Lance hung up his phone. It was 3 am. He had talked to Lauren for over three hours. He felt guilty, if Valerie found out she'd be devistated. He decided he wouldn't tell her to save the both of them the pain of a fight as the phone began to ring again.

"Hello?" he asked. Who would be calling at 3 am? he asked himself.

"Hey, baby," Valerie answered.

"Oh, hey. What's up?" he asked, suddenly feeling wide awake.

"I can't sleep."

"Aw, I wish I was there to hold you, and help you fall asleep."

"You have no idea how much I wish the same."

Lance laughed, "I love you, Val."

"I love you too."

Lance met his girlfriend at her front door the next morning. They had walked to school together ever since they were allowed to walk that far. He took her hand in his. The guilty feeling in the pit of his stomache from the night before was paining him, worse than before. He wanted to tell her, but again in fear of a fight, decided not to. She smiled at him, and all other feelings besides love was forgotten. They both felt secure within each other; he didn't want anything to disrupt this sense of serenity.

Valerie slouched in her chair. It was fifth-period and she was already about to fall asleep. She hadn't slept very well the night before. She had wondered if it was because of Lauren's e-mail, but tossed the tought away as soon as her mind had concieved it. There was no way she was going to let Lauren affect her; especially her sleep. She yawned, rubbing her eyes. She still had lunch and three more periods to make through, and the more she thought about it, the longer it seemed.

"Val, class' over! Hauls ass, chica!" Nikki informed her, appearing at her desk.

Valerie got up. She grabbed her books and followed Nikki out of the classroom. They met up with Amy in the hallway and headed for their lockers; next to Lance's.

"Hey, Val, you feeling okay? You look beat," Amy commented.

"I'm just tired, I didn't crawl into bed until like 4 cuz I called Lance at like 3," Valerie replied.

"What was he doing up at 3?" Nikki asked.

Valerie shrugged, saying, "I dunno. He sounded tired, though. So I think I woke him up, " she paused to yawn, then added, "Oh, hey, guess what Lauren sent me last night?"

"What?" Nikki and Amy asked concerned.

"She warned me to watch my back and that Lance was gonna be hers soon; just a whole bunch of bull," Valerie answered.

Nikki laughed, then commented, "If she tries she'll get her ass kicked by all 3 of us."

"She's not smart enough to realise that, Nik," Amy added, making the 2 other girls laugh.

They turned the corner, they're lockers to the left. Valerie slipped her book-bag off her choulder. She looked up, what she saw shattered her heart into pieces.

Lance shoved his bookbag in his locker. History had never been as boring as on the third to last day of school. He turned to head to the cafeteria, when Lauren appeared with her groupies, blocking his way.

"Hey, Lance," Lauren said sweetly, batting her lashes.

Lance nodded at her. He didn't feel like chatting with Lauren, he had ben dying to see his girlfriend all day.

"I enjoyed our conversation last night," she added.

Lance nodded again. She moved closer to him. He backed up against his locker, he had nowhere else to go. He could hear her friend sniggering softly behind them. She leaned, but Lance resisted.

"What's wrong? I don't bite," she said with a small laugh.

"Look, Lauren, I just wanna be friends. I already have a girlfriend," he said sternly.

"That's okay, she doesn't have to find out." She leaned in even closer, licking her lips. He could feel her breath against his neck. Her lips touched his. He tried to back away, but he was trapped between her and the lockers.

Nikki's shrill voice rang behind them, "What the hell?"