The drive to school was the same as any other day. Me sitting in my car alone jamming out to music and hoping no one noticed. The parking lot was less busy than normal seeing as how I got to school early. Pulling into my space I got out to feel the cool air and slight breeze.

The weather was nice today, and I smiled to myself as I pulled my bag from the passenger seat and shut the door. Tucking my keys away I started towards my first hour building.

A few kids milled about talking to one another or waiting for friends to arrive. I couldn't help but keep my eyes peeled expectantly for Meg's face to appear out of no where as it had last night.

Sadly it didn't and I walked hastily up the steps towards class my first period being Algebra 3-4. Don't get me wrong math was nice, I wasn't bad at it, it just wasn't exactly fun to do.

Like usual I was the fourth person to class and took my seat up at the back setting my notebook on my desk. The clock counted away the seconds until everyone was supposed to arrive and be seated. Like usual there were always a few stragglers who came in the last seconds until the bell signaled the start of class .

My teacher, a young man who looked about three or four years out of college, rushed them to sit down so the lesson could start. At last everyone was situated and the dash to get their notebooks out began.

Another few minutes passed and soon I was scribbling away until my page was full and I was forced to flip it. The homework was easy and I checked that off my possible list of things I'd have to do. The bell took forever to ring, the minutes were incessantly long, bordering on the length of hours.

Collecting my things I went to my next class and on it went for another two hours until my stomach was aching with hunger and they lunch bell sounded. Making my way carefully down the steps I headed outside all the while looking for Meg in the crowd of people. For her white blond hair to act as a beacon.

With a sigh I concluded that we most likely had separate lunches after all. Making my way to my usual table I sat down at the opposite end and listened to the banter of the freshmen girls down at the other end. They were jabbering about a quiz in their next hour.

"I know she's such a hard teacher." One of them said with a frown picking at their food.

"Hey. Do you know Mrs. Brown?" A voice popped into the conversation and it took me a moment to realize they were talking to me.

"What?" I asked used to eating in silence.

"Do you know the Biology teacher Mrs. Brown?" The same girl asked again her eyes expectant of an answer.

"Um yeah I guess ." I said giving the faintest of smiles .

"Thank goodness. What's she like I mean I've had her for a bit but I just can't get a read on her." The girl sighed.

"Well I heard she's pretty fun and can get side tracked a bit. If you do the work it's easy." I said with a shrug. The freshman girl smiled and relayed the information to her friends. Turning back to my food I pushed it aside and stared at the table.

"Rey!" The familiar voice cut through the crowd like a knife , my head shot up instantly and I peered over my shoulder. Meg was walking in my direction her tom boy style of clothing sticking out against the average dress that most girls wore.

"Hey." I smiled as she stopped at my side of the table. She had a dark black leather jacket on a grey shirt beneath. Her pants were ripped which appeared to be from falling I presumed off her skateboard.

"You wanna switch tables?" She asked a slight smile gracing her face.

"Yeah sure." I said standing up. I collected my things and caught the expressions of the other girls at my table. A few of them seemed to be apologetic, others held clear distaste, and a few more avoided all eye contact.

Meg nodded and I could see her studying the faces of the others as well. Her eyes hardened and she started to walk away. Jogging I finally caught up to her slinging my bag over my shoulder. "Where are we going?"

"Well Dora the Explorer we are going over here." Meg said heading to the last table of them all. Smiling I rolled my eyes.

"Still have those shitty jokes?" I asked knowing the answer.

"You may have left but they never did". Meg replied. She sat down at the nearly empty table. The only other people were two boys at the other end one who I recognized from the other day. He nodded and turned back to his friend.

"Are these your friends?" I asked quietly.

"Yes and no". Meg said sitting down. There was no evidence of a lunch in front of her.

"Oh okay." I shrugged. An awkward atmosphere took over and silence clung to us like a shroud. "So..."

"So what?" Meg asked looking up at me expectantly.

"The others, have you seen them recently?"

"No I avoid them." Meg said looking at me seriously. "I suggest you do the same unless you want trouble."

"Okay note taken." Glancing around I noticed people getting ready for their next class. "Lunch is almost over."

"Which reminds me. Would you like to hang out after school?" Meg asked hopefully.

"I would but I'm busy, I have to help my dad at his work." I said wincing at her expression which fell to a flat empty one. "I planned to help him like three days ago I didn't now you wanted to hang out ."

"It's fine we just met up again yesterday." Meg said forcing a smile.

"But it's not a no for the whole week. I mean we could catch a movie or something." I suggested trying to lighten the mood. She nodded but I could tell she wasn't too into the idea, she had the same posture she'd had when we were younger, the slumped shoulders and averted gaze when plans didn't go how they were supposed to.

"Anyways, I should probably get going I don't want to be late to class again." Meg said standing up.

"What building are you going to?" I asked standing as well and grabbing my backpack before handing her her own bag.

"I'm going to C." She said taking it with a thankful smile already forgetting the let down of us not hanging out. She did that a lot, it was always forgive and forget, one of her best and worst traits.

"Same." She nodded and together we started walking towards our destination. Some other students were already setting off to class while the majority stayed behind.

