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School completely ends and students begin shuffling out of the school. Arianwyn and Natasha are standing in the hallway chatting.

"So how did you like school?...I mean besides Shadow Zibonzi, of course..." Arianwyn asks.

Natasha shrugs. "Truthfully.." She pauses. "I hate it... if you hadn't introduced me to all of those cool people that are friends of yours.. Well, yeah."

Lets out a weary sigh. 'Why does Shadow Zibonzi want to see me..' She thinks, but of course doesn't say it out loud not wanting to worry Arianwyn.

Arianwyn giggles. "Well, I'm glad that with the highlight of your day, I'm sure you'll be happy to be back home with your parents."

Natasha gasps. "Oh, I better get going home.. I'm sure its almost supper time."

Arianwyn smiles. "Would you like me to walk with you?" She asks kindly her face glowing.

Natasha shakes her head. "Sorry, but no... you've done enough for me..."

Arianwyn laughs. "Oh, come on ! It's not a problem for me ! I mean, it's just walking ! Don't worry about it. That kind I can do more than you think."

Natasha hesitates: "But... I don't want to bother you..."

Arianwyn sighs, smiling. "Eh, doesn't bother me at all. You're too much of a nice girl !"

Natasha is starting to feel bad. 'How do I tell her I'd rather be alone without hurting her feelings ? I don't really want her to know about all of my family drama...' She then gets an idea:

"Well... Maybe you can walk with me to the coffee shop ! It's really close to my house, we could stop there and have a little something before we each go home ?"

"Good idea !" Arianwyn replies.

The two girls walk together in town and head for the coffee shop. Natasha sits at a table and asks Arianwyn:

"What will you take ?"

"Lemon pie ! You ?"

"I'm thinking of a cinnamon roll..."

They order and get their food. Then, they eat and chat together for something like twenty minutes. Once they're done, they get up and Arianwyn says:

"Was a nice day ! See you tomorrow, Nat !"

"See you tomorrow, Arian !" Natasha replies.

Then, they each walk their own way.


Natasha approaches her house with some pep in her steps and walks up to the porch. Suddenly she stops and gasps.

The front door is wide open and there is broken glass bottles on the front porch.

'What happened?' She freezes for a second.

Then she takes a breath. 'They probably just got into another fight...." Sighs. "Again."

'Well, I better make sure they're both alright." She starts walking up the porch, trying to not trip over the glass she scrambles into the house.

She gasps. Her mother is lying at the bottom of the stairs motionless. Natasha rushes to her, panicking:

"Mom ! Mom ! Answer me ! Wake up, mom ! Please !"

She then starts looking around and shouts:

"Dad ! Where are you ? Dad !"

[...]


Two days later, Natasha didn't return to school. Arianwyn walks to her house and knocks at the door. Natasha opens and gasps:

"Arian !"

"Yeah... Hi, Nat ! You missed school for two days... I was worrying..."

"Oh, yeah... You might as well get in..."

She steps aside and lets her friend get in the house. Arianwyn looks around, worried by the horrible state the house is in. She hides her disgust and turns to Natasha with a faint smile:

"What's up ?"

"Where to start..." Natasha sighs. She sits, and seems on the verge of tears, which worries Arianwyn even more.

"Well... My parents had a fight over if they should keep me or give me away in adoption..."

"WHAT ?! No way ! That's horrible..."

"My father is gone. He drove away and let my mother here. She took a rough hit on the head, and now has concussion... So I have to take everything in hand and take care of her..."

Arianwyn, horrified, stays silent.

"I'm taking at least a week off of school... Sorry..." Natasha sobs.

"No, it's alright. If you need help or anything, I'm here to help you. I'm... truly sorry, Nat."

Arian hugs her friends and holds her tightly in her arms, letting Natasha to cry on her shoulder.

“I’ll never get over how kind you are to me.” Gives Arianwyn a forced smile.

Arianwyn smiles back. “You deserve it.”

Natasha suddenly stands up and shakes her head. “No, I honestly don’t.” She looks troubled.

A cry comes from upstairs.

Natasha lets out a heavy sigh.

“Do you want me to come up and help you?” Arianwyn’s face turns serious.

Natasha thinks for a minute then nods. “Well, alright..”

Then she quickly rushes upstairs. Arianwyn falls not far behind.

They enter a room. Natasha’s mom lays on a bed, her head propped up by a pillow. Her eyes are barely open as she moans. Natasha gives Arianwyn a quick look then rushes over to her mother’s side.

“Natasha...” Her mom mumbles.

“Yes, mom?” Natasha asks.

Her mom lets out a breath then falls back to sleep.

Natasha looks at Arianwyn and suddenly jump up. She walks up to Arianwyn.

“Can we talk?