The rest of the week passed in a boring drag of classes and homework, and honestly, by the time my Friday English lesson rolled around, I'd almost forgotten about our new assignment. I wasn't exactly looking forward to it, and considering how little I really cared for 'Great Expectations', I wasn't too keen to read half-hearted comments from one of my classmates.

To make matters worse, as I approached the classroom, Cash and his on-again off-again girlfriend, Casey Truman, were making out in the doorway.

I waited for a moment, praying they'd hurry up and leave, and then, left with no choice, I braved the door.

"Excuse me," I muttered, trying to squeeze past.

Casey turned to me suddenly, irritably, as though my presence was a great inconvenience. "What do you want? Can't you see we're busy?" Her perfectly manicured nails ran impatient tracks through her long blonde hair. Beautiful and fashionable, Casey was every bit Cash's female counterpart. The pair looked like the perfect couple, the kind you'd see embracing on the cover of a magazine.

"Yeah," I replied, trying not to snicker, "I really can. But I just...I just need to get past."

"Oh." Casey's big brown eyes suddenly went soft, and she smiled gently. "Sorry about that, sweetie," she simpered, tugging Cash aside. She ran her fingers lightly down his chest. "I just get so carried away."

Cash peered at me out of the corner of his eye and smirked. "Jealous, Miller?"

Yeah. But it's Casey I'm jealous of.

"More than you'll ever know, Smith," I sighed mockingly. I thought I saw something flash through his gaze as I entered the classroom, but it might've been my imagination.

"You made it, mate," Robert cheered as I took my usual seat beside him. "Good for you."

"Ugh, don't start." I leaned back in my seat, trying to mentally erase the last few minutes from my mind. "Casey and Cash were putting on a two-person circus outside."

Robert sniffed. "I'm sure they make great clowns."

I stole a glance over my shoulder as the door creaked open, watching Cash glide in. His hoodie was disheleved, and he smoothed it down as he went to take his seat.

"Yeah."

Oh, why did people like him have to be so gloriously straight? I was beginning to think I just liked the challenge, the unavailability of him.

"Good afternoon, everyone," Mr. Reiner sang, entering the room. He had the blue bag under one arm and a pile of folders under the other. "Hope we're all having a pleasant day?"

"Oh, it's been amazing," Robert grumbled softly. "They ran out of fries in the cafeteria, and the water fountain exploded on me again."

I clicked my tongue sympathetically. "Tough break, man."

"I have divided the books equally among you," Mr. Reiner continued, proudly brandishing the bag. "When I call your name, please come to the front to collect yours."

"He's real proud of himself, isn't he?" Robert mused, shaking his head.

"He really thinks he did something here." I drummed my fingers thoughtfully across the table. "Are you even gonna read the book you get?"

Robert snorted. "I doubt it. I've got better things to do than read some moron's idea of top grade literature." He quirked a brow. "Will you?"

"I don't know," I replied with a shrug.

"Alyx Miller."

I glanced up at the sound of my name, then reluctantly rose to my feet.

Bryce wolf-whistled behind me. "What an ass!" he crowed in a horrifically insulting feminine voice.

I flushed furiously and crossed to Mr. Reiner's desk, burning with resentment. "Thanks," I muttered when he held a book he held out to me.

But Mr. Reiner clutched it tightly, refusing to relinquish it. His eyes, round and boggled beneath his glasses, fixed intently onto mine. "Hang in there, Alyx." There was an intensity in his face I'd never seen before. "Enjoy the book." He released it suddenly and I stumbled back to my seat, mind abuzz.

"That," I said to Robert, staring at the book in my hands, "was weird."

- - - -

My weekend, as always, was packed with homework and extra credit material, and I spent much of it in my room, glued to my desk, squinting over sheets of equations and hastily written notes. This, of course, kept me from the plethora of raging parties I was obviously invited to, and it also kept me from reading the book I'd received from Mr. Reiner.

I'd had a brief look at it though, and from what I could tell it was old, very old, and very worn. It could give my copy of 'The Midnight Train' a run for its money. It was called 'This Blazing Heart', and the cover was a deep crimson with a single rose emblazoned across it. The blurb simply read 'A tale of love.'

Mysterious, and confusing. Had someone actually bought their favourite book for the assignment? They were braver than me.

Anyway, I was working quietly into Saturday afternoon when Elena breezed into my room, hands on her hips and hair slightly ruffled.

I ceased writing at once. "I know that look," I said, standing from my desk. "What's wrong?"

Elena bit her lip, hesitated, then blurted, "Dad's home."

"What?"

I merely gaped at her for a moment. "How? We just saw him!"

"I know." My sister scuffed her foot gingerly across the floor. "I think he made a special trip. He, um...He bought ice cream."

A questioning look. A single inquiry in her gaze. Would I join them? Would I play nice, just this once?

"No," I said simply, sitting back at my desk.

"Please," Elena sighed. "Please try."

"I'm not gonna try," I growled, refusing to face her. "After all this time he can't just-I won't let him-"

"Hey, Alyx," Dad called, knocking on my open door. He stepped hesitantly into the room. "I don't know if Elena told you, but-"

"Oh, I heard." I still wasn't looking at him. He didn't deserve it. "But I have a lot to do. Sorry."

"Right." Dad stared at the floor. "Right. No, I get it. You're a busy kid."

I hated the way he looked, like a let-down kid. As though it were my fault. As though I was the bad guy, the villain.

No.

"Can you shut the door behind you?" I asked flatly.

"Alyx," Dad sighed. "I-I am trying-"

"I don't want you to try," I said evenly. "I want you to get. Out."

Most parents wouldn't let their kids talk to them like that. But my Dad had lost that right long ago.

"Alright," he said finally. Sadly. "You need time. I get it."

He and Elena shuffled into the hall, and as the door shut, I trudged over to my bed and flopped across it with a sigh. The late sun was spilling across my covers, and it warmed my face and neck, like a comforting caress. I was quiet for a while, just listening to my heart beat. Just letting the quiet envelope me. And then-

"Damn it!"

It felt good to say. Great.

"Fuck!"

I beat my fist into my pillow once, then propped myself up onto my elbows and ran a hand through my hair. It was suddenly all too much. All of it. Losing my friends to their newly developed lives, enduring Dad's monthly visits and Elena's pleading, trying to ignore Cash and his toxic collection of ignorant bastards. It felt like there was nothing I could to fix it, nothing I could about anything.

I stared into my palms and thought of how all the essay writing and test taking in the world couldn't solve these equations.

And then I turned to my bedside table, picked up 'This Blazing Heart', and flipped to page 1.

'If there is one thing I know to be unequivocally true,' the first line read, 'it is that there exists no true meaning behind anything we do in life-we provide the meaning, and although it may be a nonsensical, bizarre kind of meaning, it births a purpose all the same.'

I was instantly hooked.

A/N: Thanks for reading! If you're enjoying so far, please leave a vote and/or a comment :)