JULIE's POV

~The Next Day~

I have no choice but to go to school today since my parents were making such a big deal about skipping class. I feel tired and hungry -- I slept horribly last night -- but I'm here like a good little student. I made sure to stash some granola bars in my sweatshirt so I could nibble throughout Spanish class.

Without my knowledge, our Spanish teacher gave out a group assignment... but since I missed class, I have to do a separate assignment by myself while everyone else is in groups. I feel kind of left out, especially with Daniel and Jake and Sam working together beside me, but maybe it's for the best. Every now and then, I glance over at them as they're chatting about the assignment and writing down notes. If I knew I'd have the chance to work closely with Daniel again, I wouldn't have missed the last two days. Oh well...

"...so we gotta describe how to cook the ground beef and add the seasonings, add the sauce, etc..." Sam's voice says from her desk to my right. She and the boys were working on the Spanish assignment like the rest of the class, while I had to do a solo assignment of translating a recipe from English to Spanish. At least Mrs. Raymond let me use the Spanish dictionary to find the words because I definitely am not fluent.

"I'm writing all that now. As long as y'all got your translations, I can take your notes and copy it onto the assignment worksheet," I overhear Daniel's reply. He looks focused beside the two, hunched over writing on his worksheet.

"Thanks, Diggy... it looks like we're almost done," Jake's voice says. "As soon as the worksheet is filled out, then we gotta practice the presentation part. Are you guys free today after school to practice?"

"Practice what?" Sam rebuttals.

"What we're gonna say for the presentation..." Jake responds.

"Just read off the paper."

"How did you even get this far in school?" Jake asks in a teasing tone.

"Shut up..." Sam says.

"Anyway, Diggy, how about you? Do you have 15 minutes after school to go over our presentation real quick?"

"Yeah, sure..." Daniel replies.

"Cool..." Jake exhales.

The rest of the class went like any other...

***

Although the day seemed to be going faster than usual, I still wasn't ecstatic about being here. I sighed as I walked to my seat for Writing 101 and sat down. I took out my notebook and pencil and prepared for another boring class. It doesn't help that I'm sleepy, too. I take out one of my granola bars in my sweatshirt pocket and begin munching away before class starts. People are slowly coming in; a few glance my way with a smirk, but there are not as many snotty looks compared to last week. Outside of the classroom, I spot Daniel and Dana chatting at the doorway before he enters the room with a chuckle.

There they are again... have they really been hanging out? They seem awfully close recently. I still remember that achy feeling in my chest when I spotted them together at the mall. They seem almost like good friends now. Wow, seems like I missed a lot.

Daniel takes a seat at his desk to my left and I quickly greet him.

"Hi, Daniel," I say.

"'Sup?" He nods my way before sitting down. At least he didn't completely ignore me this time. Seconds later, London enters the classroom and sits in her seat in front of him. Once she makes eye contact with me, her face lights up.

"Hey, girl! Where have you been?" London asks while twisting around in her seat to face me.

I glance at Daniel for a second before answering. "Hey. I wasn't feeling very well, so I had to take some days off."

"Aw, man. That sucks," London replies, her face scrunching up in pain. "I'm glad you're here though!" She instantly goes back to a smiling face. So adorable.

"Thanks for saying that. Did I miss anything important?"

"We did have a homework assignment, but it's not due until tomorrow. And it's easy. You'll be fine," London assures me with a wave of her hand.

"Okay. That's good to hear," I chuckle slightly for the first time today.

As class began, Mrs. Lyon told us to continue journaling about the topic of the week, which is "sadness". Hm, how fitting. Similar to last week, she would give us five minutes to journal. The classroom was quiet, with only the sounds of pencils on paper. I take a glance around and see everyone diligently writing. I glance to my left and see Daniel biting on the end of his pen...

Okay. Let's just write.

