This chappie has a lot of POV changes at short intervals. Sorry.

Rory peeked at Raevyn over the top of his textbook. She was pale and tired, her hair frizzier than usual. Her hands shook as she wrote. When the bell rang, she swept her books into her bag, slung it over her shoulder, and trudged out of the room.

He hurried after her. "Raevyn," he called. She didn't even glance. He ran up to her and grabbed her shoulder. "Raevyn, what happened last night?"

She pulled away and kept walking. At lunch, she sat at a table by herself. In class, when the teachers called on her to answer a question, her mouth would move, but no sound would come out. She would clutch her throat and her lip would quiver, her eyes would widen, as if she were about to cry; but of course, crying just wasn't something she did.

At the end of the day, Raevyn ran home as fast as her legs would carry her. And Rory watched her like this, every day the same, for three months. Sometimes, he would knock on her window, calling for her to let him in, but she would turn away and pretend he didn't exist. She never spoke, never smiled, never did anything at all. She wore plain, faded jeans or bright yellow skirts, and pink shirts, and black mary-janes. She wore sparkling lip gloss, and her hair was always in a ponytail. But she was so thin. Much thinner than she had been before, and she hadn't had much pudge. She was pale and sad and sickly looking. It killed him to see her in so much pain, to see her so changed. He didn't even recognize her. And it hurt because he didn't know why. He didn't know anything. Not why she was in pain. Not why it killed him, why it made his heart ache to see her in sorrow. And not who he loved.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Raevyn burst through the doors and into the frigid winter air. Sighing, she took a deep breath. December was her favorite month. She always had an air of giddiness when it started.

But now it just made her sad. All her memories of Christmases, birthdays with her friends… everything was gone. No more happiness.

She trudged through the snow and slowly swung open the door of her house. She pulled the daily to-do list off the wall and examined it. Make a bouquet, vacuum, sweep, do the dishes, cook dinner, do the laundry, clean the living room, go grocery shopping, scrub the toilets, and make coffee.

She made her way up to her room and dropped her bag on the floor. Everything was bare. No trace of 'her' remained. The vanity was gone, the desk was gone, the nightstand was gone, her dresser was gone, all her normal clothes were gone. The walls had been stripped of their pictures, the Emo poster had been taken away, and only one bookshelf remained, full of educational books. Her scrapbook had also disappeared, as well as the gifts from her friends. The only things in the room were a small cot and a dim floor lamp, her bag and her violin. Her only source of clothing was the closet, which was full of pink shirts, yellow skirts, faded blue jeans, and black mary-janes. Everything was gone until 'further notice', all hidden in the basement.

Raevyn thought about the cheerleading squad and nearly smiled. There was no better time to put her plan into action. Sighing again, she slumped down the stairs to begin her chores.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Raevyn's father spat the coffee into the sink and wiped his mouth. "Ugh! Exactly how much coffee did you put in there, girl?" he demanded.

She shrugged. "I don't know," she replied quietly, her voice below a whisper. "I forgot to count."

She squeezed her eyes shut and flinched as her father raised a hand, smacking her in the side of the head. "Speak up when you're talking to me! And next time, you might want to think before you do something stupid. No meals."

"For how long?"

"Three days."

Raevyn hung her head, her eyes still tightly closed, her whole body trembling. "Please sir, can't you find it in you to be kind? It is Christmas, after all," she whispered. But the man was already gone.

She trudged up to her room and collapsed onto her bed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ethan stood on Benny's shoulders and tugged open the window. Climbing inside, he looked back out at Rory. "Alright, you can come in."

Rory tumbled over the sill. "Are you guys staying?"

Ethan looked over from where he was leaning out of the window to help Benny pull himself up. "Yeah. As your friends, we're required to make sure you don't do something stupid."

Rory walked over to the sleeping figure of his previous friend. A single tear glistened at the corner of her eye. He gently stroked her pale cheek. "You're crying. You said you'd never cry," he choked out. His friends knew he was trying hard not to burst out crying himself. "What have they done to you, Raevyn? They broke you. You're not you anymore. What have they done?"

She was gone. She was broken. And he didn't know if she could be fixed. He didn't think he could find her again.

Rory couldn't help it. He crumpled to his knees by the side of her bed and buried his head I his hands. Ethan and Benny stared at him. They had never known their friend to be like this, and they had never hoped to see him in such a state. Where was that happy-go-lucky smile? That clueless attitude and friendly, innocent demeanor? The reassurance that everything would be okay? Where was Rory? Because he couldn't be the man sitting in front of them. He just couldn't.

Rory didn't care. He didn't know that they were worried, and if he had, he still wouldn't have cared. Not about them, and not about himself. His friend was gone. Raevyn was gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He had to get over her. That was the only way he would be happy, to forget her. She wasn't his friend anymore. She wasn't anyone's friend. Not even her own.

He flirted with girls and laughed and had fun. He hung out with Benny, Ethan, and Sarah. He did crazy things and had crazy adventures with his friends.

"Hey, handsome." A cheerleader with her long black hair in pigtails smiled at him. She seemed different from the other cheerleaders, apart from the fact that she wasn't blonde. Her skin looked like it used to be tan, but it was paler now. She wore less makeup. And she was so thin….

For a second, she reminded him of…. He shook his head. He was supposed to be forgetting her. Besides, the cheerleader was pretty, whereas Raevyn wasn't. Of course, this girl wasn't gorgeous like the others, but she was still attractive.

Rory grinned. "Hey there, beautiful."

The girl's grin widened. "Beautiful? Is that what you really think of me?"

Her tone unnerved him a bit, but he shrugged it off. "Absotively posilutely, gorgeous."

And so she flirted with him every day. But that's all it was. Flirting. She would get so close, and then, all of a sudden… poof! She was gone. It annoyed him. Couldn't she just kiss him already?

Then one day, the cheerleader disappeared. Rory, though confused by her absence, continued to flirt with girls. And he flirted for two months.

"Dude, it's time to buckle down," Benny warned. "You have until the end of this month to fall in love."

"Relax! I've got it covered."

Ethan sighed. "I sure hope so. Because you're running out of time, and fast."

Benny watched Rory saunter out the door. "Too fast."

Sorry it sucked. I was still having trouble on getting where I wanted to go, so I kind of rushed it. It shows.