Ever had that moment where you walked and walked but had no idea where you were and where you were heading to?

I saw some streetsigns along the sidewalks on every block and signs that said Welcome to this and that, but I still had no idea where I was. I can read those signs, of course, but it was still no use because I've never heard of them before. I tried asking random people where the bus station was, and all they did was point a direction. I would follow but I always end up lost again.

It was like walking through a maze with no way out. (Maze Runner, anybody?)

But while I was walking through the streets of who knows where I was, I couldn't help but admire the beauty of the city. It was simple but yet so spacious and the people seemed to be happy and contented. It wasn't a modernized city, not so many cars could be seen, but it still looked like the people loved the idea of walking than riding a car. It made sense why I couldn't find the bus station. Only few ride them.

A family passed by me. A man and a woman with their two kids, a boy and a girl. They were smiling and the kids were galloping happily. They looked so happy.

I never remembered doing those. Holding the hands of my parents and me just being happy. I never even saw my dad. Sometimes I wonder how it feels to have a dad. To have a dad to protect you.

I sighed and sat on a random doorstep from a street named Oxamine. I thought that maybe the owner of the house wouldn't mind, unless he was a cranky dracula mortal version, so I just sat down and waited.

I opened my phone and called Kevin. He was my only chance to get home. I would love to roam the city more but I just needed to go home and give Mike a lesson. No, not a calculus lesson. A life lesson.

Kevin would never let me down for sure. He was always there for me whenever I needed him. I could always count on him.

He picked up my call immediately.

"Hey," he happily greeted me. Actually, it was too happy, which was odd. He usually didn't sound that happy. "How are you doing?" He asked.

"There's no time for that right now," I told him. "I need your help."

"What kind of help?" He asked.

I sighed. I didn't want to bother him, especially that he was in such a good mood, but I just really needed his help. "Can you pick me up?" I asked. "I'm lost."

"Where are you?" He asked, and I could almsot hear his footsteps running down the stairs over the phone. "Tell me the address and I'm coming."

I told him the address that Mike had given me and told him to find me on a street called Oxamine. I then ended the phone call.

In a few minutes, he would arrive. He would be here to pick me up and not Ed. Kevin and not Ed.

I shook my head from that thought and just sat there.

Suddenly, the front door of the house opened. I was startled that I almost fell. I looked back to see the owner, which was a guy that I never thought I would have to see again. It was Jonathan Nicks.

"Sidney," He exclaimed. His eyes were wide, making it obvious that he was surprised to see me sitting randomly on his doorstep. He still looked like what he did back in 6th grade, only taller and.... stronger. It made me freak out.

"Never would've expected to see you sitting in front of my doorstep." He chuckled. I didn't.

"I didn't know you lived here." I pointed out. Then, I shrugged. "Well, I wouldn't have cared anyway." I snapped at him.

He lowered his head like he was embarrassed. The guts of him. "I never really got to say sorry, Sidney. I'm sorry." He apologized.

I stared at him. It was probably the very first time I heard him say that word. Sorry. It was unusual. It was a strange and weird sound to come from him.

"It's too late to say sorry," I said without any guilt. I looked around, hoping to see Kevin, but he wasn't there. I sighed. "I should probably go." I stood up and started walking away, but he grabbed my wrist and it made me stop. I was surprised. No, I was afraid, afraid he'll bully me again. He was much stronger than before so worse things could happen.

I was freaking out crazy, but I tried to act like I didn't care. It took a lot of guts. "What do you want?" I asked, my voice cracked a little. I wanted to run away, but something inside of me wanted to hear what he was about to say, so I stayed.

He bit his lip and heaved a sigh. "I'm sorry. I..." He swallowed. "I never would've stopped if it wasn't for what Ed said to me."

I raised my eyebrow. "Ed?" I asked. Then I remembered. Ed talked to him after he poured Ketchup all over my head, and then Boom! The next year he moved away. Ed said something that made him go away. He never told me what he said to him.

"What exactly did he say to you?" I asked him, hoping to get some answers.

He shook his head. "I don't think I'm allowed to say it Sidney," he told me. "It's better for you to ask him yourself."

I nodded. Why did I even bother expect some answers. "But, why did you always bully me?" I asked him. "I never did anything bad to you, as far as I could remember."

"Yeah. Uhm." He scratched the back of his head. "Well.. You know.."

