I skipped school the next day. I couldn't find the energy to get up. To face the world. It was easy to skip school. I just called my mother at work to tell her that I wasn't feeling well and she made a quick call to the school office. She was too busy and didn't care enough to confirm that I was really sick. I was lucky in that way, I suppose.

I spent the entire school day in bed, only getting up to go downstairs to get some cheese puffs to eat them in bed. Cheese puffs were my ultimate comfort food. Donuts were a close second though. I refused to let the tears inside escape. I had already indulged in those last night. No more of that today and from now on. Every now and then I would glance at my phone to check the time. At least that's what I told myself. I guess in reality, I was checking to see if anybody would check on me. Namely, Nick. But I received no messages from him. Nor from Andy.

But if Andy knew me at all, she would know that the last thing I wanted right now was to talk to her. Or if she knew about anything about friendships and relationships in general, she would know that.

I hid under the covers and wished that I was far away from this city, from this place. I resolved to start my college applications the next day. And to only apply to schools far far away from here. Where nobody could find me. Where I could start over.

I didn't mean to be a drama queen, but I was feeling more and more like this world as I knew it had ended around me. Screw Nick and screw Andy. They can go live in their happily-ever-after by themselves. As I live in my world by myself.

Sometime around lunchtime, I was woken up by a text from Dov asking where I was. I ignored his text, but was glad that at least somebody had noticed and cared to ask. It felt petty of me, but it was good to know that I at least had Dov, even if we weren't the best of friends.

The next thing that woke me up was the house's doorbell ringing. I grumbled and checked my phone again. It was 3pm—the middle of the day. Who would possibly be ringing our doorbell at this time? Courier? FedEx? I was way too lazy to get whatever package or talk to whoever was at the door so I pulled my blanket over my head and ignored it.

But then the doorbell rang again. And this time it was followed by a knock. I groaned aloud. This was either one very overeager mailman or an overeager solicitor.

I stayed still under the covers for a couple seconds. I thought the person had given up. But then—a whole barrage of doorbell rings. It was like the person was jamming their finger into the doorbell continuously. That was crossing the line for me. I flung the blanket off me, in a very foul mood and stomped downstairs, grumbling and swearing the whole way. I was going to give whoever was so insistent on getting me to come answer the door a huge piece of my mind.

And they would regret it. They would not want a piece of my mind in the state it was currently in. It was all sorts of messed up.

I flung open the door, ready to give whoever was standing there the hugest lecture of their life, but to my shock, it was neither a mailman nor a solicitor. No, it was my classmate, lab partner, and neighbor.

"Holly?" I asked flabbergasted.

She gave me a very thorough once-over. It was almost like an x-ray passing through me. "You don't…look sick."

I sniffed exaggeratedly. "I'm not feeling well." I threw in a hoarse cough at the end to prove my point.

"And that's enough to skip school? When you know very well that there is a very important upcoming biology exam?"

"Whatever. Who cares about that stuff anyway?"

"I do. Are you gonna ask me in or what?"

It was then that I noticed that Holly was carrying a stack of books and papers. "Depends...what is that?"

"Stuff that you need," she replied haughtily, adjusting her grips on the stack. "Now let me in, so I can drop this load."

I stepped aside so she could come in through the doorway. "How do you know what I need?"

"Oh, I know."

Without even waiting for me to direct her, Holly found her way to the living room and dropped the stack on the coffee table with a thud.

"You're not sick." She turned to me and looked me up and down once more. "Why did you skip school?"

"Because I felt like it." I plopped myself on the couch and spread my arms out to get comfortable. There was no need to spill my guts to her, a near stranger. Just because she had barged her way into my home didn't earn her the right to anything.

"You do look like shit though."

"Wow, thanks."

"Anytime," she said, waving a hand absentmindedly. "You missed a lot in class. You're screwed for the test."

I scowled. The last thing I needed was a wannabe mother figure. "I know. You don't have to remind me."

"Well clearly I have to, because you're not doing anything about it."

