Nora's Situation

Several days have passed since then. Nora still hasn't returned to school, and the tension, especially around Will, is palpable.

We know things aren't going well, but he's pretending everything's fine, so we're doing the same because we think it's what he needs.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready instead of staring at me?" Ken snaps back to reality thanks to Will's voice. Will is packing his things into his backpack as the school day comes to an end.

"Can't I admire my fantastic desk partner?" He smirks at him.

"What's with this homo-erotic tension?" Rebecca comments as she and Briar approach their desks. Briar laughs slightly, and they high-five her.

"How did you teach her that kind of joke?" Ken looks at Briar in shock. Meanwhile, Will leaves.

"Oh, wait, Willy!" Briar takes Rebecca by the arm and drags her toward the exit.

"Wait for me!" Ken hurriedly puts his things in his backpack and catches up with the others, who are already a little ahead in the hallway.

"Did any of you actually understand what Mr. Wong explained?" Briar sighs. "You know, I actually tried to follow the lesson because the topic seemed interesting, but I got lost in the middle of it..."

"But be quiet, please; you probably got stuck at multiplication." Ken mocks them.

"Ken, Mr. Wong teaches social studies." Rebecca corrects him.

"It must be the same thing." Ken shrugs.

"I'm sure it's not." Briar retorts.

"Did you follow? No, you didn't. Ergo, you can't know. Shut up." Ken grins, and Rebecca chuckles a little. Briar rolls their eyes at his joke.

"I'm moving on." Will walks away from the group.

"Ah, wait, I'm coming with you." Ken joins him and walks alongside him. Will grins; he knew somehow his best friend wouldn't catch onto his desire to separate from the others but would move away from them if he did it himself.

"Listen... How's Nora?" Ken asks after gathering all the courage he has in him. It feels like the topic is a taboo.

"Speaking of her. Can we talk?"

"Of course." They are still walking, but Ken stops, waiting for Will to do the same to have a proper conversation.

"Not now. See you later at the park." Will starts walking again.

"Oh yeah... See you then." Will waves at him as he walks away.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Ken arrives at the park where he promised to meet Will. He has his old skateboard under his arm as he greets his friend, who is sitting on a bench with a soda can in hand. Will waves at him.

"Heyo." Ken waves back before sitting next to him, placing his skateboard against the bench.

Will takes a sip from his drink. "Want some?" He asks.

"No thanks, I'm good."

Will finishes the can in one gulp, gets up to throw it into the nearby trash can.

"Wanna skate a bit?" Will returns to the bench, grabs his skateboard, and drops it on the ground before placing his foot on it.

"Sure." Ken takes his skateboard and steps on it, heading toward the ramp.

The guys do some tricks like kickflips and heelflips for about an hour and a half, then they go to a nearby bar to get a cold drink and return to the bench to catch their breath.

"It's been a while since it's just been us two, huh?" Ken tells him as they open their cans.

"For about a month, yeah." Both take a sip of their drinks.

Will sighs and leans his head back against the bench, looking up at the sky. "I need to talk to you about Nora."

Ken nods slightly to encourage him to continue before taking another sip of his drink.

"You can understand she's not doing too well. She's been pretty shaken up by the whole situation... and by some personal issues she was already dealing with before this incident. So, she's decided she wants to move to Norway for a while, with her family."

"For real?! Can she really do that?" Ken has a slightly shocked expression.

"Well, she wants to, so she will." Will takes another sip of his drink. Ken looks at him with furrowed eyebrows.

"What about what you want? You can't possibly be fine with this, right?"

"...Look, I can't impose my decisions on her. She's already traumatized enough by all of this, and I don't want to give her more to think about. Her parents are also on board with the idea that some time away from here, in her home country, would do her a lot of good. And once she's there, she'll start counseling with a therapist, and of course, we'll keep in touch, so it's not the end of the world."

"When is she leaving?"

"This is something she's been considering for a while now, and she asked me not to talk to anyone about it, a decision I respected... until now. She's leaving tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow? So soon?!"

"She said this place has nothing left for her."

"But you...!" He stops talking for a second. "You're here..." He whispers softly enough for Will not to hear.

"I'll be fine. I'm happy when she's happy." He gives a soft smile as Ken's expression grows even harder.

"The sooner you let her go, the sooner you get over her." He picks up his skateboard from the ground and holds onto it. "I've always thought that girl didn't deserve you." Will chuckles.

"Wanna grab something to eat?" Ken asks him.

"No... I need to get ready for tomorrow."

"I understand. I'm glad you decided to talk to me today; you know I'll always be here for you. See you." Ken stands up from the bench, looking at Will, and the latter gives him a slight smile.

"Thank you. I'll always be here for you too." He says as he watches Ken gradually walk away.

It's now evening, the sky has darkened, and the first stars are appearing. At this time of day, it's starting to get cooler as winter approaches more and more. Ken has his skateboard under his arm as he navigates the city streets to return home.

"Look who we have here." He hears an unfamiliar voice coming from a dark alley he's about to pass.

"Do I know you...?" Ken raises an eyebrow as he looks at the group of guys lurking in the alley. There are six guys, more or less his age, maybe slightly older.

"No, but I think you know my girlfriend."

Oh no...

"Her name's Amy."