I felt refreshed when I woke up on Monday morning, which wasn't something normal for me. It was the first time I had slept in my bed on a school night in four months, but it wasn't as odd as I thought it would be. It almost felt like junior year all over again.

Both of my parents stared at me as I practically skipped down the stairs and around the kitchen table, taking a seat as I grabbed a piece of toast and began to butter it. They exchanged concerned glances, but didn't say anything to me right away.

"Leah, honey," my mother began cautiously after a few minutes of silence. "You seem very... chipper this morning."

I turned to look at her, biting the inside of my cheek as I continued to smile. "I do? Well, that's nice."

And silence surrounded us again, since neither of my parents knew how to respond to me. But I didn't blame them, because I wouldn't have known how to respond to my daughter if she came downstairs all giddy and happy when she had been depressed for four months straight.

"Does this have anything to do with Blake coming back to school today?" my father now asked me, and this nearly caused me to choke on the piece of toast I was chewing.

I coughed before saying, "No, of course not."

My parents didn't believe me. They could tell I was lying. Because honestly, I was absolutely ecstatic that Blake was going to be at school that day. It was going to be just like old times, minus the fact that we could act like a couple... But that wasn't going to upset me! I was just glad I had him back.

I didn't know if he had any classes with me, but I really hoped that he did. I wouldn't have been surprised if Jane had contacted the school and requested that we be on completely opposite sides of the building at all times, but I knew that wouldn't separate us for long. Nothing was going to split us up.

"You're up a little earlier this morning," my father noted, glancing down at his watch to see that it was a half an hour earlier than the time I usually came down for breakfast. "Is there any reason why you're up so early?"

"Cassie wanted to go to school early today," I answered, actually telling the truth.

My mother seemed happy that I was hanging out with Cassie and not someone else, but I was expecting as much from her. I knew she wished Cassie was her daughter instead of me, and I refused to let it bother me anymore. The two of them were a lot more alike than my mother and I were.

"Well, make sure to come home early today," my mother now informed me, and I didn't even bother to ask her why. I knew it was because she didn't want me around Blake. "Oh, and your sister will be visiting in the next couple of days."

I continued to chew on my toast. I was happy that I got to see Morgan, but I was definitely not happy with the fact that my mother was forcing me to come home early because she didn't want me to spend any unnecessary time with Blake. I was surprised she wasn't making me switch freaking schools.

When I heard the car honk from outside, I quickly shot up from my seat and shouldered my backpack. With a quick goodbye to my parents, I was out the door and down the pathway to Cassie's car.

Leslie was in the back like always, so I hopped into the passenger's seat like I usually did. Without even a word, Cassie sped away and we were on our way to school.

It was silent in the car for a few moments, until Cassie turned up the volume on the radio to reveal one of the most annoying and obnoxious songs ever to be written in the history of the planet.

"We," Cassie sang along with the radio, and I felt like covering my ears, "are never ever, ever getting back together!"

"Cassie, I beg of you," I tried, my ears feeling like they were bleeding. "Please, stop singing. You know I hate Taylor Swift."

"And you know I love her!"

I let out a sigh, knowing there was no point trying to fight with her, especially since we were in her car. It wasn't like she couldn't sing; she actually had a really good voice. It was just... that song.

It quickly passed, and I let out a sigh of relief. But when Cassie shut off the radio and suddenly pulled over, I glared at her.

"So..." she started, and I noticed now that Leslie had finally put her book down. "Blake comes back to school today."

"Is this why you wanted to leave early today?" I demanded, my arms crossed over my chest tightly. "So we could talk about Blake and still get to school on time?"

She smiled at me sheepishly. "Guilty."

"We're friends now, Cassie," I assured her, even though it was a lie. "We're just friends. We can interact with each other without making out, you know."

She still looked concerned, but I didn't want to talk about this subject any longer. We'd be late to school if we wasted too much time talking about this.

"But what if you two see each other again and all the passion and love you've ever felt for each other just burst out without either of you being able to control it and--"

"We," I started, not believing I was actually saying this, "are never ever, ever getting back together."

Cassie almost looked proud that I had used that annoying song to prove a point, but I said nothing else about the subject. I just knew that that would have shut her up, and I was right.

"We just wanted to make sure you were okay," Leslie informed me from the back as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "We know how you feel about Blake--"

"Felt," I interrupted, and it was just a lie once again.

Leslie nodded. "We know how you... felt about Blake, and we just want to make sure that you'll be okay around him."

"I'll be perfectly fine around him," I shrugged, and I knew it was true because we were seeing each other in secret. "Now hurry up and start driving again, Cassie. We're going to be late if we keep talking about this."

My blonde best friend just stared at me for another moment before starting up the car's engine once again, a familiar dreadful beat playing on the radio.

"Ooh!" she squealed, quickly turning up the radio just loud enough so it wouldn't blast our ears out as she sang along with it. "Once upon a time, a few mistakes ago..."

"Oh, kill me now."

