When the door to my bedroom slammed open, I was immediately awakened and nearly fell out of my bed.

"Get up, loser, we're going shopping!" Elias called out.

I groaned, rubbing at my eyes. "Why am I not surprised you're fully in depth with Mean Girls quotes?"

Elias flipped his nonexistent hair. "You know, I'm basically a teenage girl."

"That doesn't surprise me."

He now yanked my blankets off of my bed. "Get on up, girly!"

I let out another groan and pushed myself up out of the bed. There was no way I could get out of this because I knew he wasn't going to let me go back to sleep.

"It's Sunday," I whined, slowly making my way out of my room and down the hall to the bathroom. "Why are we going to the mall so early on a Sunday?"

Elias placed his hands on his hips. "Today's my last day in town!" he informed me, and I was surprised. I almost forgot. "I've been spending the whole time with Carrie, but now I want to spend it with the first friend I made here!"

This made me feel a little guilty for whining earlier. I guess it'd be okay if I wasted a couple of hours with him instead of worrying about Mona or Blake.

It had been two weeks since Blake's birthday party, and we were no longer fighting with each other. I just didn't think that it was worth it, since he was hearing voices whenever we fought.

So I but my tongue whenever Mona was around it was brought up. I wasn't going to be the reason he was hearing voices any longer.

I was able to get ready in ten minutes, and then Elias was practically carrying me out the door and into the passenger's seat of his truck.

When we got to the mall, he practically dragged me into every store he thought was interested. That included sport stores, and even a Victoria's Secret. I really thought it was awkward for a guy to go in there, but he wanted to go inside even more than I did.

"Do you think Carrie will like this?" he asked me as he picked up a frilly lace bra from one of the bins.

I made a face. "Can we please not talk about her like that?"

He laughed, throwing the bra back into the bin and making his way out of the store. I let out a sigh of relief and followed after him, looking around for stores that I'd want to go into.

When I finally found a clothing store that I liked, I grabbed onto Elias and dragged him toward it. He immediately started whining.

"What happened to you practically being a teenage girl?" I asked him, a smirk growing on my lips. "It was your idea to go to the mall!"

"Yeah, but..." He pursed his lips.

I rolled my eyes at him and continued on my way into the store, knowing he was going to follow after me even though he didn't want to.

I only took about three steps into the store until I side-stepped and his behind a rack of clothes, pulling Elias beside me.

"What?" he asked, peering over the rack with me. "Why are we hiding?"

I shushed him so the girl I was watching wouldn't hear him. She didn't even glance our way. But I was glad, because this was the last person I wanted to see.

Mona.

But she wasn't alone. She was with a redheaded girl that I hadn't ever seen before, so I assumed that it was someone that went to her old school.

She was pulling out a low-cut shirt and laying it against her body to show the girl she was with.

"You know that boy I really like?" she giggled, and I felt my hands ball into fists. "Do you think he'll like this on me?"

"Oh, yeah, totally," the girl she was with nodded. "He'll love it! Who is this guy, by the way? You talk about him all the time!"

Mona giggled again. My fingernails dug into my palm. I already knew who she was going to say.

"His name's Blake," she finally answered, and I bit the inside of my cheek. "He's actually my ex-boyfriend. He actually used to go to our school, but he left the year before you came!"

The redhead was nodding again now. "Oh, so he's an ex-boyfriend? Do you think he still likes you?"

Once again, Mona giggled. It was really starting to annoy me. "I really think he does!"

I wanted to scream. This girl needed to stay away from my boyfriend before she became an even bigger threat. And it seemed that that could happen soon!

"But there's one thing I have to worry about," she continued now, and my legs were kind of starting to hurt from crouching behind the clothing rack. Elias, of course, didn't seem to be straining at all. "There's this girl..."

Oh, no.

"A girl?" the redhead gasped now, as if that was the scariest thing she had ever heard. "Like a girlfriend? Just break them up!"

I immediately didn't like this girl, and I didn't even know her name. I sure hoped that she never decided to come to our school.

"No, no, not a girlfriend," Mona laughed now, even though I was sure the redhead hadn't been joking. "Well... she's an ex-girlfriend, and she's actually a really good friend of mine. But they're always together, so I can't help but worry that they might still have feelings for each other."

So she wasn't completely clueless. That was good to know.

"Well, I think you should pounce on him while you can," the redhead advised now as she flipped through clothes in another rack. "Figuratively and physically. You don't know if that bitch is going to try to get him back or not!"

Yep, I really didn't like her. I wasn't exactly fond of being called a bitch, especially when it was by someone that didn't even know who I was.

"No, she's not like that!" Mona now defended, and I almost felt bad for hating her. "She's actually very nice! But, yeah... I don't know if they still like each other or not. So I should probably make my move soon."

She should make no move at all. She needed to stay far, far away from him.

Sick and tired of this conversation, I turned around and stormed right out of the store, not even waiting for Elias. He could catch up to me.

"Wait... I thought that Mona girl was dating Blake," Elias now said as he followed after me, and I stopped dead in my tracks. "That's what Carrie told me."

I gulped. What was I supposed to say?

