Day five.

Shane laid on his stomach, he had work in an hour and tutoring after. His days seemed to be so long and took forever to end. Whenever he woke up he looked forward to the end of his day when he was able to crawl into his bed and sleep.

Day eight.

He tracked down Caitlyn. He asked her if she had one from Mitchie. She looked at him with sad eyes and couldn't say anything else.

Day eleven.

His mind was somewhere else. He stopped his music lessons. Took more hours at Java Stop. He wanted to stop feeling like shit.

Day twenty-two.

Alarm. Wake up. School. Java Stop. Tutoring. Sleep.

Repeat.

Day thirty-one.

It's been a month since he'd seen Mitchie. He caught on that she was receiving her homework when caught caitlyn talking to the school counselor about how Mitchie had been adjusting to getting home schooled.

No one knew when she would be back.

He stopped looking around the halls. He stopped searching for her group of friends. He stopped texting her. He was becoming a shell of himself.

"Hey man!" Greg smiled happily.

They were in the middle of transiting from third to fourth period. Shane looked over at his friend and smiled. The first real smile in weeks.

"Are you going to ask Natalia to fall formal?"

Shane groaned as he shrugged his shoulder. He hadn't thought of fall formal. He was so busy with work and not failing chemistry. His new tutor Jefferson was a shit teacher. It took him and Shane a week for them to get down a chapter from the book. Shane felt like he was doggy paddling in a deep sea of chemistry. Mitchie had a way of explaining things in a way he would understand it. And those damn pink flashcards.

"Not really. I was thinking of skipping formal this year."

"Dude! Party bus! It's our last one."

"There's prom at the end of the school year. We can go all out then." Shane shrugged.

"We are then too! Remember the hotel room after party? We're getting my older brother to book a couple rooms! Reminding me of that, I need to get Brad's cash for the party bus. I'll see you at lunch!" Greg pat Shane's shoulder as he walked towards his class.

Shane sighed as he slammed his locker door shut.

Connie sighed as she entered her daughter's room.

"When do you think you'll go back to school?"

"Next fall when I'm at college."

Connie rolled her eyes at her daughter's dramatic declaration.

"Don't you want to go back to see your friends?"

"What friends? I only have one. And I see her every day." Mitchie shrugged as she got up to sit at her vanity.

Her mother took notice of her daughter's behavior. She was looking for signs, the signs she missed before.

"I'm a fine mother. Now I have to get ready. Caitlyn and I are going shopping."

"Are you okay? How is the medication this time around?"

"Fine. Like yesterday and the day before, they're fine." Mitchie snipped.

Her phone buzzed next to her. Caitlyn was texting her that she was on her way.

"I really have to get ready mom. Please close the door behind you."

Connie sighed as she closed the door behind her. She saw her daughter but couldn't tell who this Mitchie was. She sounded and acted like her but there was something off about her. She walked downstairs and counted the pills again. Making sure she wasn't missing a dose. Connie shook her head. Steve and her did everything in their power to make the transition for Mitchie to return to school as smooth and easy as possible. But she hasn't shown signs of her wanting to return.

Mitchie came down stairs a week ago and said that she had applied to Brown, Yale and New York University. She was determined to leave the west coast for good. Connie and Steve were proud of their daughters achievements but knew she was trying to run away. She was good at that.

Mitchie rushed to get ready, throwing on a pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt, she grabbed her scarf and tied up her Dr. Martens quickly. Picking up one of her Chanel over the shoulder bags she checked her hair for any fly aways before going downstairs.

"Bye mom! See you at dinner." Mitchie yelled as she slammed the door behind her.

"Be careful!" Connie let out quickly.

Mitchie ran outside and met with Caitlyn. Caitlyn smiled widely before handing her today's assignments. Caitlyn didn't press Mitchie about what happened. And Mitchie insisted that she not talk about Misty or Sander.

Caitlyn was the only one that knew some part of the truth. She knew that Mitchie had gone away for a short time and was on medications that made it hard for her to function normally for a while hence the reason she didn't go back to school right away.

Caitlyn drove them to the mall, Caitlyn gossiping about all the girls that have gotten asked to the formal. She also confessed that she was waiting for Zane to ask her.

"I knew you had a thing for him." Mitchie teased.

"Oh stop it you."

"So why don't you ask him?"

"I can't do that! It's formal."

"So? It's 2014. I think we've established that females are strong, independent and in charge of their you want him as a date, ask him. Don't wait around for him to realize that he's wasting time on not asking you. He's probably nervous."

Caitlyn sighed as she parked her car. Mitchie smiled as she opened the door and waited for Caitlyn outside. Her phone dinged in her pocket.

Meet me in Barnes and Noble. $200.

Mitchie sighed as she sent a quick thumbs up.

"Hey, earth to Caitlyn? I have to pee. I'm going to go ahead and meet you inside. Its fucking chilly today." Mitchie's teeth chattered as she rushed to the bookstore. She looked around for a black hoodie. When her phone vibrated again.

Bathroom.

Mitchie grabbed a book on a shelf next to her. She slipped the money in there and headed for the bathroom. She noticed the black hoodie. Without saying a word they exchanged books. She went inside and slipped into the stall. She took out the two bags. One containing pills and the other a white powder. She took out her house keys that had a small lipstick jewel, that opened up and turned into a dummy key. She opened the powdered baggie and took a bump out. She quickly inhaled, before licking off the residue off the key. She put the top of the lipstick on her keys and stuck everything in her bag.

She felt her pulse quicken, and her tongue numbed.

She missed this high.

The door creaked open.

"Hey Mitchie, you in here?" Caitlyn announced.

"Yeah, give me a second." Mitchie straightened her shirt before inhaling one last time. She wiped at her nose and opened the door.

"You okay?" Caitlyn asked.

"Yeah why do you ask?"

"Your eyes are teary eyed."

"Oh, allergies." Mitchie smiled.

Caitlyn nodded her head skeptically.

"Alright well let's go shopping."