Katie sniffed and wiped her nose. It was Sunday night, and she was sitting on her bed, trying to do her geometry homework. She wasn't getting much done, because every time she looked at an equation, she would remember the silly poems Zac made up to help her remember them.

Zac. That was all she had been thinking about. Had she made the right decision? What if he was telling the truth? What if he wasn't? She shook her head as if that would help her clear it. The past week had been one of the worst in her entire life. Everything was just so...messed up.

She wiped her eyes again and picked up her pencil. She had to get her assignment done, she couldn't afford another incomplete in that class. If she hadn't dumped Zac, she could have called and asked him for help. All the numbers and letters started to swirl together as she stared at the page, trying to make everything make sense. When she realized that it wasn't helping, she shoved her paper in her book and threw it on the floor next to her bookbag.

She could call Nicole and cry, but she had already done that twice today. Katie had told Morgan what had happened, and Morgan had been really surprised. Her sister had been supportive, unlike the rest of her family. After Nicole had gone home, Katie locked herself in her room for the entire day. But she preferred it that way. If anyone had come up there, she knew she would have had to play twenty questions, and she was in no mood to do that. The person she wanted to call and cry to the most she was still mad at, and she didnt' know if that anger would leave her for a long, long time.

She got up and walked over to her window. It was late November, and it was very cold out. She watched as the rain mixed with snow ran down her windowsilll and down the side of the house. The weather matches my mood, she thought. It had drizzled all day, and she had mostly sat on her bed, contemplating her decision. Maybe she did break up with him too quickly...and maybe she hadn't. She couldn't make up her mind, and she didnt' know what to do.

She moved back up to her bed. She flipped on the small TV that sat at the edge of her bed on a stool, channel surfing until settling on Jeopardy re-runs. She curled up in front of it with a blanket and set her head down. Anything to take her mind off of him.



A few streets over, Zac wasnt' having much better luck keeping himself occupied. He had sat on the couch all day, not wanting to move. He had been there since five in the morning, and it was now seven thirty at night, and he hadn't moved since he got up to go to the bathroom three hours ago. He frowned at the TV, which was now showing some stupid cartoon that he had never even heard of. He had been watching the cartoon channel for the past seven hours, but he had yet to laugh. He hadn't cried since last night, but he wouldnt' have cared anyhow. He felt completely numb inside, and nothing mattered.



Diana peeked in the TV room and looked at her son. He hadn't moved all day, which was strange for Zac. She walked in, hoping to find out the problem.

"Hi honey. "She said softly, walking over to the couch. He was sitting in front of the muted TV, staring blankly at the screen. Zac grunted a greeting.

She sat down beside him and watched him for a moment. After a few minutes, Zac looked over at her.

Diana looked at her son, giving him a sympathetic look. "Do you feel alright?" She felt his forhead.

He shook her off. "I feel fine mom." He insisted, his voice cracking.

Diana sighed. "You don't look fine. Are you tired?"

"No." He muttered, looking back at the muted TV.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing."

"It doesn't look like nothing." She said.

Zac looked over at his mother. Maybe it would be okay to tell someone...

"I'm not okay." He whispered.

"What happened?"

"I.....I....Katie dumped me." He said quietly, his eyes falling to the floor.

Diana felt her heart break for her son. When he looked at her, she could see that his eyes were full of tears. She didn't see the fifteen year old boy sitting in front of her. She saw her little baby, and she also saw his heart hurting.

"Oh honey." She whispered. She was surprised when he leaned over and wrapped his arms around his mother and started to cry into her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry." She said, rocking him back and forth.

"I don't understand it." He said through his tears.

"Do you know why?"

"No." He said. She saw Walker appear in the doorway, a look of question on his face. Diana gave him an 'I'll tell you later" look and he nodded. She sighed. As far as heartbreak went, the first was always the hardest.



A few days later, Katie was walking down the hall, trying her best to stay out of the way of people. She was on her way to lunch, but she was already ready to go home. All of Zac's friends were mad at her, and all of her friends were just being pests.

She walked by Chris's locker, who was a friend of Zac's. She tried her best to avoid his gaze, which she knew was directed at her. She kept her chin up as she walked by, but at the last second, she let her eyes wander over to him. He gave her a glare, and she felt her stomach drop. She hurried past the best she could in the crowded hallway.

"Oh shit." She muttered to herself. She had forgotten her biology book, and after lunch she wouldn't have time to go back to her locker and get it. That meant that she would have to go by her locker, and that also mean that she would have to see Zac...again.

She hated to admit it, but she had been avoiding him completely since Saturday. She turned down the hall that her locker was located in, and noticed that the crowd was thinning. She decided to hurry so that she wouldn't caught alone.

Katie saw that Zac was at his locker alone, digging in the bottom. His hair hung in his face, and he wore a frown. She wasted no time in opening her locker and grabbing her book. When she closed it, she saw that she had made a terrible mistake. He was coming towards her.

She picked up her bookbag and walked towards the cafeteria, Zac coming in the oppisite direction. They were all alone in the hallway. They walked closer and closer to one another, and Katie debated in her head whether or not to look at him. When she finally did, she saw that he was looking right at her. Both their faces were expressionless as they passed. When she was around the corner and out of sight, she slowed her pace and took a deep breath. That had been bad.

next