Hi guys, I know I'm bad. I haven't updated in ages! I'm so sorry. I am going to be real busy these coming few weeks. I'm having major examinations. But I promise I'm going to try to update by the end of July. Thank you for your understanding.

Hey guys! Yes, you may be thinking that I'm finally updating again. To be honest, that chapter was written ages ago but I didn't have the time to update it. So, my blog won't probably be blag (inside joke for an active blog) for now. Thanks for your kind understanding and support!

STOLEN

I stepped into my Literature class, feeling worse as ever, slipped into my seat, realising that Hayden was already seated beside me. He smiled at me and shifted his attention to Mr Smith who was now in the class.

"Alright class, I've done grading your poems and I got to say, I was impressed with some of you. However, there was really one that brought my attention to. I'd like Aiden to present his poem 'No Friend At All' to the class. Although his poem was about a broken friendship, I really thought it was a masterpiece. Aiden, please." The whole class erupted, applauding Aiden as he shuffled his feet towards the class. I almost applauded for him, but remembered we were not talking anymore; I let my hands free. 

He cleared his throat, clutched the paper tightly in his hands and started,

"I thought I had found the perfect friend,

 But it only took about a week for that to end,

 I thought there was hope left in my life,

 But as it turns out, it was only added strife,

 I thought for once I had done something right,

 But I quickly corrected that oversight,

 I thought I wasn't useless or a bore,

 But I was all that and even more,

 I thought there was a purpose to my days,

 But that was only a very short phase,

 I thought you weren't like all the rest,

 But like those before, you failed the test,

 I thought you would stay with me, at least for a bit,

 But you decided it was just better to quit,

 I thought life was worth living for a moment in time,

 But the life I wanted could never be mine,

 I thought the hunger inside me had been fed,

 But now I know I was just being mislead,

 And now I know that you were no friend at all."

The whole class went wild, whistling and cheering as he finished the last sentence. I got to be honest, his poem was really good.

"Now Aiden, as you can see, many people think that your poem is really exceptional. I'd like to know, what inspired you?" Mr Smith questioned him.

"Uh, I think it just came naturally to me..." Aiden answered mid-way then continued, "...but I really believe the poem relates to me a lot now." And at that exact moment his eyes directed at me. I knew what he was trying to do; he was trying to make me feel guilty about what happened between us. At that moment, the bell rang, making him look away. I pushed all thoughts about our sudden rift to the back of my mind. I packed up my books, picked up my bag and was about to leave the classroom when someone caught my arm. It was Hayden.

"Hey Mia? About the project, can we do it today?"

"Sure, where do you want to meet?" I asked him; I was already having a heart attack talking to him for barely a minute. I really wondered how I was going to survive doing a project with him.

"How about your house? If that is fine by you, of course," Hayden suggested. I thought for awhile and decided that my mum won't probably mind if Hayden went to our house.

"Okay then, see you later." Hayden and I exchanged addresses and realised that our houses are just three blocks apart which enlightened me very much. Great, I was seriously turning sappy.

"Mum! I'm home!" I shouted as I opened the door of my house.

"Mia, you're finally home," my mum walked out from the kitchen and gave me a reassuring smile. Okay she didn't notice that I didn't clean up my bedroom. Awesome.

"I've been noticing that you haven't been going to Aiden's house lately. Has he been very busy?" my mum queried me; patiently waiting for me to answer her.

"Uh, yeah. Yes, busy. He has been very busy..." I stammered, not really know what to reply. "Anyway Mum, we'll be having a guest today. My friend Hayden is partnering up with me for the Literature project. So he's coming over this evening at seven." She gave me a slight nod to, walked towards the kitchen but stopped halfway; turned around and gave me a confound look.

"Wait, why not Aiden? Hasn't he always been your partner?" my mum stated.

I shrugged at her, went inside my bedroom and locked myself inside.

Just a little short announcement, my story would be put to a hold first because I am in the process of writing with a group of other writers. I will post when I do get the free time but I don't have the exact date to tell you when I will post. I am very sorry for those who were looking forward to my next chapter. Thanks!

The group of writers I am writing with are:-

http://www.offeathersandfur.blogspot.com

http://www.aesiflay.blogspot.com

Go check their stories too!

