Happy Friday from Australia! Where are you all in this vast world?

Last chapter we got even more voters! Thank you so much to all of you who did (and those of you who are just passively reading in the background).

Shout out to my voters from last chapter: @NinaGlow5 @kjlawler @themckenziefrenzy @Roseanncharn123 @amiva0402 @blairriskool @jueka1 @nupursachdeva_11

And also shoutout to commenters: @WHATWASTHEREASON1234 @jueka1

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"Do we know what this is about?" I asked Ria as I joined her in the masses waiting to be called into the gym. An impromptu assembly had been called and they were setting up chairs inside, which meant, whatever it was, it was serious.

Ria shook her cute purple-haired head at me. "Maybe someone was caught smoking at the skatepark again?" she offered.

Shrugging, I threw my arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to me.

"Jojo," she giggled, "People are watching."

"Let them watch! In fact, let's give them a show!" Arm snaking around her hip, I pulled her body up against mine. Slowly leaning in, I tried my best to build up the anticipation, thriving in the little crease forming between her brows because I wasn't kissing her yet.

But before I even got to close the final space, we were suddenly bumped apart. Ria was out of my grip, on the floor.

"Oh, shit. Sorry," the black- and red-haired girl on the floor next to her cussed. "Some boys over there were being absolute wankers and nudged me into you. Are you okay?" Her voice was thick with British inflections, eyes locked on Ria.

When Ria's gaze lifted, meeting the stranger's, the look in her eyes caused my stomach to tense up. "It's alright. I'm fine," Ria replied, grinning at her.

To be fair, I knew why Ria was gawking at her like that. She had an emo-esque beauty to her. Top layer of hair dyed jet-black, her bottom layer saw peeks of crimson popping through. Eyeliner thick and winged out, her ghostly skin was a stark contrast. Her aesthetic was just like Ria's.

At once, I snapped out of my all-consuming jealousy spiral and rushed to my girlfriend's aid, helping her to her feet. But without so much of a thanks, she turned to the girl on the ground and helped her to her feet. "I don't think I've seen you before," Ria said, eyes still locked on her.

I went to reach for her hand, to make a statement, but Ria flinched away from my touch, and my heart sank even more.

"I've been here for two years already. I just tend to hide in the library most of the time. Not a people person," she said back, tucking her hair behind her ear to reveal a plethora of piercings.

"Oh my gosh," Ria exclaimed, stepping forward. "Is that a trident?" Her head was way too close to the stranger for my liking, inspecting the way the metal was pierced through her flesh.

With a short laugh, the girl said, "Yeah. Got it a couple months ago to my mum's dismay."

"Wicked! I should totally get one." Thankfully, Ria finally took a step back. "What grade are you in?"

"Ten. You?"

"Eleven. As is Jojo," Ria said, finally glancing back at me.

When the stranger's brown eyes met mine, I gave her a weak grin, but my stomach still churned. It wasn't like me to be this shy. But Ria and I had only been together a month and I was waiting for her to realise I wasn't cool enough for her. For her to finally ditch me.

"Jojo," the stranger whispered. "You're that Cory guy's sister, right?"

That pulled me from any emotions I was currently in the throes of. Taking a slight step back, eyes wide with alarm, I mumbled a hesitant, "Yeah?"

"The fact that your brother knocked that chick up was all my peers could talk about when I moved here." She barked a laugh. "It was quite a shock from what I'm used to back home..." But she trailed off, eyes glazing over.

"Um... are you okay?" I pressed, not liking the look in her eyes.

"Yeah. Just realising that back home isn't really home anymore. This is." She heaved a sigh.

"Why'd you move?"

"Parents divorced." 

I nodded. While dad left before I could remember, I knew how weird it could be without both parents at home.

"Though apparently single parents is the norm at this school, so I'm getting used to that reality."

"What's your name?" Ria pressed.

"Oh, sorry. I'm Zara. And you're Jojo," she said to me, "But you are..."

"Ria."

She smiled at the both of us.

Then, to my utter delight, Ria's hand found mine in the small space between us. "We're dating," she told Zara.

My heart sighed in relief as I gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"Oh that's lovely," Zara said, seeming to mean it. Most of our peers still gawked at us as the only girls out as gay in our cohort.

"You should hang with us at lunch," Ria offered. "We promise to not make you feel like a third wheel or anything. We generally hang out in the music block."

"Ria's amazing at guitar," I added.

A warm smile spreading across her face, Zara nodded. "I'd really like that."

Before we could say anything further though, the doors swung open and the teachers began ushering us inside.

My favourite part about Cory having moved out of home was that, after school, the house was all mine. I could strip out of my uniform, pump the music, and dance around the house while I assembled an afternoon snack. Mum didn't get home until late in the evening, especially these days now that she had a case. Being a lawyer meant frequently changing schedules.

At first after Cory moved out, I felt a little lonely without him to pick on. But as time went on and I figured out a way to make the empty house seem less quiet, that hole in me filled up and now I relished in the peace and quiet.

Still high on Ria's kiss this afternoon after I got off the bus, I ran across the lawn, barely glancing at the driveway as I opened the front door. Hand coming to my pants, I got ready to strip down.

Throwing the door open, I walked through the foyer just past the living room, edging my pants down slightly with each step. But then I paused.

Eyes wide, hands gripping the waistband of my pants, I slowly turned my head to meet Cory's similarly alarmed gaze. He was sitting on the couch, TV now on mute.

"Um... what on earth are you doing?" he questioned.

"Er... Changing," I responded, feeling the blood rising to my head. "Why are you here?"

Morose flashed through his eyes as he turned his gaze back to the TV. "I'm moving back in for a while."

