"Oh come on Chase! You know you want to find out who killed them! I know it could be anyone and this may seem highly sensitive to you but won't it be better to know that your parents murderers are in jail?" I blubbered out, forcing myself to meet his wondering eyes which were locked to the ground.

He stared at the floor for a little bit, processing my muttering words, his jaw clenched tight as he furrowed, Chase's eyes whizzed towards me, grunting but then letting a defeated sigh. "Fine,"

"Really? Yes! We'll start on it-" The air got sucked back in my mouth when Chase clasped his palm to my lips gesturing me to shush, my eyes furrowed intensely.

"Did you forget it's due in two weeks? You dumb dumb." His words felt short, he dropped his arm from my face and squeezed his eyes closed and then reopening them, now with upset pupils. "Sorry, my brother...used to call me that," He gulped, landing his arms on his chest and breathed heavily

"Chase.." I dropped my arms and shifted it towards his pulling them to his sides, apparently we do that now "Move on. Breath," I whispered which again got cut off when the door flew open.

"Oh sorry, didn't know this room was...Wait Skye?!" Everest jumped, stepping back when she met Chase's afraid eyes, "What did he do this time..." She muttered quietly while Chase's head was pointing to the ground.

"What? He did nothing but...what do you mean 'this time?" I tilted my head, releasing my hands away from him when he returned a guilty look. I spoke in a more serious tone, "What did you do Chase?"

He didn't respond, he trailed his eyes to his book once again, his face turning red in shame.

Everest almost reached to her phone but her hand quivered. After a bit of contemplating, she stopped and gave Chase a mortified and almost mad look, "You didn't tell her?- Nevermind...Skye, uhm, we haven't hanged out for a while so why don't we hang out after school?" Everest suggested, looking like she desperately wanted to leave this classroom as soon as possible.

"Sure..Eve, I'll meet you at the gate, we better head to class now, the bells about to ring. See you," I waved, she nodded and paced away urgently as if she's afraid.

I tried not to question it.

I grabbed my backpack and threw it on my back, I witnessed Chase still reading his book, his eyes moving rapidly to each word. I don't think he was reading it but he's using it as a distraction. I pulled the book down and raised my head towards him, I cleared my throat, waving at him before walking out the intense room.

Something was up.

  ***********

I checked my phone and waited for Everest to come to the gate and escape the school grounds, I spotted her at distance, hurrying to me with books in her hands, she then pounced at me making one of her books bang on my delicate head, she quickly catched it and apologised, stuffing the books in her bag and yet again, pouncing back up.

"So..." She trailed her words as she wrapped her arms around my shoulders, "What's up?" She asked.

"Nothing really, finally got praised by my teacher in Science for the first time in forever. Come on, let's go the mall, I heard there's a new Coffee shop!" I exclaimed with my chirpy voice.

"Did you just say coffee?! Let's go immediately!" She yanked my tortured wrist and dragged me upon the dull road until I witnessed a small bike that climbed on my foot rapidly as Everest was dragging me.

I screeched it pain, shaking Everest's strong, sweaty palm off my wrist, using my fingers to reach to the pavement's edge. I dropped myself while groaning, moving my eyelids anywhere else than my tyre printed shoe.

I heard Everest collapse near me as she panicked causing her to sweat a lot, chattering her teeth as she said gibberish making me worry of her unexpected reaction, "O-Oh my god, I-I'm so sorry! Are you hurt?" She glanced at me while I was just be muttering out curse words from the pain, "Oh my god, I'm so stupid. Of course your hurt. Uhm, uhm, let's see your injury,"

She gestured to my shoe which she probably wanted me to take off but I definitely did not want to see blood gushing out. All my bones broken...Okay, I'm over reacting but it still hurts.

"No thanks," I screech, gnawing the insides of my cheek, "It just really hurts,"

"Uhm..." She started to sweat heavily from out of nowhere, her eyes unable to find a spot to land, "We could go to my h-house..." Everest gulped. her breathing suddenly became paced.

"Eve? Are you okay?" I worried, clasping my free hand to her shivering arm.

"Yeah!" Everest quickly responded, "I'll get a cab.."

  **********

We shuffed our ways onto the front porch. Straight ahead, a little house was in our sight, a normal stoned building with stained filled windows which seemed like they settled on their new spot. A muffled voice screeched through a open window with similar voices from a T.V show.

As Everest walked and I limped through the broken tiles, Everest's thirsty, overgrown grass kept poking us as if we're stepping on sharp needles. Giggling went through our ears and the projection of the T.V. got louder with each step.

