I sat on the plane ride home from an uneventful vacation. I was not at all surprised at how bored I was. I was not in the mood to have fun and get some sun (no rhyme intended). Not that there was actually any sun. It rained the whole time. That's what I hate about Florida: it always rains. Not that it mattered to me. I was in the mood to stay on the internet and be anti-social anyway. The fact that I had gotten a laptop as a Christmas present made that vacation a lot easier.

Then, there I was, on the way back to Manhattan, and I was forced to think about the object of m affections once again.

I had tried my best not to think about her all through vacation, but that turned out to be all too difficult. But when I would come back home I would be forced to think of her, to see her. After all, she is my little sister's best friend.

And how awkward would that be? To see the girl that you loved, but she was so repulsed by you that when you professed your feeling for her she ran into the bathroom in horror and disgust. I'm not looking forward to it.

I tried my best to forgive Lilly, really I did. Maybe she truly didn't know that Mia didn't send those letters.

The again, maybe she did. You can never really trust Lilly. Who would even try anyway? She's Lilly.

She says she is very frustrated with us and how pathetic we are. Honestly, what did she know? She's still set on the idea that Mia has, and I quote her on this, "wild and passionate feelings" for me. Okay, so she was being sarcastic at the time, but she was still going crazy. Lilly's pretty dense herself if she doesn't realize by now how much Mia does not want to be with me.

She was losing her mind during the whole vacation. She freaked out when she found out how much they charged her for two liters of soda. Honestly Lilly, let it go. I think she just likes to boycott stuff.

Oh yeah, and humiliate me. We couldn't forget that now, could we?

No, of course not.

Lilly assured me that Mia wouldn't be home until the day before school starts, which was January 19th. Not that it made much of a difference. It was already the seventeenth. I guess Lilly was just tired of my moping and wanted to help.

And, as you can guess, that's all I was doing for those couple of weeks. Mope, mope, mope, and mope some more. Moping, as I have found out, is very depressing. Honestly, why did I bother? I only made myself more and more miserable. I could've at least gone out and gotten myself a date or something. You know... a rebound or something. Not that there was ever an actual relationship between me and Mia so it wouldn't have exactly been a rebound.

But no. No dates for Michael. No sir. Michael sat in his room and typed on his damn laptop computer that he has grown to worship..

Now I've taken to calling myself in the third person.

Oy.

Flashback

Sixteen year old Michael walked on the city sidewalk, overshadowed by the buildings surrounding me. The moon was full and visible for once through the countless skyscrapers that usually blocked the sky. I needed time to think. Emma, my girlfriend, was moving to England. Moving. My head began to pound and I slammed my foot into the cement, yelling out loud in frustration. What was I supposed to do? Obviously, I didn't want her to go. She couldn't go....she couldn't...

But she was. My cell rang, abruptly interrupting my train of thought. It's Josh, I thought to myself. It's Josh and I do not want to deal with that jackass of a friend right now.

It kept on ringing, as if he was refusing to give up. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket.

"Hello?!" I answered irritated.

"Geez Michael, don't have a cow. It's only me." I sighed with somewhat relief to realize it was my ever-annoying sister, Lilly, and not the full-of-himself jackass I was expecting. Honestly, you would think you would enjoy your so called "friends" company but I was constantly annoyed by their immature antics. You would think being in the popular crowd without being on the football team would be extremely enjoyable but no, not for Michael Moscovitz. Hell, I had to be smart enough to realize every damn guy I hang out with women-using jerks who enjoyed making fun of the poor little freshmen who had to endure them. I promised myself I wouldn't let them torture Lil' and her friend Mia next year. No one made fun of my sister, but I wasn't quite sure why I was so fond of Mia.

"Hello? Earth to Michael-land?" I snapped back to reality.

"What?"

"Where are you?"

"I don't know... some street?"

"Real descriptive. Honestly, Michael, it's already dark outside. Strolling the street of New York City at night is not a good idea."

"Is that what you called me for?"

"Yes."

"I can take care of myself, Lilly."

"I don't care about you're well being. You have to make me dinner."

"Alright, I'm on my way."

I hung up and proceeded reluctantly down the deserted street. I turned down an alleyway to stall myself. I didn't want to get home anytime soon. I looked up to see Emma, and she wasn't alone.

No, she definitely was not alone.

She had her arms wrapped around the unmistakable figure of Josh.

And she was kissing him.

Hell, they were making out. They did not notice me as I stood there, mouth hanging open. I felt my heart being ripped to shreds. I felt like bursting out into tears.

She pulled away and smiled at him. "I love you" she said to him firmly. She had pretty much grabbed my heart and threw it on the floor. She turned around to see me standing there. There was shock and sorrow on her face as she ran toward me. Josh was still smirking. No regret showed in his face.

I turned away and walked toward my apartment, ignoring her clawing at my shoulder. She was yelling in my ear, but I ignored her.

I felt a sudden surge of hatred for both of them and I had no idea where it'd come from. I needed to get out of there.

All I could think is: How dare she.

She was gone the next day.

I woke up and rubbed my eyes groggily. I was still on the plane, thank God. It was only a dream. A dream that really did happen, but still a dream all the same. I did not want to relive that part of my life over again. It was all one big nightmare. Why does Josh pick on me so damn much? Because I used to be part of his crowd but then, as he puts it, I "went all geek on him". Not like I care. I hated that entire period of my life. I hated my entire circle of friends and my girlfriend was cheating on me with Josh the entire time we were going out.

Not that my life was any better now, but at least I have friends I can count on.

A/N: There! Sorry it took a little long to update! I hope this was a good chappie!