I've always wondered what happened to my friends. I'd left my home town for five years moving away at the start of seventh grade year. I was finally back and settled in and had been at high school for about a week. There was no one I recognized and I spent most of my time alone.

I had assumed that when I came back everything would be the same but I was horribly wrong. When I had left I lost a part of my identity here. My new school was boring and small. I was alone then and I was now. I had assumed that coming back would make things better but it didn't .

So I sat in my room staring blankly at my ceiling just wondering if this was some sort of trial. If God was just laughing at me. I sighed glancing back down at my homework. It was easy to do just meant to waste time, then again it's not like I had anything to do with that wasted time, groaning I shoved the paper back into my binder. What was the point? I could finish it in five minutes before school.

Getting up from my bed I bounded down the stairs. My Mother was busy cleaning up the kitchen, my Dad stood  beside her cleaning the dishes. "Mom, Dad, I'm going for a walk."

"Alright, don't stay out too late." Mom smiled at me over her shoulder.  She had short brown hair and soft green eyes. My dad was the opposite of her. He was tall with dark black hair and bright blue eyes that always twinkled as if he were about to do something unexpected.

"And take your jacket it's supposed to get pretty cold." He piped up as well.

"Will do." Walking over to the little coat rack by the door I slipped on my jacket. There was a park nearby that not a lot of kids visited. People around here didn't do much. They just kind of stayed locked up in their houses all the time. Even the youngest of kids couldn't be spotted playing outside.

With a sigh I left my home easing the door shut behind me. Sure enough their was a soft nip of cold to the air. Tucking a piece of hair behind my ear I set out alone. The streets were quiet except for an occasional car. The sun was dipping below the horizon it's personality painted on the clouds.

The park lay abandoned up ahead as usual. A breeze ruffled my long dark hair and I smiled lightly. Despite being alone most of the time , it was kind of nice every now and then. Of course I knew my parents worried I wasn't fitting in right. They had assumed ,as I had, that everything would be the same. In a way, coming back was bitter sweet.

The park's swings remained motionless and the blue slide was unoccupied. If I tried hard enough I could imagine the phantom forms of children running around. Standing rooted on the sidewalk I couldn't help smile a bit. It really was a quaint little park, sad almost. Sad and lonely like me.

"Hey watch out!" A voice startled me and in the next moment I was on the concrete. My elbow cracking hard against the cement,

"Ow." Groaning I managed to sit up. A skateboard was scattered in the road having rolled away from the mayhem. A boy got to his feet. His helmet was chipped from where his head had hit the ground.

"Stupid pedestrians don't ever pay attention." He growled shaking his head.

"Yo what happened Braxon?" A new voice interjected the sound of wheels grating concrete mingling with the voice.

"This little girl got in my way." He growled glaring down at me.

"Take it easy on her." The other person came into view and my heart nearly stopped.

"Meg?" I asked. Her face had been set in a frown but it quickly morphed into that twisted little smile of hers.

"No fucking way! Is that you Rey?" She laughed extending a hand to help me up.

"You two know each other?" The guy asked looking confused.

"Yeah she was my best friend in grade school." Meg smiled. Her white blond hair was now chin length unlike the last time I saw her. Her clothing style hadn't changed much. She still wore jeans and a sports shirt. Her smile was even the same, still the lop sided grin. "What are you doing in town?"

"I uh I live here now. Well again." I explained wincing as I moved my arm.

"No way!" Meg smiled. "Why didn't you tell me you were back?"

"Well I've only been here a week." I shrugged. The truth was it had never really occurred to me.

"You two enjoy the reunion see you around Meg." The guy retrieved his skateboard and rode off with a shake of he head. "Girls."

"Five years and you call me only three times. Then you don't even tell me you came back?" Meg frowned a slight anger to her look. "You asshole."

"Sorry I just, I don't know." I shrugged inwardly kicking myself.

"Great explanation." Meg rolled her eyes and hopped back onto her skateboard. She set off at a slow pac allowing me to walk beside her.

"Well I didn't know what to do. I really have just gotten settled back in. And I didn't know where you and the others were. I thought I'd see you at school." I explained. Meg just snorted in laughter.

"Do you have any idea how much five years does to someone?" She asked her eyes staring at the ground in front of her.

"Well I suppose things would change but what about the others?" I asked keeping pace with her.

"Layla is now the rising theater star." Meg said.

"Really? But she always hated attention." I frowned. Meg nodded planting her foot on the ground and pushing off.

"Yeah and Max is head cheerleader." She sighed.

"But Max was always so shy." I said feeling like everything was backwards.

"Yes and the twins James and Ashton are polar opposites. They hate each other now. James is the smartest kid in school and Ashton is the star football player." Meg laughed lightly.

"That's not right. They were best friends in grade school." I argued.

"Well guess your little world has turned upside down." Meg smirked her pale grey eyes shining with curiosity. "What changed with you?"

"Nothing. Everything has stayed the same," I shrugged,"And you?"

"Everything's different." Meg sighed looking defeated. "When you left it was like everything fell apart."

