It was Monday, the day he will be returning to school. And despite everything that had happened between us, a little part of me was still excited to see him. Mrs. Cooper had already entered the class and started teaching but he was still not there. My anxiety heightened with every passing second and I started tapping my foot on the ground.

"May I come in?" a voice said and my head jerked to the source of the voice.

He was there, standing in the doorframe, waiting for Mrs. Cooper to invite him in. And when she did, he entered in the classroom and looked around for an empty seat.

My heart thudded inside my chest as his eyes landed on me and the empty chair beside me. With slow steps, he walked towards that seat but without casting another glance at me.

There was something peculiar in the way he looked at me. There wasn't any hostility or aversion but there wasn't any warmth either. It was just blank, as if for him, there was no difference between the rest of the class and me.

And it hurts.

He was sitting so close to me, close enough to talk.

But he didn't.

After the class ended, I stole a glance at him. There were huge dark circles under his eyes and he looked thinner than before. Nevertheless, still the most handsome guy I have ever seen.

Before he could catch me looking at him, I took my notebooks and made my way out of the class, to the school gym.

...

"Here comes the lovey dovey couple." Sophia giggled as Emily and Damien made their way to the Cafe, their hands locked with each other. Although they looked happy, there was a strange emptiness in Emily's eyes.

"Hi." she gave us an unusually wide smile, indicating that I was right before.

"Hi." I smiled back as both of them sat down in front of us.

We were talking about our finals, that were approaching soon when Noah appeared out of nowhere and sat down beside me, putting his arm around my shoulder.

"What are we eating?" he said, looking around.

"We aren't eating anything." Sophia rolled her eyes and said. "What made you think your narcissistic ass can sit with us?"

"Heyyy.. No need to be rude, Cheer captain. Alicia loves my company. Right?" he cocked his head towards me and asked.

"Umm.." my eyes shifted between Sophia and Noah. "He can sit here." This earned me an "ooh" from Noah and a hiss from Sophia.

After their little spat was over, we ordered some food for us, all the while conversing on different topics.

Before we could leave for our respective classes, a guy came to us and said, "Hey guys, there's a party at my house tonight. Everybody is invited." I kept looking at his retreating figure because I have never talked to that boy but he still invited me and everyone else to his party. Is that how things work in high school?

"Are we going?" Sophia asked.

"That guy Finn, he is in the music society so I guess I'll be going." Damien said and turned his attention towards Emily. "Will you come with me babe?"

Emily blushed at first, looking shyly at us before muttering, "Sure."

"Well, I'm going too. Not that anybody asked." It was Noah who intervened. He lower lip was jutted out, which was probably his poor attempt at pouting.

I stared at Sophia, mindlinking her for her opinion. She shrugged, indicating that we should join them too.

"Great." Emily said excitedly as all of us stood up to leave for our next class.

...

One by one, I chucked all my outfits towards the bed. None of them matched my mood so when I didn't find any, I finally picked up my mobile phone and called Sophia.

"Hey. Do you want me to pick you up?" she asked as soon as she answered the call.

"No. Just bring something for me to wear." I requested, plopping down on my bed.

"But you have your closet full of new clothes." she reminded me, causing me to sigh.

"I need something different. Something... Umm.." I stopped to think what I actually wanted. "Something sexy."

"Ooh." she teased. "Look like someone wants to get lucky tonight."

I chuckled at her words and added, "Shut up. I just want to feel good about myself."

"Fine. I'm coming in few minutes. Go take a bath."

After she cut the call, I dragged myself towards the bathroom to take a bath. Wrapping a towel around myself, I walked out of bathroom and dried my hair. Despite what she said, it took her almost an hour to reach my house because apparently, her car broke down on the way.

I almost whistled when I took in her appearance. She was wearing full black and to say that she was rocking it would be an understatement. The black pants hugged her toned legs while the black lace top accentuated her bust. Her makeup was on point and her straight hair was flowing down her back in soft curls. In short, somebody will be breaking many hearts tonight.

"Here." she pulled the outfit out of a bag and threw it towards me. "Go and change."

