RosesRRed1: I updated! And yes, I really should since I love all the songs I have heard. Maybe I'll get their CD next weekend...
Sonja: I'm writing! Writing as fast as I can! You're very welcome!
Noire1: I was hoping for it to be realistic :) Here's more for you!
Maia4ever: Yeah I'll keep writing. I promise...
Saima: Wicked... that's such a great word.
aPPle-FrrEAk: You're sick? My best friend was sick (Metalhead13, the crazy one) not too long ago. Feel better! And thanks for reviewing!
Scupo : Continuing!
Gina: Thanks! Here it is!
Ugly-Duckling06: Yes they do! Yes, it is!

Thanks for all the positive feedback! Here's another chapter, as I promised!

Chapter 3 – Misunderstandings and Major Traffic

Previously

I watched the other students, patiently waiting for her to come, worrying have might have forgotten.

And then I saw her.

There she stood, at the end of the line, looking nervous and annoyed at the same time. Did she know? Was she repulsed by me? Or was she just annoyed by something else?

I wiped all doubts from my mind and shouted, "Come on up!" She walked past the rest of the line, greeted by grumbling and groaning from everyone else. I didn't care. They could wait all eternity for the stupid game for all I care. Mia's more important than they'll ever be.

She finally arrived at the front of the line. "Here, Mia, sit at this one." I pulled out the chair of the computer with the disc installed, careful to use her first name. She sat and waited while I stood behind her, biting my lip. Hard.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Judith asked, giving me an evil stare. Wow, she was more irritated than I thought. Her poor, poor boyfriend.

"No, that's okay. I have a special one for her," I said simply. She shrugged and returned to work. The screen flickered, and the program I had spent hours on the night before came on. I watched the all too familiar castle and the garden with the roses. I tapped my foot as the banner waved across the screen, waiting for it to stop.

My heart was pounding.

The golden script finally became legible.

Roses are red
Violets are blue
You may not know it
But I love you, too

Okay, I admit it. It's not my best work. Believe me, I can do much better than this. But remember, this was all compiled at 3 a.m. None of it is my best work, except maybe the garden part. But that took hours.

And she did the exact thing I was dreading.

She jumped out of her chair and screamed, knocking the chair onto my feet. She screamed like the thought of me loving her was the most repulsive, disgusting thing in the world. And right then, my heart was in my throat. I probably would have thrown it up if it was physically possible.

I heard laughing around me. I knew they had no idea what was going on. They probably thought she saw Mr. Stewart in his dress or something. But I knew she was screaming for a whole other reason, one that wasn't very comforting to me.

She didn't send them. She didn't send the cards. It ran through my head over and over until my head started to hurt, overflowed with information.

She quickly grabbed her friend Tina roughly by the arm and run away, causing the poor girl to shriek and trip over several feet. "Mia," I called, hoping to salvage the situation somehow. She ignored me. I grabbed her arm, trying to get her to stop, and she pulled away. "Get off!" she cried, jerking away. I cringed.

I turned away and rubbed my forehead, collapsing into a nearby chair. I was about to cry. Honestly, I haven't cried in years. Matt looked at me quizzically, his eyebrows furrowed. "You mean it's true?" he asked, looking from me to the computer screen. The banner was still rolling solemnly in the digital wind.

"What's true?" I asked, not bothering to look up.

"You have a thing for Mia Thermopolis?"

"Yeah—wait...you mean you heard this somewhere else?"

"Well, we all sort of knew. It was sort of obvious the way your face lit up whenever she was around. Same goes for her, too."

"No, actually it doesn't. She hates me. She just ran away in horror at the thought of me liking her." I didn't say love. Matt knew I had a thing for her. He didn't need to know anything else.

"Really? 'Cause I could've sworn she liked you. I've been waiting for her to break up with—what's his name? Kenny?—for a while now."

I shrugged and put my head in my hands. I needed some peace and quiet.

"Listen, I'm going home. Tell Judith I'm sick or something." Matt looked at me oddly, and then shrugged.

"Sure, no problem."

I fished my keys out my pockets and unlocked the door, opening quietly, trying my best not to alert Pavlov, who I didn't want to come bounding toward the door. I didn't need him running out the door on me. Not right then. I spotted my mother who was, to my surprise, sitting on the couch reading a book. She was usually at work at this time.

"Michael, what are you doing home? Aren't you supposed to be at the Winter Carnival?" she asked.

"Yeah, well, I'm not feeling all that great. I think I'll just stay home the rest of the day," I replied, hanging my coat in the closet.

"Aren't you going to the Nondenominational Winter Dance?"

"Naw, it's not like I have an obligation. I have no date," I said, walking into my room. She looked like she was about to psycho-analyze me, but gave it a second thought and shrugged, returning to her book.

The phone's shrill ringing ran throughout my room, waking me to my dismay. I had fallen asleep, sprawled across my bed. Lilly had came back not too long ago, asking me what I had done to Mia. I explained, as calmly as I could, that I simply did what Lilly told me to do, and she ran away in horror. Lilly shook her head in disbelief. "She must have misunderstood," she told me. "Well at least she broke up with Kenny," I heard her mutter under her breath." Thank God, I thought to myself, not that it mattered all that much.

I picked up the phone. "Hello?" I said groggily, barely able to keep my eyes open.

"Mia's here!" I heard Lilly shriek.

"What?"

"Get down here! NOW!"

"Lilly, really, forget it, okay? She doesn't like me and that's all there is to it. Don't make me humiliate myself even more than I already have."

"She likes you! Now get down here NOW!" she was screaming, burning my eardrums as she always did.

"Alright, alright!" I shouted over her.

 I got up off my bed and hung up, not caring to say good bye. I changed into my tux and ran out of my room, not caring to tie my bowtie. Maybe Lilly was right... but I would need to hurry to even have a chance to clear things up.

"Going?" Mother asked, smiling slightly. I nodded and ran out the door, flagging down a cab. I was ignored. I shivered, noticing my lack of an overcoat. The traffic outside was ridiculous; cars seemed to fill every inch of fifth avenue.  Finally, a cab maneuvered through the traffic and pulled up along the sidewalk. I opened the door and hopped into the foul-smelling cab. The cab-driver eyed my tux suspiciously. "Albert Einstein High School," I said to him. He glared at me. "On Bleeker. Get there as quick as possible, please." He nodded and pulled out onto 12th Ave., avoiding the traffic as best he could.

I dashed out of the cab after handing the driver some cash, not bothering to check if it was the right amount. He drove away, so I figured it was. I ran up the steps three at a time, trying my best not to step on any of the people who were sitting on them. I swung open the heavy doors and ran down the hall into the gym, greeted by white, white and more white. There were tons of people, subconsciously sectioned off into groups. Mia was no where in sight. I spotted Lilly by Boris and walked up to her.

"Where's Mia?" I asked, my heart pounding in my chest.

"She left. You're late, you jackass." She said, angrily.

I fell back into a chair, cursing the amount of traffic that kept me from getting there earlier.

A/N: There! Now it makes sense! Or at least I hope it does... right? Anyway, read and review! Pweez? It means so much to me!