"Oh, sweetie, you're not wearing that are you?" My mother sighs when she sees me.

"...it's the uniform." I furrow my eyebrows as I look down at my pleated skirt.

"Not that, the jacket, darling." She comes over to pull it down my shoulders before handing me another one. "There, that one is better."

"Thanks, mom," I sigh and roll my eyes.

I can't remember a time where I wasn't dressing to impress her. I wear diamond earrings just to go to class and wear thigh high stockings with heels so she doesn't think I look bland.

I don't know who died and made her queen of the fashion world, but I wish they'd overthrow her already.

"Are you off to school now, Heather?" My mother calls out as she stands in the kitchen pouring the first of many cups of coffee.

"Yes, and I won't be back right away. I'm going shopping with Alison."She wants something new for her date, and I still have yet to put a dress on hold for the autumn ball.

"Keep the receipt, you might not like what you buy as much as you think you do."

In other words: I might make you return the things I don't approve of.

I ignore her and head for the door, grabbing a muffin and a sealed cup of tea before I got there.

The only good thing about overbearing parents is that there's a fifty percent chance you won't be like them when you have kids. The other fifty percent is the chance of you being exactly like them. God bless the future generations if that's true.

I take the elevator down to the lobby and am greeted by the welcoming faces of Edna at the desk and Gustav by the door.

"Good morning, Ms. Heather," Edna says sweetly.

"Good morning," I smiled.

"Your car is here, Ms. Heather." Gustav holds open the door for me before following me out and opening the car door as well. "Have a nice day at school, please."

I nod, "I'll try, but only if you promise not to let these old, bitter people walk all over you today."

He chuckled before closing the car door and waving me off as I was driven away.

The drivers in New York have a habit of not speaking but subtly glancing at you from the rearview mirror. Through the years, that's just given me the habit of pretending I'm the only one in the car.

I ate half the muffin and wrapped up the rest before storing it in my bag. The tea was only slightly cooled down by the time the car stopped but I didn't mind. It's always nice to have something to drink during class.

I didn't bother with saying thank you before I got out of the car and the man hardly gave me a chance to grab my bag before he drove off.

Despite the morning irritancy, there's still a chance my day will go well.

So I thought...before I walked down the hall and saw how pissy Audrey looked.

"Heather!" She shouted when we made eye contact. "You would not believe what's happening right now. I can hardly comprehend it."

"What's wrong?" I furrowed my eyebrows and let her approach me.

"Some moron is ripping down my posters! All of them! It took me hours to design just one, and I don't have copies and the geek with the digital copies is missing and— what is that? Coffee?" She stops rambling when she sees the cup in my hand.

"No, it's tea but-"

"Oh, good." Audrey takes it from me and begins drinking. "I can't even have caffeine right now and I'm so tired."

I sigh, "if we can grab one of your posters before they're all destroyed, we can make copies in the library and get them laminated."

"Heather, you're a god damn genius. What would I do without you bringing me tea and fixing all my problems?" Audrey says gratefully before patting the top of my head like a dog.

"I guess we'll never know," I shrug in response, and she blows me a kiss before heading to the nearest poster.

I snicker to myself when I see her stretching out and jumping an inch off the ground in heels at an attempt to reach it...but my smile fades when a group of burnout guys start walking toward her.

"Let me help you with that, homecoming queen." A fairly tall one with longish brown hair snatched the poster down. I'm pretty sure he's the same guy who drove me home the night of Jace's party.

"...thanks," Audrey said halfheartedly.

"Here, take it." He brought it near her but immediately took his hand back before she could grab the poster from him. I watched her glare and reach for it again, but he only pulled further back before ripping it in half.

...I swear if you looked hard enough, you could see the humanity leaving her body.

"You poor, dirty, bastard mistake of a heroin junkie. Go die somewhere!" Audrey shoved him as hard as she could, but he hardly moved and that only made her angrier so she kept shoving.

I sighed before running up and grabbing her, attempting to drag her away. "Audrey, stop. It's not worth it," I practically begged but she kept fighting me off.

The burnout guys only laughed at the way she was acting, and I scowled when I saw Leo Rylin in the crowd.

"Aw, is that any way to treat the guy with your last poster?" The brunette boy smirked.

"What do you mean last poster?" I spoke up before Audrey could.

"Oh, you speak to someone other than the headmistress, huh? What happened to us not being worth it?"

"Oh, screw you," I scoffed.

"Screw your posters and screw your little central dance. How about that?" He smiled before nudging Leo.

"It's not just for us, idiot," I narrow my eyes at him.

"But we wouldn't want you there," Audrey spat.

"Nah, you wouldn't, would you?" He challenged. "Rylin, rip the poster."

"No!" Audrey cried out when Leo took the poster from behind his back.

"Leo..." I said softly and he looked up at me.

I'd like to think the random moments we've had together at least make us acquaintances.

"...Heather," he said nonchalantly before tearing the poster to shreds and throwing the pieces at our feet.

Audrey looked to be on the brink of tears as she knelt down to pick up the torn paper.

