After my talk with Abbie, I felt a little better. I knew that I still wanted to talk to Drew, though. I felt bad that I had ditched the music room. I also felt bad when I thought about Heather, too. I hadn't meant to just abandon her. Besides, it was getting closer to the Christmas holidays and I wanted to make the most of it. I felt as though I didn't have as much seasonal cheer as years prior, though. I was so happy to be with Heather but I was not so happy to have Drew and I become so distant. The worst thing was that I wasn't sure whether I would even be able to have a proper conversation with him without him beginning to ask questions about Heather and I. Of course, he didn't know about Heather and I yet, unless he had developed some kind of exceptional mind-reading abilities. 

As I walked through the school in search of Drew, I ended up bumping into Wesley. 

"Hey Zoe! I haven't seen you in what feels like forever. How have you been?" he asked me. 

I decided that although I detested lying to other people, I couldn't be completely honest with Wesley about the situation with Drew and I. I didn't want to end up impacting our friendship. 

"I've been okay, Wes. How have you been?" I asked him. 

"I've been so good, thank you. I've been busily preparing for the school's Christmas performance, I'm going to be performing in that. I already know that it's going to be amazing!" Wesley said with the optimism that I wish I currently had. Perhaps I could ask if I could borrow some of his optimism. "We also have exams soon but I know we're both going to do amazingly in them!" he said. 

I had almost forgotten about that. I was glad to have Wesley's words of affirmation, even if I felt rather lacking in the positivity department of late. 

"Yeah, of course," I said. 

"Are you sure everything is okay with you, Zoe?" he asked. 

"Yeah. I think I might go to the library and get some studying done," I said decisively. 

Wesley gave an understanding nod at my words. 

"Me too. I need to get some studying done myself," Wesley stated. 

Wesley had always been an incredibly hardworking student, so this didn't take me by surprise in the slightest. 

I had used to be a hardworking student, too. It was safe to say that I had been sufficiently distracted recently, though. 

"If I get started today, then I should have all of my notes done by tomorrow. Then, I can simply use those and read over them several times," Wesley said, as he seemed to think aloud. Well, he had always appeared to have a much more efficient system when it came to studying, compared to me. 

"That sounds like a great plan, Wes," I assured him, before I watched as he walked off to the library. 

I decided that it was probably about time for me to head to the library, too. I had hoped that I would find Heather there, but when I looked around she was nowhere to be seen. That meant she was either skipping school, helping prepare for the Christmas performance or at band practice with Drew. I couldn't lie and say that it didn't hurt ever so slightly that she would even consider hanging out with him over me, but I supposed that this was something I was simply going to have to get used to. Heather had been friends with Drew initially. Though I liked to believe that I, Zoe Pine, was so important to her, it didn't really surprise me that Heather would carry on being friends with Drew while Drew and I weren't on speaking terms. Perhaps it would be selfish to expect anything different. 

I walked through the library and tried to distract my mind from Heather by searching the bookshelves. Of course, this would have been made much easier if Heather's sister, Evie, wasn't standing so close by. It would have been made even easier if Evie didn't walk over to me to engage in a conversation. Ultimately, I couldn't complain. It was nice that she wanted to talk to me, even when I looked as gloomy as I was sure that I did. 

"Hey, Zoe," Evie greeted me, with a charming smile, as she walked over to join me. "If you need any help picking out books for any of your classes, I know where all the good ones are." 

"Thank you, Eves. That's really sweet of you," I said. 

Much like her sister, Evie had always been highly intellectual. She was the kind of girl that I could simply look at and know that she got As on all of her exam papers. 

"Oh!" she said, as her expression became a little more alert, "Heather said that she was looking for you earlier. Don't worry...although I know about you two, your secret is safe with me," she whispered. 

It was a relief to know that someone was on our side, especially during a time when I wasn't sure if Drew would be. I had planned to tell him eventually but I didn't want to betray Heather's trust by telling anyone about us too soon. 

"I forgive you for hiding things from me for months. Heather, too. I know that this isn't easy for her. I want her to be happy but I know it's not the easiest of things to do, especially not when our father is the way that he is but..." she trailed off and sighed, as her eyes looked over the shelf nearby again. Evie seemed so calm, it made me feel slightly jealous of her. I wished that I could have been more easy-going instead of having snapped at Drew...I hoped that I would be able to work that out, soon. I didn't want to have to avoid Drew because he spent so much of his time with Heather, too. Avoiding Drew essentially meant that I would have to avoid Heather, too. Of course, that wasn't the only problem. I considered telling Evie about things that were going on but she had a load of textbooks in her arms and I wasn't about to distract her from her study session. 

"I have a feeling that the two of you are going to work everything out," Evie told me, as a kind smile appeared upon her face. "Just keep calm, Zoe. You both deserve happiness." 

After that, Evie pointed to her books to signal that she was going to go and get on with some work and I felt considerably lighter, after my conversation with her, even if a few of my worries remained.