"How was the party?" Mom asked as she poured herself some coffee.

"It was a lot of fun, actually," I replied, spooning another bite of cereal into my mouth.

After Vivian dragged Miles off to see a "real doctor" I thought about leaving myself. I didn't know anyone there and I looked foolish in what was supposed to be a couple's costume. Cameron convinced me to stay since he was stuck there with his younger brother, Ryan.

The night turned out to be a lot of fun, despite the whole closet incident. Cameron made it fun by coming up with a drinking game. Every time we saw someone dressed as a Disney character we took a "shot" of fruit juice. Instead of getting buzzed we both ended up with purple tongues and an angry Mrs. Moore who was pissed at us for drinking most of the juice boxes.

"Good." She smiled, joining me at the island. "That Miles is cute."

"Mom, please," I groaned. That was the second time she said that. And after the date comment she made last night it felt like she was not-so-subtly hoping I'd add a romance to my plans

I decided not to tell her that Miles left early with another girl. It was hard for me to even get my head around. Why'd he leave with her when he was supposed to be there with me?

"What? He is," she shrugged, laughing. "You want me to take you to school? I have the morning off."

Shaking my head "no", I finished off the rest of my breakfast before grabbing my school bag and leaving out the door.

When I got onto the bus, Riley waved me over. I took the seat next to her and she smiled at me, her copper eyes sparkling innocently.

My brow raised at her. "Uhm... why are you looking at me like that?"

"The girl's and I were talking and we think the fund raiser should be a fashion show." Her smile grew as she watched m expectantly.

"A fashion show?"

She nodded. "It's perfect! You can design some things and we can sell them to the highest bidder."

The idea of people bidding on my creations made my skin hot. Yet there was a small part of me that loved the idea.

She must've taken my silence as reluctance, quickly adding, "It was just an idea. You don't have to if you don't—"

"I'll do it," I cut in. I needed something to occupy my mind other than boys who didn't know difference between a girlfriend and a girl friend.

"Really?" Here eyes brightened and she looked like she holding back a Kimber-like squeal. "We were about to draw straws to figure out which one of us had to sell a kidney," she laughed. "What made you change your mind?"

Before I could think up a little white lie, Riley held up her palm, shaking her head. "It doesn't even matter," she said, pulling out her phone. "I'm just glad you said yes."

By the time we made it to school Riley had already notified the girls that I agreed to do the show.. Kimber and Jem were in front if the school where the bus dropped us off.

The moment I stepped off  I was being pulled into a hug by Kimber (who actually did let out a squeal). She had a lot of strength for a tiny girl.

"This is going to be amazeballs!" she said, finally releasing me from her grip. "We have to tell Mrs. Hawk. But first we have to get permission from the principal. That's if we even have it at the school. Oh my gosh! What if we had it at June's? Or at—"

Kimber's tangent came to an end when Jem clamped her hand over her mouth.

"The show is going to be a lot if work," Jem said and Kimber silently nodded. "If we want the new uniforms in time for basketball season, we'll have to work fast."

"Basketball is the more popular sport here," Riley explain to me. "Which means a bigger crowd."

"And with new uniforms maybe we might get a little attention as well," Jem added.

Taking all of it in at once was making my head spin. It was too early in the morning for all of this. "How fast, exactly?"

"Basketball starts in January," Riley told me.

January? That was three months away. I had to create a collection of clothes that people would actually want to buy in only three months?

That wasn't even the scariest part. The worst part was going to be finishing the clothes and setting everything up only to have it completely bomb because I had no real talent. What was I thinking when I agreed to that again?

Oh, right. Boys. At least I'd get what I wanted. I'd be buried in fabric swatches, zippers and buttons to even think about—

My spiraling thoughts were cut short when a cold finger poked my cheek. I blinked a few time, stepping back into reality. "And she's back," Kimber giggled.

"You looked like your brain was caving in," Riley described, giving me a concerned look.

"If you're spooked about the short time frame, don't be," Jem said, nudging me a bit with her elbow. "You have an entire cheer squad at your disposal."

"Well, almost an entire cheer squad," Riley said, looking off into the distance. "I doubt she'd be any help."

Glancing over my shoulder I saw Vivian, her eyes glued to her phone as she weaved her way through the students. To my surprise Miles wasn't following behind her like a puppy.

