As Gladys pulled Melissa away, Yukio began opening her locker. After she did, her "old" self reasserted itself. She felt horrible that she treated Melissa the way she did. Yukio was not a mean person. It just wasn't in her nature. So, to know that she acted that way towards someone (even someone who had teased her for months) made her feel sick.
"So ... what exactly were you going to show me?" Jessica asked.
Yukio looked at her timidly again.
"What is with you today? I saw you this morning and you were normal, but now you're not. Except a minute ago, when you were talking to that Romanian girl."
"That's what I'm trying to tell you. Something changed me. And apparently whenever I try to talk to Melissa, I become a self-important bitch."
"That's why I'm your friend, Yukio. I love that about you. You're always in control and know what you want. You're ambitious and flirty. They're all your best qualities."
Yukio just stared at her. Those were her best qualities? Those were horrible qualities. The new version of her sounded like a really horrible person. How could anyone even want to be her friend?
"Yukio?" Jessica asked.
"What?"
"Isn't that Zach over there?" she asked, looking down the hall.
Yukio turned and looked. There were a lot of people in the hall and she couldn't identify one of them as this Zach person. "Zach who?"
Jessica looked oddly at her. "Zach Jones? You know, your boyfriend? This week anyway," she added, with a smirk. Yukio wasn't sure what she meant by that.
Yukio did know Zach Jones, so after she squinted, she saw him at the far end of the hall. She turned back to her locker to get her books for her class, but stopped when she noticed that all her belongings were gone. Now it looked more like the inside of Melissa's locker (she had glanced inside once when Melissa wasn't looking). There was even a photo of Zach on the inside of the door.
She grabbed her books and shut the door. Then she walked away.
"What about Zach?" Jessica asked.
Yukio didn't answer her. She just quickened her pace.
