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Walking into his class earlier than usual, Mark trudged to his seat in the back, dropped his bag on the floor and plopped down into the chair. It was 6:30 in the morning and of course he was the only person around, excluding the teachers and janitorial staff who had to be there early.

The students typically started showing up between 7 and 7:30 which gave him approximately thirty minutes of freedom. Thirty minutes for him to do whatever he pleased before he had to put on the mask he had been burdened to wear for the last three years of his life.

A heavy sigh slipped through his lips as he thought about what had happened on Friday, the day where he so shamelessly lied to his heart and the girl who possessed it. A bitter feeling began to rouse within him as he folded his arms against his chest and leaned back, his eyes fluttering shut.

“It’s okay if you’re not interested me in that way,” Jia pointed out, a smile gracing her lips. “I’m not interested in you that way either.” The manner in which she spoke such piercing words was happy and bubbly. It was obvious she didn’t care about how he saw things. If anything, she seemed relieved that he wasn’t romantically interested in her.

He could tell it wasn’t her intention to make him suffer, but was it really necessary for her to say that to him so bluntly? He already had a rough idea that she might not have liked him the way he liked her but to hear her admit it verbally assured him that he had no chance with her now.

“Then we shouldn’t do it,” he forced himself to say, turning his body away so that she wouldn’t be able to see his pained and miserable expression.

“But they told me you would do it,” she muttered, her bright countenance slowly disappearing.

“Remember what you promised me, Jia?” Mark questioned as he peered over his shoulder.

“Of course,” she replied, nodding her head. “That no matter what anyone says about you, I will stick by your side no matter what.”

“Exactly. So can you please just do that for me? And I’m begging you. Please don’t ask me to do something like this ever again or else you and me…” He paused, his lips trembling before he finished his statement, “we can’t be friends anymore.”

Even though two days had already gone by, it felt like the event had taken place no more than twenty-four hours ago. Mark’s hands clenched into fists and his jaw tightened. Why did his life have to so much? The room felt like it had become smaller and not wanting to suffocate, he got up and decided to take a walk outside. He allowed his feet to take him wherever and failed to realize he was actually leaving the school.

It was only when he was a good six blocks away did he discover this.

Looking around, Mark didn’t recognize the area he was currently located in. He glanced left and then right, searching for anything that might seem familiar to him. Something that would give him even the slightest bit of hint to where he was. However, there was nothing. He wasn’t exactly upset about his situation though. Why would he be?

If anything, he would consider this kind of thing happening a blessing. Now he had a legitimate excuse as to why he missed school. After checking his watch, he saw that it was already eight. Classes had started and he couldn’t care less. He would take this as his day off.

As he continued to wander the streets aimlessly, his eyes roamed the environment. The leaves were beginning to change colors, signifying the arrival of autumn, one of Mark’s favorite seasons of the year. Then a crisp and cool breeze swept by. There were people walking around, either talking on their phones or scanning over some papers. They looked like they were in a hurry so none of them paid much attention to him as he did his best to avoid any collisions.

He needed to clear his mind. He didn’t want to think about anything. But he couldn’t. It was practically impossible. Besides, how could he not think of Jia? How could any sane boy not think about how he rejected the girl of his dreams? The only girl he has ever wanted?

Sometimes Mark wished he could just disappear for a few days. Escape to a place no one knew about so that he could be alone. No, cross that out. That’s not what would please him, at least not anymore. What he wanted was to run away to a covert place with her so that he could let her get to know the real him without other people influencing her.

Everything was going fine between the two of them but then she just had to find out about his stupid reputation!

Mark was beyond angry and frustrated with himself that he felt like yanking out all of his hair. He was then pulled out from his rather depressing thoughts when he spotted an elderly woman suddenly collapsing across the street. His eyes rounded in shock as he watched people gather around.

He quickly sprinted over and squeezed his way to the center. There were two other citi