It was now Monday and I was doing the impossible: convincing my mother, who happened to be a doctor, that I was too sick to go to school.

"Mom, seriously. My stomach hurts so badly," I dramatically groaned, turning in bed so she could see the pained expression I had on my face.

She wasn't impressed. "You have no fever, you're not on your period, you didn't eat any bad food. If anything, this pain is caused by stress." To emphasize her point, she used the back of her hand to check my temperature. It made me realize I should have taken more precautions to seem believable.

"Okay, but can I stay home?"

"No," she deadpanned. "Honey, if you were to stay home every time you were stressed, you'd be homeschooled. Relax, take a laxative, and get your ass to school," she said in a final tone. She softened the blow with a smile and a kiss on my forehead before leaving.

I groaned and flailed in my bed, trying to get the blankets off of me. When attempting to get off the bed, my foot got caught and I landed with a thud on my hardwood floor. Perfect.

"Ouch," I grumbled. Ryder jumped down from where he was just laying and licked my face, making sure I was okay. I gave him a pat on the head then opened the door so he could run downstairs.

I took my sweet time getting ready. Going to school felt like the worse task in the world. It was filled with people who either hated me or were hated by me. I think the only two people whose company I enjoyed were Jaz and Will. Even then, I wasn't sure how I was going to face Will today. I couldn't.

I glanced over to my window and debated whether it would be better to jump out.

Anyway...

I finished getting dress and trudged downstairs, still pretending to be sick. Maybe mom would go easy on me.

With a grimace, I walked into the kitchen and took a seat at the table. "Good morning, Ary," my dad chirped, looking over his infamous newspaper. "Don't you look awfully cheery."

"Mom won't let me skip," I grumbled, annoyed with his enthusiasm. Who was so excited this early in the morning?

Just as I said that, she came from behind and set a plate down in front of me. "You've missed a lot of school last year. I don't want a repeat." I scoffed and grabbed a piece of fresh bacon.

My dad shook his head at me. "Sorry kiddo, nothing I can do. You know how scary she gets." Coward.

I rolled my eyes but the smile on his face made me do the same. I picked at my food, taking small bites. It was obvious my mom wasn't giving in, so I could drop the act. But I truly didn't have the stomach to eat right now.

And to make the matters worse, dad lowered his newspaper and gave me a solemn look. "Ary, we're going out of town for a little."

"What? Why?" I whined.

Instead of answering my question, he rested his head on his propped elbows. "And Justin's spending the night at a friend's. Now, I know you have Ryder with you, but you can call someone else to spend the night if you want."

My mom took a seat next to me. "And I don't know what's going on between you and Dylan, so I don't blame you for calling someone else. Do you think you'll be alright? Maybe you could spend the night at someone else's house." She reached over and brushed my baby hairs out of my face.

"No boys," my dad sternly added, but my mom just winked, silently giving me permission.

"Honestly, I'll be okay. I'll have to grow up at some point, right? College is just around the corner," I teased. Everyone suddenly quieted down, staring at the table as reality set in.

College was so soon.

"Don't worry, we have a whole year," I added, hoping to lighten the mood. Instead, I got sad smiles. "Where's Justin?" I noticed he wasn't sitting across the table, annoying me as usual.

Mom's eyes widened in realization and she got up with a determined look. I could only imagine her unleashing her wrath on him.

Poor kid.

"Okay, I'm just gonna go before she forces me to take him to school," I laughed, pushing my half-eaten plate away. My dad gave me a disapproving look for not finishing but didn't say anything. I gave him a swift kiss on the cheek and grabbed my bag, which was sitting in the living room.

With one final goodbye to Ryder and mom, I snuck out before she actually realized I left. Skipping to my car, I glanced over at the neighbor's. Seconds later, Andrew came out juggling his backpack, a banana, and a cup of coffee.

"Hey Drew," I yelled, catching his attention.

His eyes snapped up to me and his face broke out into a grin. "Hey, Bella! Wait right there!" I watched with confusion as he carefully rested the beverage on the top of his car before opening it and throwing the remaining things in there. Then, he slammed the door and grabbed the cup, heading over to me. "This is for you." He held out the steel to-go cup.

I warily glanced down at it, making no move to grab it from him. "What's this?"

"Coffee," he said flatly. I expectantly looked up at him, demanding an explanation. To my surprise, he turned a slight shade of red. "Uh, I just figured since you've had a rough week, this would make you feel a little better."

