———

It had been two weeks since the party and it was almost like everything between me and Harry never happened. Today was Monday and I still felt miserable about him, I had so many unanswered questions. He was like a curse someone put on me, I desired him. I hated that I liked him so much, and he could care less.

I didn't really feel like doing much with myself these past few days, I skipped the hair and the makeup, which seemed to be my new routine. I threw my hair in a bun and called it a day. Of course my mom had a few words to say about my appearance, 'Why aren't you ready?' and 'Is that really what you're going to look like today?' I felt like everyone at school had similar opinions when they saw me.

"Em, are you feeling okay?" Lilly asked as we walked to our class together. I was going to say something, but I stopped out of fear; Harry was walking toward me, his attention on the girl next to him. Who was she? How have I never seen her before? "Em?"

"Yeah, I feel fine. Just tired." I replied, tearing my eyes from them. I'm such an idiot. Lilly saw Harry and the girl a second later, I could tell she was angry by what she saw, because she scoffed and ushered me to our class.

When it was time for lunch, I was starving. Usually, I can last the day and eat a light lunch, but today I could barely make it to third period before my stomach started growling. I got twice the amount of food as usual, piled high with veggies and fries, even a bag of chips. When I sat down with Niall and Zayn, their eyes nearly fell out of their heads when they saw my tray.

"Hungry, Em?" Zayn asked. I nodded, going to work on this food. Thanksgiving was this week and let me tell you, I was so excited to have turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing.

"I'm so over today." Lilly sighed as she sat down next to me. She paused when she saw the pile in front of me.

"I'm hungry, okay?" I snapped, between bites. She nodded, taking a slow bite of her apple slices.

"Any plans for this week?" Niall asked, Lilly shook her head.

"My parents are going out of town to visit family, but I didn't want to go." She replied. I turned to her, grabbing her arm.

"Come to my family Thanksgiving dinner!" I offered. "My parents won't believe me whenever I tell them I made a new friend."

"Oh yeah, sure." She smiled.

"What about a party at my house Friday night?" Niall suggested. "My parents leave Thursday night for some work trip my Dad has."

"We're in." Lilly grabbed my arm, but I felt a pang in my chest. What if I wasn't in? I could barely make it out of bed knowing I'd have to see Harry purposefully trying to avoid me. I knew this because he was sitting with that girl from earlier, but every few minutes he would turn and look at us.

"What is going on with him?" Lilly asked after he turned to us for the tenth time. I didn't want to know the answer, but in my efforts to block them out I overheard Zayn say girlfriend. I felt myself getting sick to my stomach, I dropped my food onto my tray and made a beeline for the bathroom.

I couldn't tell if I was sick from the pain of seeing the boy I had feelings for moving on, or if it was because I had eaten enough food for three people. When I stumbled out of the stall, Lilly was standing against the wall next to the sink. She followed me to the nurse, where I explained what happened and earned myself a ticket home.

I was relieved to be free from the sight of Harry and his new girlfriend, at least for today. I knew tomorrow I would be forced to come back, but I'll have to cross that bridge when I come to it. As Lilly and I shuffled toward the door, I saw a figure come toward us. My eyes landed on the man who has caused me so much pain the last few weeks.

"Emma, are you alright?" He asked, reaching for me. I backed away, my eyebrows furrowing together.

"Are you joking?" I asked, my voice cracked from emotion.

"No, they told me you were sick, I was just checking on you." He replied. I shook my head and turned to leave, but a hand on my elbow stopped me. We haven't touched since that night, it was an odd sensation to feel. I was over this.

"So, now you care? Give me a break." I groaned, ripping my arm from his hand and storming off toward my moms car.

When we got home, I immediately went to my room and shed my clothes. Crawling into bed, I wanted today to be over, so I shut my eyes and made it all go away.

———

I was woken up a few times throughout the afternoon and evening, first it was my dad asking if I wanted some soup. Then, my mom coming in to see if I was okay because I denied the soup. A third time, my mom came in and put a wet cloth on my forehead, which I shoved off because it made me cold. Why won't they just let me sleep?

I heard someone speak, waking me up a fourth time. I was going to turn and tell them to get lost, but it was Lilly walking into my room. She had a bag in her hand, which she dropped on the floor. She came over and slid into bed next to me, I could tell she had been crying.

"Lil?" I asked, sitting up. She shushed me, causing me to lay back down and watch her turn over. I stared at the back of her head before dozing off once more. Thankfully, it was the last time I was woken up until four in the morning.

I was wide awake, knowing if I slept anymore I would feel awful. I slowly got up, realizing Lilly was still here. I went downstairs and grabbed my phone from my bag, I had left it there when I came home.

I rolled my eyes, walking to the fridge and pulling out leftovers from dinner. I ate the soup slowly so I wouldn't have a repeat of yesterday, and then made my way upstairs to take a bath. By time I was finished it was 6:19 and I was out of things to do, I definitely wasn't going to do my makeup nor would I bother with my hair.

I nudged Lilly's shoulder at 6:45, waking her up and telling her to get ready. She zombie walked into the bathroom and started showering, I slowly put on my clothes and tied up my shoes. Lilly stumbled out of the bathroom and dropped her towel, exposing herself in front of me before gasping and pulling her towel back on.

"I am so sorry! I forgot I wasn't at my house." She squealed as I rushed out of the bedroom, giggling. As soon as I was in the kitchen, my phone began to ring. It was Harry, calling me for the eighth time.

"What do you want?" I answered, annoyed.

"Just wanted to see how you're doing?" He asked, I could tell he just woke up.

"I'm fine, now if you don't mind I'm trying to eat." I lied, flopping down on the couch. Now that Lilly was here, my mom didn't have to take me to school and had already left for the day.

"Em, I'm sorry for treating you poorly." He tried.

"Understatement of the century!" I shouted, hanging up. Lilly came down the stairs, she had the same light makeup and her hair was wet like usual. She was still stunning and I couldn't help but feel jealous of her. She raised an eyebrow at my frustration before we made our way out the door.

———