On Monday morning she didn't have the energy to look cute. She put on a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie and pulled her hair up in a lazy ponytail. She didn't put on any makeup and she even wore her glasses. Just getting out of bed and getting dressed felt like effort so to her the fact that she was even going to school was a win.

She heard a honk outside and it reminded her of when Austin would honk to pick her up and how excited he always looked to see her. That memory really hurt and she swallowed it down and took a deep breath before heading out the front door. Blaze was out there in his Trans Am with Bailey in the passenger seat and Bailey got out and lifted the seat so she could climb in back. She couldn't help but look over at Austin's house and notice his blinds were still drawn and his Jeep was already gone.

The ride to school was kind of quiet and awkward, like they were walking on eggshells not to upset her. They talked about the weather and homework and everything except for Austin. When she got to school it felt so weird walking in without Austin next to her. Since the very first day here he had always been by her side walking in and that thought made her eyes start to water and she bit her lip to hold back the tears.

For lunch that day she sat by herself in the gym and ate because she didn't want to feel like a third wheel with Bailey and Blaze and she really didn't feel like talking to anyone. She just wanted to be alone. She knew no one would think to look for her there.

Math class was the one she had been dreading the most because she had an assigned seat next to Austin. She got to class early and laid her head down on the desk until it was time for class to start and she didn't turn her head to look in his direction a single time. She couldn't because she knew she would lose it and start crying like a baby in the middle of class. She could just see him in her peripheral vision.

He never made any attempts to talk to her which was a relief but also hurt at the same time. When she got to Spanish class she noticed Mandy sitting there with a big arrogant smile on her face and Chaz looked the same. Obviously they had already heard about the breakup.

"Hey Jolie. I'm loving the new look," she said sarcastically, looking her up and down and looking over at Chaz and laughing.

She gave her a sarcastic smile and said in a high pitched voice, "Gee thanks! I'm so glad you like it. I picked it out just for you!"

Finally Blaze came into class and sat next to her and gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Hey, how are you?"

"Terrible," she groaned. "I feel worse than I did when I found out my Dad had cheated on my Mom and we were moving to Illinois. Worse than when I found out my Dad's mistress was moving into our house and they turned my old bedroom into her yoga studio. Worse than when he told me they were getting married and she was pregnant."

"Wow. Okay. So you're saying you feel great," he laughed.

"Yeah. Something like that. The worst part is hearing Mandy gloat about how she tricked me and got us to break up. Her and Chaz are really proud of themselves," she said, glancing her eyes over in their direction.

"I heard that," Mandy said. "And you're right. I am proud of myself. Austin never should've been with you in the first place. I'm the captain of the cheerleading team and you're just vapor. You don't even matter. He belongs with me and I just have to remind him of that."

Jolie felt anger building up inside her and she wanted to rip Mandy's hair out.

"You're right Mandy," Jolie said.

"I am?" Mandy asked with a confused expression.

"Yeah. I might be vapor in this school. My popularity only came because I was Austin Fox's girlfriend. But high school means nothing to me. Popularity means nothing to me. When I leave this place I'm going to Harvard and I'm going to become a successful lawyer and I'll make more in a year than you'll probably make in your lifetime and I'm going to completely forget you ever existed."

The gloating, arrogant expression left Mandy's face and she didn't have a comeback for that.

She heard clapping and she looked over to see Blaze with a smile on his face clapping and he said, "Bravo! That was brutal and I loved it. 10 out of 10."

He put his knuckles out to her and she hit hers against them and laughed.

After school was over she walked out into the parking lot and was about to get in the backseat of Blaze's Trans Am when she looked over and saw Austin getting in his Jeep. She stood there and looked at him and he looked so gorgeous sat behind the wheel and it brought back memories of riding around with him and rapping to songs together. The memory made her eyes water and she saw Austin look up and their eyes locked onto each other for a minute before he finally looked away and started up the Jeep and sped away out of the parking lot.

She took a deep breath in and let it out before getting in Blaze's backseat and she sat there like a zombie staring off into space while Blaze and Bailey chatted.

"So you know how those guys have been giving me a hard time and threatening me to get me to start dealing for them again?"

"Yeah," Bailey said.

"Well I got approached by the police because somehow they caught wind of what was going on. They want me to go undercover for them and start dealing for those guys again so they can gather enough evidence to get them prosecuted and put away for a long time. He said in return they'll offer me protection and if I do a good job I might even have a chance of being a detective with them one day. Could you imagine that? Me being a detective and working for the good guys?"

Bailey smiled and said, "Yeah. Actually I could definitely picture that. You'd look really hot in a police uniform Blaze McDaniels."

Blaze shook his head and laughed.

"Is that all you're worried about? Me looking hot in the uniform?" he asked, shaking his head.

"No I'm just teasing. I do actually think you'd be good at that job. You have no fear, you're always trying to protect your friends and putting yourself on the line for other people. It's actually the perfect job for you, come to think of it."

"So you think I should do it? It's gonna be dangerous and if they get tipped off that I'm an informant I could get killed."

Bailey looked at him and thought for a minute and said, "I know it'll be dangerous but if it's what you want to do I'll support your decision, either way. I could never make that decision for you."

Blaze picked up her hand and kissed it and said, "Thank you Babe. I think I'm gonna do it. This might be the only chance I have to have a good future and prove to my parents that I'm not a worthless loser that won't amount to anything. Maybe I'll make enough money to get a place of my own after graduation."

"I think that would be nice," she said with a smile, leaning over and kissing his cheek and laying her head on his shoulder as he drove down the road.

The new semester had just started and Jolie was happy because she had an all new class schedule so she wouldn't have to sit next to Austin in Math anymore. The last couple months of silence from him had been really awkward. When Jolie went into her new gym class she was disappointed to see both Mandy and Austin in there.

This was going to be a long semester she thought, rolling her eyes and going over to sit down on the bleachers to wait for the teacher.

Their gym uniform was red shorts and a plain white t-shirt but of course Mandy had bought the shortest red shorts she could possibly find and the tightest white top. She looked over at Jolie and smirked before walking up to Austin and running a hand down his back and looking up at him seductively.

"Hey handsome," she said in a smooth, silky tone. "Long time no see."

Austin looked down at her and glared. He took a deep breath and let it out and said, "For the millionth time Mandy I'm NOT interested. Go find someone else to cheat on and keep your hands off me."

A bunch of the other guys in class laughed and Mandy crossed her arms and stomped off angrily.

Austin looked up and noticed Jolie for the first time sitting there and he gave her a weak smile before turning around and walking away. Her heart broke and she wanted to run down there and give him a hug and kiss and feel his strong arms wrapped around her just one more time. Every time he looked at her now all she saw was pain and hurt in his eyes when all she used to see was love and that bothered her more than anything.

She looked up and saw Ryan come into class late followed right behind by the teacher. Ryan had made a complete recovery and looked physically the same as he had before the fight but his personality was very different. He wasn't the cocky, arrogant guy that was on top of the world anymore. He kind of kept to himself now and him and Austin still weren't speaking. Blaze was working undercover with the police now and his grades were really good thanks to Bailey. All the people at school were different now and she couldn't help but feel partially responsible. Everyone but Chaz. He was still as much of a perv as ever.