Special shout out to -DuckEgg- YOUR EMAIL IS BROKEN, CALL ME, YOU PLUM! =-P

Just had to say that. =-) Anyway, I'm sorry for the wait, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. Turns out we didn't have Internet connection over there. There was an Internet Cafe, but this creepy guy next to me was watching me on the computer and I didn't want to enter my password and email in front of him, you know? I was just as frustrated as you are that it took this long. In fact, more lol. Italian people are really rude by the way, I was sort of glad to get away. Venice itself was gorgeous though =-)

This chapter is sort of a filler. The next one will be longer and more important. Okay, in fact very important.

Happy holidays everyone, hope you're having a good time! Please review! =-) Xx

I meet up with Rachel that night. I've been looking forward to this. She has a sort of... knack of making me forget about my troubles and just be my normal crazy self. Hopefully she can work her magic tonight once again.

I practically bounce into the cinema, somehow not caring about the stares as I focus on finding Rachel. I'm practically bubbling with excitement. Not only is this the movie that I have wanted to see... well, for months, but I also get to be cheered up by my friend. Double bonus.

That doesn't mean that I've forgotten everything, however much I wish I do. I can feel the anger and sadness still sitting in my heart, just waiting for me to be alone for it to pounce, but today I'm determined to hold it together and not shout in a fit of rage. Seeing the house which Jordan has bought for us- me and him, no disinterested or absent parents- has really made me feel happier. Not one hundred percent better, but able to see things in a slightly more positive light.

My excited eyes spot Rachel in the Popcorn and Candy section, doing her browsing.

"My Rachie!" I say thrilly, dramatically clasp my hands to my chest like a nun as I walk towards her.

"Very funny," she snaps, but I can tell she's only joking. "Looking forward to the movie, I see? Now, I need to ask you the most important question in life itself. Your future happiness, and also my future happiness, depend on you answering this question. I hope you realize that throughout this dramatic speech, I am working up toward something... dramatic," she paused, staring me in the eyes seriously. "Do you want Twizzlers or Chocolate?"

I blink. "Twizzlers. You know I love Twizzlers, why are you even asking me that?"

Rachel smiles secretly.

"A test to see if you're feeling happy today despite the Brady situation. If you were unhappy, you would have said whatever. Happy, you would have asked me what the hell I'm doing asking you that question. Which you just did. You passed the test!"

I don't know why I'm even surprised by this oh-so-cleverly-thought test, but I am. I guess I just thought I had convinced her enough that I'm coping instead of... well, not. She's been texting me non-stop over the weekend, asking me what I'm doing and if I'm alone and thinking about Brady. Once she went as far as to ask if I was feeling suicidle yet. Yes, that did really do wonders in cheering me up. Note the sarcasm.

The sadness is slowly creeping away, the mourning of my lost best friend fading slightly, and being replaced by anger. I would never do that to my best friend. Or in fact, just anyone. Even my worst enemy wouldn't have to worry about that around me. It's not fair that Chloe did this to me, when I already have to much to deal with. Some of it good, like moving in with Jordan, and the bad stuff, like thinking about Brady all the time. I'm ashamed to say that I keep having romantic dreams about him. My subconscious mind keeps bringing him up as if he's a missing part of me. In my dream, he's just Brady again. The one with all the girls fawning over him. I don't seem to remember anything about Chloe- none of that has happened in my dreams. He leans down and kisses me several times, smiling at me, not in the way that he smiles at all the girls. He smiles at me as if I'm special.

And when I wake up, I feel guilty and stupid, and perhaps on some level, a little disappointed. I get angry at myself about that. And I know that I can never tell anyone about my dreams. Even Jordan would say that I'm being stupid.

I think I am too.

But anyway, back to the present.

"I'm getting these chewy sweetie thingies, and maybe some salted popcorn, do you want-?" Her eyes suddenly widen at something behind me. "Oh, fuck."

I frown in confusion and begin to turn round.

