Mia shot up in her bed only to be contained by a pair of hands holding her down by her shoulders.

"Gosh, Mia! Can you go one week without terrifying me!?" he asked, letting her go.

"I'm... I'm sorry Blake," she apologized before perking up slightly at a sudden realization. "But hey! At least it wasn't my fault this time, right?"

"It kind of was your fault, though. Why didn't you tell me that you were going to see your mom? Why did you keep it from literally everyone?" he asked. "Well, except Charlie," he added, sounding slightly angry as he clenched his fists, turning around so that he wasn't facing her.

"Are you mad?" she asked skeptically.

Blake turned around before sighing. His features had softened and he seemed to have calmed down a bit. "No, I'm just slightly upset that you chose to tell him instead of me," he admitted.

"What?" she wondered, shocked at his reply. "You're upset that I told Charlie? It wasn't even that big of a deal. He just happened to be there. I couldn't tell you because you already knew about my mom and would have judged me or tried to stop me."

"Well of course I would have tried to stop you, Mia! You were trying to see your emotionally abusive and insane mom! You definitely don't need to talk to her!" he told her exasperatedly, waving his hands through the hair.

"I can do what I want!" she yelled, shocking even herself. "I don't need your approval! I haven't seen my mom in years! Is it so wrong that I wanted to see her!?" she asked, her voice loud and sharp.

"Yes! You shouldn't have wanted to see someone who hurt you for years! That is just idiotic and stupid! I guess I shouldn't be surprised!" he screamed at Mia. She was taken aback. She knew that they were yelling at each other, obviously, but that was a bit much.

After a second of silence, Mia talked, her voice steady and harsh. "I think you need to go," she told him.

"Mia, loo—"

"No," she cut him off calmly. "I need to sleep. I'll see you at school. Maybe. Bye, Blake."

Sighing, Blake left the room without a fight which almost hurt more than his words. He really didn't care about her.

Mia groaned, staring at the intimidating doors. She had done it so many times before so why was it so hard right now?

Charlie laughed from behind her. "Not excited to go back to school, I'm guessing."

"You think? Ugh! I just want to read! It's not like I'd be wasting my time or anything! It's reading. It's supposed to teach you stuff so why do I need to go to school!?" she asked, waving her hands through the air in over-exaggerated anger.

"You," he started, pointing at Mia, "are very insane."

"Hey, Mia." Mia jumped at the sound of a voice right beside her shoulder. She heard laughter from Charlie and it sounded like Bella. Sure enough, when she turned around, she was faced with Bella.

"Haha. Very funny guys," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes as they laughed at her. "You know, I could have fallen over and gotten hurt," she told them, pointing to her crutches.

"But you didn't," Bella pointed out.

"Plus, if you did, I would have caught you," Charlie added.

For some reason, Mia thought she caught Bella glaring at Charlie. "Can we just go inside now? As weird and entertaining it is to watch you glare at each other, I'm starting to get tired of standing," she admitted.

"Yeah, let's go," Mia heard someone else agree. She turned around again and saw Drew. They hadn't talked much but she wished they could get to know each other more.

"Oh, her Drew. Why don't we all hang out? I mean, I don't really know you and I want to get to you. Plus, I have a feeling that today is going to be not so fun," she admitted, thinking of her fight with Blake.

"That sounds like fun!" Bella exclaimed, upbeat as always.

"Where would we go, though?" Charlie wondered, his lips pursed in thought.

"We could go to the arcade?" Mia offered, looking around to see their reactions. "One thing, though." Everyone looked at her. "Does Blake have to come?" she whispered.

"Oh, come on! Are you two seriously fighting again? When will you two realize your undying love for each other!?" she questioned making Mia groan as she blushed in embarrassment. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw Charlie glaring at something. A second later, he was back to normal.

"It's his fault," Mia grumbled.

"It's his fault that you have an undying love for him?" Bella asked hopefully.

"No, smarty pants. It's his fault that we're fighting. Anyway, does he have to come or not."

"Yes!" Bella exclaimed at the same time Charlie said, "No!"

"Drew, back me up," she begged, her face easily transforming into a pout.

Drew groaned. "Yeah, he should come," he agreed.

"Thanks, Drew!" Bella smiled, adoration clear in her eyes. Mia smirked, remembering what Bella had told her about her crush on Drew but Mia's grin fell when she realized that he had just agreed to let Blake come.

"Guys, please. I can't deal with him right now." Just the thought of seeing Blake stressed her out.

Before anyone else could respond, the bell rang and Mia knew it was time to go.

"I have to go," she sighed, knowing she didn't have any classes with anyone till trig. Gripping the handles of her crutches, she made her way up the stone ramp and walked into the big wooden door quickly.

She walked past the old blue lockers and familiar stares from her peers, trying to ignore the throbbing headache that was coming. Just one more turn, she thought.

The walls seemed to be closing in on her as her vision narrowed on Blake who was standing by a locker, grabbing some books for his English class.

She almost fell apart right there but held herself together. She turned away, looking instead at a poster on the wall.

Instead, she found the school newspaper. That's a thing? she wondered before focusing on the article.

"How did The Girl With the Scars get her scars?"

Mia's heart raced. She knew that she had become a subject of interest at school but they put her in the newspaper? Why would anyone do that?

Mia looked around the hallway where she saw people snickering at her. Her nostrils flared in anger and she turned to leave, not caring enough to read the stupid article.

Suddenly, she fell flat on the floor. Pain surged everywhere. She couldn't focus on anything else. The bandages around her wounds had rubbed against the burns causing it to feel as though it had just happened.

