"We actually have two new students today," Ms. Cassidy announced before she could start class. I nearly groaned, pretty sure I already knew who one of them was. "This is Thomas Solo and Elias Green. They will be in this class for the rest of the year."

I glanced behind my shoulder at the empty seat behind me. I could only hope that Ms. Cassidy wouldn't seat Thomas there. He would have made the rest of my art class life a living hell.

"Elias," our pregnant teacher started now, waddling toward my desk, "you can sit behind Leah, right over there. And Thomas, you can sit next to Jane, who's sitting next to your brother over there."

Well, I was sure that that was going to go well.

"Two new students in one day, huh?" I asked, mostly to myself, even though I knew this Elias guy could hear me as he walked right by me and to his seat. "If I'm lucky, this one will be an asshole, too."

"Hey," Elias said from behind me, and I was surprised to hear an English accent. And luckily, he sounded more amused than offended. "Who told you that I was an asshole?"

I turned around to face him, seeing that he had a large grin across his face. Okay, so that definitely didn't make him look like an asshole, but just because he had a pretty smile didn't mean he wasn't a jerk.

"So that guy can listen to music, but everyone else can't?" Elias asked, and amused eyebrow raised on his forehead as he looked over at Blake. He had been wearing his headphones during sixth period, so I wasn't surprised to see that he was now wearing them in seventh. "One of the rules I was given was that we couldn't listen to music during class."

"He has a good reason," I merely shrugged, not about to give anything away.

"And that is?"

"Not something I can tell you."

Elias laughed. "Funny. You're funny."

I didn't exactly see how what I had said had been funny, but I wasn't about to argue with him. Elias didn't seem like a bad guy, so I wasn't going to pin him as one until I got to know him more.

"So, do you know that guy?" Elias now asked me once I didn't say anything back to him calling me funny.

"You could say that," I simply said, not about to tell some stranger about everything that had been happening between Blake and me. "He's my partner for a project in our English class."

He blinked. "You two friends?"

I glanced over at Blake to see that he was looking over at us. I quickly looked back at Elias as I said, "I guess."

"You're very mysterious with your answers," Elias smirked now, and I only shrugged again. There was really nothing I could say about Blake at that moment. "It makes me think you're hiding something."

I shrugged for the umpteenth time. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. That's just something you're going to have to find out."

He smirked at me, and I found myself smiling back at him. I could see Blake frowning at us from the corner of my eye, but it only made me want to talk to Elias even more. Maybe I could actually be friends with this guy.

"Is there a reason why he keeps looking over here?" Elias now asked, and I wasn't about to answer that question either. Considering the fact that no one knew that Blake and I had been dating, I didn't want anyone knowing that we were now no longer dating.

"No clue," I sighed, picking up my pencil now so I could draw a car like Ms. Cassidy had just told us to. I was pretty sure Elias didn't even hear her. "Just because he's staring in this direction doesn't mean he's staring at us. Stop being such an egomaniac."

This made Elias laugh, and I couldn't help but laugh as well. For some reason, he made me feel better about everything that had been happening with Blake.

"So you're single?" he asked me now, flipping his blonde hair out of his eyes. I didn't know if he was hitting on me or if he was just generally curious. But it caught me so off guard that I wasn't even able to answer at first.

"Yeah," I answered with a nod, and it was strange to say that. I almost thought that I was lying for a moment. "I am."

Elias grinned at me, and I couldn't help but smile right back at him. I didn't understand why, but he was really making me feel better about what had happened with Blake. And I was sure that if we hadn't been talking about him, I would have been able to forget about him easily. But then I remembered something that made me go back into my horrible mood.

Blake could read lips, meaning he knew everything we were saying.

I hurried home right after the bell rung, only giving a quick goodbye to Elias before starting off. I didn't even bother saying goodbye to Sean, since I was going to have to see him later that day anyway.

I couldn't help but feel a little guilty as I drove home. Who knew what Blake thought when he saw Elias and I talking? Not to mention he knew everything that we said... He probably thought I was more of a slut than ever then.

I wasn't in the mood to deal with my mom and her questions about how school was. I couldn't tell her the truth anyways, so there was no point in even talking about it. She was one of the last people I wanted to know about Blake and me.

But my mother wasn't the person to greet me when I walked in. Instead, it was both Morgan and Kyle, sitting on the couch as if nothing was out of the ordinary at all.

"Um... hi," I greeted, dropping my backpack off by the stairs before looking at the two of them in confusion. "What are you two doing here? Where're Mom and Dad?"

"They're out," Morgan informed me with a smile. "That's why we're here. We're planning on talking to them about the wedding when they get back tonight. That reminds me..."

She leaned forward, picking something up from the coffee table and thrusting it into my hands. I grabbed onto it immediately, opening it with wide eyes.

