Root finished her lunch and pushed the tray across the table. Another week had passed and she was starting to get used to eating lunch alone. She opened her backpack and pulled out a paper bag, tossing it onto her tray.

Her mother had been packing her lunches, but Root didn't eat tuna fish sandwiches. She couldn't bring herself to say anything, though. At least her mother was trying.

Root sighed and leaned her arms on the table, looking around the cafeteria. She didn't see Sameen anywhere. Root had stopped trying to talk to her in their classes. After last weekend, she was getting the message. Sameen had moved on and Root probably should, too.

Root pushed her chair back and stood. She might as well head to class; Mr. Collier was always in the classroom, even during lunch. She was picking up her backpack when she heard heels clicking towards her. Root rolled her eyes. There was only one person who wore heels to school.

"Hello, Root," Martine greeted, putting her hand down on the table. "How's it going?"

"Let me guess," Root scoffed, sliding her bag onto her back, "you're just checking in again."

Martine shrugged. "I heard you and Shaw broke up."

"We weren't together," Root corrected her, picking up her lunch tray. "Nothing to break up."

Martine batted her eyes. "I'm just worried about you."

Root shifted her weight, tossing her head to throw her hair over her shoulder. "Dare I ask why?"

"All your friends keep leaving you," Martine pouted.

Root tried not to let Martine's words hurt her, but they did. She was right; all of Root's friends ended up leaving her. Root swallowed and tried not to let her feeling show.

"Is that all?"

"Actually," Martine said, stepping towards her. She reached up to pull her ponytail over her shoulder, her fingers idly twisting the ends. "I was thinking about becoming a brunette. I hear you'll give it up for any girl with brown hair."

Root rolled her eyes. "Go suck Lambert's dick, Martine. If he'll still let you near it. Even I know you don't use teeth."

Martine looked shocked as Root pushed passed her, storming out of the cafeteria. She tossed her tray on top of a trashcan, not even bothering to dump the contents. Root burst through the doors to the hall and stopped, taking a deep breath.

This was awful and it was only the second week of the school year. There weren't enough kids in school to get away from this. Everyone knew about her mother, her father, her relationships. Bishop had always been stifling, but now she felt trapped with nowhere to go.

Root started walking down the hall towards her 4th period class. She didn't want to have to sit next to Sameen today, or any day, but she didn't have a choice. She sucked in air through her nose and tried to hold back her tears.

She didn't even know if she was sad or just frustrated with her bleak future. Another three years of being an outcast and then she could leave for a college far away. The worst part, she thought to herself, staring at the floor as she turned a corner, was that she'd had a taste of Sameen.

She knew what she wanted now. A real friendship, or relationship, that made her happy. Root had been happy and that was gone now.

She heard a metal clatter and looked up. Tomas had Sameen pressed against the bank of lockers, his arms on either side of her keeping her in place. She didn't seem upset about it. Root watched him bend to kiss her, watched Sameen duck her head away.

Their eyes met and Root watched Sameen frown. Root kept walking, her throat feeling tight. She was determined not to cry in front of Sameen. As she passed, she saw Tomas reach out and put his grimy hands on Sameen's face, pulling her attention back to him.

Root looked away and hurried into the closest bathroom. The school bell rang as she entered a stall, dumping her bag and sitting on the toilet.

She couldn't do this. Root couldn't do three more years of watching someone else lay hands on Sameen. She didn't think she'd survive it. The second bell rang and Root dropped her head into her hands, tears streaming down her face.

Root didn't know how long she sat there crying, thinking about the past year with Sameen. Eventually, someone came into the bathroom. Root wiped her face quickly, sniffling.

"Hello?" a girl's voice called out, "you ok?"

"I'm fine," Root replied.

She realized she never shut the stall door when a hand appeared. The door opened and revealed Zoe.

"Hi," Root sighed.

"Oh, Honey," Zoe breathed, walking into the stall and squatting down in front of her. "What's wrong?"

Root smiled down at her through her tears. "Everything."

Zoe chuckled and laid her hands on Root's knees. "So, this is about Sameen."

"How do you do it?" Root asked, feeling helpless. "How can you be ok with Joss dating John, too?"

"Well," Zoe started, "it's hard. I love John, a lot, but I also love Joss. She's…really important to me. I wouldn't do anything to lose either of them."

