"Get up, asshole! We got school today!" 

I jerked awake at the cheery, sing-song shout, and realised I couldn't move my legs without tripping again, as they were tangled in the bedsheet. Several raps on my mahogany door sounded, and I narrowed my eyes at the sound.

"JOSH! I'LL KILL YOU!" I yelped back, and there was one last rap before footsteps thudded away.

Bright light filtered through my curtains, painting the dusty room with white and yellow.

Without warning, my door opened and in pelted Willow, my brother snickering outside.

The overexcited dog (who I'm still convinced had the mind of a puppy) wiggled onto my bed and licked my face immediately, making me splutter and sit up, pushing her away. "Alright! Alright! I'm up, ya mutt!"

Willow seemed to understand the desperate pleas of mercy and relented, allowing me to stumble clumsily off my bed and onto my green carpet.

I recalled last night with surprising clarity. It was as if my mind had wanted to capture every single moment, bottling it up so it would stay with me forever.

Lyn had gone on a Friends binge with us until 10. Then she had said goodbye to us at the front door. We hugged, of course.

She slipped a note into my pocket, one I didn't notice until two hours later when I was staring at my ceiling, wondering why on earth I was still awake at midnight.

My hand unconsciously went to the left pocket of my shorts and felt around for the piece of paper. I pulled it out and unfurled it.

So far only Grace and I know about your secret. But come on, we do have a mind-reader in the Gang. So Casey found out. Gracie hasn't told Skye yet, which is an achievement because those two tell each other everything.
We'll talk about this at school tomorrow :>
P.S. I didn't text this to you because I = old fashioned, and note = old fashioned. Plus it's more fun this way. Hehehhehe.

I giggled at the note for the second time. The entire thing was like a Lyn trademark.

"Daughter! Get ready please!" My mum's voice called from downstairs.

"Coming!" I responded, tossing the note on my dresser.

I pulled on my uniform and tried to make my ginger bedhair appear less crazy.
Sigh. No luck as it bounced back into place.

After a few moments, I set the brush down. I tapped my hand to the gold emblem on my uniform for good luck.

Willow followed me downstairs as I passed by our dining room into the kitchen to get myself Nutri-Grain. I passed Josh, who was buttering some toast. He leant down and stroked Willow, then took a seat at the table. Willow followed him, sitting in front of him and staring intently at the piece of toast in his hands.

"How come we only have Australian breakfasts?" Mum murmured, and I shrugged, pouring some milk into the bowl.

Willow barked at Josh to get his attention, making both him and I jump.

"Careful!" Mum yelped, shooting over and grabbing the bottle before any milk escaped the sides.

I held my breath, waiting for any more loud sounds.

"Sorry," mum apologised. She used the milk on her muesli, then screwed the lid on and put it back in the fridge.

"No worries," I told her. I brought my own breakfast with me and sat next to Josh.

A few moments later, dad joined us at the table. Willow noisily crunched her dog food.

I downed my cereal in no time and placed my bowl in the sink, turning the tap on to purge any leftover milk.

"What's the rush?" Josh asked from the table.

"Gotta go. I want to catch my friends before class," I explained as I glanced at the kitchen clock:

7:40 

"Bye spud!" Dad called as I slid my bag on.

"Love you guys!" I bid my family goodbye as I whisked out the door.

<⚙︎>

"Guys?" My call wavered in the crisp air, lost in the tangle of voices from all the other students in the playground (which was actually just a giant grass oval, but you'd think it was Skyzone the way people were laughing and cheering). 

I ran my hand over the bark of the meeting tree, tracing the grooves and lines, getting momentarily absorbed in the rough skin. It stood in the centre of the quad, our designated rendezvous. It could break through the clouds if it wanted to. 

The quad was located in the centre of the school, the building harbouring the classrooms inside wrapping around like a large wall. There was an inside lunch area for rainy days, and in there was a canteen where students could buy lunch and other treats.

"Gypsyyyy!" A voice called, and I turned around.

Lily sprinted to the tree and jumped up, slapping it. "Made it," she wheezed, doubling over with her hands on her knees.

I laughed at my friend. "Really?" 

Lily's eyes narrowed at me. "Give me a break, I ran all the way here," she groaned. "Casey said you have a secret, but she won't tell me what! Why didn't you tell me? What is it?" She gave me a playful punch in the shoulder to punctuate her accusation.

I groaned. "Why is everyone in the GangGang so obsessed over it?"

"Because we're friends," Grace's voice answered in a loud call. 

I whirled around to see her arm slung around Casey's, the latter also grinning as they walked over from the other side of the quad.

"And by the way," Grace continued as they each lazily smacked the tree, "how come you're always the first one here?"

"Because I'm the main character?" I joked, grinning. 

Casey laughed. "As if!"

We all giggled.

"Oh! I know, she has Ebola?"

"Stop guessing!"

Two new voices joined the fray, the former belonging to Skye and the one who shushed her was Lyn.

"Hey guys! And no, Skye, unfortunately I do not have a deadly disease," I greeted. The two made their way over, weaving between students.

Lily burst into giggles again. "Something tells me Gyps wouldn't be here if she was terminally ill, Skye."

"PT, you can't take a shot in the dark very well," Grace chuckled, using the nickname PT as a shorter version for PowerTwin. Because they had the same power, obviously.

