•Zoe•

Of course Aliyah was just using me for some stupid bet, why else would she care for me? I ran away from Aliyah and her friend, thinking about this the whole time. Julia called for me, but I didn't stop until I was outside the school. I tripped over a tree root and feel to the ground, luckily landing on the soft grass. I turned around to look at the sky. My breathing was heavy, and I felt hot tears streaming down my face.

Soon enough, Julia was by my side, panting heavily whilst trying to comfort me. Her words fell to deaf ears however, as I thought about my stupidity. Why would she want to be around me? I thought, how did I not see this earlier? Julia continued her attempt to calm me down, telling me that everything would be okay, and saying she would murder Aliyah for this.

I didn't want her murdered. Sure, what she did sucked, but I still somehow cared for her. I knew it was utterly idiotic, but it was true. After a while, the tears stopped flowing, and I just laid my head on Julia's lap, doing exercises to calm my breathing.

Now, I'm usually the kind of person to never skip school, and to be relatively calm. Today, I none of that showed. Jules and I ended up skipping the whole day, spending the first couple periods outside, and the rest going out to have fun and distract me. It did work for a few minutes, but eventually I remembered this morning. How could I be so blind? Once Jules saw me looking depressed again, she took me to the merry go round in the park. We went to it all the time when we were younger, and though it was childish, it did cheer me up.

•Aliyah•

So that's why Jacki worded it so weirdly. She wanted Zoe to feel like garbage. It appeared to have worked, as she ran outside, her friend following suit. Jacki looked at me, putting on an innocent face. My face changed from surprise to anger so quickly, I saw her visibly flinch.

"Hey, hey!" Jacki started, putting her hands up, "I was telling the truth! The fact that your little fling heard me meant nothing!"

I wasn't sure why, but I felt the need to beat her to a pulp. That sounds terrible, and I'm not the one to put my friends in danger or act violently around her, but damn, that was harsh of her.

"Did you see her? She looked crushed!" I yelled, still glaring violently at her.

"Not my fault you like sleeping around and breaking hearts." She shrugged, and slung her backpack over her shoulder. "You don't even care about her, remember? She's just another girl." With that, she walked to her first class, not once looking back.

I watched her leave, then looked at Dan and Mark, who had both been quiet the whole time as they grabbed their bags.

"Wanna add anything?" I asked, basically daring them to speak like Jacki and make me angrier.

Mark quickly shook his head, wisely dragging Dan (who looked like he was about to say something stupid), away.

Once they were gone, I leaned against my locker, wondering what the hell just happened.

•Zoe•

If there's anyone in the world who can make me feel better after garbage like this in life, it's Julia. After ice cream, merry go rounds, and a few rounds of video games, I felt a million times better. You know what, after all that's happened today, I felt like a new person. I felt like I wanted to do something crazy or stupid, just to have something else to think about.

I told Julia this, and she grinned and suggested something I liked the sound of.

"We should dye your hair," She decided, holding a lock of my dark hair.

I mimicked her expression, nodding. "I like it- But only if you join me." I decided to add that at the end for two reasons, one: bonding! We can do this together! And two: I really didn't want to be the only one with crazy hair.

We planned, bought the dye, then went to my bathroom before completely changing my look.

A couple hours later, I had pastel purple hair. I loved it. Julia got pink tips, and that was the extent. She grinned, and hugged me tightly. My face broke into a large grin, and I hugged her back just as tightly.

"You look amazing, Babes!" She stated, pulling away to look at my face. I looked at her gratefully, shaking my fluffy hair with my hand.

"Thanks, Jules, I love yours!" I complimented back, looking at her thick hair.

"Thanks, hot stuff. I'll see you tomorrow!" She gave me a final hug, and I bid her goodbye as she left.

Once she was gone, I laid in my bed, staring at my purple hair. I felt insane doing this, but I was happy that I did. Now, I felt like I could do anything, along with the insanity. I smiled to myself as I drifted to sleep, not thinking about the heatbreaker once.

•Aliyah•

The day passed by slowly, and I felt guilty the whole time. I avoided seeing Jacki, along with Dan and Mark. The twins were okay, but I couldn't stand to look at Jacki's condescending expression. I already felt bad enough.

Finally, the school day ended, and I went home, not even bothering to flirt or get someone for a 'date.' I was that guilty. I spent the whole night thinking of ways to apologize, and thinking about how I still felt the need to chase after her. And not just for another one night stand or something, but for something more... Permanent. Okay, maybe Jacki had been right, but I would never admit that to her.

I sighed, slowly falling asleep as I thought of ways to rekindle Zoe and my relationship, without being complete awkward or needy.

In the morning, I went through my normal routine, in autopilot as I thought about Zoe. I waved bye to my brother, and he watched me carefully. It was probably because I didn't comment on his terrible new haircut.

I got to school, and waited at my locker for Jacki. Instead of that idiot of a best friend, I was greeted with Zoe. But not my regular Zoe. No. A purple haired Zoe. It was so different. But a good different. I didn't even realize I was gaping at her.

•Zoe•

I went to school early with a newfound confidence, ready to rule the world. I was now color coordinating with my newly purple hair, and felt incredible. I walked towards Aliyah's locker, and some of the confidence drained, replaced with sadness. It still wasn't enough to dampen my mood, though. I grinned as I stared right at her, and saw her gaping at me.

Oh, this felt good.

(So, I know some people struggle with mental stuff like depression and anxiety, so I decided to add a link to a website were you can live chat with people, anonymously. I know I don't usually do this, but I recently discovered it thanks to a friend, and thought it could help some people! https://www.7cups.com << Good luck, amigos!
-ThatCrazedGirl)