Once Sour Sweet and Lemon Zest reached a secluded spot, Sour gave Lemon a death glare. "What the goddamn fuck, Lemon Zest?!" she all but yelled. "It was bad enough that you told Twilight about my personal life, but now you get into everyone else's? I thought you were better than that!"

Lemon sighed. "I know what I did was wrong. I was just...so damn tired of being pushed around that I decided it was about time I pushed back. I know it doesn't justify what I did."

"Quit bullshitting me, Lemon. I know you're protecting Twilight because she did the digging. I heard enough of the conversation you two had in the hallway." said Sour.

Lemon's eyes widened in horror. Her jaw hung open as her brain struggled to form the words she wanted to say.

"I won't tell anyone that Twilight did the digging." she smiled. "I'm not always petty and vindictive."

Lemon was still frozen in place from shock. All she could do was blink.

"Lemon? Are you okay?" said Sour as she waved her hand in front of Lemon's face. She remained silent and still. A smirk slowly crept onto Sour Sweet's face as she had an idea to snap Lemon out of her shock. She leaned into Lemon's ear and said in the softest tone possible "Lemon Zest...I love you."

"WHAAAT?!" Lemon shrieked.

Sour giggled. "That snapped you out of it. I think we woke up the dead in the process though. I wasn't expecting that strong of a reaction."

Lemon blinked. She felt tears in her eyes. "Not cool..." she said under her breath.

"Could you say that again? I didn't hear you. My ears are still ringing from your outburst." said Sour.

Lemon looked up at Sour. Seeing the tears in Lemon's eyes, Sour gasped.

"I said 'not cool'." Lemon's voice cracked.

"Oh, shit! I'm sorry! I thought you were over me after all this time! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" said Sour, feeling guilty.

Lemon sniffled. "So did I, Sour Sweet. So did I..."

"Are you going to be okay?" asked Sour.

"I...need some time to think, okay?" said Lemon.

"I understand...take all the time you need." said Sour as she felt a lump in her throat.

"Thank you." said Lemon as she slowly walked away.

As soon as Lemon turned a corner and was out of Sour's sight, she trembled, curled her hand into a fist, and punched the locker closest to her. "DAMMIT!" she shouted as her tears fell to the floor.

----------------------------------------------

Twilight was anxiously waiting for Sour and Lemon to return from their talk in the hallway. She looked at her phone to check the time. I hope they wrap it up soon, lunch period's almost over! she thought. A barely audible noise brought her back to reality. She looked around to find where the noise came from. She heard it again and followed the direction it came from. As the sound got louder, Twilight recognized it as someone crying. She moved faster towards the source, feeling worried. She ran down the hall and around the corner to find Lemon slouched against a locker, head in her hands.

"Lemon?" asked Twilight. She only had a split-second to react before Lemon threw her arms around Twilight and started sobbing uncontrollably. Twilight was startled at first, then regained her composure quickly. "Hey...it's going to be okay. I'm here for you." she said soothingly as she gently stroked Lemon's hair. "Just let it all out, Lemon. I won't let go until you're finished." Lemon hugged Twilight harder upon hearing those words.

The warning bell for next period went off only seconds after Twilight finished her sentence. She stood in place, patiently waiting for Lemon to calm down. A few minutes passed, then Lemon stopped sobbing and was merely sniffling. She looked at Twilight, her eyes red and puffy from all of the tears she shed. "Feeling better?" said Twilight with a kind smile.

Lemon sighed deeply. "I don't know." she said.

"What happened back there?" asked Twilight.

Lemon took a deep breath and exhaled, then proceeded to tell Twilight about her conversation with Sour Sweet all the way to when she propped herself against a locker.

Twilight made a hissing noise through her teeth. "Wow. That's...I don't even know what to say to all that."

Lemon made a sputtering noise. "I know she didn't mean for it to hurt me like that...I swear, it's like the only way to finally get over her is to develop a crush on someone else..." she sighed. "If only it were that easy. It feels like nobody has anything else to offer here."

Twilight gave Lemon a wistful look. "I know all too well what that feels like."

Lemon blinked in surprise. "You do?"

Twilight nodded. "I feel like I've learned everything I need to know here. When I was sent to Principal Cinch's office yesterday, I kept on asking myself 'what more is out there?' until I reached the top floor."

"Is that why you want to enroll into the Everton Independent Research Program?" asked Lemon.

"Honestly, I'm not so sure anymore." Twilight sighed. "I feel like I should move on to something greater. I just don't know what, though."

"But you're here for another year after this one." said Lemon.

"Ugh. Don't remind me." Twilight paused for a moment. "No offense to you or Crystal Prep."

Lemon snickered. "None taken, even if I'm only speaking for myself."

The bell for the next period rang.

"Oh crap, we're late!" said Lemon, staring to panic.

Twilight put her hand on Lemon's shoulder. "Yes. Yes we are. But you know what?"

Lemon looked at Twilight. "What?"

Twilight smiled. "We have a damn good reason for it." she said as she gave Lemon a big hug.

Lemon returned the hug, then broke it after a couple of seconds.

"Now let's get to class." said Twilight. "I don't want us to be any more late than we already are!"