A sob ripped from Root. "Why doesn't Sameen care about me like that?"

"OK," Zoe said, standing. She pulled Root up and led her out of the stall. "Let's get you cleaned up."

Root nodded and watched Zoe get a paper towel and wet it. "I just want to be with her, you know? All the time and she's so…infuriating."

Zoe stepped towards Root, gentling wiping her face. "Sameen cares about you, Root. You're her person."

"Then why did she lie to me? Why is she choosing him?"

Zoe's hands were gentle under her chin. "I know everything about everything around here and I know that Sameen cares more about you than any stupid boy."

Root laughed dryly. "Doesn't seem that way."

"Sameen…" Zoe sighed, dropping the paper towel onto the sink. "She's a hard nut to crack. I think she has trouble with her feelings and she feels safer with someone she doesn't care about."

"I could be her safe place!" Root said emphatically. "I want to be her safe place."

"I know, babe," Zoe reached out, taking Root in her arms. "I know you do. You just have to give her time to sort things out."

"I don't want to," Root pouted into Zoe's shoulder.

The door to the bathroom opened and someone walked in. Root looked up and saw Sameen standing there, looking surprised. Sameen took in Root's red face, the tears still streaming down her face, and swallowed.

Zoe pulled away from Root to look over at her shoulder at Sameen. "Hey."

Sameen's face closed off and she nodded sharply. She turned on her heel and walked out of the bathroom.

"Great," Root said, angrily wiping her face, "now she knows I'm upset. I was trying to seem cool."

"Maybe she needs to see you upset," Zoe shrugged, picking up her damp towel and wiping Root's face again. "If she sees it, she can't lie to herself and say you're ok."

Root sighed. "I guess so. How do you do it? How do you get everyone to like you?"

"Well," Zoe shrugged, "I say the right things to the right people and I am not always myself."

"You lie?"

"Through my teeth," Zoe joked. "Not everyone needs to know everything."

Root sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I don't know if I can do that."

"That's what makes you special, Root. You're so…you. All the time."

"Yeah, because that's worked well for me so far."

Zoe reached out and laid a hand on Root's arm. "Give her time, Root. She'll figure it out."

"And if she doesn't?" Root asked, looking at Zoe through watery brown eyes.

Zoe smiled, sadly. "Then you'll hurt for a while. You'll be ok, though."

Root's phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out. "It's Claire."

"Ooh," Zoe scooted around to stand next to Root and look down at her phone. "That's your new girl?"

"She's not my girl," Root rolled her eyes. "We're friends."

Zoe punched Root lightly in the arm. "Good for you making friends! You should hang out with her tonight. Get your mind off all us Bishop losers."

Root laughed, feeling lighter. She smiled at Zoe. "Thank you. For talking to me."

"We're friends, Root," Zoe grinned. "I got your back."

She turned and headed out of the bathroom. Root started typing out a reply, but looked up when Zoe came rushing back in.

"I didn't pee!"

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Catch me!" Root laughed as she skated towards Claire. "I can't stop!"

"No! I'm on wheels! Root-"

Root barreled into Claire, knocking them both to the ground. They laughed and untangled themselves. Root pushed herself onto her knees, rubbing her forehead.

"Sorry! I'm used to inline skates," Root apologized.

Claire sat up, pulling her hair out of its ponytail and tying it up again. "Then why did you get these?"

Root shrugged. "I wanted to try?"

"I need a break," Claire chuckled, standing. "Let's go get some food."

Root took her offered hand and pulled herself up. They carefully skated to the edge of the rink and stepped out, heading towards the food counter.

Root had asked Claire if she wanted to go to the Kingsville arcade and Claire had said yes. They had hung out a couple times since their first time and Root was enjoying herself. It was nice to have a friend who was so focused on technology and science.

She did feel a little guilty for enjoying herself. Just this afternoon she had been crying over Sameen and now she was having fun with Claire. Root watched Claire order them fries. She didn't like Claire like she liked Sameen, though. She just enjoyed spending time with her.

Claire took two baskets of fries from the server and skated past Root to the tables. She dropped them down and slid into the booth.

"You come here a lot?" Claire asked as Root sat down, picking up some fries. "It's nice."

"Yeah," Root said, looking around, "We have most of our BACKS meetings here."

