I nervously drove myself to school listening to my Eminem CD. Today was the day of the math test and to say I was shitting it would be an understatement. Reece tutored me last night but I kept getting distracted by his stupidly attractive face.

Did he have to look so perfect all the time? It was seriously annoying.

The exam was at 1 and was 2 hours long so once we finished we could just go straight home. Me and Reece hadn't mentioned the other night since Saturday and it had almost been a week. We just went back to normal and got pissed at the bar and I can't lie drunk Reece was pretty hilarious.

Thankfully, Jodie and Cole hardly mentioned it. I had told Cole what I told Jodie so now they both knew that I liked him.

Great.

How it changed from them secretly liking each other to now me secretly liking someone in the group. I even looked up on google how to stop liking someone but that was as fucking unhelpful as Jake was at French.

Speaking of Jake, at lunch on Monday I scolded him for not telling me about his beautiful girlfriend. Jodie bombarded him with questions about her and me, Reece and Cole just laughed as Jake tried to keep up. Apparently that was the reason he didn't mention her.

I sighed deeply as I reached the entrance of the school. I was real fucking nervous for this test. As ive done so badly on all my previous ones, I really needed a good grade on this otherwise I could fail maths completely. Tapping the steering wheel anxiously, I found a parking space and pulled in. I had a few hours to prepare as all lessons were off and we had time to study.

I locked my car and began walking towards the front doors with my earphones in. Normally I would meet one of the four out here but I just carried on by myself as I didn't spot any of them. I walked past Amber and Chloe who glared at me but I just ignored them and took a deep breath.

They aren't worth your time Sam.

Nodding to myself, I found my maths classroom and opened the door. Not that many people were here yet so I headed to the back and sat down in my seat. We would be spending the next few hours in here so I got comfortable and waited for Reece. After about a minute of him not showing, I got impatient and began working by myself. I noticed Jodie and Cole weren't here either but I just shrugged and put my earphones back in.

Placing a text book in front of me and a notepad, I began to work. Bobbing my head to the music as I was writing the answer down I hardly noticed the figure slump beside me. That was until my left earphone was yanked out my ear and was now in Reece's right ear.

"Nice music taste." He commented as Lose yourself by Eminem blasted out.

He leaned over my shoulder and my breath hitched as he eyed what I was writing. "Remember to carry the 1."

I nodded and mentally smacked myself. How do I forget to do the simplest of things?

I groaned and held my head in my hands. "I'm never going to pass."

Reece peeled my hands away from my face as he leaned back so his back was against the wall. "Yeah you will. We've been studying for months and you've improved massively."

I nodded, taking in what he was saying but not really believing it. We spent the next 3 hours going over everything and Reece even continued to help me over lunch. We were now walking to the exam room and I wiped my clammy hands down my jeans.

"Try to relax." Reece said from beside me as I turned to look at him. He couldn't have looked more chill about it.

"Easy for you to say, you know everything." I murmured which made him smile.

Reece squeezed my shoulder and wished me good luck before we scattered away from each other to find our designated desks.

Here goes nothing.

"How'd it go?" Dad asked me as I walked in the front door.

I smiled back at him. "I think it went ok. Well at-least I hope so."

He grinned as we both sat down on the sofa. I smiled to myself at how nice it was to have my dad home again. As much as I thought I was ok living by myself, it often got a bit lonely spending every evening on my own.

Luckily, Reece spent a lot of evenings here tutoring and the nights he didn't I would most likely see Jodie or Cole, or both.

"That's good."

Dad then turned to me with a serious expression. "Are you ok about tomorrow?"

I sighed, not really wanting to think about it. I nodded. "You're coming with me right?"

He smiled sadly. "Of course I am. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

I bit back a tear as I pretended to watch what was on tv. Tomorrow was my mum's ten-year anniversary. Ten years ago tomorrow was the worst day of my entire life and nothing could ever replace that day.

My phone dinging caught me off guard as I picked it up.

Huh, that was weird. I shrugged but put my coat on and explained to my dad where I was going. He nodded, saying to say hello to Cole for me as I left the room I quickly shot a text saying that I was on my way. After the quick drive to Cole's, I exited my car and walked up to the front door.

