Morning classes passed quickly for most students, but not for Sunshine. Class was easy, and boring for her, so she couldn't help dwelling on her past mistakes as she often did. Most people, by the time a year had passed, forget all of their wrong doings. But she didn't. They just lingered in her mind, refusing to get out. By the time lunch had come, she had become sullen and quiet. Her sharp eyes noticed that everybody seemed to be avoiding her. What in the world is going on? She couldn't help wondering. Quickly, sneaking behind a group of girls, she listened in to the gossip. "Did you hear?" Issy asked, "Everybody's saying Sunshine and Arula got in a fight this morning. Then, Arula was going down the stairs and broke her leg. Not just that, she got a concussion! Do you think this is her payback?" Issy whispered in a hushed voice.

"I don't think it was, I know it was," Maddy snarled coldly. A quiet squeak of alarm passed out of Sunshine, as she stood there, paralyzed. Eyes flew over to meet hers, which had widened with shock, and Sunshine slowly tried to sneak away. "Not so fast," Maddy said in a harsh tone. "Look! It's Sunshine, the teacher's pet! How dare you... how dare you do that to poor Arula! She hasn't done anything to you. In fact, you should be grateful to her, to all of us. Have you already forgotten how we all let you live here in Manorsfield after your own parents abandoned you? And this is how you repay us? Girls, I'm afraid that this ray of sunshine has been getting out of control. I think it's time to remind her of her place," Maddy's voice was coated with sugar, but her eyes blazed with venom. Maddy was Arula's biggest fan, constantly sticking up for and helping Arula. Blue eyes met cold murky eyes. For

the first time, Sunshine actually felt fear. She might actually hurt me. Arula never would have the guts, but Maddy does. When her eyes had met Maddy's she had seen no kindness, no soul in the bottomless pits. Trying to dash off, she quickly discovered she had been surrounded. "Time for payback. You know what to do," The voice contained only one emotion, pure hatred as the other girls stepped closer. Glancing around, the skinny young girl discovered that she was surrounded by big girls, burly and muscular. Around the ring, nobody dared to step in and help, some even cheering for the beating of the poor child. Mother. Father. If you're somewhere up there, please help me. Tell me what to do. Prove to me that you haven't abandoned me. Please! Silently Sunshine prayed to her last hope, but received no response. Tears pricked her eyes as she silently awaited her doom. Then, the cold-hearted girls pounced.

"Stop!" A clear voice resonated throughout the hallway. Maddy froze mid punch and spun around to meet the defender.

"How dare you..." Her words broke off abruptly as she absorbed the boy's appearance. Dark, mysterious eyes met the girl's straight on without a single drop of fear. Muscles lined every inch of his agile body as he stood relaxed.

"So you're new here," She walked over flirtatiously and grinned. "Want me to show you around? I like you, you're nice and handsome... and muscular too," Maddy commented seductively.

Rolling his eyes, he said, "You were about to hurt another person."

"Who, her? Don't mind her, she's a pain in the behind. Doesn't belong here, never will," Maddy replied dismissively, "So do you want me to show you around?" Maddy began to circle the boy, observing him silently.

"You were about to hurt an innocent, poor girl," The boy replied again refusing to back down.

"Innocent, innocent? She's as innocent as a robber caught red-handed. Do you have any idea what she did? She pushed a girl down the stairs for no reason. She just did it because she wanted to bully the poor girl who now has a broken leg. Do you call that innocent?" Maddy's voice began to rise indignantly.

"You know, bullying is a reason. You just contradicted yourself. Anyway, do you have any proof that she did it?" He replied smoothly without missing a beat.

"I... I... well they got in a fight this morning. Who else would push poor Arula down the stairs?" Maddy replied defensively, her eyes flashing. By that time both teens were facing each other, and everybody around them had gone dead silent in anticipation.

