She headed for the bathroom, rinsing her body. Her chocolate eyes’ popped out when she noticed the time. It was already quarter pass 6 o’clock. Meg knew she was going to be late. She hurriedly went out of the room and raided her wardrobe. It took her a couple of minutes before she found a lovely blouse that’ll complement with her long-sleeve bolero and a matching skinny-jean. Meg had another glance at the clock, and then seized her backpack to her shoulder. She whizzed down the stairs, putting her hair up to a pony.

“Finally done?” Samantha complained.

Meg nodded and darted for the car. She tossed her backpack in as she took a seat. Samantha quickly followed in and buckled herself up. She revved the engine, leaving the garage.

Meg felt the wet and chilly weather touching her skin. She automatically shivered, giving her arms goose bumps. She placed her bare hands over her mouth, blew a gasp of warm air, and then rubbed them together. Meg wanted to turn the heater on, but she was confused on what to click.

Samantha’s car was bought last month. It was a 2009 Nissan Versa Sedan, metallic-blue. She pays it monthly using her salary. This was Samantha’s first car; it wasn’t that eye-catching. Many of my friends have cooler cars, Meg thought. She had only ridden Samantha’s car for countable times, since there was no reason to. She still couldn’t figure out the buttons and controls, yet.

Meg was starting to wonder if her sister wasn’t feeling the shuddering low-temperature around. But not noticing it was almost next to impossible. She examined Samantha, and comparing the thickness of their sleeves, hers was still thin.

Meg gave off another shudder––intentionally––wishing that Samantha would notice. She did. She turned the switch of the heater to the on button, analyzing Meg. She smiled, speculating.

 “I did advise you to watch the weather forecast, right?” Samantha had her eyes on the road.

 “Why? What’s wrong with the weather?” Meg decided to act dumb, pretending as if she didn’t know what Samantha was talking about.

 “According to the news, it’ll be a cold day. No snows though.”

 “And…so?”

 “So you should have brought a thicker coating.” Samantha lectured her.

 “I’ll be fine! It’s not as if we don’t go through this every year.” Meg joked, grinning.

Samantha rolled her eyes. Then said, “Anyway, back-to-school, huh? Excited?”

 “Not really. School is…well, school.” Meg chuckled.

 “Good point.” Samantha giggled.

The roads they passed through were a bit wet and mossy. No animal was in sight, except for the birds that fly away every time Samantha would honk the horn. And the deafening silence always took over after. Their travel typically takes twenty minutes drive.

Meg seemed to have been lost in her thoughts, when her cellular phone vibrated. Ryan.

Ryan sent her a message:

“Greetings, My Lady! Just want to ask if you’re on your way here to school already. You have to see what we’re seeing here. And also, Lissa’s acting the usual way she does, and it’s kind of annoying. Oh, yeah… Remember to buckle up. Take care!”

Meg didn’t bother answering the message. She didn’t want Ryan to spoil whatever it was they were seeing. She wanted to witness it with her own eyes.

 “Okay. We’re here.” Samantha broke the silence.

Even without being told, she knew that they were at the school’s parking lot, because of the signs she recognized. ‘Throw your trash here!’, ‘Keep off the grass!’ and the most obvious evidence, ‘Welcome to Gareth High School’.

Meg straightened on her seat. Her pupils scanned around the lot, looking for some signs of anyone who came earlier. She sighted some familiar faces, talking and giggling. Meg tried to name everyone she knew: Lissa, Ryan, Andrea, Louise and few new faces.

They were dressed in casual outfits. Lissa was the only one who truly stands out when it comes to fashion. She was one of Meg’s most updated companions, when it’s about clothing.

Meg fixed her hair neatly, combing,––revealing her new side-swept bangs––and then she tied it back to a pony again. Meg stared at a woman; she had a fair complexion, a light golden brown hair and oval-shape face. It was her reflection in the mirror. Meg smiled.

Samantha, carefully as ever, parked her car at the right corner of the lot. The lot was not that big and organized; it was not even cemented, just pure soil. The parking space was only capable of holding at least twenty cars. The drivers usually park their vehicles the way it’s convenient for them, which frequently cause arguments. Good thing that the Dean finally decided to fix the parking area this year.

Meg once again watched her friends. She noticed that they were idling around an automobile. Samantha and Meg eyed each other.

“Carter’s?”

“Definitely!” Meg agreed. Samantha muttered something unintelligible.