WITHOUT YOU

As I logged onto my messenger, I realised Aiden was online. I didn't know what to do, whether I should be acknowledging or ignoring him. What happened between Aiden and I just now was something new, it gave me this new feeling inside, and it wasn't a good one. As I was about to log out, something caught my attention. Aiden just updated.

"It's sad to see that two close people don't even recognise each other anymore, not because they grew up, but because they grew apart." And with those words, I knew he was talking about me and him. Those words looked like normal words but they weren't just 'normal words', words that spoke the blatant truth. As I gazed at those words, a great pain welled up in me and let the tears stream down my ashen pale cheeks. But to be honest, no words could describe how I was feeling at that time. I shut down the computer and lay down on my bed, covering my body with the blanket as I cried silently to myself, closing my eyes, listening to the beautiful voice of the night I call silence. I didn't remember anything after that. I didn't want to anyway.

The next day at school, everything was the same. Who was I kidding? It was everything but 'the same'. I opened my locker and took out the required books for the day as I debated with myself whether I had to seat beside him in homeroom or not. I really hated the fact that I was right before Aiden in the list at that moment. Stupid surnames. However, my train of thoughts were put to a halt as I heard a familiar voice across the room. Kaylee. There he stood, not far from her, his arms crossed as he spoke to Kaylee intently; his chocolate hair mussed up, covering half of his eyes. He had the nerve to talk to my currently only best friend. Jack-ass. I just rolled my eyes and walked towards homeroom.

"Hey." I rushed over to Kaylee as I stepped out of homeroom. Homeroom was alright, I guess. Just me and Aiden ignoring each other.

"Oh, Mia." I could hear a slight annoyance in her tone as she shrugged and continued walking. What was with her? She was walking so quickly as if she was avoiding someone. As I caught up with her, I grab her arm and pulled her in slightly.

"You alright? You're avoiding something, I can tell."

"Whatever Mia, the thing is I cannot believe you would ditch Aiden just because of that asshole. You broke your ten-year friendship with Aiden for such an unforgivable reason, Mia." Kaylee blurted out, her shoulders drooped as she sighed.

"Oh, so he complained? He's just being a sensitive idiot. It was just one project Kay, just one. I've done like a million and one projects with him. I wanted a change. Plus, didn't hear you saying that about Hayden the last time. And you're supposed to be on my side, not his."

"Whatsoever. I don't care Mia. Let's stop talking, I don't follow friends, I follow what I feel is right. Now get a grip and move on. I'm done talking to you." Kaylee replied malevolently. I definitely loathed her right now; she didn't have to be so bitter about it. She could go rot and go to hell for all I care; I couldn't believe she would rather listen to Aiden than me. I was clearly at the apex of anger.

As I opened my locker to put in my file, a slip of paper flew out and perfectly landed on the floor, facing up; allowing me to read the content: 

 
Sorry I forgot to tell you, that as a friend you should be true.

I picked up the paper, ripped it into pieces, threw it into the wastebasket and left without a second glance.

BROKEN GLASS

“Alright class, all of you are required to write a 1000-word review on the book ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee as you all have read it last year.” Groans erupted as Mr Smith said the sentence. Obviously. A 1000-word essay?! God, I swear teachers are mental.

  

“Now, now there. Good news is, you get to do it with a partner and you are only supposed to hand it in four weeks time,” Mr Smith reassured us. Scratch that. Well, at least the job’s easier now. Partner. Who was going to be my partner? As if on cue, I turned my head just as Aiden’s eyes met mine. We had always been partners when it came to projects. He gave me a signal which alluded whether I wanted to be his partner. As I was about to mouth the obvious reply, Hayden patted from behind. He touched me. Wow, I was seriously turning sappy. I need to watch that. My eyes left Aiden’s as they focused on Hayden.

“So, you want to be partners?” Hayden enquired me as he gave me one of his many cute smiles. Crap. If I said ‘no’ to him, that would hurt his feelings but I couldn’t say ‘yes’ either because someone sitting behind me was waiting for the same answer. Oh holy shit. What was I going to say? I needed to answer him as he was staring at me, looking confused. Shit, shit, shit. Uh! Aiden. Hayden. Aiden. Hayden. Oh great, now the fact that their names rhyme was creeping me out and giving me a bad headache. 

“Mia? Is it a yes or a no?” Hayden asked me, clearly getting impatient.

“Yes...” I couldn’t believe my ears when the words came out. Oh freaking hell.

