Monday came bright an early. Krystal rolled out of bed, through on a t-shirt and left the house. Mrs. Kamowski wasn't in the kitchen when Krystal came out of her room. She wasn't there to protest her daughters clothing choice.

Krystal liked dark shirts and cotton shorts. That's what she wore the most too, black t-shirt and red work out shorts. It was easy to do a makeup look with that, it just needed to be simple.

Blake dressed in his best jeans and nicest t-shirt. He stared at himself in the mirror.

Is this too much? Did I over do it today? Oh whatever.

Blake grabbed his book bag and headed out the door.

The halls were packed with zombies disguised as students. Krystal blended in to the side of the masses. Her eyes were trained on the floor. Blake and Ted jostled between students, joining them from the front of the school. Krystal entered in from the cafeteria. On that side of the school was a smaller parking lot, most students forgot about it.

In the middle of the school was a octagon that split into different hallways, it was the heart of the school. It was the biggest area since more kids filtered through there. Blake and Krystal were walking towards each other in the hallway. They weren't intending too, their patches just crossed often. Blake smiled when he saw her. They held each other's gaze for a moment. Krystal gave him a court nod and went on her way.
"Dude, you're grinning like a fool." Ted poked at him.
"Shut up." Blake rolled his eyes but couldn't stop grinning.
"What do you want with that girl anyways? She's trouble isn't she? She got that scar from a fight, I heard. That or she did it to herself like the Joker." Blake cringed at his friends words.

Is that really what people thought of her? She was trouble? Dangerous? The girl I saw a glimpse of was broken and scared. If anything I'd say shes cautious. I felt for her on a much deeper magnitude than I cared to let on at this point.

"Those are all just rumors." Blake said plainly. "Rumors that I doubt are true." Blake already knew they weren't, but it wasn't his place to tell Ted the truth.
"You got a weird thing for that girl." His friend shook his head.

And so what if I do?

Blake and Ted sat in class, talking back and forth while Blake stared out the window. He was watching the solitary figure as she twisted a hair around her finger.
"So I saw Brittney this weekend." Ted was telling Blake. "Since you're not going to ask, I'll tell you." Blake didn't take his attention of Krystal. "We hooked up."
"When don't you? I don't think you two have been in the same room without being all over each other." Blake answered his friend honestly. "I don't see why you don't just date her."
"Im not trying to be a boyfriend, I'm trying to be a sex god." Blake finally pulled his eyes away to look at his friend.
"What fun is being a sex god if eventually no one will want you, at all." Ted stared at his friend, blankly. "How many partners have you had?"
"I don't know, like a dozen." Blake cringed.
"And thats okay to you?"
"Hell yeah!"
"And if you had a girl who had the same out of partners as you, what do you think?"
"Bro, that's gross. She's a hoe."
"But you just said that it's okay for you." Ted clicked his tongue.
"Well yeah, I'm a sex god."
"Maybe she's a sex goddess." Ted scrunched his nose in disgust. "See, you think it's gross. Imagine how the girl feels. Double standards don't apply here." Ted rolled his eyes.

He can be such a pig. Guys like him give guys like me a bad name.

Blake shrugged his shoulders and looked back towards Krystal.

She's looking at me. What do I do? She nodded at me in the hallway. Are we reaching a bridge? Is she willing to met me at the top?

His did is a hero, not just to me. They say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, but does it? Can Blake Hardy be a comparable man to his dad?

"Krystal." Mr. Watson said. She dragged her attention to the head of the class. "I have things for Mrs. Tallen. Know her and her classroom?" She nodded. "Care to take these for me?" She nodded again.

Most teachers were aware of her sisters passing, she was a junior at this school, when it happen. Teachers tended to handle Krystal with kid gloves and give her the perks of being a teachers pet. She got to run stuff to different classes or collect homework. It was a sympathy card people played. How do you say 'my condolences' 6 years after the fact?

Where did she go?

Krystal took the stacks of paper and wondered the hall, taking her time. She flipped through some of the pages. It was a work booklet he put together for her. Rumor on campus was, they were having an affair.

