I can't believe it's been over 2 weeks and Nola still won't talk to me. She's serious about me not following her to the bathroom anymore. This is great. This is exactly what I wanted. So why am I not happy? It's that kiss, I know it. It just happened. I didn't even thought about it, I just did it.

Maybe I like her. Maybe in the end, we were meant to be together. But the Doctor says it's because of my programming. The kiss may just have been a way to cope with it. Is that really the case?

Speaking of the doctor, Nola has not been visiting her at all. I just can't convince her. She just gets mad at me. The only time I can really talk to her is in the bathroom, but she's doing everything she can to ignore me. She's even started to use her phone while she goes, just to drown me out.

But I guess this is how it's suppose to be. This is what I wanted. I wanted her to feel better about herself, and she is smiling a lot more.

Yeah, she's smiling. She used to predominately smile because of me. She was only happy when she was hanging out with me, but now it's the opposite. The question is, what is making her smile now? She doesn't have any friends to confine in. It might be whatever she is watching or reading on the phone, but she's been looking at stuff online for years now and she's never shown any interest in anything particular. Yet, I have noticed that she is typing a lot.

In fact, I swear she types constantly on her phone. She can't possibly be searching for so many things online. It's as if... she's communicating with someone in real time.

Wait... maybe Heather finally got through to her. Yeah, that must be it. She finally made friends with Heather. I'm going to inquire about this after school. I want to know what is going on with Nola.

== Heather POV ==

Looks like she's definitely not visiting the basketball team more. I was so scared that the guys insulted her too much and the cheerleaders hurt her in some way. But Rudy assures me that she left on her own accord.

Rudy... defending Nola? I still can't wrap my head around it. I asked him what this was about but he keeps saying that he's not defending her in any way. The other guys disagree. Even that Britney girl said so, but she's always lying so I'm not sure if I should believe her.

Still, he grabbed her and was hurting her. Why did she started hanging out in the same place Rudy was? I don't get it.

I got a text message from Elon, asking me to meet with him before practice to talk about Nola. I don't actually have practice today so I meet him in the front gate.

When he arrives, he asks me, "Heather, you haven't seen Nola around, have you?"

"No. I don't know where she is. She's so good at hiding."

"But hasn't she been practicing soccer with you?"

"No. I haven't practice with her in weeks."

"What? really? I swear she was now your friend."

"Nope, sorry, but our relationship is still estranged."

"I'm getting so worried about her. She refuses to talk to me. Not even in the bathroom can I get a word in."

"Well, maybe it's for the best. After all, this is exactly what we wanted."

"I know but..."

"But what?"

"Nothing. I'm just worried about her because of Rudy. He's bad news."

"Yeah, me too. That's my biggest concern. That guy is unhinged."

"How's he been acting?"

"Normal, like nothing happened, but I know for a fact that he has problems. I'm afraid he's going to lose his mind again and Nola will get hurt."

"Is there no way for you to talk to her?"

"I guess, but she won't listen to me. She doesn't feel comfortable around me."

"She feels uncomfortable with anyone, but you got to get through to her."

"Okay, I'll try. I don't know where she is, but I'll see if I can find her."

== Nola POV ==

Finally, classes ended. School lasts too long. Why can't we just have a few hours a day? Whatever, it's over now. I head on over to the park and sit down on a bench. It's 3:15, he's not going to practice just yet. I can chat with him a bit now, right?

❤️Nula❤️: Hi... Rodie... 😉😉😉

Rodie: Hey, Nula.

Hmhmhm! I like this idea of nicknames. It's so clever! Nobody will find out who we are even if they look at our phones.

❤️Nula❤️: So what is going on?

Rodie: I've been skipping basketball practice for a while, so it's time I get back on it.

❤️Nula❤️: So are you in the gym?

Rodie: Yeah, so lets cut the conversation short. Let's chat on Discord later on.

❤️Nula❤️: Okay! 🥰🥰🥰

Aw, I wanted to chat with him right now. Oh well. I can chat with him later on Discord.

