I Miss Them

"Thanks for studying with me, Kat," Jonas said to his friend. "I'm just really nervous about these tests."

Jonas wasn't a great student. He had never really applied himself and had mostly been coasting by. He occasionally had help from Kayla and Greg,or even Autumn, but they were gone now. Autumn was officially studying for her pre-med degree, Kayla was in New Zealand with limited contact, and Greg was so busy. Even Angela was married now. He was the last Bell child in school until Marli came to school, and he'd be a seventh year by then. And the OWLs would be a distant memory.

And he also was trying to deal with Parker's distant-ness, too. Jonas knew his boyfriend was just angry and would get over it, but he just wish he knew that it weren't about him.

"What subject do you want to start with?" the fifth year asked, after a quick sigh. "I need Charms the most, but if there's something you need to do, we can do that first."

"No problem!' Kat chirped. The red-head wasn't a great student, either. She did well enough to pass (amazingly she'd become a fifth year), only finding true interest in a few classes. As such she did genuinely want to study, but she sensed her friend's melancholy behavior. He had been down ever since the term had started. So instead of picking a class, she decided to go with her gut and bring it up.

"Are you all right?" She asked, her head tilting towards him slightly as her eyes shone with concern. "You don't seem yourself."

She hoped she hadn't hit a nerve, and he wouldn't take her question as a invasion of privacy.

Jonas wouldn't deny Kat's perception skills. Or his own terrible acting skills. She knew something was up.

"I just miss my brother and Kayla. That's all. I'm used to going to school with them and they aren't here. I have Parker, but it's not the same," Jonas said, sighing. "How did you have the courage to come alone?"

Kat placed an arm around Jonas comfortingly and pat his back. "I understand. I can't know exactly what you're feeling, but leaving your family is hard." She looked down at his questions. "It was... a difficult decision. Even with my parents having high expectations, they weren't terrible parents or anything. They loved me and just wanted me to have a good life. Anyway-" She murmured. "I had the courage to leave along because I couldn't resist. I wanted the adventure and freedom that being here brought. It was still tough finally leaving, but I'm better off for it and I knew I would be." She nodded. "I'm sure having Parker isn't the same, but he could take your mind off of things for a while, which can be really helpful too."