March

Vanessa

Addison and I were standing at our lockers, packing up our books for the end of the school day when Kayla breezed past us. Shooting daggers at me with her eyes, she snorted in disgust.

I closed my locker as I hoisted my bag onto my shoulder. "Why is Matt's girlfriend giving me the evil glare all of a sudden? I knew she didn't like me, but this whole looking like she wants to kill me thing is new."

Addison clutched my arm, her eyes growing wide. "Oh my gosh," she exclaimed. "You don't think she knows about Winter Formal, do you?"

Covering my mouth, I gasped. The kiss. It had never occurred to me that Matt might have shared that tidbit of information with her. I grasped Addison back as another realization hit me. "Do you think she will tell Devin? I never mentioned it to him."

Addison glanced over to where Kayla was now poised over the water fountain, taking a dainty sip. "Well, I definitely wouldn't put it past her villainous self to do something like that, especially since it seems like she has it out for you."

I steadied my palm against the cool metal of the lockers to try and ward off the sudden onset of lightheadedness that overtook me. "I have to talk to her. Maybe she won't say anything if she knows I'm not trying to steal Matt back."

I took a step in Kayla's direction, but Addison stopped me by grabbing hold of my arm. "I don't think that's a wise idea, V."

"I can't lose Devin because Kayla wants to be a spiteful witch." Shrugging off my friends grasp, I strode over to the Ice Queen.

"Hey, Kayla," I began, tapping her on the shoulder. "Can we talk for a minute?"

She turned around, eyeing me up and down. "Oh, it's you. What do you want?"

Shifting from foot to foot, I took a deep breath to calm my rapid heartbeat. "Listen, about Winter Formal," I started, my voice already quaking. "I just wanted to let you know that you have nothing to worry about. So, if we could just not make a big deal about it, I would really appreci-"

She held up a hand inches away from my body. "I don't know what you're blabbering on about, Vanessa, but you best stay away from my man unless you want to end up face down on the concrete."

My jaw dropped. "Excuse me?"

She rolled her eyes. "You heard me. He told me that he thinks you're pathetic and that you really need to stop obsessing over him. It's starting to creep him out."

Come again? What kind of lies has Matt been feeding to her? "I'm not sure what exactly he's told you, Kayla but that couldn't be further from the truth."

She stepped forward until we were almost nose to nose, pointing her index finger right between my eyes. "Now listen here, bitch because I'm only going to tell you once. I'm warning you, stay away from my boyfriend or you will regret it."

Feeling my cheeks growing hot, I batted her hand away. "You need to back off, Kayla."

She moved in even closer. "Or what, Vanessa? You'll hurt me?" She scoffed. "Please. As if I'm afraid of a girl that probably still sleeps with her nightlight on."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "For your information, being afraid of the dark is a real phobia."

She laughed, waving me off. "Okay, Vanessa," she replied, reaching into her bag to pull out a bottle of raspberry body mist before dousing herself in the nauseating scent. "I'm going to go find Matt now. He's taking me on a date to the butterfly gardens. That guy is so romantic." She glanced up at me, adding, "And such an amazing kisser too. We can go at it for hours on end."

Turning to leave, she smirked at me. "Don't worry," she continued. "I'm sure a lovely guy such as Alex will want to kiss you too one day when you hit puberty and grow into your looks."

I chewed on the inside of my cheek as my insides boiled with rage. She's not worth it. She was just trying to rile me up and I refused to take the bait. Instead, I chose to walk away but before I could even make it one step, she stuck out her foot.

I stumbled over her sandal but managed to catch my balance before face-planting onto the ground. Oh hell no. She did not just do that. Spinning around, I mustered all my strength into shoving her. The push sent her crashing back with a loud clang into the set of lockers behind her.

Her jaw dropped open as she stared at me and tried to regain her composure. "You're going to pay for that," she growled, lunging towards me.

An intense stinging spread throughout my lips as I realized she had smacked me across the mouth. That's it. This girl is going to get her ass beat. Reaching for her cascading waves, I grabbed a large fistful and yanked them as hard as I could. Kayla screeched and clawed at my arms as she tried to break free. When she couldn't shake my hand off, she bit down on my wrist.

Yelping, I let her go but grinned at the sight of long, blond strands of hair ripped out and wrapped around my fingers. Her gaze fell to her golden locks in my grasp, and she gasped, her hand flying up to her head. "My hair," she shrieked.

She charged at me again, this time tackling me to the floor. My head hit the tile with a sickening thud but that didn't slow me down. I rolled over on top of her, pinning her arms down before spitting in her face. "How do you like that," I taunted, taking delight in her disgusted screams.

