Mia's POV:

Oh great, its Labor Day. I'm out of school and allowed to wallow in my self-hatred. The love of my life is in Japan and wants absolutely nothing to do with me because he walked up on me accidentally kissing J.P. And OK, I know that sounds super lame and it seems im-freakin-possible to "accidentally" kiss someone, but until you've been there, you just don't know.

Regardless, I don't want J.P. I never did. It has always been Michael. Always. I don't think I could go back in my journals and find a time when I was NOT completely in love with him. And that's saying something because I've been keeping journals for a long time.

Now Mom is yelling up the stairs that someone is on the phone for me. I don't want to talk. It's Tina. Our conversation goes like this:

Tina: Hey Mia!

Me: Hey

Tina: What are you doing today?

Me: Thinking about jumping off my roof. You?

Tina: Don't be like that Mia. Its going to be OK.

Me: no response due to stifling back gut wrenching sobs

Tina: Look Mia, me and Boris are going out for the day, with it being Labor Day and all. I think you should join us. It'll be fun. We can go to Tavern on the Green and go shopping. Maybe catch a movie. Its just what you need to get your mind off things.

Me: I'm OK Tina, have fun.

Mom: (yelling up the stairs) YOU'RE GOING!

Tina: Yay! See you in 30.

Great, exactly what I didn't want.

Michael's POV:

I was looking forward to just sleeping, but that was apparently not an option, if the pillow that came sailing in a perfect arch across the room the minute I flipped over and opened my eyes counts for anything.

"Dude, get up. Japan awaits." Jason announces in all his overzealous glory. Hands held in the air, as if he were victorious in something that actually mattered in life, not beer pong and collecting a massive amount speeding tickets.

"I think I'm just going to rest today." I said halfheartedly, too lazy to remove the pillow from where it had landed on my face.

I feel the pillow get snatched off and open one eye to see Jason standing over me, arms crossed and shaking his head. "You look like shit."

"Thanks ass."

"What did that chick do to you?"

I just shot him a look.

"Never mind, forget I asked." Jason put his hands up in a surrender gesture. "But laying around in bed feeling sorry for yourself is not the way to move on."

I sighed heavily. "Fine." I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

"That's right bro. This day is going to be off the chain!"

I groaned inwardly. This day was not going to be "off the chain." It was going to be long and excruciating.

Mia's POV:

Getting dragged around New York when all you want to do is rip your own heart out is about as exciting as a root canal.

Everywhere we went I saw something that reminded me of him or us. Our favorite restaurants, the movie theater we always went to, the apartment building his parents and my ex-best friend still live in (thanks for that one Tina).

Basically, I need to stay inside and never come out again. That way, it won't feel like I'm getting tortured every time I walk down a street. It would be great, I would have just my computer and Fat Louie. Maybe Mom could home school me. I don't know why we've never tried it. I'm basically already a freak, so why not?

Not to say that home schooled people are freaks, because I don't think so. I just think a fair amount of the people I go to school with do. As if private school is better.

OK, so we're at the restaurant, a generic sushi place. One I have never been to with Michael. Thank goodness...

Wait, is that...OH...NO...

Michael's POV:

I just wanted to sleep. I'm not a complicated person. I need to eat, sleep and create a robotic arm used for surgical procedures. I'm not complicated. So why the hell am I being dragged through a market in the middle of Japan, where people are shouting in a language I don't understand and selling things that look like torture devices?

We're apparently going to a restaurant to meet the other people in the program. I'm so excited words cannot even express. Not.

We go in the restaurant, a little local place and are introduced to a table of people are age by Professor Matsumoto. Everyone then continues their little private conversations. Jason sits down to immediately start hitting on a girl in a miniskirt, Midorci or something.

In the normal situation, I would have texted Mia. But given the circumstances, I justed texted Boris.

His reply was almost immediate.

Boris: Out at lunch with Tina and Mia and J.P. Mia won't sit next to him and looks like she is about to throw up. You could cut the tension here with a butter knife. I have never been so uncomfortable.

I sighed. Good news is she wasn't happy to see J.P. Bad news is she was seeing J.P. I tapped Jason on the shoulder. "I'm going out for air." I pardoned myself from the table and left.

Mia's POV:

I want to vomit. Seriously. Why was he here? I shot Tina a look I knew could make ice melt and she shrank back distinctively. Guilty as charged.

And what is up with Boris? He keep staring at me. Its weird. And he keeps texting at the table. Hello? Rude much? Oh who am I kidding. I get out my phone and text Tina.

Me: How could you?

Tina: What?

Me: What do you mean what? Why is he here?

Tina: OK, look, I just thought that if I invited him, you guys could work past the awkward a little.

Me: Tina, I don't want to see him.

Of course, I got no response. I'm getting out of here, this is ridiculous. I used the nifty little button on the side of my phone to mimic getting a phone call. I "answered", feigned a family emergency and ran out.

Michael's POV:

I walked down the street, looking at all the merch shops I was too busy sulking by earlier to look at. They had some interesting stuff and I had to say, I was starting to like Japanese culture. I mean, they did have anime after all. How can you argue with that? And OK, so the places with the cooked chickens hanging around are still creeping me out, but its not really all that different than the homeless people that hang out in Central Park. Except they have their heads and aren't cooked. But still.

Then I saw it.

It was a window display in a toy shop that was practically an homage to Mia. There was snowflakes painted all over the window, no doubt left over holiday propaganda to attract customers. There were Star Wars action figures in the window and in the middle of it all, a tiara.

So I did what anyone would do: I took a picture, found her number and sent it before I could change my mind.

Mia's POV:

I was running. And I don't run. That is how much urgency I'm feeling to get away from that entire situation. Little did I know there was someone right behind me.

"Mia!" J.P's voice called over the noise of the busy streets. I couldn't stand to look back. His hand found my arm and took hold, spinning me around. "What is the matter?"

"I cannot do this. I can't keep being friends with you." Tears were on the verge of spilling over.

"Mia, I care about you. If you don't want to be friends, fine. Let's be more."

I stared at him, at a loss for words. "I-what?"

"I really care about you. And I know you are upset about Michael, but could you please just remember one thing? Remember that all of us, here, care about you. Tina and Boris and...me. Lilly left you. He left you. But we're not going anywhere."

Tears were pouring at this point.

"Mia, you are one of the strongest people I know. The last person on Earth I would have ever imagined going to pieces like this. It makes me angry and feel guilty that something so awful happened because of an accident caused by me. I feel terrible, but I hope you can forgive me because I think you are the most amazing person I have ever met."

Maybe it was the adrenaline from running. Or the fact that I felt so alone and was being fed such sweet lines. Or that I felt like a Kleenex, used and thrown away. But whatever it was, I didn't stop it.

I did not stop the kiss that would change everything.

Not even when my phone buzzed in my pocket and I received what I now know was a message from Michael who was over in Japan, thinking about me like I was thinking about him.

Michael's POV:

I was sitting at home a short time later, feeling good about what I had done when my phone buzzed. I had, in a moment of weakness I now regret, signed up for those Google alerts that tell me when something gets posted about Mia.

Big mistake.

In blaring letters that might as well been engraved on a knife were the words "A New Prince Charming" glaring at me from The New York Times. I clicked the link to find a picture of Mia and J.P kissing on the corner of some unmarked street.

Well I got an answer to my message. Happy effing Labor Day to me.