"Nola," someone called my name?

*gasp*

It's Heather! What? I thought she had practice today. Oh no, she's coming over. I get up and start running away. But she's too fast. But the sewer, she wouldn't go in when the ball rolled in there at that time.

She's gaining up on me. She's so fast, but the sewer is right in front of me. I duck down and crawl inside. Thank goodness it's not being used, but it does smell awful.

"NOLA!" She shouts, but too late. I make it to the other side. But I'm not safe, she knows that the sewer leads to the street. Ah, the bus is here. I run towards it and get inside. I pay the fee and... oh no, the bus is waiting for her. She gets inside and uses her bus pass. I quickly head to the back and exit the bus.

HA! She's too late. The bus is now driving away! Good.

Oh man, that was scary, but it was so much fun! Rudy, he's like my little secret! Tee he he!

== Rudy POV ==

I've been skipping practice for a while now. It wasn't so long ago that all I wanted to do was play sports. Now I'm finding it hard to even find time to shoot some hoops after school. But why? Could it be I'm chatting with Nola too much? No. I only chat with her when I need to talk about... 'that'. She's the only one who understands. I can't talk to anyone about this. But I don't talk about it a lot, do I? In either case, I realize this now, so I'm at practice today. I'll just chat with her later.

So I head over to the court and begin, but it was inevitable that they were going to ask me about this.

"Rudy, what's going on?" says Marcus, another player.

"Yeah, I know. I've been skipping practice. You know I got to get my grades up, right?"

"So you've been studying all this time? Impossible. You're too dumb to learn anything.

"Hey man, that's just a stereotype. You get good grades, after all."

"Yeah, but you are the stereotype. You suck at academic stuff."

"Then I'm going to change it, that's all. I'm just studying after school more often. In fact, I won't be practicing as much as I used to.."

"Damn, you changed, Rudy. You used to be super obsessed with sports. Now we hardly see you."

"What do you mean? I'm still playing sports, just less of it."

"Either that or chatting on your phone."

"What?"

"You didn't notice? Whenever you need a break, you get your phone out and start chatting with someone, then you never play again."

"No way. I just check my messages."

"Practice is around 2 hours after school and you once only spent 30 actually practicing. Hell, you once spent 10 minutes practicing before pulling out your phone and calling it quits."

"No way. You're exaggerating."

"He's not," said Christopher, another player. "We've all noticed it. You seem to be preoccupied with someone else."

Are these guys for real? Sure, I chat with Nola every now and again, but I only spend a few minutes with her... don't I?

"Who is it?" asks Marcus. "Whose the girl?"

"Girl?"

"You got a new girlfriend, right? That's the only explanation."

"I'm not seeing a girl."

"Don't be lying, Roooooooooooodie." Oh, great, what does she want?

"Britney," asks Marcus, "you know something?"

"Don't believe her," I say. "She's a compulsive liar. Always saying stupid crap, like I tried to shove my finger up her ass. She's trying too damn hard to spread that rumor."

"You know damn well you did that on our date, Roooooooooooooooooooooooodie!"

"Beat it, Britney. Mind your own business."

"It's that girl on the bleachers, wasn't it? The one who was sitting right up there like a week ago."

"No, it isn't. In fact, I was the one who shooed her away. Stop spreading rumors."

"Well what do you call this?" She tosses a white ball at Marcus. No, it's a crumpled up piece of white paper. What is she up to?

Marcus uncrumples it and reads, "Meet me after school behind Building 5. Nobody goes there?" Wait, that sounds familiar.

"I found it under the bleachers. When Rooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooodie was arguing with me, he tossed it in her direction."

Oh no, now I remember! Crap, the fellas are looking at me.

"Rudy," asks Christopher, "You and... a dork?"

"No. This is Britney we're talking about, always making up s**t to get attention."

"But this is your handwriting," says Marcus. Crap, it is.

"I told ya!" Britney gloats.

Ah s**t, what am I going to do now?