Dad was waiting for me when I stepped into the store. He smiled and handed me the list of things that needed to be done.

"Thanks for helping out Rey it's nice having the extra hands." He smiled warmly at me.

"Of course, luckily I don't have a lot of homework today." I said taking the list and glancing over it. "And this doesn't seem to bad."

"Yeah I went easy on you today. Your mom might come by later to help and relieve you of your duties so you can get started on schoolwork." He said heading towards the back of the store. My Dad owned a hardware store so most of the work came from restocking the shelves and organizing things. It wasn't too bad honestly.

Tucking the list in my pocket I headed to the supplies closet and took stock. We needed a few more items on the shelves. Digging around in the boxes I pulled out a few drills and walked down the aisles putting them in their appropriate places. I marked off how many I took out of storage so we'd know when to get new ones.

After restocking everything I went out back behind the store where the spare lumber rested. Each day we had to cut new pieces of the appropriate size. Sadly our power saw had broken so we had to resort to a hand saw which made rougher cuts. There was a new one on the way and it should arrive tomorrow sometime.

Sighing I picked up a large beam and with a grunt carried it over to the cutting area. Grabbing my favorite saw, nick naming it Lucy, I began the long and painful process of cutting it. The other employees couldn't cut it in half the time I could. Then again I'd been doing it for a few years.

The sound of the saw blade grating on wood blocked out all other noise. Getting into a rhythm I zoned out between measuring and cutting until a dozen separate  piles lay stacked on the ground.

"I knew I'd find you here." A soft voice called breaking through the noise. Blowing a strand of hair out of my face I glanced up to see a friendly smile.

"James." Smiling I set the saw down. He laughed, his hands were tucked in his coat pockets, his hair was its usual neat mess, and he still had the kind and soft features of his face.

"Layla said she saw you today. I couldn't believe it." He said hugging me. Smiling I hugged him back. He was tall and lanky but he had a big heart. He was the teddy bear of our group the one who always made us feel better.

"Well here I am. " I laughed stepping back to look at him again. "What are you doing here?"

"I needed stuff for an engineering project and I thought the best place to go to would be here. You guys really do have the best prices in town." James said glancing about.

"Thanks." Smiling I set aside a piece of wood I'd cut. "So I heard you're the smartest kid in school."

James blushed his cheeks tinting a light pink. "Who told you that?"

"Meg." I said leaning on the work bench. A look of surprise came across James's face.

"Meghan?" He said shuffling his feet and looking down. "So you talked to her?"

"Yeah I also talked to Layla." I said kicking my feet as I sat.

"Well how is she?" James asked looking up. "Meg I mean."

"Okay from what I can tell. Still rowdy, skating around on her skateboard." I said smiling. James nodded.

"You heard about her parents didn't you?" He asked walking over and sitting next to me.

"Yeah they finally divorced." I said flatly. James sat there quietly for a moment.

"Yeah she didn't take it well." James sighed. "She went-"

"Off the deep end? Yeah that's what Layla said." My tone was a little sharp but I couldn't help it.

"No I was going to say she went and stayed at her aunt's house for about a year." James said looking at me funny. "Did Layla really tell you that?"

"Yeah." I nodded. James shook his head.

"Of course she did." He said brushing some wood dust off of my leg. "But anyways that's what happened. You left, then she left, and then things got weird."

"How so?" I questioned.

"Well Layla stopped hanging out with us as much. Max she kind of withdrew even more and then just one day became this queen bitch." James said standing up and collecting some of the piled wood. "Here I'll help you carry it inside."

"Thanks." Collecting an armful of my own I walked inside behind him and let the door slam shut behind us. Walking down the aisle to the lumber section I piled the wood up in its respective area then took James's and put it up as well. "So how's Ashton?"

"A dick." James said quickly and I figured it was on instinct. "Sorry."

"Don't be it's fine." I said reassuringly.

"It's just I don't know what happened. You were gone and Meg, and Layla abandoned us, then Max. I think he took it too hard. He got angry a lot and decided to do football in order to let his rage out." James explained as we walked back out slowly. "But he never was the same to me."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I should have checked in more. I was a terrible friend." Biting my lip I looked away and busied myself with collecting more of the cut wood.

"No you weren't. You had a life I get it. But the others." James shook his head. "It's like the world stopped spinning for them."

"Well I wouldn't blame them." I said dropping a piece. James quickly bent down and picked it up. Setting it back on top of the pile I was carrying. He walked over and held the door open for me. I smiled in thanks and he followed me inside. "I did kind of tell them I'd keep in touch and I never did. I can't help but feel like I'm the reason everything turned upside down."

"It was bound to happen anyways we were all so different." James said bitterly. "I mean Meg and Layla are polar opposites as it is , my brother and I are too . Max is just Max and then there's you."

"That makes me feel so much better." Laughing lightly we continued to work in silence until everything was sorted and in order.

"Oh hello James." My Dad smiled at him walking past with a can of paint in his hand.

"Hello sir!" James said chipperly.

"Rey I think you've done more than enough you can head home if you'd like." My Dad called back as he set the paint can up.

"Are you sure? I didn't finish the list." Pulling it out of my pocket I glanced at the things I had left to do.

"It's fine I'll get it taken care of." Nodding I set the list on the check out counter. James followed me out to my car.

"Oh I meant to ask you." James said stepping off the sidewalk with me. "Are you coming to the homecoming game?"

"Oh I don't know. When is it?" I asked opening the door to my car.

"This Friday." James said.

"How come I never heard about it?" James shrugged.

"You get in your own world sometimes." He smiled tucking his hands back in his pockets.

"Yeah I guess. I'll think about it." He nodded and started to walk away. "Do you need a ride?"

