Diane's POV
It's the 1st Monday of November and the situation between Kendra & Halia is getting worse. I mean they're besties! Even if they don't get along with each other very well they're still close. Well, they had a fight before which is way too far! I don't know what caused it but I think Halia is super mad and Kendra is trying her best to calm her down. I'll tell ya the whole story.

*2 weeks earlier*
It was recess and I'm in class, finishing my homework. Afterwards, I was about to have recess but when I step out of the room, I saw Halia's embracing herself while... Wait a minute. She's crying?! Its the first time to see her cry. Did something happened?

"Halia, chill!" K said.

"Do ya think I can chill that easily?!" Stones replied.

"Oh come on!" Lake groaned in annoyance. "They're just rumors!"

Rumors? What rumors?

"Just rumors?"Halia turned around, showing her face expressing fear... and tears of sadness. Something did happened.

"Hey. Why dont we talk about it then sort---"Ace (K's second name, BTW) was cut off by her friends words.

"Why do ya even care?! Ya wouldn't even understand!"

Halia! Are ya oblivious?! Of course she cares! She's your best and closest friend, for Pete's sake!

"If you're gonna laugh at me because of it, then laugh! I shouldn't have met you in the first place anyway! I shouldn't have made you my best & closest friend!"

Oof! That was hurtful... H. Stones realized what she just mentioned then quickly covered her mouth with both of her hands. I wonder how Kendra reacts  to this. After a short silence, she didn't say a word and walked right past her, going outside. Halia, on the other hand, fell unto her knees and sobbed quietly. I ran towards her, helping to ease the pain.

*Back to the present*

And that's that. The day after it, I discovered the rumor they were talking about. Something like Halia losing most of her relatives. It may be a rumor but I have a feeling that it's true. The way she acts during the argument proves it. So this lunch, I'm gonna hurdle the rest of the team.

*Lunch/ 1 hour break*

No one's POV (Lol. For the first time in forever)

At table 11, Diane gathered the following:                                                     
Thea Q. Silverwhite
Lily N. Southeast
Martha D. Cunningham II
Ann W. Swiftmilk
Mary A. Techine
Shawn N. Scapream
Jake L. Sotazro
Leya A. McNallim
Kent Clark D. Grando
Ruby Gem C. Zaltafom
Dale B. Kiralix

Not to forget that Kendra is in table 12 (her usual table) alone same goes to Halia who's in table 10. Their friends are in the middle separating them.

"Thank you for coming everyone!" Rainshine declared. "You might know why we're here. This is a meeting about–––"

"It's Kendra and Halia, isn't it?" Kent disrupted, allowing everybody to frown. "No matter what we do to make them forgive each other, it won't work."

"Yeah. Halia even gave up on making it up to her." Ruby sighed.

"And Kendra will not talk to anyone." Dale added. "Not even to me. She's worse than before."

"Now they don't talk anymore like they used to do." Shawn sang.

"Not helping, Shawn." Thea commented. "I suggest that we should leave them alone."

"Yup." Martha agrees. "If we try again, we might make it worse. And I don't want them to drift apart from each other too much."

"Says the genius who cares about her grades more than anything. Or should I say... anybody." Mary said as she's tapping her phone.

"But what if their friendship is over?" pouted Sweetie Ann. "They're like choco and milk mixed together!"

"If there's only something to let them talk." D thought.

*Dismissal*

Diane's POV
Now I'm currently in the roof spying Halia in a distance. I also got my cell on to record everything. Yet there's nothing interesting. The video is gonna be live in everyone's phone in school to know all about it. It's not my idea of putting a show on and besides, I don't want to run into someone's privacy when it's a bad timing. I just hope this plan is gonna work.

*4 hours back*

"If there's only something to let them talk." DR thought, noticing H. Stones walked up to their table.

"Hey guys." she greeted. " I kinda need a favor. Mainly you, Dia."

"Wait. What's the favor about?" Leya asked.

"I'm expecting the puzzle that you're in." Lily guessed.

"Yeah... That's why I want you to let me sort it out." the brown haired girl insisted. "I'm gonna tell her."

"Tell K what?" questioned the curious Diane.

"All of you will know soon." placing a hand on D's shoulder. "By the time you post the video."

"Who me?" the blonde asked.

*Flashes to when it is now*

Argh... When I heard somebody's coming up, I quickly pressed the record button. And the person who entered is none other than Kendra Ace G. Lake! I thought she'd never come.

Together, they saw each other's faces which... starts to make it awkward.

"K-Kendra..." Halia Rose Stones scratched the back of her neck awkwardly. "About those rumors..."

