This past weekend put me into a lot of stress. I couldn’t stop thinking of where Dizzy ran off to and I couldn’t concentrate on anything else I was planning to get done during the time off from school. During which Cody and I spent a good, long afternoon of looking for her, but even together we couldn’t turn up anything at all. No trace that she was even still in town. It truly felt like she just up and vanished off the face of the planet. It also made me stressed and worried at the same time, and yet I had to maintain my composure as it was time to head back to school and start this cycle of going to class and coming home all over again. I had to focus on school now, not Dizzy.

 

Willing my self to push the thoughts aside, I crawl out of bed, pushing my unruly hair to the side, and grab a towel that’s hanging on my swivel chair before heading for the shower, hoping to wash up before heading to school.

 

“Warm water, medium pressure,” I mutter as I step into the shower, annoyed at myself for not thinking of it and remembering how Dizzy reprogrammed it with voice activation. “There was never enough room for all the buttons,” I say to myself as I look at the full body, glass mirror now standing where they once were. “Shampoo, lavender scent,” I continue, placing my hand under the single nozzle beside the mirror and remembering the reason I was in here, forcing myself to stop reminiscing.

 

Returning to my room with the towel wrapped around me and water dripping from my hair, I find that I miss having Dizzy around, tinkering on random things I’d stopped working on. Things I've given up on yet she found hope within. Have her in here muttering, “Any reason you're NOT dressed while around me?” while I was in my towel and how I'd just chuckle, almost like she was a little sister.

Returning a pair of blue jeans and sleeveless shirt to their original state from the small button I’ve compressed them into, my stomach began to grumble. I wasn’t really feeling hungry, but I eventually gave in as I grabbed my backpack off the bead and headed toward the kitchen, set on getting something to eat but not sure I'd eat it at all.

 

“One egg and sausage burrito with a light amount of medium salsa,” I call to the computer as it begin to input the details and them proceed to cook it, the sound of sausages being heard from behind the walls. I couldn’t remember the last time I even had a burrito, but I just felt in the mood for one. Once it was done, I nabbed it up from the plate and rushed out the door, noting the time on the clock placed me at running late as I called toward the kitchen, “Counter clean”. I knew I didn’t have time to eat the burrito before I left, so I quickly wrapped it up and threw it into my backpack as I ran out the door, having it silently close behind me.

 

On the way to school I just barely missed passing by Aurora, who just happened to be heading into the junkyard, which might as well have been a good thing as I didn't want to run into her right now. That’s when I thought of Dizzy and remembered how I told her she could go to the junkyard (all she had to do was use my name) and then immediately regretted thinking it. Regretted the fact that I told her another thing that probably sounded like a lie and had her probably avoid this place altogether. That she probably wouldn’t come back even if I asked her. And now I was heading to the one place where her sister was and I had no idea what I’d say to her. It was easy to avoid her over the week long break thanks to the stalls and Cody. But now school was back in session, and I sat next to her in one of my classes, meaning there was going to be some form of contact whether I wanted it or not. I tried not to think about it.

 

“Why me,” I sigh as I head up the stairs, not paying attention to where I was going and then finally bumping into someone.

 

“Random, that you?” the deep, alluring voice asks. I look up and find out that it’s Cody, looking as great as ever in full denim with his bright, white smile shining over my saddend appearance. “You okay? You look like you’d rather be home,” he asks, half jokingly to lighten the mood, but it doesn't work.

 

The truth in his words hits like a swift punch to the gut. I didn’t really want to come to school today. I didn't want to face the normality of it at all, but knew I had no choice. Knew I had to face the music. Anyway, I didn’t want to be written up for not showing up, not again… And besides, I haven’t really focused on studies recently over the past week and was hoping that being here would be a change of pace from the past 3 weeks I’ve had of loss, sadness and nightmares. I hoped that today it would rid me of some of the pain I was feeling.

