"L A B E L S"

Episode 44

Chelsea's standing in front of Jake, in an empty hallway before school on Friday with a large smirk on her face. "Do we have a deal?"

He shakes his head and glares at her. "Screw you, Chelsea. There's no way in hell I'm going through with your stupid act of revenge." He walks past her, purposely bumping her shoulder.

She turns and crosses her arms, speaking to his back. "Do it or I promise the whole school will know about your secret by the end of the day...including your little slut of a girlfriend."

His fists clench at his sides and he leans his head back for a moment before slowly turning to face Chelsea.

A smile appears on her face. "I thought you would see it my way."

~~~

Mia's sitting at a picnic table outside the school, trying to finish some homework. She has her elbow on the table and her head in her hand when she slowly begins to close her eyes, feeling herself drifting to sleep.

Logan's walking up to the school when he sees Mia at the picnic table. He smiles and walks over to her. He notices that she's sleeping and chuckles before leaning down and whispering. "Mia?" He puts a hand on her shoulder and gently shakes her. "Wakey, wakey." He begins to speak at a normal volume. "Mia." He shakes her a little harder and speaks a louder. "Amelia!"

She jumps at the sound of his voice and looks around, taking in her surroundings before looking up at Logan with a slight glare. "I told you not to call me that." She looks down at the books in front of her and closes them as Logan sits down in front of her.

"You are a really heavy sleeper, you know that?"

She yawns and nods before rubbing her eyes. "So I've been told."

Logan leans forwards and gives her a look of concern. "You were exhausted Tuesday too. Are you getting any sleep? You look like you've been run over by a truck."

"Gee, thanks."

He snickers and gives her a look of sincerity. "You just look tired, Mia."

She shoves her books into her bag and stands up. "I'm fine."

He stands up as well and looks at her with confusion. "You know you still have like ten minutes until class."

"Yeah, but I have to talk to Mrs. Cail about this stupid paper, I wasn't able to finish it and I need to see if she'll give me an extension."

"Why didn't you get to finish it?"

"Work."

"How many hours are you working now?"

"A lot." She walks past him, towards the school.

He turns and follows after her, walking beside her and talking with urgency. "You shouldn't do that to yourself. You need to take a break, get some rest, catch up on homework."

She continues walking and speaks without looking back at him with a bit of anger in her voice. "I can't, Logan. I have a job because I need the money, not because I'm looking for an after school activity."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

She stops and turns around to look at him, her temper getting the best of her. "How could you possibly know what I mean?!"

He stops in front of her and looks at her for a moment, surprised by her tone of voice. "I have a job too, Mia and not because I just want a job...I need the money. Why do you think I'm never at school?"

She suddenly regrets her tone and talks softer. "That's why you skip school? You've been going to work?"

"Yeah. School and work became too much to handle for me, just like you. So, I talked to the principal and he talked to my teachers and they've all been giving me assignments that I can do at home and as long as I come three days out of the week I get full credit."