Leo wore a sly facial expression as I stood there in shock.

"Oops...I hope that didn't take a long time to make...it only took a second to destroy," he laughed along with the others.

"You can all go rot."

"Man, I was with you all day." Danny tilted my head to the side to get a better view of my neck, "How did I not see these? Cherry's a fucking vampire," helaughed at the hickeys my shirt couldn't hide.

"I know, I didn't even notice them until I took a shower this morning," I sighed.

"She's marked her territory." Danny puts his arms up in surrender, "I don't even know if I'm allowed to be here right now."

"Shut up," I scoff. "You're one to talk, you should have rope burn from how hard Val pulls your leash."

"I'm not on a leash. When did being in a relationship become a joke to everyone? Die alone, go ahead, I dare you."

"Calm down, Danny." I lie back on my bed laughing.

"This is funny to you, huh?" He raises an eyebrow.

I smile, "yes, I think it's absolutely hilarious how easy it is to piss you off."

"You know what's funnier?"

"What?" I challenge.

"Your mom seeing those bruises on your neck and going ballistic," Danny smirks.

I sit up to look at him, "You wouldn't..."

"Wanna bet?"

"She's not even home yet, Danny." I shake my head and lay back down.

"No worries, I can just call the bakery and ask for the beautiful Isabel Rylin," he says slyly.

"Danny no-" I try to stop him but he's already running out of my room to get to the phone in the kitchen.

"Oh, Hi, Ms. Rylin," Danny says out loud as he runs around dodging me with the phone in his hand.

I knew something like this would happen if my mom bought the cordless phone. I told her it was a waste of money and now look, Danny's got it.

"Put down the phone and we can talk about this, man to man." I keep him cornered.

He shrugs, "I'd rather talk to your mom."

"What will you gain from-" I pause before laughing, "you jackass, you didn't even grab the number." I pick up the notepad with all her emergency numbers.

"Don't call me a jackass, you'll still have to hide half of your face when your mom..." He stops speaking when we hear the door unlock, "gets here."

"Leo, honey," she calls out before she sees me. "Oh, there you are." I walk over to hug her. "I am so exhausted right now. I'd take the entire month off if we could afford it."

"Something happen at the bakery?" I turn away from her and pretend like I'm organizing the magazines so she only sees the unmarked side of me.

"Yes, this lady came in and ordered three dozen of our specialty bagels." I nodded for her to continue, "she wanted them all in forty-five minutes or less. I said it wasn't a problem but halfway into the bake time, she changed her order and asked for donuts instead with the same deadline."

"No..." I gasped in fake interest.

"She did! So I said: 'Look, ma'am. You knew you wanted donuts when you lied about the bagels. Now you're going to pay the price, it's a six dollar inconvenience fee and an extra twenty minutes.'"

"You go, mom," I chuckle at her attitude.

She sighs, "enough about my day, how was school, boys?" She looks between me and Danny, and I glare at him before he could respond with something stupid.

"The same old stuff. You know they never teach us anything at that overpriced institution," he shrugs. "Lunch was cool though. Leo brought cherries."

"Danny..." I say through gritted teeth.

"Cherries? I didn't buy any, who'd you get cherries from?" My mom furrows her eyebrows.

"A friend of mine, he forgot he was allergic," I lie.

"Marshall, right?" Danny asks. "He gave me some too, but they were all bruised."

I can see him smirking out the corner of my eye, but I ignore him so my mom doesn't get suspicious.

"...am I missing something?" She asks.

"Nope, but we'll miss Danny. He's going home, aren't you, Danny?"

He chuckles and nods, "I am, see youat school Leo, and see you tomorrow maybe, alright mom?" He hugs her goodbye.

"Alright, sweetheart." She gives him a kiss on the cheek.

What's funny is— I met Danny when I was around ten years old. After he started coming around more, he started calling my mom, his mom, and I was an annoyingly jealous preteen. I think the first time my voice cracked was when I was yelling at him for trying to steal my mom. He told me to get over it and eventually I did because he's my best friend.

"Oh, before I forget, Leo...put ice on your neck, it'll fix you right up."

Sometimes.

"What?" My mom gasps and walks over to me. "Did something happen? Let me see you..."

I sigh and turn my head. At this point, I have no choice but to take the heat.

"Now don't freak out-"

"Leo, for God's sake. I know what those are!" She pushes me back a bit.

"It's no big deal, honestly. I'm not a kid."

"You're my kid, and this is my house. I can't stop you from going out and doing whatever you want with these sleazy street girls but I can stop you from doing it under my roof," she speaks sternly as she stands in front of me with her hands on her hips.

"You're overreacting, mom." I try to avoid the conversation and head to my room but she stops me.

"Don't walk away when I'm talking to you," she huffs.

"Mom, what are we still talking for?"I roll my eyes, "dad gave me the talk when I was thirteen, he gave me condoms my first year in high school, and I'm a normal teenager. Can you drop this now?"

"You know what?" She crosses her arms, "I'm going to have Mr. Krakowski check in on you from now on."

