Breathing in raggedly, I peeled myself off the wall and staggered forward. I struggled to maintain my balance, too shell-shocked my Tyler's words to stay upright.

Did I seriously remind him of Taylor? It didn't make sense. She had golden blonde hair, I was brunette. Her hair was dead straight and finer than a spider's web, my hair was thick, curly and had the tendency to frizz in humidity.

My eyes were liquid pools of molten gold, amber and brown, and on rare occasions hazel-green; but Taylor's eyes were bottomless pits of ocean blue and sea green, entangled the way the ocean wraps around seaweed.

Even her skin was completely different to mine. She tanned easily with unblemished cream-coloured skin whereas I was a pasty, white girl in the winter who only tanned when left to cook in the sunlight during the summer.

So we liked the same things, but that didn't mean we were cut from the same stone. My temper was nowhere near as ruthless as hers and I had a lot more patience that her.

Taylor and I were chalk and cheese. She liked crappy pop songs, ratchet rap music and dubstep whereas I loved my father's old-school, rock collection. She wore flashy clothes that promoted her family's wealth and I just trudged around in whatever awesome sweaters I could find from the thrift shop.

We'd dress each other up, hang out, talking about guys, gossip, world issues, politics, boybands, you name it.

It was a nice balance we had going on; diverse, hysterical, crazy, exhausting, fun yet soothingly perfected to a pace that we could both keep up with.

We had our differences and similarities, just like every set of best friends in the world.

But the same personality?

He go it all wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. It was the complete opposite.

Tyler wasn't just identical to his sister in terms of looks; there were so many traits they shared that it was creepy how many times they used to finish of each other's sentences.

They even had that whole weird telepathetic crap going on.

One time in elementary school during a recess game, Taylor broke her wrist after getting tripped up by Jonah and her brother sensed it somehow, even though he wasn't playing with us. He sprinted across the playground, laid one on Jonah, sent the poor guy flying across the concrete and gave his sister a piggyback to the nurse. Jonah just didn't know how to react to a crush on Taylor, not that she cared because he grew up to be a douchebag anyway.

But a broken wrist wasn't the point. The moral was that the twins sensed each other even when they were apart. They twins were each other - more alike personality-wise than I ever was to Taylor.

By the time I reached Ms Smith's classroom, I was waist-deep in my thoughts, too dazed to notice that Tyler was leaning against the wall, breathing raggedly with milk-white knuckles. Watching me stumble towards the classroom door, his glare caught me off guard making me stare at my feet as I struggled for words to come.

Should I beg him to come into class again or just give up on him forever? I had never met anybody more stubborn than myself, but there was a limit to everything. Maybe Tyler's hatred for me was just too deep for him to overcome it and partner up with me for the project.

"Tyler..." I started meekly, feeling drained at how much effort I was supplying into this guy.

Absentmindedly tugging at the headphones that were around his neck, Tyler stubbornly crossed his arms over his chest.

"I told you, I'm not going to work with you. Not now. Not ever. So just leave me out of your bullshit project Ashley," Tyler looked at me with dripping disgust, as if he had just stepped in the largest piece of turd in the world. "Sorry."

The last word ignited my dull rage and made anger scurry up my body. Tyler sounded anything but apologetic and suddenly I had the surge to sock him. In fact, if this guy had the ability to smirk like he used to, I'm pretty sure it would have been there along with the smugness in his voice.

"Why not?" I snapped, running a hand over my features and letting out a frustrated sigh.

How could one guy manage to make me feel blinded with red rage yet flat-out exhausted at the same time?

"Why not?" He laughed, his thunderous eyes flashing. "I just told you why not. You deaf, or what?"

Puffing my chest out and exhaling sharply, I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes at him.

"Like I said earlier, I'm not buying it. You're bullshitting me Tyler. You're bullshitting me the way you've been doing since Taylor died so I'm not buying it. Okay?"

Blinking at my harsh tone, his mouth worked soundlessly, trying to form a reply that didn't have any reference to his sister as I tapped my foot impatiently.