"You guys already set a date?" I asked with a wide grin on my face when I saw that it was a wedding invitation. "That's great! This is so exciting!"

"It is," Morgan giggled, moving into Kyle more as they both continued to sit on the couch. "But anyway, how are things with you and your boyfriend?"

"We're, um, okay," I lied, not knowing why I wasn't telling her the truth.

"Are you guys using the L word a lot?"

"What is with you and that obsession with calling it the L word?" I asked, placing my hand on my hips in an exasperated kind of way. "But anyway, I'm glad that you guys are here since Mom and Dad aren't. I'm going to a party tonight, so if you could tell Mom or Dad whenever they get back, that would be great."

"A party?" Morgan asked, her eyes widening in surprise. "I didn't know you went to parties!"

I shrugged. "I do sometimes."

"Is Derrick going?" Kyle asked me now, and my eyebrows furrowed at him in confusion. How did he even know Derrick?

"Did you not know, Leah?" Morgan asked me when she saw the look on my face. "Kyle is Derrick's older brother."

A million things scrambled through my brain at that moment. Kyle's last name was Smith. Derrick's last name was Smith. It was a common last name, so I never thought anything of it. They didn't even look like each other. I should have been a little bit suspicious, since they were from the same area and everything...

"Oh, I'm not sure if he's going," was all I said, not wanting to look like a complete idiot, though I was sure that it was already too late. "I'm going with Sean, so..."

"Sean?" Morgan nearly shrieked, causing me to jump in surprise by her tone. "What about Blake? Your boyfriend isn't going?"

I didn't want to tell her that he was now my ex-boyfriend. She'd probably freak out even more and want me tell her the entire story, which was something that I did not want to do.

"He doesn't like parties," I lied instead. It was a lot better than the truth.

~♫~♫~♫~

I wasn't looking forward to this party that Sean was taking me to. Actually, I wasn't really looking forward to anything at all at that moment. I just wanted to stay in bed for the rest of the night.

"Sean!" we heard someone call out once we got to the party, and we turned to see a very obviously drunk girl smiling sloppily at us. "I was afraid that you weren't coming!"

Sean grinned, hugging the girl quickly. "I wouldn't have missed it."

I stood there and watched the two of them for a few seconds, not knowing who this girl was because I hadn't ever seen her before. I was about to sneak away and probably grab a drink to end my misery until Sean turned back toward me.

"And this is Leah," he introduced, and I only smiled at the girl. "Leah, this is Megan."

Oh. So this was Megan. Alright then.

"Oh, so you're Leah!" this Megan girl slurred, a lot louder than she had to, even with the blaring music going on around us. "It's like I practically know you! Sean talks about you all the time!"

I forced a smile, not knowing what I was supposed to say back to her. Sean never spoke about her, and I wasn't exactly happy with the fact that Sean talked about me all the time.

Luckily, Megan left to go get herself another drink before I could say anything. I wanted to ask Sean if it was okay that she was drinking so much, but I knew that it was probably not the best thing to ask.

"Sean!" I heard a masculine voice shout out now, so I was sure that it was one of the guys from the football team. "Get over here, man! You've gotta see this!"

Sean turned toward me and smiled. " I'll be right back, okay?"

I nodded, wanting nothing more than to be left alone for a little while. "Take all the time you need."

Sean smiled at me again before leaning in and kissing me on the forehead. I forced a smile at him, even though I really wished that he hadn't done it. It would have made me feel a lot less guilty.

"Leah!" a familiar voice called out, and suddenly Cassie's arm was wrapping around my neck. She was obviously drunk. "I didn't know if you were going to show up or not! You never come to parties on your own! Where's Sean?"

I pulled away from the drunken girl. "One of his friends called him over. I'm just waiting for him to come back."

"Great, great!" my friend giggled, but it was so slurred that it was almost hard to understand what she was saying, especially with all the music. "You know, you two re just so cute together! I always knew you guys were going to date!"

Before I could say anything back to that, another guy from the football team made his way over and wrapped his arm around Cassie's waist, leading her away from me and probably to a bedroom.

When my phone buzzed, I didn't know if I wanted to answer it or not. There was really no one I wanted to hear from at that moment, not even Jane or Elias, since we had swapped numbers earlier that day. I just wanted to be left alone, but instead I was in a damp room with hundreds of people.

I let out a sigh, pulling my phone out of my pocket to check and see who was texting me. My blood went cold when I saw it was Blake.

Leah, please come over and talk to me. I love you so much. I'm so sorry for everything.

I stared down at my phone, having no idea what I was supposed to do. I had no way to get to Blake's house, since Sean had drove me, and I didn't want to be rude

"Hey!" a new voice said from behind me, and I turned to see Sean grinning at me. This only caused my stomach to twist. "Let's go dance!"

