Some people look forward to school, bound down the sidewalk like they can't wait to enter hell. At least they have someone to endure it with.

I used to, too, until Mira left me for that sucker Tae. To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't give a damn about him if he and his friends didn't smash my face every morning. My stomach growls, gnawing at the emptiness. I don't go to lunch either—Tae's there. I sigh, keep my head down, and pray that I'm invisible.

What did I do to deserve this horrible fate?

The first two periods drag along like watching paint dry, only that I'm staring out the rain-dotted windows. The rain slashes at the trees outside, a ballet of leaves and wood playing on a stage of wind. It is the third period. Classroom 102 is a neat array of brown decks tanned by the fluorescent lights above, turquoise chairs, and a wide blackboard caked with chalk. I sit at my usual seat in the back left corner, slouching so that I'm small enough and far enough that nobody notices me.

Flick. I look up.

Well, everybody but Tae. I want to cry—what have I done wrong this time? But I grit my teeth and force myself to face his stupidly perfect face, hair cut in neat bangs, and a brilliant smile that would make anyone swoon for him.

Mira. My heart wrenches like the fists by my side.

"Looking good today, Ollie." He leans over and wraps an arm around my neck. I can practically smell the sweat dripping from his pits, but I say nothing of it—not that I can say much in his chokehold.

"P-please let go of me," I squeeze the words out, trying to wriggle out of his grasp.

"Ollie! Tae! No talking, please," Mr. Brynn snaps. "And Tae, go back to your seat."

Tae's glare lingers on me, resentment dripping from his sneer. He slams me into my desk with a forceful shove. "I'll let you off easy today. Tomorrow..." He doesn't need to finish the sentence. I haven't forgotten the bruise on my cheek he gave me yesterday. He shoves through the desks and sits down, thankfully on the opposite side of the room.

"Does anybody know the atomic structure of carbon from yesterday's reading?" Mr. Brynn asks, his steely gaze sweeping across the classroom. He's a skinny man, wearing a crisp plaid shirt tucked into his pants and a tight gray tie that complements his thinning hair.

6 protons, 6 neutrons, 6 electrons. Devil's element, as he calls it. The answer instantly pops into my mind, but I don't raise my hand—just shove my head into my arms and pray he doesn't see me. He calls on someone else. I feel the relief seeping out of my body, but it darts back in, tightening my chest as I stare at who he's called.

Mira. Her long, black hair flips in the air as she jerks her head to Mr. Brynn, allowing me a glimpse of her face. Eyes that have been kissed by the sun, and the slight smirk on her face I know too well...

It was almost half a year ago.

The sun was beaming harshly against our sweat-drenched foreheads and the little fan keeping us sane had died, giving way to the annoying buzz of mosquitos and the soft scritch scratch of our pencils.

Well, only my pencil.

I looked up at Mira, her eyes drifting to the ceiling, her pencil slack on the table. I frowned.

"You haven't finished a single page!" I exclaimed in exasperation.

She just stared at the ceiling, her mind drifting away like her eyes.

"You know you're not getting it all done the night before school, right?"

"I know." She shrugged, as if two weeks' worth of missing homework was nothing to be worried about. "I also know someone who'll actually help me, unlike you."

And there it is. That smirk made every hair on my skin tighten in frustration at first, but they all stood up as my eyes widened.

"You're not planning on copying from Tae, are you?" I whispered. I had seen the two sitting together in school, talking—she talked a lot about him whenever she came over. And when I mean a lot, that was all she did.

"What if I am?" She said. "If I can't get answers from you, I'll get them from someone else."

I stammered, unaware that my jaw would plummet in a moment. "B-but, that's cheating."

"Eh. Besides, he's my boyfriend."

What? I stared at her, prying through her eyes as if she was playing a prank—I desperately hoped she wasn't. "Tae? You, his girlfriend?"

Her brown eyes stared back at me like a dead fish, and her smirk grew to a grin as she gauged my expression. Then it came all rushing back to me. The last-minute cancellations. The dozens of calls missed. The absent gaze whenever she was around me, her body present, but her mind elsewhere.

"Yes, me. Who else could have landed such a handsome man?"

"And incredibly smart," She added, like it would make any difference.