"Have you ever heard of the term 'tripping' before? Seeing the fact that it appears you haven't I'll explain," As he spoke, he made quotation marks in the air with his fingers causing laughter to erupt within the hallway. Maddy face became red as she stood flushed. Sunshine stared at the boy silently pleading for him to stop, not for herself or the boy but for Maddy. Sadly, her silent plea failed and the boy recklessly carried on.

"Tripping, you see, is when you are walking and your foot accidentally get caught on something, or you're distracted, causing you to lose your balance and fall. As shocking as it may be, it happens to everyone. Do I need to explain what the word distracted means as well?" His soft voice was sincere, though his eyes sparkled with laughter.

"No you don't! I know what tripping and distracted means!" The laugher swelled tremendously, as Maddy's face was quickly turning redder than a tomato. The boy held his hands up in mock surrender.

"No need to be feisty, I was just explaining,"

"You were trying to humiliate me. How dare you suddenly come striding in and acting like you're the king of this school!" Maddy practically screamed at the boy.

"Never said I was. Plus, you seemed to have a very limited vocabulary, constantly repeating the term 'how dare you'. Seeing you were constantly repeating the same words, I assumed that your vocabulary wasn't that broad. Sorry for assuming wrong," Glancing at Maddy, he held a look of sincerity as he apologized. All of a sudden, Maddy couldn't take the humiliation anymore. To her embarrassment, tears began to flow down her cheeks, and she ran off sobbing. Sunshine stared at the girl with a look of empathy in her eyes. Poor thing, maybe I should have stood up for her. It's not her fault anyway. Slowly the drama began to fade away and the other students began to wander off to their classes. it wasn't long before all that was left was the boy and Sunshine.

"You okay?" The boy asked.

"I'm fine. Thanks for standing up for me," She glanced down at her shoes as she quietly spoke again, "Wasn't that a bit harsh? I mean, you could've been slightly more compassionate," Brown eyes flashed in surprise.

"They were about to beat you up, and you still stand up for them? Or at least her?" He asked shocked.

"I know, but everybody deserves compassion. She can't help herself, it's not her fault. There's more to her than you realize. You shouldn't judge people on the spot. It's not fair to them," The previously timid girl stood up meeting him squarely in the eye. "And you can't hurt me, so don't even try."

"I was judging her on her actions. I stood up for you. Shouldn't you be grateful?"

"I am grateful, but it doesn't mean I like you or trust you." Saying that, she spun around on her heel and heading to class.

After striding down the long empty hallway, Sunshine finally reached her class. Staring at Maddy's empty desk, a feeling of worry seeped into her bones. Sighing, she raised her hand and asked to go to the bathroom. Walking down the barren corridor, a sudden pang of loneliness stung her heart. Sometimes, she couldn't helping wishing she was someone else, like Maddy or Arula. Its not fair how the villains always seem to end up happy and popular, and the good kids like me always end up shoved in the back. Still, maybe if I was more trusting, or nicer to that boy, he would have ended up my friend. But, I can't help who I am, especially what happened all those years ago. Not everybody is like him, but still as the old saying goes better safe than sorry. For once, I'm starting to think it's wrong, is this loneliness worth being safe? Well, it's too late now. Nobody will ever care for me, that boy may have that time, but now I've ruined all my chances. A few drops of water formed in her eyes at the knowledge that she would always be alone and nobody would ever care for her, but she quickly blinked them away. Looking up, she found herself in front of the most commonly used bathroom. For a moment, she doubted her decision, but then pushed the old door open, wincing as the door moaned. The sound of sobbing filled the once still air. Sneaking inside, she found a disheveled girl sitting on the floor. Her eyes were red and puffy as cries racked her body.

"Maddy," she said making her presence known. Maddy jumped up and spun around quickly to face her.

"What do you want?" Her voice was hoarse from crying. "Fine, you win," Maddy hiccuped as she continued speaking, "Go on and gloat." The voice slowly emptied from emotion, as she turned her head away.

"I didn't come to gloat. I'm sorry about what happened," her voice was calm and quiet showing no emotion like a stone. Still, Maddy refused to believe or look at her.