"Who cares now anyway?" the black haired girl turned away from her. Finally, she said something since forever! Ace is about to walk back downstairs but Halia stopped her by shouting, "Wait!"

"They're true, okay?!" H embraced herself. " The rumors... are true."

Ha! Knew it! But this is no time to celebrate.

"I should've told you sooner." she continued. "It's just that I was afraid to do so. Afraid of losing you & the others."

K: "What do ya mean afraid of losing us?"
H: "I've already lost my old friends because of the same thing. That's why I don't wanna lose another."

"Well, those friends were traitors." Kendra faced back at her buddy with a smile. "Cause your present friends are way better."

"Thank you." Rose smiled back as she shed a tear.

"Don't mention it." Kendra reassured. "Do you wanna do some storytelling?"

Halia nodded then looked at the view. It's curious of why she's looking at the city.

"2 years ago when were still 4th graders, a very strong earthquake nearly destroyed everything on August 16. I mean, it's barely the first month of the school year! Because of that strong hit, the city is demolished with thousands of people including most of my relatives."

"Oh."

"I know. It was a super hard day. It was so sudden and I just missed them." sniffed H. She was crying but she wiped them with her forearm. "I tried telling my old friends but they keep saying it's a lie. I thought they'd forget about that, yet they started the rumor."

Ouch. That hurts. Thank goodness this is now live so that she'll gain her justice. BTW, Kendra kept quiet for a while.

"I guess we both have tragic pasts." she said, granting my curiosity to jump into conclusions. Even Halia is. "Today I'm gonna answer your question from last time by telling ya my story."

I recalled what happened back on the Truth or Dare right before the bell ringed. Kendra chose truth therefore Halia gave out a question that made her ran away or sorta. "Ever since as a kindergartner, Lake was cheerful and happy like Halia but... Why is she a loner this year?" It's interesting to hear the answer. Or story for now.

"You heard the blazing news on June 23, right?" K asked with a serious tone. Isn't that the day when the carpentry shop that my dad used to go, got burnt down with a few buildings beside it? Now my dad can't fix his guitar and I can't learn to play guitar.

"The wooden charmer shop? Yeah, I have." Halia answered. "Most of my family stop by for help with these crafts and things. Mr. Spruce and Mrs. Leafa are truly a big help! I felt bad for them after what happened."

Me too...

"Though I kinda forgot the name of their shop. It started something with an L then carpentry. It's like their family name yet I can't remember it." -Halia

Same. I forgot it too... Graah! What was it?

As H's trying hardly to remember, Ace just blurted it out.

"It's Lake."

"Yes! Lake's carpentry!" Rose cheered. Yup! It's Lake, alright. It's kinda weird because it's Kendra's----"But it's your family name. And it's Mr. Spuce and Mrs. Leafa's family name... Unless they're..."

"They're my parents." -Kendra

"Oh!... So Mr. Spruce and Mrs. Leafa are your parents and they own the most amazing carpentry in the world." Stones said. Huh. That makes sense.

.......... Wait. I just realized something.

"They're your parents?!" me and Halia cried in unison as I came out from my hiding spot. Kendra saw me in cofusion.

"How long have ya been there?... And were you recording?" she pointed at my phone that I'm holding. The video is still live.

"Eheh..." I chuckled nervously, scratching the back of my neck. "If you don't mind?"

"I don't mind actually." she responded. Phew. I thought I was dead. "Now for our storytelling."

I walked over to Halia as the three of us sat down. I am so curious and I wanna ask a lot of questions to these two. Is it just me or were they hiding this secret for months?!

"It was a normal fine day when my parents went to work, as I stay at home with my grandparents and siblings." the storyteller(K) began.

*Flashback to 1 year ago*

"When my parents are closing the carpentry for lunch, that's when it happened."

"Huh?" the young Kendra muttered after hearing a faint explosion. She went out of her room same goes to her little brother. Her baby brother was sleeping in their parents' while their grandparents are sitting at the couch in the living room, watching T.V.

"Grandpa, grandma." Ken called, walking towards the couch with her brother. "Did you heard that?"

"Yeah. What was it?" her brother added.

"Let's see what's live on the news." Their grandpa grabbed the remote then changed the channel.

"Greetings to all the citizens of Spring Leaf City!" the reporter on the T.V. greeted. "I am Kathleen A. Springs reporting a huge explosion occurred on the famous Lake's Carpentry spreading wild fire all over the place!"

"After what she said, we were all shook. At first, I didn't believe it but then, it truly is a real thing."

Everyone was speechless only allowing the reporter to continue.

"We don't know what's the cause of this large blaze and that it is difficult to stop it. There are over 158 who died including the owners of the carpentryshop and 12 are injured. We are trying our best on....."

