Peggy was getting a piercing in a store down 8th Street, Emily and Sin-Jun were inside Miss Al's dressmaking store checking out prices of already-made outfits they'd never buy and I was seated on a wet lovers' bench in front of Mr.King's grocery, taking passers-by in as if I'd been contracted to do so.

        I'd always been intrigued by people. Why they acted the way they did, what made them happy, what motivated them in life, what their fears and insecurities were, who they were crushing on, their sex lives.

        A young woman in a long faded dress with a white collar strolled by, a small woven basket in her hand.  She offered me a polite smile which instantly filled my heart with warmth.

        I crossed my legs and started singing Adele's 'Chasing Pavements' under my breath. I loved Adele. I thought of her songs to be romantic and full of passion.

        Some minutes later, I saw Chelsie, Oprah and Sally coming up the street. Chelsie was pushing Sally's wheelchair whiles Oprah appeared to be chirping happily about something.

        Chelsie and I weren't exactly friends, more like mere acquaintances. We'd been sitting partners back in first form and we'd been friends then. But for no particular reason, we'd stopped being close once we'd gotten to second form after our classes had been reshuffled. She knew of Roman and I being pen pals because I'd personally begged her into not revealing who I was to him. Surprisingly, she hadn't seen my plea as weird and even if she had, she hadn't shown it.

        On the other hand, I'd never ever been friends with neither Oprah nor Sally. They were both sweet and friendly alright, but we just weren't friends. Oprah was black, had a rich dark chocolate complexion and thick brown afro hair which she always wore in a neat ponytail. She was beautiful, but her beauty wasn't as cute and innocent as Chelsie's. Hers was sharp and intense, sexy.

        The youngest senior in Saint Margaret was Sally. She was sixteen, wore braces and had a small polish accent which I used to envy greatly back in first form. Her short black hair was relaxed and fell just below her neck, making her look like one of the ragdols in Miss Al's shop.

        "Hey Claire," Chelsie greeted first before Sally and then Oprah. 

        "Hey."

        "Have you been sleeping? You've got all these sleep lines all over your face," she said with a grin.

         "Really?" I brushed my palm over my face as if that would somehow get rid of the lines.

        "You look tired, Haven't you been sleeping well?" She looked worried for a moment.

        That was the one other special thing about Chelsie which made me feel insecure about showing Roman who I truly was. She was way too nice and spoke with such graceful effortlessness which made me nervous anytime I was around her.

       "Not really." I brushed invisible dust off my dress.

        She emitted an "oh," and appeared to be thinking about something for a second. "Well I've got these sleeping pills back at school. You could stop by for some. They're really good for curing insomnia."

        I wasn't suffering from insomnia. Aspeth's unbelievable midnight nervous breakdown was the sole cause of my sleepless night.

I nodded. "Okay."

        "Promise?" She asked firmly and elevated an eyebrow.

        "Promise." I let out an appreciative chuckle and crossed my fingers.

        "Good girl," she said in the tone of a pet trainer. "We need to get some books at Mr.James' bookstore before the bus comes around. Wanna come with us?"

        "Err, thanks but I'm waiting for my friends." Saying 'friends', it felt as though I was alienating Chelsie. But she didn't seem fazed.

        "Sure,we'll see you around then." She flashed me a faint smile before they left.

        A loud thunder rumbled in the distance and a goat bleated not far away from where I sat.

        Slipping on my false Prada school bag, I progressed down the street.

***

        Peggy rushed to me as soon as I stepped in and forced me into a tight choking hug. "Uh, I thank God that you were the sperm that won Claire."

        "What's up?" I noticed that she hadn't gotten the piercing yet.

        "I needed someone to distract me from the pain," she stated, grabbed my upper arm and dragged me to a seat in front of the mirror.

        "What do you mean?"

        The double glass doors of the shop opened and a short plumpy man stepped in. His chubby face reminded me of Winnie the Pooh. He looked like someone in his late thirties and was in a pink shirt with the sleeves and neck cut off. He stirred something inside the small china cup in his hand with a steel spoon.

        "Hey Vin. Meet Claire, my bestfriend," Peggy introduced as she pulled her hair into something that looked like a bun.

        "Oh thank goodness that you showed up." Vin took a long sip of his drink. "She started freaking out when she saw the piercing gun." He chuckled.

        Peggy slapped my knee. "Go ahead, laugh your ass out."

        I supressed a smirk as I carelessly threw my school bag into a chair behind me.

        The news didn't surprise me, not in the very least. Because I knew who Peggy was. She was like orange juice in a strong whiskey bottle. Hardcore on the outside, an unbelievable scaredy cat deep deep down.

        Well that was how I ended up holding both of her hands in mine tightly, singing Jamie Grace's 'Hold Me' as Vin went about his work.

        Two other songs later, the piercings were finally done. I helped her choose a pair of plain silver studs and then we bounded out the door.

***

        Emily had invited me to the computer room but I'd politely declined. Wattpad was not what I needed at the time. I was in desperate need for a hot bath, some good food and a very long nap.

        I'd already taken a shower, we'd just had some yummy vegetable rice and chicken sauce at the dining hall and I was beyond satisfied.

