From The Outside.

Marie's Perspective;

I groaned, listening to everyone babble about the stupid lie I started. I had just completely ruined my chanced with Kyle. Well, that's what I thought until he walked up to me and asked me to hang out with him on Friday night. Of course, I had to decline. I was gonna catch and early sleep so I could hang out with Bob right when he got home.

"So Marie, who was the guy?" I heard Jenna ask for the hundredth time. I rolled my eyes. We were now in 4th period, and she's been telling everyone about the little fib that I told her.

I rested my head on my arm, and sighed. "I already told you, Jen: you don't know the guy. It was a summer fling. His name was Jakob."

Now that wasn't a complete lie. I did hang out with someone named Jakob over the summer. Only, he was my cousin's best friend... And we didn't hook up. Basically, every lie I tell them has a sprinkle of truth in them. I mean, a lie has to build from something, right?

"You should bring in a picture of him!" Kayla chirped. Everyone else at the table agreed. "But for now, describe him!"

I quickly thought of how Jakob looked. He wasn't that bad looking. But he wasn't a Kyle Winston either. "Uh, he has Kyle's hair, but in black," I started. "He would wear skater clothes, and he had the most gorgeous gray eyes." I grinned, then thought back to how his personality was. Realizing that these skanks wouldn't care, I shook the thoughts from the head.

"Is his name Jakob Bleu?"

Hearing the familiar voice of Frank, I turned around and raised an eyebrow at him. "Uh, yeah; why?"

He shrugged. "I used to hang out with him. We'd skate and play together."

"And am I supposed to care?" I snapped. Frank looked up at me, his eyes filled with hurt. I bit my lip and turned back to the girls. "So uh, anyway." I tried to think of another subject. I didn't wanna talk about how 'I'm not supposed to talk to Frank.' "Yeah, he plays drums too and sings."

Jenna blushed. "You should totally hook me up, girl!" She smiled, then rested her hand on my shoulder. "Seriously, I'd love you forever."

How about no, Jenna? I know you're just gonna use him for sex, then dump him! I mean, c'mon. We're Juniors in high school; we shouldn't even be having sex!

I shook my head, "Nah. He's not really up for the whole 'hit it, then quit it' thingy," I explained.

"Then...?"

I swallowed my gum, and sighed. "We were experimenting, alright?"

---

Frank's Perspective;

I couldn't help but cringe when she said those words to me. Why was she being two different people? I want the old Marie back.

"People change involuntarily..."

Mikey's voice echoed in my head. Maybe he was right. Maybe Marie didn't change on purpose. But I bet I could bring her back. But how?

I looked up at the board, carefully reading what Mrs. White wrote. I had nothing better to do; Mikey had his Senior classes, and I didn't have any of my other friends in this class.

'First project of the year: Learn teamwork in taking care of your child. Starting next week; you have a month.'

I groaned, hiding my face behind my hands. Mrs. White cleared her throat, demanding the attention of the whole class.

"Class, we'll skip introductions, since I already know most of you from last year. Let's get straight to the point; welcome to child development. Here, you will be prepared to understand the physical, social, emotional, and intellectual growth and development of a child. Your first project will be assigned next week for the first standard."

Mrs. White pointed to the poster hanging next to the whiteboard.
'1.0 Students will demonstrate leadership, citizenship, and teamwork skills required for success in the care and guidance of children.'

"If you took child development in 8th grade, you have done this project before, but in an easier version. This time, you will not get to choose who your spouse for the month will be; I will be choosing at random. Each pair shall have to act like a married couple for a month -- and yes, you will have to be hanging around each other after school.

"How is this project going to work? Basically, you two will be keeping a journal together. You must write about the activities you guys do throughout the course of the month. There must be at least 10 entries in the journal. And then at the end of the project, you will be quizzed with how much you guys have learned about each other."

As the rest of the class quickly started chatting about who they hoped they get paired up with, what they'll be doing, and all that, I just sat here, sketching random things that pop in my head. I shouldn't care about this project. I mean, why would I?

After a boring 5 minutes of sketching, I decided that I wanted to take a little stroll around the school. I asked Mrs. White if I could go to the bathroom. Obviously, she said yes. She had no reason to say no.

I exited the room, and started my way down the endless halls. Not even half a minute into the walk, I heard heels clacking behind me. I looked back and saw Marie, looking aggravated. She stopped by what I recognized to be her locker, and leaned against it.

"Are you okay?" I asked, approaching her. She quickly nodded, then hid her face. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Her head snapped up. Marie looked past me and let a small growl erupt from her lips. "Stop talking to me, and stay away from me Iero."

I heard another set of heels clacking, but this time the heels were walking away. I also heard a soft giggle in the same direction as the loud heels. I silently glared at Marie, fed up with her actions.

"What's your problem?!" She screeched. "Stop staring at me!" Her nose was flaring, and her eyes were bloodshot.

"No, what's your problem?!" I spat back. "I'm just here asking you if you're alright, and you go off and tell me to go away? Well, I'm sorry I was being a nice person! For God's sake, what happened to you, Marie? You used to be really cool, and now you... You're such a plastic!"

Marie stared at me, her eyes wide and watery. I didn't mean for her to feel this bad, but I just couldn't stop myself. I dealt with her shit for about two years, and I'm done. I do still love her, but sometimes, enough is enough! I just wanna calm her down; it's like knowing the one you love is addicted to hardcore drugs. You want them to stop because they're endangering their life, right?

"Why are you two different people?" I asked, my voice a lot calmer and softer than it just was. "You're so nice, sweet, and gentle when you're not around your friends... But when I try talking to you when you're in front of them, you're such a bitch."

Marie plunged herself toward me and cried on my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Frank," she mumbled, her tears soaking my jacket. I didn't care, though. "It's just how life works; you can't just be one person to be accepted."

I pulled her back and took a look at her face. Her makeup was washed off by her tears, leaving her with the natural look that I fell in love with.

"It's alright, Marie; I'm sorry for blowing up like that..."

---

"Frank!"

I looked up and saw Mikey running toward me, Veronica in tow. Is it me, or is something going on between these two? I smiled, seeing Mikey holding Veronica's hand. Once they were in front of me, I glanced at their intertwined hands, then back up at Mikey, smirking.

"So... What's this about?" I nodded toward their hands, the smirk not leaving my face.

Mikey and Veronica blushed. "Uh..." They both stammered.

"We're kinda together?" Veronica grinned.

My jaw dropped. "Seriously? And you guys only met like a few hours ago? Oh this is wonderful!" I smiled, standing up and dancing around. "Mikey's got a girlfriend!"

I looked back and saw Mikey sitting down, Veronica sitting on his lap. Veronica was playing with Mikey's hand, while he just smiled, staring at her. Wow, is it me, or do they just click so well?

"Envy, you should join our band," I heard Mikey mutter into her ear. I should start calling her Envy. It's such a rad nickname. "We're in need of a drummer."

Envy's face lit up. "Really? Aw, sweetie!" She kissed his cheek, causing him to blush a bit. "Let me just text my mom about it, and I'll ask her if I could join."

Mikey chuckled. "You and your mom are seriously like best friends."

"Like two peas in a pod," she grinned.

"Hey, you have band practice after school!" I pointed out, sitting down next to them. I took my lunch tray and poured the contents in the trash can. "Envy, ask if you can come after school and watch with me!"

Envy pouted. "You don't play with Mikey?"

I shook my head. "Nah, I don't like playing guitar publicly." I shuddered, remembering the first night I took Marie out on a real date. Back when she was called Natalie.