Note: It's been a while now, I apologize. Well, thanks for the reviews everyone.

Note to reviewer Brittany: Your request may not be in this chap, but it will in the future ones.

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Chapter 9

The Bratz heard about Cloe's little commotion in the halls. They were pretty unsure how to approach her. But the Bratz were always tight, they knew what they had to. Too bad Cloe didn't take the truth as well as they thought.

"What?" Cloe couldn't believe it. She nearly fell out of her seat. That could've been major embarrassment. She faced her friends, feeling anxious. "You mean Cameron didn't write that email? It wasn't him?" Then who could've done it?

"Right." Yasmin said, nodding. "It probably was that brat, Messa."

"Uh Yaz." Jade rose her head up from behind the Hispanic. "It's Mecca."

"Oh." Yasmin said, looking down at her desk.

Sasha rolled her eyes and gazed into Cloe's eyes. "Angel, the point is: you shouldn't have yelled at him like that. He was only trying to explain."

"Girls!" The teacher roared. He started making his way down the aisle, his squinty eyes burning into Sasha's. "Please stop the chattering! Do you WANT a week's worth of detention?"

Cloe felt her cheeks burning uncontrollably when her fellow classmates turned to her to see what all the fuss was about.

"No sir." Sasha said in a firm voice. The teacher released an irritated sigh and went to the board to continue with the lesson.

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Cloe held her books tightly to chest. She sighed sadly while she exited the classroom. Things just weren't the same without him. Without his smiles, his laughs, his joy…

He was right there. Cloe stopped in her path when she saw him. There was no way she couldn't recognize his dirty blond hair that swept over his deep blue eyes like that. He was by his locker, fussing with his combination code. She could feel something inside of her, fluttering, just trying to make its way through. She had to talk to him.

"Cameron, I need to talk to you." Cloe said gently, her eyes focusing on his studded wristwatch. She remembered that watch because she had bought it for him on his sixteenth birthday. He's been wearing it ever since. There was a few seconds of silence. Cloe bit her lip. He must've been still pretty angry with her.

"No," he said with not a hint of emotion in his voice. He didn't even bother to look up at her. "No, you don't." Cameron continued to rummage through his cluttered locker. He tossed crumbled papers to the floor. One of them got caught in Cloe's hair. She didn't do anything about it.

"What?" Cloe said. She moved her head to get a better view of him. He just turned his head away from her. "Cameron, I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Cameron let out a low growl. She never seen him so miffed, especially…at her. "No, Cloe." He said. He shut his locker and glared into her eyes. "Stop. You said it yourself, you don't know me and you never will." He must've taken me really seriously, she thought.

"Cameron."

Cameron put his hand up to her face. He didn't want to hear it. "I was trying to explain." He said. "You never even gave me a chance to set things straight. I'm not your property, you know that?"

Cloe gasped and blinked a bit. "I never said you were."

Cameron looked away from her. "Then it's time you started treating me with respect."

"What are you talking about?" Cloe had so many mixed up feelings, she just wanted to cry again.

"You know what?" Cameron said, ignoring her miserable appearance. "Maybe I don't want to ever see you ever again either."

Cloe shut her eyes for a moment. She stared at him, unsure to react. "Will you just-"

Cameron jerked his head away from her face. "I gotta go." With his books in his grasp, he brushed right past her, leaving her and her torn heart, alone in the halls. Cloe stared down at the tile floors, gasping to herself from breaking down.

It's all my fault, she thought.

"Hey Cloe." A raspy low voice acknowledged her from behind.

Cloe turned to meet Bully's gaze. She rolled her eyes and let out an irritated sigh. Bully's expression softened. "I'm sorry what he just did to you." He said sincerely.

Cloe crossed her arms and turned away from him. "Just, leave me alone."

Bully frowned, but he was determined. "Come on, I don't like seeing you sad."

Cloe glared at him. "Then leave."

Bully sighed and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, don't let him get to you like that."

"What do you want from me?" Cloe demanded.

"Cloe…I…"

"What?" She almost yelled.

Bully took a deep breath. "I just want to ask you if . . ." Cloe just stared at him. "You'd like to go out…"

"What?" Cloe exclaimed, wanting to throw up. "No!"

Bully clenched his fists in frustration. Cloe didn't seem to notice. "Listen. Cameron's a jerk and he's not worth having…such a great girl like you. And, all I'm asking is for a chance. Will you just give it to me?"

Cloe let out a groan. He really wasn't going to give up. "Okay." She said in a bored tone, looking down. "Just one date. That's it, okay?"

Bully grinned, revealing his signature capped row of teeth. Something about that grin, just didn't seem right to her. "Sure, whatever you say, babe," he told her. Cloe clinched a bit at his remark, but thought to herself, it's just one date and it couldn't hurt much, could it?

She didn't know how wrong she was.

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"So Cloe, how did it go?" Jade asked her bud. It was lunch period, as usual and the Bratz were more than eager to see how things turned out for Cloe.

"Yeah, did he like, totally forgive you?" Sasha butted in.

"Are you guys going to go out?" Yasmin asked.

Cloe just sat there in her seat. I can't tell them that I'm cheating on Cameron. I just can't. I'm not technically cheating on him because, well, he started it. What am I talking about? I don't like Cameron anymore. He's nothing to me, I don't even care what happens to him…or do I?

The Bratz all gave Cloe weird looks. "Uh, Cloe…" Sasha said, trying to get her to look into her eyes. "Are you there, girl? Hellloooo?"

Cloe looked up at her friends; they all had images of concern plastered on their faces. She opened her mouth to speak. Then she closes it. She just couldn't do it.