"Yeah, right, you just came to brag. If you didn't, then go away. I don't want your pity." her raw voice cracked as she broke down once more. Instead of leaving, Sunshine settled down besides Maddy. For a few moments, she sat in silence as Maddy attempted to compose herself.

"It's okay. Everything will work out in the end, for the better." Before Sunshine even knew what she was doing, she found her arms wrapped tightly around Maddy. Shocked, the 15-year-old girl's sobs were abruptly cut off. "I know everything feels dark and grim right now. I know how it feels, but everything will get better and work out in the end. I promise." Maddy stared at her with wide eyes. For a single moment, she was back to being a young, vulnerable six-year-old, but then her eyes hardened. She pulled away harshly.

"Everything will be fine? Oh really, everything has worked out just fine for me. You've just come to ruin my life again, haven't you? Why do you feel the need so badly to destroy my life? What have I done to you?" she whispered.

"I..." Sunshine started, but then was cut off.

"You knew how much my parents meant to me at the time. You knew how much they meant to me. You knew. It was my dream, my one life goal, and you destroyed it. You took away everything, EVERYTHING, I held dear to my heart. Don't you understand how much I wanted it, wanted the happily ever after? I would've done anything, anything, and you destroyed all my chances, and now you come along and humiliate me as well? When you first came here, I was your friend, when nobody else was. I was there for you. I didn't do anything to you! Why, why do you do this to me?"

"They were hurting you. I thought, I thought that it would be best‒"

"You have no idea what's best for me. I would've run away if it would have given them happiness. I would have killed myself if it was necessary. I would've done everything. They were my world. They were everything!" her voice cracked as she nearly yelled at Sunshine.

"I didn't know."

"I didn't know," she said mockingly, "well that can't bring my parents back now can it? You ruined my life, you know."

"Your life isn't ruined. Don't you realize, you deserve to live. You have friends, people who care about you. Your parents were idiots for not realizing how special you are and driving you to think you should kill yourself just to give them happiness. Maddy, I know it's hard, but you have to get over your parents. They're in the past, and you're in the present."

"SHUT UP! STOP TALKING ABOUT MY PARENTS LIKE THAT!" she screamed. "My parents had every right to live happily ever after."

"And so do you. They were ruining your own chance. Don't you realize that?" Maddy looked down at her feet, suddenly exhaustion weighed down her bones.

"If my own parents can't even get along, achieve moderate happiness, then how could I? I'm just a piece of trash, useless. How would I ever end up with a happy life?" her voice was quiet, almost thoughtful.

"It's not true. Your parents were just mad at the times that they said it. It's not true. You're so much more than that. So much more."

"But how do you know? They always would say that."

"Would a piece of trash have gotten all the way to tenth grade with all 100s? Would a piece of trash still care for her parents even after they hurt her? You're kind, caring, generous, and so much more. Your worth is priceless."

"Are you sure?" Maddy asked, finally succumbing to defeat.

"I'm positive. Everything will end up fine for you. Everything will work out."

"Pinky promise?" Her voice was quiet but pleading. She held out her pale pinky, and Sunshine quickly joined it with her own.

"Pinky promise," Sunshine confirmed. Maddy grinned a small watery grin at Sunshine for a moment, but then disappeared an instant later. "We should get back to class," Sunshine commented, seeing that Maddy would be alright.

"This doesn't mean I'm going to be nice to you now," Maddy replied quickly.

"I know, and I'm really sorry, for everything," Sunshine knew in her heart, that what she did for Maddy now could never truly make up for what happened all those years ago. Getting up, Sunshine held out her hand to Maddy, enjoying the last moment of peace between the two girls. Maddy took her hand in and was hauled up by Sunshine. They held on a single moment longer, and then let go of each other. Nodding at each other, Maddy and Sunshine walked their separate ways. In a single moment, the friendship between the girls dissipated as though it never existed.