I rang the doorbell and within seconds he answered and pulled me inside. "What is it?" I asked as we walked up to his room. His mum must have been at work because I didn't see her in the house. I sat down on Cole's bed and glanced around the room I was so familiar with.

He shut the door behind him. His face looked guilt stricken and I gave him a questioning look. "I need to tell you something."

I nodded, emphasizing him to go ahead. "So I'm not really sure how to say this." He sighed and took a seat next to me.

I began to get a little worried as I awaited him to speak. "I overheard something that Amber was saying."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "What did she say?"

Cole sighed. "I overheard her saying something about cutting your hair off and that wouldn't be the worst of it."

My mouth parted open and then slammed back shut again. I looked down at my hands in shame. "I'm sorry I should have told you."

Cole's eyes widened. "What the fuck did she do?" He demanded angrily, his fists clenching.

I squeezed my eyes shut before explaining that entire evening at Belle's to him. By the end of it, I've never seen him look more pissed off. The normally goofy Cole was long gone and had been replaced with a Cole I wouldn't want to mess with.

"They did what?" He asked slowly. It was as if something clicked in his brain. "Wait is that why you cut your hair shorter?"

My hand instantly went up to my hair that ended just below my shoulders as I nodded. "That fucking bitch!" He yelled.

I stood up. "Cole calm down."

He stared at me with disbelief. "Calm down? How the fuck do you expect me to calm down?!"

"It happened weeks ago. It's over now." I replied calmly when in fact it still angered me a lot but I couldn't let Cole know that. If he knew how upset I was Jackson and Brad would most likely be in the hospital. It's not like they were even the ones who did it but they played a massive part to it and Cole wouldn't hit a girl.

"I don't give a fuck if it happened 5 years ago. They can't get away with that shit." He exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air angrily.

"And now apparently they're planning something else." He paused, clenching his teeth. "You can't just let them get away with bullying you."

I huffed. "It's not bullying, plus what am I supposed to do? Give them what they want and stop being friends with Reece and Jake?" I shook my head. "I don't even know why the fuck it bothers them so much."

Something clicked in Cole's eyes. "I don't think it's all about that."

I raised a brow. "What is it then?"

Cole smiled, like he'd finally figured it out. "She hates you because she's in love with Adam."

I thought about it for a second. Ever since me and Adam broke up she had been ten times worse than normal. Don't get me wrong, she hated me when we were together but she never tormented me or constantly bothered me.

"Oh shit." I replied.

Cole rolled his eyes. "That bitch hates you because Adam's still in love with you, not her."

"Yeah well." I muttered maliciously. "They deserve each other."

Cole looked as if he had calmed down slightly as he took a seat on the bed which I followed. "I thought you said you didn't hate him anymore?"

Well I didn't until I heard Reece's story. How the fuck did Adam have any right to hate Reece for putting his dad away when he was an abusive fucking asshole.

But of course I didn't say that to Cole.

"I didn't but then as soon as I said I forgave him, he started asking me if I was dating Reece and talking shit about him."

He shook his head with disbelief. "Why does he hate Reece so much?"

I shrugged. "No idea." I lied.

It wasn't that I liked lying to Cole but it wasn't my place to say anything and that would be a complete break of trust if I just blurted everything out. I'm sure Reece would tell them in his own time as he was becoming good friends with the two.

Cole then frowned. "I don't know what they're up to but there definitely planning something but then they spotted me and stopped talking."

"Who was talking?"

"Amber but she was mainly talking to Jackson and Brad. I think they're pissed off because Reece beat them up."

I nodded. When I was explaining what happened, I had told him the truth about how Reece came and got me and comforted me for the whole evening. Cole's eyes were twinkling as I said it but he didn't comment.

I don't like it when they keep quiet, its better if they just wind me up and get it over with than share that stupid look him and Jodie do when I talk about Reece.

They had been doing it since the beginning of Reece tutoring me and I wasn't stupid, I know what they were insinuating but ive just ignored it up until now. I spent the rest of the evening at Cole's just chilling and watching tv and before I knew it I was back home lying in bed when the clock struck 12.

Ten years ago today I lost my beautiful mother.