"I'm not gonna take a revenge on you." I assured him. "It's not like I'm going to pour mustard on your head as a payback." I joked. Three years ago, I would've loved seeing him covered in mustard. Now, I'm not that cruel, I guess.

He shook his head. "Please don't. I just had my haircut." He joked back.

I smiled at him. "So, why did you bully me?"

He stared at me. I had to wave a hand in front of his face just to get his attention back. "Oh, sorry." He said.

"Sidney, I... I bullied you because... Well....." He swallowed. "I had a huge crush on you and as a kid it was the most stupid yet the only acceptable way I could think of for you to notice me and I guess I failed because you hated me instead and now I feel like a complete dumb teenager for doing that to you and I am deeply sorry Sidney." He said, almost running out of breath.

I would've been surprised. I would've ran away. I would've cried. But no. I laughed like an idiot.

Like this: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAH

He looked at me like I was crazy. "Why the hell are you laughing?" He asked. "Aren't you angry? Or shocked? Or have the urge to punch me?"

I rolled my eyes. "Trust me, I feel all those three right now." I told him. "I laughed because someone, which was surprisngly you, actually liked me."

He looked at me like he didn't believe me. "I wasn't the only one who liked you," he said. "But I'm not going to tell you who else had a huge crush on you."

I shrugged. "I don't expect some answers, anyway," I said.

Then, I tried to let the fact that he liked me sink in. All those leaves that were on my hair, all those tests that became zero because he told everyone I cheated, all those tears I've cried because he made me a laughing stock, and all those ketchup dripping all over my head and face. All of those things happened just because he liked me. Just because he damn liked me.

"You do know that bullying me just to get me to notice you was stupid, dumb, and the worse way to get a girl's attention, right?" I asked him, but it was like lecturing him.

He nodded. "Yes. I was dumb and stupid, whatever. I was a kid, okay?" He defended.

"How about now?" I asked. "I mean not if you're still a kid. Do you still pour ketchup on the girl's you like?"

He lowered his head. "I actually never liked anyone else after leaving our school."

"Why?" I asked. He didn't answer and he just shrugged. "But, you don't still..... Uhm.... Like me, right?" I asked awkwardly.

Who wouldn't feel awkward when asking someone if they still liked you? It was like a major teenager girl rule. Never make the first move.

But I guess mine was a different story. I didn't actually like him back or anything.

I crossed my fingers behind my back hoping he would say that he doesn't like me anymore. I didn't want him pouring soy sauce on my hair instead.

He smiled. "No," he said shaking his head. A wash of relief flooded inside my chest. "I'm just guilty and everything, but I don't like you anymore." He assured me.

I smiled at him back.

A car suddenly stopped in front of us. I knew the car. The color, the brand, everything. It was Kevin's car. He finally arrived.

He stepped out of the car. "Are you okay?" He asked as soon as he saw me.

I couldn't help but smile at his worried face. "I'm okay," I told him. "Thank you for going here."

"Anything for you." He smiled. "Let's go?" He suggested.

I turned back to look at Jonathan. "See you when I see you." I told him. He nodded. I waved at him and went inside Kevin's car. We then drove back home.

On the way home, my mind couldn't stop thinking. Thinking about Ed not picking me up, thinking about Jonathan actually liking me, and thinking about how stupid I was falling for Mike's trick.

My mind wanted to explode, but it probably had mercy for my body because if it exploded then I would be dead.

My heart ached for the fact that Ed was with Aubrey that moment. They were probably having a good time and didn't even care that I got lost. I wanted to call Ed and scream at him, but I couldn't do it. No matter how hurt I was, I still couldn't face Ed and tell it to him right on his face. I just couldn't.

Then there was Jonathan. He and Ed had a converstation that only both of them knew what they talked about. Of course, it was about me, there's no doubt. But I wanted to know what they said about me. I wanted to know what Ed said to him that made him want to move away. I asked Jonathan, he wouldn't tell me. I once asked Ed, still he didn't tell me. And there was this fact that Joanathan had liked me. After all he did to me, I never would have imagined that it was all just because he liked me. It was unbelievable and yet disturbing.

Then Mike. That jerk who once teased me and now tricked me. I wanted to smack a chess board on his face. I wanted to push him off a cliff. I wanted to drop him off to Antartica. I wanted to..... Well you got my point.

