Love Has No Boundaries Chapter 2
	The lights were all out but Sandra, Helen, Patricia and Alessia knew she was there. There was someone sobbing softly in the room. Helen opened the lights and there they saw Toni, curled up in her bed, crying her eyes out. They had heard about what happened earlier and guessed that she went back to the dormitory. "Leave me alone..." Toni moaned. None of the four girls knew what to say. It had been so painful and embarrassing for Toni. Breaking the silence, Sandra said, "Nope! We aren't leaving you 'til you cheer up!" "That's right." the others said. Toni faced them. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, and her face was splotchy and her short dark hair was a mess. "Can't you see I want to be alone? Now turn your backs around and turn off the lights! Get out!" she screamed. They couldn't blame her for feeling that way. "Look, you've been crying since this afternoon, and it's already evening! Look at you! You're a mess! You should be out having fun instead of crying like a new born baby!" Patricia said, pulling the pillows from Toni's face. "Besides, crying never did anyone any good." Helen added. "Easy for you to say. You didn't go through what I did." Toni said softly, wiping the tears away from her eyes. They sat down beside her, trying to comfort her through hugs and their caring words. Although they knew each other just that day, all of them seemed to hit it off with each other. A few more minutes later, they had Toni laughing so hard she fell from the bed and rolled on the floor. "Stop it! You guys are killing me!" Toni said in between chuckles. They told her all of the jokes that they could think of, and they even put in a few bad jokes and they just laughed about how bad it is! They eventually convinced Toni to get dressed and come along with them for a night out. They had the time of their lives and they succeeded in making Toni forget about what happened between her and Magda. Aren't they such good friends?       The next day, Toni was awakened by a soft knock on the door. "Toni, its Alessia. Come on! Get up! We're gonna be late!" Toni smiled to herself and remembered what happened last night. They went out partying until midnight because the dormitory had a curfew. What a blast! But her smile slowly disappeared, like a dark cloud just rolled by above her. "Toni?" Alessia peeped in the room. "Oh no... don't." She saw Toni's expression. "Don't cry all over. You've got to be strong. You've got to face it sooner or later anyway. I know it's hard but you've got to try." Alessia whispered in her ear, hugging her. "I will." Toni said. She was becoming stronger, and not a single tear fell down her cheek. She even laughed at herself for being the immature and sensitive girl that she is.       They were on their way to school, all five of them. Sandra and Alessia went off to their classes, giving Toni a hug before leaving. "Don't you ever let her see that she can push you around or she'll always do that to you. " Sandra said as they walked off. The other 3 went into the room. And luckily, Magda wasn't still there! As Toni approached her seat, she saw her things neatly arranged on her desk. She dropped them yesterday while running when she bumped into that bloke. There was a folded white piece of paper on top of it. It said: Hi! Nice "bumping" into you yesterday. I believe these belong to you. I wish I could've helped. Don't worry, I told Magda off... if you need anything I'll just be here...Mark       Toni looked around. She couldn't keep from smiling as she remembered how it felt to be in those arms. She felt so safe? then her heart nearly stopped. He was sitting just beside her and he was smiling sheepishly. "Hi..." he said softly, in that warm, sweet voice of his. "Hi." she answered, looking at the floor and started playing with her necklace. She did that every time she felt so shy. They both spoke at once, then they laughed. "You go first." They said at the same time. Their laughter filled the room. "Well, I just wanted to say sorry for what happened yesterday." Mark said, looking at Toni shyly. "It's my fault. I wasn't looking. And I'm sorry for how Magda treated you. I know she didn't have a right to." he continued. "Well, it was my fault as well coz I wasn't looking either! And as for Magda, well, maybe she was just having a bad day." Toni replied. She sat down on her chair and they started talking about what Toni was doing there and about Ireland and all the nice things she had seen so far. Suddenly Magda walked into the room. She saw Mark and Toni talking. She marched over. "Well, well, well. I'm surprised you have the courage to show your face here..." Magda said. "Cut it out Magda! She ain't doing anything to you." Mark retorted. Just then the teacher went into the room. "You haven't seen the last of me for this day." Magda said under her breath. Toni just looked at her, seething but controlling herself not to retort back. Mark shook his head. He placed a hand on Toni's shoulder. "Don't mind her." Mark said. "I won't." Toni said, smiling. Mark didn't realize that he didn't take his hand away and he blushed when he did. He just smiled and turned away. The class started, and the teacher announced a debate. And what do you know, the topic is about racism and supremacy! The question was, "Should Europeans/Americans be superior over Asians?" Magda of course volunteered to be in the affirmative side, being the bad person that she was. Helen was chosen to be on the negative side. Magda delivered her 5-minute speech, ranting on about how the Asians were so bad about this and that and so on. Helen just listened and turned red from anger. Patricia did her best to keep still in her seat, avoiding to shout "shut up!" at Magda. Mark just looked at Magda with disgust. "How could she be so cruel?" he thought. Toni just looked down, ignoring what Magda was saying. All eyes in the room were constantly shifting between Toni and Magda. "Times up." the teacher said, cutting Magda mid-sentence. "Helen, it's your turn." "First of all, I'd like to say, I think racists are totally no good people. They can't accept the fact that some people from different races are just much better than they are. Like some people I know..." she trailed off, looking at Magda. "And who needs those races anyway? Just because you're from the European or American race it doesn't mean that you're any different from they are. Like you, they're just normal human beings. It's just a skin color that changes us from them that's all...." and she continued to tell the class about how nice, hospitable, warm and friendly the Asians were. She proved that all the things Magda said were wrong. As she finished her speech the class applauded, making Magda so furious that she walked out from the room. It was lunchtime, and the five girls met at the cafeteria. "You should've seen her face!" Patricia said in between giggles. "I wish I were there! But I really didn't want to miss class! There's this guy there named Nicky and I think he's gorgeous!" Alessia whispered. "She's right. He is gorgeous!" Sandra said. "Well, your Shane looks kinda cute!" Alessia told Sandra, nudging her. "Then he's all yours! He's the most annoying person I've ever met!" "Sandra is kinda annoyed at him coz he totally likes her and practically worships the ground her feet walk on!" Alessia told the others. They erupted in giggles as Sandra made a face. Just then, Magda approached their table with her hands on her hips. "If you think you girls are as brilliant as you think you are, I swear you've never heard the last from me!" Magda said, turning around and walking off with her friends before anyone could speak up to her. "Doesn't she ever just give up?" said Patricia disdainfully.
			Chapter 3