I decided to go back to school the next day. I was feeling a lot better; still crummy, but at least I wasn't throwing up every half hour. Mostly I wanted to go back to school because I didn't like being holed up in my home the whole day alone. Also, I had my Sociology exam today and I didn't want to make it up during study hall.

As I was getting out of my car when I got to school, Kyle came up to me.

"Hey, Mila. How are you? I heard you were sick yesterday," Kyle asked. I closed the door to my car and opened the trunk to get my bag.

"I'm better now. It was just a random cold," I answered, slamming the trunk door down. I put my bag on my shoulder and faced him.

"Fast recovery," he said, leaning against my car. I nodded at him. Just then, Leah and Derek walked by, hand in hand. I stiffened up and I saw Kyle's jaw harden.

"Kyle," I said. He had been watching Derek and Leah walk by, too.

"Yeah?" he asked, his eyes still on Derek and Leah.

"I think we should go out on Friday. We can go somewhere as a group with Alisha and Jason," I said, forcing my gaze to turn from the couple to Kyle. Kyle's navy blue eyes brightened up.

"Seriously? I thought you said-" he began.

"Forget what I said. I need to get out of the house. It won't do me any good holed up in there," I said. I didn't know why I was suddenly agreeing to go out with Kyle. Seeing Derek and Leah walk by, a true couple, brought a livid fire to life inside of me. If he wanted to play it this way, I could do the same. Who knows? Maybe Kyle will turn out to be my high school sweetheart. I looked at the tall, muscular, and handsom jock.

Nah. I doubt it.

                                                                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~

"This is sooo exciting! I have been waiting all year to go on a double date with you. Granted, I always thought we would be doubling with someone else-" Alisha was saying. I stopped her there.

"Don't ruin my night before it even gets started," I snapped. She stuck her tongue out at me. I had told my father I was going to Alisha's house for dinner. I had already put my clothes and make-up in my car before he came home. I had driven to Alisha's house to get ready. When I got there, it shocked me at how rebellious I had become.

We were dressing simply. We were all going to the movies, so I wore a simple plaid dress with a black shirt under it and a light black jacket over it. Alisha wore a pair of black skinny jeans, a neon yellow V-neck shirt, and a faux leather black jacket.

"All right. Ready to go? The boys will be here in approxiamately..." Alisha checked her phone, "47 seconds," she said. I laughed at her exactness. Sure enough, we heard the doorbell ring a few moments later. "Excellent timing, I must say," Alisha said in a mock-British voice as we headed down the stairs.

"Indeed," I replied, in a similar accent. We opened the door to see both Kyle and Jason standing on her porch.

"Hey," we all said in unison. Alisha and I laughed and Jason smirked.

"The movie starts in 45 minutes. We have time to go somewhere else for a bit," Kyle said.

"Let's get ice cream!" Alisha suggested, locking her door. Her parents were working late shifts, so they weren't home. We were going in Kyle's H3 Hummer, because it was the biggest, despite my dislike of Hummers. We went to a local ice creamery and got small sundae cups to go. Then we all drove off to the movies.

"What do we want to watch? Thriller? Comedy? Romance?" Alisha said, scanning the movies available.

"Comedy!" Alisha and I said together.

"Thriller!" Kyle and Jason said at the same time. We all looked at each other.

"Ladies' choice?" Jason muttered.

"Yeah, I guess," Kyle agreed. Alisha and I grinned at each other.

"Oh no! Let's watch Thor!" I cried seeing the title.

"Yes! Chris Hemsworth OMG!" Alisha giggled. The boys rolled their eyes.

"That's better than whatever else you guys were going to pick," Kyle said. We got 4 tickets for Thor and bought our popcorn/soda/candy from the concession stand. We sat in this order: Kyle, me, Alisha, and then Jason.

"These 3-D glasses are so tacky," Alisha said, looking at them. We laughed.

"They can't make 3-D Ray Ban glasses," Jason said.

"That would be so cool, though!" Alisha said. After the previews, and numerous advertisements about Coca Cola and cell phones, the movie began. The movie opened with Natalie Portman.

"Damn, she is so hot," we heard Jason whisper. Alisha slapped his arm. Kyle and I snickered. I was really glad Alisha and Jason were there. It made the "date" so much less awkward. Alisha, leaned in against Jason, who put his arm around her. I sat awkwardly next to Kyle, our arms sharing one armrest. Then, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) came on screen and Alisha and I grabbed each other's hands, freaking out like girly little fan-girls. Kyle and Jason both exchanged looks of fake-annoyance. We did this pretty much the whole time Thor was on-screen. We both let out loud giggles when he had his shirtless scene.

"Look at the BODY!" Alisha accidentally cried out-loud. We got a lot of "Shhhhh!"'s, but one person in the back yelled,

"I know, RIGHT?!" Leesh and I burst into quiet giggles.

"Wow, you guys are so annoying," Jason said when the movie was over and we had walked outside.

"Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. He is SOOO hot," Alisha said, ignoring his comment.

"His eyes are to die for!" I said.

"I know! Oh my gosh! They're so blue!" Alisha said.

"And his eye-lashes! They're so thick. Oh my Gooood," I said. We both looked at Kyle and Jason's annoyed expressions and then burst into laughter.

"Kyle has pretty blue eyes, too," Jason said, smirking purposefully.

"Thanks, man. You have pretty hair," Kyle said, mimicking mine and Alisha's voice, grinning back. Alisha and I made gagging noises and we all laughed. We all went to Virgina Beach (not my beach) to walk along the boardwalk. Alisha and Jason walked together; Jason had his arm around Alisha's waist. Kyle and I walked behind them, our arms occasionally touching, our footsteps falling in step with each other.

"Having fun?" Kyle asked.

"Yeah. I'm glad we decided to do this," I said, smiling up at Kyle. And that wasn't even a lie. I was enjoying myself. Alisha and Jason were far ahead of us.

"Hypothetically speaking, if I were to ask you to dinner one day, what would you say?" Kyle asked, trying to be sneaky. I felt sad suddenly and looked at the dark sky. There were people all around, walking on the boardwalk or sitting by the water, with fires set-up.

"I would say yes," I answered finally. We had stopped walking. We faced each other and I felt my heart race a little. Not because I had strong feelings for him. It was because I was nervous as to what was happening. He reached out and brushed my hair behind me ear. I had a flashback of when Derek had touched my cheek when it was bruised. His hands had been so gentle...

Kyle was leaning in and I found myself leaning in, too. And just like that, he was kissing me. I put my arms around his neck and stood on my tip-toes. After about 30 seconds, though, I broke away, breathing hard. Kyle looked at me, curiousity in his eyes.

"I can't-I-I'm sorry, Kyle. I can't do this," I said, walking backwards, away from him. I saw a hurt expression on his face and I immediately felt guilty. "I'm sorry," I said once more and then ran, leaving him standing there.

I wasn't watching where I was going and I crashed into someone, who caught me before I fell. I looked up to see Derek.

"Don't-DON'T TOUCH ME!" I yelled, pushing him away. My eyes flashed with anger. "This is all your fault! I-You-Just-JUST GO AWAY!" I shouted. He narrowed his eyebrows in concern.

"Mi-" he began.

"Don't! Don't say it," I said. And then I walked away from him quickly, feeling tears sting my eyes. Why did he have to show up everywhere? Kyle's hurt expression flashed before my eyes and I felt guilty once more. I kicked a rock in anger. Why did the boys have to come to our school? I wouldn't have to deal with any of this if they hadn't shown up.