Hope was smirking at me when I met her on the side of the school later that day. Probably one of the biggest smirks I've seen on that face. And that's saying a lot.

     "What?"

      "Nuthin."

    "What is it? Did I make a fool out of myself again?"

     "Yes, but that's not it."

Now I was confused. When did I make a fool out of my self?

      "Just tell me!"

      "He asked you out!!!"

Whaaaaa?

      "When?"

      "He asked if you wanted to hang out with him after school!"

Oh, brother...

Then I got an idea. I started smirking furiously at Hope.

      "Now, what?"

      "You have a boyfriend....." I said, in a sort of mocking manner.

Her response was a giant blush, and with every step we took took, it grew. We were on our way to the court yard, where we were supposed to meet Simon and Charlie.

"Shut it, Kimber"

All I could do was laugh at how childish we were being.

"What now, Kimber?" She used the tone most moms give when you ask for multiple things at once, not giving her a rest. Along with the annoyed look.

        "You love him, don't ya?" I put a lot of emphasis on 'love'.

        "Well, it's no different from you and Simon!"

        "Yes, but at least I wasn't laughing hysterically at his jokes that clearly weren't funny."

I got another tomato-face response.

         "Come on, Kimber. We don't want to keep then waiting."

         "Oh, we sure wouldn't. Would we?" The level of my teasing was higher than its ever been.

        "Shut up." She gritted that through her teeth, and growled at me, making me quiet down.

The we see Simon and Charlie.

          "Hey!", Was all I said.

          "Hi, Kimber! Hi, Hope!" Simon said, but he was focused on me.

         "Hi, Hope!" Charlie said.

Nice to see you too, Charlie.

"C'mon, Kimber. We have to go work on our projects!" He gave me a small smile and I returned it. I couldn't help but feel that  certain someone was watching us from a distance, though...

Simon walked me to his home. It's going to be hard trying not to act idiotic and instead like a normal human being. I've been to his house hundreds of times, maybe even thousands, but this time, this time he can see me. Let's just hope he doesn't catch me doing some kinda weirdo happy dance.

As we were walking, he offered to carry my things. I wasn't sure if I should though, I didn't know if I was supposed to accept or not. People these days are weird. Society these days is weird. Of course, I denied.

    "Where'd Hope and Charlie go?", I asked

"Charlie said he'd take Hope somewhere to go eat. But do t tell him I told you, he'd kill me." He said the last part as more of a laugh, which made me giggle.

"Hope really likes him, she won't shut up about him." Ok, maybe that wasn't exactly true, but Hope's face clearly read 'Charlie this' and 'Charlie that'. So I technically didn't lie. Technically.

He let out a small laugh, the said,

     "Charlie's the same way! That is if facial expressions could talk."

"Same with Hope! Just don't tell her I said anything. For your safety and my own, don't tell her." I said the last part a more of an order. A playful one, though.

He put his hands up as f he was surrendering to something while he chuckled a bit.

     "Ok, ok!"

This made me laugh.

We were mostly silent the rest of the way there. Besides the occasional,'so how was your first day' or any other random question he asked me, like where I moved from, in which case I had to make up a random school. North shore high.

Besides that, we just enjoyed each others company.

  "We're here!"

He stopped at his home. A faint white two story house. It had a reasonably big yard, and several windows scattered on the walls.

He opened the door with his key and led me inside. Every time I Went inside, I couldn't help but stare. His home was neat, and clean. A faded beige color lined the walls. Pictures of him and his family were lined up on various shelves hooked onto the walls. His living room consisted of a couch, a tv, and a soft, grey rug in the middle.

"It's beautiful," I said, in awe. I've been there countless times, and it still puts me in a trance every time.

I couldn't help but compare it to my old home. The abusive one. I remembered me trying to step over the glass of beer bottles. I remember making the effort to get to my room without cutting myself to badly. There were no happy family pictures on the walls. No cheerful smiles to look forward to after a long and hard day of school. There were no nice furniture, but instead an old beat up couch that smelled like alcohol.

   "Thank you!"

He gave me quick tour of the house. When we came to his room upstairs, Nina greeted me with her signature puppy-dog look. Nina is Simon's dog. A small black and brown dog. Almost like a chihuahua, but more lively and less aggressive. She was all Simon had. All his life, that dog has been there with him. With ever sad moment, Nina was there. Nina is one of the most loyal dogs anyone could ever wish for. She really is 'man's best friend'.

She sniffed my hand. I knew she recognized my presence. All animals can see angels.

    "Kimber, this is Nina. Nina, this is Kimber."

I crouched down to her level, a scratched behind her ear.

   "She's adorable!"

      "Why, thank you," he said playfully.

    "We should get to working.."

"Ok, we can work on the back yard if you want. And just so you know, my dad is on a business trip, so he won't be back for another month or two. And, my mom...." his voice trailed off, and he began to choke ever so slightly. He quickly shook it off though, and looked down at they grey furry foundation that we stood on. "....my mom, she passed away in a car crash about ten years ago....."

Yes, it's true. I caused the death of Mrs. Maria Jejune. It was the main cause of my guilt. Made me cry myself to sleep every night until I finally got over it. Mostly. It still pangs me to this day. This very minuet. This second. It screams at me, the voice in my head. You're such a terrible friend! You don't deserve to live!! I tried to ignore these voices, but I started to tear up. But, I refused to let rivers flow from my cheeks again. Not now.

I placed my shaking hand on Simon's shoulder. And what I said next, I meant with all of my heart.

     "I'm sorry."

Nina came down stairs with us, and started whimpering and nudging Simon's hands. Between the both of us, no tears were being shed, thank god.

Just a moment of silence between the both of us.

  "I-it's not your fault. Y-you shouldn't be sorry."

I was going to tell him the truth, but then Nina started barking.

She got up from her spot with Simon, and slowly walked towards the door, now barking furiously.

By now, Simon and I had stood up from our place on the couch.

Simon wore a concerned look on his face, and slowly intertwined his fingers with mine.

Me, being me, blushed at his action, but I quickly shrugged it off when Simon and I heard foot steps out side the door.

Just then, the door burst open and through it came an enraged Amy. She ran towards me and stopped inches from my nose.

"What do you think you're doing?!? He's mine!" She screamed in my face, making me jump a little.

Before Simon and I could respond, she put her hands on my shoulders and rammed me into the wall. After that, all I could hear were the negative chants in my head.

    'It's all your fault.'

**Hey guys! Just wanted to thank y'all for reading! I was bored today so I decided to write...I know. Shocker, isn't it...XD

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