She grunted at me as she kicked wildly beneath me. "Let me go, you psychopath," she yelled.

Just then, a pair of strong hands hoisted me up off her. Breathing heavily, I turned to see Devin staring at me with wide eyes. "Vanessa, what the hell," he asked, scowling.

Wiping her mouth, Kayla scrambled up off the ground. "Matt's done with you," she spat out. "He doesn't want your ugly self. Never did. He was just being nice because he felt sorry for you. He knew how desperately in love with him you were but only ever thought of you as a loser. But he makes fun of you behind your back."

"That's it," I shouted, tears of anger beginning to stream down my face. I tried furiously to break free from Devin, but he continued to hold me back.

Addison, who had been standing there in frozen shock the entire time, finally found her voice. "Don't worry, V. I've got this one." She marched over to Kayla, yelling, "What did you just call my best friend? Honey, I think you've got things twisted."

She raised her fist. I was in awe at the amount of rage pouring out of her at that very moment. "Go ahead, repeat it," she dared.

I smirked as Kayla backed up, shrinking away from Addison. "I uh...uh...nothing," she squeaked.

Addison stepped forward, slamming her foot down on the tile. The action was all it took for Kayla to take off shrieking down the hallway. With a triumphant grin on her face, my best friend breezed past me, pausing just long enough to slap me a high-five. "I told you, bestie. I've always got your back."

Devin studied me as I sat across from him in the library with an ice pack pressed against my swollen lips. He cleared his throat. "Would you like to tell me what that was all about," he inquired.

Not really. In fact, it was exactly what I had been trying to avoid. Shrugging, I focused my gaze on a row of dusty encyclopedias housed on a shelf against the far wall. "I used to be friends with her boyfriend, Matt. I guess that made her jealous. She attacked me out of nowhere."

He raised a brow at me. "She said you were in love with him, though."

I scoffed before giving him a challenging stare. "She also claimed I was a loser. Do you believe that too?"

If I was being honest, that last part stung more than her hit. I knew in my heart that Matt's feelings towards me had been genuine. No one could fake a kiss that amazing. I just questioned what he had been telling her behind my back.

Had he really been making fun of me? Calling me desperate and obsessed? I had seen the things he had said to Leo and knew what he was capable of. I wouldn't put it past him to be cruel for the sake of making himself look cool to his girlfriend. After all, she was the one he aimed to impress these days, not me.

Devin sighed as he took my hands in between his and looked me in the eyes. "That's not what I'm saying, Nessa. But I've heard the rumors that you two used to be involved."

I rolled my eyes, at this point beyond sick of the gossip. "We never dated."

He shrugged. "Okay, so then how come you're not friends with him anymore?"

"I don't know," I lied. "We just drifted apart, I guess. It's one of those things where someone gets a boyfriend or girlfriend and starts spending all of their time with them, instead."

"I see." He looked a bit skeptical as he studied me. "I'm assuming Matt was the one who started dating somebody and perhaps, you didn't handle that so well?"

I sat up straight in my chair. "Excuse me, but that's not what happened. I started seeing you and he didn't like it." Crossing my arms, I jutted out my chin. Okay, so maybe that wasn't what had happened either, but Devin didn't need to know every itty-bitty detail. "Anyways, it's no big deal now. I tried telling her that, but she flipped out on me."

"Alright, sweetheart. I'm sorry I didn't believe you." Devin placed a soft kiss on my cheek before smiling. "You two were really going at it. It was kind of hot."

Laughing, I punched him in the arm. "Ew. You're such a guy."

"Hey now, killer," he muttered as he nuzzled my ear. "I'm on your side, remember?" Grinning, he stroked my face with the back of his hand. "You know, even with a fat lip, you're still gorgeous."

He pulled me into his arms, giving me a searing kiss that spread warmth and butterflies all throughout my tummy. Kayla has nothing to worry about. She can have Matt. I'm perfectly happy right where I am.

***

Matt

"What the hell happened to you," I asked, glancing up from a novel as Kayla approached me in the school cafeteria. Her hair was tangled, and black mascara was smudged beneath her eyes.

"Vanessa's a bitch," she spat out, slamming her textbooks down on the table. "All I did was ask her kindly to please stop staring at you all the time, and the lunatic went berserk and started assaulting me. That girl is unhinged, Matt."

Furrowing my brows, I set my book aside. "Is she okay?"

Kayla rolled her eyes. "Are you even listening? She attacked me."

