six.

"I will now invite the headmaster to tell us about the events we have lined up for this month," Mrs. Smith from English class says before stepping away from the podium.

Mr. Quinn steps up with his usual solemn expression, holding a tablet in his right hand and the other tucked into the pocket of his tailored trousers.

"As you all know Brighthorn Boys High will be joining us for the sports day event," his voice fills the hall, warm and bored, but powerful. "They will also be joining us for the quarterly dinner party two weeks after the open day, and finally there will be a special surprise event for the students in the final year from both schools, organised by Mrs. Quinn herself and the boards of both schools collectively."

The students remain silent, knowing better than to so much as murmur in excitement. But once the assembly is over, a warm chatter fills the halls.

Jane looks around for her friends, hoping to reunite with them for breakfast.

"I didn't know the headmaster was married," one of the younger girls says to Jane. She smiles. "Mrs. Quinn is his mother. She runs both schools and practically owns them," she explains. "Oh," the girl says, "that makes more sense."

"Do you want to walk to the dining area with me?" Jane offers, her friends still nowhere to be found.

"Sure!" She replies. "You know, I think whoever Mr. Quinn marries in the future is a lucky woman."

"I disagree. He's a little cold, don't you think?" Jane says.

"Yeah but who cares? He's so handsome."

Jane chuckles, not sure why she's suddenly so nervous. She's sure everyone thinks he's handsome, but she didn't bother this much about him until he noticed her. She was never really drawn to his looks, and it's difficult to know what it is that she is drawn to now.

"Clara!" Someone shouts once they're in the dining area. "Oh, there they are. See you later!" The girl says, running off.

Jane ends up having breakfast alone. Well, until the commotion all the way on the other side of the large room interrupts her.

Normally she would ignore it, but the two quarrelling voices sounded awfully familiar. Like her friends.

"There goes the snitch. Looking for someone else to tattle on today?" Charlie says.

"Tattle? No one says that you idiot," Grace shoots back, moving to walk past her with her breakfast tray in her hands.

Charlie snaps, knocking the tray out of her fingers and spilling half of its contents all over her. She stands frozen, staring at the mess in disbelief. Jane finally arrives at the scene, rushing over to Grace.

"Are you okay? There was nothing too hot on there, was there?" She asks, nothing but concern in her tone.

"What the hell!" Grace shouts. Charlie laughs, along with her new crew of friends.

There are three girls behind her, offering some kind of support.

"You think this is funny?" Jane says.

"Hey, stay out of this. I might keep you if you don't try to defend her. After all, you tried to cover for me and I appreciate that," Charlie says.

"I wish I hadn't," Jane confesses. Charlie's smile fades, a look of disgust replacing it. "What? Fuck off then. Both of you."

Charlie leaves, her followers along with her.

"Come on, let's get you changed," she says, taking Grace by her hand and leading her out.

***

"I guess we're not friends anymore," Grace says. "With Charlie," she adds. They sit together on the garden bench after school.

They haven't talk about what happened this morning until now.

"Yeah."

They remain silent again, watching as the other girls go by, mostly in groups of threes and fours. It's the norm to associate in groups. The duos and loners are classified as weirdos. Everyone knows that.

"I'm sorry, Grace." Jane is not sure what she's apologising for. The fact that Charlie treated her that way and she feels sorry for her, or the fact that she couldn't do anything about it. Maybe even how sad they now both are watching their best friend turn into a horrible person.

"She was always a horrible person," Grace says. She's right. They were just never able to admit it to themselves. But Grace was the one that kept her out of trouble all this while. Now Charlie wants to prove that she can do just fine on her own.

"You shouldn't apologise," Grace says. "You apologise for everything. You're not an inconvenience."

She's about to say 'sorry' again, but she fights back the word and settles by saying, "oh."

"Don't we still have to share a room with her?" Jane asks after another moment of silence.

They both rush back into the building in realisation, heading towards their room.

And when they walk in, Charlie is inside, packing up her things.

"Leaving so soon," Grace says sarcastically. Charlie straightens up to face her. "As a matter of fact I am," she replies with a bitter smile.

"Charlie you don't have to be like this," Jane says, hoping for the last time that things can just go back to the way they were before the lab mishap.

"Shut up, Jane. I can't believe you're taking her side," Charlie snaps. Jane presses her lips together, bowing her head to avoid any further confrontation.

Grace touched her arm, a small gesture to comfort her and to let her know that they can both be there for each other. But she doesn't look at her. Her eyes are staring daggers at Charlie, wishing she could punch her in the face but knowing that that will only get her expelled.

"Where the fuck are you even going to stay? You can't just choose to leave. That's not how it works," Grace says.

Charlie rolls her eyes, turning away and gathering the rest of her belongings. "Like you care," she says.

"Charlie you know we do. This is ridiculous!" Grace says. Meanwhile, a small crowd begins to gather in the hallway at the entrance of their room to watch the fight.

"You know what, Grace, you've always been jealous of me. And you, Jane, you think you're smarter than me just because you read some stupid books," Charlie says. "But both of you can fuck off. I'm glad we'll be leaving this shit hole soon. Don't even think about contacting me after graduation," She adds, shoving Grace out of her way as she walks towards the door.

"I would rather die!" Grace shouts. Jane just watches, holding back tears as their three-year-long friendship crumbles right before her eyes.

Charlie turns towards them. "Great, because you're already dead to me!" She shouts back.

The girls in the hallway mumble to themselves, parting to make way for Charlie as she leaves.

"Well I hope you all enjoyed the show," Grace says before slamming the door in the faces of their spectators and sitting silently in her bed. She sighs.

"Why did you have to do that?" Jane asks suddenly.

"Do what?"

"I don't believe you two. She's acting ridiculous and you're just making it worse," Jane answers. Grace frown. "What are you talking about!?"

"Charlie is insecure and childish and we both know it. We should've just talked her down and waited for her to forget all of this instead of whatever it is you just did that made her say all of these horrible things to us!"

The tears she has been fighting to hold back betray her, flowing hot and heavy down her cheeks as she bites her bottom lip to stop it from quivering.

"Are you saying this is my fault?" Grace asks, her voice barely audible now because she might cry too.

"I don't know, Grace. I just need to be alone."