"Ah- mom, don't bother that old man," I groan.

Mr. Krakowski is a seventy-year-old military vet. Whenever I see him in the hallway he starts conversations and tells me stories about his life before the navy.

"Leonardo, Leonardo, you remind me of me when I was younger. Of course, my hair was proper. We wore it gelled, back in my day."

"He'd be happy to do it. He misses his children. He'd love spending time with you." She paced through the apartment, grabbing things for her second job.

"Mom-"

"End of discussion, Leo."

"That one is beautiful, Heather," Alison says in awe as I hold up a soft pink dress.

"Yeah...but I was hoping to wear red."

"Well, keep looking. You might find something like it."

"What color are you wearing?" I ask out of curiosity. I remember that she invited me dress shopping months ago but I thought it was too early.

"I wanted to wear rose gold but Audrey said I couldn't because she's wearing rose gold." Alison rolled her eyes. "But- now that I think about it, who cares what she says? I can wear whatever color I want to."

"...I guess you two are still fighting," I say lowly.

"I don't understand why I was ever friends with her. She's a control freak, she's a bitch, and she's a slut."

"Alison!" I whisper shout as the people around us start to stare.

"I mean- she's so bad to us, why do you stay?"

"The same reason youdid before the fight. Audrey's difficult but she's our friend."

"Saying she's difficult is too kind," Alison shook her head. "If I never talk to her again, it would be too soon."

I laugh to myself, "you'll miss each other eventually."

"Why would I miss her? I have you and Ethan and literally everyone except for her."

"What if you and Ethan don't work out? What if he's not the guy you thought he was?" I ask hesitantly, knowing this is a sensitive subject for her.

"Not you too," she huffs. "Why does everyone think the worse of him?"

"He's got a reputation, Ali."

She crosses her arms, "so? Jace does too."

"Look, I'm not saying don't go for it. I'm just saying it's not worth losing a friend that's been there for you."

"It's not like she's ever been a good friend to me, Heather."

I sigh, "Why are we still talking about this?The facts aren't going to change. Audrey isn't a bad person, she just believes in tough love. Ethan is a heartbreaker and all she did was give you a legitimate reason not to date him."

"Why, because she opened her legs for him?" Alison asks rhetorically. "In that case, half the male species isn't dateable. I wouldn't be shocked if your boyfriend was included."

"Now you're just trying to be mean."

"Well, you started it. For someone who claims to be my best friend, you sure as hell have a way of picking sides," she scowls before storming away from me.

I didn't bother chasing after her either. I have a serious pet peeve for people who choose relationships over close friends, especially without a real reason. I get why she's angry with Audrey, but I've done nothing to her.

I don't know what gave her the impression that I'm picking sides.

But I don't apologize to people who don't deserve it.

I asked my taxi driver to stop on Madison Avenue, but it wasn't for any particular reason. I just wanted to walk and pretend like everything was the way it was last month.

Last month, I could pass by restaurants and food stands without almost gagging at the smell. I could wake up in the morning after getting eight hours of sleep and not feel like I'm going to pass out. I was normal not so long ago...now, I've never felt further from that.

I step up the stairs of the high-class townhouse and knocksoftly on the door, hoping that maybe if he doesn't hear me, I won't have to tell him.

But the door opened anyway...and I froze up seeing his face.

"Uh- Hello, Audrey...." Ethan chuckled awkwardly.

"Hi..." I sighed and stared at the ground so that I didn't have to look into his eyes.

"So...why are you here?" He stands in the doorway, obviously having no intent on letting me in.

"Because we need to talk," I scoff at hislack of hospitality. "It's important."

"Fine- um, come in...sit on the couch. My parents won't be back until later on."

I rolled my eyes and pushed past him, walking into the familiar house.

Unlike most of the upper east side families, Ethan's parents are home pretty often. His mother is a psychologist and his father is a lawyer, it must be nice being well-off and having an actual family.

"You don't want to sit down?" Ethan asks when he follows me into the living room and sees I'm still standing.

"No, I really don't."

"Well, can you make this quick? I kind of have somewhere to be soon..."

"Sure! I wouldn't dare want to waste your time with my problems, Ethan!"

He sighs and shakes his head, "I just want to know why you're here. The last time you came, it was to hookup but after what Alison told me, I don't think that's why you showed up today."

"God forbid a girl doesn't come here to get you off." I laugh in disbelief, "but when I did...there on that couch, twice in your shower, a few times on your bed. How many times did we use protection, Ethan?"

"I dunno...you're on the pill, right?"

"No- I stopped taking it a couple of months ago, it was making me gain weight." Oh, the sad, pathetic irony of that now.

"So, what are you saying?Are you like...pregnant?" I watch the realization wash over him...the worry taking hold of his face.

"I think so, yes..."

"Dammit, Audrey!" He runs his hands through his hair stressfully. "What makes you think it's mine?"

I glare at him, "because you're the only person I've slept with in months, Ethan. I'm not a whore."

"Then what the fuck are we going to do now?"