"No I'll be okay walking." James said and waved setting off across the parking lot and heading to the sidewalk. I sighed resting my head against the back of my seat.

"God everything is so messed up." My brain didn't know what to make of it. James seemed okay, he appeared to be like me, the only one who was still the same. Clicking my seat belt I turned the keys in the ignition. My car sputtered to life not exactly the best to be driving. It was old maybe six years or so and my mom had used it before me.

I drove home in silence too depressed to even blast music out of the speakers. The house was quiet and I assumed Mom was probably asleep early for once. Bounding up the stairs I went to my room and sighed turning on the lights.

"This universe is giving me a headache." Grumbling I slipped off my shoes and headed for the shower. If anything the warm water would make me forget my troubles or rather the troubles of my friends.

It in fact did not. It only made my head spin more. With a sigh I tried to focus on getting cleaned up. I ran my fingers through my knotted hair and stayed until the water became a biting cold.

Grabbing my towel I got out and walked into my room and nearly had a heart attack. "What the hell Meg what are you doing in my room?"

"What? I used to do this all the time." She said sitting on my bed and shrugging.

"We were like ten!" I said pulling my towel tighter around myself.

"Not my fault your window is easy to open." She argued tossing her arms and glancing at me. "I'm not gonna watch you get dressed I'm not a pervert."

"Just wait outside until I'm done." I sighed. Meg nodded and crawled back out onto the roof. "Good lord."

She used to have a bad habit of sneaking into my room all the time. It hadn't been a problem when we were younger but as we'd gotten older it became increasingly more annoying and inconvenient.

Pulling on my pajamas I poked my head out the window. "Alright captain pervert come back in."

Meg rolled her eyes and stepped into my room again. I sat on my bed tucking my knees up to my chest.

"Alright what did Layla want from you?" She asked sitting across from me criss cross apple sauce.

"She just wanted me to eat lunch with her tomorrow." I said telling a half truth. Meg's expression hardened. "I told her I was sitting with you already."

"What else did she say?" Meg asked and I knew she'd been able to tell I was half lying. Meg was good at reading people. To survive at her house though she had to be.

"She said that..." Meg studied my face carefully. "She said that you had fallen off the deep end."

"That bitch!" Meg said getting up and pacing. Her fists clenched causing her knuckles to turn white.

"Well..." I started to say.

"Well what?" Meg snapped.

"Is it true?" My voice was small and timid.

"Hell no! She has no idea what she's talking about!" Meg said and then looked at me with a hurt expression. "Why would you ask? Why would you believe her?"

"Because she's my friend too." I said getting defensive. "And a lot has obviously changed. I don't know what is and isn't true."

"You were my friend first." Meg retorted. "And I'm more credible because she's in the stupid theater department they tell tall tales all the time!"

"Well don't yell at me over it." I said back frowning. "I hate it when you yell."

Meg sighed pinching the bridge of her nose. She froze in place a hand resting on her hip. "Sorry. It's just..."

"Just what? You can talk to me without yelling you know." She nodded and turned to face me.

"It's fine really. It's not a big deal." A smile took over her face and it seemed genuine enough to me.

"Okay. But should I sit with her tomorrow? I don't want to say no. I mean we are friends."  I looked down playing with the hem of my night shirt.

"You can. I eat alone every day anyways." Meg said with a shrug. "It's no different than normal."

"Why don't you sit with people?" I asked.

"I tried. They don't want to sit with me." She swallowed hard and glanced outside. She never stayed long. Even as a kid.

"I saw James today." I said quietly. "He found me at my dad's work."

"Really? How is he?" Meg asked instantly forgetting her moment of anger.

"Good. He seems like the only one who's still really the same." I smiled. Meg nodded and glanced out the window. She was going to leave soon.

"I see him at school. He's pretty cordial with me. Sort of the only one who hasn't tossed me out." Meg inched towards the window.

"Yeah well he's always been the logical one." Meg laughed with me at that. James the guy who could be so sweet yet prove you wrong in an instant with his random spouted facts.

"Remember how he used to carry around that book of dinosaurs all the time for like a year?" Meg said smiling. She slowly drifted back towards my bed and for whatever reason she had originally wanted to leave she'd forgotten it.

"Yeah he practiced the pronunciations too. I mean what second grader says 'I'm sorry miss but that's a diplodocus.' And correct the teacher?" I smiled genuinely for the first time in what felt like forever.

"I know! He was always so brilliant I'm glad it's paying off. He's got a good shot to be valedictorian for when we graduate." Meg said rather proudly. She always boasted about our accomplishments to anyone and everyone. It was always adorable how proud she got when I or Layla etcetera got an A on a test. She never boasted about herself it was always us.

"Also James said there was a homecoming game this Friday. He was wondering if I was going to go." Meg tilted he head looking at me.

"I thought about going but I don't think it would be a good idea. At least for me. I stay away from social events." She glanced at the floor.

"Why? You used to love them!" Meg was the one who was always looking for a good time, everyone loved her, it was strange to see her as the outcast now.

"Long story." Meg sighed and stood up again this time crawling out the window.

"I have time." I said following her.

"Pleas you're just putting off your homework." Her eyes held an amused look and she was right. Always good at reading people.

"Fine maybe I'll see you tomorrow?" Meg nodded before hopping off the edge of my roof and running off again.

"I swear she's part cat." I mused to myself before pulling out my schoolwork. It was late as it was and as I worked my eyelids threatened to close.

Giving up I set my papers aside and curled up into a little ball beneath my covers. If Layla had changed at least I still had James. Good old James who stayed the same. And even Meg though she too was different. I still had Meg. That was all the comfort I needed to finally drift off to sleep.