"No, don't look get round! Let's go buy these sweets!" she adds, a little too excitedly forced. I've already turned by the time she says 'buy'.

At first, I don't know what she's gawping at. I see the usual bunch of light brown chairs in the corner of the room, their shiny armrests and legs, the TV promoting the latest films next to them. A few kids are sat in a group around one of the matching light brown tables, laughing and talking over their cokes. Nothing out of the ordinary.

I'm just away to turn back to her, a mocking and confused frown on my face, when I finally notice the person leaning his hands against an empty chair.

At first I see the man he's talking to, Sam, and for half a second, I think about yelling him over to thank him for all he's done for me. Then I see who he's talking to.

For a second, I just freeze in shock. My one night of being remotely happy, and this happens. All of my organs, particularly my heart, feel as if they're not working. My breathing has stopped, my heart skipping a beat, held in this moment of suspense.

The person being talked at by Sam is none other than Brady. I barely notice that his head is down and he looks horrible. Like he hasn't slept in a week. He has both hands set behind him on the chair, supporting himself with his eyes on the floor. From the look of him, you'd think that his mother had just been killed by his best friend and his dad didn't give a shit. What on earth is he looking like that for?

I don't know what I feel right now. There's no way to describe it. Like a mixture of surprising anger, sadness, pain, and something else in me that I don't like. I feel as if I should do something to make him feel better, which I do not get. What am I meant to care if he's upset? It's wrong to even partly feel the way I am right now, as if I should do something to cheer him up.

Sam is talking to him, well, more at him. Brady doesn't look as if he's particularly listening. Sam is staring down at him urgently, mouth visibly moving as if what he's saying is extremely important.

"Ignore him, Kayla, he's not worth it. Remember what I said to you? They're just not worth it. Let's look at the sweets instead, they're worth it," Rachel tries to distract me, gripping my arms gently. I barely hear her. I don't really know what to do, I seem to be frozen in this state of anger/pain/sad-for-Brady.

I don't have time to prepare myself when Brady looks up. Maybe I blink, but on second Brady's eyes are on the floor, then on me. The sadness isn't dominating his face now. They're filled with wonder and disbelief. Sam keeps talking at him for a few seconds more, then looks up, still with the same serious expression on his face, and looks to see what Brady is staring at. Me.

I'm sure that my heart isn't beating, along with my breathing- I'm sure that's stopped too. I just... don't know what to do right now. Why do his eyes always capture mine like I'm a criminal and he's a prisoner officer? A million feelings rush through me as I can't look away from him. The tingly, electric feeling is back, and I don't like it. It's a horrible feeling.

I feel Rachel's hands grip me harder, and they force me away from Brady's eyes and toward her again. I stare somewhere between her chest and her throat in shock and anger. My breathing begins to go really crazy now that I'm away from Brady's eyes, sort of heaving and gasping. After a moment, they just begin to stick in my throat, trapped there. But they're not with sadness for some reason, and an unexpected feeling just takes over me.

I'm angry at Brady and Chloe. Both of them, but in this moment, it's just Brady. He's ruining my special night with Rachel. We've been waiting for this day for ages, and the fact that he's here now is all his fault. Not being smug, I feel rather proud of myself for being angry with them. At least now I know that the sadness has passed and the anger is easier to control.

"Look, Kayla, I know you're upset, but you need to snap out of this and-"

"I'm not upset- I'm angry," I realize the feeling running through me, and look up at her in surprise. "He's ruining our special night," I whine.

Rachel's eyes widen in presumable shock, then narrow.

"Yeah, he is, come on, let's just ignore him and hope he's not in to see Superbad too."

I don't notice how Brady's eyes light up right then- we're hurriedly buying our sweets and popcorn. I can't stop myself from slamming down the Twizzlers on the counter, hardly paying attention when I hand over the money. Sure, I'm still sad, but I'm sick of being a little girl with a crush. Maybe now I can finally get over Brady once and for all.

But from the way my heart suddenly clenches at that thought, getting over him may take a long time. My heart doesn't seem to want to forget him for some reason.