"What's her problem anyway?" I asked, looking back at the girls.

"We have no idea," Riley said.

"She's been acting weird since school started," Jem explained, her lips turning into a frown.

"We've tried talking to her, but she just pushes us away," Kimber added.

So, Vivian wasn't always a mean girl? What could have happened to make her change like that?

+ + +

As I stood at my locker putting my World History book in its place, someone cleared their throat behind the opened door of my locker. When I peered behind it I was greeted by a smiling Cameron. His tall, lanky frame leaned against the locker next to mine, his hands hidden behind his back.

"Three hours. That's how long it took me to find this," he announced and I felt my lips twitch up into a smile. "But if anyone asks, you didn't get this from me." He handed me a small, white envelope containing a DVD. On the back written in green marker was: 3rd GRADE X-MAS PLAY.

During our drinking game I told Cameron about Nikki sharing my embarrassing stories with Miles and he offered to help me level the playing field. I had almost forgotten about it with everything thing else going on.

"Miles is coming," he coughed and I quickly slipped the DVD into my bag.

"Dude, lunch started two minutes ago. What are you doing still hanging in the hall?" Miles laughed, joining us at my locker. He had a square, white Band-Aid on his forehead and looked a lot more lively than he did last night.

I almost felt bad for him until I remember how he left me.

"Good point. I'll catch y'all later." With that, Cameron practically sprinted down the hall, dodging people as he went.

Miles turned to me, flashing that perfect smile of his at me. "What's up, Mermaid?"

Shutting my locker with more force than necessary, I began to make my way to the quad where I was supposed to meet the girls. They were not kidding when they said we had to move fast with the fashion show. They wanted to start immediately.

"That was some party last night," he chuckled, falling into step beside me.

"How would you know? You left before it even started," I bit, sounding harsher than I intended to. Sure, it stung a little when he left, but I didn't want him to know that.

"You did say that I needed to see a doctor."

I wasn't falling for his smile or his charm. Not anymore. Staring straight ahead, I pretended he wasn't even there.

"How about I buy you lunch," he offered as we stepped out of the building and into the outside eating area.

"I'm busy," I said with enough venom to make him stop in his tracks. Getting my point across was supposed to make me feel better, instead my mouth filled with the sour taste of bitterness. I swallowed it down as I made my way over to the girls.

+ + +

"It wasn't a date," I told Nikki for the fifth time. Switching the phone to my other ear, I chop vegetables for my soup. Normally, I didn't eat soup, but the picture in the magazine made it look delicious. I was a sucker for random magazine recipes.

"That's what your mom said it was," Nikki sang. "And that's what it looked like in the picture she sent."

I nearly chopped off my finger along with the celery, too mortified by what she said to pay attention. "She sent you that?"

"Yep," she laughed. "But, hey, if you don't want him I'll take him."

"Maybe you should," I told her. "Then his girlfriend can harass you."

I dumped the celery into the pot with all the other ingredients, stirring everything together with a large metal spoon.

"What girlfriend?" she demanded.

I stopped stirring, letting the soup cook as I leaned against the adjacent counter.

"Well, he claims they're not dating," I said. "Actually, he keeps making it a point to tell me that their just friends. They're always hugged up together, but they're just friends. And he keeps telling me this like I care if they're friends or lovers or whatever. Because I don't care. At all. I have more important things going on. I don't have time to worry about -- why are you laughing?"

She didn't answer me, just continued to laugh at whatever it was she found so amusing. It went on longer than necessary, so I ended the call.

My hand started to hurt and that when I realized how tightly I had been holding onto the spoon. The flowery design on the handle had been imprinted in my palm.

The phone rang a couple of seconds later and I answered, already knowing it was Nikki.

"Why you hang up on me, Heffa?"

"Because, you sound like a damn seagull when you laugh," I told her, setting the spoon down on the counter.

She laughed again. "If you want to know what you sounded like during that rant, just refer to your costume last night."

I glanced down at the design on my hand that had started to fade. It was like a bright neon sign that read: YOU LIKE MILES.

Jerrell was the last guy that I liked. I forgot how invasive having feelings for someone was. It was like Miles not only occupied my thoughts, but pulsed through my veins. Attacking my central nervous system and making me act like a total lunatic.

Damn it.