Time seemed to stand still for me, and it felt like the day was longer than it should be. My chest felt heavy like a million tons on my soft beating heart. The pain was unbearable.

I had never felt like this before. This aching feeling in my chest that won't go awa

I stared in despair at the tiny box in my hand, wrapped in a gift wrap, and containing Ryan's present. There was no hope for us, and I was a fool for pushing forward when he didn't care.

I wanted to curl up in my bed and weep till my eyes turn red, but sadly, School was taking forever to end. Why did losing Ryan feel so bad? Like a piece of my heart was missing and the other trying to keep on beating even though it was painfully bleeding.

I sighed again for the umpteenth time that day in despair, praying the bell would go off so I can go weep my heart out.

"Yech! You look like hell." Alex scrunched her nose in disgust as she stared at my disheveled state. Ignoring her, I kept on walking with a blank stare on my face towards the parking lot.

Jane and Alex were behind me, but they didn't know Ryan and me just broke up. As for Ryan, I hadn't seen him all day. The same went for Jenny. It doesn't take a genius to put two and two together. They probably ditched class and making out in on the bleachers together...like Ryan and I used to.

I slumped heavily on the backseat of Alex's car as she took the driver's seat and Jane the Passenger's. My eyes stared out the window in hopes of catching a glimpse of him, but there was no sign of him. Only students were loitering around. Where could he be?

"Okay...what is wrong with you?" Jane asked, staring back at me in concern. "You've been acting strange since morning, and I haven't seen you with Ryan. Isn't today his birthday? And shouldn't he be the one to give you a ride? Did something happen last night?" She kept asking while I stared lazily at her.

"I'm fine. Just a bit tired, that's all. Can we focus on something else?" I asked tiredly, not wanting to talk about it just yet. It was still too painful. I stared at Alex, who was fixing her makeup in the sun visor. She was oddly quiet. The Alex I knew would pester me with questions if she noticed my gloomy expression. Plus she loved a good gossip.

"Alex, where were you today. I hardly saw you." I threw the question at her as I rarely saw her today.

I think I saw her freeze up as she slowly turned to me and Jane. We were still waiting for an answer as I cocked an eyebrow at her.

"What are you talking about? You know I ditch classes when I'm bored." She shrugged and went back to checking herself.

"Yeah...but you missed three classes you had with me today." I squinted my eyes at her, trying to find if she was hiding something.

"Chemistry, English, and Maths," I added.

"Three classes I hate. So..." She shrugged once more, not staring at us, though. Okay, she was definitely hiding something.

"You hate all classes," Jane said matter of fact, cocking her head at her.

"I was with Josh, alright!" She declared in vexation.

"Josh was in those classes." I countered quickly.

"Oh, my God! What's with the interrogation?" She exclaimed out loud in frustration.

"We're just concerned and curious," Jane answered while I continued to suspiciously stare at her.

"Well, stop it. It's irritating me." She huffed before starting the engine and gripped the steering wheel.

"You're not doing drugs, are you?" Jane asked while eyeing her in suspicion bringing a smile of amusement to my lips.

"Jane?" Alex asked in a surprisingly cool tone.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up!" She almost yelled before pulling out of the parking lot.

As much as I would like to know what was going on with her, I had my own problems. I stared one last at the parking lot in hope, but it was shattered as there was no sign of him.

We dropped off Jane first as she had to go to the library, as always. Then we set off for my place with me now in the passenger's seat, staring gloomily outside the window.

"So...wanna talk about it?" Alex suddenly blurted out, staring at me from the corner of her eye.

"Not really," I sighed, still staring out the window.

"You know what? We're going to have girl time, just the two of us to get your mind off...whatever is going on with you." She suggested, diverting my attention to her.

"I'm not interested, Alex. I just want to lie down on my bed." And cry till morning. But I didn't say that out loud as I leaned back into my seat.

"And I wanna eat chicken all day and not go to school. But you don't see that happening now, do you?" She sarcastically stated.

"I'm serious, Alex. I'm not going or doing anything with you." I huffed out, stubbornly folding my arms across my chest.

"Come on. You look like...death, and it worries me." She glanced at me then, in concern before staring back at the road. I sent a small glare her way at how she described me, but I didn't have enough energy to fight with her.

"Please. I hate seeing you like this." She tried one last time, breaking my resolve. I guess a little girl time with her won't hurt. It might even help lessen the ache I feel in my chest.

"Okay." I sighed in defeat. "What do you have in mind?" I glance at her curiously as a smirk emerged on her face.

"You'll see." She replied befor turning on the radio and immediately, Break Free by Ariana Grande, blared out from the speaker and filled the car.

It was too loud, and she didn't make it better by singing off-key to the song very loud. Groaning in pain, I reached for my shades to put back over my eyes and leaned further back into my seat, covering my ears with my hands. Right then, I really did wish for death.

To say I was stunned is an understatement for what happened that afternoon.

Firstly, Alex drove me home to take a quick shower, and before I came out, she threw a sweatpant and green top for me to wear, yelling at me to get dressed quickly. She hadn't even let me finish dressing properly before she dragged me out to her car.

Next thing I knew, I was at a salon and seated to be worked on.

My dark brown hair was cut short, styled, and highlights added to it, my nails manicured, my brows waxed, and my makeup done too. All the while, I kept groaning internally, knowing the expenses all this would cost me. I was now regretting letting Alex talk me into this. God so help me, I would kill her if I can't pay for all this and get arrested. This salon wasn't the type I usually go to as this looked more...fancy.