 

“Random?” Cody looks at me, his gorgeous eyes grazing over me before reaching my eyes, making me feel like he's staring right into my very soul. “You sure you don’t-“ and before he even gets out another word out, I have him in an embrace, one so tight and warm that I didn’t want to let go. Didn't want it to end. I wanted the moment to last, to ease the pain of the 3 weeks before when all hell broke lose. I wanted to forget all of it, to have him block it all from memory. And having no one else to turn to-Cocoa with Aurora and Dizzy who knows where-Cody was all I had. He was my person to run to. And without question he returns the embrace, care and concern clearly displayed within it.

 

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, slowly unlatching myself from him. “It’s just… a lot has happened and I… I needed just someone to hug, to know that they’re with me and not just going to leave my life…”

 

“I'm not going anywhere anytime soon,” he whispers, the heat of our bodies drifting between us, the cool of his breath washing over my cheek as he leans in to kiss me in that same spot. “By the way, I stopped by the junkyard yesterday and turned up nothing. Searched everywhere I could and only ran into Aurora, who had something faintly glowing from her bag,” he shrugs, probably remembering how I don't like talking about Aurora and choosing to drop the subject after that. Probably making sure that there was nothing left unspoken between us, like a true couple.

 

But the first thought that goes through my head after hearing that is how the lat time I saw her at the junkyard, she also had a glowing rock with her, coils and metals wrapped around it. I still couldn't figure out what it was or what it did, but she seemed really intent on using it for something, that much I was certain. I'm also mentally breathing a sigh of relieve at his news; Dizzy must not be there. But that also meant she could have left town, and I'd have no way to forgive her. After the conversation he pecks me on the cheek and tells me he'll see me later and heads inside. I soon do the same but head toward my locker.

 

It’s not exactly how I pictured my first day back, but I was glad for his comfort. After rummaging through my locker, I headed for Mrs. Natsume’s class, unsure of what to tell Serena. She loved her sister. And if I told her Dizzy was gone, someone she probably cared about more than anyone or anything else in the world, save for running, I’d probably be on her hit list. But she was too sweet of a girl, too kind and too caring to hate me. It'd probably break her in every conceivable way if I did tell. “Not that I would tell her she was gone of course,” I whisper, shaking my head as lose strands of red hair swung across my face, hoping the idea would just fall out between them and disappear. But the truth is, I wasn’t really good at lying; I tried to be truthful as often as I could and lying to a classmate I didn’t like was hard enough, but one I did was a different story.

 

“Hello, Random,” Mrs. Natsume greets me with a smile as I walk through the door. “How was your time off from school?” she asks as she goes to sit in her chair, shuffling around a stack of papers and pulls out one piece, specifically for me I'd imagine.

 

“It was nice,” I tell her, scanning the room for my seat and seeing if Serena was already there next to it. I made sure I ran the speech I had prepared for her through my head a few times before getting here, but I didn’t know if I’d be able to tell her once it came down to it.

 

“By the way, I have your test results here if you’d like them,” Mrs. Natsume tells me, bringing me back to her attention. “You got one thing wrong on it, but the rest was flawless.” She holds her hand out to me, eyes gazing toward mine, paper dangling toward me. Wanting to end the conversation that hasn't even started yet, I snatch the paper from her and head over to my desk, only turning once as she says, “Also, have you seen Aurora? She’s usually here earlier than this, and since I know you two are my star students...” she adds at the end. Like I'd know where she was? I wanted to say but kept to myself.

 

After processing the thought however I freeze and spin in place toward her chair, where I see her sitting everyday I'm her, and noting she’s nowhere to be seen, just like Mrs. Natsume says. I did see her head into the junkyard on the way here but I thought it’d be just for a spare part or something and that she'd show up here any second. But maybe it was for something much bigger... Or she could also be on her way here now that she was probably done with whatever she was doing. But she wasn’t my main concern at the moment. I didn’t want to think about her, not after she took Cocoa, my closest friend, away from me. I had bigger fish to fry right now and there was no room on the frying pan for her at the moment.