Mia cried out in pain, curling up in a ball on the floor. She heard laughter and a few gasps. She looked up to see Anna and Paige laughing at her. She tried to glare at her but all that came out was another cry of pain.

She saw someone run-up to her and for a second she thought it was Blake. Happiness she hadn't been expecting fluttered in her heart at the thought of Blake coming to save her. Instead, her A.P. English teacher came to her aid, wrapping his arms around Mia's back to steady her as she stood.

"You two!" he started, glaring at Anna and Paige. "You can go see the principal right now!"

Anna and Paige cowered before nodding, sending Mia a glare, and heading in the direction of the office.

"Are you okay?" Mr. Guffrey asked, concern in his eyes and voice.

"No," she admitted, trying not to cry at the pain still all over her chest, arms, and legs.

"I have to teach my class," he said, a small frown on his face. "I'm gonna have Mrs. Larson over here help you to the nurse's office."

Mia nodded in response before turning to her new helper. She groaned when she realized that she was one of the people who laughed.

The room was small with only a few cupboards, a sink, a small cot, and a first aid kit. The bright fluorescents were glaring down at her and the small open window was no help to the immense heat. The smell of medicine and perfume-most likely the nurses-was giving Mia a headache

Mia grimaced and shut her eyes tight against the pain as the nice, short nurse re-bandaged her wounds. She hadn't done much except change the bandages on her burns and give her some ibuprofen which hadn't kicked in yet.

When she was finally done, she handed Mia her shirt. She accepted it gratefully and slipped it on, thankful to be covered up again.

With the help of Miss Laura, the nurse, Mia stood up and grabbed her crutches. "Thank you," Mia told her with a small smile. "I should get to class." As if on cue, the bell rang. "At least I can make it to trig," Mia sighed, upset that she missed her entire English class.

"That's good," Miss Laura smiled. She wasn't as incredible as Dr. Clarkson but she was pretty nice. "Now you better hurry or you'll miss your next class too," she told her, shooing Mia away.

Sighing lightly, Mia hobbled out of the room where she saw Claire, the girl who helped her to the nurse's office, sitting on a chair and playing some game on her phone. "Hey, Claire," Mia greeted, trying to grab her attention.

"Hey, you ready to go?" she asked, eyes still attached to her phone.

"Yep," Mia responded through gritted teeth.

"Cool," was her only response before she stood up and started walking to wherever her next class was.

Mia turned away from Claire as her class was in the opposite direction. She began walking and tried to ignore the annoying stares from people.

When she finally arrived in class she was exhausted, both physically and mentally. With everything going on, Mia wished that she could see Blake again. If anyone could make it better, it would be him. That, or her bed.

She watched as everyone stared at her, trying to ignore the dull ache that had been in the back of her head for hours.

"Miss Patterson," her teacher called.

"Yes, Mrs. Burroe?" she responded, unable to remember what she had been asked. When her teacher glanced at her with an incredulous look, Mia added, "I'm sorry, I didn't hear the question."

She heard the laughter of the people around her. "I was just calling attendance," she responded, making Mia flush in embarrassment.

The rest of the day was nothing but terrible. During lunch she sat with Charlie at a table outside while Bella, Drew, and Blake sat at the table across from them, laughing and chatting as if she didn't exist.

During the classes she shared with Blake, she could barely keep the tears from falling but held herself together, knowing she had no empty spot for weaknesses such as crying.

Art, however, was the worst out of them all. She remembered those days when she and Blake had painted during their entire lunch periods. When class was over, she had to stop herself from peaking into the cabinet and catching a glance of his portrait.

Now, Mia sat in the front seat of her dad's car, listening to Tori's endless chatter and looking out the window. It was a sunny day and it was hot out but the air-conditioned car didn't show any of that.

She couldn't stop thinking. All she wanted was to be able to hang out with Blake. She wanted their fight to be over but he needed to apologize first.

"Hey, you okay?" her dad asked from the driver's seat. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him casting worried glances her way periodically.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Mia lied, her face still set in a frown.

"Liar," he responded.

"I just..." Mia contemplated telling her dad the truth. On one hand, he would probably scold her or something fatherly like that. But on the other hand, maybe he could help. And really, what was the harm in telling him? "I got into a fight with Blake," she admitted, a long sigh escaping her lips.

"What? Why?"

"He was angry that I didn't tell him and I was angry because he was acting like he was in control of my life! It doesn't matter now. It's not like he ever cared about me," she grumbled, mentally yelling at the tears brimming in her hazel eyes.

"Are you kidding me, Mia!?" Tori asked, her voice as loud as always. "He cares about you so much. Do you even know what happened?"

"No," Mia admitted, eyes shut tight against the oncoming wave of tears.

Mia could almost hear Tori rolling her eyes from the back seat. "Blake was suspicious and worried about you because you were really weird for the past like two weeks so he came over and he was all 'where's Mia? She won't answer my calls,'" she said, impersonating For some reason, though, she made her voice higher pitched. Tori burst into laughter. It was funny sure but it didn't quite make sense. Tori stopped laughing at her own joke and continued, "Anyway, we checked your room and you weren't there so he got on your computer-"

"Wait, how? I have a password."

"It took a few tries but he knows you really well. Also, you need a better password than 'Peeta123'," she pointed out.

"It's a fine password," Mia grumbled, her cheeks turning a shade of crimson once again.

"Can I continue?" Tori asked. Mia nodded slightly and Tori started again. "Okay, so he checked your emails, and saw that email from mom." Mia saw Tori flinch slightly. "And got right into his car to go find you. When he got there, he saw that you were in danger and he saved you. He saved you, Mia. And when you were in the hospital, he literally wouldn't leave the room. He cares about you so much more than you think."