"Brown! King! Three sets of jumping jacks. Now. The rest of you can go." Mr. Robbins, the P.E teacher announced. "But sir, I was not the one laughing like an idiot." I countered, casting a killer look towards Noah who had a huge grin on his face. "Five sets Miss. King! Noah, you can go after three." Mr. Robbins shouted again and I let out an irritated groan. ... "What did Noah do this time?" Emily asked as we were on our way to AP biology. "He threw brown paint at my gym shorts, right on the buttock region." I scoffed in anger. "Oh." Emily said. "And then, he called me Alicia The pooper." a small chuckle left Emily's mouth. Her face lost all the color when I gave her one of my hardest glare. "Sorry." she smiled sheepishly. "It's okay. You aren't the one being immature here." I spoke lowly. "Forget about him. He is a jerk." she said as we entered the class and slouched down on the front seats. "You are right." I accepted. The class started soon after. Like every other biology class, Mr. Walter just continued talking like a robot, not caring if anyone was understanding anything or not. "Who appointed him as a teacher?" I muttered to Emily. "Apparently Mr. Brown." she shrugged and passed me a bubblegum which I accepted happily. I let out a small yawn and started drawing doodles on my notebook. I wouldn't bave stopped if it was not for the set of eyes I felt on my back. Turning around, I looked towards the backseats where a pair of grey eyes caught my attention. Adam. His impassive eyes were solely focused on me. He didn't even avert when I caught him staring at me red-handed. Instead, he just narrowed his eyes at me and drew his eyebrows together. I not-so-subtly rolled my eyes at his action and turned my attention back to my doodles. "Wow. What was that?" Emily nudged my shouldee when Mr. Walter was not looking. "What?" I asked. "That intense exchange of glares." she replied. "Nothing. He is just an annoying arse." I whispered. She looked like she was not satisfied with my answer yet she didn't ask further. After the class was over, we both made our way towards the school ground. Sitting down on one of the benches, I pulled out a packet of M&M's from my bag and passed it to Emily. The cheerleaders were busy practicing their routine. My eyes fell on the beautiful brunette who was stretching her long, toned legs. "It is Chloe, right." I asked in surprise. "Yup." Emily answered dryly. "Just another excuse for her to act like queen of Redwood high." "Let's not waste our time talking about her." I said, changing the topic. "Tell me about yourself. What are your plans for the future?" "Well, I want to be a journalist just like my Dad." she answered. Her eyes suddenly brightened with ambition. We were busy in pur discussion when Chloe's gaze landed to us. A smirk made its ways to her cherry tinted lips and she swayed her way to the benches. "MnMs? Really Em? I thought you were on diet." she said, plastering a fake smile on her face. Emily's lips turned downwards and she handed the packet back to me. "Umm Chloe! I hope you won't mind but we are kinda busy now. We'll ignore you some other time." I said and stood up. "Come on, Emily." Emily sighed and stood up. We both walked away from Chloe, ignoring the daggers she was throwing in our way. On our way to US history class, we passed by Noah, who was keenly sliding his tongue down some girl's throat. He winked at me when he realized my presence. "It's all so cliche." I exasperated as I entered the classroom. "Flirtatious jerks like Noah, Asshole Basketball captains like Justin, arrogant cheerleaders like Chloe." "It's just a facade." a bored voice erupted from the seat behind me. I turned around to have a clear look. My eyes met with a girl, leaned back against her chair. Her facial features were sharp and defined, the caramel color of her skin was matching perfectly with her black hair and dark brown eyes. "These people act like they are so perfect. Believe me, they are just trying to hide their insecurities and complexes." she said confidently. "And you are?" I drew my eyebrows closer and asked. "Sophia." it was Emily who said that. "When did you come back from London?" "Just yesterday." She replied. "Alicia, is it?" she looked at me and asked. I nodded in response. "I'm Sophia Stone. Unfortunately, one of those arrogant cheerleaders you were talking about." she smiled. Not a fake smile but a honest one. "She is the captain." Emily added and Sophia shrugged. "Guilty." she raised her hand and grinned. "Hey, how come I never saw