When we finally got to school, I practically jumped out of the car and ran for my life. Cassie ended up finding her Taylor Swift album in her glove compartment so I was almost afraid of driving home with her after school.

I didn't know if the news of Blake's return had got around school or not, but I wasn't about to let not knowing bother me. Soon enough, everyone would know that he was back.

When I opened up my locker, I noticed that no one was staring at me, and it most likely meant that no one knew that Blake was back just yet. Thinking about what everyone would say once they saw him almost made me feel queasy.

"Well, hello there," a new voice said from behind me, and I almost jumped before turning around to see that it was Blake. He was wearing headphones, his music blaring just like it used to.

"Hey!" I greeted, fighting the urge to hug him since there were people around. "You're wearing your headphones?"

He shrugged. "I haven't been taking my medication long enough to go without them."

People stared, but I was expecting as much. Everyone knew about what happened with Blake, so I knew they'd be surprised to see that he was suddenly back.

"I have to go get my schedule," Blake informed me after a few moments of me just looking around at the people who continued to stare at us. "I just wanted to see you before I went and got it. I really hope we have at least one class together."

My smile couldn't help but grow. "Me, too," I agreed.

We both moved to hug each other, but stopped short when we realized we couldn't. We were so used to hugging or kissing when we had to separate, but now we just... couldn't. I could barely touch him in public anymore.

I just awkwardly waved at him, and he nodded before turning on his heel to go to the office to get his schedule. I looked back at everyone who was staring at us, and they quickly looked away when they saw that I noticed them.

Through my first three periods, I didn't see Blake at all, and I was starting to get a little nervous. Yeah, I had four more classes that he could have been in, but I still thought that Carrie had contacted the school and told them not to let us near each other. And if that was true, I didn't know how I'd react.

Fourth period had been my least favorite class since the first day of school, since it was history. Not only was the subject completely boring, but Mr. Meyers had ruined it for me ever since he had told me he had feelings for me.

I was one of the first people in class, like I usually was since my third period was gym and the locker room was right beside the building my history classroom was in.

As more and more kids poured inside the classroom, I smiled brightly when I saw Blake make his way inside, headphones and all. He didn't see me right away, since he went right up to the teacher, but I couldn't help but feel a little excited.

As he spoke to our teacher, he looked out into the class and his eyes locked immediately with mine. He smiled at me, and I smiled right back at him. History just got a whole lot more exciting now that he was here.

He was seated across the room from me, but I didn't mind. He was still in the same room, and that was all that mattered. Obviously Carrie didn't care if we were in the same room or not, and that was definitely good...

Lunch was what I was really worried about. All of my friends and I usually sat at the same table I had sat at the year before with Blake, and I didn't know how they would respond to seeing Blake and I together. It really worried me because I was almost afraid that they would get mad at us for speaking to each other.

My friends saw the two of us coming up to our table after we had gotten our food, and they all looked very uneasy. I tried my hardest to ignore it, but it was honestly very difficult.

"Where's Mona?" I asked, looking around to see that she was the only one that wasn't there, not counting Christian. But I knew mentioning Christian wouldn't exactly be the best idea.

Jane shrugged. "I'm pretty sure she had to retake a test or something."

I shrugged as well, and both Blake and I took a seat at the table, which caused all of our friends to give us concerned looks. I then remembered that it wasn't exactly the best idea that we sit next to each other, so I scooted away from him.

No one said anything, and I couldn't help but notice that everything felt really awkward. It was like no one knew what to talk about when both Blake and I were around.

"So, you're Blake," Jaz grinned at him, reaching out across the table to shake Blake's hand. "Hi, I'm Jaz! Leah talks about you all the time."

Blake glanced at me, and it made me feel uncomfortable. We weren't supposed to be interacting as much anymore, even though we were still supposed to be friends. Having him look at me in public made me feel uneasy because I thought people would be able to figure out that we were still seeing each other in secret.

My friends slowly began talking again, but I said nothing and just listened to what they had to say. They were mostly talking to Blake anyway.

"We're really glad to have you back, Blake," Cassie grinned at him, and he just gave her a look. This was definitely not something he was probably ever going to be able to get used to after everything Cassie did to us. He was used to Leslie and Derrick being nice to us, but not Cassie or Thomas.

When the bell rang, signaling that lunch was over, I quickly said goodbye to my friends and made my way to my fifth period. It wasn't that I wanted to get to chemistry, it was just that I didn't want my friends to ask me if I was okay or not.

Fifth and sixth period went by slowly, just like they always did, and I was just so done with school that I wasn't even looking forward to drama. Usually I always looked forward to that class, but now I was just... tired.

"Auditions will be tomorrow," was the first thing Mr. Summers said to us once the late bell rang and we were all sitting, and I felt like I was about to choke on my own spit. "It will be during class, but if we don't get to all of them, you can stay after school as well."

I had been so preoccupied with the fact that Blake was awake that I barely even looked over my audition piece. Sure, I knew what it was about and the gist of it and all, but I was nowhere near comfortable with it yet.