“Great,” Hayden sounded upbeat. I gave him a wry smile.

“Alright class, once you’ve gotten a partner, please come up and write your names down,” Mr Smith announced to us.

As Hayden and I stood up, I could already see Aiden walking up towards me. Here is it.

“Hey partner, let’s go,” Aiden winked at me, giving me his happy smile. Shit, he thinks I’m his partner. 

“Partner? Mia’s my partner,” Hayden’s sudden reply jolted me.  Oh no. I didn’t want to know what was going to happen next. 

“Hayden, is it? No, you got it wrong. Mia’s my partner,” Aiden retorted. Testosterone was obviously present in between them. I needed to clear this up, whether I’d like it or not. They both looked at me, waiting for me to say something. Here goes nothing.

“Um, Aiden, you’re... you’re not my partner. Hayden is...” I wanted to get away from them. I just didn’t dare to look at him.

“What?” Aiden’s voice was full of shock. Oh god, please save me.

“Heard that? You’re not her partner. Now build a bridge and get over it,” Hayden interjected in a mocking tone. Ego was obviously present in him.

“Sorry Aiden...” I mumbled as I dared myself to look up at him. His eyes blazed at Hayden’s, however when they shifted to mine, they soften a bit, as if he was just a small boy, so vulnerable. His eyes spoke something different, something I had never seen before and I didn’t like the feeling of it. They didn’t leave me once when he got back into his seat. The more I looked into those eyes, the more they stabbed my heart, leaving it with a stinging feeling.

I wanted to just run away.

BLACK AND WHITE

"Oh my God, it’s the final term of school!" Kaylee told me for the bajillionth time. Kaylee was my best girl friend. We have been friends since the start of elementary school.

"Yes, I know. I heard it the first time," I replied her in a monotonous tone, clearly showing her I wasn't in the mood. I was still thinking about Aiden and what happened yesterday. Are we talking? I didn't know.

"Hey, you okay?" Kaylee asked me, her eyes full of concern. I didn't get to answer her question, because at that moment, Hayden sauntered towards us, looking much hotter than yesterday. I could hear Kaylee's soft gasp. I chuckled to myself as it was unusual for Kaylee to react in such a way to a guy.

"Hey Mia," Hayden gave me a slow smile as his eyes moved from me to Kaylee's.

"Oh, I'm Kay... Kaylee," Kaylee answered as if she had forgotten her name. I could see her face was bathed in red. Well, I didn't blame her.

"I just wanted to see hello. See you later girls," as Hayden left us, he gave me a wink. I thought I could have died at that moment if not for the fact that my heart was still beating.

"Oh my freaking God! Who was that?! How did he know you?! God, he is so hot!" Kaylee shot me with questions as she smiled sheepishly to herself.

"He's Hayden; he's in my Literature Class. He's new by the way," I fed Kaylee with her burning questions. Her eyes widened just as I finished the sentence.

"In your freaking class?! Did I hear your class?! Oh gosh, Mia. You do not know how lucky you are!" Kaylee shook me so hard I thought I was going to fall back and hit my head.

"Who's lucky?" a familiar voice came from behind my back. As I turned around, I realised it was Aiden. He was smiling at me. Well, that answers my question. So, we're still talking. Great. I guess I was just over-thinking it too much. I returned him a smile. 

"Mia. Didn't you hear she's in the same class as Hayden?! Well, obviously you know, I mean since you're in the same class as Mia. But come on, have you seen him?! Man, he's so...” I glared at Kaylee willing her to stop talking. She gave me a confused look.

"Not my business," Aiden said, obviously uninterested in the topic. He was wearing the look he had yesterday. I still couldn't figure out what the look meant.

"Wow Aiden, thanks for the support. You so need to be friends with Hayden! Then our girl Mia here, can hook up with him," Kaylee gave me a smirk. I am so going to kill you Kaylee. You better watch out. From the corner of my eye, I could see that Aiden didn't look happy with Kaylee's brainless comment. 

"See you later in Literature Class, M," Aiden looked at me as he left. I couldn't read his eyes. It was as if he was happy, sad and angry at the same time. Now, how is that possible? Kaylee gave me her confused look again as my eyes gazed at Aiden's back, still wondering why he had been acting different lately. I missed the old him.

“What’s with him?” Kaylee whispered to me suddenly. I don’t know Kaylee, not at all. I let the thought remain unheard.