"Why does it matter to you anyway? It's not like my grade will affect yours." I grabbed a couch cushion and hugged it under my chin, playing with its fringes. I've always hated these frilly pillows, and yet my mother insisted that they added a sense of elegance to the room. It just made our couch look like it belonged in an 1800's Victorian house if you asked me.

"We had a deal, remember? I think it's about time for me to pay you back. So let's get started already."

Holly sat herself down on the couch across from me and picked up the biology book. She proceeded to give me an exact play-by-play of the material that Anderson had gone over in class. She also pulled out her notebook at some point to show me her notes but it was obvious that she didn't need them. She could've gone over the entire material with her eyes blindfolded.

I was envious of the way the scientific facts just rolled off her tongue. It was something that I would never be able to do. But as fascinating as her abilities were, nothing could have kept my concentration today. Rationally, I knew that I should take advantage of Holly's gesture. I knew that my future would depend in part (however miniscule) on this exam. But I still couldn't get over yesterday's events. All her impressive facts went in one ear and out the other; either that or they just straight up whizzed over my head completely.

Holly finally called me out on it after 15 minutes after she had started her lecture. I guess my staring off into space kind of gave the whole game away. That and my occasional sigh and head flop onto the couch back.

"What is up with you anyway?" Holly threw her notebook back on the table exasperatedly. "It's like you're not even trying!"

I ignored her accusation. "Do you think people are malicious by choice?" I wondered out loud before fidgeting with the pillow fringes some more. It was a question that had been bothering me. I wondered if Nick and Andy had purposely done this to hurt me. I wondered if they had even considered me in their love equation. Or was I an accidental consequence? But how could I be an accidental consequence if I had essentially been an entire half of the ruined relationship?

Holly's eyebrows wrinkled as she tried to understand my question. "What? Have you been listening at all?"

I ignored her question again. "It just makes me wonder. How is it that we can trust anybody at all?"

Holly threw her pencil down on the table too before leaning back into the couch. She surveyed me closely before crossing her arms and legs.

"...what?" I asked apprehensively. "It was just a question."

She took a leaf out of my book and ignored my question. Instead, she seemed to decide something in her head and jumped up off the couch.

"Come on, let's go."

I glanced up at her warily, refusing to budge an inch. "Where are we going?"

"You're clearly not vested in studying for your test. So let's go and do something else productive," Holly replied. She reached over to grab my arm and tugged it. Hard.

I yelped. "Hey, that hurts!"

"If you got up on your own then I wouldn't have to hurt you. Come on, let's go."

I reluctantly got off the couch, resenting it as soon as my ass left the cushion. I couldn't figure out for the life of me why I was going along with her plans. But as long as it meant that I didn't have to sit there and listen to more biology lectures, I guess it couldn't be much worse than that.

"Where are we going? What about studying?" I whined one more time before following her out the door.

"I told you. I know what you need," she threw back. Scowling, I locked the door and followed her, waiting for my fate to unfold.

"You're kidding," I remarked scathingly. I couldn't believe Holly had dragged me here. As a second thought, I couldn't believe I had let her either.

We were at the batting cages. Like with actual bats and baseball. We stood outside the cages watching other people take their turns swinging, some of them missing completely and looking like idiots. Which was what I was going to look like. I hated looking like an idiot. Nick already made me look like the biggest, most oblivious idiot on the planet and now Holly was going to do the same to me.

"Oh don't be a baby. I'll go first. It'll be fun."

Holly donned the batting helmet that the front desk had handed us and stepped into our designated cage. She stepped right up to the plate with no hesitation whatsoever. Her stance looked legit, like she had already done it hundreds of times before. I stepped closer out of curiosity and grabbed onto the fence in front of me while watching as she prepared herself.

Then the next thing I knew, I saw Holly swinging the bat, a giant "thwack" and the ball sailing straight to the other end of the cage. I had a slight suspicion that if we weren't in a cage, that hit would have been a homerun. It was slightly intimidating, actually. I hadn't taken Holly Stewart to be a homerun slugger. Damn.

She turned around beaming to me, obviously quite proud of her hit. "Your turn," she exclaimed, pulling off her helmet and gesturing for me to come into the cage.