"That's your alien club, right?" Claire leaned forward, resting her arms on the table. "When's your next meeting? I'd love to come."

"Really?" Root grinned. "I'm not sure yet. We're on semi-hiatus."

Claire watched her quietly, eating a fry. "Because of your friend?"

Root scratched her nose, looking away. "Um, and for other reasons. I'm not really in an adventure mood right now."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I want to not talk about it," Root countered.

Claire shrugged. "Whatever. Have you heard of the Fermi Paradox?"

Root scoffed, biting into a fry. "What do you take me for? An idiot?"

"I'm just asking," Claire laughed. "I'm not an alien kind of person, just regular science, but I was trying to do some research."

Root's heart warmed a little bit. Claire had read about aliens for her. She thought about Sameen and their sleepovers discussing aliens and space. Sameen didn't really do any research on her own; she was content to let Root explain everything. Root didn't know which was better.

"Have you read about the Great Filter Theory?" Root asked her.

Claire pulled out her phone. "No, I haven't."

"It's basically that all societies in the universe destroy themselves before accomplishing space travel. Like, there's a point in time-"

"Oh, I see," Claire interrupted her, reading from her phone. "Civilizations crumble before developing space capabilities. Though, we might have already passed the Great Filter and are the only ones who can go into space now. Interesting."

Root frowned and watched as Claire scrolled, reading about the theory herself. Alright, maybe discussing the subject was the better way. Root looked around as Claire educated herself.

She spotted a couple coming through the doors and squinted. It was Tomas and Sameen. Root gasped and slid down in her seat. She didn't want them to see her. Tomas could probably guess that Root was the one pranking him.

"You ok?" Claire asked, looking perplexed. "Why are you hiding?"

"Sameen and Tomas are here," Root whispered.

Claire looked over her shoulder and spotted them. "So? This is a free country."

"I've been sending sex toys to Tomas' house for the past week."

Claire looked at her, mouth open. "Oh my god. What?"

Root rolled her eyes. "He's an asshole. Don't feel bad for him."

"You can afford that?"

"No," Root smirked, "but his parents can."

Claire looked back at them and sat up. "They're coming over."

Root watched as Tomas stomped towards her, scowling. Sameen was following slowly behind him, her hands shoved in the pockets of her sweatshirt. She smiled sheepishly as she got close. Sameen noticed Claire at the table with Root and her smile dropped.

"Amanda," Tomas started, slamming his hands on the table, "you have to stop it."

"My name," Root said, straightening up, "is not Amanda."

"Whatever," Tomas waved his hand dismissively. "I'm ordering you-"

"It's not whatever," Claire spoke up. "Her name is Root."

Tomas turned to her. "I don't know who you are and I don't care. I'm talking to her."

"What's wrong, Tomas?" Root asked, casually picking up a fry. "Don't know what to do with your gifts?"

"My parents are really mad," he explained, angrily. "They think I'm buying it."

"Why would they think that? Do you have a history of buying inappropriate things from sketchy sites?"

Tomas growled at her and pushed away from the table, tramping across the arcade. Sameen stepped forward, stopping next to the table. She looked down at Root.

"Hey," she said softly, lips pursed. "How are you doing?"

Root didn't look at her, just stared down at her fries. "I'm fine," she grunted. "I'm kind of busy right now."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sameen turn and walk away. Root looked up and watched her go stand at the ticket counter with Tomas.

Root slid out of her side of the booth and moved to sit on Claire's side.

"What are you doing?" Claire asked her, dropping her phone on the table and turning to sit sideways, her back against the wall.

Root licked her lips and moved further into the booth, pulling a knee up to stop close to Claire. She leaned forward, running her thumb over Claire's cheek, smiling when she heard Claire suck in a breath, and pressed their lips together. After a moment, Claire's hand came up to rest on Root's hip.

Kissing Claire was not like kissing Sameen. Sameen felt like summer, hot and wet and thick. Sameen tasted like the future. Kissing Claire was nice, but it wasn't the same.

Root tasted salt and felt Claire softly push her away. She realized she was crying and quickly wiped her face. Claire smiled softly at her.

"Don't worry about it, Root," Claire said. "It's ok."

Root shook her head. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I did that."

"I do," Claire shrugged. "Your ex is here and you're sad."

"She's not my ex," Root mumbled, but she sat back in the booth. "We were just friends."