 

“Now that you’re all here I’d like to talk about the test I gave you last week,” Mrs. Natsume starts to drone on, but I just don’t pay attention. My head is off elsewhere, in a land I can imagine but can’t quite get to no matter how hard I may try, no matter what machine I build. Serena is sitting next to me, smile on her face and only half paying attention to what Mrs. Natsume is saying, her mind probably on running track although she’s here because she wanted to be closer to her sister, but rather would love to be out running miles on end. She didn’t quite get the chance to talk to me before class started, which I sighed a breath of relieve at, but now the moment would soon come up again where I’d need to explain, come up with anything other than the fact that Dizzy ran away…ran away because of my nightmare outburst… Something so believable even I'd believe even after experiencing it first hand.

 

Near the end of class, which was filled with Mrs. Natsume lecturing our test results and our plans for next class involving developing our own AI system using techniques which have been done and put to rest before really given notice, I was counting down the seconds on the clock till we were allowed to leave, hoping I could sneak out quickly before Serena could say anything.

And when the last second finally ticked down and wrung the bell, causing a loud ringing echo throughout the building, I quickly got up and tried to make a beeline for the door. But as luck would have it Serena grabbed me by my shoulder. Not forcefully, but with enough force to stop me and cause me to sigh halfway toward the door as other students happily began pouring out the door around us to go on to their next class. Meanwhile, I was forced to play truth or lie, putting my own spin on it even though it's really called truth or dare.

 

“Hey Random, I didn’t get to see you last week since you were busy with Cody and wanted to know how Dizzy was doing,” she asks, innocence shining across her face, arms clasped together in front of her chest like a prayer. And when I see her like that, see just how much genuine concern she has for her sister I just couldn’t tell her the truth. I couldn't hurt her in that way. I needed to come up with a convincing story that doesn't have the words “run away” or “nightmare” in them and I needed to do it fast.

 

“Hi Serena,” I greet her, my voice sounding shaky as I force myself to hide the fear within it. “She’s…good. We get along great,” I quickly add in, to reassure her it really is fine. And for a while, it was starting to get better. We started to connect little by little. But I couldn’t think like that, couldn’t lead her on to thinking something was wrong.

 

“That’s good.” She then lowers her head and drops her arms to her sides and sways side to side before saying, “Do you think I could, like, see her? You know, maybe not today but, like, sometime this week? I really miss her...”

 

Great, my mind goes to that word first out of quite a few I won’t openly say or think. It was unexpected and I had no idea she’d ask to see her sister so soon, but the way she spoke so highly of her showed she did deeply care about Dizzy, and I guess time away would want her to see her. But what was I going to tell her? “Sorry, your sister’s lost” or “Sure, come on over. Only problem is she's gone”. I sighed, a heavy, deep sigh that caused her to look up, concern in her deep, blue green eyes making me already feel more guilty than I am.

 

“Is it, like, not a good time right now?” she ask, completely oblivious as to why I’m acting this way. “If it’s not I could-“

 

“No!” I blurt out, causing her to flinch and step back a little like she was afraid of me. I even forced Mrs. Natsume to glance my way. ”I mean no; you can come over...Friday, after school. We’ll walk home together,” I tell her, hoping she doesn’t think I’m losing my mind, even though I’m screaming “DON'T DO IT!” inside my mind, telling myself it's my worst idea ever, but trying to remain in control of my emotions, at least for the moment.

 

“O-Okay, thanks Random, for taking her in I mean. I don’t think I could have done anything for her… Anyway, I’ll, like, see you at lunch maybe?” and she walks off and out the door without another word, a sad expression now stamped across her face.

 

“You handled that well,” Mrs. Natsume calls over to me, a smile playing at the corners of her lips. “To me it looks like you didn’t want her anywhere near your home or this girl Dizzy you were talking about.”

 

If only you knew, I think but keep to myself. “It’s complicated,” I finally tell her, the smile melting from her face and being replaced by a look of seriousness.

 

“You also weren’t paying attention during class,” she stops and she sees me flinch at her words. “Don't worry, I'm a teacher and notice these things. Anyway, you're extremely bright Random, so I don't worry too much. My only question is, are you okay? Is it stress related? Anything I can do to help?” she asks question after question with nothing but kindness and concern filling her voice as her eyes bear into me, making me feel more guilty for the lie I’m about to tell her.

