THOSE GOOD TEEN YEARS 4 CLOSER THAN EVER

Chapter One: Backstage In The Auditorium

Peter wasn't there at the fountain either.

Emma searched for him. She was worried; he hadn't replied to her texts, or her calls. Granted, she'd come from Geneva earlier than expected. She was to arrive on 8th September, but the organizers decided at the last minute that many students might suffer from jet lag. Therefore, they left on 5th and arrived on the 6th, so that they had plenty of time to rest and arrive at school fresh and rested. Logically, they should have thought of this earlier, but whatever. Now that she was back, her heart was jumping in her rib cage. The need to see Peter was immense; she'd missed him so much that when she saw similar looking people in Geneva, she instinctively thought that he had come for her. What a shallow and desperate thought.

Now she was at the entrance of the school corridor. She watched the line of lockers, the students chatting with each other, some playing pranks on each other. And yet, she couldn't find him. She'd specially worn a dress that he loved on her, even though she didn't like it much. She thought it was much too short- for a dress.

Many people said hi to her, even a couple of the soccer teammates, which made her blush a little. Maybe they came to her because of her long legs.

For some silly reason, she felt scared. Without her known friends, she was almost like a new kid. That was so pathetic.

Wandering around like a lost puppy, she finally spotted Sienna and the gang (minus Peter) at Luke's locker. Hmm. Weird. Normally, they would be hanging out at the fountain before the first period bell rang. She walked up to them.

"Hey!" She said. All of them jumped in surprise, and then grinned.

"Hey, Em!" They scooted a little and made space for her to stand between Ali and Si. Her friends hadn't changed much, with the exception of Lincoln, who'd grown a little taller, though he was still shorter than Em. The height was a sore point for Linc, but he rarely mentioned it, unless someone made fun of him regarding it.

"So," Si began, smiling. "How was your trip?"

"It was good. O my god, Si, Geneva is hands down the most beautiful country I've been to. I..."

"Really? I'll have to check it out someday. And, what else? Did you, like, blow up some things or whatever?"

"What? No! We learned about particles and all- things you won't get. So, anyway. Has anyone seen Peter?"

All of them became silent, and had those silly smirks. So, they knew, didn't they? Sienna tried not to smile too much.

"He didn't come today."

"What do you mean, he didn't come?"

"Well, a no show on his part. I guess he's depressed or something."

"About what?"

"Oh, you know, you. He's been missing you like crazy. You should have seen him on Friday, he was a total mess." Luke said.

"O my god."

"I'm sure he's ok. So, you came this morning?" Ali asked.

"No, um, I came back on Saturday evening."

"What?! And you didn't tell us?"

"I was jet lagged, and stuff... I couldn't do anything as a zombie you know."

"Well, you could have called Peter."

"I did! He never answered or called back!" That's when they started smirking again.

"Wait, unless you guys knew I was back in town...?"

"Don't be silly, how would we know? We don't have the Em radar, you know."