"Where the hell have you been?!" Spencer asked, rushing over to me as soon as Miles and I walked into the school hallway.

Oh. He's been texting me since the day of the party and I had been so caught up in everything that is Miles. He's my closest friend and I felt bad not telling him about what's been happening lately. No doubt, he'd going to be a little mad at the fact that I've kept it from him. Truth is, I'm avoiding the judgement that may come from it. Spencer is that one friend that I've always relied on to tell me the truth, even when I don't want to hear it. I already know that what I'm doing is wrong, but I still don't want to hear it. That's exactly why I'd rather keep it to myself and enjoy the experience while it lasts - or rather, before shit hits the fan. Because let's face it... nothing remains in the dark for too long.

I put my hands over my ears. "Spence, you're blowing my mind!"

He removed my hands forcefully. "I have been calling you for ages on Saturday that I eventually gave up. I wonder who you were with or what you were doing that got you so distracted," He raises his brow at me.

I blushed under his gaze and momentarily turned to look at Miles because he was the reason I was distracted. He smiled down at me, scratching the back of his neck.

"Is there something going on here?" Spencer asked as he frowned deeply, his gaze shifting between Miles and I as he studied us closely.

"No," I said a little too quickly, causing Spencer's brows to furrow even more. "Your thinking is just always on overdrive," I added, waving my hand dismissively at him.

"Okay then Miss Jones, put my overthinking to the side. What's going on?" He pressed.

"My head's pounding. And nothing is going on, Spence. Geez, lighten up." I told him with a small huff.

"Miles?" He asked, finally taking his gaze off me but unfortunately kept his attention on the both of us to find out what was really going on. Are we that obvious? "Where's Shelby?"

Miles looks at him questioningly. "Uh... on her way?" He says, making it sound more like a question than an answer. "She usually comes with Tyler." He shrugs, making me glare at him for diverting Spencer's attention back to me.

When Spencer gave me the 'explain yourself' look, I shook my head. "Not now please. I took the bus because I was lazy to drive, and because I didn't want any Shelby drama – her getting all angry because I didn't pick her up; the tardies and all that shit," I said honestly.

"Sounds more like your boss than your best friend if you ask me," He said.

"Yeah? Well, I didn't ask you," I bit back with a sarcastic smile.

Spencer reached out and pinched my arm, making me yelp in pain and rubbing the sore spot.

"Anyway, because I'm not a bad friend, I'll tell you what happened over the weekend," He said. "I fucked some girl called Augustine, she was hot hot hot in bed. But you see, now she won't stop calling," He said, annoyed. "All I was looking for was one night of fun and I expected her to take the hint. I mean, how many relationships are based on drunken hook-ups?" He said with a roll of his eyes.

See what happens when you sleep with people you don't have feelings for?

"Uh... not too many?" I posed it more as a question and he gave me a weird look, making Miles laugh, before continuing.

"There was some guy outside who was passed out on the lawn in the backyard," He said this and I froze while I felt Miles tense up beside me.

"He was pretty messed up. He was drunk and he looked like he had been in a fight. Said something about some guy beating him to pulp because he was making a move on his girl," He said. "So like yeah, I tried to help him but he was too grumpy. One of his friends came to pick him up—"

I felt panic rise within me as I tuned out his voice, the deeply-buried unpleasant flashbacks making their way back to me. My heart started racing, and it felt like all the air was getting thinner as the seconds passed by.

My hand started to tremble and I balled my hand into a fist, by my side, so they wouldn't notice.

Suddenly I felt Miles' hand hold onto my wrist gently as he turned to Spencer. "Hey, we have to go. I haven't done my AP Calculus homework, so Tyler offered to let me copy."

He didn't even give Spencer the time to respond as he started heading in the direction of the classes, gently pulling me along with him as I forced a small smile on my face, so he couldn't tell that something was off.

He shook his head and yelled out into the distance, "At least be serious about school sometimes, you idiot."

We got to an empty classroom and once he had closed the door, Miles held me close as he stroked my hair gently. "It's okay."

"Fuck, I thought I was over this." I mumbled against his chest, as my voice broke.

"I'm sorry, princess. I'm so sorry you're going through this." He said, his hold tightening on me before he pulled back and cupped my cheeks, wiping the tears that were streaming down my face.

