A week and a half till the holidays, yay! It's winter over here, and nights are getting colder. It was freezing last night. Not cold enough for snow, we never get that here, but still damn cold.

Ok, ok, enough about the weather. Here's the next chapter, just another filler before the actual plot happens. Read on!

It happened one summer
It happened one time
It happened forever
For a short time
A place for a moment
An end to dream
Forever I loved you
Forever it seemed

One summer never ends
One summer never began
It keeps me standing still
It takes all my will
And then suddenly
Last summer

'Suddenly, Last Summer'- The Motels.

All Friday I was stalking Quasi and Esme. I followed them at a discrete distance, tried to eavesdrop on them, tried to figure out what Esme was doing. When she wasn't with him, she was in the music room with her cronies, planning out her prank. I had tried to spy on them, as well. All to no avail. The room was guarded. All I knew was the prank would take place on the stage and required buckets, ropes and pulleys. I could only imagine what was going to happen.

Days passed, and all too soon the weekend was over.

Monday passed quietly, but I could feel the buzz in the air as people talked about the costumes they'd wear and speculated about the entertainment. Our art class was briefed on the materials and designs that would be used in decorating the hall the next day. I was a vessel of pent-up nervous energy, still angry from Friday but also filled with dread and a strange restlessness. Anyone else would think I was excited, but my friends recognized it for what it really was- the urge to tell an important secret. Only here, no-one would listen if I tried. Especially not the person it was meant for.

In music class, Kaz didn't even acknowledge my existence, and was too abashed by our last 'discussion' to try to speak to him. So we passed the entire lesson staring at our computers, the teacher, our books. Anywhere but at each other.

Lunchtime, I was forced by my own curiosity to watch as Esme flirted shamelessly with him, and he basked in the attention. The urge to bash his head against the wall, shake him, slap him around, hadn't disappeared, and the urge to strangle Esme, or drop a brick on her head, had intensified. In my illogical state I felt they both deserved it, but there was nothing I could do.

By Tuesday morning the excitement in the air had doubled. Art students were let off their usual classes so that they could start on the hall early, so when the bell rang we took as much paper, paint, streamers and miscellaneous art materials as we could carry and made our way to the hall. There, we were joined by Drama, Dance and Esme, who immediately took charge. Not surprisingly, all of us who were supposed to be ignorant of the plan were assigned to work well away from the stage, where all the action would be.

As I helped hang streamers and fairy lights on the walls, I kept an eye on Esme and her group. Along with decorating, they also seemed to be arranging and untangling ropes and setting up the pulley system. Needless to say, watching as the evil witch and her minions arranged Quasimodo's impending doom did not put me in the brightest of moods.

All day we worked on the hall. I was surprising how much effort it took to hang up lights and streamers, but it felt good to be doing some physical work instead of sitting in a chair all day.

That afternoon the office got another call from mum, informing me that I would have to wait for dad to pick me up again, and that this would probably be a regular occurrence. Again, the office advised me to wait inside, and again, I secretly determined to rebel.

Come end of school, as I was making my way to the side door, I passed Kaz and Esme, probably having their last deep-and-meaningful before his life was ruined forever. I clenched my teeth and ignored them, hurrying to what would soon become my usual spot.

Half an hour of frustratedly staring at a blank document with music blaring in my ears later, I saw Quasimodo come out and settle into the opposite bench, still ignoring me. And at that moment, I realized I didn't want it to continue like this, ignoring each other because both were to afraid to speak. After tonight his life would become a waking nightmare, and it was likely that we would never speak again except for the necessary exchanges in class. No matter how much I wanted to be his friend, self-preservation always came first. Now was the only time we had.

Making my decision, I collected up my stuff and moved myself to his bench. "I'm sorry," I blurted before he could say or do anything. He looked at me, a little bit surprised, and I took this as an invitation to continue, taking a deep breath and staring straight ahead.. "I'm not saying that I was wrong or that I'm sorry for saying what I did, but I'm sorry for upsetting you. I didn't mean anything degrading or nothing. It was meant to be just a friendly reminder, but I went too far. I hope you can forgive me."

There was a long silence, but when I finally looked at him, he was nodding. "Of course I f-forgive you."

