I hated Mondays.

I had to wake up early for school, and then go to classes all day. In my opinion Mondays should be half school days from noon to the end of a regular school day, that way we had time to ease into the week.

After staying up and waking up late, it was next to impossible to get up early and go to a full day of classes on Monday.

"Get up, you're gonna be late!" Sky exclaimed just as a pillow hit my head.

"Go away." I grumbled, throwing the pillow in the direction I thought she was in.

"You have to get up Cora." She replied, her tone almost whiny.

I slowly got out of bed, knowing that my stupid best friend wasn't going to leave me alone until I got up.

"Happy now?" I asked as I headed toward the bathroom.

Sky gave me a smug smile, "Very."

Twenty minutes later I had my hair in a messy bun and was dressed in a pair of black leggings, a grey jumper, and adidas sneakers. Comfy, lazy, and cute. The perfect outfit.

"Lets go!" Sky exclaimed as she walked out the door. If there was one thing I knew about her, it was that she hated being late. I didn't like being late either, although it never bother me too much. But for Sky it was the end of the world.

Once Sky and I went our separate ways, Drew starting walking with me.

"Um, hi?" I said, but it came out as a question. Why was he walking with me?

"I just wanted to ask if you're okay?" He replied, looking down at me curiously.

I contemplated his question for a moment. Was I okay? I wasn't feeling particularly sad today, but I still felt off. I didn't think I'd truly be okay until I had answers.

"No." I mumbled, I felt weak admitting it but I didn't feel like lying. I'd lied enough lately.

Drew shrugged, "Maybe tomorrow."

I nodded in agreement, even though I knew I wouldn't be different tomorrow.

The rest of the walk to class was silent, and to my surprise Drew stayed with me instead of going off to his class once he got my reply. I wanted to ask him why he was walking with me, and why he cared if I was okay or not. But I didn't. I didn't want to break the silence, it was refreshing. And it was what we did best, enjoying each other's presence without ruining it by talking.

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

"Are you ready to train your butt off?" Matt asked in a goofy announcer voice he sometimes did.

I laughed, "Probably not."

"Drew, you're late. Drop and give me ten!" Matt demanded when Drew got to us, and much to my surprise, he actually did what he was told.

And of course it was as easy as breathing for him. Now if it were me doing ten push-ups, I'd be huffing and puffing as I tried my hardest to lift myself off the ground.

After Drew was done, all three of us started off stretching, and then did a lap around the gym.

I did that easily enough, but I was starting to get tired.

"Next we're going to do push-ups and sit-ups" Matt instructed.

I groaned as I positioned myself on the ground for the push-ups. This was not going to be pretty.

I got about two in before I started to struggle, which I thought was pretty impressive at the time. Until I heard Matt and Drew count out their fiftieth push-up.

"How'd you do Cora?" Drew questioned, a smirk prominent on his face.

I looked down and fiddled with my fingers for a moment before I replied, "I did a solid five."

Drew burst out laughing, like doubled over, knee slapping laughter.

"Ouch!" He yelled when Matt slapped him on the back the head.

"She's not an athlete Drew, of course she's not going to be able to do a lot." Matt defended me, but I still felt just as humiliated, if not more.

"Can we be done for the day?" I asked quietly. I really didn't feel like being laughed at anymore.

"Of course. Next time I'll make sure Drew isn't around." Matt replied, giving me an apologetic smile.

I gave him a thankful half smile in return, scooped up my backpack, and quickly exited the gym. That was the last place I want to be right now.

I decided to head to the music room, thinking that piano might mend my wounded ego. Doing something I was good at would hopefully help. But once I arrived I saw three people messing around with their instruments and decided not to enter. Stupid people hogging the music room.

"What's with the scowl?" Someone asked, startling me so bad I felt my heart in my throat.

"Jeez Jess! You shouldn't sneak up on people!" I exclaimed once I saw who the culprit was, mildly annoyed. The last thing I needed right now was to get scared.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to." She apologized, and I instantly felt bad. It wasn't her fault, I had no reason for being upset with her.

"Sorry for snapping at you, I'm just in a bad mood. It wasn't your fault."

Jess shrugged like it was no big deal, "Do you want to come get dinner with me? I think Sky is already in the cafeteria."

I nodded and smiled, food always made me feel better.