I shook my head, slowly at first, but then my head started spasming in fear. My best and only friend, siding with my sworn enemy?

"You know he always smokes cigarettes after school, right?" I blurted, desperate to spout any lies to convince her. "He and his friends have boxes of them they distribute. You could get caught and sent to juvie."

That part is true. I had once glimpsed them selling cigarettes in the storage closet next to the bathrooms, but the acrid, biting smoke was nowhere to be seen or smelled.

"What did you say?" She leaned dangerously close to me, and I could almost feel the heat radiating from her eyes.

I staggered back, falling off my cushion. "I'm just telling you he's a... bad influence. College's coming soon, so—"

Mira cut me off. A smirk formed on her face, but it wasn't the sly tug of her lips that danced with mischief. It was the look of a predator staring at her prey. "I know what's wrong. You're jealous."

Jealous? The word seemed foreign in my mind—never had I felt anything beyond friendship with Mira.

"Or are you still mad that I rejected you at the dance?" She poked, the smirk growing larger as she knew she'd struck a nerve.

I felt my breath leave my lungs as I gripped the table. "Mad?!" I scoffed. "I only asked you because everyone else was taken. To be honest, I'm surprised you even got a date with that mess of tangled hair you have and your ugly face."

Her face fell, and only then I realized what I said. Even when I covered my mouth to take back the words, they stabbed her straight in the chest. For once, the smirk was gone, replaced with a slack jaw that could only bob in shock. Hot tears sprang out of her eyes and she turned, shaking my hand off as I reached for her.

"Mira! W-wait..."

The door slammed shut. My hand lingered in the air, as if she was still there, that I could comfort her with my words that stabbed her a moment ago.

"Ollie?" Ma called, snapping me out of the trance I was in. "Where's Mira?"

I struggled to speak for a while, gasping for the words like the air that never filled my lungs. "S-she left."

Ma pursed her lips and just stared at the still-open textbook, stained with fresh tears.

I feel tears roll down my cheeks, but I don't wipe them, letting them cloud my vision as if I can see Mira again. Not staring at her from afar like the coward I am, but next to her like the friend I was.

After that day, she never did anything more than glance at me. And even then, I wished I could just shrivel under her withering gaze. They say that a true friend is always there for the other no matter what, but it only seems that we've been drifting farther and farther apart, and that she and Tae are growing closer than I can bear.

Mira sits on the opposite side of the room, next to Tae, and even from here, I can hear her giggles as he pats her on the back, showering her with compliments. The smile she never dared show me flashes as she shoves him playfully.

A sudden pang of jealousy hits me as I watch the two, the perfect embodiment of what I had wished our friendship had been. I try to push away the lurking feeling, only to have it creep into my mind, laced with what Mira had said before she left.

I know what's wrong. You're jealous. I hear her voice loud and clear, pulsing like my thumping heart.

Am I jealous of Tae? That he had filled the spot I never could have? That I had lost Mira so easily... No, she did this to herself. I say to myself forcefully, but the voice quivers, unsure.

Suddenly, she turns, her eyes lightly closed like she's basking in the light and her smile shining brilliantly. She is glowing.

She opens her eyes, and in an instant, her face falls when they land on mine.

I turn to the window, my only friend, away from the hushed whispers that prick my ears and her glare that seems to burn right through my chest. I sneak a peek a moment later, my cheeks burning in pre-embarrassment, but she's back in conversation with Tae like it never happened. Like I was never there in the first place.

I sigh and stare out the window where the rain has blurred everything into a muddle of shapes and colors. My mind, too, is a blur of incomplete thoughts and questions that linger on a thread of uncertainty. Well, there is one thing I'm certain of.

Lunch is next—something to look forward to on this dreary day.

On the second day of school, when Mr. Brynn had asked everyone what their favorite subject was, I answered it was lunch. Everybody laughed, even though I didn't think it was anywhere near funny. Mr. Brynn told me to try again, and I said science. Only he laughed this time.

But in all seriousness, lunch is about the only time I can relax without worrying about Tae and his friends sneaking up on me. A month ago, I found the janitor always left the roof access door unlocked and since then, it's been sorta my little haven. I plug in my earbuds, close my eyes, and I'm gone from the world.

It's time. I perk up.

