There was one week left until graduation. We had our muck up day where we showed up to school looking as ridiculous as possible. Some wore a clown costume, while others wore a superhero outfit. Some boys wore the girl uniform, and the girls wore the boy uniform. Mia and I went dressed up as the minions from Despicable Me.

The next day on Tuesday, we had only half a day where we all had our whole walk out of school with everyone in the lower years giving us their farewells before we rushed off to freedom. I tried to enjoy the day as much as I could. School was finished tonight was our formal.

Mia and I decided to go to formal together. We hired our own limousine and decided to buy each other's corsages. Mia was laughing so hard that night, she was predicting that everyone was going to assume we were a couple. I cringed hard considering that we're cousins. But not everyone at school knew that apparently.

Mia stayed over on Tuesday night, so we could get ready for formal together on Wednesday. I finally got my driver's license after many fearful attempts to actually get into the driver's side, but dad was with me the whole time. I drove us to the hairdressers before going to Sephora where they did our make up for free after buying that package deal. When finished, we headed back to my place where we got into our dresses.

Mia wore a pink evening gown whereas I wore a navy blue with silver designs.

We went Federation Square after to take photos. Dad was trying really hard to be a photographer and it was almost cringe when he was telling us how to pose.

Mia's parents were there too, and her dad was taking photos using his iPhone. Mia always preferred photos from my dad whereas I preferred the photos taken by Mia's dad. By the time we actually went to formal, we got out of the limo and walked down the red carpet to the function hall where we met with Dina and everyone else from school.

"I am so hungry!" Mia yelled after we went inside the hall and to our allocated seats.

"My stomach is making way too many whale noises, people's going to start thinking someone's smuggled a cat in here," I agreed. Mia and Dina laughed.

After they served dinner, I hate like my life depended on it. I was so hungry. I completely forgot to eat much the entire day too afraid I was going to ruin my whole look.

When we finished, Mia wanted to go and dance even though it was a slow dance. I agreed, with a lot of reluctance, to join her, but before I could, Kyle was standing beside me. A smile on his face, and his eyes looking at me.

"Can I have this dance?" he asked.

"Boo," Mia mumbled. "I'm going to look for Josh."

Seriously? Just like that? I wanted to call out to her, but Kyle offered me his hand. I peered over his shoulder to his table and saw Daniel sitting there. Beth beside him. She was talking but Daniel was looking right at us.

"I shouldn't," I replied.

"Come on, only going as friends."

He took my hand anyways. He led me to the dance floor and placed his hand at the small part of my back as we swayed gently to the music. I maintain a reasonable distance between us.

"So, how's the speech going?" he asked.

Eh, I didn't want to be reminded about that speech. As the valedictorian, I was asked to do a speech alongside the school captain. I didn't even know what to write. I was horrible at speeches when it had nothing to do with a certain topic being taught in class. What was I going to say?

"Horribly," I replied.

He laughed. "I'm sure it's far more better than you think," he replied.

"I will have to disagree on that. I'm just hoping that my speech isn't going to be as embarrassing as John Travolta introducing Idina Menzel at the Oscars," I tried to joke.

"Who?" he frowned.

How does he not know about this? It was all over the internet when it happened.

I shook my head and smiled. "Never mind."

We continued dancing. The song was a Shawn Mendes song. It was too romantic to be dancing with Kyle and as the song kept playing, the more awkward it felt.

"I wanted to speak to you actually."

"Oh?" was al I said.

Did he want to talk about Daniel? I secretly hoped he did. I'd been dying to know how he was and unfortunately, none of his friends were really talking to me and vice versa. Kyle was the only one wo was willing to talk to me during classes, but I was too afraid to mention Daniel's name. Perhaps he felt the same.

"I know you don't like me. I mean, it was pretty obvious considering you dated Daniel," he started off.

Oh no. This was going the opposite direction of what I hoped. Was he going to ask me out again? After all that happened.

"And I'm not going to confess my love for you or anything," he laughed noting my reaction. I pressed my lips together. "But when I heard you two broke up, I couldn't help but wonder if I was the reason. Daniel said no, but..."

I shook my head. "You're not the reason," I reassured.

"Yeah, I know but if I hadn't reacted the way I did, then you and Daniel would've still been together," he advised. That was probably true but maybe it was bound to happen anyways. "I just wish that I didn't let Beth get to me."

I frowned. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"Beth told me about the deal. She thought that I had the right to know what Daniel was doing behind my back, and she convinced me not to even listen to Daniel's side of things knowing he was going to lie. But I shouldn't have listened because none of this would've happened if I didn't."

