A/N: You know what, I think most of these chapters will be pretty short. I just think that this story is not one of those where I have loads of long chapters. Maybe I’ll have loads of chapters (don’t know yet), but they probably won’t all be long. I’ll just have a few odd sprinkled around. I need variety! Not all long chapters! Long chapters are hard to write…I guess that’s the challenge in them…well, I want to go nice and easy with this story. *nods vigorously to get her point across*

Tuesday was not a good day for Darie. Latya was still in a bad mood and seemed to be holding a grudge against her. Darie wasn’t too happy about this, for obvious reasons. And the worse thing was, everywhere she turned, there would be one girl following her. She had blonde hair and—this was the strange part—eyes that seemed to change color. Whenever Darie turned around and saw her, her eyes were a different color. It was really… strange.

Finally, Darie started to tire of this. During fifth period, after Latya shoved past her with her hair in her face to hide her expressions (a trick she had learned from Darie a few years before, so Darie wondered why she thought she could fool her), Darie decided to catch this ‘stalker’, of a sort. She whirled around and ducked around people who were heading toward the C-wing. The girl’s eyes widened as she realized Darie was heading toward her.

Darie skidded to a stop in front of her, throwing her hands out to catch and rebalance herself. Accidentally grabbing onto the girl, she sent her toppling to the floor. Darie’s own eyes widened as she stooped to help her up, holding out her hand. "Sorry, sorry," she apologized breathlessly. Then she remembered why she had been running to the girl in the first place.

"Why have you been following me?" she demanded, staring at the girl as if to read her mind. Darie laughed to herself silently; of course there was no such thing as mind readers. Or anything like that.

"Or maybe there is," the girl said in a soft voice. It was strange, like half of a whisper and half of a laugh, or maybe a giggle. Darie took a second to adjust to the voice, and then realized what the girl had said.

"Wait—wha?" Darie stared after the girl, with a disoriented, dumbfounded look on her face as she giggled, waved, and walked away. Darie was too flummoxed to run after her and command her to explain. She could only turn around and slowly head back to class. She was too preoccupied to realize that she was late.

(~*~)

"Darie. Darie!"

"Whaaaaat," groaned Darie. This day was definitely going downhill—and fast. First, she had been tardy to her fifth period science. Second, she had fallen asleep during sixth. And now, during seventh (study hall), she was zoning out. She hadn’t even noticed that Latya was sitting in front of her at their table.

"Darie. What is up with you today?" hissed Latya. "Answer me, and I expect the truth. And you know it."

"What do you want?" Darie asked, rubbing her eyes groggily. "I don’t feel so great. I don’t even know why."

"PMS?" Latya questioned. Her anger seemed to be forgotten, as her eyes flashed true concern for her best friend.

"That’s what you have, not her." Kelly’s shadow fell across the table as the brunette pulled out a chair and plopped herself down. "So, Darie, you seemed fine earlier. Would you like to inform us whatever is the matter with you?" Her eyes sparkled as she smiled at Darie.

"Since when do I have PMS?" Latya questioned.

"Since… third period break?" Kelly suggested.

"Oh." Latya turned around and stared at Darie intensely. Darie lifted her head and muttered, "I had to say something."

Kelly now looked interested. She leaned forward and said, "Oh, so is there something more important going on?" She squealed. "I knew you guys would get together! I knew it!" Everyone in the library turned and stared at her. Kelly clapped her hands over her mouth as Latya and Darie alike glared daggers at her.

"We are not ‘together,’ " Latya snapped around the corner of her mouth. They had to be inconspicuous, as the librarian was now watching them carefully. "And we never will be—unless we’re best friends. If that’s what you meant." Latya’s eyebrows frowned, which is what Darie called it when they went up and down, like a professor’s. Darie giggled and sighed as the librarian got up and headed their way.

"Run!" whispered Kelly. They got up and turned around. Kelly began whistling quietly, but cheerily as they tried to make a hasty retreat.

"Not so fast." The librarian—whose name Darie had forgotten, the school went through so many—put a hand on Darie’s shoulder. Darie tried to inch away, but her fingers tightened, and Darie started to get creeped out.

"I’m going to have to write you up, you know. You were causing a commotion, and we don’t need distractions here in Brave Heart’s Library."

"Well, you see, Mrs. Anderson," Latya said in a sweet voice, looking at her beseechingly, "we hardly meant to cause a commotion. It’s just that we realized that," —she looked around at the informational books surrounding the table they had been sitting at— "…we realized that China’s Great Wall can be seen from space!"

"You just realized that?" Mrs. Anderson seemed uncertain, a small frown still lingering on her face.

"Yes, well, I wasn’t making any noise," Latya said. She indicated Kelly with a tilt of her head. "She’s not all that smart," she whispered in a confiding way, as Kelly had to mask a furious look when Mrs. Anderson looked at her. Finally the librarian smiled in understanding, and Latya asked, "Do we have permission to go to the bathroom, so I can explain what an enormous ‘no-no’ it is to make noise in the library, where no one can be distracted by Kelly’s insane giggling?"

Mrs. Anderson looked like she was still trying to figure out what Latya said as she nodded in consent. Latya led Kelly and Darie out of the library, through a blue door into a corridor that didn’t lead to the girl’s bathroom, but Darie wasn’t protesting. As soon as they left the library, Kelly started an angry tirade that Latya ended up blowing off with a wave of her hand.

Kelly was left to fume in silent until Latya stopped in the middle of a hallway and said, "Can I talk to Darie alone, Kels?" Her tantrum being over, Kelly muttered, "Okay," and started humming a few verses of a song as Latya steered Darie to the…

"I am not going into the janitor’s closet to have a heartfelt girl-talk with you, Latya Ardette!" snapped Darie.

"Well, I am, Darie Doone, and there’s nuttin’ you can do about it," Latya said in an incredibly annoying voice. She opened the door and literally tossed Darie in, ignoring Darie’s protests. She grabbed a switch and turned on the lightbulb, which cast a dim light on her face, making her look like—a zombie, or something. Darie shivered.

"Whassamatter?" Latya huddled into a squat in the corner of the closet. They were sitting amongst a bunch of brooms, mops, and buckets of water that seemed to be whispering to themselves about these intruders; at least, that was what Darie thought.

"You looked weird with that light on your face, that’s all," whispered Darie. She pressed into Latya’s shouder, suddenly feeling kind of intimidated by all of these faceless, inanimate objects. It didn’t matter if they weren’t alive. They could still be used as weapons, by some unknown threat…

"I know. Doesn’t it seem like there’s some kind of ghost in here?" whispered Latya, reading Darie’s mind. Of course she didn’t really do that, Darie assured herself. That’s not possible. She just knows what I’m thinking because she’s been my best friend for our entire lives. Yeah, that’s it.

"Are you still mad at me?" Darie asked suddenly.

"Well…." Latya seemed to be thinking. Finally she replied, "No one can stay mad at you for long. You’re a good best friend—just promise to tell me things. That are really important, anyway." Latya hugged Darie, then drew back and whispered, "You’re not really pregnant, are you?"

"Of course not, Laty! We’re tenth graders, for god’s sake!"

Latya blew out a sigh of relief that was cut short as they glimpsed the back of Kelly’s head in front of the blurred window of the door. That was all they saw before the door of the janitor’s closet opened.

And standing in front of them was the principal of the school.