I had no desire to drag myself out of bed and to school Monday morning. If the eyesore that was the black eye and bruised bridge of my nose wasn't enough, I knew that Ty would no doubt have rumors of his own-and he'd do anything to make him look like the bigger person. I could picture it now, him blaming Onyx in some way, pinning my injuries and his own on my obnoxious neighbor.

It wasn't until I'd trudged down the stairs and into the dining room that I livened up a little. Mom was standing beside the fridge, scrolling through her phone with one hand and shoving the reminisce of an Everything bagel into her mouth, a small dot of cream cheese just under her bottom lip. Hearing my dramatic, exhausted sigh, she turned her phone off and tucked it into her back pocket.

"How's the eye doing?"

"Meh." I made a gesture with my hand. "My nose hurts more. Especially when I sneeze."

She deflated a little and closed the distance, tucking my hair behind my ear with a sad look. "I told you I'd give the school a call if you wanted to stay home today."

"Mom, I'm not going to let a boy ruin my perfect attendance."

"Honey, you can hardly see."

"Maybe not, but that means my hearing is heightened."

She nodded slowly and squeezed my shoulder, "I spoke with Olivia this morning and we both think it'd be best if Onyx drove you to school until you can open your eye again."

"Mom!" I groaned.

"Honey, stop being dramatic." she waved her hand between us. "He's a good boy."

Pre-Friday night I would have disagreed, but I couldn't find any truly valid reason to hate Onyx right now. Or maybe I was just too tired and lacked the energy to do so.

"I love you. Have a good day."

I lifted my hand up in a wave as I headed for the door, "Love you too."

The minute I stepped outside, I caught sight of Onyx leaning into the passenger side door of his Mustang, eyes on my kitchen window. Within seconds of my front door shutting, his eyes flickered to me and he noticeably winced. It wasn't until I'd approached that he decided to invade my personal space and touch his knuckle to the bruised and swollen bridge of my nose.

"It looks worse today than it did Friday night."

"That's kind of how injuries work, Nyx." I breathed, "Can we please just go?"

He nodded and opened the door for me, stepping aside so I didn't have to duck under his arm to climb in. I gave him a thumbs up in gratitude and he shut the door in my face, walking around to get in himself.

I immediately frowned as I breathed in, wincing just the slightest as my nose started throbbing. I had smelt it upon getting in, but with all doors shut I was sure it wasn't just a figment of my imagination. "It smells like cinnamon in here."

It surely beat stale cigarette smoke.

"Yeah, that'd be my air fresheners." He reached in back and tossed a handful of unopened packs on to my lap. "You were always complaining about the car smelling like smoke, and it got me thinking about Mom. I know she hates the smell too and has probably been miserable every time I drive her but didn't want to say anything."

"Glad I could help." I said with a grin, dangling one of the pine tree cutouts in front of me. "It really does smell great in here, Onyx. I can't even smell the nasty cigarettes in the cup holder."

He flashed a quick smile as he started the car, and a soft love ballad sounded through the quiet car, filling the space between us with so many words left unspoken. I could tell he wanted to speak, he would even open his mouth then slam it shut as if he decided last second he didn't want to say it.

"I got ten dollars on Ty finding some way to make this my fault." I broke the silence for him with a joke. "Or you. Anything to not accept the blame himself."

Onyx shrugged a shoulder. "It's what us narcissists do, Sky. We find everyone else but ourselves to blame."

I flinched and sunk in my seat with that bitter retort, retreating from the conversation, and reality, until he went on.

"I don't know why you ever agreed to go out with him in the first place."

"Because he was interested in me." I whispered, then louder and more confidently added, "Because I was in awe that someone like him could ever like a girl like me."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

I tore my eyes from the greenery blurring outside my window and to the boy across the console. "It means I'm that girl. The one that never gets noticed. The friend that's always in the shadows rooting for her friends and playing match maker, but never allowed to live her own happily ever after."

"Life isn't a teen fucking movie, you know."