Nodding, I walked back to the washroom and wore the high-waisted black jeans and nude top that she had brought for me. Sophia was leaner than me so the top hugged my figure tightly, showing off each curve and dip. The top of my breasts were showing through the plunging neckline. If it was any other day, I would have never worn a top like that but for some unknown reason, I was feeling bold tonight.

"How am I looking?" I asked, walking out of the bathroom.

"Damn." she exclaimed, gazing at me from head to toe. "You are so going to get laid tonight."

"Yeah right. Like I am going to lose my virginity in a high school party to a drunk teeanger." I rolled my eyes and walked past her to my dressing table.

Applying some light makeup, I straightened my hair and let them cascade freely down my shoulders, all the while listening to the latest gossips of our school.

"Ready?" she asked when I slipped into my shoes and then linking my hand with hers, made our way towards my car.

...

The music blasting through the speakers pierced through my ears and I fought the urge to turn around and go back to the car.

A group of cheerleaders stole Sophia from me, leaving me alone in between the sweaty bodies. I looked around to find Emily and sighed in relief when I found her in one corner of the hall, looking around with a confused face.

I darted towards her and nudged her from behind. She jumped up in surprise and turned around, her face paled at my sudden action.

"It's you." she exhaled deeply. I took the chance to check out her dress. She was wearing a cute, pink A-line dress, her blonde hair was styled in a braided bun. The color suited her demure personality perfectly.

"Aww. Look at you, dressed like a cute barbie." I teased, earning a playful glare from her.

"Damien gifted me this dress." she muttered, looking around. Her eyes stopped on a corner and she sucked a sharp breath. Following her gaze, I found Justin lurking around in a corner, a large bottle of liquor in his hands.

"Emily!" I said in a low voice. "Do you still care for him?"

"N.. No." she stuttered before saying.

I was going to ask further gut Damien interrupted in time, appearing out of the kitchen and passing Emily a can of coke.

"Let's go babe. I want to introduce you to someone." he said and took her away while I sat down on one of the couch and watched people dry hump each other on the beat of music.

"Wanna dance hotstuff?" a cute guy asked me and I cringed at the word.

"Really? Hot stuff? Man you gotta up your game." Saying, I stood up and trudged towards the other corner of the hall where a certain someone caught my attention.

It was Noah but the thing that actually caught my attention was his shirt, or should I say the lack of his shirt. He was perched on the wooden dining table, dancing at the rhythm of the music while the girls around him were cheering him on, asking him to strip out of his pants too.

When his hands moved to the buckle of his pants, I moved forwards through the drunk girls and shouted his name at top of my lungs. That stopped him and he groaned, jumping down to the floor. All the girls cursed me not-so-subtly for ruining their entertainment. Ignoring them, I gripped his wrist and pulled him out of that crowded place.

"What do you think you were doing?" I scolded as soon as we were in a quiet corner.

"Strip dance. But don't worry, I'll give you one too." he said and leaned down, whispering in my ear. "Privately."

"Ha ha ha." I said and rolled my eyes. Due to his tall chest, my eyes were meeting with his sculpted chest and I found myself staring at him admiringly. He was hot, a little too hot for his own good but somehow, I never felt attracted to him in a way I was attracted to a certain someone.

No. Don't you dare think about him.

When our vision adjusted to the lightening, Noah's eyes traveled down my body cladded in Sophia's clothes. "You.. You look... Umm.." he struggled with his words as his gaze stopped at certain places.

"Sexy?" I asked, teasing him as pinkish hue appeared on his cheeks.

He coughed at my words, looking anywhere but me. It was cute, watching him get flustered for once.

Brushing the hair fallen on his forehead back with my fingers, I linked my arm with his and pulled him towards the dance floor. I wanted to enjoy this night as much as I can, away from the captivating gaze of my neighbor.

"Holy shit." Noah cursed when I started to dance. But something told me that the reason of this curse was something other than my childish moves.

Following his eyes, I watched Adam who was entering through the main door, wearing a black jacket and looking like a very fine specimen of male specie.

Despite the confidence exuding from his tall built, there was something in his posture that said that he didn't belong here.

Then what the hell was he doing here?

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