“Girl, you are not going to believe what I just heard?” A voice cooed into my ear.

I knew who it was. It was the voice of my best friend. Well, besides Maria of course. But we rarely spoke anymore. In fact, I rarely spoke to any of my friends in Roswell. It’s like it was all erased.

“What?” I asked, with genuine interest.

“Theresa Hansen and Eric Johnson are now officially broken up!” She squealed.

Madison always got worked up over stuff like that. It was pretty funny, actually. All of us always joked about it. She never took us seriously though.

“So, you’re thinking that he’s gonna be yours in less than a week, right?” I raised my eyebrow at her.

She punched me in the arm, and burst out laughing. I think one of the things that drew me to her, was that she was so much like Maria. When we first became friends, I’d mistakenly call her Maria by accident. Then, as time passed, I’d accidentally call Maria by Madison’s name. Maybe that was why she rarely called anymore. She acted like it didn’t effect her, but I knew it hurt her feelings.

“Ms. Parker, Ms. Fox. Can we please keep the gossip outside of my classroom?” Mr. Yeager called from the front of the room.

The class filled up with people’s snickers.

“Yes, sir.” We muttered together.

I just started to focus on what Mr. Yeager was saying when I felt someone pull on my hair. That was our signal. Whenever Madison wanted to hand me a note, she’d pull on my hair, and whenever I wanted to pass her a note, I’d cough. She thought we were slick, but somehow I knew that Mr. Yeager sensed what was going on. He never said anything though, mainly, I guess because we were both straight A students.

I reached for the note, and slid it under my desk, and as quietly as possible opened it.

“Are we still on for tonight? If so, Aunt Sandra better be making her brownies.” It read.

I got out my pen and wrote back:

“We are definitely on. And Aunt Sandra was telling me last night that she was making the brownies. She remembers what happened last time...” -------------------------------------------------------

“Please don’t give us homework, please don’t give us homework.” I prayed silently to myself.

“Okay, for this weekend I want you to do this worksheet, and finish reading chapter 20.”

“Damn.” I knew it. Mrs. Morris always gave us homework on the weekend, I didn’t know why I thought that she wouldn’t this time.

“What was that Ms. De Luca?” She asked from her desk.

“Huh? What? Oh, um, I was just saying, yes ma’am.” I plastered on a smile.

“Okay.” She went back to lecturing the class.

“That was sly.” Alex whispered into my ear.

“I know, I’m stealthy.” I giggled.

The bell rang, and I put all my stuff into my already overflowing backpack. Like I didn’t already have stuff distracting me, now I had about 4 hours of homework.

“What time do you work till?” Alex walked up next to me, as I was walking to my locker.

“10p.m. Another night full of angry customers, and lousy tips. Yeah!” I joked.

I popped open my locker and pulled out my sweater, then slammed it shut.

“Whoa. You okay?” He sounded concerned.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just, I don’t know.” I couldn’t find the words to express how I was feeling.

“Have you talked to her lately?” He asked.

I really didn’t feel like analyzing my friendship with Liz right now. Or should I say, lack of friendship. Ever since she moved, it’s like she’s completely transformed. She hadn’t even come home for Christmas! What was that about?

“Not for about 4 weeks.” I answered, dryly.

“Oh. So, are you and Isabel still going to the movies?” It was obvious he was trying to change the subject, but I wasn’t going to point that out.

“Yeah. Girl’s night out. I told her Tess could come, but her and Max are doing something.”

I was still surprised that Isabel had opened up more to me. She used to be so distant, but when Liz left, it’s like something unlocked inside her. Maybe she just understood what I was going through, losing someone that means so much to me. All I know is that she’s one of the only reasons I’m sane right now.

“Have fun. And um, do I really need to remind you about the episode that occurred on your last girl’s night out?” He tried to hid his smile, but it exploded through in spite of himself.

“No! That was a dare anyway. How was I suppose to know that my mom was gonna be at the convenience store at the same exact time that I was fulfilling my dare?” I innocently stated.

“Yeah well, all I know is that you had a lot of explaining to do. And a sex talk. I still can’t get over the fact that she made you practice using a banana!” He doubled over with laughter.