"Well look who it is. I'll be damned." Meg immediately tensed up next to me and just like that she kept walking. Part of me wanted to go with her but I turned around to see the same familiar face of Layla.

"Layla." I said sighing a little in relief before remembering Meg's warning.

"I thought you were still outta town." Layla said. Her tan skin looked perfect as always, her dark hair shiny and smooth, brown gold eyes glinting. She didn't seem threatening at all. And just like Meg her style hadn't changed a bit. She wore a nice lavender colored shirt that hung loosely on her frame and some light blue jeans. Casually fancy.

"No I uh came back about a week ago." I said smiling lightly at her. Layla nodded.

"Five years and you pop back up again?" Layla crossed her arms looking up at me. She was of an average height about 5'6. I was relatively tall bordering on five feet eight inches.

"Something like that. I missed you guys." It was true I had every single day I had been gone.

"Sure." Layla's eyes were hard. "What are you doing with Meg though?"

"She's our friend I had lunch with her and we were walking to class together." Layla studied my face which was twisted with a frown.

"Don't hang with her Reyna." Layla said. "She's bad news."

Confusion clouded my brain. "What do you mean?"

"She fell off the deep end a while ago." Layla said keeping her voice down. "She's the reason her parents divorced."

"How could you say that?" I asked in surprise. "They always fought even when we were kids it was only a matter of time."

"Ask her." Layla said her eyes narrowing and following someone in the crowd. I turned to see Meg disappear around a corner. "Tomorrow find me, you can sit with me and my crew at lunch."

"I don't know I told Meg I'd sit with her. Why don't you sit with us?" I asked already knowing the answer.

"The day I do that is the day I die. Have fun ruining your life with her. Unless you change your mind." With that Layla turned on her heel and walked off to her class. I was now one of the stragglers I hated so much running to get to class.

I arrived seconds before the bell and hurriedly sat down in my seat. My head was racing with a million thoughts. What the hell had really happened between all of us? Layla would never talk about Meg like that . She'd always been the quiet and sensitive one. And Meg, she surely couldn't have done anything that bad. Despite her bad girl looks she was a fairly good person.

My brain was in the gutter for the rest of the day and I hardly noticed anything all the way up to last period.

"Reyna pay attention please." Snapping back to reality I gave Mr. Wilkes an apologetic smile. "Can you read what's on the board please?"

"Uh sure." Clearing my throat I took a moment to study the words. "Today we will be starting a year round project. One involving the aspects of teenage life and the stereotypes and tribulations that come with it. The piece of literature you will be writing has no specific requirements. All you must do is write."

"Thank you." Mr. Wilkes smiled sitting on the edge of his desk. "In today's world adults often believe they understand the teenage or high schooler's life. The only way to show them that what they think is wrong, is to write it down for them to read and see."

"But sir what do you mean there are no requirements?" A boy with thick rimmed glasses asked.

"I mean exactly as it says." Mr. Wilkes said. "All you have to do is write. As long as it fits what the board says. And it must take you the full year to complete."

A few groans  filled the class room while others seemed excited. Mr.Wilkes was the best AP literature teacher in the district. His class wasn't hard as long as you laughed and did the work.

"I want your opening paragraph due tomorrow. I will do periodic check ups to make sure you are working." He glanced at the clock. "You can use the last five minutes of the school day to do what you'd like."

Immediately the others began to rearrange desks and pull out their phones from where they had been secretly hiding them during class. Voices struck up conversations in the background. I on the other hand wanted to start my assignment. Maybe I'd get it done early instead of procrastinating.

I managed to rip a piece of paper out of my notebook without tearing it for once. Holding my pencil in hand I attempted to come up with a good starting sentence. As I stared at the blank piece of paper my thoughts began to wander again. Back to Layla and Meg. Back to old memories of when we were kids.

"Reyna." Mr.Wilkes was hovering by my desk. "The bell rang."

"What? Oh I'm sorry I'm probably wasting your time." I awkwardly grabbed my bag and started shoving my things inside it.

"Are you alright? You were rather out of it in class today." He said looking at me. Mr.Wilkes was a middle aged man. With square glasses and light brown hair he kept combed back and a thin beard. He was kind and made class interesting. It was really the only period of the day I bothered to make an avid point of answering questions.

"Yeah I'm fine." I said straightening my back pack straps.

"Okay, I just want to make sure you're fitting in alright." He said adjusting his glasses. "I know it's probably hard coming back to all of this. A lot of things have changed most likely."

"You have no idea." I laughed lightly glancing at my shoes.

"If you need anything let me know". He said smiling. "Now go home I have a meeting to get to."

"Oh right sorry." I turned to leave before pausing at the door. "Thanks Mr.Wilkes."

"For what?" He asked grabbing a folder bursting with papers.

"Checking up on me. Sometimes it's nice to know people notice things like that." I said.

"Anytime." Was his answer.

With that I left the classroom and walked down the now empty halls. There was another teacher walking back to her class but other than that I was alone. Glancing at a clock on the wall I mentally cursed. I needed to be at my dads work in less than half an hour. I'd most likely be late.

Jogging I made it out to my car and with a sigh I plopped down into the driver's seat. Today hadn't been so bad. At least so far. Pulling out of my parking space carefully I set towards my Dad's work. Hoping if anything that it would at least be a slow night.