As I refastened my pants, I spotted the suitcase at the edge of the stairs, my heart flickering with pain for my brother. "Why?" I asked. "Where's Lily?"

"We are... we are taking a break," he barely made audible as I sat down on the couch next to him.

"Are the babies—"

"They're fine. It's just us."

"Why?" I was always sure Cory and Lily would find a way to make things work. Because no matter what life had thrown at them, they always had each other. The past year and a half had shown me that love does work out if you try hard enough. Seeing mum alone with endless heartbreaks and Cory's escapades with women before Lily came into the picture had me wondering if love was a myth.

How was I suppose to believe in my chances with Ria if Cory and Lily weren't going to work out in the end? If not even they could make make a relationship work?

"Cory, why?" I pressed after he didn't respond and continued to rub his finger nervously on the remote.

But as he finally spoke, I realised why he hadn't said anything. "She met someone else," he croaked. I had rarely ever seen my brother cry. I couldn't even remember if he had ever been this distraught in front of me. His eyes had sunken in, bags casting shadows underneath as though he hadn't slept properly in a while.

I threw my arms around him, pulling his head to my shoulder.

Arms weaving around me, he let out a sob, hands clutching at my shirt and the fabric began to moisten from his tears.

Cory never cried like this.

I didn't know how to counsel him. How does one tell their brother things will work out? How can they work out? Lily and Cory were going to have two kids together...

"So you two broke up?" I asked when the sobbing subsided and he pulled back, wiping his face.

He gave me a little shrug. "I have no clue. But every time we talk these days we fight. Even when I told her we should take a break to figure out what we want, we just threw accusations at each other. If we can't communicate, how can we ever make this last? If she can't stand looking at me, what chance to I have at winning her back?" He went to sob again, but my sudden movement into an upright position stopped him.

"Winning her back? You want to win her back?"

He nodded, bottom lip quivering, the water in his eyes mixing with the blue.

"But you said she met someone else?"

Another nod.

"Did she cheat on you?" I whispered.

"She... kissed him. Probably more than once. I don't know if they've done more than that..."

"So she did cheat on you."

"That's... it was a kiss... but—"

"Cory."

"Yes... she cheated."

I shook my head, feeling a spark of rage for her. I called her my family. I asked her to sit at our table while I came out. "Why should you win her back?"

"What? Because I love—"

"She should be trying to win you back. Otherwise, you should be moving on."

"It's not that simple, Jojo."

"Why did you decide to take a break?"

Breathing a shaky breath before he spoke, he said, "Because I want her to think about whether she really wants to be with me for me and not just the kids."

"And you want to be with her because?"

"Because I love—"

"Cory. Really. What is it about Lily?"

"She ah..." He sighed, hand running through his dark hair as he looked to his lap. "The way she smiles when she dances around the living room at night when she thinks I'm not looking warms my heart. The fact that she's normally so clear cut on what she wants and will stop at nothing to achieve it. The way she looks at me despite all the things I've done and still says she loves me."

"And how much of that has she shown lately?"

He didn't respond this time.

"I think if she wants you, you need to make her work for it. You deserve better than that. If she messed up, make her work harder. Because, to me, it sounds like the Lily you love may be gone and she needs to work on bringing her back or showing you the current Lily wants you. You sure as hell always had to go out of your way to make it up to her when you were in school."

"I was actually sleeping with other people," he mumbled, but I could tell he knew I was right.

"She's so lucky she's pregnant. Otherwise I'd introduce her to my rocks again."

Brows coming together, he turned to look at me, confused.

"Introduce her to them when they collide with her face."

"Jojo..." He tried to be serious, but the corners of his lips turned up as he breathed a laugh. "What am I going to do with you, sis?"

"No, Cory. The question is... what are we going to do with you?"

"Is that really the question?"

"I don't know. I was trying to sound wise."

We sat in silence for a while, the movie he was watching still running in the background on mute. But then he asked, "Why were you taking your pants off?"

"Cory!" mum exclaimed when she walked in the door that evening to find us still on the couch watching a movie. But then her eyes spotted the suitcase.

Calmer with her, he went through the charade of explaining what had happened and how he was moving home for the time being. And then he got to work with mum assembling dinner.

With the big question of Cory's presence at home out of the way, mum turned to me.

"So how was school, Josephine?"

Rolling my eyes, I said, "What have I said about calling me by my full name?"

Mum smirked, a satisfied gleam to her eyes like she knew I'd respond with this.

"It was good and bad."

"Elaborate, please."

"Good because I made a new friend. Her name is Zara. I'm ninety-nine percent sure I will be calling her Zar-zu from now on."

Both Cory and mum smiled at me for that comment.

"Bad because we had an assembly for someone who died."

Eyes wide, mum put her fork down. "Died?" she exclaimed.

"Year above. I didn't know her."

"You'd think the school would—"

"When was the last time you checked your home use emails and not your work one, mum?" I countered.

"True..."

Cory didn't say much as mum and I went back and forth, but his eyes continued to dart between us. A part of me wondered as the corners of his lips turned up and he looked at us fondly if he missed being home. Or perhaps if he just missed having a sense of family... If Lily hadn't been providing that for him.

The goal of these upcoming chapters is to show Lily and Cory's lives as they move on beyond their 'separation', but also create some mystery as to what either of them are exactly thinking about their relationship. So I hope you enjoy hearing from characters we don't normally hear from for the time being.

More importantly, a couple of references in this chapter to other books. 

Want to know more about the assembly for the person who died? Read Fighting for April to know more (updating Wednesdays and Sundays)

Want to hear more about the friendship of Jojo, Ria, and Zara? Read 31 Days of Christmas, which is from Zara's perspective*.

*Synopsis, cover, and ability to add to your reading list coming 1st of November. New chapter coming every day of December.