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I stare at my reflection in the mirror, and yet the girl staring back at me was a stranger. My blue eyes were once lit up in adventure, happiness, love- and now they stared back at me like dull orbs glued to my iris. My expression had gone from curious to heartbroken, to an even more excruciating degree than when Jake and I broke up at the end of the school year last year.

I blink at the mirror, just to be sure that the reflection was really me, before I heard my mom call my name from downstairs. My gaze breaks away from itself in the mirror and I grab my backpack beside my bed, then head down the stairs. My mom stood at the bottom with a smile on her lips, one that I got accustomed to her wearing, and my dad stood beside her.

"Have a great first day at school, sweetheart," Mom praises with a sweet smile, and then gives my dad a look.

"Stay out of trouble," He says gruffly: his attempt at being kind.

I nod at the both of them and then wordlessly head out the door, grabbing my car keys on the table right before I slip out. Ever since I had gotten back home for the rest of the summer, my parents had been strangely kind to me. They went from barking rules and relentlessly strict to giving me space and letting me choose what I wanted for dinner. It wasn't perfect, but it was a start.

I drove to school with the radio playing softly, but didn't pay much mind to the music. I was busy trying not to think about a certain boy who changed my heart over the summer, and the effort took the entire car ride, until I pulled into the schools parking lot. I got out of my car and slung my backpack over my shoulders with a sigh, looking up at the hellhole that I would have to endure for another year.

One more year. That's all I needed to do: survive one more year.

The day drags on without me paying much attention to classes or other students. I never had many friends at school, because I was always too involved with piano to have a social life. The few friends I had were because of Jake, and now that we were broken up, I don't think they would go out of their way to still be friendly to me.

It was my senior year, and I didn't have any friends. And honestly, I can't say that I minded much. This year, I would keep my head down, get good grades, and then ship myself off to college, whether it be Juilliard or somewhere else. But of course, this was all easier said than done.

"Amelia!" Someone called as I wove through the strings of people in the hallway, intent on getting to the cafeteria.

I turned around and saw Gabby, one of the popular girls in my English Lit class. We were acquaintances before, when Jake and I were together, but she hadn't looked my way ever since we broke up. She looks out of breath from chasing me through the halls, and I see annoyance clearly sparking in her eyes, but she covers it with a fake smile. I eye her suspiciously and warily, unsure what was to come out of this interaction.

"Hi Gabby," I greet hesitantly, boredom lacing my tone. "What did you want?"

Again, her annoyance flares in her features, but she keeps the sickly sweet smile on her face. "The new kid has been asking about you all morning. I don't know why," She mutters the last part before looking at me brightly again. "So, how do you know him?"

I frown at her, confused and exhausted. "What new kid?"

She frowns back at me, clearly unamused that I didn't know whoever she was talking about. "You know, the super hot one? Anyway, can you help set me up with him? I tried talking to him, but he kept just asking about you. I think we would be really cute together-"

"Gabby," I hold my hand up to interrupt her. "I have no idea who, or what, you're talking about. So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go."

Her fake smile twitched. "Are you going to the cafeteria? I'll go with you, and you can introduce me to-"

"Bye, Gabby," I say with a sigh before walking the opposite direction of the cafeteria.

I was on my way to get food, but seeing as Gabby wouldn't stop pestering me until I introduced her to a stranger- one that I didn't even know, for that matter- I kept to myself and walked away. The weirdness of the situation settled in the pit of my stomach, making me feel uneasy. For a brief moment, I wondered if it was him, but pushed the thought away. Camp ended three weeks ago, and I hadn't heard anything about him since I called Poppy in New York.

Besides, he didn't even live here. He was shipped to the Camp as an ultimatum, not because he was looking for some local fun with kids his age. However, despite my internal reasoning, the feeling in my stomach didn't go away. And when I walked into the courtyard and found a group of students circling around an obvious fight, it only felt more intense, until I pushed my way through the group of kids and saw Jake getting punched in the face.

"That's for ratting me out last summer," The gruff voice released butterflies in my stomach immediately, and my head felt lightheaded. "And that's for cheating on a girl that was too good for you."

Carter punches Jake one last time, sending him down on the ground, and the kids around are too busy cheering and whooping to realize what he had just said. My heart pounded violently in my chest as I saw Carter's shoulders move up and down as he breathed heavily, probably glaring at Jake as he sat curled up on the ground. I stared at his back, the ends of his hair, which was sticking up in multiple directions, and his fists clenched by his side.

"Carter?" I croak, before I can stop myself, almost as if my body made the decision for me.

The sounds of the students around us fade away until all I can hear is a faint ringing, and time slows when he slowly turns around to reveal that it was, in fact, really him. His shoulders are tense but his hands slowly uncurl from his fists, and his previous glare had softened until his gorgeous hazel eyes were staring into my blue ones, knocking the breath right out of me.

I just stand there, staring at him, and he mimics my actions, clearly unsure what to do. After a minute, he looks around at the people still standing around us, and growls, "Get the fuck out of here. All of you."

And they all scram, because they know what's good for them. His gaze softens once again when he looks at me, but I finally come to my senses, and feel all my emotions catch up to me. I realize that he's real, that he's standing in front of me, that he just beat up Jake for me, that he was who Gabby was talking about. I think he can see all these realizations come to me at once by the way my face twists into a scowl, and he looks desperate.

I shake my head, walking closer to him so I can punch him in the chest. "You asshole!" I shout, hitting him again for good measure, and he just stands idly in front of me. "You don't get to come here to my school and ask around about me and pick a fight with my ex boyfriend. Not after the things you said to me. You don't get to come here and pretend like you care."