"Sean," I gulped, pulling away when he grabbed onto my hand. "I have to go."

He blinked at me for a moment, as if he didn't understand. "What?"

"I'm sorry, Sean," I apologized, feeling tears prick at my eyes at what I was about to say. "I tried to like you. I really did. But I'll always love Blake. I'm really, really sorry."

The look on his face broke my heart, and I felt terrible for pretty much using him. I was such a horrible person and I didn't deserve anyone.

Why couldn't I love Sean? He already loved me so much. If I fell in love with him instead of Blake, everything would have been so much easier for me. It'd probably be a lot easier for a lot of people.

I hurried out of the house, knowing the way to Blake's apartment once I got out of the neighborhood. I didn't care if it was dark outside and his apartment was a little while away; I was going to see him.

I was nearly dead as I hurried my way up the stairs to his apartment. It had been a half an hour since Blake had texted me, and I couldn't help but wonder if he thought I wasn't going to come.

I banged on the door, wanting to get inside as quick as possible. He wanted to apologize to me, but I wanted to apologize to him even more. Everything that had happened had been my fault anyway.

"Leah," Blake blinked once he opened the door, his eyes wide. I noticed he wasn't wearing his headphones now. "How did you get here?"

"I walked," I answered, almost completely out of breath.

"You walked?"

"Walked, ran, jogged, doesn't matter," I breathed, waving it away as I took a step forward and wrapped my arms around his neck, wanting nothing more than to be closer to him. "I'm just happy I'm here with you now."

When I started crying into his shoulder, his arms wrapped around my waist and he held me tight. Before I even knew what was happening, he picked me up and shut the door with his foot, heading over and sitting on his couch with me on his lap as I continued crying.

"Leah," Blake sighed as he rubbed my back, my face still pressed against his shoulder. "I'm so sorry for calling you what I did. I really didn't mean to. I started hearing voices again, and they were saying such horrible things and it just came out. I've never thought that you were a slut."

I sniffed, lifting my head from his shoulder and wiping at my eyes. "And I'm sorry for everything I did. Kissing Sean, flirting with Elias... I'm a horrible person for what I did to you. I wanted to make you jealous and angry, and it obviously worked..."

"None of this was your fault, Leah," he tried as he cupped my cheek with his hand, but I shook my head in disagreement. "If it wasn't for me being crazy, everything would have been fine."

"You're not crazy," I nearly snapped, not wanting him to talk about himself that way. "You're not crazy, Blake. Please don't talk about yourself that way."

He pushed a lock of my hair out of his face, wiping at my eyes with his thumb now. I couldn't believe that I could be mad at him for so long. I had been being completely unreasonable toward him.

"And the thing with Mr. Meyers being shirtless," I started quickly now, not wanting him to think that anything was going on between the two of us now. "I spilled coffee on his shirt, and he wouldn't put another one on until I answered his questions. I swear that I didn't do anything with him."

Blake looked away from me. "That asshole."

"Hey," I smiled now, cupping his face in my hands as I continued to sit on his lap. "Nothing happened, and nothing will ever happen between Mr. Meyers and me. He's our teacher, Blake. Nothing more than that."

He finally looked back at me. "I know that. But I'm just a little worried about him."

I bit the inside of my lip before saying, "You don't have to be."

"I'm sorry about kissing Jane," Blake said now before I could say anything else. "I wasn't thinking, again. I saw you kissing Sean, and the voices in my head told me to kiss Jane to get back at you. That's why I started wearing my headphones again afterwards."

"It hurt me a lot when I saw you kiss Jane," I whispered honestly, reaching up and brushing the tips of my fingers against Blake's lips. "But it made me understand how you felt. It made me jealous and angry. Your lips belong to me."

"And yours belong to me."

Our lips crashed together hungrily, both of us missing each other's taste. For most of that day, I was afraid that I'd never be able to kiss him ever again. It was the scariest thought I had ever had.

"Leah," he tried to speak, but I wasn't about to let him.

"Shh," I shushed, pressing my lips to his again and pulling him on top of me so I was now on my back on the couch.

I didn't know how long we stayed like that for, but I honestly wished that it could have lasted even longer than it did. I never wanted him to leave my side, and I never wanted to leave his. I wanted to be with him forever.

I grabbed onto Blake's wrists, leading his hands under my shirt and up my stomach. This made him stiffen, causing me to stop kissing him and just stare, waiting for him to say something to me.

"Your skin... is so warm," he told me, swallowing afterwards.

I moved his hands higher, smirking as I said, "That's not even the best part."

