Today was November 6th.

And officially the worst day of my entire life.

If I had to remember the day correctly, it went something similar like this:

Woke up. Checked my phone, saw I (weirdly) had 20+ burner accounts trying to request my spam. That was the first hint I should've listened to. The first hint that should've told me not to go to school, and to run for the fucking hills.

Went downstairs, and saw my mom left a note on the counter. 'Happy Birthday sweetheart! There's waffles in the fridge.'

I checked the fridge. Saw the waffles were Eggos. Closed the fridge. Then headed out the door.

My bike was my main method of transport ever since the fight with Colton. Usually, he'd pick me up but I figured he'd be too busy with Brooke and well whatever the hell else he was doing that I had no idea about because we hadn't talked in weeks now.

It kind of hurt, not seeing him outside my driveway this morning since we always had traditions for each other's birthdays. Each year, at 5pm, I'd get a 'mystery text' from a 'mystery person' telling me to meet at a coordinate. I would tell Colton about this, and he'd play along, and offer me a ride to those coordinates to find out just what this 'mystery person' wanted.

Little did he know I'd had already smelt the freshly baked cupcakes in the back of his Jeep that he had specially prepared just for me.

We'd get out of his car at the coordinates, which always led to the abandoned Target rooftop, and there'd be a small picnic set up with fairy lights outlining the blanket.

Then, he'd start singing. Terrible, dreadful singing, at which I'd immediately tell him to shut the fuck up, but he'd keep going. And as he did so, would pull the cupcakes out from behind his back, wishing me a happy birthday.

No matter how old I was, there would always be only one candle on the cake, cupcake, whatever he brought each year, because we had an on going joke that I had the mental capacity of a one year old.

I'd blow out the candle. We'd watch the stars. He'd make me promise to never stop being me. I made him promise to never stop being him.

We were always us to each other.

Until the past couple weeks, where we weren't.

And I had to accept that fact. So, I hopped on my bike and when I arrived at school, I quickly found the second hint.

The JV girls.

Underclassmen. You see, whenever there was a birthday on our girls volleyball team, if you were popular, the first thing that happened when you entered that goddamn building is you would get bombarded with hugs, kisses, candies, balloons-- all of the above. Volleyball girls were aggressive like that.

Now see, obviously, I wasn't expecting that. I was a loner and mostly everyone on my team forgot I existed.

But there would always be at least one JV girl. At least one who would wish me a happy birthday, or something of the sort.

Today? There was none.

It was like I had the imaginary flu no one would tell me about. Usually, I wouldn't care, but today was my birthday. And they knew that.

But either way, I went about my day. As each period went by, not one person said a word to me. But it was okay -- not being acknowledged was something I was used to.

I was in my 6th period when the next hint showed itself. Physics. This was the period I had with Hana and some of her other meaner friends.

I got to class early and was in the back of the room, as always, as I watched them walk in, singing some Britney Spears song very, very obnoxiously.

You know how people would come to their friends classes before the bell rings? Today Noah was with them. We made eye contact and not knowing what to do, I tried to wave and he looked at me, but did not wave back.

Just threw me a thin smile. Scraps.

The warning bell finally rung, and Noah left while the other girls (Hana, her friends) began to settle down. But, instead of sitting in the front as always, they chose one of the lab tables beside me.

One of the blonde girls was giggling uncontrollably. I heard the blonde girl whisper, "Don't I look like her today? I wore pigtails just for it."

Hana shushed her trying to shut her up, then oddly enough, glanced at me.

What the hell was going on?

"My loneliness is killing me, I must confess, I still believeeee!" the blonde sang out, turning to me and doing a dance before our teacher finally told her to sit down and be quiet. Their friend group laughed and I looked over at Hana who mouthed me a 'Sorry'.

Wait a second. Huh? Why that song? Why the fuck was she singing that song?

Then it clicked.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

I quickly pulled out my phone to check my spam account and saw the the number of requests which was at 20 this morning, rose to 140.

It couldn't be...?

Panicked, I rushed out of the classroom, ignoring the snickering and my teacher's confused shouting. I turned the corner and saw there were a few students still in the hallway making their way to class.

But then the fourth and final hint finally hit: Seeing him.

Colton.

Knowing that all my suspicions of what was going on today were true as I finally looked him in the eye.

It wasn't anywhere special. It was actually just the middle of the tech hallway, as everyone was clearing out since the late bell had just rung. He was alone, for once, without Brooke underneath his arm and when he saw me -- like really saw me -- the look in his eyes was so pitiful.

And that was when I knew he knew.

Unlike when he asked at Brooke and time froze because people wanted to cherish it, this moment was like time froze because everything had finally broken. The unresolved feelings of came spilling out and they were right in front of us, right in that crowded hallway. All with just one look.

He knew how I felt about him.

I didn't know what to do or say. I was frozen. Literally frozen.

What would he say? What would he think? Would he do anything? Was it obvious? There were so many thoughts running through my mind that I needed answers to, but after he paused for a second to look at me, he kept walking.

He kept walking. Right fucking past me. As if I didn't even exist.

I don't know why I was shocked. What, did my dumbass expect him to fall to his knees and confess his love back? I wasn't Brooke Mckailey. I wasn't a McKenna Grace.

I felt like throwing up. So, I did.

Except, not at school, but actually in a Starbucks café after I ran out of the building, way too embarrassed to be able to go to the rest of my classes.

And now, I was sitting alone at Starbucks, listening to some guy's meeting about a pyramid scheme and wishing anything or anyone at all could save me from this mess.

I had been here for hours now and it was around 4:58. No one had texted me all day. The only notifications I had been getting was from people at my school requesting the Instagram account.

Now, I was curious. Who the hell snitched in the first place? I made sure that no one from my school was on that account, and yet somehow, the one and only secret that ever meant anything to me was still exposed.

A bell chimed and my eyes darted to the entrance to see a couple laughing as they exited the building. I looked to the large antique clock hung up on the wall behind the counters and saw it was 5:00. On the dot.

I checked my phone, stupidly.

Of course there was no 'mystery person' text.

I don't even know what I was expecting. So, I called my mom and asked her to pick me up, but unfortunately, as always, she was at work.

The bus then. Who knows, maybe I'd treat myself to the sight of the rats and aggressive pigeons of the Metro station!

I left my bike hooked to the outside of the Starbucks and hopped the nearest bus heading towards...? Well, I didn't know. And I didn't really care either.

My luck with bus drivers ran short pretty soon when I tried getting onto the next one, but the driver told me I had to pay.

Fuck off, metro.

And so I was stranded. In the middle of some rural ghost town and the worst of it all? I didn't really care. I was already lost mentally, why not physically?

Hours passed by as I walked around and around in circles. As I begun making myself familiar to the town I soon began to realize that-- being just my luck -- this was the same town where the abandoned Target rooftop was at.

It was only a half a mile walk from where I was at currently, and I had nothing better to do, so I started on my way.

It wasn't long before I reached the Target and began walking through the empty parking lots. Sketchy cars were parked and most likely left to be abandoned on each floors and I felt tears prick my eyes as I realized the cars and I were one and the same.

Abandoned.

Happy fucking birthday to me.

As I finally made it to the top of the building-my final destination- I paused in my tracks as I saw that there was already a car parked ominously in the middle of the lot.

Who on earth would come here at this hour?

But then, I realized.

It was him.

Colton.