My brows raised in surprise, but I shouldn't have been. Andrew had always been a kind person, even if he was a little messed up in the head. Overall, he was nice.

I took the Yeti cup from his hand and brought it to my lips. "Shit, this is amazing!"

"Thanks! My mom bought one of those Nespresso machines the other day," he proudly beamed.

I took another sip of the sweet coffee, ignoring the burn on my tongue. "Thanks, Drew, for everything."

He gave me an acknowledging nod before walking back to his own car. "Bella, if you need protection today, let me know," he said in all seriousness. I giggled and threw up a thumbs-up before getting into my own car.

Maybe this week wouldn't be too bad.

Pulling into the lot, I knew better than to linger in my car. One wrong move and I'd be cornered by Dylan and/or Emma. I couldn't bear to go inside and see Will, so instead I snuck into Mr. Cullen's class.

He looked surprised to see me. "Bella, you know I'm not your teacher anymore, right?" He was furiously typing at his laptop and didn't stop even after noticing me. "You don't have me for first period."

"Yeah... I'm just basically avoiding everyone right now so I came here," I replied with a small sigh.

He glanced over for a split second before returning to his desktop. "What did you do this time?" he asked as if this was a routine.

Ouch, that was offensive. "Nothing," I said with a defensive tone. "I'm offended that you'd even think I was the problem."

"My bad," he distractedly mumbled. His attention was now fully on the screen in front of him.

Seeing that he didn't care, I took a seat on one of the desks in the front and scrolled through my phone. I received several texts from my friends asking about my whereabouts but I responded to none of them.

I managed to keep myself distracted but noticed a flow of students piling in. Confusion contorted on my face seeing that the bell hadn't rung yet. I looked up to Mr. C, who was already staring back.

A student awkwardly stood by the desk I was currently sitting in. I rolled my eyes and grabbed my bag. He scooted so I could move past him, then sat down.

I walked up to the teacher's desk and gave him an incredulous look. "Why are your students so early? And since when did you assign seats?"

He silently chuckled and glanced back at the few early birds. "No assigned seats, and believe it or not, my students actually enjoy my company."

"Nerds," I muttered under my breath.

He nodded in agreement. "Yes, they're very well-disciplined. It's a nice change from the antics of last year," he said, tone dripping in amusement. The look he gave me only confirmed he was talking about my class. Along with me being the chaotic mind I was, we also had some class clowns who loved to harass Mr. Cullen. Luckily, he found it just as amusing. "Go hang out with your boyfriend or something."

"I..." I paused, thinking of a reasonable way to explain why I was annoyed at Dean, but I also didn't want to tell him about it. I didn't want to come off as clingy, especially when it came to Skylar.

"Another fight?" Damien asked, exasperated.

My shoulders sagged. "No, not really. He's just too busy with other friends to remember my existence," I bitterly replied. Confusion flashed on his face and I realized he was going to ask me to elaborate. "Nevermind, I'll just go to class, I guess. I'm sure my teacher will appreciate me becoming a model-student." I said the last part with a posh British accent, earning a chuckle.

"Wish that was you last year," he sighed wistfully as I walked out of the room. Then his typing resumed, echoing in his silent classroom.

The hallway was starkly loud compared to the classroom, making me feel like I stepped into an alternate dimension. I looked around, seeing if I could find a good scapegoat. None of my friends were in sight, which was both good and bad.

Coming in from the main doors, I saw my [ex] best friend looking around. His eyes were scanning every face that lingered in the hallway. There were only seconds before his gaze would land on me.

My eyes widened in panic and I sprinted in the opposite direction. Every few seconds, I'd turn back to see if he was following.

Then a sharp pain erupted from my nose. For a minute, I thought I accidentally bumped into a wall I hadn't seen. But, as my eyes trailed up, horror took over my features.

Out of all the things and people to bump into, it just had to be Mystery Kid again. I hadn't forgotten our last interaction. The party, where we both decided to be assholes.

He looked down at me with spiteful eyes. "Of fucking course."

"Listen dude, I don't have time to entertain your shenanigans right now, I need to go," I said, glancing over my shoulder. Dylan was slowly coming closer, but he hadn't seen me yet. I would've liked to keep it that way.

"Oh, hell no. You need to explain yourself for that stunt you pulled that night," he said, dead serious. I gave him an incredulous look. Now was not the time, nor place, but the determined look on his face didn't falter.

