It was Friday afternoon, and I had about two hours to get ready before I had to meet up with Aeri and Emma at Bree's house and we would all go to Karaoke.

Since Aeri said I could invite anyone I wanted, I called Aaliyah first. Crossing my fingers, I hoped that she would pick up the phone. The call went to voicemail and I tried again.

"Alyssa, hey," she said and I grinned happily.

"Dude, I miss you so much! Where are you?" I asked.

"I missed you more. I had to attend funeral. My mom's friend passed away," Aaliyah replied.

"Oh, my condolences," I said. "I--"

"Alyssa! Get downstairs quick!" My mother shouted from downstairs.

I sighed and returned to the call,"I'll talk to you later. My mom is calling me," I said.

"Okay bye," she said and hung up. I dropped my phone on my bed and I left my bedroom and descended the stairs. My mother and Alyssa were standing at the door with three suitcases.

"Alyson, leave your phone behind," my mother said to Alyson sternly.

Alyson pursed her lips and furrowed her eyebrows,"But mo--"

"Alyson leave that phone behind," mom said through her gritted teeth.

"Mom, I promise I won't even use it," Alyson said.

"Then what is the point of taking it with?" Mom crossed her arms over her chest. Alyson sighed and mom took the phone from Alyson's hand. She placed it on the table and Alyson picked up her bag and looked at me with a blank expression.

"Leaving already?" I said as I walked down the stairs and stood by them.

"Yes, we have to be at Alyson's school in fifteen minutes. The bus will be leaving at five," she said. Mom turned to Alyson,"Take your bag and get in the car."

Alyson sighed loudly, dragging her bag and she walked in a slow pace, shuffling her feet. Mom shut her eyes, annoyed,"Oh my..." she murmured and took a deep breath. She opened eyes once she felt calmer,"So Alyssa..."

I nodded, I was so excited to stay home alone once again. I could watch whatever I want, when I want. Sleep anytime I want. Stay as messy as I want, but I liked a neat place.

"Alyson and I will be back next week Friday. I'll call you a few times to check up on you, maybe I'll call Monty to check up on you and the house. No, not Monty." she whispered the last part to herself. She thought for a few seconds and smiled,"I'll call Grandma Edna."

I frowned,"Not Grandma Edna, she's always handing me hard candy for being a 'good girl'. And her soups always taste horrible," I whined.

Grandma Edna scared me, a lot though she was nice sometimes. Sometimes. Only when she was cooking, she was nice. She was those typical grandma's that spent their time knitting sweaters, scarfs and baking cakes, cupcakes and cookies. Grandma Edna made most of my oversized sweaters and I loved them so much because she had spent so much time on them and they looked cute.

"Yes," my mother agreed. "But her desserts are always delicious."

I nodded, agreeing,"Fine, mom."

Mom smiled and cupped my cheek, "Alyssa, I swear if I hear you are having a party or doing something rebellious in my house, I'm going to ground you and never leave you alone in the house again. Understood?" Mom said.

I nodded,"Understood." I repeated.

"Okay, sweetie. I love you," she said and pecked my cheek.

"I love you too, mom." I hugged her. "Tell Alyson I love her too."

"Mom!" Alyson shouted from the door.

Mom looked at Alyson and back at me,"Look after yourself honey, call Marcus if you need to," she smirked. "I'm joking... don't. Your father would kill all of us."

At the mention of his name, I looked away with a slight frown on my face. My mother headed to the door, dragging her luggage at the door,"Love you Alyssa!"

"Love you, mom." I blew a kiss at her and started waving.

Mom left and got put her luggage in the trunk. She got in her car and started the car. Alyson got in as well and looked at me, smiling. I furrowed my eyebrows and walked to the house and saw Alyson's phone that was supposed to be in the table wasn't there.

She had her phone. I sighed and rolled my eyes, I went back outside and waved as they drove onto the road."Bye!" I shouted.

Mom blew me a kiss and Alyson held up a middle finger to me while mom wasn't looking,"I'm going to miss you!" Alyson shouted, still holding up the middle finger.

I playfully glared at her and she smiled. Mom drove away and her car disappeared.

"Por fin," I murmured and smirked. I started dancing to the music playing in my head while I walked in the house. I kicked the door closed and I walked inside the house like I owned it. I switched on the TV and music started playing. I turned up the volume, walking upstairs.

I was going to home alone for a freaking week!

I started dancing while I walked upstairs and I kicked my door open. I was so happy, I didn't even feel like using my hands to open doors.

I was that happy.

I took off my clothes and I went to the bathroom and took a quick shower. Drying myself with a white towel, I left it in the bathroom and I left the bathroom naked, tying my hair into a messy bun.

In my room, I picked out a baby blue hoodie and sneakers.

What's new?

All dressed up, I called Aaliyah and put it on speaker. I placed my phone on my bed and I walked to the mirror.

"Yes?" Aaliyah answered.

"Dude, I'm home alone for a week," I said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, parents are gone. Dad is still at his business trips and mom is with my sister. They went to a school camping trip," I said.

"Dude, so cool. I'm never home alone, sadly," Aaliyah said. "So what are you doing?"

"Well, Aeri and Emma invited me to go to the Karoake place with them," I said.

"No way! Karoake?" Aaliyah exclaimed and I chuckled.

"You can come too if you want," I said.

"Dude, of course!" she chuckled.

"Can you sing?" I asked her.

"Yes, I used to be part of choir but I had to leave because I had lost my voice," Aaliyah explained and I chuckled.

