The common room was filled that day. The girls were all calling makeup companies. The lads were all talking about pulling techniques.

There was a party that night. Everybody was going.

The host was possibly the most popular person in the year. He was called Liam. Liam was intelligent, attractive, and sporty. I knew him as my most difficult chess partner. We bonded in our after-school club, and so he convinced me to attend his party.

I was not really one for parties. Often, I felt nervous about attending, and I never would drink much. Usually my friends were worse than me, so I would attend alone. For this reason, it was my first party in months.

The noise in the room was escalating. I planned to sit and work but the noise was too distracting. Swiftly, I turned around and headed outside. I needed to find a room but I didn't know where – classes were on for younger years. There would be no classroom free.

I decided that the dining room was my best bet. My legs carried me there. I wasn't in the right frame of mind and I couldn't understand why. I felt a bit dizzy, but I tried with all my might to ignore that.

The dining hall was a huge room. All the tables were circular, apart from the teachers table. This table spanned the entire right side of the room, hidden from most of the room by a large partition wall. Each seat was cushioned with red fabric. It was the best table in the room, but students were forbidden to sit there at lunch – although who would want to sit with teachers?

My legs took me to these seats. I dumped my bag on the table and slumped into the seat. I chose one of the seats which looked onto the room. I enjoyed watching people come into and out of rooms. Honestly, I would feel like I was being watched otherwise.

Out of my bag, I pulled a few books and my phone. I just wanted to listen to my music. The ear buds went in my ear and I pressed shuffle on my playlist. I did not want to be interrupted. My finger quickly increased the volume and I got to work.

I turned the pages. Most of the information kept in my head, but not everything. My brain was mostly concerned on listening to the lyrics of the music which was playing. It was Muse playing. My favourite song…

I heard muffled noises. I took out my earbuds and looked up.

"Madness by Muse." Dan was standing there, looking down at me.

I nodded, smiled weakly and looked down. Really, I wanted to just carry on but I worried that he would not allow me to do that.

"It was playing when we first met," he said. I knew that. I was not stupid. "Although, would you remember that given you've seemed to have forgotten about me."

I winced. "I never forgot," I replied, cringing a bit. I never liked to be reminded about what happened. "How could I forget?"

"Well you seemed to forget and not care."

"I'm sorry." He never confronted me, so I could never say sorry. It felt wrong for this to be happening now: I should have said it earlier.

"I've been waiting to hear that." He sounded a bit less angry. I was waiting for him to say that it was too late, but he never did. "I never stopped caring."

This shocked me. He always seemed fairly happy. It never felt like he was giving me more attention – maybe he was lying. "Sorry," I mumbled guiltily.

I looked up into his eyes. The brown eyes looked down at me. He looked upset, yet satisfied. It was as if we were both waiting for this conversation for a year. I should have already spoken to him about it, but that never happened.

"It's alright," he mumbled, smiling weakly at me ", I forgive you. I'm sorry too."

He turned around and moved out of my sight. I couldn't ask him what he was sorry for. It was a mystery. Now, I felt relieved, so I didn't want to possibly try and bring guilt back by doing something I regretted. I left it, and continued to study.