"Do you want to press charges?"

I immediately shook my head no, "I'm scared of everyone knowing, including my family. And what's the point? He's going to be out soon, because they're going to say he didn't go all the way, and we can't even prove that it was his intention, because he's obviously going to lie to save himself. Please, don't tell anyone. I just want to forget it ever happened. Why can't I just move on? I—"

"Look at me." He urged, and our eyes met. "It happened recently, so it's better to deal with it now, so that it doesn't continue to haunt you."

"There's nothing to be ashamed of, okay? It wasn't your fault. That asshole is a predator."

I nodded slowly at his words, a few tears still streaming down.

"Do you want to talk to someone?"

"Like, a therapist?" I asked softly.

He nodded and I shook my head no. I've had a therapist before. My dad was worried about me after we lost my mom. I only attended one session. All she kept saying was, "It's normal to feel this way right now" and "How do you feel about that?" it really felt like she was passing time, and wasn't trying to understand me and the pain I was going through. It was like talking to a wall. I don't want to let someone in on my business, just so they can invalidate and make what I'm going through seem like something insignificant.

"Okay, sweetheart." He gave me a soft, reassuring smile. "Just promise me you won't bottle it in, okay? I'm here if you need someone to talk to. Anytime."

"Thank you." My heart squeezed.

He pulled me close once more and deeply kissed my forehead.

"I look like a mess, don't I?" I pouted. "Screw my life. It's only morning, what's everyone going to say?"

I can imagine how flushed my face looks, and don't even get me started on the teary eyes.

He chuckled softly as he lifted my chin so our eyes met. "No. You're insanely pretty, even when you're crying."

"You're lying to me." I breathed out.

Letting out a breathy chuckle, he stroked my right cheek. "I mean it."

My ringtone sounded out, breaking us out of our stance.

"Who is it?" Miles asked in concern as soon as he noticed my deflated mood.

I turned my phone screen to his direction to show him Shelby's name flashing across the screen.

I muted the call and let it go straight to voicemail.

My phone rang once again and I groaned, sliding my finger across the screen to answer.

"What?" I said as soon as I put the phone against my ear.

"Tyler what is up with you? You've been acting strange all weekend. You won't return any of my calls and now you were supposed to come pick me up thirty minutes ago but you're only bitching with me over the phone. Is there something I don't know because you're really stressing me out right now. I mean—"

I held the phone away from my ear, not feeling like listening to anymore of her complaints. Everything is just her, her, her. This didn't even help because we could still hear everything she was saying.

"I rejected my dad's offer to take me to school because you know I don't like my parents and now I'm just waiting and waiting. You know I need to get to school and wipe my locker clean before putting my stuff in. I need to also make sure my desk in the first lesson is clean too!"

That's when I rolled my eyes and Miles rolled his lips back at my reaction.

I love her. I really do. But at times, she's really intolerable. Part of me wonders how I was able to put up with all of this for the past few years that I've known her.

"Tyler? Are you there?"

That's when I put the phone back on my ear and spoke. "Yeah."

"So... are you coming this side?" She asked, referring to her house. Miles laughed silently at this.

"I already did," I answered honestly. "A long time back."

"Well then are you coming back?" I could already hear the panic rising in her voice.

Contemplating my answer for a while, I say, "Nope."

"No? Well then can you at least try?"

"No, I don't think I will."

"Look... if this is about what happened at the party then I'm sorry, you know that I didn't mean any of that shit."

I was glad to know that she at least feels sorry for the way she treated me, but I was soon knocked right back to my senses when Miles looked away, silently shaking his head in disapproval.

"But in any case, I took the bus. So I won't be able to come pick you up," I said honestly.

So if she really apologised just so she could benefit from it, it didn't work for her anyway. Looks like I made a good decision leaving the car behind today. Otherwise I'd be driving to her place, bending over backwards once again for a friend who keeps intentionally hurting me all in the name of being cool.

"Ah shit, okay fine. Have you at least seen Miles?"

I looked up at him and his eyes widened as he shook his head and signalled for me to think of some excuse.

"Yeah, he's already at school with us and he's attending early math classes," I said and he sighed in relief.

"So much for being my boyfriend." She muttered.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow then. Love you, bye!"

Then she hung up, as the school bell rang, indicating the start of our 7-hour misery.