The bell hasn't rung yet, but if you listen closely enough, you can hear the slight shift of chairs and the tense legs ready to sprint to the door. The cafeteria has a strict "first come, first serve" policy, and the lunch line, from what I've heard, is a total free-for-all every day. So when the bell rings and the sound of scraping chairs and footsteps fills the classroom, I stay in my seat until the last student has shuffled out.

The hallways are a post-apocalyptic war zone as I trudge down them, scattered sheets of paper and the occasional shoe litter the ground. I'm in no rush, but I want to make the most of forty minutes before returning to hell.

After looking both ways down the hallway like I'm crossing the street—only I'm checking for any hall monitors this time—I slip into the unlocked door and tiptoe up the stairs. The rusted metal steps groan under my weight, but I figure it will last until I'm out of here in two years.

I swing open the roof door and a fistful of water smacks me in the face. I nearly fall down the steps, my reflexes saving me at the last second.

Oh yeah, it's raining.

A grin creeps across my face as I step onto the soaked roof and plug in my earbuds. I'm going to have some fun.

There's no need to be unhappy—

I jam the pause button and stare at the rolling lyrics that play on like they're still dancing to the tune.

"No need to be unhappy, huh?" I laugh bitterly. How can I be happy when I'm living in hell? Everything I do, Tae is there to mock me, to throw me back to square one. And even when I try to make myself invisible, it only makes him see me more as he knows I'm at his mercy.

"Please," A muted voice whines, muffled through my earbuds. Hm? I check my phone to see if my thumb has slipped—no, it's still paused.

"Tae, please!" The voice cries out again, sobs filling the lapses in the rain.

A shudder instantly racks my body, the rain tickling the hairs on my arms that stand up like vigilant soldiers, alert. I yank my earbuds out.

"Stop!" My heart stops. There's no mistaking it—it's Mira. Her once-perfect hair clings to her tear-streaked face in messy tangles and behind her, Tae has morphed into the monster of fury I know very well to avoid.

"Stop?! How can I even look at you after what you've done?" Tae growls, and even in the rain, I can feel the heat pulsing through him. His voice drips with lustful anger.

Mira is practically on her knees, her poised facade shattering into a million tears. The girl who wouldn't blink at the face of death now bows to death himself. "I was just talking to him about the science project, nothing more!"

I blink away the water welling in my eyes. It's just the rain, I tell myself, but I can feel my whole face trembling. A year ago, I wouldn't have thought twice about helping her—that's what friends did. But now as I watch Tae yell at her, I can only stare in a numbing silence. We would do anything for each other, but there's one crucial thing missing. We're not friends anymore, not even strangers. An unspoken hatred burns me every time I see her, but what hurts the most is the past that lingers with her scornful glare.

Tangled mess of hair.

Ugly face.

Why did I do that? The question slaps me in the face like the rain, only it is colder, harsher, soaking me to the bone. Was it because I had taken her for granted, that I thought I would never lose her? She may not forgive me, but how can she when I never did myself? My heart pounds against my chest as I stare at Tae, the countless beatings rushing through my mind. Pain, insult, repeat until all I see is black.

"You lie!" Tae's voice pierces my ears and a sickening crunch follows. Panting, his fist has sunken into Mira's cheek, red with tears and blood.

No. Fear robs my ability to move as I stand frozen. Damnit, Mira needs you!

But I won't budge. What are you doing, Ollie?

I'm watching the only person I know as my friend, the person who has been by my side for years no matter what, being pummeled by the person I truly hate—Tae, not Mira. I never did hate her, did I? My hands tremble, but I let the anger flow through my veins, my fingers clenching into tight fists.

I only hated myself for making her hate me.

I launch myself at Tae, letting my feet glide across the roof, and my fists strike him square in the stomach. His body crumples against the roof door, his arms flailing as his legs shoot out. I turn to Mira and offer a weak smile, but she only stares back at me in a shock that makes me stumble.

"What are you doing?" She hisses, but I don't answer. I can't.

"Well, look what we have here," Tae wheezes, pushing himself up, and I feel the breath leaving my lungs, too.

Stars erupt above my head. A fist to my eye, another splitting open the bruise on my cheek. He plants his shoe into my face so that all I can see is my blood stained on his sole. I writhe, swinging my hands blindly. They meet air, and then the ground as he sends blow after blow to my stomach. "Yeah, that's right," He breathes in between punches. "Nobody's here to save you. Right, Mira?"

