Without saying a word, she drags me down the corridor into the ladies room. “What’s going on?” she asks when we’re away from prying eyes. I have no words. Placing my hands over my face, I start to cry. “What the hell?” She pulls me into her arms, holding me tight. “What did that bastard do to you?”

“Nothing,” I eventually say. Placing her hands on my shoulders, she pushes me back so she can see my face.

“Bullshit. In the twelve years we’ve been friends, I can count on one hand how many times I’ve seen you cry.” When a few other girls walk in, she pulls me into a stall, locking us in. I’m grateful for that. The rumour mill is rife in this damn school. If it gets out that I’m crying in the toilets, people are bound to make shit up.

I end up telling her everything. From the kiss, to him going MIA yesterday, and what happened this morning. “Babe, I think you’re reading too much into this.”

“You think?” I ask, because I really need her thoughts on this. My mind is all over the place.

“Yes. I’m sure there’s a logical explanation. I see the way he looks at you. He’s crazy about you, Indi. I can’t see him hooking up with someone else when he has feelings for you.” I shrug. Does he have feelings for me? Or does he just want to get in my pants, like Brad?

Once I’ve pulled myself together, she lets us out of the stall. I splash some cold water on my face before we leave. I’m going to try and put it out of my mind for now.

Carter Reynolds has messed with my head enough.

I manage to avoid running into Carter for the rest of the day. I did see him from a distance at lunchtime. Well, I saw his back as he stormed out of the lunchroom. Brad decided to come and sit with us today. I’m not sure if that had anything to do with it.

Since I gave Brad the brush-off, he hasn’t left me alone. I guess he doesn’t like being told ‘no’. I’m probably the first girl in history to ever turn him down. He can try all he wants, but I can assure you this is one pair of panties he won’t be getting into.

Following orders, after my last class I make my way to the car park. Carter is looking ridiculously hot leaning up against his car as I walk towards him. I try my best not to check him out, but my traitorous eyes seem to have a mind of their own. Ugh!

“Like what you see, kid?” he asks. God his cockiness annoys me.

“Whatever,” I retort, rolling my eyes as I make my way towards the passenger side. He chuckles as he climbs in. Neither of us speak for the first few minutes of the drive.

“Are you going to continue with the silent treatment?” he asks. I don’t answer. “Are you going to tell me what I’ve done to upset you, or are you just moody because it’s that time of the month?”

“What? Ewww. No. I can’t believe you just said that.” He throws back his head and laughs. It’s one of those rare moments. He’s absolutely breathtaking when he laughs like that.

“Well, at least I got you to talk to me,” he says all smug.

I let out a deep regretful breath. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” he asks glancing over at me.

“For my behaviour. It was uncalled for.”

“Are you going to tell me what upset you?”

“No. It was dumb. Just forget it,” I confess.

“Already forgotten,” he replies smiling as he reaches over and places his hand on my outer thigh. “For what it’s worth, if it was me that upset you, I’m sorry, too.” Wow. Did he just apologise? They’re two words I never thought I’d hear come out of his mouth.

Removing his hand from my leg, he places it back on the steering wheel. I find myself wishing he hadn’t. “I noticed Brad sniffing around you today,” he says a few minutes later.

“Yeah. I think I wounded his pride by telling him I wasn’t interested.”

“You told him that?”

“I told him last week. I’m guessing by his actions today he didn’t take me seriously.”

“Want me to have a talk to him?” he offers turning his head in my direction.

“No,” I laugh. “I can just imagine what you’d say. I’m a big girl. I can handle him.”

“You’re a big girl?” he asks sarcastically, raising an eyebrow. He’s suppressing a smile though, so I know he’s joking. “Do you have mirrors in your house?”

“Ha ha,” I reply as I reach over and playfully punch him in the arm. We both start laughing. I still have no idea where this thing is going between us, but I’m glad we’re kind of okay again.

When he doesn’t take the turn-off leading towards our street, I’m surprised. “Where are we going?” I ask.

“I’ve got to pick something up. I thought maybe we could grab a burger while we’re out.”

“I’d like that,” I tell him. It both pleases and surprises me that he’d want to hang out with me.

We pull up outside the place we ate at the other day. We even sit in the same booth. “You want the same thing again?” he asks. “I still can’t believe you ate all of that last time. Do you have hollow legs or something?”

“No,” I shrug. “I’ve always been a big eater.” He smiles and shakes his head.

“I don’t know where you put it. There’s nothing of you.”

While waiting for our food to arrive, we fall into easy conversation. Nothing dreary like last time, thankfully. When he’s not being a douche he’s actually quite funny. This would have to be the best we’ve ever gotten on.

“Thanks for bringing me here,” I say a while later as we leave the restaurant. “You’re actually not that bad when you’re being nice,” I joke, although I’m deadly serious. He drapes his arm over my shoulder.

“You’re pretty alright, too, for an annoying little kid,” he laughs. I playfully elbow him in the side. “I’m just messing with you. Hanging with you isn’t as painful as I thought it would be.” I smile because I know in his twisted sort of way that’s a compliment. He leads me towards Mr. Gregory’s shop.

“You’re not going to put more parts on hold are you? Don’t you think you should wait until you can afford the other ones first?” I ask.

“Actually, I’m here to pick them up,” he replies.

“I thought you didn’t have the money for them.” It makes me instantly suspicious.

“I didn’t. Let’s just say I happened to come into a little bit of money yesterday,” he says winking. My heart drops. I was right. He did go and see that whore-bag, his ex-landlady. I feel like I’m going to be sick. He promised me he wouldn’t go back there.

“Do you mind if I go and wait in the car?” I ask, trying my best to play it cool.

“Sure. You okay?”

“Yeah. I think I just ate too much,” I reply, forcing out a smile. He chuckles.

“You certainly can eat a lot for a squirt.”

“Ha ha,” I say sarcastically, holding my hand out for his car keys. Tears burn my eyes as I leave the shop. I take a few deep breaths to will the tears away, but a few manage to spill over. I quickly wipe them away with the back of my hand. I can’t believe he went back there. At least before he was doing it for his mum, for rent and for food. To sell your body for car parts though, that’s shameful.

Once I’m seated in the car, I pull my iPod and earplugs out of my bag. I need a distraction otherwise I might do something incredibly stupid, like burst into tears. I’m hurt. Maybe I have no right to be, but I am.

Flicking through my playlists, I find what I need. Placing the plugs into my ears, I press play. The first song booms to life. This playlist, funnily enough, is called ‘Distraction’. Perfect for what I need right now.

It has no sad or sappy songs on it, nothing that would make me sad or possibly cry. I actually made this list up last year. Every year on the anniversary of my mum’s death, or her birthday, my dad goes MIA. They’re the only two days of the year I cannot count on him for anything. He locks himself in the bedroom he once shared with my mother, with a bottle of scotch, and I don’t see him again until the next morning.

That’s where my ‘Distraction’ playlist comes in. As night falls and my dad’s bottle of scotch has been consumed, and the heartache of missing my mum settles in, he starts to cry. It breaks my heart. It’s the same thing every year. I wish more than anything I could take his pain away.