Everest huffed as she pulled out her keys and fumbled when placing it to the keyhole, her lips quivered and her eyes closed as the door let out a sigh and swayed foward.

Her arm was behind my back to balance my posture as we took our first step into Everest's home.

Her entrance was narrow with with only piece of opening was a arched opened structure that didn't have a door.

Everest whispered something to my ear but her voice was so low and worried that I couldn't hear her and afterwards she was pulling my arm urgently past the arched open wall where I saw a quick glimpse of two people laying on the worn out, yellow sofa.

I heard Everest sigh in relief as she tried to climb one of the steps that appeared in front of us, helping me on the first step.

But then...

"Oi! Come ere'!"

Everest stopped breathing for a second, as the sound of a grumpy, old man who had to much alcohol reached her delicate ears. She muttered to me to sit down on the steps while she answered the call, her legs vibrated as she took her small steps towards the opened entrance, her hands unable to clentch the wall as she tried to balance.

"Where on earth have you been?! School finished hours ago and you were supposed to get my girlfriend refreshments! Gosh, you're just like your mother, a faliure," A stern voice cracked, letting go of the woman next to him and gripped his beer from the table with disgust. He muttered under his breath, "God, I should have kicked you out as soon as you got useless..."

Everest's hands shivered, her mouth opened but couldn't get anything out, her shaken hands tensed and Everest's nails dug into her palms as she stared anywhere else than his eyes, a man who looked just like her but older and more damaged, his wrinkles were swollen into his pale complexion, his eyes were frosty, overgrown platinum hair covered his sides and his anger looked like something from a horror film.

"Well, tell me then! What were you doing that was so important that it took you so long to come home? Don't tell me you've gotten those traits from your mother because then I'll be happy to just allow you to leave just like her!" He yelled from the top of lungs, the rigid atmosphere cracked his beer shell, scattering to the stained carpet which had seen better days, her frosty eyes turned to red, she bit her lip and gulped heavily.

"I-"

I couldn't take it anymore, my heart pounded as I forced myself to get up, my legs bursting with pain, I leaned against the wall and managed to throw myself in front of Everest, her eyes were now hidden from his wrath.

"Don't speak to her like that! You have no right to say those things to her, what kind of father are you? Drinking your heart away, with these women and making your daughter a servant in this house, she can do whatever she wants, don't you dare release your stupid anger on her!"

The room was silent, too silent until the sofa made a tack sound as the skin of his unstuck to the pushed down cushions that was losing its fluff. A finger then went at me.

"Who the hell are you?! Gosh, you remind me of those other idiot children Everest brung home years ago that I absolutely despised. Didn't think she had any other friends left, I guess I was wrong," He scolded and then stared at my leg, which I had forgotten about when I released my anger.

"She wasn't doing anything bad, I just was being clumsy and hurt myself so she offered to bring me here, don't be mad at her please," I pleaded, staring at the ground at this awkward moment.

He grunted.

"Whatever, and by the way, don't feel too much sympathy for that girl who doesn't deserve it, always emotional and clumsy nowadays, you'll dump her like all her other friends in the past," He said aloud, so Everest could hear those nasty words from her own father, placing them in her brain and locking them in her damaged vault. "What a disgrace, my poor girlfriend had to hear that. Don't think little Eve is gonna get far in life, she'll probably go homeless and get desperate, lending her pretty body for men for money hahaha,"

Horrid words were about to come from my mouth, hoping to break his ears but another voice replaced mine..

"Shut up..." A mutter came through, "Shut up...! SHUT UP! You have NO right to let those disgusting words come out your devillish mouth! For years, I had to listen to that...every...single...day...breaking my confidence and making me question my sanity. I wasn't good enough for you and I probably never will! You passed down my mother's mistakes to me...Like it's MY fault, you know what, EVERYTHING is my fault, right? I shouldn't have been born, It was sin to stare at your eyes for even one second, to live...! You picked on my complexion, grades and anything else you could doubt me for! Have you ever known what that did to me?!" She broke into angry tears, "I-Isolated at school, turning friendless, trying to change myself till I was PERFECT to your eyes! Wearing the most uncomfortable clothing to fit your standards! Pushing away all my hobbies and my dreams! The worst diet for years! And still...you punish, complain and ignore me. All you ever cared about is bringing a different women every time I come home to make be your servant, heck you were just making out with another girl just yesterday, probably not breaking up with the other women before that," Everest spat out, making sure the woman and her dad could hear her loud and clear.

The woman pounced off the sofa in despair, muttering curse words under her breath. Without a word, she smacked Everest's dad's face and stormed out the house.

Her dad was absolutely flabbergasted and mad.