I kept sending fake smiles at the hairdresser's, even though I was panicking on the inside.

When it was over, I couldn't even recognize myself in the mirror. My hair was in a lighter shade with streaks of my natural brown hair still showing, it was more curly than it was, and stopped some inches below my shoulder. Too much makeup hadn't been applied on my face, but the pale pink lipstick made my blue eyes pop, and my face had more color than it did earlier.

"Wow, they're really good here." Alex came to stand behind me, as she admired me through the mirror also.

"Alex?" I started in a nice cool tone. "When you said we're going to be spending some girl time together, I didn't know we were going to use all my savings in one day." I gritted out in a low voice, not wanting the staff to hear I was cheap.

"Not to worry about it. I have it all covered. Now, let's go." She patted my back before sauntering out of the salon, leaving me still seated and gawking at her.

I glanced at all the staff, but they weren't looking my way, but busy with other customers. I stood to leave, nervously glancing around before bolting out. Oh God, I hope I wasn't committing broad daylight robbery.

"Alex." I hissed lowly as I ran after her, and grabbed her elbow to stop her from walking further.

"What is going on? Why did you pay for me? And...and why didn't you get a makeover? What's in it for you?" I kept throwing questions at her, confused as to what was going on.

"Slow down, will you." She chuckled at my nervous jumpy self. I exhaled out when I noticed no one was coming after us from the salon, meaning she did pay. But why was she being so nice?

"Just go with it, okay? I wanna spoil you since you seemed so upset. That's all." She explained, but I wasn't buying it.

"And how did you suddenly become so rich that you take your friends out to classy salons and spoil them instead of buying chicken wings with the money?" I questioned with a cocked eyebrow.

"Hey, I can be nice too." She defended, but even she wasn't so convinced.

"Alex..." I sighed, but she interrupted me.

"I said to just go with it, okay? Enough with the questions, we have other places to be." She announced before walking over to the car.

Sighing exasperatedly, I followed after her and hopped in the car too. I wanted to pester her with questions, but I doubted she was going to give me any answers.

"Where are we going now?" I asked as she started the car.

"You'll see." She had a teasing smirk on her face that made me worry.

Before I knew it, we were in a boutique, and Alex was piling up different outfits from racks. Maxi dresses, Floral print dresses, rompers, summer dresses, they were all piled on her arm as she scrolled through the racks, and I just stood there, gazing at her in confusion.

"So, let's start with this." She hurried over to me with an excited look on her face.

"Us?" I cocked an eyebrow at her, not taking anything from her. "Sorry, Alex. But I'm not in the mood to shop for any new clothes. I have enough at home."

"Those old things?" She mocked, making me roll my eyes at her. "Besides, I'm paying." She added.

"Okay... start talking. Why're you doing all this?" I asked as she sighed in annoyance.

"Okay, fine. I'll tell you." She huffed out. "My uncle is part of a mafia group, and they sell pretty young girls for a lot of cash, and I thought..."

"Alex!" I interrupted her, tired of her joke.

"Losen up. It's a surprise, okay? Just try this out." She shoved me into the nearest dressing room and tossed some summer dresses at me. "Have fun!" She slammed the door shut in my face ignoring my protest.

I huffed out in annoyance and reached for the dresses. Well, I might as well see how they looked on me. Alex was succeeding alright, in taking my mind off Ryan, I gotta give that to her. But as I stared in the mirror of the dressing room, I could see his warm brown eyes instead of my bright blue.

I hadn't heard from him all day, and I was torturing myself because of him. He could be somewhere else with Jenny, probably sharing a sundae together.

Gritting my teeth in anger, I looked away and started to put on a blue summer dress. I might as well loosen up as Alex suggested and enjoy the moment. At least that way, I could forget about him...even if it was for a while. I only hoped Alex didn't rob the money she was spending from a defenseless citizen. I couldn't put it past her.

Soon enough, we both had tried on so many outfits, laughing at the hideous ones and awwing at the cute ones, and they were a lot of cute ones. I did notice that apart from Summer, Maxi, Flora Print dresses, and rompers, Alex didn't choose any other. I found it weird, but when I asked, she just brushed it off.

I soon came out in a black romper that stopped mid-thigh, had a halter neckline and white-colored flowers all over it with specks of pink coral on them. Alex was also dressed in a yellow summer dress with tiny white flowers on it as she texted away on her phone.

"What do you think of this?" I asked with a huge grin on my face.

"Perfect." She purred while tucking her phone in her back pocket. "Listen, we're almost late, time to go. Go get your things, but leave the dress on. I'm gonna go pay." She instructed before hurrying over to the counter. I was still confused about all that was going on, but just shrugged and grabbed the clothes I had on earlier.

I walked over to see her waiting near the counter, and when she noticed me, she rushed me back to the car.

"Woah, slow down, Alex. Where are were going?" I asked as we hopped into the car.

"You'll see." She answered.

"That's what you keep saying."

"I know." She smirked before pulling back out the highway.

I checked the time on my phone and found it was almost six o'clock. The sky splashed in orange as the sun crouched lower, and the route Alex was taking us was somewhat familiar.

My suspicions were confirmed when I realized the park she stopped us at. It was the one Ryan, and I always came to when we're were kids, and in the middle of it stood...Ryan.