Dylan was only coming closer and I needed a plan.

"You're such an entitled bitch. I paid good money for those cigarettes. They were good quality, not that gas station shit. I mean, hand-rolled," he continued, not considering my tense state.

Dylan was only two lockers away now.

"Not to mention that you completely disrespected me–"

Before I could think, I cupped the boy's face and smashed my lips to his in an attempt to hide my face from Dylan. He froze under my touch, too shocked to kiss me back. I kept my eyes open and waited for Dylan to appear over his shoulder before stopping.

I pulled away and breathed a sigh of relief. The back of my hand wiped my lips. "Sorry about that," I said, still eyeing my friend. Hopefully he wouldn't turn around and spot me.

When it was all clear, I turned back to the kid. His shocked expression was still there. With wide eyes, he touched his lips as if he couldn't believe that just happened.

The bell rang and I gave him a curt nod before disappearing to my first class.

Somehow, I managed to reach before Dylan. I took a seat surrounded by other bored students and sparked up a conversation with an acquaintance. During this time, I was really trying to calm my beating heart from the rush of adrenaline.

I couldn't believe I actually pulled that off.

But as soon as the high was over, dread settled in. I just kissed someone. I had a boyfriend. I kissed someone who wasn't my boyfriend.

Oh god.

I mindlessly nodded, adding some "mhms" and "no ways" into the conversation. My gaze momentarily flickered to Dylan, who was sitting at the front this time. His eyes met mine and widened. Before he had to chance to do anything, I forced myself to look away.

My friend talked until the teacher called our attention. I gave her an apologetic smile, indicating that I was sad for our conversation to be cut short, even though I didn't grasp a single word she said. She dismissively waved it off.

Wow, I'm becoming a good liar.

I mentally beamed at my impressive talents, but my mind wandered back to Dean, which led to Skylar. I wasn't sure what those two were doing but I was smart enough to know he wouldn't be happy at the thought of me kissing someone else.

The sadist in me smiled at the thought of Mystery Kid being punched. He totally deserved it.

I shook away the thoughts but the ghost of a smile lingered on my lips. I allowed myself to bask in the small happiness I could get before it inevitably goes downhill.

When the bell rang, I realized two things. The first one was that I didn't pay attention in class, at all. I didn't hear a single word that came out of our teacher's mouth. The second thing was that Dylan purposely sat in the front today.

The sneaky bastard wanted to corner me.

Lucky for him, I had terrible skills and couldn't just slip past him. By the time I noticed him stalking me, he had grabbed my arm and dragged me into the hallway.

I looked down at where his hand met my arm and winced. He wasn't holding me tightly, but it was the spot where Mystery Kid had decided to death-grip me at the party. The light bruise was still there as a constant reminder.

Dylan dragged me to a secluded corner but didn't let go, knowing I would run the second he did. I didn't even bother to twist my arm out of his hold. It would be more painful for me. Physically, of course.

"Bella, we need to talk about what you saw," he whispered softly. A pang of disappointment hit my chest at the fact that he didn't want to apologize for his harsh words.

"There's nothing to talk about, I didn't tell anyone," I told him with no emotion.

His brows quirked in surprise. "You didn't? Not even Jaz?"

I took his moment of shock to release from his hold, biting back a wince. I didn't need a reason for him to interrogate me for longer.