"Give me one good reason that has nothing to do with Taylor and then I'll leave you alone," I urged him, stepping forward and locking my gaze with his. "I'll walk into that classroom and I'll never look your way again or breathe a word to you again. One good reason, that's all."

Uncertainty flickered over his face and conflict darkened his eyes. They rocked violently like a small boat caught up in a treacherous storm, swaying with emotions so overwhelming that my gaze wavered. His lips parted and a fleeting look of vulnerability and openness made an appearance before he shut down.

Tyler shut down, he simply flipped a switch and all the muscles in his face slackened before they tightened into his usual scowl.

"One good reason huh?"

I nodded, struggling to keep my smouldering glare intact when a calculating, cold and chilling smile curled his lips up.

"Well you did say I'm 'useless in the grand scheme of life', remember that?"

Struggling to keep our eyes locked, I fiddled with my curls, anxiously looking for split ends.

"I-I didn't..." I trailed off, biting my lip as I tried to phrase my apology. His calculating smile dwindled into a tight lipped frown. "You know I didn't mean it."

Brushing his straw, white blond and golden locks from his eye, the frown playing upon Tyler's remarkably rosy lips deepened. I mirrored his expression, mainly because I was noticing things I shouldn't have been noticing when he was glaring at me like he wanted to tear my head off my shoulders.

I shuddered.

"Everybody said sorry when my Taylor died. Did that bring her back? So let's just say that your apology is useless in the grand scheme of life!" He spat, eyes flashed with fury, although it was a cover up for the overwhelming hurt that failed to stay hidden. "Suffocate your bullshit with somebody who cares."

But there was something else lacing his voice, intertwined with the heaviness he used to vocalise his words. Frozen in place, I was startled that he was so affected by outburst but more surprised my mother's prediction was pretty accurate.

My eyes began to prickle at the brutal tone he used when referring to Taylor's death and somewhere in the back of my mind I could hear Mom's voice ringing in my head. Connecting the dots, a red alert flashed in icy mind, reinforcing how correct Mom had been last night.

It was guilt.

That heaviness that weighed down his words and added up to the exhausted way he was slumped against the wall - it was all down to guilt. See, the thing is, guilt doesn't just eat a person up on the inside. Trust me, I'm still carrying around the heavy burden and it does wonders to the physicality of a person - dark circles, fine lines, sleepless nights, nightmares, tremors, you name it.

How could I just reinforce the wall of guilt that Tyler had built himself by calling him 'useless'? If he blamed himself for Taylor's death, then obviously he felt useless that he couldn't do anything about it. I should have reassured him that it wasn't his fault like Taylor would've wanted me to, not make him feel worse.

"It's not your fault, you know that right?" I whispered quietly, slowly closing in on him.

Tyler averted his gaze before staring at the ceiling intently; his eyes were so stony that it was as if he genuinely believed that staring hard enough at the ceiling would make Taylor magically reappear.

"You don't know that," Tyler whispered back, his eyes still glued to the ceiling. They flicked along the tiles, skittering across the lit up ones that bathed the entire hallway in a dim, yellow light. "There's a cure for leukaemia out there somewhere, there has to be. I mean, the death rate in adults was only ten percent. Why was she in that category? Why didn't she get better? Why her? I should have found that damned cure and saved her. My duty was to protect her from all the bad things in the world. Isn't that what brothers are for?"

His eyes snapped to mine and for once it was free of whatever barrier he had held up for so long. He wasn't Tyler Miller, the badass guy with anger management issues who was notorious for delinquencies. He was just Tyler, the kid I grew up with, who used to know everything there was to know about me - except my father's death. He was the kid who taught me how to ride a bike, how to spot the North Star anywhere in the sky and how to play soccer. He was the little fighter who was always optimistic, always putting his sister before him, always putting me before himself.

He was just Tyler, simply Tyler.

