Okay… Just so we don't get confused: The Missing Chapter was something I wrote but I was so embarrassed by it that I couldn't post it. But it still happened… So it is the chapter that exists in the present, but not in the past or future. Truly a 'no day but today' thing, right? Well enjoy this chapter. Warning: contains Bitchy!Angel moments. Lots of them.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything… well I do own Josh, but that's it.

-Collins' POV-

I hate Mondays, and I can already tell this isn't going to be a good one. The first thing is that my mom woke me up today. Usually it's Angel getting me up super-early for snuggling and breakfast and that sort of thing. So of course the fact that she isn't awake before me is slightly worrisome. I decide to wake her up since she isn't up yet. I go to her room and knock gently on the door.

"Go 'way. I'm awake. Leave me alone." She answers when I say good morning. I ask her what's wrong. "Nothing is wrong. I'm just not ready, okay?"

"Do you want me to have breakfast ready for you?"

"No."

"I'll make pancakes?"

"No."

"With blueberries?" There's a long pause.

"Okay. Fine. But only if there's a lot of blueberries."

I shower and get dressed quickly, going downstairs to find my mom already making pancakes. She obviously overheard us. I get the small container of blueberries out of the refrigerator and put some into the remaining pancake batter. Eventually we have enough pancakes for everyone. My dad comes down the stairs before Angel, which bothers me slightly. It's not like her taking this long… Finally she comes downstairs.

"Morning." She mutters, flopping down into a chair. The first thing I notice is that she's back in jeans and t-shirt today- and not even her sparkly jeans. Oh well… I set a plate of blueberry pancakes in front of her and kiss her cheek. She leans away from me, but says a quiet thank-you.

"Angel, what's wrong with you this morning? You seem a bit down." My mom says as she sets down the rest of the pancakes on the table. Angel glares at the plate in front of her.

"I'm fine. Just fine."

After breakfast Angel disappears again. We have about ten minutes before we really have to leave for school, and I don't know why she's procrastinating. So now we have five minutes, and all of my stuff is packed up.

"Angel, are you ready to go?" I call up the stairs. Within a few seconds she's on her way down the stairs with her backpack.

"Yeah. I'm ready. Let's go." She goes to the front door and waits for me. I grab my backpack and shout a goodbye to my parents, and soon we're on our way to school. There's an awkward silence (yes, a real one) as we walk. After a couple blocks I have to say something.

"Are you sure you're okay, honey? I mean, I know sometimes you're just in a bad mood or whatever, but I just want to know that you're okay." She looks at me with a blank expression.

"I told you, I'm fine. God, can't you just listen to me and leave me alone for once?" She almost shouts. I guess we're going to be walking in silence now.

We get to school with a few minutes left to sit with our friends. Angel sits down with her back against the tree and her arms crossed. Maureen and April exchange looks, and start whispering about something. Mark says as quietly as possible-

"What's wrong with her?"

"I have no clue…"

"Maybe she's got PMS…" Mark suggests. I laugh and he looks confused.

"Mark, only girl girls get PMS. It has to do with the reproductive organs and hormones." I try to say this quietly. Angel hears me, though, and scowls even more. I wince and look to the girls for help.

"Angel, what's got your panties in such a bunch?" Maureen asks.

"Fuck off, Maureen. No one cares. Just shut up and go away." Angel snaps, keeping her eyes focused on the ground. Maureen gasps in shock, and April looks increasingly worried. Mark looks offended, because apparently he cares, and Roger just looks like it's the funniest thing he's ever seen.

"Go Angel! Come on guys, leave her alone. She's obviously in a very bad mood, and she doesn't need you guys bothering her…" Roger says, earning a slightly lessened frown from her.

"Sorry Mo." She mutters. "Why do they even call me 'she?' I'm not a girl…" She continues to mumble almost inaudibly. I think I'm the only one who heard the last part.

"Angel… is that what you're upset about? That you aren't-"

"NO." She interrupts me, before jumping up and running towards her first class, leaving me with another awkward silence. April stands up.

"I'll go after her, make sure she gets to class okay." She leaves, and Maureen looks at me.

"Can you explain that? Maybe it really was PMS… or maybe she's pissed off because she can't have PMS- which is a very important part of being female."

"I don't know." I shake my head. "I think Angel might be having a sort of… identity crisis? You know… with the whole cross-dressing thing." I shrug and stand up with my backpack. "Shall we go to class now?"

The early morning classes go well, and then it's time for Art. I'm a little worried, but at least I have some idea of what's upsetting her. I go into the classroom and find Angel sitting at our usual table, looking up at the ceiling. When I sit down next to her, she looks at me for a moment before going back to staring at the ceiling.

"Hey." I say quietly. "I'm sorry, if I did anything."

"Stop apologizing. You didn't do anything. You're just insecure, and probably afraid of losing me." She says, never taking her eyes off of the ceiling.

"I just wish you would tell me what's wrong…"

"Just leave me alone for a while, okay? That's what I want right now."

"Okay, sweetie. Whatever will make you happy."

The art teacher isn't here today, so we have a sub who tells us to just do whatever we want. Angel starts drawing something (I can't see what it is though), and I get out my sketchbook. I look around for something to draw, but I'm feeling uninspired. I hate it when Angel is sad, and it's starting to get to me. So I just chew on the eraser of my pencil for a while, before I start doodling.

At the end of class I have a person on my page who reminds me a lot of Angel. He has short hair, but is wearing a baggy sweatshirt, a short skirt, and heels. I wrote bits of a song I know next to my drawing, just little bits of verses that reminded me of Angel. Well this was probably a wasted class period, and I'm sure Angel's mood wouldn't improve if she saw it (at least right now).