I imagined the two of them going at it and had to try my hardest not to smile at the thought. It was actually sort of flattering. Maybe Vanessa had it in her to love me, after all. She had just proven she was already willing to fight for me.

"It's not funny, Matthew." Kayla rummaged in her purse for a compact, grimacing at the sight of her reflection. "I don't know what you ever saw in her to begin with. She's boring, she's not cute, and her butt is way too big."

"And don't even get me started on her fashion sense," she added, combing her fingers through her snarls. "That girl dresses like a witch. Well, at least she did before she started taking lessons from that Barbie Doll friend of hers. And now, she just looks like some kind of stage performer. Yuck. Sequins are so early 2000's."

"You don't even know her, Kayla," I responded, my tone icy.

She scoffed. "I don't want to know her. Do you have any idea what being associated with someone like her would do for my reputation?"

I stared at her, scarcely believing that anyone could be so shallow. And yet somehow, she managed to take it to new levels every day. "I hate to break it to you, Kayla but take a look at who your boyfriend is. I'm not exactly winning popularity contests here."

She stopped primping her face long enough to glance over at me. "You're the hottest guy in school, Matt. You're easily the most sought after. Being with you has made me the envy of every girl in this place. With you by my side, I have it all now. There's nothing to stand in my way any longer of being nominated Prom Queen."

The cut of her words stabbed as deep as a knife. She doesn't love me. She's only with me because of the way I look. To her, I was nothing more than a prize to be won. The final piece to solidify her rank as most popular.

She shook her head as she closed the mirror with finality. "I won't let some nobody take this from me, Matt. I can't afford to lose you."

I shifted my gaze towards the window, focusing on the tiny colored buds that had begun to dot the trees. In another month, the outside world would be a lush green as it was brought back to life once more. But where were my buds? Where was the thing that was finally going to make me feel alive again?

My life had been nothing but a metaphor for leaves on a tree as I continued to lose everything that had once given me such life and beauty. Would my bare branches ever return to a state of fullness or was I doomed to spend the rest of my life in an eternal winter?

***

Matt

I was engrossed in rushing to finish my science homework before class began when I felt a hand smack the back of my head.

"What the hell," I grumbled, glancing up from my textbook to see Addison narrowing her eyes at me. Of course. "I miss the peace and quiet I had when you were suspended," I mumbled under my breath.

"You asshole," she said, shaking her head. "I can't believe you."

I scrunched my forehead. "Huh? Believe what? That I'm actually doing my schoolwork?" I rubbed my throbbing skull. "Thanks for assaulting me, by the way."

She smirked at me as she took a seat. "Trust me, I want to do so much more to you than just that right now, but you're lucky we're in class." She raised a fist at me.

Sighing, I crumpled up my unfinished assignment. Oh well. There was always the next one. "Addison, I have no clue what you're talking about. Do you want to just come out with it already?"

She jammed her finger into my ribcage, the sharp point of her nail digging into my skin. "How dare you call Vanessa a pathetic loser?" She shook her head at me, hurt reflecting in her eyes. "I thought you were a good one, Matt," she added in a whisper.

"Um...I didn't dare," I replied, staring at her in confusion. "I never said those words. Where are you getting that from?"

Addison gestured with her hand. "Your precious girlfriend, Kayla."

Well, that would explain it then. "When did she say that?"

Addison paled for a moment as she shifted away from my gaze. "I don't remember," she muttered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I just know she said it."

Crossing my arms, I studied her. "And you believe that," I asked flatly. "You actually think I would ever call Vanessa that, knowing how much she meant to me?" It seemed that no matter how hard I tried, even the people I was closest to still thought the worst of me.

"So, it's not true then," she asked, chewing her lip.

"Hell no! Of course not. Come on, Addie. You know me better than that."

A sheepish grin slowly spread across her face. "You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that!" She threw her arms around my neck, startling me.

I gently pushed her embrace away. "You're crazy, you know that?"

Beaming, she sat back down at her desk. "I know. But you love me though."

I turned my attention back to my homework, smoothing out the creases. I still had about five minutes to bang out some wrong answers. However, a thought suddenly stopped me, and I glanced over at Addison. "Do you know what caused Kayla to say that?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Jealousy, I guess."

Crap. Had the fight been my fault? Had my "I love you" snafu filled Kayla with so much insecurity that now she was doubling down to make sure Vanessa knew to stay away? This was getting messy. Vanessa may have rejected me, but that didn't mean I wanted to see her get hurt. Especially not because of my own doing.

Kayla had been so determined to not let anything interfere with her popularity goals that I wondered just what lengths she was willing to go to obtain them.