 

“Her sister and I aren’t on the best of terms right now, and I wanted things to settle before she came over,” I tell her, waving my hand through the air like it was no big deal. Even though it was, it was bigger than she could imagine, but I didn't let on. “I figured giving us till Friday may quiet things down, at least enough for Serena to come see her and see she's truly okay.”

 

As I told her these things I studied her face and actions to see if she bought it, if there was a hint of non-believe or not. But she just nods; no intention of telling me I’m right or wrong, that I’m lying or not. A few more moments of silence then pass between us before she finally says, “You should probably get to your next class, I don’t want to keep you.”

 

I nod and do as she tells me, heading straight for my locker and noting I only have about 5 minutes before Mr. Bit’s class begins.

 

When I get there I’m surprised to see that Aurora was there, sleeveless shirt with “Technology is fun” stamped across the front of it and a light blue miniskirt which I'm positive is too short for school standards around her waist. She waste no time as she turns toward me with her bright, flawless white smile and waves her hand in that “I’m better than you way” before returning her attention to what’s in front of her. I just turn toward my seat and sit down, trying my best to ignore her and taking out my minipad to pull up today’s lesson.

 

“Since you’ve all done so well on your past work, we’re diving right into the second portion of this known as AI Integration,” Mr. Bit calls out over the class, making sure he has our full attention before continuing.

 

I however don't focus on too much of what he's saying, my attention wandering to Aurora on occasion, unsure as to why she wasn't in Mrs. Natsume's class but how she's here now. I didn't know why it was getting to me. I mean, I didn't care what Aurora did in her spare time, but from what Cody said about something glowing from her bag, I can only assume it's the same thing she found the first time I saw her in the junkyard. I wanted to find out what it was, my curiosity quietly nipping at the back of my mind. But I could never find a trace of it when I went searching myself, like it was something that only existed just out of my reach but openly flew into her arms.

 

When we were finally freed from Mr. Bits class, I headed straight for lunch. It wasn't exactly a place that was quiet where you could sit down and think, but there were some sections there where not a lot of people sat, so it was the perfect place to escape the noise. To my surprise, Cody decided to join me.

 

“So what are you doing sitting all the way out here by yourself? Especially with this tasteless chicken,” he gestures toward his plate after placing it on the table, indicating the chicken looked rather bland. I hadn't tasted it yet myself, but knowing him he'd try to spice it up. And I was right; it wasn't long before he was fishing through his backpack, pulling out some seasonings I've never seen before, and quickly tossing them over the chicken before putting everything back. “Try it now,” he says, cutting a piece for himself, not at all like how he did it before, where he cut a piece off his plate for me taste. I didn't know why, but this made me feel a little sad, like I wasn't important enough to have him give me a piece of his chicken.

 

Shrugging, I do as he says, taking a bite and never failing to be surprised at how well he can season something. At just how much culinary skills he has at his age and how much it lifted my spirits, if only a little. And then I think about Dizzy, and how she had so much technical know how at an even younger age. That's when I sigh, loudly and audibly, enough to get him to stop chewing and turn his focus to me, his chicken suddenly as unappealing as before the seasoning, my spirits dropping faster than a meteorite.

 

“Random? What's wrong?” he asks, genuinely concerned as he sets his fork and knife down.

 

“It's Dizzy,” I tell him, pushing my plate away. “Don't worry, it taste great,” I quickly explain, the look of shock displayed quite clearly across his face. “I just don't feel like eating...”

 

As silence filled the space between us I looked around and noticed the atmosphere around us is bustling and busy with various different students chatting and eating all around us. As with most schools, different groups are gathered, from popular to tech to culture or history; it was like a group of animals corralled to different sections of a large pen. Cocoa and I were usually the odd ones out, but now that we weren't together that often, I was usually on my own lately. But Cody did come around often and sit with me which did cheer me up. But not today.

 

“It's mostly my fault she ran away,” I whisper, returning my attention to him and being unsure if I should be telling him anything. If I should reveal what it is I did to her that night. When I lost control of myself and attacked Dizzy. If I could tell him of the darker side of me, when I lose control like that. I'd tell Cocoa pretty easily because she already knows a lot about it, but Cody...

