Are you insane like me? Been in pain like me?

The room is dark. It feels hot, and stifling. Peter. Why's he brought me here? I can feel him beside me, and then suddenly he is gone. There's a loud sound - a bass guitar, and then the strumming continues. I hear the soft chords of a piano, and a violin. Then all the sounds face out and a simple guitar string is played over and over again.

And the lights switch on. I close my eyes. Something rushes past me, and I squint. There's a huge stage and some people standing on it. I know where I am - the auditorium.

My eyes start to adjust and the guitar continues to be played. "You look nice alright, and I like the way you nod after everything I say, like it actually means something to you," a voice that's at best, average, rings out. Oh no.

AJ strums a guitar and sings into a microphone. He looks straight at me, and that's when I notice what's behind him. A huge mural decorates the walls, of a girl facing one way and a boy staring back at her. The girl's depicted from behind. . . And she looks like me. She even has a faded blue streak in her hair. And facing her is a boy who looks startlingly like AJ. A banner hangs across the walls with my name on it, and AJ's as well.

I gulp, noticing the rest of the school crowded in rows around the stage.

"And if I fall, would you pick me up?" He sings, and I stand there as he sings, as he lays the guitar down and swings off the stage. As he walks closer to me and takes my hand. As he grins at me and leans in.

"Astrid." He says, and I force a smile.

"Will you go out with me?"

--

A birch tree's leaves billow in the wind and she sits there. Her hair coils around her back and her petite figure looks picturesque. I walk closer to her and she must hear me because she turns around and faces me. She laughs as I approach, a soft tinkling laugh.

I love her, I think, as I sit beside her.

"Astrid. . ." She begins, and even though she is beautiful I can see her pale face and her sallow skin. I can see her sagging eyes.

"Remember this. If a boy ever asks you out," she begins, and I laugh at the thought, scooting closer to her. "Say what you truly feel."

And I nod.

--

"Congratulations," Adrian says to me. I grimace slightly.

"I felt bad for him, and honestly it will distract me from Peter."

Adrian nods, not questioning me. His face relaxes slightly as Martha appears and she nods hello to me and greets Adrian with a kiss on the cheek. They talk for some minutes, and then AJ appears from the doors of the canteen. I turn my body away, hoping he won't recognize me, but luck is not on my side.

He presses his lips to my cheek and takes a seat beside me. Adrian waves hello, and AJ grins back.

"How was Maths?" He asks me. I repress a sigh and answer.

--

I stand there, as AJ tears his heart out in front of me. My heart softens, and my chest numbs.

Peter flashes into my mind, and I see him in the background. Monica is beside him, snuggling, and slowly he gives her a kiss. And my heart shatters, and I turn back to AJ. He shouldn't have to hurt. He. . . He shouldn't have to feel what I feel.

"Of course." I answer. His beam brightens, and then he turns to our audience and yells, "SHE SAID YES!"

A cheer rises up.