 Lissa’s sports car, a 2009 Honda Hybrid Sports Car, magnetized both of their attention. It was surely garden-fresh from the car dealers. Meg was right about her friends having cooler cars.

Lissa’s a certified daddy’s girl, the favorite child among the three of them. She loves collecting stuff and anything that’ll make her blonde hair, dark-green eyes and hourglass body-shape stand out. Her father’s a big company owner in the other country. No doubt, they can afford such cars.

Wonder how much its worth, Meg thought, enthralled.

Meg climbed down from the car. Samantha told her that she’ll be back to pick Meg up after dismissal. Meg was getting ready for an argument but kept her mouth shut and agreed in the end.

Meg walked, heading to Lissa’s car. She changed her pace, faster, feeling excited about showing off her new bangs.

“Hey, guys!” Meg waved, getting their attention.

“Hey there, Meg!” They waved back. Meg walked closer to them.

“Did I miss anything?”

“Nothing really.”

“Anyway, nice bangs!” Lissa complimented, giving her a high-five.

“Nice car!” Meg complemented back, smiling.

“Welcome, My Lady! Did you have a wonderful vacation?”  Ryan kiddingly asked, with a bit of cynical tone.

Meg rolled her eyes. “Stop it with the names.”

Ryan laughed.

“I guess some things never changed.” Lissa commented, smirking to everyone.

They all had a good laugh about how Ryan and Meg have always been like this. He’d jokingly mock her, though Meg always let him off the hook. People were even starting to think that they were going out, though they weren’t.

Ryan had been Meg’s friend since elementary, yet for some strange reason, he unexpectedly changed. He used to be an insecure, shy-type individual, he was a no-game person. However, when they stepped on their freshman years, he was completely transformed. Ryan was he’s entire opposite, blunt, out-going, sporty and sometimes sarcastic.

Meg had enough of all his jokes. She sat down behind Lissa and then opened her new books. Meg scanned for some interesting matter although nothing caught her attention. She flipped from pages after pages until she spotted a piece of paper fell down from it. Andrea grabbed the sketch and took a glimpsed at the draft before handing it back.

“Who’s that?” Andrea asked skeptically.

It was the paper from last night, the man from Meg’s dreams. Meg wondered who placed it there. Either Stella saw this on the dining table or Samantha did, and then piled it up with my other doodles, Meg theorized.

Meg eyed Andrea and then smiled. “Just some random drawings.”

She then, returned the drawing from where it fell from. Meg turned around, looking for Ryan. She wanted to ask what Ryan was talking about in the text message. Meg didn’t notice anything strange, just the usual.

Until Meg saw a certain––dark-haired, white-skinned and a little bit muscled––guy came up to Lissa and hugged her. At first, Meg thought that the guy was done for. But it surprised her that Lissa actually hugged the guy back.

Meg went and sat besides Ryan. Then she lightly elbowed him. “Is Robert from your gym class dating Lissa?” Meg asked.

Ryan chuckled. “If I say ‘no’ during this hugging-scene, it’s definitely a lie.”

Meg was taken aback since Robert was not nearly half of Lissa’s dream boy. Lissa wished to marry someone caring, cool, handsome, a bit protective, rich, smart, sporty and trendy guy. A complete knight in shining armor.

“I just hope he’s ready when the ‘dumping’ part happens.” Ryan said. A sign of sympathy crossed his face.

“Well…what do we know? It might be ‘real’ this time.” Meg shrugged. Ryan was about to nod when his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, checking the name being displayed. Peter. It was an unknown name for Meg. She doesn’t know any Peter involved in Ryan’s life, until now.

It seemed to be an important call; Ryan acted as if he had no choice but to answer it. So he excused himself for a while and walked away. Meg’s eyes were following him.

Ryan continued walking until he arrived at the corner end of the main campus.

The main campus was where the Dean’s Office, Registrar, Cashier and other staff’s offices were located. Its walls were made out of cement and covered with white paint. The pillars connected to the roof of the corridors had a partial Doric-style. The side of the path-walk had lots of greeneries. Ryan felt refreshed. He then picked up the phone.

“Peter, why’d you call?” Ryan asked.

“Just wanted to check on you.” Peter said. Ryan noticed that Peter was slightly panting.

“On me? Why?” Worry was clear in Ryan’s voice.

“I’ll tell you why this weekend. Anyway, your schedule today is until 2pm, right? You better head straight home.” Ryan noted the strange tone in Peter’s voice.

“Alright. I’ll clear my schedule.”