I figured that I had to talk about Mr. Johnson about the whole thing because he couldn't expect me to write a poem after what Mike did to me, could he?

If he still made me write a poem, I probably would've wrote:

Mike is a total jerk
He tricked me using food
I got stuck in a city
Where I met the ketchup dude

I didn't get hurt
But I'm still very mad
If I ever see him again
I'll chop him like a salad

While My head was preoccupied and my eyes were staring blankly on the road, there was this weird moment that I could feel Kevin was staring at me.

"What?" I asked him. "Why are you looking at me?"

He chuckled and returned his eyes on the road. "Sorry. It's just that, you were thinking deep about something. You look cute when you think." He said.

I looked away. I blushed. I didn't know why, but I blushed.

"Then I won't think deep anymore." I told him. Not thinking is probably impossible, but it was all I could think of.

He chuckled. "You still look cute." He told me.

I didn't know such a short sentence could do it, but I blushed even more.

...

"It's true. Please let me pass this poem by myself." I pleaded Mr. Johnson. I told him about what Mike did to me, tricking me into going to a city I've never been, and asked him to accept my poem with only my name credited. Mike could just make his own poem or fail or move to Alaska. I wouldn't care.

He sighed and nodded. "Very well," he said. "Mr. Parker and I will just see each other at the Principal's Office."

I smiled at Mr. Johnson. "Thank you," I told him and left the room.

When I walked out, I saw Ed waiting for me. He was leaning on a locker with his phone on his hand. "Hey," I called.

He placed his phone back in his pocket. "Oh, hey." He greeted back with a smiled.

His smile then faded. "Sidney, about last night. I want you to know that I really wanted to pick you up because I know how much you needed my help, but Aubrey wouldn't let me. I was at this spa with her and I had to wait for her for three hours and I couldn't just leave her there so I had no choice but I really wanted to pick you up." He explained, almost running out of breath.

I waved my hand off and said, "It was nothing, Ed. I understand." I lied.

He crossed his arms. "You're lying." He said. "I know when you're lying, Sidney. Your voice gets higher when you lie."

I bit my lip. Great! A consequence of being his best friend is not getting to lie to him much because he could sense if you're lying or not.

I groaned and threw my hands in the air. "Fine!" I finally admitted. "I got hurt last night, okay? But what could I do? You were with her, and you like her, and you want to be with her, so of course you stayed with her." I told him.

Then I sighed. "It's just that, I didn't know how to go home and you were the first person that I thought could save me because you're my best friend. But I was wrong."

He looked down. "I'm a horrible best friend." He muttered to himself.

I shook my head and placed my hands on his shoulders. "No, no, no. You had no choice. You're a good friend. I got hurt, fine, but you only did you what you thought right. You can't leave Aubrey there. I was mad but not anymore. You're the bestest friend in the whole world." I assured him.

Inside me, my heart ache got worse. I wanted to scream at him and hug him at the same time, but I couldn't do any of those. He liked Aubrey and I couldn't do anything about it.

He nodded, though he didn't look like he really agreed. "Sidney. What happened, anyway?" He asked.

I explained to him everything that had happened but I didn't tell him about Jonathan. I only told him about Mike fooling me, Kevin picking me up, and my encounter with an oldy lady who wore a sun hat even though it was night. I'll just have to ask him about Jonathan some other time. This was not the time.

He nodded. "Kevin picked you up," he said. "I'm glad he did." He smiled at me. Being his best friend? I could tell it was fake. Though I didn't ask him about it.

"Let's just have lunch and forget all about this," I suggested. "Mike and the principal will just have their own business."

He nodded and together we walked towards the cafeteria.

My phone beeped. I took it our from my pocket and read the message while we were walking towards the cafeteria.

It was message from Mr. Frederick Tott.

I want you to come here in Mexico on Saturday. I already arranged your flight. My assistant will inform you about your trip. Hollywood artists like Katy Perry and Adele loved your song and wanted more. We have new hits to make.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This story is about to end. OH MY HAMJSHAHAKISHSNWKKSHDNSIWJSNSBDJKENEMSKSJJSNSJSHHDHDKXK.

This is going to be my first time to actually FINISH a book and I'm so happy!!

The next chapters will reveal secrets and more!

Aaaaaaaaaaaah! *faints*

Z.