"Beth told you about the deal?" How did she even know?

I searched my thoughts thinking about any possible reason why Beth would know. Did Daniel tell her? They were friends so maybe he felt like he needed to tell one his friends and it was Beth. No way would Mia tell Beth. Mia hated Beth more than Beth hated me.

Then I remembered. Beth's threat. She said I was going to regret living if I ever ended up going to that Gold Coast trip. Was this it? Was she the one who orchestrated all of this?

I stepped back suddenly, letting go of Kyle. Beth convinced Kyle to ignore Daniel. She was the one who manipulated everyone just so she could get back at me?

"I need to go," I told Kyle.

I turned around and weaved out of the dance floor. I headed straight to Beth's table, in which she sat there with her cult. Daniel was not there anymore. Good. I was pissed and I didn't want him nearby in case he stopped me.

As I reached their table, I slammed my hand onto the table in front of Beth, leaning forward and smiling sickly at Beth when she stared at me with startled eyes.

"Hey, bestie," I greeted. "I think it's time we talked."

Beth looked at me with her arms crossed, an eyebrow slightly raised as if in challenge. Her right leg was stretched out to the side in a pose and exposed from the split of her dress. She looked pissed, but so was I.

"What do you want?" Beth asked venomously.

"I think the better question is what is it that you want?"

She frowned. "What are you talking about? I'm perfectly content," she replied lightly. I was sure she was.

"Clearly, you're not. Otherwise, you wouldn't get in the way between Daniel and Kyle just to hurt me."

Her emotion seemed unchanged. She wasn't even surprised that I knew and in fact, it was like she was hoping I did.

"Do you hate me so much for what I did to you that you'd try break up a friendship of your two friends?"

She scoffed. "Get over yourself. Not everything's about you," she replied.

"But everything is about you, isn't it?"

She didn't respond. She looked pissed off and the distance between us seemed to only get further apart. Not literally, but metaphorically. Whatever we do, there was no way we could ever salvage our friendship.

"I'm sorry what I did to you. It was wrong of me, and I regret it every second that goes by because of it, and I don't expect you to forgive. I can expect you of that," I told her from the deepest of my heart. "But you took your anger towards me to go as far as to hurt your own friends. Why? Why would you do that?"

"It's what you deserve after what Lindsay and her friends did to me, even if it hurts others. No, you deserve worse than that," she said venomously.

I shook my head. "No. You wouldn't have done all of this just because I ignored you in primary school. I know it was wrong of me to do that, and I'm sorry for it, but you weren't so aggrieved by it to attack me before until now. Until I became friends with—" I paused.

It couldn't be. I always thought Beth didn't want me near Daniel or Kyle because of the fear I'd hurt them too. But the images of her looping her arm with Daniel popped before my eyes. She never targeted me before Daniel started talking to me even though he hated me too then. She didn't care if I existed before.

"You like Daniel, don't you?"

She laughed suddenly as if what I had said was absurd. "Please, I do not like Daniel," she rolled her eyes.

If not Daniel, then... "Kyle."

She didn't reply.

"You hated me because Kyle liked me. That's why you were always mean to me and Mia throughout these years because you knew he liked me. And you couldn't stand it when I started talking to him this year. You didn't like it that he wanted to ask me out, so you tried to find a way to have him hate me."

"He needed to see what you really were. Nice on the outside, but really a bitch who only cares about herself. You didn't even bat an eyelid when he asked you out in public, and you didn't bat an eyelid when I was crying to you to talk to me five months straight."

I wanted to hate her. I really did. Al this time, I thought I hurt her. I abandoned her and I was convinced that it was all my fault. That Daniel and Kyle fighting was my fault. That Daniel was getting hurt was all my fault. When really, it wasn't even my doing. It was all because of her.

But part of what she said was right. What I did in the past six years wasn't kind to anyone. I hurt the people around me, not realising that I was hurting them. I only cared about what I wanted, and how I felt, that it completely went over my head that I was ignoring the people who needed me the most.

But I see it now. I know it know. And there was no way I was ever going to let it happen again.

"I know you don't like me. I know that you will never forgive me for what I did to you. I can't forgive myself for what I did to my best friend. And I hate myself for abandoning you. But there's nothing I can do about it now other than to say sorry. You can hate me forever. You can despise me all you want, and I'm okay with that. I deserve it. But I'm not going to let that guilt of what I did to you, and what happened with my mum, take control of everything else in my life."

I stood taller. I glanced at her in the eyes.

"I just have to accept that it happened, learn from it, and move on living my life. Because the world's not stopping for anyone. And Beth, I hope one day, you move on from it too."