"Good. I suppose we can put this behind us and never mention it again?"

"Yes."

"Good," I said again, now at a loss for words. We both looked away, still a little uneasy around each other, and I studied my blank screen for a while before bringing up my music folder. "Wanna listen to music again?"

"Yes, I-I'd like that."

"Anything in particular? I know you like Styx but do you have any other preferences?"

"Not really." He looked down, embarrassed. "I d-don't know very much music. W-what... what do you have?"

"Oh, ok... let's see." I browsed through folders and squinted at the tracks. "I have a whole folder of Taylor Swift, some One Direction, some Little Mix, some Kelly Clarkson, um... Owl City, Ed Sheeran, some YouTube stars that should be famous but aren't... I don't think any of this is 'guy stuff'." I turned the screen towards him. "I don't know if you've be interested in anything you see there, but take a look anyway."

I watch as he scanned the lists, none of the names sparking any recognition. He shook his head. "You like Taylor Swift a lot, so maybe..."

"You want to listen to her?" I nodded and handed him an earphone. "Ok." Bringing up the folder, I pressed play, and Kaz's musical education started.

Later, when my laptop ran out of charge and we were forced to actually talk to each other, Kaz asked me about my favorite song.

"Oh, that's a hard one. Probably... I think I'd have to say Everything Has Changed."

"Why?"

I smiled, shaking my head. "All of her songs are so relatable, and almost all of them seem to be taken from my diary sometimes. But even thought I haven't yet had a situation like that in Everything Has Changed, it's pretty much my favourite song at the moment- mostly because Ed Sheeran's in it too..."

He mulled on this. "How... how do the songs apply to your life?"

"Oh dear..." I bit my lip. "That would require a bit of background. Are you sure you're up for a sob story?"

He nodded.

"Ok, well... most of the relatable ones now are break-up songs, but 'You Belong With Me' was the first. When I was 14, I had this huge crush on Phoebus James. I adored him, and it just felt like that song had been written for me. Then at the end of last year we went out, and it lasted two months before he broke my heart. It was so sudden, I wasn't expecting anything like that. I thought we could last at least until the end of the year. We had fun, and I thought he was happy!" I fought down the memories that were rising up, knowing that if I gave in to them, I'd probably start crying. "So anyway, after that, break-up songs were my thing, and I think the best one is 'Cold As You', cuz he was cold. Damn cold. We used to play basketball on this little court with his friends, and it was like a place that was just for us. When I tried to go back, I took a friend with me cuz I didn't know how I'd be received, and he... he flirted with her, right in front of me. I couldn't believe it. Here we were, he had just broken up with me through my friends, not even face-to-face, and now he was flirting with my best friend who was right next to me. Who does that? So yeah, I'd say I'd never felt anything as cold as him. There are others, but those two stick out for me."

By this time I was almost talking to myself, but I was jolted out of my depressing memories by Kaz, who hesitantly touched my arm. "I'm sorry," he said softly, looking at me properly for once.

I smiled a pained smile, blinking away my tears before they could fall. "It's fine. It's completely alright. That was nearly 9 months ago, I've gotten over it."

Kaz shook his head, and I knew that the only person I was fooling was myself. "Really?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I waved him away, sniffing. "Don't worry about it."

"Ok." He turned away.

"But thanks for caring." I traced patterns in my laptop lid, a little embarrassed for having burdened him with my pathetic-ness. "That's sweet of you, Kaz."

"You... You're welcome."

We sat in silence for a while, until a car pulled up and I jumped up, stuffing my laptop in my bag and heading for the fence. "See-ya."

"Bye."

I stopped and turned around. "Oh, by the way, good luck with your date tonight." What possessed me to say it I had no idea- maybe a chance of another warning?

"Oh... thanks."

I pursed my lips, wanting to try again, but then I shook my head and climbed the fence, racing to the car and dumping my stuff inside. Looking back, I sighed.

"You're going to need it," I said softly.

But he never heard it, and I doubt it would've done much good if he had. I waved forlornly and got in the car, and settled down for the ride home.

Short one for now, cuz i want to keep the next one by itself. Next chapter is the Costume Ball, and things happen...