Carter looks pained with each word, and continues to let me hit him on the chest, only muttering a weak, "Please let me explain, princess-"

"Don't call me that," I snap fiercely, and then take a step away from him. I cross my arms, feeling my chest heave from my anger as I look at him evenly, managing to ask without too much malice in my tone, "What are you even doing here?"

His eyes float over my face as he answers. "Mom and Richard bought a place here. They thought it would be good for me, that I would stop causing so much trouble."

"You started a fight on the first day of school," I point out despite myself. "Clearly the move didn't help."

He doesn't reply, but just stares at me in wonder, probably trying to read my expression.

We stare at each other for a long moment before he takes a step toward me, opening his mouth to say something, but I cut him off with a vehement shake of my head. "Don't, Carter."

"I didn't mean any of the things that I said to you," Carter says desperately, his face looking genuinely pained. It made it harder for me to resist submitting to him, but I had to be strong. I couldn't let him continue to play me just like he did this summer. "I should have never said them, princ- Amelia, I know that. But please just let me-"

"I'm not in the mood to play games anymore, Carter, and I'm definitely not looking to pick up where we left off. I can't pretend that you didn't break my fucking heart at the end of the summer." The words tasted bitter in my mouth, and I could feel my eyes well up with tears as I began taking steps backward. "Just stay away from me."

I ran to the girls bathroom and willed myself not to cry, but it didn't do much, considering the tears were already steadily streaming down my cheeks. Why did he have to come here, of all places? Why did his family have to start over in my town, where he would come to my school? It felt like a twisted version of fate, where someone was laughing at my expense and trying to twist the knife deeper into my wound.

By the time I finally composed myself, the lunch bell rang to signal the end of lunch hour and the start of classes again. I checked my face in the mirror one last time, making sure I had no mascara streaks or tear stains, before I finally went out into the hallway. From there, I went to my next class, kept my head down, and took notes quietly. I continued to do so for the next two classes after that, until I was in my last lesson of the day, and felt the toll of reality hit me.

I sat in the back and slumped in my chair as students continued to roll in before the bell, lost in thought. Even though a few weeks had passed since I had last seen Carter at camp, the wound was still fresh. My heart was still broken. It had been a double hit: first, the blow from finding out Jake cheated on me, and then second, Carter telling me he never actually cared about me.

I think back to all the times we spent together, all the secrets we told each other, and feel overwhelmed. It just doesn't make sense. How can you trust a person with so much, only to tell them that you never really cared at all? How could he tell me about his problems with Richard, the story of his father, play his guitar for me, trust me to calm his nightmares, and yet tell me he was just trying to get in my pants?

"Amelia Stevens?" An authoritative voice asks from the front.

I look up, snapped out of my gaze, to see my teacher looking at me from above her thick rimmed glasses, her pen resting above role call.

"Here," I mutter lamely, and she checks me off.

I try hard not to slip back into thoughts of Carter, try to stop make it make sense, because each question was like salt in my wound. Instead, I set my stare to the front of the room, where my teacher began class. It worked, too, and I took notes instead of thinking about everything.

That is, until the door flew open and in sauntered Carter Miller, a backpack hung over his shoulder loosely, looking like he was deep in thought. My heart stopped at the sight of him before quickly restarting as I told myself, Maybe he won't notice I'm in this class.

"Mister Miller, I presume?" Ms. Fowler scowls from behind her glasses. "You're late."

Carter seems to notice her and her accusation, and he smirks. "Astute observation."

The whole class erupts in giggles and whispers, and Ms. Fowler narrows her eyes at him. "Because you're new, I'll let this one slide. Go take a seat, Miller."

He mock salutes her and then turns toward the seats, and only then does his gaze float across his options. I sit there frozen, eyes staring at him, and he notices me almost instantly. To my dismay, Carter walks to the back of the room, toward me.

All he had to do was glance at the person who was sitting beside me before the poor kid scrambled out of his seat and in another one a few seats down. I set my jaw and stared straight ahead, intentionally not looking at him.

Ms. Fowler started class again shortly after Carter took his seat, but I could feel his stare burning a hole through the side of my head. I tried to ignore it at first, but with each passing moment, it felt like his stare got heavier.

My resolve breaks and I turn to him to snap in a whisper, "Stop staring at me."

Carter just continues gazing at me, this time in my eyes, before he shakes his head. "Ignore me all you want, Amelia, but I'm not giving up."

"You did it once before, I'm sure it won't be too hard to do it again." I tell him, staring hard at him.

His expression breaks a little at my dig, because he knew I was right. He opens his mouth to dignify himself in some way, I'm sure, but the sound of a hand hitting a desk at the front of the room cuts off his response.

"Miss Stevens and Mister Miller, am I interrupting something?" Ms. Fowler snaps.

All heads turn to look at us in the back corner, and I feel my face flush from the sudden attention and scolding. Before I can say something to defend myself, Carter speaks first.

"Yes, actually, you are," He says, his voice deeply irritated.

I, along with the rest of the class, gape at him while Ms. Fowler practically shakes in anger. "Then you two can continue this conversation after school in detention. If you disrupt my class one more time, I'll have you both sent to the principals office."

Carter opens his mouth to say something that will most definitely get us both in even more trouble, so I speak first. "Sorry, Ms. Fowler."

She resumes teaching and thankfully, Carter doesn't try to talk to me again. I sit still for the rest of class, silently brimming with annoyance that he got me my first detention ever. Not to mention that the thought of sitting in a room alone with him made my heart race, and that was the opposite of what I wanted.

In one day, Carter managed to taint my squeaky clean school record, and chip away at the decision I made to hate him.