MY HEELS CLICKED against the smooth marble floor as I entered the school with my sunglasses still on. Summer break was just over, and it felt absolutely great to be back in school.

Not.

Coming back to school meant one thing: facing Blake and Charlotte again. After the tragedy of how Blake and I came to be, I couldn't stay the helpless little girl anymore. This teenage freak show needed an antagonist, and I gladly gave it to them.

On the last day of junior year, I went to the principal and dropped all of my extracurricular activities. Needless to say, his expression was of pure shock, but luckily, he didn't question any further. I was done with all of this. I was done with being the bad girl, being called Charlotte's bully. She was the one who started the war. If everyone wanted to see me as a bully, then a bully I would be.

I just had to learn how to fight fire with fire.

I could almost feel their stares on my skin as I walked down the halls of Crescent Grove High. I switched my skimpy cheerleader costume for a black leather jacket, ripped skinny jeans, and my signature black heels. With this new identity, everything had to go, except the heels. If I had let Charlotte take even that away from me, I would have really lost myself. The biggest change I had was probably not my choice of clothing, though. Over the summer holidays, I traded my long, strawberry blonde hair for wild, pastel purple locks. Might as well go full-out.

Upon reaching my locker, I noticed my best friend, Summer, leaning against hers, which was conveniently located just beside mine. The school lockers were all painted a hideous shade of green that resembled olives that had been left out in the sun for a little too long. Thankfully, I had redecorated my locker during the summer holidays, painting it in a sleek, matte, black. It definitely stood out in the crowd, just like how I wanted to.

"You didn't mention the hair, Ave." Summer smirked, examining my outfit. Giving her half a grin, I shoved my sunglasses into the locker and slammed the door shut.

"It's a last-minute thing. I don't want to have anything to do with the old me. You know, other than these babies." I clicked the heel of my left shoe lightly against the floor, allowing the sound to echo slightly through the growing crowd. I flicked my hair over my shoulder, and we made our way toward our first class. Just my luck, though. Apparently, Charlotte Brooke was also taking the same class.

"You gonna be okay?" Summer nudged me, and I turned to face her.

"Why wouldn't I be, Summer?" I plastered a smile on my face and walked into the classroom.

Seated at the front of the class, Charlotte was busily scribbling something into her little notebook while Blake gazed at her lovingly.

A single phrase ran through my mind: how sickening.

I snatched the notebook out of Charlotte's grip and flipped through it. Her startled shriek told me that I had gotten her off guard, but unfortunately, it also caused Blake to look at me.

"Well, well, Char. What is this? A little love note?" I laughed and flipped through the pages once more.

"Give it back, Avery." Blake got up from his seat and towered over me, his eyes staring intensely at the little notebook I held in my hands. The bunch of papers felt like a dozen bricks, and yet I held my faux confidence without a single slip-up.

"Now, why would I? She didn't give me back something of mine." I gave him a fake smile and turned my attention to Charlotte. "So give me a reason why I should give this back to her."

I turned swiftly, cat-walked all the way to the back of the classroom, sat on a chair, and propped my feet up on my table. Blake started to walk toward me, but fortunately, the teacher walked in glaring at him, basically forcing him to get back to his seat.

"Blake, she's not worth it." I heard Charlotte mumble to him, and his eyes softened. I felt my heart clench as memories of our past friendship flooded my mind. I used to have that effect on him; I guess people do change.

For the worse, in his case.

For what seemed like an eternity, the teacher droned on about logistics before starting on the new content for this school year. Thinking that the subject had probably already been taught to me by my uncle, I let my eyelids grow heavy.

Just as I was about to doze off, though, the door suddenly slammed open, making me sit up with attention. A guy walked in and immediately headed straight for the back of the class, completely ignoring the teacher and his violent protests. What really caught my attention was that he was undeniably attractive. He had tousled, dark brown hair; golden, tanned skin; and chocolate-brown eyes, which seemed to hold the world's biggest mysteries. He was the complete contrast to Blake's brighter appearance of an all-American boy look: classic blond hair and blue eyes.

