I enter the pharmacy, greeting the watchman with a nod as he opens the door.

I walk down the aisles, unsure.

I grab my cell phone, seeing the person's name. I sigh, dialing the number, putting the cell phone in my ear, pleading with whoever it is that he doesn't answer me.

But he does. As always.

"Mr. Hill nice to greet you." the soft voice of my father's secretary greets me.

Mr. Jones has been my father's right-hand man for as long as I can remember, in the few memories of my childhood, his presence was always there. When I fell off my bike, when I took off the training wheels without authorization, when I failed my first subject because I forgot there was a test, or when my mother died.

He made sure everything was okay when my father couldn't be.

But still, at twenty-one years old, it feels weird to call him for something like this.

"Nice to say hello to you, too." I say, picturing him in his office, with lots of papers in front of him, staring at the picture of his family hanging on his wall. "I'm sorry I didn't call sooner." I start to apologize, but his light laughter interrupts me.

"Don't worry, your father has told me that classes are keeping you busy. I'm glad to hear it, although I must admit, I was a little short of sending someone to look for you." my body tenses at that.

"'Look for me'?"

"Yes, I find it fascinating how someone can go almost three months without using a penny of the bank account." he says and I close my eyes, relieved.

"I've started working, Mr. Jones, I've been trying to survive on that alone." I say, which is no lie.

Logging into my father's bank account means having to read my aunt's name on the account as well, and my nerves have been on edge, so adding that, wouldn't help.

At the moment all that comes out is from working with Silas, which is more than enough to live on just as well as under my father's guardianship.

The silence on the other end of the line tells me he's surprised by my words, but whether he likes or dislikes the idea he says nothing.

"To what do I owe your call?" he asks after a while.

I bite my lip trying to say the words without them sounding as strange as they do in my mind.

"I wanted to know what drinks or food would be best after being sick with fever." I say, I hear the movement of his chair on the other side, I can swear he's gotten up.

"Are you all right? I'll call the hospital immediately to send an ambulance and-"

"I'm fine, Mr. Jones," I say sighing. "It's not because of me."

"Oh." I hear him sit up, try to swallow my laughter as I imagine him relieved, running his hand through his tidy hair.

"A friend had a fever yesterday, I wanted to know what I could bring her." I say feeling the sound of my heart in my ears.

How pathetic, this conversation is pathetic.

"A friend?" I close my eyes, thankful I can't see his sneer on his face.

"A friend." I say dryly, looking at the pharmacy door, thinking I'd better leave and put the subject behind me.

His low chuckle makes me gasp for air. This was a bad fucking idea.

I frown at the sight of the crowded cafeteria. I had to hold back my comment about there being more germs in here than outside, but Luna insisted that Sophia not be exposed to the breeze today.

I walk to the table, guided by Luna's red hair, watching with mild discomfort in my chest the small distance between Asher and Sophia.

I sit down after placing a bottle of grape flavored serum in front of the black-haired girl. Her eyes go to mine, confusion dancing in her greenish eyes.

"You need to hydrate well after being sick." I say with a shrug, trying to shake the feeling that I'm pathetic out of my body.

Sophia rolls her eyes, but opens the bottle and takes a sip, trying not to make a funny face at the texture of it. A small smile leaves my lips.

I walk over to Luna, smiling at her to give me some of her food, the redhead snorts, but gives me a bite.

"I was thinking..." Sophia speaks, we all turn to look at her. I notice her shoulders are slightly tense, a nervous smile dances on her lips. I frown. "I saw on the news that this Sunday your mother is having an event with a new foundation, right?"

Now I'm the one tensing up, I turn to look at Oli, who seems surprised by Sophia's mention. I look at Sophia, trying to figure out what she's getting at.

Is she interested in Oli's mother now?

My head is spinning, with all the questions wanting to explode out of my mouth.

But I can't, not with Oli in front of me. Not when I'm still not sure what she wants.

"I was thinking if we get together at your house and make cookies, we can decorate them in the colors of the new foundation or have the logos printed. We could sell them at the event, and that way we raise money to help the foundation," she continues talking.

I watch as she ignores my surprised look, but my eyes go to Oli who seems happy that she is interested in something that involves her family. Because she's the only one who hasn't seemed really interested.

Oh Oli, she knows more than you think.

"I think it's an amazing idea." says the blond, Luna squeals with excitement, my mind travels back to the one day we've been to Oli's house, the day Sophia disappeared for a moment before almost running out of the house.

I try to join the conversation after that, listening as Luna and Sophia talk about the itinerary for an art department exhibition on Saturday.

For some reason, Sophia had managed to please one of the most demanding teachers in the department, gaining not only entry to extracurricular classes, but also the opportunity to be the assistant at events and some workshops.

The black-haired girl's eyes sparkled at the mention of the exhibition. Asher commented that she is quite a fan of art, but did not quite know the reason why she had not entered a career that involved something similar.