Is it a crime if I run him over? Well, he's lucky that I don't feel like committing a crime. Besides, I don't want blood on the hood of my shiny metallic white Mercedes.

Is it petty of me to drive off without parking at my usual spot when I see him standing there? If it is, then I am very petty and I am mad....and hurt.

I park further away from the school entrance. This is where juniors and those who Jane considered losers park their cars.

I have to sit back for a moment and take a deep calming breath before I get out. The parking lot is almost full and I decided to enjoy the appreciative looks I'm getting from the underclassmen when I get out of the car. It's good for my battered ego. It's something I didn't notice or care to notice when I was with Dillon because he was the only one that I saw.

"Cat," Dillon calls out, jogging over to me. I knew he'd find me. I should've run him over.

Girls are staring at him. He does look good in that shirt. Darn him!

Dillon Palmer has that adorably handsome and charming face, with those blue eyes and dirty blond hair. He looks friendly and open, unlike Elias Gauthier who looks like a complication, mystery, and bad decision.

Being with Dillon is like wadding in a shallow river while being with Elias would be like jumping off a cliff when you have no idea how deep the water below goes.

Being with Dillon should be easy...it had been easy, or at least that's what I thought. Now I'm doubting everything. Has he cheated on me before? How long has he and Jane been going behind my back? Does everyone else know about it? Does Giselle? Does Tilly? Am I the last one to know? Do I look as stupid as I'm feeling?

He waves a bit as he gets closer but I don't wait around for him. In fact, I hitch my bag up higher on my shoulder and walk faster toward the school entrance.

He moves much quicker than I am, soon, he's right beside me.

"Don't touch me!" I hiss as he makes a move to grab my arm.

"Cat, just stop for a minute. Please...let's talk," he says. After what I saw last night, it hurts even just to look at him now. How could he?

"I don't want to talk," I snap. I'd better get away before I start to cry again. God, I hate crying, especially in front of others. We're already drawing attention.

"Come on, Cat..." he pleads as I keep walking, almost running. "Cat, please..."

Why can't he just leave me alone?

"Cat, she came on to me!" he blurts out.

I stop to round on him. "You had a girlfriend, you should have said no! It's that simple, Dillon. It didn't look like you were held at gunpoint last night."

"It's not like that, Cat," he argues.

"Then what's it like? Because that's precisely how it looked to me. Don't tell me you just happened to stumble and trip into her vagina! And you had two! Two of them in bed with you!" I yell. "We're done! We are so done!"

Dillon is looking around us with a hard stare and I realize just how much attention we're getting. Everybody is quiet. They are all staring at us.

No doubt everyone heard me. Now they are going to talk about us because people have nothing better to do.

"We're not done!" Dillon whispers urgently, grasping me under the elbow.

I quickly jerk my arm away. "I don't want to talk to you, so stop following me. Go bother someone else who gives a damn. Maybe Jane will do," I hiss under my breath so that only he can hear me.

I dash through the entrance and run straight into the girl's washroom. There is only one other student who's rushing out. I lock the door behind her before tears start to fall. I wish I didn't give a damn.

Luckily, after I managed to dry my tears and straightened up, none of my distress is showing on my face. I look perfectly poised. Nothing is out place. It's surprising how my outward appearance doesn't reflect what I'm feeling inside.

*****

Today is as bad as I thought it would be...or maybe worse. When I slip into the first period which I share with Giselle, she's not there. My heart sinks even lower because I really need her now. I send her several messages which she never replies.

People suck sometimes. They stare. Some, discreetly while others, not so much. I know they're talking about me and Dillon after what happened at the parking lot...or maybe they already know about what happened last night. Cheater or not, I know a lot of girls are just waiting to take my place beside Dillon.

I plan to avoid people like a plague today but my plan doesn't seem to matter. By the second period, I have two girls come up to ask if it's true that I've broken up with Dillon.

I'm stewing inside. Now is probably a good time for me to start swearing extensively.

Our group used to attract attention all the time since Jane loves attention and Tilly has an adorable tendency to say "dumb things". But it's embarrassing to attract so much attention all by myself.

Dillon won't leave me alone. He keeps sending me messages. When I get to my locker after the third period, he's there leaning against Giselle's locker as if it's just any other day. It drives me crazy.

"Look, stop texting me and stop following me around," I tell him.

"Go out for lunch with me today and I'll stop bothering you," he says quietly, stepping in front of me. He places his hands against the locker on either side of me.

"I'm not having lunch with you, Dillon." I plant my hands flat on his chest, trying to push him away as he crowds me against my locker.

"Please, Kitty Cat... just to talk. I really need to talk to you. That's all." He winds a lock of my hair around his index finger and tugs gently. The gesture is so familiar, it hurts.

We'd been together for over a year. We were good friends long before that. But after last night, it's impossible to look at him now and not remembering what I saw. It saddened me to think that we can never go back to the way things were.

"Stop touching me," I hiss at him when he places his thumb on my chin.

"Come on, Cat. I have a game tomorrow. I can't focus if we're like this."

But I don't want to talk. It's too early. I need some time. It's still too new. Too raw. But I know he won't leave me alone until we talk. Oh, why can't he leave me alone?

I exhale a long breath out in frustration and something draws my eyes to look over his shoulder. I find a steely emerald green gaze staring back at me.

Elias is across the hallway not twenty feet away with his brother and his friend. Ronan is standing on one side and Bradley is standing on another. Elias' jaw is clenched tight and his whole body is taut with aggression. He looks so livid that I thought it's wrong to give him a smile. I don't know what to expect but half of me is waiting for him to come over to say something...maybe acknowledge that we're now sort of friends?

Goosebumps break across my skin just from the intense way that he's looking at me. Some strange feelings grow inside me as we stare at each other from across the hallway. It's not the pleasurable feeling like I had last night when we're close, but it's the awareness of having him watching me, and me watching him nevertheless.

Ronan whispers something in his ear and he nods his head without taking his eyes off me. Bradley has his hand clamped on his shoulder and after a while, both Ronan and Bradley propel him away. Immediately, I feel the lost of...connection? I noticed belatedly that Ronan doesn't look too happy either.

I frown. What's with the intense feeling that I have for Elias Gauthier and what was that about? I thought after last night he doesn't dislike me anymore. I guess I was wrong.

"Cat? Did you hear me?" Dillon is asking me.

"Huh?"

"I said we can go to Leo's Pizza for lunch or we can go somewhere else if you prefer."

I give Dillon another push so that he's not standing too close and to stop touching me. "I told you, I'm not having lunch with you, Dillon," I tell him. "Now, excuse me, I have to get to class. I don't want to be late."

"Five minutes. That's all I'm asking, Cat."

I exhale another deep breath and reluctantly say, "Okay, fine. Five minutes then you have to stop doing this. You have to stop texting me, stop calling me, and stop following me around. We'll talk during lunchtime. But I'm not having lunch with you. Meet me by the bleachers at the back." If that's what I have to do to get him off my back, then that's what I'll do.

*****

Before lunch, I see Jane at her locker with Tilly. She sees me watching her and she flips her hair. She turns away to whisper something in Tilly's ear and they both glance at me and laughs.

Why didn't I notice how unkind her smile is or how fake her laughter sounds before today? And god, she's acting like she did nothing wrong. So, this is how it's going to be.

********************************

Hey ya, dear readers!

My next update is going to be on Friday evening (est). If you want to read two chapters ahead, go to: 

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Much love,

Nicole♥