"Um," I hummed, thinking that this would somehow buy me some time. "He only said that so Carrie would stop bugging him about me."

That sounded believable, right? I sure hoped so.

Elias was Carrie's boyfriend, which meant he couldn't know about Blake and me. I didn't think he would tell Carrie, but he was the kind of guy where it could easily accidentally slip out. And it was already bad enough that both Thomas and Morgan already knew.

Obviously noticing that I was no longer in the mood to hang out, Elias suggested that we go home. I agreed. Even though I wanted to spend more time with him because I rarely ever got to see him, I just didn't feel like being out any longer.

When we were back in his truck, I texted Blake and told him I wanted to see him. I had to tell him about Mona before she went and threw herself at him. He texted back and told me that he'd come pick me up and he'd take me somewhere we wouldn't be caught.

"I'll be back for your show," Elias informed me as he rolled to a stop in front of my house. "I really wanted to see it, so Carrie and I are going to go."

I forced a smile. I loved that he was going to come, but the last thing I wanted was to see Carrie. She was going to see Christian and me together in it and then she was just going to gush and go on and on about how cute we were together. Not something I wanted to listen to.

Blake picked me up from my house only five minutes after Elias had dropped me off, and we were off to wherever he had chosen. It was actually kind of exciting, not knowing where we were going.

In the past two weeks, we hadn't gotten to hang out very much, what with my play practice and his football practices. We still talked on the phone and texted, but it just wasn't the same. I was glad that we were finally going to spend some time together out in the open.

Blake had made many friends since making the team, and it was strange to see him hanging out with football players and cheerleaders. He still ate lunch with us, but he always seemed to be with them either before or after school. It was weird because those were the people that I used to hang out with.

The only really good thing about this was that Derrick and Blake had gotten a lot closer, and they even seemed to be becoming practically best friends. I'd rather him be best friends with Derrick than any other idiot that was on the team.

There weren't very many people in the pizza parlor, and I let out a sigh of relief. I didn't want to chance anyone from school seeing us together, but I luckily saw no one that I recognized as we took a seat in a booth across from each other.

This is a really nice place," I smiled, looking around. It was small, and only a few other people were inside. It was absolutely perfect.

Blake grinned at me. "Anything for you, babe."

I froze. Did he just call me... babe? Didn't he know how much I hated being called that because of Sean?

"Oh, my gosh!" a new voice now said, and I almost sunk in my seat. I turned to see Mona smiling broadly at us, Christian standing right beside her. It was obviously not his idea to come over to us. "Look who it is! I didn't expect to see the two of you hanging out here!"

That was because we weren't just hanging out. We were on a date.

Without even getting invited to do so, Mona slid into the booth next to Blake, way to close for comfort. I looked over at Christian, who obviously wasn't comfortable with just sitting down, so I let out as sigh and said, "Want to sit down, Christian?"

He smiled at me before taking the seat next to me. Blake didn't look happy, but that just made two of us. These two always seemed to be places we didn't want them to be.

What was Mona even doing here with Christian? Hadn't she just been at the mall with that annoying redhead? Of course, that had been like an hour before, but... still. She sure switched between friends quickly.

"So, what are we talking about?" Mona asked once we were all situated.

Actually, we weren't talking about anything. We got interrupted by her before we could even start talking about anything besides the fact that this was a nice place.

Before either Blake or I could answer, another voice cut us off once again.

"Hey!" the new voice now called out, and I almost groaned. "What are you all doing here? A double date?"

It seemed like it was becoming a group outing. Wonderful. Just wonderful.

I scowled at her. "No. We're not on a double date."

Cassie didn't look like she believed me, but I expected as much from her. She was going to believe what she thought was right until she was thoroughly proven wrong. "Are you sure you're all just hanging out as friends?"

Could I leave? I didn't want to be here any longer.

Mona giggled as she wrapped her arms around Blake's, who looked very uncomfortable. I gave him a look, but he avoided my gaze. Smart idea.

"It does seem kind of like a double date, doesn't it?" Mona smiled, snuggling into Blake even more. I felt my blood boil. Why wasn't Blake doing anything?

I was going to rip her arms off. "It's not a double date," I almost growled.

"Sorry, Christian," Cassie now laughed to the boy beside me. "Obviously, she likes to play hard to get."

I felt like screaming. "I'm not playing hard to get!"

I just didn't understand why Cassie wanted Blake with Mona and me with Christian so bad. It wasn't like it was affecting her life at all!

Cassie now grabbed a chair from another table and pulled it up to the booth. I wanted very much to tell her to go away, or to tell Christian to let me out so I could leave. This was no longer a fun outing between my boyfriend and I. We were practically on dates with other people.

"So," I started toward Cassie, my voice icy. "Where's Sean?"

"In a class," she answered with a smile. "I was in here just to get a small pizza to go, but I since I saw all of you in here, I guess I'll stay!"

Great.

"So, Blake," Mona started timidly, and I already hated where this was going. "I was wondering if you wanted to go out and see a movie with me later."

So she was getting straight to the point and just asking him out. I'd love to see his reaction to this. At least she wasn't kissing him again... yet.