She eats lunch in silence while the rest of us talk just loud enough to hear each other over the noise of the rest of the cafeteria. April sits next to Angel and occasionally says something, but never gets a response. Roger spends his time trying to get April's attention, and Maureen and Mark talk about the newest drama club production. I'm feeling a little out of the loop now, so I just eat my lunch and talk to Mark a couple times. I hardly realize when someone walks up behind us.

"Well, well. Angel, you're not in your usual clothing today. What's wrong? Finally realized you're not a girl and never will be?" Josh. As if today could get any worse- and then he has to show up.

"Josh, go away. Angel's having a bad day, and we really don't want to be harassed right now." I retort. He just laughs and keeps going.

"Aw, is it sad? Poor thing, at least you have your boyfriend to make it better. And you won't even say anything? That's really funny. Did you forget all of your snappy comebacks?"

"Josh, please just shut up or go away or something. Really, please- just don't do this today. If you still have any respect for me or my friends, please leave us alone."

"Hell no. I asked Angel some questions, and he won't even answer me!"

"If you want answers, Josh, then let's step outside and talk." Angel finally says. She stands up and motions towards the door. "After you, Joshy."

They walk out the door, and I sense that this is not a good situation. So I follow them, despite April and Maureen telling me not to. I step out the door and look around for them. The courtyard seems deserted- until I notice them a few feet away from the door.

"So Josh, you think it's funny to bother people when they are obviously already in a bad mood? Well, you know what I think is funny? Hypocritical bastards who put down people just like them, so they can feel better about themselves."

"I'm not anything like you fags. So I went out with Collins for a while. I'm not gay. That wasn't anything serious, anyway. Just fooling around- and you know it. You're more messed up than I am any day. Dressing like a girl? God made us the way we are for a reason. If God wanted you to be a girl, then you would've been born a fucking girl."

"Don't even try to use religion to solve this. You know that's a weak excuse anyway. Tell me, Josh- were you just 'fooling around' when you hurt Tom? Were you just 'fooling around' when you made him do things he didn't want to do?" Angel says calmly. She's really mad if she's that cool.

"Actually, yes. Sure, he was my boy-toy, my fuck-buddy, but nothing more than that." Josh still hasn't noticed me standing by the door, just a few feet away.

"You didn't deserve him. You never deserved such a loving person, and yet there he was. And he did like you, but you threw that away." Angel clenches her hands into fists. This is not going to end well.

"Does it look like I care?" Josh asks, smirking. He's not intimidated, and that's really stupid of him. The next thing I see is Angel shoving Josh, and giving him a good kick when he falls onto the ground.

She looks a little scared and almost apologizes, but instead she runs off down the hallway. I don't know if she noticed me standing there, but she went past me anyway. I walk over to Josh and help him up.

"You okay?" I ask as he coughs into his hand. He looks up and seems surprised that it's me helping him up.

"Why the hell would you care?"

"I heard the whole thing, Josh. I don't care about you any more… but Angel shouldn't have done that. Although… you shouldn't have been provoking her either. Especially when I told you she was in a pissy mood. I mean really, how dumb do you get?" He laughs nervously.

"I'm sorry. I really am. I shouldn't have said those things about him- sorry. Her. And I'm also sorry about what I said about us. But… it was true."

"I know. And that's okay. We both just need to move on." I put my hand out, and he shakes it. "Good. Now get your ass back in there and tell everyone you got beat up. You can say it was me, if you want. That should lessen the shame and mocking." We laugh together earnestly, and I head off in the direction I saw Angel going.

If I was Angel and I was pissed off at the whole world, where would I go? Hmm… I might hide in the bathroom. Let's check there first. I walk into the closest bathroom.

"Angel? Are you in here?" No answer- no people. Oh well. That kills that theory. So where else might I go?

The library. I walk to the small building where the library is located and go inside. I scan the tables and rows of shelves, looking for her. She isn't here. So where else could she be? Suddenly I think of something. I run out of the building and around the corner.

"Angel!" I shout, running towards the bleachers behind the school. I duck under the bar restricting my path and find her sitting on the ground, crying. "Honey, what-"

"Collins!" she squeaks, grabbing my arm and making me sit down next to her. She hugs me close to her and cries onto my shoulder. I put my arms around her, trying to comfort her.

"Calm down, baby. Tell me what's wrong." I decide not to tell her that I saw her argument with Josh.

"I just- can't- I'm so sorry…" She continues to sob into my arm. After a few minutes she calms down enough to form complete sentences. "I was fighting with Josh… the things he said made me so… so mad. I hit him, and then I ran back here."

"I know. I found him outside. He wasn't hurt to bad. He said you kicked him, and I really didn't care. I was just glad you weren't wearing heels today, or you might've hurt him a lot more."

"Yeah… And I'm sorry I was being so stupid today. I was just… I was thinking. About us. You're going to have to go through a lot of shit if you're with me… and I don't know why you would want to. I mean, am I really worth all that?"

"Angel! Don't even think you aren't worth it. I would put up with a thousand people like Josh every day, if I could be with you forever. You know that."

"I know. But another thing… I was thinking about… well, I still want to wear skirts. I don't know why I was getting all mad about that. Probably just my own stupidity. Bleh, I look horrible today. And I need a haircut soon, too."

"Honey, you look fine. I swear. You're beautiful, no matter what you wear or how you cut your hair."

"Aw, Tom you're so sweet." I kiss her softly, and we stay under the bleachers for the rest of lunch.

Sorry this chapter came a bit late… I'm temporarily cut off from the internet so I have to sit in cafés with free internet access to post things & check email and stuff. So I'll be updating regularly again by next week. Reviews are love, and this chapter you get a hug from Angel when you review! ;D