"Your duty was to be her brother and you achieved far more than that," I stepped forward, refusing to break eye contact as I hesitantly reached a hand out to clasp his arm. I wasn't really aware of what I was doing. It didn't feel strange or wrong; it felt kind of right. "You filled the void in her heart - you quenched the sadness, the fear, the pain, the loneliness. Tyler, you were far more that just her brother. You didn't just fulfil your duty, you exceeded it."

I was surprised at how well I managed to articulate my thoughts, giving myself a mental pat on the back as I squeezed his bicep. The hard muscles rippled underneath my fingertips but I kept my gaze locked on his. Tyler remained silent, his eyes betraying his cool stance as his body stiffened under my touch. I guess he was just bewildered at my affectionate gesture now that I had broken down a section of the impregnable barrier he tried so hard always keep up.

I knew that while the barrier was down, I had to use the opportunity to apologise to him - to get rid of my guilt and to persuade him to come into the classroom.

"Look, I'm really sorry about what I said about you. I was just having a bad day and wasn't thinking of anybody but myself and I know that I was out of order to lash out against you, especially in front of a teacher and that was unfair of me," I whispered in my sincerest voice. "You don't have to forgive me, but at least consider it. Just come back to class. We can start over again... Please?"

His sea-green whirlpools were threatening to swallow me whole with their confusion. Alongside their usual thunderous glint, the ocean blue waves carried green tides of his vulnerability that washed over me, making my jaw hang open when his mouth worked soundlessly.

I squeezed his arm again, nodding with understanding as he struggled to reply. Tyler shut his mouth and fell silent, watching me as I dropped my hand and stepped away. Pushing the classroom door open, I shot him a lingering glance before slipping into the room.

My stomach held disappointment when the classroom door didn't open after me. I sighed heavily and shook my head when Ms Smith glanced at me hopefully.

"Sorry Miss, I tried my be-"

Suddenly, the door swung open and Tyler trudged into the classroom, heading to his deserted desk before sinking into it. Pushing his hair from his eyes, they met mine and he flashed me a curt nod. I gaped at him, my gaze flickered from Ms Smith to his slumped figure. Her steel-grey eyes were wide and confused but seconds later they returned to their usual stern form.

"Well done Ashley, if you continue this way you'll definitely pass."

I spun around in shock trying to meet Tyler's eyes again but his attention was on his cell phone.

"Okay, I'll just, um, clear up, since the, umm, the lesson is about to end," I replied quietly before shuffling towards my workspace.

A small smile settled onto my lips for the remaining minutes of the lesson as I tipped the discarded cake mix into the trash can and cleared up the surfaces. Dumping all the dirty tools into the sink, I quickly scrubbed them clean and rinsed them before drying them.

As I hung my apron onto the peg, I felt a hand squeeze my shoulder. Spinning around, I met amused green eyes and shrugged the hand off.

"Don't look at me like that Blake."

"Like what?" He grinned, his eyes holding a fleeting glimpse of respect and understanding as he stole a glance at his former best buddy.

We trudged over to where Mona was zipping up her bag and shrugging it off. She gave me a sly half grin, teasing her ketchup coloured bangs with her fingers before falling into step with Blake and I.

"So what did you do to get him to come back to class?" Blake whispered into my ear just as the bell rang.

Jerking away from the proximity between us, I shoved him back and placed some distance between us. Giving Blake a glare, he huffed with impatience and pursed his lips before stalking off to his next class, leaving me behind with Mona as the remainder of the class crowded around the doorway. As usual, Tyler was the first person to bolt out of his seat. But even with that knowledge, my eyes lingered on his vacant seat before they landed on Ms Smith's grey eyes.

I smiled sheepishly as she rose an eyebrow at me, then quickly hurried after Mona but I could have sworn I caught sight of a ghostly smile on her lips.

Shaking my head with confusion, I slipped out of the classroom.

**

As the following week loitered by, Tyler sat behind his desk playing games on his cell phone whilst I tackled through the assignment - dabbling at the most basic cake recipes like the good, old Victoria Sponge cake. It wasn't hard and barely required effort, but it was exhausting to carry out a million and one chores by myself. I had to keep tabs on the mixing bowl, icing as well as the daunting oven.