"I don't...do sports," I huffed. But I entered the cage anyway. I don't know, maybe I thought the idea of swinging a bat (which could totally double as swinging a weapon) and whacking something would make me feel better.

Holly handed me the bat and helmet, grinning the entire time. You would've thought that she had just gotten the highest A of her life from her expression and demeanor. It was a little endearing. "Oh come on," she said excitedly. "It's cathartic. And if you ask me, it's quite obvious you're in need of some catharsis."

I placed the helmet on and gingerly took hold of the bat. It was a lot heavier than I expected. But it felt wieldy and when I lifted it up to test a couple practice swings, it felt good.

"Ready?" Holly asked.

"Wait, wait wait," I said hastily, hastening over to the plate. Once I was in position, I heard Holly punch the button to set off that ball.

I thought I had it. I thought I was ready. But the one thing I hadn't counted on was the ball speeding so fast. And seemingly straight at my head. So I did what any normal level-headed person would have done. I flung the bat and ran for cover. It dropped with a huge clatter, quite a different sound than the one Holly made when she actually hit the ball. I ducked and scurried off to the side, closing my eyes and putting my hands over my helmeted head.

A huge burst of laughter came from behind the fence. My first gut reaction was to be utterly embarrassed and angry. But then I realized Holly's laughter wasn't malicious in nature. No, it sounded like it was just good old-fashioned amusement. And once I was sure that the whizzing ball had passed and no more were coming out, I couldn't help but join in.

I looked up from my cover and put on a scowling face just for the sake of my dignity. But upon seeing Holly's bursts of laughter and seeing her almost bent double holding her stomach from laughing, I lost it.

"I told you, I don't do sports! I'm leaving!" I stalked out of the cage in mock anger and walked right past Holly who was still laughing her head off.

"Wait, you're giving up already? Damn, didn't take you for a wuss."

Oh, that was it. Challenge accepted. I whipped around and glared at Holly, still clutching her stomach. "Not even close. Bring it, Stewart."

I set myself up at the plate again, instructing Holly to push the button when I was sure I was ready. I made sure to keep my eye on that machine that was shooting out the balls. I gripped the bat tight and bent down low in the same way I saw pros do it on TV. But as soon as I heard the machine release the ball, I immediately flinched and swung wildly. I missed, of course. I couldn't help flinching; it was just a natural reaction.

"Damn it," I swore and kicked the base in frustration. Holly had made it seem so easy.

"Well...at least you didn't throw the bat this time."

I turned around and glared at her. She grinned back. "Improvement. Baby steps, right?"

"Right," I agreed, resolving to hit the ball the next time. I missed again. I think it was because I kept flinching and half closing my eyes.

Holly finally gave in to give me some tips. Standing inside the cage with me, she coached me on the proper stance.

"First of all, you're standing too crouched," she explained matter-of-factly. "Nobody stands that low."

"Nuh-uh, this is how the pros do it."

"I'm pretty sure you're exaggerating their position. Just straighten it up a little, c'mon."

Next thing she corrected was my grip on the bat. Apparently it was too tight.

"You gotta relax. It's not a weapon."

It could be used as one, I thought. But I complied with her instructions.

"Third. Stop flinching, goddammit. It's just a ball!"

"Yeah, a ball that's coming straight at my head," I retorted.

"Doesn't matter," she said, shaking her head. "You gotta attack it straight on. If you're going to do this, if you're going to allow a speeding ball to come towards you, you gotta go straight for it. If you let it dictate its action, of course it's just going to run you over. You gotta take it head on."

"I feel like this is some kind of life lesson," I muttered, absent-mindedly swinging the bat back and forth.

"Maybe it is," Holly remarked. She stood by that damn button, hand hovering over it. "Ready?"

"Fine."

The machine promptly released the baseball. Again, my reaction was to move out of the way, duck and cover. But then in that split second I decided that I was going to attack it straight back. That ball came straight for me, but I saw it. I really saw it and so I swung when I thought it was just about right.

It hit the tip of my bat and went straight up into the net. I scurried out of the way so that when gravity played its role, I didn't find myself with a giant bruise on the head.

Holly clapped and whooped joyfully from outside the cages. "You did it!"

