The school had finally ended, and I was now at my locker, which I was having a hard time opening again. Stupid ass lockers. I thought and sighed heavily. Samantha was standing beside me, and she was on her phone.

    “Want me to open it for you, again?” she asked and looked at me.

    “Please? I just can’t get it open again…,” I looked at her and stepped out of her way.

    “If you have such a hard time opening the damn thing, just rig it,” she suggested as she opened the locker.

    “Rig it?” I asked and raised a brow. “How do I do that?”

    “Ugh. You put the locker combo in, open the locker, hold the thing up, and put a ponytail wrapped around the lock mechanism,” she explained.

    “Huh!?” I said, confused by her explanation.

    She sighed. “Give me a ponytail.”

    I nodded and handed her a ponytail that I had on my wrist. She took it and started to do her magic with the rigging. I watched in amazement and smiled once she was done. “Wow!” I said and my smile grew. “Thank you so much!” I hugged her tightly. Sam seemed hesitant when hugging me back, but she did. I sighed softly. ”Anyway, let’s get going. My dad wants me home for something. He said he had something to tell me…,” I said, but something in my voice made Sam concerned.

    “You can come to my house instead,” she said and snapped her gaze at me. “I think we should work on that project in Mrs.Elaine’s class. Y’know, the art project.”

    “Um, okay?” I said in a more of a questioning tone. What’s with her? I asked myself and eyed her a bit. This isn’t a normal way for her to act…

    “Great! Let’s go!” she grabbed my wrist and dragged me to her bike.

    I blinked a few times, and I was unsure on how to react to this “new” Sam. She put a helmet on my head and lifted me up.

    “I can get on by myself,” I told her as she sat me on the bike.

    “I know, but I’m excited to show you my house!” her tone seemed a bit off.

    All I could do was nod at what she said, though it did sound like the truth. She got on after she put the other helmet on her head. I wrapped my arms around her waist and sighed softly as I laid my head on her shoulder.

    “You’re acting weird… what’s wrong?” I asked her softly.

    “Nothing’s wrong!” she laughed nervously. “Why would anything be wrong?” she questioned as she revved the engine and started to drive off to her house. 

    I tightened my grip around her waist, and I buried my face in her neck. I still don’t like this. The ride took a while, but it got calming after a while. Sam had started to hum softly, and she had tapped at the handles. I smiled softly and looked at the passing scenes. It was strange how much I enjoyed being here with her. Just being close like how we were made something flare up inside me. When I noticed we were at her house and that she was trying to get my attention, I blinked a few times. 

    “Kana? We’re here,” she said, and by how her voice sounded, I could tell she had been trying to get my attention for a while. “You dosed out, you good?” she asked with a small smile.

    I nodded and got off of the bike. My legs wobbled beneath me slightly as I took the helmet off. Looking at her house made mine look like it shouldn’t be in a town like this. Her’s was a small cabin in the woods, and it looked wonderful. Cozy even. My gaze moved to her and I smiled.

    “Yeah, I’m fine!” I said with a cheery tone. “I actually haven’t felt this good in a while.”

    “Ah, I see,” she said and took her helmet off. “Anyway, welcome to my humble abode. I live here by myself, in a way.”

    “In a way? How so?” I raised a brow and looked back at the cozy cabin.

    “Well, my parents are always out on business trips, so here I am, stuck here to make sure the house stays in tip top shape.” she rolled her eyes, a sore topic I guessed.

    “Oh… that’s how it used to be for me,” I mumbled. “Back when Mom was around, her and Dad would travel all over the world in search for a place to add their building.” I couldn’t help but smile a little at the thoughts of the past. “They’d always bring home small gifts for me… sometimes they’d show me little things they earned for their efforts at pitching their business… hell, they even showed me pictures of the scenes they saw…,” my breathing hitched slightly. “The pictures were beautiful… the places were wonderful… but… I never got the joy of seeing what they saw… I’ll never get to see that…,” I felt a warm liquid drip from my chin, and I quickly wiped the liquid away. “With Mom being gone, Dad has been more distant and won’t explain the situation to me… I don’t get it, and it’s fucked up!”

    Sam just stood there, and her eyes seemed sofer than usual. “Kana…,” she said softly. “How much do you really want to know what happened to your other?”

    “I want to know what happened to her more than anything…,” I told her and wiped the tears away that strayed from my eyes. “I need to know…”

    She sighed and looked at the ground as she ran a hand through her own hair. “I can help you find out… I’ll at least try…”

    I nodded and looked at her. “Thank you, it means a lot to me…”

    “You’re welcome,” she said and gave a small, reassuring smile. “Anything for the pretty girl,” she said with a grin.

    I smiled a little and hugged her gently. “You really are nicer than you look… and you seem so gentle…”

    “I may seem gentle with you now, but just you wait,” she smirked and hugged me back.

    I giggled. “You won’t get that far with me, unless,” I laughed a little. “Let’s get inside.”

    She nodded and led me into her cabin. Once inside, the warm air hit me, and I sighed happily. The cabin was bigger than one would think, and it was nice and cozy inside.

    “I like it here,” I walked around. “It’s really cozy and shit.”

    She laughed a little. “Yeah, hey! Let’s go to me room!” she said and dragged me up some stairs and into a surprisingly cutesy room.