"What do you mean?" I asked worriedly. Meg stepped off her board picking it up. She sat down on a bench beneath a tree. It's limbs twisting all over the place like a large green dome.

"Parents divorced finally." Meg said.

"Meg that's awful, I'm so sorry." I cursed myself for not checking in on her more.

"Oh it's okay good riddance to Dad that's what I say. " She laughed glancing at me. "I'm surprised I don't have any classes with you."

"I'm in all honors and AP." I laughed smiling lightly.

"That explains it. I'm in the stupid classes." Meg leaned back staring at the darkening sky.

"No you're not. Just cause you're not in the higher classes doesn't mean you're dumb ." I frowned.  Meg always sold herself short. It was sort of a defense mechanism . Away to avoid disappointment but I couldn't blame her.

"Tell that to my teachers." She glanced at me. "Well it's almost your curfew."

"You still remember that?" I asked in surprise.

"Yep, you always had to be home by ten." Meg glanced at her watch. "You have ten minutes to walk home."

"Well I hope I see you around." I sighed getting to my feet.

"If I see you at school I'll yell." She said. I turned my back to my best friend, well I hoped she was still my best friend, and headed back home. Despite myself I couldn't help but smile. Things weren't so bad. If I was lucky Meg still lived in the same neighborhood and the same house.

I remembered all of us when we were younger. Spending the night at Meg's house. We called ourselves the Super Six. The ones who stuck together no matter what. It seemed sort of sad knowing things had changed so much. I had always thought we'd grow up together, hang out even as adults, but it appeared my dreams always ended up backwards.

My Mom was still up when I entered the living room. Dad always went to bed early.

"How was your walk?" She asked smiling at me and turning off the tv.

"It was good." I smiled peeling off my jacket. "I ran into Meg."

My Mother looked up at me from the sofa a look of surprise on her face. "Really? How'd it go?"

"Well we talked for a bit. But a lot is different." I sighed glancing at the floor.

"You wanna talk about it?" She asked gently offering me a spot next to her. The thing about my mother was she had a strange way of getting information out of you. There was no secret intention some parents had. It was simply to make you feel better.

"Yeah if you don't mind." I said thankfully sitting next to her and curling up into a little ball , leaning on her, like I had when I was a kid.

"Alright talk to your heart's content." She smiled resting her head on mine.

"Apparently everyone is different." I sighed playing with my sleeve. "The Super Six aren't so super anymore."

"Oh honey." Mom sighed reflecting my inner defeat.

"Yeah apparently everyone split up after I left. And Meg, well her parents divorced." I mumbled.

"That's awful!" My Mother's eyebrows knit together in worry.

"Yeah. I just feel so out of it. I have no idea what's going on anymore. Meg said everyone was pretty much the exact opposite of how they were in grade school. I should've called more." I couldn't help the frustration that mixed into my tone.

"You can't change it now. Maybe you could talk to them. Don't you see them at school?" She asked playing with my hair. It felt nice like always and it helped ease my distress.

"She said she'd look for me at school." I felt some reassurance in that fact. "So I'm assuming we're still friends."

"I remember when she first came over. So small and skinny with her white blond hair. Basketball shorts and T shirt. Challenged your dad to a game of soccer." My mom laughed and I joined in.

"Yeah. Always the one too accept a challenge." I recalled numerous occasions she had gotten into trouble just because she wouldn't say no to a dare.

"Well I hope tomorrow is better for you. Go on and get up to bed." Mom tucked a piece of hair behind my ear kissing me on the top of my head. I said goodnight and headed up to my room. It may be weird for a Junior to be so attached to their parents but I was odd in that aspect of teenage behavior.

After brushing my hair and teeth I dove into bed thankful for the warmth of the sheets. Sometimes I liked to pretend that I could sleep my problems away. Turning off my lamp my room was bathed in darkness and I lay awake for a while contemplating what school held for me tomorrow. Slowly I dozed off until a peaceful sleep gently wrapped my consciousness.

There was a soft tapping sound that slowly encouraged me out of my slumber. Waking my eyes very slowly depicted the outline of my room. The dark shape of my closet, my desk, all of it.

The tapping sounded again, squinting I searched for the source of the noise, my eyes settling on the window. Two bright  pale eyes stared back at me, my heart jumped in surprise causing goosebumps to roll down my skin.

It was Meg, perched on the roof below my window. Frowning I walked over pulling the window up. "What the hell are you doing on my roof?"

"I forgot to tell you something." She said glancing over her shoulder like she expected to see someone. "Tomorrow don't try and find Layla. "

"Why?" I asked confused.

"She won't care if you were friends she'll rip your throat out if it ups her status." Meg said.

"How do you know? I'm sure it's not that bad." I argued but her face said it all.

"Trust me on this one." Meg's tone was now hard and steely.

"Alright." I nodded and she turned to leave carefully walking down to the edge of the roof. She slipped over it expertly her eyes only poking over the side now.

"See you at lunch." She said before ducking out of sight. I lingered there for a moment watching her figure disappear into the night. Shaking my head I shut and locked my window before getting back into bed.

I fell asleep not long after but I kept repeating the same thought over and over again in my head. What could be so bad about Layla now?