Jonatha couldn't shake off the strange encounter he'd just had with someone he didn't know. How did something like that happen, even in an environment as unusual as this?
For a moment, at least, he suddenly forgot about it as he looked straight ahead. Still a little bruised from the game, but still making his mind go crazy, was Nicole, who was walking in front of him. Every time he saw her, he just swooned. I've never had this feeling before in my entire life, he sighed. Why does it have to come on me now? She was just so...hot. And handsome. And everything from the brawl only made her more beautiful.
Health class, however, jarred him back to reality, because he remembered that Symone was in this health class too. She was already seated, near where Jonatha and Nicole sat, by the time they made it to the classroom.
Nicole looked at the girl too with a sense of confusion, not recognizing her.
"Have I seen you around here before?" she asked, her head tilted.
"You too? Why don't either of you remember who I am when we just did a group presentation in this very class?" She put her head in her hands in frustration. "And when you're on the same basketball team? Is this all some kind of joke?"
"W...wait. What's your name?" Nicole was only getting more questions. This girl must have taken Karyn Black's place but...why? how?
"I guess I'll remind you. I'm Symone Black, but everyone calls me Sym." She glared at Nicole. "Are you OK?"
Symone Black. The name was going off constantly in Nicole's head. So unfamiliar, yet so familiar. At that moment, Mstr. Colby came in, this time in a loud orange outfit. What's with him and bright colors? Nicole barely paid any attention to the lecture. Her mind was swimming. But they had Symone Anderson in Mount Valley. Does that mean that...?
A light bulb went off in her head. She needed one piece of confirmation, and if she got it, she'd be set.
Nicole sat in the front row of her fourth period chemistry class. She didn't know all that many people in it, to be fair. But she did know Buffie Meadows, who frequently was her lab partner in this class and took the seat next to her.
"Hey Buffie?"
"Something up, Nicole? Still hurting from the brawl last night?"
"...A little. Yeah, I do have a question. Do you...know a girl named Karyn?"
Buffie shook his head.
"That name is totally unfamiliar to me," he said as he rummaged through his backpack of art supplies for his chemistry notebook.
Ash Miller's Wednesday was looking a lot like Nicole Forsyth's Tuesday, not that she'd know. Adjusting to all the social norms that had changed was taxing. People had radically changed. Like in Lake Point, popular kids had become forgettable faces in the crowd, goths had become cheerleaders, jocks changed into artists. Every time she had a class with a teammate, it was like a breath of fresh air: someone she recognized. She particularly looked forward to fourth-period economics with Sym Anderson.
When she got to the classroom though, she was perplexed. Sym was not to be found. In her seat was someone who looked completely different. This girl also looked quite lost.
"Hi?" she tentatively asked.
"Y...yes?"
"I don't think I've seen you before."
"Well... After the brawl last night, I haven't been feeling good."
"No no, it's more than that. I've never seen you in my life. You're on the team? You said you were in the brawl."
She sounded somewhat sick and absolutely tired. "Yes...Ash, you should know me."
Ash shook her head.
"I'm Karyn. Karyn Anderson, number 21?"
Ash was listening, but she was looking straight past this Karyn girl. It's Symone Anderson, and she looks totally different. Wait. Karyn. Where have I heard that name before?
As economics class got underway with some lecture about supply and demand, Ash dug through her notebooks to find the one with the roster for Lake Point that they used to prepare for last night's game. In bold letters, there it was. Karyn Black.
So if Karyn is now here...where's Sym?
Further down the hallway, in the boy's bathroom closest to the cafeteria, a different scene was going on.
"Maddie? You OK?" Erika stood around and worried about his cheerleader friend.
"Ugh..." He had slammed the door shut on a stall as Erika and Brianna waited around it.
"This is unusual... Why is he so sick?" More unpleasant sounds came from the stall.
"Sometimes, when a boy's feeling this unwell..." Brianna paused, realizing the gravity of what he was about to say. "Sometimes, it's because they're pregnant." "You OK in there?"
"...I'll... I'll be fine," he managed to say. But...I think Bri is right...
