"Okay, I'm fine with that."

School dragged. The teachers all spoke gibberish, and the clocks seemed to be moving backward. The afternoon crept by in a daze. Finally, finally, the last bell rang, freeing me from the endless torture of X equals Y problems.

Liseolette was probably the first one to leave class, considering she was the nearest to tge door. Mainly to avoid the crowd of students all trying to get to the same place she was.

Isea can see them doing their thing from outside. She sips on her now-refilled cup of coffee.

Robbie waited for her by the lockers, a soda bottle in each hand. "Hey, princess," he greeted. "You're out early. How'd class go?"

Ethan opens the door to her room just a little. "Izzy?" That was what he called her

She sighed, ignoring the nickname. " Same as usual. " She turned and began placing her locker stuff in her locker. "

She smiles sweetly at him. He's one of the people who she uses her apparent 'true' personality around. "Good morning."

"That good, huh?" He tossed her a diet soda and twisted open his root beer in a hiss of foam. It was possible to hear the grin in his voice. "Well, next time maybe you'll skip."

"Floppy's scared of the man in the closet." Sometimes, Ethan was so quiet and serious, it was hard to remember he was only four. He still had childish fears of monsters under his bed and bogeymen in his closet. In Ethans world, stuffed animals spoke to him, invisible men waved to him from the bushes, and scary creatures tapped long nails against his bedroom window. He rarely went to Mom or Luke with stories of monsters and bogeymen; from the time he was old enough to walk, he always came to his half sisters.

"Well, then let's tell the man in the closet to leave." She sets down her coffee cup calmly.

She opened her own soda, taking a small sip. " If i want to escape in the near future, i need to have at least decent grades. Skipping doesn't help. "