"Nope," I said before power-walking away. Even as I was leaving, I could feel his confused gaze following me. As soon as I was out of his sight, I let out a breath of relief.

~~~

Lunch was awkward as hell. I forced myself to go, seeing it as a good practice run to act like nothing ever happened, especially in front of Will.

Ironically, and lucky for me, Emma was missing. It took everything in me to not glance over and see if she was sitting at the traitor's table. Dean also wasn't here, but he texted me something about a lunch detention. I just hoped that's where he was and not with a certain redhead.

The conversation was light and casual, but I wanted nothing more than to escape. I couldn't meet Will's eyes. In his world, everything was okay. I couldn't crush it.

But I also knew I couldn't avoid it forever.

So when the bell rang to dismiss us for lunch, I was relieved to get away from the company. Until the dread set in at the realization that the two were in my next class, along with Dean, who I hadn't seen since the party. And, to top it all off, Mystery Kid was also there.

Hopefully he'd avoid my presence as he usually did.

Jaz nudged me in the side as we walked to class. "Psst, are you okay?" she whispered so only the two of us could hear.

I waited until we were in class to respond. She gratefully swapped seats so she sat in between Will and I. Sure, it meant I was no longer diagonal from Dean, but it seemed like a small price to pay. In fact, it seemed like I was killing two birds with one stone. I could avoid the oncoming guilt from both of them.

Perfect.

"I'm just peachy," I finally responded, more to myself than her. 

She rolled off my sarcasm and leaned in to whisper. "Dylan apologized this morning."

My breath hitched in my throat. I attempted to seem cool and casual as I asked her, "What did you say?" I was nervous. If she forgave him, it only meant I had fewer people on my side.

"That I need to think about it."

My shoulders sagged in relief. She hadn't completely forgiven him. I had a few more precious moments with her until she finally caved and gave in. I was expecting her to forgive him more easily considering her closeness with him, plus the fact of her insult being one of the milder ones, but I guess her newfound aggressive nature prevented her from caving easily.

"Okay," I replied with a small smile. "Do whatever you feel is right."

"I want to talk about it. I don't want you to think that I'm abandoning you, okay? I'm just over all the fighting. I'm only going to forgive him if he seriously considers letting us help."

"Jaz, I know you're not abandoning me," I assured, even though I didn't feel that way. "I just don't feel ready to forgive him yet."

"And I completely understand! So when I forgive him, I just want you to know you can still talk to me. I'm still here, okay?" She warmly smiled and I nodded, knowing it was true.

I wondered why she kept putting off accepting his apology when she was clearly ready to. I didn't understand why she needed a few days to do it. Maybe it was to convince him to follow up with his end of the deal.

It didn't matter though, because I wasn't going to be a part of it.

Just as I was beginning to actually focus on the teacher, a paper ball landed on my desk. I looked down in surprise, then at my friends. Dean and Will were both focusing on the material and Jaz looked just as confused as me.

I opened up the paper, thinking maybe there was a hidden message in it rather than it being used as a ball and two clumsy kids accidentally threw it my way.

I was right.

'We need to talk'

My gaze first flickered to Dean, who seemed totally oblivious to the situation. I scoped around, wondering if somehow Dylan or Emma managed to sneak into class just to harass me.

However, my eyes caught on the same boy who seemed to be terrorizing me. Well, it was mostly on my end, but the insignificant details didn't matter. He looked at me and nodded to the paper, indicating he was the one to send it.

I made an 'o' shape with my mouth before contorting it into an innocent smile. As soon as he realized I was agreeing to talk, I did the same thing he did only last week, and ripped the paper right in front of him.

Some other students looked at me, distracted by the noise, but I kept my eyes on him as I made confetti out of the note. He looked shocked, as if he expected me to comply easily.

Now he knew how it felt.

"Bella, what the hell?" Jaz whispered as she watched the heated interaction between us. "Didn't you want him to forgive you?"

"Not anymore," I replied, never breaking eye contact. I could see her raise her brow from my peripheral vision.

I finally pulled my eyes away first. I wasn't going to entertain this silly little game anymore. Sure, I was the one who started it, and sure I started intentionally pissing him off, and sure I kissed him hours ago...

Where was I going with this?

The bell rang, snapping me out of my thoughts once again. I sighed, realizing I was going to be seriously behind in all my classes if I didn't pay attention.

Jaz noticed my exhausted look and passed me a sympathetic smile, knowing exactly what was going through my brain. I only shrugged in response.

It wasn't until I was in the hallway did an arm reach out and grab me. It seemed to be happening a lot recently. I glared at the source and was not surprised when it was Mystery Kid. "What?" I snapped rather harshly.

Hurt, an expression I've never seen on him before, flashed on his face before contorting into anger. "What do you mean 'what'? You want to explain this morning?"

"What about it?"

His face fell. "You don't just go around kissing people for no reason," he quietly hissed, not wanting other people to hear.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't get too cocky. You're the last person I'd want to kiss."

He looked a little taken aback by my answer. His grip loosened and I slipped my arm out, rubbing the sore spot. "Same goes for you."

"Okay then. Are we done? Because I don't have time to waste on you," I remarked, my voice dripping with venom.

Once again, he seemed a little hurt, but I figured I was imagining it at this point. I've said worse to him. Plus, he should've expected this after completely blowing up on me that night.

Without waiting for his answer, I left him behind, wondering how I seemed to always be getting into these situations.