I wish I could've said it was easier to survive those six periods. I stayed as quiet as possible during class, but people couldn't help themselves but to try and ask me a million questions about this or that. Mostly, I just glared at them until either I could walk away or they did. On my walk home from school though, the two people in school that I couldn't really do that to just decided to join the game of "Let's Torture Giovanna!".

"Hey, Gi, how was school?" I heard Ray before I felt Jacob, the latter jumping on my back and nearly sending me into a gray, slushy snow bank.

"So much better now that my back nearly got snapped," I said, in a much harsher tone than what I wanted.

"So, not good?" Jacob still had his arms around my neck, really close to choking me.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Well, we also heard that you literally walked out of history today, so we were expecting that it wasn't stellar." Ray put their hand on my shoulder, and I forced myself not to look at them. Their concerned face always made me spill everything, though I never knew why.

"It beats being stuck in my apartment, I guess." I trudged along, dragging Jacob with me. "But, it'll take a couple of days to readjust."

"I was surprised they even let you back, with what went down yesterday." Jacob leaned on my shoulder, making it even harder for me to walk down the street. Before I said anything, though, Ray pushed them.

"Let her walk."

"Wait, was it really on the news? Like, with my face and everything?" I cringed at the thought of the attention. Like, people should've known that it had happened, but I'd prefer if no one knew that I was there.

"Yeah. Apparently someone in a house or business nearby took a video and sent it to every agency. Everyone's saying different things, though." Ray kicked an aluminum can, though it only went a few feet in front of them.

"Well, let's just pretend that it never happened, okay? I don't want to think about it." I crossed my arms, walking a little bit faster now.

"Fine. No more talking about it." Jacob raised his hands up in a surrendering manner, moving faster to keep pace with me. "Can we hang out at your house? I need help with Italian."

"Sure, I could use the company." I shivered as a gust of cold air blew past us. "I'm not staying out here." I broke into a run then, wanting to just get inside.

"Race ya!" Jacob pushed me, me nearly hitting Ray, before he broke into a sprint. I ran after him, trying to ignore the pain of not wearing the proper kind of bra for sprinting as fast as possible.

Of course, Jacob beat me. He stood triumphal on the stairs leading up to my building, while I was struggling to breathe, nearly tripping up the stairs to him. Looking back, I saw Ray down the block still, not moving any faster than their normal, leisurely stroll.

We weren't waiting for them. They knew where the spare key is, if they didn't already have it. I opened the door, walking inside. I made sure to wipe my feet on the mat, since I didn't want people slipping on the floor because of me. I stayed quiet as I headed upstairs, Jacob staying behind me until we got up to my floor.

Once I got into my apartment, I immediately took my place on the couch, keeping my head on a pillow and my bag on the floor next to me. Jacob sat by my feet, opening his backpack.

"Do you know what a park in Italian is?" I rolled my eyes as he asked the question.

"Un parco?" I looked at him like he had three heads, which of course he didn't have. If he had three heads, he may have had enough brain power to figure it out. "Didn't you do community last year?"

"Well, yeah, but I don't remember all of the words."

"Stupido." I fished into my backpack, pulling out the folder I used for homework. I didn't want to bring four binders back and forth every day.

"Hey, I know what that means. And I'm not." Jacob pointed his pencil at me, before writing on his Italian worksheet.

"Yes you are. I heard you talking in math today." I lifted my leg up, pushing his shoulder with my foot.

"Shut up, I've heard you say dumber," Jacob said, as the door opened. Ray walked in, shaking their head.

"You really couldn't wait for me? I had to walk past the creepy landowner by myself." They crossed their arms, walking over to the two of us. "I swear that guy is planning a murder or something."

"Don't worry, it's probably not yours. If anything, I think it'd be mine. He's been looking at me funny." I looked up at the ceiling, shaking my head. "Why can't he just never be here?"

"I don't know. I'm grabbing food." Ray walked over to the kitchen, searching my cabinets like a raccoon.

"Did you not eat today?"

"Nope. Felt like I was going to throw up all day," Ray said, still searching for food.

The three of us fell silent after that, but it began to dawn on me that I probably shouldn't hide the truth from them anymore. About why Nadia was gone, and all that. I didn't think they knew, since I didn't really talk to anyone about it. Except for Greenstein, of course, but she also forced me too.

"Uh, guys?" I stared at the ceiling as I spoke, trying to figure out how to explain that I got kidnapped by my best friend and nearly taken to another state.

"Yeah?" Jacob spoke first, tapping his pencil on his leg.

"I don't think I ever told you about why I was forced to stay in—"

"Don't worry about it," Ray said, from wherever in the apartment they were. I didn't look up to check. "Brandon told us already." That made me sit up.

"How the hell does he know?" It wasn't that knowing was a bad thing or anything, but there wasn't any reason why he should know.

"Don't know. He just told us about how Nadia reacted after her parents...passed, and how she wanted to take you away from here to protect you." Ray sat on the couch behind me, putting their hand on my shoulder. "Have you seen her since then?"

"Once. It was a bit awkward at first, but she seems to be doing fine. At the least, better." I leaned back, trying to relax myself. I started to realize how tired I was, and began to regret sprinting to the apartment building even more. At the very least, I was able to lean on Ray's legs to try and take a nap.

"That's good." Ray ran their fingers through my hair.

"You feeling alright?" Jacob asked.

"Just tired. Kind of panicked today in school, for no reason." I closed my eyes, preferring the darkness over the light for the moment.

"That's why you were so grouchy." I heard Jacob's laugh, which was reassuring, even though I didn't know why.

"Yeah, yeah. Now, let me nap. I'll help you with Italian later."