, I grabbed my coat, shimmied on my boots and ran out the door to my house. My door was unlocked, which scared me, since it was still dark out. Upon entering the house, I found Father slumped on the sofa, half empty bottle of wine in hand; he never drank, but when he did, it was usually a glass or two of red wine. The bottle he was holding was originally unopened; he'd received it as a gift and we were going to cook with it for Christmas.

"Dad?" I walked up to him, hesitant.

"Hmmmm….." He mumbled.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

After a few moments, he groggily sat up and put his head between his hands.

"Where were you?" He asked, grimly.

"Stan's."

"Oh, what, so you think that you can just sleepover any boy's house since you slept over Kyle's?"

"No, but–"

"Enough," He silenced. "What time is it?"

I looked down at my watch, "5 in the morning."

"Get ready for school," He stood up, brushing crumbs off of himself. "I need to figure some shit out."

"Dad, what's going on?" I knew it was more than just me not coming home – if it were that, he would have walked to Kyle's house and asked where I was. After he didn't answer, I raised my voice. "Dad, what the hell is going on?"

His whole body jerked back onto the sofa, as he shed a few tears.

"Please tell me."

"I lost my job," He sighed. "I'm sorry. I don't know how long we can stay here anymore. Just… go get ready for school; wake Van up too."

I didn't know what to say so I did as he wished. I woke Van up, got him ready, and then got myself ready. By the time we returned downstairs, dad had left; even the car was gone. I hoped he was okay; I didn't want to leave South Park, friends or no friends; I made more memories here than I ever did in NY. We didn't have time for breakfast, so I grabbed Van an apple and left on an empty stomach, with just a coffee in hand. I was silent on the walk to school, only responding when Van would ask me a question.

Upon entering my classroom, I ignored the boys who would probably ignore me anyways, and went to my desk; they probably assumed I was sulking over the loss of their friendship. However, when Kyle, Stan, and Kenny finally arrived at school, I knew they'd make me talk, so I engrossed myself in a book and pretended to read.

"Emma, are you even listening?" Stan's voice zapped me out of the book after a few tries and I sighed, putting it down.

"What?" My voice was meek.

"You left without a word," Kyle said. "We were scared."

"Sorry," I picked my book back up, however was interrupted by Kenny who took it from me.

"Mmmph!"

"Okay, what the hell guys?" I huffed.

"What's wrong?" Stan asked.

"Nothing," I insisted, trying to get my book back from Kenny.

"What the hell?" Kyle exclaimed. "Is this about those idiots not talking to you anymore?"

"No! My dad lost his damn job, okay? I'm going to have to go back to NY to live with my cousins because he probably can't find a new one."

I was loud enough that the entire room around me silenced. Tears ran down my face and I hurried out of the room. I went out back to where the Goth kids smoked before class and sat down on the steps with them.

"Emma, what's up?" Henrietta asked; her tone could tell I was distraught.

"My dad lost his job and I have to move and I'm miserable," I cried, laying my head on my knees.

"Shit," Pete murmured.

"What can we do?" Michael asked.

I sighed, "Nothing, I was just sick of them talking to me."

"Who?" Firkle asked.

Before I could answer, I heard the door open. I didn't look up to see who it was.

"Get lost," Michael told whoever it was. "She wants to be left alone, conformists."

"Emma, we're sorry," Stan said and I looked up. It was him and a girl with dark hair. I guess he told the others to stay inside, because I know they'd try to pull this stunt too. "I'm sorry that your dad lost his job and I'm sorry that some of the guys in there are idiots and stopped being your friend and I'm sorry that your life sucks."

"But we want to help," The girl said; her voice was higher pitched than Henrietta's or mine; dainty, even.

"This is Wendy," Stan said. "She overheard us in class and wants to help."

I sighed, "I don't need help, but thanks."

"Yeah, just leave her alone," Henrietta said.

"Yeah," Pete nodded.

Stan went inside, dejected, however Wendy stood her ground; she wasn't going to leave unless I gave in and I didn't want the Goth kids to be mad or insult her, so I stood up.

"Let's go for a walk," She said and I followed; we only went to the backyard of the school, however it was still a large plot of land to walk in.

"My mom can help your dad get a temporary job, until he finds one in whatever field he works in," She said. "I want to help. It's the least I can do after all the guys stopped talking to you. You and your family can come over for dinner tomorrow night and we can work it out; my mom works business, but I think your dad could get a temp job in her office."

I nodded, "I guess that could work. Thanks."

"Anytime," Wendy said. Before I walked away, she caught my shoulder. "And, you shouldn't hide who you are."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She gestured towards my hood, "You hide yourself; Stan told me that you told him you used to wear makeup and do your hair in New York; well, if that's what you like, you should do it here; it doesn't matter what the other girls think of you, even if some of them don't wear makeup yet. You know by middle school, they'll all be doing it anyways."

I sighed, "Maybe… thanks."

I appreciated her gesture; I truly did, however I didn't know how I'd convince my Father to go over to dinner with her parents; he was never one for handouts…

Hey guys, first author's note. Thanks to everyone who has been reading this story, I apologize that this is a small chapter, however another should be up either tonight or tomorrow. If you like it, please follow/favorite and leaving reviews to tell me your thoughts (good or bad) is always awesome too!

Thanks!