Our biology project was to do some research on the animals that had gone extinct as well as those that were likely to go extinct in the near future and write a 700 word report on it. 

I didn't find the topic really interesting. I mean, if the animals were extinct, why bother about them? Couldn't we just forget about them? 

Anyway, as soon as the final bell rang, I made my way to the library and sat way at the back, waiting for Caleb. He sure was late. 

He came after about fifteen minutes. He almost ran from the doorway to the table I was sitting at. 

'Hey Ash! Sorry, I had to meet up with Stace and tell her that I wasn't gonna be able to drop her home. She was kinda mad. ' He explained. 

He looked tired. It must have been a draining conversation. Not that he looked energetic before. The thing that was going on in his relationship really had him down in the dumps. 

'Oh. No problem but I need to go as soon as possible, so we should get started. 'I said. I didn't really care that he was late. Besides, it wasn't even that late. 

'Yeah, okay 'he said. 

' I got some books from cupboard D-3. We should check them out first and then proceed. ' I said. 

'Yeah. '

So we began with the project. We first started gathering names of the extinct animals and then we were planning on gathering information on them. 

'Passenger pigeons, dodos,.... Wow, there are many, ' I was kinda shocked I must say. I never really paid much attention to things like that. I never knew that so many animals just don't exist anymore. 

We continued searching for information for the next hour or so, until I got a call from the cafe. We winded up quickly and I left for the cafe. So, all in all, school wasn't so bad today. I got to see Caleb longer than usual. That's creepy, I know. 

Once I reached the cafe, I started my shift quickly and was in quite a good mood. I think I might be in one, for the next couple of days. The whole time I was thinking about our time together in the library and how I couldn't wait for tomorrow to come. 

The weather was the same as it was in the morning. It seemed pretty unpredictable. 

I had just one shift at the bar and returned home early. This was the first time in a long time that I had got home at around midnight. Well, I had to. I was getting so distracted that the bar owner thought I might not be feeling well. Anyway, I went to bed and got some much needed rest. I could finally sleep without any nightmares. 

As I woke up the next morning, I was in a good mood, just as I had anticipated.

'Morning Nicole.' I said, in a sort of lively voice. 

'Morning Ash, you seem to be in a good mood today. ' she said, sensing it immediately. It was definitely a big change for me. Normally, I was pretty gloomy. Of course I tried my best to be a little cheerful at the cafe but that was about it. And even though the three of us weren't that close, a change like that was easily noticeable on me. 

I mumbled something about having a great time last night to make it sound normal. I didn't want Nicole, Wren or Vi  to know about K and me being project partners. Speaking of, where was Wren? I asked Nicole. 

'She went to pick on Nora. I can't even imagine those two as cousins.' She said with a shake of her head. 

'She's back?' I asked, surprised. How come no one was talking or rather gossiping about it? Usually news like that spreads like wildfire. That’s probably  the reason Vi decided to skip today. Guess I’m the only one that doesn’t know.

'Oh, yes. She returned yesterday and started coming to school. ' said Nicole, like it was the most obvious thing.

That girl hated Vi even more than Stacey. And incidentally she was Stacey's best friend. She might or might not have a thing for me. I don't really want to find out.

‘That girl pisses me off.’ 

I looked over at Preston as he got into step beside me. I never really understood his hatred towards her. 

‘What did she ever do to you?’ 

‘You wouldn’t understand,’ he said, looking away. I couldn’t care less.

Anyways, I had math and sat somewhere behind Caleb and obviously wouldn’t be able to pay attention to the subject. I absolutely hated it. I mean I didn't fail or anything, I always ended up getting low marks. And the teacher we had was annoying as hell. He made it a point to lecture us about values and all those kinds of things I was totally uninterested in, at the beginning of every lecture he took. 

As I entered the class, I noticed that Caleb's seat was empty.

Hmm. 

He must be with Stacey. Seriously, what did they do all the time ? I get really annoyed. I would probably rub the whole, Caleb being my bio project partner thing, in her face if I could, but what would be the point? 

Caleb entered a little while later. He seemed upset. Probably the usual stuff that’s going on. I thought they would have solved whatever problem they had, but I guess it’s more serious than I thought.

The class went on as usual. Our math teacher was going on about some formula used for something, to which, of course, I was not paying attention to. 

The rest of the day was the same as usual. Well, except for the English lecture. Caleb was the same since morning. He wasn't paying attention either. The teacher had asked him to come forward and read what she had done and he had no clue what she was talking about. He just told the teacher he wasn't feeling very well, to get out of detention. He was a good student so the teacher excused him. If it were me, I wouldn’t be able to escape detention so easily. 

Caleb had even stopped going for basketball practices these last few days, which was highly unusual for him. He seemed really stressed out lately. I really wished I could help him out, but I was not sure I would know how to.

After school, I went to the library and waited for him. I thought he wouldn't come but surprisingly he did. I was glad he came. 

As we were doing our work I tried to strike a conversation with him. 

'So K, you don't seem like yourself today. Is there something wrong? ' I tried to sound as casual as I could, although I was genuinely concerned. I wanted to at least try to be of some help.

'Huh? No, of course not. What would be wrong? '

He fake laughed. You could clearly see that he was lying. I wasn’t going to fall for that. 

'Uh, what about you and Stacey? Something doesn’t seem right. The whole school’s been gossiping about it.’ 

He seemed to look at me before answering. Well, most of the school knew I wasn't into gossip so he was probably wondering why I was asking. 

He sighed. 

'I'm not trying to pry or anything. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I was just worried.' 

I had whispered the last part but he seemed to have heard. And he looked confused. But he answered anyway. 

'Well, things... aren't going... very smoothly with Stace and me. '

'Oh... ' 

'I really don't want to talk about it. ' He said. 

'Sure.'

' I know we'll work things out somehow. I love her. I'll do whatever it takes.' 

That really hurt. I could feel that jealousy boiling up again. I was feeling really masochistic. It was like his answer was a dagger that pierced my heart. 

'Why? What exactly do you love about her? ' I tried to keep the frustration out of my voice. 

'That's easy. Everything. I love everything about her. She's one of the only nice girls left.'

Yep. He probably wouldn’t even consider a guy, would he?

'What about her? Does she still feel the same way about you? ' I asked. I had noticed that Stacey had begun keeping some distance between them. She wasn’t as clingy as she was before and she hung around her friends more than she did with Caleb. 

'Of course she still feels the same. But I don't know. Lately she's been all secretive and stuff. ' He seemed unsure. There seemed to be a conflict going on in his head and I could see it on his face as clear as day. 

'Do you think she's hiding something from you? ' I asked. She probably was. I’d seen a guilty look on her face once when she was looking at him. I wondered what she was hiding.

'Maybe. But she tells me everything. I just don't understand. ' he paused for a while and then continued, 'You've never been in a relationship, have you? ' he asked.

'Nope. But I know what's supposed to happen. Fights happen in every relationship. You both will find a way out of this mess if you really want to. ' I tried my best to make him feel better. 

'I hope so. ' He said this with a smile and I smiled back. I think we're gonna be fine. 

I only wished for him to be happy and if it was with Stacey, so be it. I would support him like I did today. 

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