Wordlessly, he made his way toward me, gripped my arm firmly, and started to lead me out of the classroom. The students gazed at us as the teacher hollered warnings after another. Without even turning once to look at the man, the mysterious new guy handed him a small slip of paper, blatantly ignoring his annoyed grunt of unwilling approval before leading me out into the deserted hallway.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?!" I screamed at the mysterious person once we exited the class, and I nearly dropped to the floor due to the momentum of his movements. I glared at him while pulling the sleeves of my jacket upwards, trying to steady myself.

"It's been a while since I last saw you, Avery. You've changed." He grinned, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I don't even know who you are, weirdo." Scowling, I straightened my jacket and looked at him with a challenging glint.

His nose scrunched, and he looked confused for a second as he took a lock of my purple hair in his hands. At my protest, he dropped it and once again smiled that jaw-dropping smile.

"Forgotten your best friend so easily, huh, Ava? It's only been what? Ten years?"

The smirk still hung on his face, but his comment made me examine him closely. Only one person would call me Ava. Forgotten childhood memories swam back to the surface of my mind, and a feeling of recognition hit me like a wave before a smile that matched his amused expression finally broke through on my features.

"Wesley Jerald. Damn, thought you had disappeared off the face of the earth." I laughed as realization came. After a few chuckles though, I swiftly punched him in the arm, the scowl returning in full blast.

"Ow! Woman, what is that for?" he grumbled, rubbing where I just assaulted him.

"That is for disappearing off the face of the earth for ten years! You just left without a word! What was that? Seven years old feels like eons ago."

Years ago, I had been best friends with two guys—Blake and Wesley. They seemed so different from one another. One was as bright as the sun, his heart filled with gold and his eyes so blue that they were almost as iridescent as the sky. The other was as dark as night, and he kept to himself, hiding most things about him, just like the night does with almost everything except the moon and the stars. The three of us always stuck together through thick and thin, often accompanied by Wesley's siblings. But one day, when we were around seven years old, Wesley's entire family just vanished, three years after his eldest brother's disappearance.

Ever since then, it had always been just Blake and Avery.

Until my last birthday, that is.

"I had my reasons," Wes grumbled, still rubbing his arm while glaring at me. "My family went in search of my brother. I honestly don't even remember much about him. All Mom tells me is that he sends in money once in a while, and we're all good because of him. You know how our family was before we left."

I squinted at him with pure doubt in my eyes and folded my arms across my chest as if forcing him to spit out the truth.

"I'm serious, Ava! It's been quite a long trip, to say the least."

My eyes softened once I took note of his distraught expression, and I held my arms out, immediately enveloping him in a hug. "Okay, I believe you," I muttered, enjoying the faintly familiar feeling of him engulfing me in his arms. "Just don't disappear on me again, Jerald." I grinned, lightly punching him in the chest.

"Wouldn't dare dream of it." Wes laughed, crossing his heart as if swearing his promise in an unbreakable oath. "Hey, you know what we should do? Get Blake, and the three of us can go catch up! Just like old times. Is he in class now? I didn't see him on my way in." Wes beamed, but his smile immediately vanished and was replaced with a frown when he noticed my scowl. "What's wrong, Ava?"

"Of course, you didn't. He was probably too busy sucking his girlfriend's face off," I mumbled bitterly under my breath.

Wesley looked at me in confusion, and I sighed. "It's just...Blake and I aren't exactly on talking terms right now." I rubbed my arm slightly and looked down at the ground.

"Wow, I disappear for ten years, and the whole world falls into chaos! I am important!" Wes laughed, and I smiled just a little. He always knew what to say to lighten up the mood, and for that, I was grateful.

"Tell you what, Jerald, we go alone, and I'll treat you to some ice cream. What do you say?"

"I want chocolate." Wes winked, and I chuckled. "Beats your stupid cookies 'n' cream any day."

"Watch what you say, Jerald, or you might not get that free ice cream after all." I laughed and ruffled his hair with great difficulty because he was taller than me.

He grunted in mock annoyance and threw his arm over my shoulder. We walked out of the school as he hummed a merry tune, and I felt my spirits lift up.

I took in a deep breath of relief; it had felt like forever since I had last smiled so genuinely. It hurt my cheeks, yet I welcomed the bittersweet pain.