Chapter One

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New AN: So, I know this chapter is bad, but I tried editing it and it gets worse with every edit. So, I've totally given up on it! Anyway, please at least read up to the second chapter before dropping it. :D Thank you ^^

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AN: So, I just started this, and would really appreciate feedback. (: Tell me if you like it/hate it and just any other general comments. ^^ It's my first try at writing, so I'm not really sure if it's any good. >.<

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The first thing I registered was that chill of his lips against mine. The second, was the shatter of glass. I pushed him off of me. 

"Nate, I can explain!," I yelled to the still figure four metres away from us. Pieces of a glass bottle surrounded his feet. Nate's face had gone pale, his eyes enlarged.

Finally he responded. He shook his head lightly, his face turning into an expression of utter disgust. "I can't believe you." 

Before I knew it, he's running away from us. I went after him, pushing my way through the crowd that has turned all their attention to us. I recognised some people from the crowd. It's no surprise, considering the whole grade had been invited to this party. They looked at me in an expression mirroring Nate's. Surprise. Disgust. But also something else, excitement. They knew something interesting and gossip-worthy is happening.

I yelled for Nate to stop, and told him it's not what it looks like. I caught up to him at the front gate. He turned around to face me.

I tried to tell him once again that it's not what it looks like, but he stopped me.

"Kaitlin, what was it then? To me it looked like my girlfriend was just cheating on me with my best friend! Wasn't that exactly what happened? How could you? I thought I knew you. I thought I meant something to you. I gave you my heart, and all you did was rip it apart!" His voice was one of utter rage, but it was also shaking. He was breaking down. I'd never seen him like this before. Nate was the kind of guy that was friendly, popular, and everyone generally loved. He's never been sad or angry before. 

I tried to tell him it wasn't that and I wasn't cheating, but I can't. I was. 

I'm left speechless as he said his final words. "We're over."

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Someone behind me was tapping me on my back. I turned around, and I saw a guy handing me a folded piece of paper. I knew it's for me and I took it. Being careful that the teacher's facing the whiteboard, I opened it. There was one word scribbled on there.

Slut.

This wasn't the first note I had gotten today, and honestly, I expected it. However, nothing could prepare me for the shock of it when I opened up my first one. Before the thing that happened last night, I was never the type to involve myself in rumours. I was the good girl, with the top grades and perfect attendance.

Some of the notes I got where similar to this one with one word hastily written on there. Others were longer, calling me numerous names, and outlining all my crimes, telling me how I never deserved Nate in the first place. It was easy to guess who those notes were from. The girls that were jealous of me and Nate.

I folded the note back up and slipped it back in my pencil case with the rest. They shouldn't bother me anymore, but they do.

As soon as the bell rings, I promptly dumped everything into my bag and rushed out of the classroom, unwillingly to look anyone in the eye. As I walked through the hall and went to my locker, I could feel people's eyes on me. They were whispering about me, I knew they were.

It's lunch and I tried to debate whether that's a good or bad thing. It's good because this means that I'm more than halfway through the day, and I'll be home soon. It's bad because, well, it's lunch. It's the time that friends get together and exchange gossip and talk about others. It's also bad because I'm all alone with no one to be with now. I used to always hang out with Nate's group, the popular group. The guys are nice enough but I know the girls don't like me. However, they do give me fake smiles and fake friendly-ness for the sake of being closer to Nate. Now that Nate and I are over, it's definite that I'm not welcomed there anymore.

I was still pondering over where to go, when I felt hands shoving me into the wall. I looked over and saw a group laughing. One of them shouts whore and they all laughed harder and walked away, obviously not caring about how I felt.

Whispering to myself that I shouldn't do anything reckless, I realised that I couldn't take anymore. I ran.

I don't know how long I ran for but by the time I stopped, I knew I was far away from school grounds. I tried to reason with myself to go back, but I knew it was useless. I wasn't going back to school, at least not today, so I did the only thing I could. I kept walking.

I stopped concentrating on where I was but just on the sound of my footsteps; the constant rhythmic pattern as I step on the concrete path. It was easy to lose myself in nothingness.

When I finally looked up, I saw that I had reached a park. It wasn't big by any means, but there were benches, a playground and a swing set. Unsure of exactly what I was doing, I went over to the swings and sat on one of them, emptying my mind again and falling into a state of half consciousness. 

By the time I came back to reality, the sun was setting, turning the sky into hues of orange and pink. It was probably already five or six. I heard a laugh beside me. It wasnt one of those insulting laughs that I had heard all day, but something resembling more to a warm chuckle. I turned around. 

It came from a guy sitting on the swing next to mine. He looked older than me, probably somewhere in the low twenties. His dark hair glimmered in the sunlight. He was looking at me with piercing green eyes.

"I was wondering when you would wake up."

There was nothing malicious about him, but I was still cautious. He shook his head slightly. It reminded me of Friday night, when Nate did the same thing, however, his was seemingly out of amusement.

"You should smile more," he said and dropped a box onto my lap. It was white, and neatly wrapped in gold ribbons. "Something to make you smile." He told me as I looked curiously at the box and then back at him. "Now, you really should be getting home. It's not safe for girls like you to be out too late." I still hadn't said a word but I felt myself get angry at his comment. He said it like I was ten or something. I'm seventeen.

He got up from his swing and walked away, but not before he turned to me again. "The next time I meet you, you better be smiling," And with that, he walked away, leaving me speechless and pondering about who this stranger was.

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