The worst part was that I still hadn't managed to get anything into the oven yet. Just the idea of handling the scorching heat was enough to make me dump each and every cake mix into the trash can.

Nobody noticed my erratic behaviour, thank goodness. I had no idea how I could talk myself out of slamming the oven door shut and tossing the entire bowl into the bin. But I was sure Ms Smith would eventually wonder why there was a sudden decline in mixing bowls sometime soon.

During the fourth lesson of the week, I attempted to bake a caramel apple cake, trying my best not to die upon the lustful scent of ripe juicy apples that were heavily coated with rich creamy caramel. Everything was fine and dandy, until it I made a mess of the caster sugar and tipped it all over the counter. It seemed like there was some evil juju working against me and I just couldn't perfect the caramel, simply because the stupid caster sugar would not melt properly leading to a lumpy and viscous end result.

As much as I tried not to, I did keep a watchful eye upon Tyler, praying that he wouldn't walk out of class like he did last week but thankfully he didn't. He stayed put, often falling asleep or tapping on his cell phone.

My problems with Home Economics were at rest, or so I thought.

During the last class of the week, Ms Smith called me to the front again, this time wearing a perplexed smile. It stretched across her thin skinny lips, pulling them into a horizontal line.

"Yes Miss?" I drawled as I approached her desk.

She leaned forward, clearing her throat as she raked her eyes over my body.

"Why isn't Tyler involved in any practical work? You do realise that you aren't getting any marks by having him sit around doing absolutely nothing?"

If possible, I would have wiped that smug smile off her face with the back of my hand in an instant. Instead I planted my hands onto her desk and towered over her, glowering at her whilst my brows knitted together in consternation.

"You're kidding me, right?"

A flat look flitted over her face before she gave me a deadpanned look.

"You heard me correctly Ashley," Ms Smith clicked her tongue with irritation.

"So what do you want me to do then? If he refuses to work with me and you won't let me work on my own then there isn't anything I can do."

"Yes there is. You can ask him to work with you." She replied simply, as if the idea hasn't crossed my mind.

Rocking back on my heels, I struggled to steady myself when I planted my feet on the ground and glared at her.

"He refuses to work with me. What part of that don't you understand?"

She ignored my patronising tone and flashed me one of her infuriatingly impatient smiles.

"You do want to pass this, right?"

"Yes!" I hissed through gritted teeth.

I could've choked her right there and then. But I didn't want a murder trial on my doorstep so I just opted for visualising her sprawled dead on her desk. It worked well enough to calm my fury but my breathing still grew shallow and erratic.

"Fantastic!" She clapped her hands together and rubbed them together as if the current issue was done and dusted. "Then you'll do whatever it takes to get him to get involved in at least some of the practical work."

"Whatever, stupid witch," I muttered under my breath as I stormed back to my worktop.

Throughout the lesson Ms Smith repeatedly glared at me, constantly threatening to dock my marks but I refused to approach Tyler. There was no way in hell I was going to confront him and expect to leave unscathed and unharmed. If she wanted to get burned by his scorching rage then I wasn't going to stop her but I wasn't going to get caught up in the crossfire.

I don't know what it was about being subjected to Tyler's wrath that was so daunting, but I refused to encounter another one of his disdainful glares to the extent that I was willing to fail this entire project. One glimpse of his thunderous gaze was enough to kill a person. Or at least it was enough to give me a cardiac arrest.

Finally, after receiving nothing but blank stares from me, Ms Smith just huffed in frustration, shooting me one last eye roll before deciding to take matters into her own hands.

I'll give her points for being courageous enough to wake the sleeping giant but to actually ask him to do something, now that was just pushing her luck. It may sound stupid but what was even more ridiculous than that was the fact that Ms Smith genuinely believed Tyler would work with me. He and I had reached a mutual agreement that he'd just laze around and I would do everything. It was a healthy balance between us, after all, we had just spent the past year ignoring each other's existence. And the year before that running from each other. And the one before that he broke my heart and left me stranded.

