"Mia you can't stay in bed forever. You need to go to school, your principal called me because you've already missed two weeks."

I pulled the blanket over my head, blocking out her words. My hot breath made everything stuffy and humid really quickly but I didn't care. I just snuggled further down into his hoodie which has not left my body since the last time I saw him. I know I ought to go to school but I just can't face him.

Mom yanked the duvet off my body and I winced as the cold air crashed into me like a truck. She stomped over to the window and pulled the curtains open and I winced again, closing my eyes to block out the burning sun.

"Get up. Get a shower. Get to school. I'm sick of seeing you mope about in bed, the girl I raised is more independent than that. Stop crying over some boy." I sat up and scooted to the edge of my bed.

"You didn't raise me mom, Merida did." I pushed past my mom and locked myself in the bathroom. I glanced in the mirror and I'm not going to lie, the sight staring back at me was anything but pleasant.

My dark hair was knotted, my eyes had bags and I swear I gained one or two wrinkles in Noah's absence. I looked down at his over-sized hoodie, it no longer smelt like him but just knowing that he wore it made me feel warmer somehow.

I turned the water on, letting the steam clog in the air and I slowly peeled off my clothes. I put everything in the laundry basket except his hoodie and then stepped under the water. My mom was right, I needed to stop crying over Noah. Today was day one in getting over him.

I ended up on the school bus looking quite put together, on the outside. I wore a Gucci dress complete with a belt that showcased the logo for all to see. I didn't care anymore, I liked my designer clothes and I wasn't going to change that just to please other people. I took the time to put a waterfall braid in my hair and I put mascara on because today I was doing no crying.

I could feel people staring at me and even worse I could hear the whispers fall from their lips but I kept my head held high and ignored them all. Abigail gave me the stink eye as she walked past me and took a seat at the back of the bus but I just looked out of the window, feeling my heart rate increase the closer we got to the school building.

I knew Noah wouldn't be there, not straight away anyway because he works at the repair shop in the mornings but that didn't make the transition into school any easier.

"Mia! You look extremely princessy today! Where have you been?" Joel slummed into the locker beside me and waited for me to load in my books.

"I had the worst menstrual cramps." I replied just as I had rehearsed in my head.

"Ew." Joel muttered in disgust. I smiled to myself knowing my plan worked. Mention mensuration to any guy and they are instantly done with the conversation.

"What did I miss?" I faked a smile at him but the whole time I was holding my breath, hoping he wouldn't tell me something about Noah.

"Well I went up against Mika in the ring, he's got mad skills but I won. Like genuinely won!" I continued stacking up the books in my locker.

"That's great Joel." I said with no enthusiasm whatsoever.

"I meant to thank you Mia." Joel said and I turned to face him with a questioning glance. "I don't know exactly what happened but I can't help but think you had something to do with Noah and I becoming friends again."

And there it was.

"I didn't make him go in that ring Joel, it was all on him." I admitted, turning back to the books in my locker.

"I know that Mia but before you started here he was broken. I mean he's still standoffish but at least he talks to me a little now."

"I really don't want to talk about Noah, Joel." He furrowed his brows but I didn't look at him, only offering him my side profile.

"I thought you two were buddies, did something happen?" I slammed my locker closed and Joel shuddered his shoulders.

"Nothing that I want to discuss." I clutched my books tightly to my chest and walked away, turning the corner and coming face to face with the devil himself.

Time stood still and I'm not sure how long we stared at each other. I hoped I wouldn't bump into him until last period in chemistry. I snapped myself out of it and turned to walk back the way I just came but my ears burnt with the sound of his footsteps.

"Mia" he called out to me, grabbing my arm and turning me around to face him.

"Menstrual cramps." I blurted out, screwing my face up as I cringed to myself. That did not go at all how I rehearsed in my head.

Noah's eyes widened, a little taken aback by the random words I just threw at him.

"What?" He asked. "You have menstrual cramps?" His brows furrowed with concern and my tongue couldn't articulate a proper sentence.

"Yes." Another word falling from my lips that I didn't mean to say. He blinked at me, not really knowing what to do with that information.

"Mia we need to talk." He finally settled on, ignoring the verbal rubbish I was clearly spewing. I took a deep breath, forcing myself to pull together.

"We talked Noah. There's nothing else left to say, please just leave me alone." I could see the disappointment in his face but I pushed past him and walked away.

I threw myself into all of my other classes, trying to distract my mind from those fawn coloured eyes. But with each passing hour I knew the clock was ticking down to the one class I couldn't avoid him in.

I got in there before him and took my usual seat beside Joel. He talked my head off about some cute guy that works in the cinema and I nodded along pretending to be interested, inside I was a nervous wreck.

"For your menstrual cramps." Noah banged a small container of Tylenol on the desk. He said nothing more and nothing less, just took a seat at his usual table across the room.

"I thought you got your period last week?" Joel asked in confusion.

I didn't look at him at all but when the teacher switched the lights off so we could all look at images on a projector screen I allowed myself to steal a glance.

Noah looked completely consumed in thought. I watched him write things on a piece of paper but then he scribbled things out harshly. He didn't look up at the screen once, obviously not caring about the chemistry lesson which is unusual for him. He looked deeply troubled and I wondered what he was writing. He kept flicking his pencil against his other hand and screwing up the sheets of paper before starting fresh.

When the last bell rung out I watched him dump the papers in the trash can. I lingered back in the classroom until everyone had cleared out and then I reached into the bin and unraveled his paper.

'Ball pond party - too expensive.'

'Take her for ice cream - too small.'

'Why the fuck do 6 year olds need a party anyway??'

'Aquarium - expensive. fear of water.'

'Uncle??????'

'Bouncy house - maybe.'

Thirty kids!!!

I am fucking screwed.

There seemed to be a lot of workings out with different prices and a lot of 'fucks' written across the page. But in the far corner there was the word 'Mia' and it was circled several times. I traced my hand over the word, feeling the dent in the paper where he had obviously pressed too hard.

I folded it up and placed it in my pocket, right now I didn't like him but I needed to help him, for Emily.