        It was Friday and as such, the period between after lunch and supper was reserved for outdoor games, hiking and lacrosse practice.

        The rains had stopped but of course, everyone knew that it'd be only for a short while.

        It seemed lacrosse practice had been cancelled because as I passed by the pitch, not a single soul could be spotted. Almost all the girls appeared to be trooping into the dorms. 

        I spotted Chelsie coming out of Matron's house and then I remembered the sleeping pills she'd offered me earlier. Her thick red sweater was way oversized but they appeared warm and very comfy.

        "Hey Claire." Steph waved at me as she hurried by, not giving me the chance to wave back.

       "Hey Claire." The twins, Angel and Angela, acknowledged simultaneously as they jogged past me.

        It was pleasingly weird how my popularity in Saint Margaret and beyond was more widespread than Chelsie's. Well that was how the popularity chain in Saint Margaret worked anyway. People didn't really care about who was pretty, who was rich or who had the best clothes. Of course, being pretty could gain you friends, but almost everyone concerned themselves with who was the smartest, who spoke the best English, who was a computer wizard, who was a maths whiz, who could sing, play the piano, act, dance, paint and stuff like that.

        Chelsie stopped. "Claire, you'd better rush inside if you don't want the rain to catch you out here,"

        I wondered, how could someone be so loving?

        "Um," I cleared my throat. "I was actually waiting for you."

        Her smile grew prettier. "Really?"

        "Yeah, about...about the drugs?"

        "Oh, okay. C'mon then."

***

        I'd been to Chelsie's room once ever since she became the Head Girl.

        The room was twice the size of mine and everyone else's but it had pretty much the same default settings and decorations as all the other rooms. She shared it with Goldie, the Assistant Head Girl but Goldie had gone home for the break.

        "Make yourself comfortable."

        As I took a seat on one of her desk chairs, I caught a whiff of burning incense in the air. It was like a mixture of mint and some other unfamiliar fragrance.

        "Are you burning incense somewhere?" I asked, though obviously, I knew that she was indeed burning incense in the room. It just felt like an ideal question to start a conversation with.

        "Mhm," she bent and retrieved a small covered purple ceramic bowl from under the desk. "It's this Chinese incense thing my Grandma sent me three weeks ago. Said something about driving evil spirits away." She sounded skeptical.

        "Really? Wow, it smells good."

        "Yeah? Would you like some?"

        I didn't want to come across as begging or anything like that so I shook my head. "No thanks."

        "Okay," She pushed the bowl back under the desk "I'll get the drugs." She vanished into the bathroom and reappeared with a small white container.

        She placed it on the table. "I got it from the infirmary four days ago, Nurse Abigail said it's really good for inducing sleep."

        "Thank you." I slipped it into the pocket of my jeans. "Um.."

        "Oh, pardon my manners." She smiled apologetically. "What can I offer you? I've got--"

        "No, don't sweat it. I'm okay," I said but she didn't look like she was going to take no for an answer.

        She walked straight to her cabinet and took out a sachet of what I saw to be Famous Amos' Chocolate Chip Cookies.

        I opened my mouth to protest but she forced the cookies into my hand and perched on the desk. "So, about Roman."

        I wasn't sure I wanted to talk about Roman at that very moment. However, I couldn't figure out a courteous way to evade the topic.

        "What about him?" A cool pricking feeling of panic filled my chest but I tried to keep my voice as casual as necessary, not too excited and not too uneasy.

       "Have you...you know, told him about you yet?"

        "What?! No." Shy, I looked away and feigned interest in the designs of her carpet.

        "Why not?" She sounded disappointed, but not surprised. "C'mon Claire, you can't hide from him forever."

        I knew that for a fact, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it, especially not after everything that had happened in the morning.

        "Why are you scared of him? He doesn't bite, really."

        I appreciated her modesty but she was missing the point. I wasn't scared of Roman. I was scared about him not liking me after finding out who I was.

        "He keeps insisting that I show him who you are. Funny thing is, he still thinks you're blonde and all that bullshit."

        Hearing Chelsie say the word 'bullshit' felt out of place. She was far too cultured to say foul words like that and that made me uncomfortable.

        "Why do all the Saint Patrick guys think of you as some Disney barbie doll?" Amusement laced her words.

        I forced myself to laugh. The conversation wasn't going anywhere and I suddenly wanted to leave so bad. Something about discussing Roman with Chelsie just didn't feel right.

        "I don't really know, I--"

        Oprah barged into the room, waving a pink pen-pal envelope in the air.

        "Hey Claire." She barely looked at me and gave the envelope to Chelsie whose face was bursting with smiles.

        "Kiki?" Chelsie asked and Oprah shrieked.

        Without saying goodbye to neither of them, not even sure they'd have noticed if I had, I quietly slipped out.

***

        Aspeth was spread out eagle style on her bed with her eyes closed. She appeared to be sleeping, but her breathing said otherwise.

        I vanished into the bathroom, changed into my heavy white bathrobe and took two of Chelsie's sleeping pills.

        Aspeth was no longer there when I returned.

        Scarfing my hair, I jumped right into bed, said a prayer and closed my eyes, in hopes of getting a most wonderful nap.