Monday – usually such an ordinary day. I walked to school with my boyfriend, Dan, and we went our separate ways in the foyer, where I met up with my mates. It was only 8:35am and I already knew something was wrong. Dan hadn't looked me in the eye when he came to get me this morning. He insisted he just had a bit of a stomach-ache and ran off. Normally, he would shoot goofy glances at me over his shoulder, but not today. When I turned around I saw my best friend, Keri, giving him evils, but she stopped when she saw me and changed her expression to a forced smile.

"Hey Zo," she said.

"That was some party Saturday night, wasn't it?" I said with a grin.

"Um… yeah," she replied nervously, fiddling with her long, auburn hair.

Something was definitely wrong here. Keri usually loved to talk about the weekend's events and she looked shifty. What's going on?

"What's up, Keri?" I asked as we walked to registration.

"Nothing," she replied, with a smile.

"Are you sure?" We were at the door to our tutor room and as soon as Keri opened it, things got even weirder.

The room went silent as we walked in. Eyes followed me as we made our way to our seats, where Aneisha was waiting.

"How are you, Zo?" she asked.

"Huh? I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" I replied, feeling confused. Aneisha shot a glare at Keri.

"You haven't told her?" she said accusingly. "You were meant to – you said you'd do it."

"Tell me what? Just what is going on?" I panicked.

"Look, Zo," Keri began. "During the party…"

She stopped as the class diva, Melissa, entered the room and shot one of her fake smiles in my direction.

"I suppose you've heard about Saturday?" she said with a sneer.

"I was there," I replied.

"Oh, not about that, silly," she said with a giggle. "About me and Dan!"

"Excuse me?" Had I heard her right? Surely I hadn't…

"Didn't he tell you? Oh, I'm so sorry!" she sneered. "Oh, wait – no, I'm not. I always told you that he'd be mine – and now he is!"

My heart stopped. I was horrified. How could everyone have kept this from me? How could Dan do this to me? Tears welled up in my eyes and I ran from the room – straight into Dan, who was waiting for his lesson next door. He tried to hold me, but I pummelled him with my fists, ignoring his cries of "I'm sorry!"

"How could you let me find out this way?" I yelled, sobbing.

"It meant nothing!" Dan said, trying to reach out for my hand.

"Don't try to lie your way out of this!" I yelled back.

"I don't even like Melissa," Dan said, his eyes searching my face. But I couldn't believe him. I would never believe him again.

"Get away from me," I snarled and ran out into the playground, where I collided into Tom – a sweet, but shy guy from my year.

"What's the matter, Zo – what's wrong?" he asked as I sobbed into his school shirt.

"Dan and Melissa," I wailed and he instantly understood, stroking my hair.

"Come sit on the grass," he said, putting his arm around me.

After a pause, he said, "You deserve so much better."

The sun peeked out from behind a cloud – I knew that he was right. With a gentle squeeze of his hand, I thanked him – and vowed never to let anyone make a fool of me again.