 

“Hey,” Cocoa murmurs, taking a seat just across from me and next to Cody, causing me to gape at her in disbelief. At how she came over here like it was no big deal.

 

“How are you?” she asks, no anger or hatred in her voice as I look up at her, a look of disbelieve painted on my face.

 

It's been a long while since I've heard her like this, heard her sound like a true friend, a friend I've missed for a long time. Some one I knew extremely well and could confide in easily with. I also noticed Aurora was nowhere in sight, but I didn't let that get to me and was just glad I could have a friendly conversation with Cocoa with out her looming in the shadows.

 

“I'm...” I start than turn toward Cody. It wasn't like I didn't trust him-he spent a whole day searching for someone he didn't know with me-but now was a time where I'd like to talk alone with Cocoa, even though we were dating and I didn't want to hide anything. Thankfully he nods, sees the unasked question on my face and quickly says, “I'll see you after school,” kissing me on the cheek before going to dump his tray and head somewhere else away from here.

 

“It's been a while,” I say, trying to break the silence that lingers between us long after Cody has left. It's been such a long time and I don't even know where to begin. The first thing I start off with though is the past three weeks since we haven't really seen each other. Going on about Cody and our relationship and how it's going well. On to the day Dizzy moved in and in the crazy week that had followed, making sure to delve into all the more dark and gruesome bits that I couldn't share with Cody. It causes her to cringe at it but she understands and nods; she went through the same torment and could probably understand it better than anyone else.

Moving on to the whole last week of school, where even though I was enjoying my time with Cody, trying to relax, all hell broke lose and my life became even more complicated when the out of control nightmare came through like a tornado. And again I tell her about the glowing rock Aurora had and she flinches, just enough for me to see from having known her for so long and I know she knows something about it. But I don't press her for information. I just stop and let everything I've said sink in.

 

“I'm sorry I wasn't around,” she says, trying to mend the wounds of our short time apart in a few words. “I would have helped if I could have.”

 

“Aurora keeping you on a short leash?” I ask and immediately regret the words the second they're out. Her face remains regretful but a touch of anger is now within her eyes, an anger I see whenever Aurora is mentioned and I have to remind myself not to talk badly about her when Cocoa is around. And yet I can just never place my finger on why she defends her, what good she sees in her.

 

“It's not like that,” she tells me, trying to keep her voice level, trying to keep the anger out of it. But I hear it anyway; the bitterness within her own voice.

 

“You still don't know her Random or what she's been through, and I didn't come over here to talk badly about her anyway.” She shifts in her seat, waving the thought away with her hand and then using it to push a lose strand of strand of chocolate, brown hair behind her left ear. “I came over to try and end the fight between us.”

 

“And what about Aurora?” I ask, wondering why it's now that she wanted to end the fight when she's had three weeks. “I thought she didn't want us together at all.”

 

“It's nothing like like that,” she tells me, shaking her head from side to side, causing her hair to move along with it and in front of her eyes before she adjust it again. “I miss hanging out with you and having someone to talk to. Aurora is a good friend, but I miss talking with you, my closest friend,” she ends in a finalized note, like a judge slamming his gavel.

 

And while I'm happy to accept that she's back, that Aurora won't take her away from me again, that I'm not second fiddle, it's just too good to be true. Why now, after three weeks of avoidance and constant yelling, is she suddenly able to talk to me without interference from Aurora? Something about it didn't sit right with me at all, and yet I pushed it aside. I know I shouldn't have, but I did, just to have her back as a friend.

 

“Well thanks,” I tell her, truly and sincerely meaning it. It's been maddening without having her to talk to. Without having someone who understood every part of my life, even the darker side of it that I tried to keep hidden from everyone else on a day to day basis.

 

“So about this Dizzy... You want me to help you look for her? You said you and Cody had no luck, and that she may be at the junkyard, right?”

 

And just like that the void I've felt for so long was starting to fill in again. Without thinking I nodded and together we agreed to search for her, no matter how long it would take. Me tossing the thought aside that she could have left town, that she was no longer here.