Was everyone forgetting the fact that he was supposedly my ex-boyfriend? I might have told Mona that our relationship wasn't that serious, but either way, that didn't mean I wanted to see her flirting with him!

"Mona," Blake sighed, removing his arm from her grasp. Her eyes went wide. "I'm sorry, but I think I might have given you the wrong impression."

Her jaw dropped. "Wr—wrong impression?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm just not ready for another relationship," he told her, and my eyes went wide. He was finally telling her to back off! "I just don't want another girlfriend right now."

I almost jumped up for joy. He did it! He finally did it! He told her he wasn't interested in her that way! Oh, I could have kissed him right then!

Cassie's eyes were wandering around the parlor now. I could tell she didn't want to deal with this awkward situation, so when her eyes landed on something that seemed to interest her, her eyes went wide.

"Is that Ash Ryder and Aria Slater?" Cassie suddenly whispered to me, and then pointed at a couple a few tables away from us. "You know, from Hello Aria?"

"I highly doubt it," I drawled, and I wouldn't have been interested even if it was them. "Anyway, Aria Slater isn't even an actual member of the band."

Cassie waved this fact away. "Member, groupie, whatever you want to call her. I hate her anyway."

I knew she only hated Aria because of how close she was to the Hello Aria boys, especially the blonde one whose name I couldn't remember. It was like Greg or Grin or... something like that.

I now looked back over at Mona. Though deterred, I could tell that she wasn't about to give up yet. And that was what worried me the most.

I wasn't feeling so happy anymore. I knew that she was someone I was still going to have to worry about.

Asking Christian to slip out, I made my way to the bathroom. I just couldn't sit at that table with them any longer when I knew that something was going to happen eventually. Something that I definitely wasn't going to like.

I only washed my hands before making my way out of the bathroom. I was surprised when I saw Christian standing outside the bathroom waiting for me.

"Hey," he greeted, his hands in his pockets. He obviously could tell I was unhappy. "You're obviously uncomfortable, and I don't blame you. Do you want me to take you home?"

I couldn't believe he was actually asking me this. Christian always knew how I felt. He knew when I was happy, upset, or jealous. He didn't know that I was still dating Blake, but he knew I still had feelings for him, so he understood why I wouldn't be happy, even if Blake did say he wasn't interested.

I agreed to the offer and made my way back to the front of the pizza parlor with Christian. Blake was eyeing us jealously as we made our way back out. He definitely wasn't going to be happy with what I was about to tell him.

"I think it's time for me to leave," I informed the group once we came back. "Christian's going to take me home."

Blake had a look in his eye I couldn't exactly read, but I knew it wasn't good so I chose to ignore it. I would talk to him about this later.

Cassie practically pushed us out the door. "Alright, have a fun time, you two! But not too much fun!"

I didn't even respond to her. There was no point in doing so.

My boyfriend didn't even try to stop us, but I was glad he didn't. If he did, it probably would have looked suspicious, because why would he care that I was leaving with someone else unless he was jealous?

After I got into the passenger's seat of Christian's car, I quickly texted Blake, "Thanks for saying that to Mona. It really meant a lot to me. I love you, and I'll talk to you soon."

I got a reply only thirty seconds later that said, "I love you, too."

That made me feel a little better about leaving early without him. At least he knew that I was thinking about him and not Christian.

We drove in silence all the way back to my house, since he remembered where it was and I didn't have to give him directions. If I'm being honest, it actually felt a little awkward to just sit there in a car, completely silent with him.

When he parked in front of my house, I didn't get out right away. I turned toward him and forced a smile. "Thanks for driving me home," I thanked, since there was nothing else to say. "I really didn't want to be at that pizza parlor any longer."

"It was no problem," he assured, reaching over and taking my hand. My blood went cold.

I frowned. "Christian..."

"Look, I know you're not over Blake," he started, and I already didn't like the sound of this, "but I just want you to know that what I said the night I kissed you still stands. I still really like you and I'll wait until you're finally over him."

That was the problem. I didn't think I'd ever be over him, even if we did somehow break up. Blake was the love of my life, and Christian was just my friend. I thought he had understood that, but I guess he hadn't...

"Alright," was all I was able to say, because I didn't know how I was supposed to be able to turn him down without telling him that I was in fact still dating Blake. I then got out of the car and made my way up the pathway and into my house as quickly as I could.

He waited until I was safely inside before he drove away. After that, I plopped down on the couch and let out a long groan. Morgan wasn't there, and neither was Kyle, so I was glad I didn't have to deal with them. Now I just hoped that my mom and dad didn't try to talk to me.

Mona was a threat, even if Blake wasn't interested in her. I could tell that even though she had been rejected, she wasn't going to give up. I couldn't help but be reminded of a certain blonde boy who never left me alone. I couldn't help but be reminded of Sean.

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I. Can't. Wait. For. The. Next. Chapter.

This chapter was written super quickly because it's late and my first day of school was today.

Thanks to SamasaurusRexx for telling me about the song on the side! I think that accurately depicts how Leah feels about Mona, minus all the parts about it being about an ex. xD

Please COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN! :)