Dedicated to:-Verro-

Thanks a tonne for your votes and comments, love! :D

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"Being alone with your feelings is the worst because you have nowhere to run. They're here, dancing in your mind and all you can do is handle"

~Pinterest

Claire's POV

My heartbeat rang in my ears. I could feel the intense pulses throughout my body. My head throbbed to keep with the present; my subconscious was screaming at me that I've done the biggest mistake of my life.

Logan stood up and shook his hands to dry the water that had fallen on them. His dejected eyes shifted towards his shirt that was completely drenched in the water that I had splashed on him, in the middle of the cafeteria. Everyone present shot petrified glances in our direction.

He then he looked up and straight into my eyes and my heart did a violent flip because I had never seen more misery on his countenance before. He stared at me, frozen, hurt, but mostly - shocked.

A completely broken and crest-fallen emotion took over his expression and it was then that I realized how horrible of a person I was.

This moment would be fossilized in our memories forever now and I could do nothing to turn the time back and undo it. I entirely regretted my actions for hurting the person I cared wholeheartedly about.

The immense remorse caused my eyes to brim with tears and I figured that I needed to get out of there before I break down in front of everyone.

I turned in my heels and stormed out of the cafeteria without caring to look back at the chaos I left behind. I ran, dragging my legs, with all my might towards the girls' restroom.

Once I was inside, I locked myself inside one of the restrooms. I leaned my forehead on the door and I let it out. The tears burst forth like water from a dam, spilling down my face. I felt the muscles of my chin tremble and my eyes getting sorer as every second.

Whimpers and silent whines escaped from deep within my throat. I couldn't believe these sounds were coming from me. I placed both my palms on the door and fisted them as another one of my cries echoed throughout the restroom.

All Logan ever wanted was to stop pretending and something took over me, causing me to lash out at him so rudely.

The fact that Logan would never forgive me, for what I did, hurt the most. I didn't want to hurt him; I didn't want to lose him. How am I ever going to ask for forgiveness? And deep inside, I knew, I wasn't worth any mercy from him.

I had turned into a horrible, spoilt, self-approved idiot.

At that instant, I heard the low squeak of the main restroom door opening and closing and soon I could hear Adriel's voice from the other side.

"Claire? I know you're in there" she knocked on the door "Oh honey-bun, I'm extremely sorry for the mess that I've created! This would never have happened if I hadn't suggested that stupid idea!"

I wiped my tears away. Swallowing another whimper, I replied "It's not your fault Addy"

"Yes it is! Ugh, I'm such a horrible friend!" she screamed from the other side "Please come out Clairy, we'll figure something out, please"

Miserably, I unlocked the door and walked out immediately falling into embrace with my friend. Adriel rubbed my back tenderly as I dissolved into tears, in her arms, again.

"Shh, it's alright" she hugged me tightly, promising that everything is was going to be okay and it'll turn out for the best.

**********

I ignored Logan for the rest of the day and so did he. Dylan approached me, showing his sympathy. Normally, I completely drown into happiness at the sight of him, but this time, I couldn't get my mind away from my best friend and I ended up ignoring Dylan too.

I had been immensely taken aback by the events that happened that day but I couldn't be more surprised about what happened that following evening.

The doorbell rang in my ears, while I was in the kitchen having my evening snacks, at around 7 in the evening.

7 pm was Logan's ideal time for showing up at my doorstep and my mind started whirling with emotions. For an instant, I decided not to open the door as I had no mettle left to face him whatsoever.

The doorbell rang again and this time, my heart thudded louder. I made careful steps towards my door, begging the Lord for the person behind the door to be anybody else but Logan. Even my stupid neighbor would do.

I opened the door.

And I was greeted by the last person I expected to be here.

Dylan Summers.

The ultimate heart-throb of Whitney High.

His hands were casually tucked in is jeans pockets and he smiled, pursing his lips.

"Dylan?" I asked out of astonishment "This is a surprise" I giggled, trying to sound cheerful but I failed horribly.

"Yeah" he shrugged "We need to talk"

Dylan Summers wanted to talk to me? To...me?

"About what?" I asked.

"Can I, umm, come inside?"

"Oh sure" I timidly shifted away from the door to let him in. I lead him into the living room and he claimed his place on the couch while I took a seat on the sofa chair across from him. He had his arms resting on his knees and his palms clasped together.

And then he began "I'm sorry about Logan"

I could feel my expression shift to a sad one "Yeah. But I'm okay"

"Are you?" he gave me challenging glare.

The truth was - no. I was broken, shattered, wholly torn apart from every side, bleeding, aching, hurting.

"Yes, I'm fine" I lied.

