I did not, in fact, wake up for dinner. I slept clean past it until about ten o'clock and neither my Mom nor Dad were too kind to wake me. It was dark outside and my stomach was cramping with hunger. Getting up I padded quietly down the stairs and dug through the fridge for something to eat. There wasn't much so I settled for a cold slice of pizza.

It wasn't the best thing to eat but it worked. Going back to my room I finished the pizza slice and was about to go back to bed when I saw a faint glow from outside my window. Curious I stood and made my way over. Peeking  out through the curtain I saw the headlights of a truck burning the dark night away.

It took a moment for my eyes to adjust but soon I could depict a figure or two. One of them got out of the car from the passenger side. They seemed angry agitated too. Their steps were quick as they walked down the sidewalk. The driver stopped the car and their door was tossed open angrily. They too seemed rather upset.

The two ensued in a heated conversation gestures stiff and violent. The larger figure stepped closer and closer to the smaller and I flinched upon seeing them lash out. The smaller of the two toppled to the ground easily. The attacker climbed back in the car and sped away quickly bathing the scene back in black.

Closing the curtain I paused for a moment before bounding down the stairs as soft as possible and grabbing my coat. Pulling it on I padded outside barefoot despite the cool nip of the air. I couldn't see very well but I walked towards where I had seen the events take place.

Whoever it was that had been hit stumbled to their feet holding their face looking extremely out of it. Approaching cautiously I steadied them. But as I got closer a horrible realization came over me.

"Layla?" I breathed. Her eyes widened and she jerked away from me quickly. "No, don't, you're hurt."

"How much did you see?" She demanded.

"All of it. From my window." I admitted. She let out a string of curses and as she spoke I could hear the bitterness and pain in her voice. "Are you okay?"

"Like hell I'm okay! That asshole just punched me, dumb ass!" She yelled and under the moon light I could see tears drawing at the edges of her eyes.

"Sorry." My voice was quiet and uncertain. I didn't know what to expect from anyone anymore.

"Don't be. It's not your fault." Layla growled and without thinking I tilted her head towards me to examine the punch area. Even in the dark I could tell her cheek had swollen considerably.

"Come on. You're coming home with me. I'll fix you up." I sighed, starting to drag her towards my front door.

"No!" Layla pulled away from my grip.

"Why not? You clearly can't go home like that; you're stumbling like crazy." I argued.

She bit her lip in contemplation. "Is Meg there?"

"No, she's not, she's at home. We got in a bit of a fight this morning. I'll be surprised to hear from her. At least for a little while anyways. " Layla seemed to process my words over and over again in her head before she sighed in consent. She followed me up the steps to my house and through the front door.

She walked up the stairs a little wobbly but managed to not fall down. I directed her into the adjoining bathroom of mine and she sat on the counter. In the light the wound looked much worse. It had already bruised a nasty pink and yellow color making a large egg sized welt on her cheek.

"It's bad isn't it?" She asked touching it gingerly.

"I can't lie it is a bit ugly." I admitted digging around for medical supplies.

"Great." Layla groaned and rested her head back against the mirror.

"Here." I handed her some pain meds and opened up a small packet of numbing salve my dad had always made sure we had enough of for our sore muscles after a long day's work at the shop.

"Gross that smells horrible." Layla said her nose scrunching up as I opened it the scent wafting up into the air. "I am not putting that on my face."

"Too bad." I said placing some on my fingers and gently rubbing it on over the wound. She winced her brow furrowing in pain. "Alright there. Give it a bit to kick in. I'll get some ice."

Layla nodded as I headed back downstairs and grabbed a bag of frozen peas carrying them back up to her. She took them and pressed them lightly against her face. "Thanks."

"Yeah of course." I breathed winded from the stair repeats I seemed to be doing.

An awkward silence ensued for a moment. Layla avoided all eye contact with me and I stood awkwardly waiting for her to finish icing her face. At last I broke the silence trying to make small talk.

"So did you go to the game? On Friday?" I asked sitting across from her on the edge of the tub.

"Yeah it was pretty intense. I saw you try to talk to James." Layla said, smiling a bit. "I feel kind of bad for him."

"Yeah, me too. It wasn't like it was his fault. I mean, after hearing about the last water boy." I shook my head letting out a low whistle.

"Yeah I know. And then Ashton was such an ass." Layla said bitterly.

"He was, flipping James off like that? I went to try and talk to James this morning but he wasn't there, I had a run in with Max and Ashton though." Layla's eyes narrowed.

"Max?" Her voice was a border line sneer.

"Yeah she's sort of...bitchy now." I frowned. Layla laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Of course she is. She's the head cheer leader, typical stereotype." Layla said, "but that's not all of it. Ever since her Daddy got money she's ruled everything."

"Yeah. Though, Ashton seemed nice when I talked to him. Like he wouldn't be that rude to James." I shrugged.

"They're both two faced idiots. Besides, Ashton was probably surprised to see you- let alone the fact that you're still innocent of everything that happened." Layla said, her voice full of venom.

"Okay, yeah, I get it. I left and now I have to suffer with the fact that something happened between all of you and no one will tell me." I snapped, not meaning to get angry, but honestly they talked about it like I should have already known everything.

"No, I'll tell you." She said looking me dead in the eye. "I'm not afraid to tell you what happened. The others are. James and Meg they don't want you to know because they don't want you to pity them. Ashton and Max , they don't want you to know because they don't want you to hate them."