Mira. For a moment, my face brightens before a kick sends me to hell again. Is this how I'll die? The rain beats harder on me, and out of the corner of my swollen eye, I see Mira has turned away. My last hope, ripped to shreds as she leans toward Tae.

I just wanted us to remain friends, I shut my eyes and brace myself for the last blow. All I can think about is that Ma would kill me if I died.

Only it never comes.

A smack rings harshly, like all the hurt in the world is pounding against my ears. I open my eyes. Mira stands there, quivering, her hand still extended like she can't believe what she's done. Tae can't, either. He touches his reddened cheek, his eyes widening as he stares at Mira in utter shock. "W-what?"

"Leave." Her voice is shaky, but it resounds with the same intensity that burns in her eyes. "Leave or I'll slap you until you can't."

"Slap me?" Tae laughs, but he's cut short with a smack to his other cheek.

"Leave, or I'll tell everyone where I got this from." She points to the bruise on her cheek. "We're over."

"F—k you." His eyes narrow to slits, but Mira doesn't budge—just stands firm until the door slams shut and all we can hear is the heavy pit-pat of the rain.

"Mira." I stand shakily after Tae is gone, gaping at her in disbelief. But before I can say anything more, she throws herself onto me, wrapping her arms tightly so much that it's hard to breathe. Her soaked body, the strawberry scent of her hair brushing against my neck—it all seems foreign yet familiar like reuniting with a long-lost friend.

She speaks through my wet shoulder, her voice clipped between sobs. "I'm done with Tae. How does he expect me to deal with his insecurities when I can't even manage my own?"

"Your insecurities? When have you ever had those?" I stare at her incredulously, at the Mira exposed with wounds deeper than skin—the part she concealed behind her pretty girl facade that seemed too perfect for me.

"Do you know why I became friends with you?" She stares at me, yet when I search her eyes, I can't find a trace of hatred—only a welling sadness.

I shrug. "Because your ma and my ma were friends?"

"No, stupid." She rolls her eyes, but I see her lip quiver. Barely, but enough to make her voice tremble as well. "I was lonely. Everybody avoided me because... I don't know, I was too different? But you saw past that. Remember in 6th grade when you invited me to dance?"

I nod. I had seen a girl sitting on the bleachers, head in palms, looking bored as ever. But I had seen myself there before—alone, trying to pretend I wasn't.

"It was the best day of my life." She offers me a smile, but I don't return it.

I only look down at the ground, at myself. "I-I'm sorry."

"For what?" It is her turn to cock her head and stare at me.

Before I can stop myself, everything rushes out as the floodgates to my emotions burst—the anger, and the pain, mixed into tears that flow freely down my cheeks. I don't try to hold back anymore, only to hold on to Mira tightly, afraid I will lose her again. "For calling you ugly, for taking you for granted."

I choke on a sob. "I was just... jealous. I wanted us to remain friends, afraid that Tae would take that away. But I broke us before he could."

"Jealous?" Her expression softens. "You didn't really buy into that nonsense, did you?"

But when I say nothing, she sighs and releases me from the hug. "You should have told me. I thought you just hated me after I lashed out at you. Y'know, avoiding me every day and all."

"And here I thought you wanted to kill me for what I said," I say, the brief moments in school coming back to me. The times when we locked eyes but never spoke. Why I never went to lunch—not really because of Tae, but because I knew Mira would be there, too. Had I just been shutting myself out, never allowing her to approach me? And for myself to approach her?

I sigh. Tae's never going to leave me alone now, especially after humiliating him in front of his girlfriend. Well, ex-girlfriend now.

"Is something wrong?" Mira asks.

I shake my head, but my voice betrays me. "It's not that I regret it, but Tae isn't gonna let this go easily. He, his friends. They'll come after me later, in school, to my house—"

"Hey." She socks me on the shoulder, the end of her lips tugging into a smirk. "Don't forget I'm in this too. You, me—we're a team."

"A team," I smile, letting the word sit on my tongue as if I can preserve this moment forever. Mira looks at me, her eyes still wet with tears, but shimmering with possibility.