Like I said, a pretty healthy relationship for two old flames who now hated the sight of one another. Well, I didn't quite hate him except for the whole 'Michelle Scandal' during freshmen year but I was pretty certain his hatred for me was skin deep, or at least that's what it felt like despite the fact that he claimed that he didn't have a grudge against me. Lies, lies and more lies.

Snapping out of my thoughts, my eyes followed Ms Smith as she zigzagged between the desks, cutting through the labyrinth of chairs before coming to a halt at Tyler's desk. Courageously, she kicked his chair leg with her old-fashioned heels and I was forced to bite back a snigger when he didn't bolt up immediately. I mean, what else was she expecting?

Instead Tyler's groan rang louder than an elephant's trumpet as he lazily lifted up his head.

"Yes?" He barked in a low tone that made the hairs on my arms stand tall with fear.

She blinked at the venom that hardened his voice and I shuddered, snickering into my palms when he pressed his head back to the table without waiting for her to respond.

I glanced around the classroom, unnerved to find everybody watching Ms Smith harass Tyler. Silence fell, thick enough to choke everybody who held their breaths, impatiently waiting any one of them to explode. I wouldn't have been surprised if my classmate's started placing bets, but I'd put my money on Tyler.

"The assignment requires two people Mr Miller," Ms Smith's voice echoed around the classroom, cutting through the silence. "Are you just going to let Miss Martin do all the work?"

"Yup," He grumbled, popping the 'p' before pursing his lips in defiance.

Tapping her heels, Ms Smith shot a glance over her shoulder in my direction before turning back to Tyler.

"Okay, then I'll fail you both right now and you can both leave my classroom."

The nonchalance lacing the smugness in her voice was enough to catch my attention until I acknowledged the bewildered glances everybody shot in my direction. Suddenly her words sank in, hitting home and wrenching me out of my thoughts.

"WHAT?" I bolted towards Tyler's desk, ripping off my apron in the process. "No way! You can't do that. You just can't! That's not fair!"

The reality of failing was too much to bear. Why didn't I just do as she asked?

Tyler sat up straighter, his eyes taking in my outburst with surprise before they dimmed down. He didn't care, and I burned a hole into his face I realised that he never would care about anything that didn't concern Taylor or himself.

The stranger eyeing me warily wasn't the same guy I had grown up with. He was calculating, collected and downright cold, without an ounce of humanity or compassion left within him.

"It is fair Ashley," Ms Smith regarded me, forcing me to tear my gaze away from Tyler. "Why should every pair work hard to achieve a good grade together when this young man here is going to get the same grade as you, regardless to his lack of work?"

"So you're going to fail me just so he can fail too?" I echoed with disbelief, digging my nails into my palm hard enough to etch crescents into my skin.

"Pretty much," Ms Smith nodded, her twisted smile taking over her features as if this was the most brilliant idea she had ever come up with. "This will be on your report card as well as every single one of your college applications. You can give up on trying and just use this lesson as a free period because neither of you are getting above an F grade unless I see some real teamwork."

I screeched with frustration, making Tyler's eyes widen a fraction. Raking a hand through my unruly curls, I closed my eyes and tried to even my breathing but it was no use. No breathing techniques I had picked up at therapy could extinguish my pulsating fury or dull the outrage that was tightening my veins and numbing my insides.

Flinging my eyes open, they clashed with astonished sea-green ones, making my bubbling anger explode like a volcanic eruption.

"No matter how hard I try, there is always somebody who undermines me and reminds me that I'm never good enough to achieve anything!" My voice rang sharply as I burned a hole through Ms Smith's face.

My eyes slid back to Tyler's remarkably turquoise eyes as he blinked at me with his aggravating blank eyes.

"Would it kill you to try? Huh! Would it?"

And to everyone's surprise, instead of Tyler being the first to storm out, this time I was the person who slammed the door hard enough to rattle the posters.

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[A/N: W h o a. What just happened there Ash? Shit just got real.

Vote, comment and fan.

- Kaddy]