"And what about you?" I asked. A thin smile played at her lips.

"Me? Well I'm the idiot who's going to tell you."

I was a bit surprised that Layla of all people would explain what happened not after Meg and even Max said she wasn't to be listened to.

"It started at a party. Four years after you left." Layla began. "Meg had left for a year but came back. She seemed better at first but the more I hung out with her the more I realized she was losing it."

"What do you mean?" I interrupted.

"She started hanging out with those two losers she sits with at lunch. Started smoking, drinking, James and I -we called her on it. She didn't like it but she stopped and got help." Layla sighed. "On the other hand, Max had just gotten that big mansion of hers and was looking to throw a party. Ashton was obsessed with fitting in on the football team."

"But he's always fit in well." I pointed out. Layla nodded in agreement.

"That didn't stop him from turning into the total cliché asshole. He started to neglect James. Poke fun at him, generally horrible, steal his things, break them, his grades dropped, he got kicked out of school more than once. It was a deadly combination him and Max planning a party." Layla paused and set the peas on the counter. "Nevertheless we all went to the party, our group was already splitting. We weren't going to be friends much longer but this was, this was bad."

"What happened? I'm sure it wasn't as horrible as you say." I didn't want to believe that everything had fallen out from some little party.

"It was. James and I went together. Meg said she'd show up later. Max and Ashton were obviously already there. It was awkward. James and I hadn't talked much lately but we warmed up to each other again." Layla smiled slightly at the memory. "Neither of us knew why we were going but we did. Once we got their though it was like any party. Heavy drinking, tons of people, overall chaos and confusion."

"I can imagine." I laughed.

"James stayed on the outskirts of things. Me on the other hand, I went to find Max." Layla bit her lip and looked down. "We'd grown distant and I thought I could repair the tear. But in my desperation to make things better I did what she thought I wouldn't. I got drunk."

"Layla." My voice was hardy above a whisper. Layla was sensible, it was something I couldn't see her doing.

"Yeah I know." Her voice cracked a bit. "But that wasn't all. Max had it bad. I'm not sure what she got into but she and Ashton both were worse than me. Meg showed up later and she was pissed beyond belief."

Even I hated Meg's wrath. It took a lot to make her angry, but when she was, it was a scary sight.

"She knocked the cup out of my hand and grabbed me by the arms. She was going to drag me out of their like some parent retrieving their kid." Layla laughed a bit. "But she saw Max and Ashton and the spark in her eye turned into a fire. See, Max had been spilling secrets about Meg all over the place. Nasty rumors, stories about her personal home life, and more."

"That's horrible. Everything Meg told us we agreed was confidential." Even I knew what Max had done was nearly unforgivable, and we had yet to get to the end of the story.

"Meg yelled at her-said she was being stupid and stuff. Max got mad really mad, and spouted off a whole bunch of things about Meg that seriously damage one's reputation." Layla shook her head. "Meg tried to drag Max out of the party as well, but Ashton snapped. He pushed her so hard she fell back and smacked her head on the counter. It was a bad noise. She was knocked clean out. James ended up calling the cops to break up the party. Ashton was taken into custody but Max bailed him out easily. Me? Well James drove me home. And Meg has blamed me for everything ever since because if she hadn't had to drag me out of there none of it would have happened."

"Did she get a concussion?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah, didn't go to school for about a week. Everyone thought it was because she was too scared to show her face in public after everything Max said. " Layla tossed me the bag of peas and I knew the conversation was drawing to a close. "Everything has been a disaster ever since."

I nodded unsure of what to say. Layla hopped off the counter and studied me. "If you want more details there's a video online. "

"Oh. Okay thanks." I smiled lightly and she returned it.

"And thanks for helping me." Layla added. "I'll walk home but if I need anything I'll text you. I still have your number."

"Okay, I'll walk you out." Standing up I followed her down the stairs to the front door. Opening it up carefully Layla stepped outside onto the front step. She was about to walk away when she turned to face me.

"Not a word about this okay?" She asked quietly.

"Okay. I just...can't believe everything has changed so much." Layla nodded and sighed.

"You haven't Rey." She pointed out.

"So I've been told." My smile was bitter.

"That just means you haven't been labeled yet." Layla smiled a genuine smile from when we were kids. "You're not the outcast, or the wimpy nerd, or the star jock. You're free to do what you want."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Easy Rey. You get to pick who you want to be. Now? You're just Reyna the nobody. But I know you, others don't." Layla started to back away. "Who are you gonna be? Who is Reyna McAllister?"

I watched as she walked away the words ringing in my head. Who was I? That I didn't know how to answer. I was Reyna. That's it, just me. But that felt empty, boring, almost. And as I walked up to bed I realized that I hadn't changed. Not just for those five years, but my whole life. It was a good thing, in a way, but it was because I lived in a box.

It was the same thing every day; I lived comfortably, but because of that I didn't even know myself. What did I like? What did I hate? The answers just weren't their. And for the first time I thought that maybe I needed to do something. Something for fun, something different.

Sure I'd gone to the game but had I really talked to anyone? No. I recalled this morning and the conversation Meg and I had. I was hanging onto the past too much. She and Layla were both right. I was Reyna the nobody. I wasn't sure I liked that.