"Well, can't wait to hear you sing. Can you pick me in thirty minutes?" I asked her as I walked to the bed and picked up my phone.

"Yeah, see you later," she said and I hung up. I applied some lip gloss and a bit of mascara before leaving the room with my phone and the keys. I left my bedroom and I descended the stairs. I didn't wait long before Aaliyah came to pick me up.

She beeped from the outside and yelled my name. I chuckled,"Be there in a minute!" I replied and locked all doors and windows before I left the house. I left the boys with my phone and keys, locking the door behind me.

I saw Aaliyah waiting in the car, I got in and shut the car door. I smiled and we hugged,"Drive to Bree's" I said after pulling away.

"How was school without me?" Aaliyah asked as she drove.

I dramatically sighed,"Uhm... a lot happened." I emphasized the word 'a lot'.

Aaliyah nodded,"I heard."

"Heard what?" I asked, acting clueless. If she found out that Trick and I were kind of close... I didn't know how she would act.

"About you and Marcus, I'm sorry by the way. What happened to you guys anyway?" she asked, looking at me.

"We got into a little argument, nothing to stress about," I lied.

"Well this little argument had seemed to have gotten everyone shook, some people thought you two were perfect for eachother," Aaliyah told me, glancing at me then the road again. "You two seemed so... in love with eachother."

I squirmed in my seat uncomfortably, looking away from her.

"And I haven't been around for long but I can see you aren't liking the seperation between you two," Aaliyah stated.

Aaliyah was right. I didn't like the seperation between me and Marcus. I missed him so much and it hurt. But being with Marcus, I kind of knew that something like that would happen especially when Marcus had many girls throwing themselves at him. I thought somehow that some of those girls had something Marcus wanted. For example, Bree.

She's beautiful, head of the cheerleader squad and model. Who wouldn't want her?

Marcus was a sweet, funny guy who was very notorious for being a gangleader in one of the most dangerous gangs ever, forming allies with other gangs and gaining members. A very handsome guy who has no trouble getting girls. Any girl.

And me. A quiet girl who used to be bullied by everyone, who's somehow popular because of the bad boy's help. An average girl who loves wearing oversized hoodies and sneakers.

Why would a boy like Marcus fall for a girl like me?

I wished he liked me because I liked him. It hurt to think that he liked someone else.

I clenched my fist and sighed.

"You love him, don't you?" Aaliyah asked softly, she looked at me with a small smile playing on her lips.

I stared at Aaliyah, afraid to answer.

I mean, I liked Marcus but I wasn't sure about love. If I stayed too attached to Marcus, I'd get hurt. I was afraid to love him.

I looked down then out the window, seeing Bree's house, Aaliyah and I got out the car and walked in the house. Aeri and Emma were all dressed as well, they looked at Aaliyah and smiled.

"Hi, I'm Aaliyah. Alyssa's friend," Aaliyah said and Aeri hugged her as a greeting.

"I'm Aeri," Aeri said and and gestured to Emma,"And this is Emma." Emma hugged Aaliyah. "So we're just waiting up on Bree."

As on cue, Bree walked downstairs. She wore a short black dress and her hair was pink. Aaliyah and I snickered, remembering when we had poured pink hair dye in her shampoo. Surprisingly, it didn't look horrible.

"Uhm, what's with the new look?" Aeri asked, biting her bottom lip.

"Ask Alyssa," Bree said and tied her hair into a bun.

Aeri looked at me,"You did this to her?"

"Yes. She had what's coming to her," I replied with a shrug. Bree glared at me and we walked out the house. Since Aaliyah brought her car -- parent's car -- we went with that. I sat in front with Aaliyah while the others sat at the back.

Aaliyah drove to the Karoake place and parked outside. Aeri was listening to a song, humming along to the song. Emma was also listening to her own song.

We got out the car and went in. It was really full, everyone was seated on chairs, watching people sing. Purple lights shown from every corner, changing from pink to purple to blue etc.

"Hey, Vanessa?" someone said to me. I stared at then before shaking my head.

"I'm Alyssa," I corrected.

"Shit!" the guy cursed and looked around for someone.

"Uhm, are you okay buddy?" Bree asked the guy.

"No, Vanessa was supposed to be here because we're singing in five minutes," the guy said.

"You know you can sing later right?" Emma said, raising her eyebrow.

"Yeah but the challenge will be up by then," he said.

I furrowed my eyebrows,"What challenge?"

He sighed,"Today, people are competing by singing and the person who gets the most votes from the audience and judges will win $1000 and a voucher for the winner's favourite store," he said and stared at us. "It's like an annual thing that this Karoake place does."

"Dude, a thousand bucks just for singing?" Aaliyah said and nudged me.

"I'm definitely in," Aeri said.

"You were already singing." Bree chuckled.

We left the guy and searched for seats. We found free seats near the booth and we walked over there. I accidentally bumped into someone and I quickly apologised.

"It's okay," the person said and I paused. The familiar voice shocked me. It's been so long... I even missed his voice. But... is it him? I slowly turned around, looking at the person.

It was Marcus.

He was staring at me, slightly shocked. He was sitting on the stools in the booth, with a beer in his hand. The mixologist was also staring at me. I found my heart racing and myself unable to move.

I wanted to him hug so bad. I wanted hug him one last time. Then, a memory of him punching Trick and him choosing Bree made me upset so I looked at him coldy before turning around and walking away.