Even though Courtney had kept saying that she didn't want to be friends, I supposed I had now made it a goal of mine to become her friend.

I wasn't sure how stupid of an idea that was. All I knew was that for one reason or another I wanted to get to know her better.

Besides, it had actually been really sweet of her to have wanted to help all of us out with the art project.

I began to get myself ready for the day of school ahead as I put on a grey hoodie and some jeans. It wasn't anything fancy but I wanted to be comfortable. In addition to that, I also knew that it would solve the whole problem that I had of overheating part way through the school day because the weather seemed to be entirely too temperamental.

After I had got ready, Callie joined me in my room with a sweet smile upon her face.

"Ben and I are back together!" she told me.

"I thought you were already back together," I replied.

Callie gave a slight shake of her head, at my statement.

"See, we were back together and everything but then he broke up with me. We had some issues to work out but-"

"Callie, please believe me when I tell you that this is because I love you. Your entire relationship with Ben is an issue," I told her.

"I understand that you don't like him," she said with a sigh.

"He is one of the few people I don't like because he treats you badly and I care about you. You're my best friend, Callie. One of them," I added, when she turned her head to the side, with a look of disbelief.

"I understand that too. I care about you, Phoebe, despite what you may believe and...maybe you're right. Maybe I am simply allowing this boy to make me upset," she said.

I nodded in agreement with that.

"Anyway, I need to get to school," I said.

"I could give you a lift," she suggested.

I gave a slight shake of my head, in the knowledge that Callie wasn't exactly the best driver.

"Thank you for offering but I think I'm all good," I told her.

Mostly good, at least.

I said my goodbye to Callie after that and made my way out of the house.

Emmy had been busy again. She was probably visiting Lois, come to think of if. However, she was an adult now who was capable of making her own decisions and if being late to school happened to be one of them then there wasn't much that I could do about that.

I got to school after taking a walk there and then found Ryder by his locker in the hallway.

"Hey Phoebe!" he greeted me.

I walked over to stand by him while he took his algebra books out of his bag for our lesson today.

"I can't do math," I said.

"Is it because you're gay?" he asked, as a playful smile appeared upon his face.

"Well, no but also yes. My teachers say that isn't a good enough excuse, though," I informed him.

Ryder simply gasped at my statement.

"How could they say such a thing?" he asked me.

"I know, right? It truly doesn't make all that much sense to me but I suppose I'm going to have to study more," I thought aloud.

Ryder gave a nod of his head to indicate his agreement with that statement.

He soon informed me that he had to make his way to gym class again which wasn't surprising.

I said my goodbye to him and walked further on down the hall until I reached Emmy in our art classroom.

"Hey Ems," I greeted her, with a sweet smile.

Emmy smiled back at me, with a warmth evident in her eyes.

"Are we okay?" she asked me.

"I think so? Is there any reason why we shouldn't be okay?" I asked her then.

Emmy gave a slight shake of her head at my question.

"I don't believe so. I was checking, you know. Anyway, have you asked her out yet?" Emmy asked me.

I took a deep breath, as I slumped into the chair beside her.

"Not yet," I said.

"Why? What's the problem?" she asked me, with a look of curiosity.

"I don't think she likes me," I said.

"Who are we even talking about here?" Emmy asked me.

Sooner than I could answer that, Elijah made his way into the classroom to join the both of us, which meant that any plans that I may have had to get advice from Emmy had been squandered.

I supposed that I was going to have to rely on my thoughtful and generous mind to think of a way to make Courtney happy. It would be lying if I said that I didn't want to be her friend. Clearly, I had been going to all of this effort to impress her for some reason.

I hoped that it would be worth it.

"What's going on, people?" Elijah asked the both of us.

"Not much," I replied, "Is everyone excited for the Halloween party?" I asked, as I noticed a poster for it on the wall of the school.

"Do you even need to ask me that?" Emmy asked in response. She had always adored Halloween and it wasn't exactly a secret.

I smirked.

All I needed to do now was plan my costume and then I would be all set. It was my final year with all of my classmates and while I knew that I sometimes got nervous at parties, I knew that I also didn't want to miss out on a single part of the year.

Besides, I knew that I would be able to make more friends if I took along some food for the party. Who wouldn't want that? Food was the number one people pleaser.

I began to work on my art project because I had been procrastinating. However, thoughts of the party were still in my mind.