Once drama was over, I didn't leave the classroom right away, even though my mother had told me to get home right away. But instead of getting up out of my seat and leaving like my friends did, I just sat there for a few minutes, thinking about how hard I was going to have to work that night in order to feel comfortable with my audition piece.

When I finally left the room and got to my locker, I felt like ripping everything out of it and slamming the door shut. I had woken up this morning so excited, and now I just wanted to go back to sleep. I didn't know why I was so happy about Blake coming back to school when I couldn't even see him.

No one was in the hallway, and it almost felt eerie. I was almost expecting someone to pop up and just--

"Are you okay?" was the first thing he asked me, since he was always able to notice when something wasn't right with me.

Though he had started me, I only nodded. "I'm just tired, that's all."

He didn't look like he believed me, but he was smart enough not to pick at me when I obviously didn't want to talk about it. I now looked at my phone to see that it was fifteen minutes after school had ended, but I wasn't about to rush out just because my mommy wanted me to. She could wait.

"I've been thinking about you all day," Blake murmured, taking a step closer to me and running his hand down my arm. I looked around to see that no one was around, so it was perfectly fine. "I miss being able to touch you."

I missed him, too. Not being able to touch or kiss him was the reason why I was in such a bad mood right then. I missed being able to act like a couple in public, and it had only been the first day. Were we going to be able to handle the rest of high school like this?

We both leaned closer to each other, but before our lips could touch, a voice called out, "Hey, Leah!"

We immediately jumped away from each other, and we turned to see Mona making her way toward us. But before I could greet her, she cut me off with a squeaky scream.

"Blake?" Mona blinked now, her mouth wide agape as she stared right at my secret boyfriend. "Is it really you?"

Blake looked just as surprised to see her. "Mona?"

I felt my eye twitch for a reason that I didn't know. Did the two of them know each other somehow? Blake called her by her nickname. He called her Mona instead of Ramona...

"You two... know each other?" I asked, not very sure I was going to like this very much.

Mona practically beamed as she said, "Yeah, Blake and I used to date."

My head immediately snapped back toward him, my eyes wide as I gave him a look that told him he was going to have to explain absolutely everything to me. I couldn't believe he didn't tell me something like this. I didn't even know he had had a girlfriend before me!

Blake smiled at me sheepishly, and Mona didn't seem to understand how awkward everything had just gotten between the three of us. I really just wanted her to go away now.

"You two are friends?" Mona now asked Blake and me, and neither of us knew how we were supposed to answer that, so we only nodded. "That's great!"

Yeah... Great.

"Well, I have to go," Mona finally informed us, and I wasn't sure if it was because she noticed how much I wanted her to leave or if it was just because she actually had to leave. "But, Blake, we should totally hang out sometime to catch up!"

Blake smiled at her. "Yeah, sure."

Neither of them seemed to notice that I was definitely not okay with them making any plans to see each other, but it was like I wasn't even there anymore. Mona hugged Blake, and he actually hugged back, before she practically skipped all the way down the hall and out of sight.

"So... you and Mona," I nearly spat, unable to control myself any longer.

Blake finally noticed I was upset. "What's wrong?"

"Why didn't you tell me you had a girlfriend before me?" I demanded, having to bite down on the inside of my cheek to stop myself from overreacting and shouting at him.

"You never asked," he answered. "You just assumed I'd never had one."

It was true, but it didn't mean it made me any less pissed. He could have told me, at least. I had told him about everyone from my past, but when I really thought about it, he hadn't ever told me about his.

"Whatever," I huffed, finally shutting my locker and turning toward the door. "I have to get home. I already late."

Blake just stared after me for a few moments before he realized it was best if he stopped me. "Wait, Leah," he tried, clutching onto my arm so I couldn't get away. "Does this really bother you?"

It did, but it wasn't like I was about to tell him that. "No," I lied, trying my hardest to act like I really didn't care as I shrugged my arm out of his grasp, but he only clasped onto me again. "I just wish you would have told me that you had a girlfriend before me, that's all."

Blake looked around, as if he didn't know what he was supposed to say. He had never been good with confrontations or fights, and I didn't want this to turn into one.

"How long did you two date for?" I had to ask.

He didn't look at me as he said, "About five years."

I felt my stomach drop, and I ripped my arm out of his grasp. "Five years?" I demanded, practically screeching now. "You're kidding me!"

"It wasn't anything serious," Blake made sure to assure me, but I didn't know how a five year relationship couldn't have been serious. "We started dating in sixth grade and broke up when I left after sophomore year. All we ever did was kiss. She liked me a lot more than I liked her."

I still couldn't help but feel annoyed with the fact he hadn't ever told me something like this. If they had only been dating for a couple of weeks, then it would have been fine, but five years? That was longer than we had been together. It was even longer than I had known him. I'd barely even known him for a year.

I didn't want to ask him the question that was buzzing in the back of my mind. Why was he in love with me, when he had been with her for so much longer?

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Uh-oh. Mona...

Beauty and the Beat tomorrow morning. :)

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