Sadness... I'd rather not think about the things that make me sad, especially right now. I don't really like talking about my feelings, especially sad ones. As a kid, I was always raised to suck it up and not complain if something happened to me. It's not like sadness was forbidden -- my parents weren't monsters, they were just strict. If I was sad about something, they'd just say that it'd get better but never really talked about the issue in detail. I never really felt emotionally open with them... ugh, look at me thinking about emotions! I feel like I've never had so many emotions in my life since finding out I'm pregnant. UGH.

I guess I'm just thinking about how nice it would be to share my experiences with someone... without feeling shame, and without feeling like I need to filter myself...

***

"Alright, class. That's time. Put your journals away," Mrs. Lyon says to the class. She clasps her hands together and smiles. "Okay. Today, we're going to be doing something a little different. We've been reading all about Shakespeare and his greatest hits, but today we will be watching his greatest hits on film."

"Ooh, movie day!" A classmate sang out, which made everyone laugh.

"Correct. Movie day! So you can relax for a little bit for the rest of the class, but first I'll need two people to run and grab the TV stand from the library. They already know that I have it reserved, and I'll write a hall pass so there aren't any issues," Mrs. Lyon says.

The class bursts out into small chatter, clearly enthused about the movie day, ignoring the teacher's request. Seeing that no one volunteered, Mrs. Lyon points toward me.

"Julie. Daniel. Could you two run and grab the TV in the library? Just say you're from Mrs. Lyon's class and there should be no issues," the teacher asks with a hopeful smile.

I glance at Daniel then silently nod as the rest of the class continues their conversations. We stand to our feet and walk up to Mrs. Lyon as she hands us a hall pass, and then we walk out of the classroom into the empty hallway. 

I stuff my hands into my sweatshirt pocket and feel an awkward energy between him and me. He swings the hall pass by its lanyard in his hands as we turn a corner, letting our feet guide us to the school's library. He's walking a bit ahead of me like he's in a hurry and doesn't wanna waste any time. He always seems to be in a hurry when I'm around. The thought makes me a bit sad. 

In no time, we make it to the library and find the huge black TV on a six-foot stand with a VHS player sitting on the dusty shelf below. Daniel takes the lead and grabs onto the TV stand, pushing from the back as I agree to help guide the front down the hallway. Walking backward, I slightly tripped over my shoes but gained my balance.

"You good?" He asks.

I chuckle slightly, "Yeah. I'm just... still half asleep, I guess."

"Oh..." He replies. There's a small silence as we roll the TV further down the empty hallway, then he asks. "Late night...?"

His sudden question surprised me. It's been a while since he actually asked me anything. 

"Huh?"

"Since you're still tired... I mean," he clarifies while looking into my eyes for once.

"Oh. Um... you could say that..." I awkwardly laughed again. An image of myself crying in bed fills my mind before I shoo it away. "Just a lot on my mind and I couldn't sleep..."

I look down at my sneakers to avoid running over them accidentally with the TV stand.

"Ah... okay," he responds, sounding a little sympathetic toward my state of mind right now. "Was anyone bothering you?"

His question caught me off guard once again. "Hm?"

Diggy looks contemplative as he lets out a small sigh and glances over his shoulder. "Are you still getting messages from people talking about those rumors? About us...?"

The mention of the rumors caused me to sigh deeply and a bit louder than I intended. I subconsciously grip the TV stand harder before answering.

"Uh... I'm not getting as many as I did last week, thank God."

"That's good... I was meaning to-- I mean, I kept hearing stuff, and I was just hoping that no one was giving you a rough time..." he replies.

"Thanks... I'm okay," I manage to reply as I look at him with a weary smile. I'm really touched that he was worried about me. Maybe he hasn't completely turned a blind eye to me.

"I was trying to figure out who started the rumors and report 'em or something, but I don't know. I couldn't figure it out..." he says.

My mood darkens as he mentions the source of the rumors. I grind my teeth and frown as I think about the nasty confrontation I had with Chris last week. To know that he started the rumors disgusts me. I could report him but... I'm afraid it might make him retaliate if he knew I got him in trouble. Sometimes you just can't win.