As we made our way to the cafeteria we chatted, and it was nice catching up with Jess. Even though I was around her a lot, I felt like we never really talk. Maybe that was because I didn't share a lot about myself with my friends.

I just felt like the events in my life weren't good conversation. There was a lot of pain and I didn't want that bringing everyone down. And I especially didn't want their pity.

"What are you eating tonight?" Jess asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Meatloaf if they have it." I replied, that was a no brainer. I absolutely loved meatloaf. My mom used to make it all the time.

"Hey guys! I was just talking with Garrett and we're going skiing over winter break!" Sky told us once we sat down, excitingly bouncing in her seat.

"Who's Garrett?" I asked, I hadn't met a Garrett around here.

Sky gave me a weird look, "My boyfriend. I haven't told you his name?"

I shrugged and cut into my meatloaf, "I guess not."

Just as I put the first bite in my mouth, Matt and Cody walked up to the table.

"Drew wants to talk to you, he's in the hallway." Matt told me as Cody sat down beside Jess.

"Great." I mumbled sarcastically. All I wanted to do was eat my dinner in peace!

I stomped out into the hallway, fully ready to yell at Drew, but kept my mouth shut when I saw the look on his face. He looked guilty and nervous.

Uh oh. What did he do?

"Look, I'm really sorry about laughing at you earlier. It was uncalled for. It would be like you laughing at my failed attempt at drawing a fruit bowl or something." He apologized, looking straight into my eyes.

I smiled at his sincerity, and the thought of him drawing horribly. That was something I'd like to see some day.

"And I'd like to drive you home over winter break. I know you don't have a way of getting there and it's the least I can do after being a jerk to you since the day we met." He continued, shifting his feet uncomfortably.

Was that why he was nervous? Maybe he didn't want to get rejected. Or he was just being nice, and his offer wasn't genuine.

"Is the offer real, or are you just being nice?" I voiced my suspicions.

I really hoped his offer is real. Then I wouldn't have to worry about how I was getting home anymore. One less thing I had to plan out.

Drew shrugged, "I'm being serious. I'm not doing anything over the break, driving you would give me an excuse to get away from school for a while."

"Don't you have family?" I blurted. I really didn't mean to say that out loud, it was super nosy of me.

Drew's eyes darkened slightly as he replied, "None that I want to see."

I nodded, "Okay."

He gave me a confused look, "Okay?"

"You can drive me home over the break." I answered.

Why not? He was being mostly nice to me lately, and it would be nice having someone I know around for moral support, even if they didn't know the reason I was going home.

"Great." Drew said, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"So we can go over the details another time, because right now my precious meatloaf is getting cold." I informed him, and quickly made my way back into the cafeteria.

"What was that about?" Sky asked once I was sat down at the table.

What should I tell them?

"It was just for a project we're doing in music." I lied. How many times am I going to lie to these people? They've been nothing but kind to me and this is how I treat them in return. It was like the only person I've been honest with was Drew, and that was messed up. But I just didn't want to have to answer a million questions, and Drew never asked very many questions.

As I finished off my meatloaf I thought of what I would tell Drew if he asked why I was going home, and where my parents were. I didn't think anyone knew that my parents were dead, I hadn't told them and I was pretty sure the school wouldn't give out that information. But Jess and Sky never asked me why I lived with my aunt, so maybe they just assumed my parents were dead or deadbeats.

Suddenly a memory of talking about Maria with Sky for the first time invaded my mind.

"She made me go to this school. I didn't even want to come, but who cares what I want? She wanted me gone so she could move in with her boyfriend." I ranted, it was only my second day of classes and I already hated my biology teacher.

Sky shrugged, "I like having you here, if you didn't come I would've probably gotten stuck with someone rude."

"I just wish I was coming here on my own terms instead of my stupid aunt's." I mumbled.

Looking back on that now made me feel guilty. Maybe Maria was actually doing it for my good.

"Cora, are you okay?" Matt asked, startling me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Are you okay?" I joked so he didn't realize that something really was bothering me.

Matted bumped me on the shoulder with his, "I am fan-freaking-tastic."

I smiled at that, he was always so upbeat and positive. I wished I was more like that.

For the last few minutes of lunch I was distracted by the conversations around me, which I was grateful for. I needed something to get my mind off the negative things in my life.