"What the hell is wrong with you, Jamie?" I woke up to the sound of Nicole's hushed voice. I shut my eyes immediately I recognized my surroundings.

I guess I'd fallen asleep on the couch right after I tucked Nicholas into bed and waited till he actually fell asleep.

"Arrested for vandalism? We just got here for crying out loud!" She exclaimed. I stopped fake-snoring to listen clearly.

"You've already caused me so much trouble. Your dad-" I heard her draw in a deep breath. A minute passed and I heard no voice again. I heard someone walk up to me and then felt a light tap on my shoulder.

I opened my eyes after the second tap. I definitely didn't want to be caught eavesdropping. It was Nicole and she looked stressed.

"I'm so sorry, it took longer than expected". "It's okay ", I replied, checking my phone. It was almost midnight. I sprang up to my feet.

"You can stay the night", she offered. "No, it's okay, really" I insisted. "I'll have Jamie walk you over to your house, then." She said. I groaned internally.

As she made her way up the stairs, I picked up my phone and quietly made my way to the door. No way in hell was I going to let him walk me out.

I hurried outside and turned to shut the door as quietly as possible. I felt a pull from inside and the door came open, making me stagger inside.

"Umph!" He let out air as my head collided into his chest. Well, I wasn't sorry about that.

He put his pointer finger against my forehead and pushed me forward like I had an infectious disease. I regained my balance, glared at him, and started strutting over to my house.

I heard him walk behind me. "It's not like I'm excited to walk you home either".

I scoffed. I refused to engage in any conversation with him. "You just did". He said. I can't believe I had said that out loud. I sighed in frustration and kept walking ahead.

"I can take care of myself; I definitely don't need an asshole to accompany me".

"Yeah? You're so good at taking care of yourself, that's why you have a burn on your wrist" he mocked. I tugged the sleeve of my sweatshirt down.

"None of your business".

"Never said it was" he simply replied.

I pulled out the keys to the door from my pocket and opened the door.

"Next time, if my mum tells you to watch my brother, tell her you can't".

I snorted and stepped inside. I turned to face him.

"Then you should think twice before getting in trouble and making your mom worried".

I didn't wait to see the look on his face as I shut the door quickly.

** ** **

Tuesday went by quickly, as well as Wednesday and Thursday. Jace had totally been avoiding me but I pretended not to care. I still couldn't come up with a valid reason as to why he would act that way.

"Why don't you come over today, Annie" Chloe demanded as we hurried out of the cafeteria. Lunch was over. I hesitated at Chloe's offer. "I would love to Chlo, but I have plans with my dad. He wants me to meet someone". I said.

"I'll come over on Sunday, then". She said, as she gave me a quick hug and hurried over to her class. I had to take a few things from my locker, so I went off in the other direction.

Getting to my locker, I put my combination code and pulled it open. An envelope fell out and I bent down to pick it up. Someone had left it here.

I ripped open the seal and pulled out a picture. It was a picture of my mom. I looked around to see if anyone looking suspicious was staring. Only about five students were in the hallway and each of them weren't looking in my direction.

I shifted my attention back to the picture. It looked like it had been taken recently. I turned the picture around to see if any message was written there. Something was written there, but it was only a date. 12-06. probably the date the picture was taken and below it, another date was written 07-08. The date looked familiar- My birthdate. Exactly the date I was born and the month. Who could have brought the picture to me? The person knew my mom's whereabouts.

I looked at the picture again. The same blue eyes like mine, she was smiling. She looked so much better than I remembered. She looked like she was doing well, wherever she was. Anger started to well up in me at her for looking like she had no care in the world and also at whoever left that envelope for me. I took my backpack out of my locker and closed it shut. I shoved the picture into my bag and got out of the school entrance.

I was probably going to be late for class anyway, why not just skip school. I wasn't feeling good and there were only two classes remaining.

When I got home, I went up to my room and flopped down on my bed, I needed to talk to someone. Dad wasn't home. He could have gotten mad at me for skipping school but he would listen if I told him why I did that. I turned over on my stomach and tried to get some sleep and maybe, probably forget about what I saw today. I wiped a stray tear off my cheeks. I wasn't going to start being emotional now. I'd done so well do far in keeping my emotions in check after my first and only breakdown.

I heard a thud from outside my window and sat up. I guess I thought wrong about the McLean's not being home. I heard a screeching sound again and this time, I walked over to my window and drew my curtains open.

I watched as my arrogant neighbor sat at the edge of his open window, his back to me, a ladder stationed below. I decided to give him a little scare. I knew it was dangerous but my bitchy self was more powerful than my cautious side. I slid open my window making sure it made that screeching noise.

Hearing the sound, he fell off the window and landed inside his room. He got, up almost immediately and looked me in the eyes. I tried to act normal, even though my face was heating up, ready to burst into laughter. His face also looked nice. Really nice.

"Trying to kill me, huh? He demanded, as he proceeded to climb the windows edge again, this time, facing outside.

"I wonder why stairs are put in houses, when some people use ladders to climb out of their homes" I thought out loud, ignoring his question. He got over the window and started to climb down the ladder.

"You get to skip school and I get to leave the house without anyone knowing." He said, still climbing down.

"You don't seem like the kind of person to skip school, though, but that's what they say about pretentious kids" he continued, turning to look at me, a fake smile plastered on his face.

I didn't think twice. In one swift motion, I picked up my hair brush from my bedside table and threw it, aiming the back of his head. He was already five steps down, but he fell with a loud thud.