Lyn looked at me helplessly. "Turns out Gracie spilled the beans to Skye after all! Sorry," she apologised.

I shook my head. "All good. Can we talk about something else now?"

"Fine," Lily sighed, pivoting to stare at me again. "But this isn't over," she smiled mischievously.

I returned the smile. "How was everyone's weekends?"

Skye started. "Mine was great. I loved the part where we all found out you were hiding something from us in a not-very-friend-way!"

Groan.

<⚙︎>

Period one was art, which was great because we could just draw for seventy-five minutes and then it would count as a lesson.

The class bustled about and settled in the seats, which were bar stools behind lined tables.

I followed Gracie, who chose the second-last table. She took a seat in the furthest bar stool on that table, and Skye chose the one next to her. I sat beside the fast-talking blonde with Lyn on my other side (thankfully art was a period we all shared).

Lily and Casey sat in front of us with two boys taking the stools next to them. 

I found myself staring at the four in front of us. The boy next to Lily struck up a conversation with her while we were drawing, and she giggled.

I smiled at their banter, returning to my art book. 

The teacher told us for the first lesson we could do whatever we wanted, so long as it was drawing. He used the words "go nuts", and I noticed an eccentric element to his mannerisms, which made me favour him more than my other teachers.

I picked up my pencil again, then turned on my laptop, pulling up "realistic wolf references".

I enjoyed my time, getting lost in the lines and lead, despite everyone talking over one another. And by the last fifteen minutes of the lesson I had made an OC who I decided to call Pepsi. 

Pepsi was just a head and neck for now, but he looked good. It was one of the best wolves I had drawn to date, which was awesome. For the reference I used, the ears faced forward instead of back, which was a new idea to me. I had struggled to get the hang of this anatomy style, but after a few hundred erased lines I drew an ear that I think looked right.

All of my wolf drawings had left-facing syndrome, but despite that, I couldn't ignore how much I had improved since I first started drawing.

I jotted down some notes above the bust shot:

— Cocky, "bad boy" persona but literally so soft once you get to know him, arrogant
— Adores [another OC name] but would never ever admit it

I decided I could get working on the other OC during the next lesson, given the fact that this one was almost over. Maybe I'll name him Cal.

"Hey dummy!"

"AUGH!"

Skye's affectionate insult shocked me right out of my thoughts.

A burst of laughter. "The bell went, Gyps!" Skye explained, sliding her pencil case into her bag. 

I glanced around and realised she was right. Everyone was filing out the door, their utensils all packed up. The sound of bustling students talking to each other was all that was heard now.

I glared at the blonde, who looked thoroughly and completely pleased with herself. "Don't do that again," I giggled. 

Skye grinned. "Why are you laughing then?"

The others joined in the laughter as I packed up my stuff, smiling at Pepsi one last time before closing the book.

As we started out to our next class, Geography, Lyn bid us goodbye and turned a corner. We watched her descend the stairwell until she was gone. 

We took the opposite direction up a flight, then turned right and kept walking. Given our large group, Casey and Lily lead the way whilst Grace, Skye and I followed from behind. The walls, which were made of brick, all had small dots of gum stuck to them, built up over a period of who knows how long. That's why all gum on school grounds was strictly banned now.

As we took another flight up, I noticed that some places on the stairs were worn down, especially at the top when you turn a left corner. Time was the culprit, of course. I smiled to myself as I stepped on the worn spots, wondering who I was sharing this linoleum with. So many students had walked this exact path that the ground remembered them, and made a trail for other, new students to follow. It was a nice sentiment that I couldn't help but feel happy about.

"Sooo?" Casey said loud enough for us all to hear, pointedly nudging Lily. The girl in question stared at the floor with a shy smile on her face.

"What?" She asked, playing dumb.

"The boy!" Skye pressed, her grin almost impossibly wide. "Come onnnn. Tell us about him!"

I nodded my head, smiling and trying to ignore the weird feelings inside. Pepsi and Lyn slowly faded away as I felt my mood dropping. I kept the smile on my face, and not to sound poetic or fake deep or anything, but I'm pretty sure I was using it as an attempt to get my mood back up. Desperate, like "I'm happy, I'm happy, stop going down, I'm happy, see?"

I was reminded that this wasn't about me when Lily heaved a melodramatic sigh and flicked her hair over her shoulder. "Fiiine," she grinned, but the expression in her eyes told us she wasn't nearly as bothered as she acted. "His name is Connor. He's really nice and he asked me if we could get drinks after school," she informed, twirling a lock of hair around her finger.

I scrutinised her face, seeing the genuine joy. Good for her! She has a date.

Why did I feel kinda odd about it though?

I mean, it's understandable: Lily's my friend and I don't want her to get hurt. 

Even so, I felt like there was an underlying reason. 

Was I unhappy because I didn't want my friend going out with some guy in art class?

I thought it over for a moment, unconsciously trying to distract myself as we walked. I inspected passing students and the trees I could glimpse from outside, trying to lose myself in the colours of their leaves.

Despite my attempts, my mind answered the question I had asked previously.

No.

Was I unhappy because I was jealous of the fact that my friend could like whoever she wanted, without having to worry about everyone else's reactions?

Yeah.