There's another silence.

"Don't worry about it. Some people are not worth the time or energy..." I reply with a sigh as we round the corner and quickly approach our classroom.

"That's true..." Daniel replies.

We roll the TV into the classroom and take our seats as Mrs. Lyon starts the film and turns off the lights.

***

DIGGY's POV

~After School~

I was packing my Spanish notebook into my backpack at one of the library's tables.

"That wasn't too bad. I think the presentation will be a walk in the park," Jake confidently says as he throws his backpack over his shoulder.

"Yep. Easy A..." Sam replies, grinning at Jake.

"Hey, Dig, thanks for all your hard work compiling the notes and translations and everything," Jake turns to me and says, a grin on his face. I nod in reply.

"No problem."

We gather our things and head towards the exit. Jake walks between me and Sam.

"So... you got any plans today?" He asks.

"Uh... not really. Just more studying. The usual," I reply in a nonchalant tone. Suddenly, Dana appears outside of the library doors with a huge smile.

"There you are!" Without hesitation, she wraps her left arm around my right as we walk through the empty school hallway. "I was hoping to see you before cheer practice... are you doing anything later?"

I can feel Sam and Jake's eyes on me as I reply. "Uh... nah. I'm not doing anything."

"Good. You wanna check that laser tag joint at the mall again?" Dana asks and I have a feeling I can't really say no. It was fun the last time we went but... that's it. It was nice to get to know her better since Chris' party, but I don't want her thinking that we're an item or anything. I definitely don't want other people to think we're an item either. I don't mind hanging out with her-- I enjoy getting to know her a little better, but these small habits of hanging out could turn into expectations real quick. I just want to keep things chill.

"Um... laser tag sounds cool. I gotta finish some homework, but later?" I reply.

"You bet. I'll meet you there at 6?" Dana suggests while lifting her eyebrow.

"That's cool with me."

"Cool. It's a date... see you then." She says the last part in her whispery seductive voice which almost gives me chills, and walks down the hallway to the stairs. My eyes can't help but follow her swaying hips covered in leggings... dang. It's the curves for me.

I hear Sam clear her throat and shake away my creeping thoughts.

"How long has that been going on?"

"What?" I whip my head toward Sam, peering across Jake as we continue further down the hallway. A couple of students walk past us, probably on their way to group meetings or music rehearsals.

"You and Dana. Seems like y'all are best friends these days." Sam's reply surprises me, causing me to slightly scoff.

"Nah, I wouldn't say all that, but she's cool people once you get to know her," I reply with a grin.

"Mm... I'm sure you've gotten to know her pretty well, huh?" Sam replies in that nasty insinuating tone that irks my nerves. I let out an audible sigh.

"Sam--" Jake bumps her arm gesturing for her to stop talking. She better listen to her little boyfriend because I don't got time for her mouth today or any day.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask, stopping in place.

She rolls her eyes and stops as well, facing me with her arms folded. Jake stands beside her unsure of what's about to happen.

"Nothing. It's just funny how you can easily make time for these girls that show you a little attention, but you don't wanna hang out with your actual friends who've known you for longer than a minute," Sam says.

"You always gotta go there. I thought we were past this?" I reply. "Just because I hang out with someone new doesn't mean I don't care about my other friendships."

"You don't even talk to us anymore. Or come to our weekly bestie days like you used to," she continues. "You just give a little 'hi' and 'bye' in the hallway like we strangers."

"Who's 'us'?"

"Me, Khalil, Becca--"

"I talk to Khalil and Becca, so I don't know what you're talking about."

"Okay. Then me. I haven't gotten a text from your number in a while," her attitudinal voice says.

"The phone works both ways."

There's a small silence as Sam huffs, and I can see her biting back her words. I furrow my eyebrows, glancing at Jake before focusing back on her.

"I don't get the issue. But let me know if I can help you with anything else. See ya, Jake..." I nod to Jake who does a nod back and walk my butt down the stairs and out of the school. Some people just stay upset for no reason.