He threw a long dubious stare in my direction after which he said "I was just driving past your house and I thought I'd stop by to tell you that..." he licked his lips "...that you don't need to be so heart broken about a break up. You'll find millions of guys like him in the future. And, holding onto one person is going to ruin you more day by day. You'll have to move on"

But what if I told you that Logan wasn't just another guy who stepped into my life? There was something totally different about him, something that made him stand out of the million guys he stood amidst. He was special.

I didn't say any of that out loud. Instead I questioned him about his sudden change of behaviour towards me "Wait, why would you, Dylan Summers, the bad boy, suddenly step into my house giving me tips to get over a break up?"

For some reason, anger took over his face and he glared at me as if trying to process what I had just said. A few minutes later, he suddenly yelled "You see? This is what I'm talking about! This stupid mentality of teenagers these days!"

"Whoa, calm down!"

"No Claire!" he fisted his palms in the air and jumped off the couch "I'm not going to calm down! Just because I'm famous and I'm friends with the bad guys of the school, it makes me a bad guy too? I don't get you people. Just because I look deceiving doesn't mean I'm a player! I've never deliberately hurt anybody and I never fucking cheated on anyone! Never!"

"Dylan!" I yelled, standing up and he stopped blabbering immediately "What's gotten into you?"

He let out a frustrated groan and threw his cell phone angrily on the couch. Gritting his teeth, he ran his hands through his long dark brunette hair, facing up towards the ceiling.

When his breathing slowed down, he elucidated quietly "I've always been judged by people. They come upto me telling me how bad I was when I clearly did nothing. It's just because I'm famous that everyone thinks I'm a bad guy"

His eyes directed towards me in an apologetic gesture "I'm really sorry about that. It's just...I'm tired of all this fame. I just want to live a normal life like a normal student and have normal friends who don't go around showing off"

I walked upto him and placed my hand on his shoulder, endeavoring to soothe him. It came as a complete shock to me to see this side of him. It was true that everyone thought Dylan was as spoilt as his friends but it was that day that I realized - he is actually such a good individual.

He rubbed his temple and squeezed his eyes "I should probably get going"

I didn't stop him from leaving. As a person who has gone through these strong emotions before, I understood that he needed some time for himself. Dylan Summers was hiding something inside, something that he wasn't ready to share with the world.

And it was eating him away.

Before walking out of the door, he turned around "Claire, don't ever think that people hate you because of who you are. As I said before, it's the mentality of the highschoolers that, if a person is a nerd, he should be hated. You're an amazing person, don't allow anyone to let you down, yeah?"

"Yeah" I smiled and watched him hop into his car and drive away.

I stood there, at the doorstep, for what seemed like forever, reflecting on how my life took a sharp turn. Just before Adriel came up with this idea of pretend dating, everything was so monotonous and boring in my life and now, I have to deal with surprises every single day.

There was an uncanny notion invading my heart telling me that I didn't feel anything when Dylan was under the same roof as me. All the events that took place that week had completely changed me - even my feelings toward him.

If he was to stop by my house a few days ago, I would've fainted with embarrassment and my heart would've fluttered to unknown territories. But now, it didn't matter that much anymore.

I shifted my gaze towards my vacant house literally feeling the absence of something. Something missing. There was a dark void in my heart as if a part of it was taken away and I knew exactly why.

I needed Logan in my life again. I needed him to make myself whole again.

I needed to hear his contagious laughs, I needed to hear his constant mocks, I needed to hear those sweet nicknames that he called me, I needed his arms around me, holding me, joining my broken pieces together.

I didn't want him.

I needed him.

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Shit, this chapter was so boring! Ugh *cries* I promise there'll be something good in the next chapter guys! Please stay tuned ;)

Oh and, I've been tagged like a million times by a million people to do this 13 things tag where you have to state 13 random facts about yourself. So I'm finally going to get out of my comfort zone and do it!

1) I started writing novels on my laptop when I was 12 years old.

2) I started with horror genre and my stories scared the shit out of people XD

3) I'm an insomniac.

4) I have trypophobia (don't take advantage of that please)

5) I'm a lover of dark colors and a hater of light ones

6) You better watch your back if you make me angry

7) I get extra emotional over petty things

8) My dream is to travel the world.

9) I' m big fan of Dan Brown and R.L. Stine. Tease them and I'll hunt you down!

10) Photography, sketching and writing are my passion!

11) I can write terribly gooey and scary scenes. You'll find that side of me when I start writing horror and mystery ;)

12) I successfully battled depression. Yay me!

13) I'm Indian (that answers the question that many of you had XD)

And as always, thank you so much for the amazing support!

Love, K

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