But the best thing was, Everest didn't even care.

She just grabbed my hand and slowly, to make sure I don't hurt myself anymore, walked up the stairs with me.

We could hear her dad yell but the moment we went upstairs and glared at each other, we just giggled.

.....

"You know, It's been a long time since I solely talked about myself." Everest blubbered out.

We sat on her bed which didn't even look like a bed, it looked ruined and purposely broken apart.

"Well, I want to know more about you, you're my friend, I want to make sure you feel as if you belong." I reassured her.

Everest's eyes slighlty brightened afterwards. "Okay, if you're sure..." She thought for a bit, "There's so many things about me surprisingly, I had a strange love for snowboarding and sking out of all hobbies..Wow, I didn't do it for years, the last time I went to the skiing resort was when my mum was still around and when my dad was a bit more normal and actually happy, heck, I was so happy back then and surprisingly such an extrovert. I would do so many snow activities with my family, it was amazing...I wonder if I can reunite my family again, stop my dad from being a wreck and actually make so many more memories.." Everest then seems like she was in a daydreaming, hopeful state but she broke out of it quickly and excused herself. She then smiled in embarrassment.

"Oh my, I didn't even tell you what happened to my...mum. Um, as I told you my family was near perfect when I was younger, we would spend so much time together, my mum got me a dog that we both loved so much but my parents started arguing all the time out of nowhere, at first I didn't think much about it, but it escalated quickly...And one day, while I was playing with my Husky dog with my um friends, my mum walked to the door and left the house so casually and she never came back..."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Everest."

"It's okay. Yeah, it hurts but now, I'll try to get stronger, I stood up to my dad now which is so shocking so maybe I should try to become more brave."

I smiled. "Wait, you said you have a dog? Where is it? I would love to see it!"

"I had a dog."

Realisation struck me. My lips quivered and I tried to hold my tears.

"He's not dead, don't worry, well...I think. A few days after my mum left, my dad was engaging in few more irresponsible thing such as bad habits and criminal activity. He became angrier and violent and he lashed out that anger on me and my..dog. I think as my dog was given to me by my mum, he didn't want to 'waste' his time with it. He made my dog stay outside most of the time and rarely gave me permission to feed it and one day...I was so feeling so guilty and rather confident so I snuck out, got my dog and made him stay in my room. I snuggled him all night but when I woke up...-

-He was gone." Everest was holding back tears at this point while gnawing her cheek. "When I asked my dad where my dog was, he said he let it go just like how mum did." Everest broke down in tears.

That made my eyes water as well.

I hugged her and she hugged me back.

She was dealing so much and hiding so much, that must have been horrible.

Everest continued hugging me while wiping away her tears and mumbled out, "My confidence lowered ever since, my friends left me probably due to my dad scaring them away and me being a mess and...when I tried to salvage whatever I had, I broke it even more. But, when you came to my school a few months ago, I forced myself to stop being so lonely as when I saw you, you didn't fit in much just like me nowadays, so I attempted being your friend and now, I'm glad I went out my comfort zone for you, Skye." She pulled out the hug and stared at me in a grateful manner.

"I'm so glad I got kicked out my old school just to meet you then." I joked to reassure Everest.

She giggled weakly, "I didn't mean it that way, Skye." She playfully responded.

"It's alright to think that, Eve." I smiled but then my thoughts landed on a particular sentence her father said...

Gosh, you remind me of those other idiot children Everest brung home years ago that I absolutely despised. Didn't think she had any other friends left, I guess I was wrong.

And also Everest's words...

My confidence lowered ever since, my friends left me probably due to my dad scaring them away and me being a mess and when I tried to salvage whatever I had, I broke it even more.

Who were her friends and how did their friendship actually break?

But then, I remembered the broken pictures in a certain someone's house and also the story...the drama caused a few years ago.

They were really close then but then how is their friendship so damaged? There must be something more...

It is really them?

"Eve, who were your friends?" I asked cautiously, while fiddling my fingers. My eyes glaring at Everest's intensely, waiting for her answer.

She gulped.

"Zuma, Rubble, Rocky but mainly Chase and Marshall." Tears threatened to drop down her eyes, "I thought we were inseparable..."

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

Sorry if this chapter is a little bit messy, I had writer's block while doing this (I think I wrote this a few months ago but while I was editing this now, it's been really sloppy).

I already wrote the next chapter, it just needs a bit of editing and the chapter after that is halfway done.

Let's hope my unbearable long updates don't happen again. I'll be sure to update the next chapter in a few days and I'll make sure I won't ditch this story because we're almost reaching the end of the book.