"I know, Onyx." I sighed, dropping my hands on to my lap. "But you can't deny it's the truth. If you hadn't run into me in the hall and picked up that list you would have never batted an eye in my direction. I was a fly on the wall in your story."

"That's not true."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, sure."

"Aurora, our mothers have been best friends since they were pregnant with us." he said it matter-of-factly, "I spent the better part of my seventeen years alive being forced to breathe the same air as you. The fact that you thought I didn't notice you is ridiculous."

"Then why didn't you ever talk to me."

"Because you acted like you wanted to hit me with your car." he paused, "Repeatedly."

I snorted, "I did. Only because you acted like you were above everyone else! Like you were this. . . this God!"

"I acted like that because I was scared, Aurora." his voice dropped an octave, his grip tightening around the wheel. "Who'd want to befriend the kid with the dead little brother? Who would want to stick around and chill at his house when his parents were waging war on one another night after night?"

I bowed my head, refusing to look in his direction.

"I knew who you were, Aurora, because you were the only person that was there when I was the scared, broken, little boy crying and rocking himself to sleep every night." he threw a quick glance my way. "I pretended not to know you because I knew with my popularity came hate, bitterness, and envy and I didn't want to subject you to any of that."

I wanted to pull some quick-witted retort from my arsenal, but I couldn't. I just stared at him, my eye throbbing as tears stung the back of them, threatening to escape any second.

"When I was ten, just after my parents finalized their divorce, my dad came by to pack up the last of his stuff." he said suddenly as we pulled into to parking lot of the high school. "Mom had been drinking and he was already in a mood, so I left before I could hear the hell that would be unleashed any moment."

He parked the car and turned the key in the ignition as he spoke softly, filling the car with his quiet words, lost in the memory. "Your mom wasn't home, but I knew she left a spare key out under the rock on the front porch for me. She didn't think I knew it was there, but I did. I snuck in and locked the door behind me, afraid my parents would move their argument to us next door once they realized I was gone. It was well after eleven, but you weren't asleep. You were laying across your bed on your stomach. Reading. You were reading a book the size of a dictionary."

I felt a small smile tug at the corners of my lips at the comment. I didn't recall most of what he was talking about. There'd been various occasions when we were kids where he'd come over and sit in my room. They were fuzzy and blurry for me and I wouldn't be able to recall what we talked about. In fact, I'd tried my best to block them out altogether once I'd realized Onyx had grown up and into a jerk.

"I'd been crying, but you didn't say anything about my red face or puffy eyes. No, you shut that big ass book, threw it on to the nightstand and patted the bed beside you. Once I'd sat down, you asked me if I wanted to talk about what happened. I didn't. It should have been left at that-most kids didn't even bother to give me the time of day back then. But you didn't leave it at that, Aurora." he extended an arm and touched the knuckle of his index finger against my swollen eye. "You told me to lay down and once I'd listened, you laid behind me and wrapped your arms around me. Promised that it'd get better. That I'd be okay. Eleven, Sky. You were fucking eleven and cared about me more than that entire school."

Hearing my nickname settled the tension slightly, but I only shook my head, tears finally falling from my lashes and rolling down my cheeks.

I had no memory of that night, but the fact that it'd stuck with him for seven years was gut-wrenching.

"I hated seeing that list." he confessed, dropping his hand so it rested against my forearm. "Because I knew that it wouldn't exist if I'd returned the love you so graciously gave me during the worst time in my life. Instead, I went about my life like an asshole and left you in the dust."

"Onyx—"

He held a hand up, eyes shooting over my shoulder, "You better go. Your friends are waiting for you."

"Nyx—"

"I didn't tell you that so you'd get all emotional and sappy or regret the list, Sky." he said, training his eyes straight ahead. "I can't take back what I did and said, but I can control your perception of me now."

I squeezed my eye shut and inhaled, exhaling loudly, before I opened the door and said, "You don't have to keep pretending."

"Sky, I don't even know who I am without this. . . this persona I've created."

As I grasped the top of the door and slung my backpack over my shoulder, I offered a weak smile and answered, "Well, maybe you should try and figure that out."