"Hey, girl!"

Sarah turners towards the voice, closing her locker.

"Hey, bestie! How are ya?" she responds, embracing her friend.

Lara and Sarah had been best friends forever, hardly ever seen without each other. Being that both are only children, they act like each other's siblings, although at times it seems like they are twins. Sarah Piper, a junior at Lakeview high. With her sassy attitude, you wouldn't underestimate her 5'4 stature. Her long wavy auburn hair makes her ocean blue eyes pop. With her tan complexion and outgoing personality, this is one girl who everyone tries to avoid. Lara Fallon, junior at Lakeview high. Much calmer compared to her counterpart Sarah, laid back and calming aura, allows her 5'2 stature to keep her from being noticed. With raven hair, which is stick straight no matter how you try to style it, outlines her amber eyes well. With her olive tone and laid-back personality, she makes for a great listener. Always there to pick you up, dust you off, and push you towards your potential. Although opposites, Lara and Sarah complement each other well.

"Good, you ready for summer? Got any plans?" Lara asked, getting her things from her locker.

Sarah shrugged. "Probably hanging out with Max, you know how he gets."

Lara's smile falters. Max Hunter, Senior. Typical Jock, with his dirty blond hair, brown eyes, and toned stature. Many are intimidated by his 6'2 height and his controlling personality. No one dares say anything, as he has this mysterious aura surrounding him. Lara was shocked when he and Sarah started dating. Sarah's parents introduced them when they were younger, and last year, he started going to Lakeview high. Seemingly drawn to Sarah, Max started to hang around them and they started dating the following year. Lara couldn't help the uneasy feeling she got around him. Whatever the case, Sarah seemed happy and she didn't want to ruin that for her.

"How are you two doing? I haven't seen him around in a while." Lara asked as they made their way to English.

"He is helping his parents with their business. He is taking over in a few months and they want to train him." Sarah replied, sitting down as the bell rang.

"What do they do?"

"I honestly have no clue, I only met them once when I was younger. They were over at my house for a meeting with my parents. It was quite a long one but I haven't seen them since." replied Sarah.

~After class~

"Hey baby, I missed you," a voice called out to Sarah.

Sarah turned towards it as Max embraced her, kissing her deeply.

"Gross! Get a room you two! I don't need to see that, blech."

Giggling, Sarah pulled away, earning Lara a glare from Max. Unconsciously, Lara took a step back.

"This is where I leave ya for the day. We still meeting up in the lot after school?" asked Lara.

"Yea-"

"Sorry, we have plans. Maybe next time," interrupted Max, pulling Sarah to her next class.

"Max, slow down!" Sarah said as Max dragged her behind him by the wrist.

Lara watched as they disappeared down the hall, into the mass of students. She couldn't shake the strange feeling he gave her. Slowly making her way to her next class, she hoped everything was alright between the two. Lara wouldn't let anything bad happen to Sarah if she could help it.

~Lunch~

Lara made her way towards the lunchroom. Normally, she and Sarah ate together. Today, Lara couldn't find her.

'Maybe she had to get extra help in math, that was her last class anyways. She can't do math to save her life,' thought Lara.

Lara didn't see Sarah for the rest of the day. This was normal, but she didn't even see her leave the school. Assuming she had already left with Max, Lara started home. Sarah and Lara lived in the same neighborhood, and she hoped to hang out with her this weekend, seeing as it was Friday.

~Saturday afternoon~

"You've reached Sarah Piper. I, unfortunately, can't come to the phone right now, please leave a message after the tone and I will get back to you when I can. Have a great day! -Beep- hey Sarah, it's Lara. I was wondering if you wanted to get ice cream. Our favorite place is open. Call me back when you get the chance."

Sighing, Lara fell onto her bed. It wasn't like Sarah to have her phone off, it didn't even ring. Wanting to do something, Lara decided to take a walk in the park. Leaving the house, she had tied up her hair into a ponytail, and put on some workout clothes. They would be the most comfortable in this weather, being it was 76℉. Walling through the neighborhood, she noticed that Sarah's house was dark and no cars were to be seen.

'Strange, they should be home today,' thought Lara.

As she came to the end of the block, she heard a car race down the street. Glancing back, she saw the Piper's car pull into the driveway. Sarah's parents rushed into the house, without Sarah.

'She must be with Max.'

Lara walked to the park and simply ran around the perimeter. An hour had passed and Lara started for home. As she came up to the Piper's residence, she noticed that Sarah's light was on. Lara decided that she would ask Sarah if she wanted to hang out since she was already here. Knocking on the door, Sarah's mother opened up.

"Hi, sweetie! What do you need?"

"I was wondering if Sarah wanted to hang out."

"I can ask, wait here for a moment."

As Lara waited on the front step, she could see that there was another person in the house. As they turned towards the entryway, she could tell that it was Max. He looked annoyed.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, glaring at Lara.

"I am here to see if Sarah wants to hang. What are you doing here?"

"This is my girlfriends' house, I can be here all I want. Besides, I have matters to discuss with her parents," Max scoffed.

"She said she would be down in a minute," Sarah's mother said, coming down the stairs.

Lara smiled at her, noticing how Max seemed to be angered by this. Not soon after, Sarah came bounding down the hall and threw herself at Lara.

"Let's go! I got your message. Sorry, my phone died."

Shaking her head, Lara and Sarah headed out for ice cream and hung out at Lara's house.

Back at Sarah's house, Max and her parents were discussing a very important matter.