I had done it. Even if it hadn't gone anywhere, I at least made contact. That gave me the motivation to keep going. It was strange; it had been a long time since I resolved to work towards a real goal. Maybe hitting a baseball wasn't really a goal. But it was something that I wanted to do right. I couldn't remember the last time I wanted to do something right.

So I kept at it. After awhile, I finally started to make real contact with the ball. When I thought I had had enough, I let Holly back in the cage. She was a real damn slugger, let me tell you. It was impressive the way she kind of destroyed my initial stereotype of her as a nerd.

After an hour or so, Holly declared that she was hungry and was going to go get some snacks. She left me in the cage to finish up a couple last swings. She instructed me to come find her when I was done.

"Yes, mom," I replied sarcastically.

I hit every last ball. Even if they weren't as strong or as direct as Holly's hits, I was proud of the accomplishment I had made. Again...it had been awhile. It felt good to get the energy out, too. Holly had been right. She did know what I needed, even if she didn't know about the situation.

I found Holly sitting in the rest area, where they had laid out some picnic tables for eating. She had multiple hot dogs, nachos, and drinks laid out in front of her. It was like we had the same stomach.

"Nice," I murmured in approval. "Good choices."

She laughed and spread her arms out. "I know, right?"

I took a seat across from her and grabbed a hot dog eagerly. This junk food was definitely the best. A girl couldn't ask for more. Well, I would've preferred if my boyfriend hadn't cheated on me with my closest girl friend.

Fuck.

And just like that, my mind had jumped back to the shit storm that had become my life.

"What's wrong?"

"Huh?" I looked up from all the food that had been so gloriously laid out in front of me. Holly had placed the hot dog she was evidently about to cram into her mouth and glanced at me curiously.

"Your facial expression changed suddenly."

"Don't know what you're talking about," I muttered, reaching for the nachos. To my surprise, Holly reached out and pulled them away from me.

"You're ridiculous, you know. I can see it. Just spit it out."

"Don't want to talk about it."

"So you admit there is something that is bothering you."

Damn. She got me.

"Look. I'm not a therapist. I don't know you that well, but just...you know, I guess I'm here if you need anything else. Outside of school stuff. A deal is a deal. You help me, I help you."

If I were to be truthful with myself, I think she had been helping me a lot more than I had been helping her. The only thing that I had done so far was help her carry her books. And give her a ride to school once.

After a moment of contemplation and chewing, I finally decided to say something. "Boys suck." It was the most I could say without really talking about it.

Holly scoffed and finally pushed the nachos back towards me. "Couldn't agree more."

"What makes you say that?" I wondered if she had had a bad relationship in the past too.

She shrugged.

"Bad experience?"

"Not really," she replied thoughtfully. "But what makes you say something like that so suddenly?"

"Because it's true," I answered.

"But there has to be a reason."

"You could say that."

"And?" Holly prompted. Normally if anybody else had pushed me like this, I would've walked away long ago. But despite the fact that Holly kept asking, instead of feeling pushed or annoyed, it made me realize that she was curious...but not for her own sake. I got the feeling that she actually did care.

"My boyfriend cheated on me with my friend," I blurted out.

Holly stopped mid-nacho and stared at me.

"Yeah."

She let out a low whistle and crammed the rest of the nachos into her mouth. Clearly a junk food enthusiast.

"Damn."

"Yeah."

Holly pursed her lips. It looked like she wanted to say something more. Or ask more questions. But instead, to my surprise, she got up out of her seat and dusted herself off.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"You need more therapy. Let's go for another round."

I stared at her serious expression. She looked like she was suggesting we go to war. Her face was grim, jaw was set.

"Okay," I agreed, almost wanting to crack up at her demeanor. But I kept a serious face to match hers.

We collected the remnants of the food to take with us and started walking back towards our cage. As we made our way, Holly made one more remark.

"I know a way to get you to hit the ball better. Put his face on that ball and whack the crap out of it."

I nodded resolutely. That sounded good, actually. Really good.

A/N: Leave a thought if you so wish :) Oh, also. I'm sorry if anything about the batting cages is inaccurate...I've never been D: I should get my own Holly to take me...