Taking off my shirt, Blake stared down at me in only my bra in awe, and it made me giggle. He looked so cute and it just made me want to kiss him again.

"I can't believe you're here, doing this... with me," Blake informed me honestly, and it made me feel a little bad for him. Before me, he didn't have any friends at our school. "You're Leah Burkley. You have so many guys, including a teacher, pining after you and yet you still choose me. You're here with me right now."

I smiled at him, running my thumb across his bottom lip. "Well, you're Blake Solo. You're the sweetest guy I've ever met. You treat me the way I want to be treated. You're the best boyfriend a girl could ask for. Schizophrenia or not, I think you're perfect. At least perfect for me."

Our lips touched again, but this time it was softer than before. Before, our kisses were hungry and lustful, but now they were loving and wanting. We wanted nothing but each other.

My hands made their way underneath Blake's shirt now, quickly pulling it up over his head and onto the floor along with mine. I hadn't ever seen him shirtless before, but it was definitely worth the wait.

"I've never..." Blake started, sounding unsure of himself when he pulled away from me again, "... done something like this before."

I lifted my head and pressed my lips to his. "Neither have I."

"Then why are you so comfortable with this?" he asked, still uneasy as I reached for the zipper of his jeans. "How do you know you're sure that you want this?"

"Because it's you," I breathed, stopping myself from kissing him again as I placed my hands on the back of his neck. "I'm so comfortable and sure that I want this because it's you. It's not Sean, or Derrick, or Mr. Meyers. It's you. You're all I want."

"Leah..." Blake blinked, looking as if he had no idea what to say. "I love you... so much."

I cupped his cheek, brushing a few strands of his hair out of his face. "And I love you."

And we kissed for the longest time. And all I could think about was how my first time was going to be with Blake Solo, the guy I was planning on spending the rest of my life with. And I was going to be his first time, too. Everything was so perfect.

"Hello!" a familiar voice called out now, causing both of us to pull away from each other quickly. We both hurriedly tried to put our clothes back in place, not wanting her to know what she had just interrupted.

I just needed to get my shirt on before she—

"Jeez!" she cried out when she saw us, Blake and I both quickly trying to put our shirts back on as quickly as we possibly could. "This makes me wish that I didn't have a key!"

"You don't have to use it," Blake muttered once his shirt was back on. "You could just knock like normal people do."

Carrie waved what he said away. "Eh, that's no fun."

Blake rolled his eyes at the redhead, but I was so embarrassed that I could barely move. I was just glad that now I was fully clothed.

"So, what's been going on?" Carrie now asked with a smirk, knowing that this would embarrass the two of us even more. "I thought you two had broken up."

I looked over at Blake in confusion, not understanding how Carrie had already known that Blake and I had broken up that morning.

"She came over earlier," Blake informed me with a shrug, and then cut a glare at his social worker. "I didn't know that she was coming back though."

"Do I have some sort of magic cock-blocking powers?" Carrie wondered out loud, embarrassing me greatly. Her eyes than squinted into suspicious slits, scaring me a little bit as well. "Or is Leah just over here every day besides Tuesdays, the only day where it's planned that I come over?"

"You have cock-blocking powers," I assured, pushing myself off of Blake and onto the couch beside him.

"The last time she came over here, she actually checked under the couch to make sure that you weren't there," Blake informed me, and I couldn't help but laugh at that. "It might be funny now, but it definitely wasn't at the time."

I pinched his cheek. "You're so cute."

He smacked my hand away, but not hard enough to hurt me. "Not really."

"I really need to get a boyfriend," Carrie sighed overdramatically, and it actually made me laugh. "I'm so alone!"

Blake stared at his social worker flatly. "You're twenty-three, Carrie. It's not the end of the world that you're single."

"Says the boy that was wallowing away all day because his precious girlfriend broke up with him."

Blake's cheeks turned crimson, and I couldn't help but laugh at him. I swear, he was just getting cuter and cuter by the second.

"Wallowing?" I asked, leaning in closer to him. "You were wallowing?"

"Shut up," he grumbled, turning away from me. "It wasn't like I was crying or anything."

"Oh, no. It was so much better," Carrie gossiped now, sitting on the coffee table right in front of me. "He wasn't crying, but he just had this horrible look on his face, like life wasn't going to go on or something. It was obvious that he was hurting a lot. I'm so glad you two decided to get back together!"

I turned toward Blake, who was ducking his head down in embarrassment. I quickly snuggled into his side. "So am I."

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So... the Special Awards just came out recently and I was wondering which one you guys think I should enter in. I already have one in mind, but I want to know what you guys think. :D

It was so awkward writing the make out scene... >.>

I'm so glad my family reunion is ending soon.

This is for the 2012 Watty Awards! Please VOTE and SHARE! <3