Krystal knocked are the halfway closed door. Mrs. Tallen looked over and smiled when her eyes met Krystals blue ones.
"Hello dear, how can I help you?" Krystal pushes into the room. Blake's eyes watched every move of hers.

Does God hear my thoughts? If I asked for her to stay, could that happen to?

"Watson said to give these to you." Krystal held out the stack.
"Mr. Watson." She corrected her, taking the booklets into her arms.
"Right, yeah." She turned to leave.
"Care to solve the problem on the board, Krystal?" She stopped and looked at Mrs. Tallen's familiar handwriting. Krystal shrugged. "Now Krystal, I know you better than that. Come on." She held out the black Expo marker to her. Krystal uncapped the market and began to solve the problem.

Damn her. She knows I'm a sucker for a good math problem. Always was. Hence why I'm two years ahead in math.

Holy shit. She's figuring that out like a wizard! A math wizard!

Krystal handed back the marker and started for the door again.
"Perfect as always, Ms. Kamowski." Mrs. Tallen called after her. Krystal turned over her shoulder and smiled once out of view of the other students. "Krystal, let me get you a slip." Slumping her shoulders, she reentered the room.

Please make her stay. Please make her solve more problem. Send Ted out and keep her, please!

Blake's internal pleas were left unanswered as Mrs. Tallen handed Krystal the pink slip. She looked down at her loopy handwriting.
"Uh, Mrs. Tallen, it's 8:15." She pointed out. The teacher just gave her a wink and turned back to their audience. Biting back a smile, Krystal pocketed the slip.

She gave me an extra 10 minutes to wonder the halls. Good teacher, miss her.

Krystal went the opposite direction of her class, taking the long way back.

Where is she going now?

Blake's hand shot up in the air.
"Yes Blake?"
"Can I go to the bathroom?" That was the question Mrs. Tallen loathed the most.
"For get the pass." She held out a painted painters stick. It's different math problems scrolled on either side. Blake jumped up, grabbed the stick and dashed out. By the time he was in the hall, Krystal was gone.

I missed her. Damn it! Well, now I got the pass, might as well use it.

Krystal entered her own class room ten minutes later and put the slip on Mr. Watson's desk. He said nothing about her prolonged absence.

Perks of being the teachers sympathy story. I got away with damn near murder.

Blake entered his class and put the stick on Mrs. Tallen's desk. She had nothing to say to him, but Ted did.
"Dude," he started right as Blake sat down. "you just like flew out of here after her." He hissed at his friend.
"I had to pee." He glanced out the window and across the way. Krystal was back in her seat, watching the world outside her.
"Nah, this has something to do with Moon Girl." Blake ignored him. Instead, he just admired Krystal.

🌙  🌙  🌙  🌙  🌙  🌙

"Make any friends today?" Mrs. Kamowski bombarded Krystal with questions, the second she walked in the door.
"Nope."
"Did you actual go go school?"
"Yes." In the kitchen, she made herself a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich.

Whoever invented Nutella is a genius!

"Anything interesting happen today?"
"Nope."
"Learn anything?"
"Not really."
"Then what do I send you go school for?" Her mother chucked.
"No clue."

After she finished her sandwich and answering her mother's long list of questions, she stood up from the bar top.
"I think I'm going to take a nap before dinner, I didn't sleep very well last night. Is that okay?" Since their bonding this weekend, Krystal has been nicer with her mother. She doesn't want to g on backwards on the baby steps of progress they had made.
"Of course, I'll wake you when it's done." She nodded and trudged to her room.

Krystal crawled into her mound a pillows that smelled just like Nancy. She religiously sprayed her sisters perfume on them. It helped her sleep. When she was half asleep, she would pretend Nancy was laying next to her. It helped chase the night terrors away. The night terror of Nancy and Officer Hardy.

At first that's all Krystal dreamt about, her sister and that nigh. Slowly, with constant appointments with a therapist, the nightmares ceased. They happened still, but few and far between. She's gotten to the point now to when she wakes up from this dreams, she could sooth herself back to sleep.

Krystal rolled over and inhaled deeply, pulling the covers to under her chin.

Sometimes I think the only thing holding me together was sleep and even that failed me sometimes.