"We all have big changes in our lives that are more or less like a second chance."

They think they know everything, but really they know anything about me at all. It's people like Mai Yamashita that make me want to get away from things, but it's people like Megumi Hanajima that made me want to stay. But that's when I remember - I don't really know anything about Megumi Hanajima do I? He, like everyone else doesn't know anything like me, and blame it on my so-called anti-social behaviour.

I was in the park, the butter washed out of my hair long ago, and a dark cloud hanging above me. School was just about finished, and something deep inside me, willed for me to change into someone people could respect. But, that was impossible. With my reputation, which by now was probably deadly, if I tried to be kind, all I would be rewarded with would be an odd glance. In fact, would people even give me a chance to be nice?

"Oh no!"

I snapped out of my thoughts, and saw a girl in the Kaibara High School uniform hurrying to pick up the groceries she had dropped just a second ago. Something told me to help her, but I felt a little nervous doing so. What if she had heard of me?

"Are- are you OK?"

I crouched in front of her, and began to pick up a carton of milk, and handed it to the girl shyly.

"Ah- oh- no, no, please don't worry about me, I'm fine, honestly, ah- thank-you!"

She took the milk carton and put it in the bag, before standing up, clutching the grocery bag a little too tightly, and giving me a wide smile. "Thank-you very much! Do you go to Kaibara Middle School?"

"Um... yeah," I answered. She was kind of easy to talk to... "You must go to Kaibara High School, right?"

"Yes! I'm Tohru Honda-!"

"Hey, Tohru - you OK?"

An arrogant, but pretty looking blonde girl walked over to us, in a similar uniform to Tohru, except with a much longer skirt. I raised my eyebrows. Were these two seriously friends? They were different in so many ways.

"Yes! I'm fine! I was helped by... um-"

"Kagami Hasegawa."

"I was helped by Hasegawa-san! She goes to Kaibara Middle School!"

The blonde girl's eyes widened slightly. "Hey, you look about the same age as Megumi - do you know him? Megumi Hanajima."

I narrowed my eyebrows stubbornly. "Yeah - I do."

Tohru looked surprised. "You... don't get on well? That's such a shame!"

I shook my head. "Oh, no, it's not that we don't get on well, I don't talk to him, although he's in my class, and, well..."

"He didn't curse you did he?!" Tohru suddenly exclaimed. "That would be horrible - I mean, he doesn't curse us, but he curses other people, like the manager at the place Uo-chan works! But I didn't think he cursed people at school. Hana-chan will-"

"No, no, he didn't curse me... are you Uo-chan-san?" I asked the blonde girl.

"Yup, that's me! Arisa Uotani, and Hana-chan is Saki Hanajima, Megumi's big sister. Speaking of Hanajima, we need to go and see her in a minute."

"Well, don't let me keep you, 'kay?"

"OK! See you soon, Hasegawa-san!"

I waved, and sat down on the bench. Tohru, Arisa and Saki? I doubted I would ever meet Tohru or Arisa again, nor would I ever have the chance to meet Saki Hanajima, but I felt a lot happier suddenly. Did I just make friends? It was easy! And they didn't hate me either. Those rumours were just stupid.

Meanwhile, Tohru and Arisa were approaching Saki, who was with Megumi.

"Ah, Hana-chan! Megumi-san!" Tohru ran over to Saki, still clutching the groceries in her arms. "We got the things for this evening. If you don't mind, I even picked up a dessert!"

"Ah! Tohru, it's been such a long time since we've been blessed with your cooking. Tonight will be very fun," the black-haired girl in the same uniform as the other two answered, giving Tohru a serene smile.

"Yeah, it's been a long time since we've been able to have a sleepover, hasn't it?" Arisa asked, stuffing her hands in her pockets.

Tohru smiled back at her two friends, and suddenly remembered something that happened only minutes ago.

"Ah, Megumi-san! We bumped into a girl from your school! Kagami Hasegawa," Tohru told the youngest Hanajima sibling. "She says she doesn't know you well, but you're in her class."

Megumi nodded. "I've only heard rumours about her really."

"Rumours?" Tohru repeated, wide-eyed. "What did you hear? I think she was really, really nice!"

"Not much," Megumi answered curtly. "Her best friend has been spreading rumours that aren't true about her - saying that she's a Yankee. Kagami-san took the afternoon off after they had an argument and that only gave her best friend more reasons to spread more rumours."

"Whoa," Arisa answered. "That's pretty... well... I know a Yankee when I see one, and that girl was not one."

I saw them talking as I walked out of the park, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. I saw Megumi, and I even saw Saki, but what worried me the most was the concerned look on Arisa's face, and the shocked, sad look on Tohru's. I knew right away that they had been talking about me. There was nothing else they could have been talking about.

"Damn," I cursed, kicking a stone in front of me. "Just when I was making friends."

All I really needed to do was forget about Tohru and Arisa. I thought I had a second chance when I helped Tohru, but really, when they mentioned Megumi... I should have known it was no good.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!"

I kicked open the front door of my house, which wasn't that long of a walk away, with enough force to knocked someone unconscious, and stormed upstairs to my room, pulling off my coat, and then lying on my stomach, on my bed. Stupid rumours – did Mai really spread them? She was too idiotic, surely? Ugh, it didn't matter anyway. My life was over for all Megumi Hanajima cared.

A/N: If you're reading this, you've followed the story so far, and are probably enjoying it. That means a lot to me! Thank-you to all readers, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter, even though there was no Megumi/Kagami interaction. I'm currently am enjoying writing this fan-fiction, and have Chapter Three all planned out! I missed something out in this chapter that I was actually planning to put in, but it will be in Chapter Three. It's nothing super exciting, but at least in the next chapter Megumi and Kagami will have a conversation. Or an argument, at least.