"And on that very day, I felt so lost without them. Now my grandparents have to work for me and my brothers' sake. I felt guilty for them and I feared of the future. Since I realized I worried too much, I hid them by being a loner and to avoid anybody to worry the same thing as I have."

*Back to the current time*

"Wow." is all I can say after being speechless of what I've heard. I never thought she's that... sorry and careful. She do matured a lot. The Kendra I know was cheery and bubbly the past years. I felt so sorry for her and her family. Same goes to Halia. I expect they're both having a hard time. Why would  they experience such misery?! I felt bad and guilty for them. Why? Why?! WHY?!

"I'm sorry..." I whispered but loud enough for K and H to hear. "I'm sooo very sorry,"

"Why are ya sorry?" Kendra asks.

"Yeah. It's not even your fault." Halia said, trying to make me feel better.

"I don't know." I sniffed."I just felt bad for both of you to experience a sudden change in life. I felt  guilty too because I was too caught up with my perfect family that I could hardly notice the two of you suffering of what happened. And I'm sorry for that."

"Hey. Don't worry bout us too much, okay?" Kendra placed her hand on my shoulder. Halia smiled at that. Wait, I wonder what time it is. I glanced at Kendra's watch and it reads 5:02 pm. Uh oh.

"Oops! Sorry gotta go." standing up as I put on my backpack. The two stood up too. "I need to get home before my parents will get mad."

"Same with me." the black haired girl said, fixing her sling bag on her shoulder. "I don't want my grandparents to worry bout me. How bout you, Hal?"

"I'll catch up later." Halia replied. "I still want to see the city view up here."

We nodded at her answer then we walked downstairs. This is a day I'll never forget in my whole life.

Halia's POV
After a while of staying at the rooftop, I grabbed my backpack, walked out of the school campus then went home. On my way to there, my head's staring at the floor that I did not know what's in front of me. So... yeah. I bumped into someone. The person is strong that allowed me to fall and him still standing.

"Hey! Watch where you're going asshole!" he yelled. I look up revealing a blonde guy who seems a year older than me with an outfit like this:

"S-sorry." I stuttered, trying to get up. Immediately, I felt a push at my shoulder together by the words of the gangster.

"Hey! You think you're so tough?! Sorry isn't enough!"

Uh... Is it just me or did he just rhyme? What kind of bully is using rhyming words? He's literally stupid.

"But I'll let it slide cuz I'm in a hurry. However; if I saw you again, you're gonna get it!" he growled, rushing further away. I believe he is in a hurry. At least I'm safe now... and now I have to quickly arrive at home or my older brother will kill me! Crap! Gotta go!

*Timeskip*

"I finally made it!" I panted, opening the front door. I instantly met my mother in an expression that made me jump. Since it shows of a big smile which I have never seen before, it's kinda... Sorry to be rude but it's sorta creepy... and weird because she's usually stressed . Plus, she has work today. What caused her to come in early? On top of that, she unexpectedly hug me. Hug me? She's not hugging me from now on ever since the day our relatives banished. By the time she stopped hugging me, I asked if there's something wrong. Yet she stays silent as small tears are formed at her eyes . Eh? Did I do any misbehavior?

"Don't worry." my brother said, who's sitting at a couch near us. "She's actually speechless right after a teacher, from Canada passed by to tell us that you're invited to learn in Oaklands University (OLU)."

"Oaklands University?!" I gasped. I admire that school. It's super amazing same with it's students. I've been dreaming of going there and yes! I will! I hope I'll be going there the next year. "When are we departing?"

"After graduation." he replied.

"What?" I questioned him again.

"You know, 2 months later." he answered.

"Maybe you misunderstood." I said.

"Nope. Heard it loud and clear.",giving me an 'Ok' hand sign 👌. "Why don't you wanna?"

"Of course, I wanna! I'm... only checking."

"Wheee!" our mother squeels while hugging me once more. "I'm so proud of you, Halia."

Me, on the other hand, I'm being choked up.

"M-mom! C-can't b-breathe!" I struggled under my mom's arm. I could also sight Phil (my big brother) snickering. Is he provoking me?! Fortunately, the hug is finished. Phew!

The night goes through seconds, minutes, hours and it's ultimately bed time. The family is non-stop bragging about OLU. I'm not saying that I hate it. I'm saying that it's a tough decision. Well, if I leave,that means I'll leave Kendra and the rest and if I stay, my greatest dream will disappear. The explanation of why the half of me don't want to depart is because I consider my friends as a part of my family. They're the ones who makes me a whole of I am now... Meh. Who am I kidding? I'll just go to sleep.

Sorry for the slow update. School's on the way so yeah. Hope ya understand. BYEE!