I looked up. Shawn's eyes meet mines. They were green with tiny little flecks of brown. And they shone so shamelessly. A weird expression crossed his face. Confusion? Disbelief? Shock? Before I could think of anymore, whispering filled the room. And that sent me straight back to reality.

I quickly scrambled out of his arms, and back on my feet. He repositions himself and cleared his throat. Our classmates were staring wide-eyed at us. And the girl from before was sneering at me. 

I suddenly remembered the feeling of his arms on my back. So strong and comfortable. It just felt...right. Shit. What are you doing to yourself? I mentally slapped my brain.

Still feeling the peoples gazes, I looked down and roused on my shoes. They were thinking about me. Judging me. They were– Calm yourself down you idiot. I felt sweat on my neck and palms. They were still staring at me.

A sudden clap filled the room. Causing everyone to jump. 

"Kids, I lost track of time! All of you should be moving on to your next class!" She shouted. Realizing my chance, I quickly grabbed my unpacked gym bag and ran out of the gymnasium. But I wasn't fast enough to unheard the whispering and snickering. About me, at me.

Then just briefly, so briefly. I caught Shawn's reflection in the window of the doors. His reflected eyes stared into mine. I shook my head and left.

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I was in the middle of my last class when my phone rang. I furrowed my brows wondering who could be calling. I ignored it and stuffed it into my bag, hoping Mrs. Levinson didn't hear. The previous class was surprisingly calm. No one confronted me, or even spoke to m. Maybe what happened will just disappear. Maybe it'll just float away. Pfft. Sure.

I huffed and tried to listen to Mrs. Levinson's plain voice. I perked up when another notification rang. Another one came. Then another one. And a third one followed. I felt myself panic, wondering what the hell was going on. 

I took my bag and pushes it under my chair, stupidly thinking that the ringing would stop. Seriously! Which dumb shit's calling me right now?

I froze. Mrs Levinson was staring right at me.

Uh oh.

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I kicked a lone water bottle cap on the way home. Home. Where my lying cheating dad was. What was wrong with my life? I sent a hand searching through my pocket–until I realized that my phone was not there. It's been embarrassing enough that it has been confiscated, but the fact that I had to get up and turn my notifications off was even worse. 

Shawn. God damn him! I would have been perfectly fine if he hasn't caught me. Would have saved me a lot of trouble. And I would've been able to skip dancing with the jerk too.

How I would love to just stuff his head into his pants. Pretty sure there would be a lot of room in there. Therefore, everything in there is too small– Something smacked against my back, knocking all the air out of me. I let out a yelp, and the force of–whatever it was, sent me tumbling down onto the cracked, dusty pavement, clawing at my throat.

I gulped for air. My back and lungs burned with pain and lack of air.

"Get your dirty gold-digger hands off of him," A shrill female voice shouted behind me. I felt my ears shrivel back at the deathly pitch.

"I warned you. Didn't I? You poor little twit! If I hadn't come save him, you would have already sucked-out his beautiful, handsome soul!" There was only one person who could talk so retarded-like. Alessia Warren. The guy with the beautiful, handsome soul's, crazy girlfriend.

I stood up swaying a little. Defying the urge to yank her head off, I brushed my shirt and kept on walking. And just to show her I was listening, I sucked in a group of saliva and spit behind me.

I smiled when I heard a shriek of disgust.

"Oh, it is on." Alessia said. But I already had my earphones on, listening to a steady beat of music. 

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Me: Carolyn? Hellooo?

Me: WHAT was that? Are you out of your mind? Harrison? You just got out of a relationship. Is this how you're going to handle it?

Me: And why would you act like that? That just isn't you! You know, I don't even know you anymore!

I huffed, tapping away at my screen. Carolyn hasn't called, or texted. We use to text for hours till our moms would hit us with pillows. I just don't know what got to her...

I groaned with exhaustion, and slumped onto my bed. A knock at my door perked me up.

"Can I come in?" A voice called out. I slurred out a yes.

"How are you?" I look up meeting eyes with my father. I raised my eyebrows silently asking him what he wanted. I've succeeded on avoiding him the last week. I didn't want to stop now.

"So, uh...what do you want?" I asked, taking my eyes off his.

"That's not a really nice way to talk to your father. Don't you think?" He said, closing the door behind him. My mom would already be asleep by now. I took out my phone and started reading some school articles–hoping that he would understand my vibes.

"Miss Meredith Safford. Get off your phone right now. Since when have you started behaving so much like a bratty teenager?" He said, volume getting noticeably louder. But I still continued with my reading. Flipping through pages a little more aggressively. 

"I am still your father!" He shouted, making me jump. I felt myself go tense, and my breathing become shaky. This was usually the part where I would apologize and beg for forgiveness. But nothing's usual anymore. Not now it isn't.

"And you are still my daughter," He said slightly softer. I slowly looked up and saw his furious but crestfallen face. At this point, I would have already kissed him on the cheek and sent him off with another sorry. 

I felt a single tear slide down my cheek. "How could you say that after everything you've done?" I said, voice cracking. "How could you expect me to forgive you? After what you did!" A soft flow of tears now floated out. My phone was now forgotten on the floor, too heavy for my now shuddering weak hand. I felt the memory come back. Him and that women. That women that wasn't mom. Tangled on the damn sofa. 

I started sobbing. Tears now flooded from my eyes. Dripping down my chin, and onto my shaking fists. I've suffered. Being alone. That's what I feared most. Alone like an abandoned button, too ugly to look at. A dying raccoon on a road. Too small for anyone to care about. And I felt it. The pulling on my chest. The weight of a 100 men. 

"Leave." I whispered. "Please leave." 

He didn't move away but instead, took a step forward. "Let me help you." 

"G–go...away" I gasped. "Please..." Then he left. I cried the whole night.

Short chapter. This is like really short. Sorrryyyy! It's just that if I were to continue, I would have to make another scene, and I would rather do that for another chapter.

So what do you guys think?