you during my first week?" I asked in confusion. "I was on leave. We had to visit my grandparents in London." she informed. "Oh." I nodded. I wanted to talk further but Mr. Michael's entry interrupted our discussion. I got to know more about Sophia in Visual arts because we had the same class. She was down-to-earth and funny, unlike the other cheerleader I encountered today. She told me that both her parents were lawyers and they hardly had any time for home. Yet, she wasn't holding any grudge as she knew they weren't earning for themselves. She had an older sister who was studying MBA in Stanford. Guess, I just made another friend. ... "Dad! Would it be okay if I invite Emily for a sleepover?" I asked Dad as I stepped into the kitchen. "Sure. Why not?" he replied while mixing the boiled penne pasta into the steaming tomato sauce. "Great. Because I have already asked her." I passed him a mischievous smile which he returned with a dim one. Dad was making Mom's favorite pasta again. And by the look on his face, I could easily guess that he was missing her badly. "What?" he asked with a straight face when he noticed my expressions. "You are missing her, aren't you?" I asked. "Aren't we both?" he passed me another sad smile. "It has been five years dad. Will you ever move on?" I asked in a low voice. "I am moving on, Ali. As much as I would love this world to stop, It won't." I could see the hint of moisture in his eyes as he spoke. "It's funny how we think we would die without the person we love but the truth is, sweety, we don't die. We just continue living, even if every second feels like an hour and every year feels like a century." his voice sounded drained, both physically and emotionally. I walked towards him and hugged him loosely. "I just don't want you to grow old alone." For a minute, neither of us spoke a thing. "I have you, princess." Dad responded lowly after a moment. "Besides, I have already had my share of love. Your mother's memories are enough for the rest of my life. She was my uh.. what was the phrase she used to say...." "Epic love?" I trailed off. "Yeah. She was my epic love." Dad chuckled. Tears pricked the back of my eyes as I listened to him. Why did God separate them? Why didn't he let them grow old together? It is so unfair. "Your princess will never leave you alone, Dad." I whispered. "I know." he mumbled. The doorbell rang which pulled us out of the trance. It was probably Emily. I excused myself and rushed towards the main gate. Before opening the door, I rubbed my eyes to eliminate the tears welling inside. "Hey." I hugged her after I opened the door. "Come inside." Gripping her wrist, I led her inside towards the dining room. "Emily! Dad. Dad! Emily." I smiled a little too cheerily, trying to ease the previous tension in the room. They both greeted each others after which Dad left to meet Uncle Alessandro who was Dad's best friend and former business partner. "Your dad is umm.. Well.. Quite good looking for someone who has a teenage daughter." Emily said shyly as she took the bite of pasta. I just chuckled at her words without bothering to reply. After we had eaten, I directed Emily towards my room so she could change into her pajamas and started cleaning the dishes. Then, I assembled some snacks, few cans of coke and two tubs of ice cream from the fridge and made my way towards my room. As I entered my room, I found Emily exiting the bathroom in her cute pink mickey mouse pajamas. She had the perfect barbie looks, with her flawless skin, blue eyes and golden hair. Still, her sister managed to make her feel bad about herself. "Start a movie. I'll go and change in a minute." I passed her my laptop and left for the bathroom. After changing into my centuries old loose T-shirt and a pair of shorts, I marched out of the bathroom. "A walk to remember?" I asked as I took a peek of the laptop screen. "Yep." she said, popping the "p". "Wow. I didn't know you were such a girl." I teased her and she frowned in return. "Hey, you are a girl too." she whined. "Yeah, anatomically speaking." I joked amd plopped down on the bed beside her. It took us two hours to watch the whole movie. After we were finally done with it, I suggested to watch an episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S to tone down the dramatic environment of the room. We both talked till midnight, about our childhood, our families, our hobbies, our dreams, every thing. It wasn't until I heard the main gate open when we finally decided to sleep. ___________________________