I open my eyes and squint, adjusting to the beam of light shining through the open window. Sitting up, I rub my eyes, and move forward to close the curtains. Wait. There aren't any curtains...

I blink and look around. I'm in the nurse's office. Oh, that's right. I threw up. In front of everyone.

Everyone.

I press my palm to my head, feeling a headache coming on. Before I know it, tears are sliding down my cheeks.

How could this happen to me?

It seems like the world hates me these days. Why has my life gotten so bad?

I left it all behind. All of it.

And it's all coming back to me.

Suddenly the walls are closing in, trapping me in a tiny box with space left to move, no air left to breathe, no time left to live.

I have to get out of here.

My breath comes in ragged coughs, and I run to the nearest door and fling it open. Inside, a teacher looks up at me in surprise. I push past her, leaving her mouth dangling open as I run out of the office. Finally. I can breathe easier. But the memories are still pounding my head.

I go to the lockers, and thankfully, the gates are left wide open. I wipe the tears away, but one look in the reflective gates and I can see my face is all blotchy and red.

Grabbing my stuff, I make a quick stop to the bathroom and splash water on my face. The bright red tiles are hurting my eyes so I gaze up to the mirror and consider myself, remembering the time when I had much longer curls that went down to my hips. Tugging at my wavy, short, brown hair, I wonder what it would be like to have them now.

Taking one last look at the mirror, I exit the bathroom and walk towards the front gates to grab my bike. I can smell some pizza as I pass the tuck-shop, and it makes tears prick in the back of my eyes because it smells exactly like mum used to make them.

I start running as fast as I can, because that smell... it's so beautiful. Tears are pouring out of my eyes again, ruining what little the water from the bathroom had done.

I choke back a sob and start coughing violently as I think about how I must look like an idiot—red eyes, blotchy cheeks, tears dripping off my chin, and of course, coughing.

I close my eyes for a second and feel the breeze, the tears on my cheeks, running without seeing where I'm going. It's so nice for a second, just a second. Then—

Ow!

I look up as Hunter recovers from slamming into me, and stares at me. His eyes soften. I can see the glint of confusion in them.

He says, "Carrie, what—why are you—"

I ignore him and keep my eyes down, pushing past him, but he grabs onto my arm.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" He stares into my eyes. "Are you alright?" I note the features of his face, the way his eyes crinkle when he smiles, his perfectly shaped jawline. I realise I haven't answered him yet and attempt to, but it just comes out as a sob. How can he be so nice to me when I look like this?

"Come with me." He motions. "I know somewhere we can go." I just shake my head at him and sniff.

"I-I have to go." I wipe my eyes and try to leave again, but he holds on to my arm.

"Carrie."

I sigh and let him steer me away, my shoulders slumped in defeat. He leads me towards the football field and we sit down in the bleachers. I notice that I'm leaning against him and wrapping my arms around his. My ears go pink as I sit up and retrieve my arms in embarrassment. Hunter doesn't seem to notice.

"I texted you," he says.

"Oh, yeah. I... left my phone at home."

We sit together in comfortable silence.

"So..." He searches my eyes, looking for who knows what. "Are we going to talk about what happened or are we just going to sit here?"

I look down at my feet. "I don't know." A single tear rolls down my cheek.

"Hey, hey, hey," he says softly. "It's okay."

"It was Serena. S-she just... I threw up..." I stutter nervously. I sound like such a crybaby. His face hardens.

"I can't believe it. Actually, scratch that, I can. She's a bitch. I'm sorry." He reaches out to hug me and I accept, tears slipping from my face onto his shoulder.

My face is so close to his that I can smell the liquorice he's been eating, I can feel his muscles relax against mine.

Suddenly, I remember what Georgie and Jasmine were saying about him and me, and my face goes red yet again. I pull away.

My face is wet from the tears. He reaches out a hand and brushes them away, sending shivers down my spine. All other noises in the school have now gone silent, everything else blurry except for him. My heart beats faster than it ever has before, a million beats a second. I can't pull my eyes away from him, right now he looks so, so, so... right. Shadows cover part of his cheek and I glance at his lips unconsciously. He catches me staring. I quietly gasp, and my face burns in embarrassment.

Before I can pretend I wasn't looking, he leans down and presses his lips to mine.

I can feel each and every sensation acutely—the cool breeze lifting my hair from my back, his warm lips reaching for mine, his hand slowly moving up and down my back. He's making me feel things I didn't know I was capable of. I'm not in school anymore, I'm in paradise.

I'm so deep into the kiss I no longer realize how much time has passed. His lips are soft and I know I've been longing to taste these lips for a long time now. More. I want more. He is my desire.

The bell rings, and I jump back from him, his bottom lip slightly parted from where I left. I'm still dazed and overwhelmed from our kiss.

We sit silently for a minute before he speaks. "Are you going to leave?" he asks. I nod, not able to speak from that...experience.

"Well, at least let me take you." he smiles and takes my hand.

We walk down to the office together, hand in hand. While walking, he softly presses his fingertips to my palm. A few kids walking by look at us, but we just ignore them. Finally, we reach the office door. My hand slips out of his grasp. "I'll see you later?" I ask. He seems surprised, almost taken aback, then nods.

I open the office door and sort out a slip to go home. Instead of letting me ride home on my bike, the office assistant gets my dad to come pick me up and sends me off with a vomit bag.

I sit down on the plush velvet cushioned chair and wait for him. I try to think about something else, but my mind betrays me and keeps going back to Hunter. That kiss...wow. I didn't know it could be so real, so beautiful, so addictive.

I'm so busy reliving the moment that I don't notice when the office assistant walks back in.

"He's here," she says with a smile, then walks away.

My eyes glance up at him. He winks at the lady before she leaves the room. My smile turns into a frown. My brows crease. I open my mouth.

"Why are you here?"