My mom didn't talk to me during dinner or the rest of the night or this morning (so far), and during breakfast, there was just an awkward silence as we ate. All we hear was the clinking of the plates and my dad sipping his coffee very slowly. I stare at my slightly burnt toast on my plate, glancing up at everyone once in a while to look at my dad, who is looking back and forth between my mom and me.

My dad didn't ask me about my bruise or my cuts yesterday. I don't know if that's good or that's bad. It can be good because then my dad doesn't want to bother me on little things like that, but it can be bad because then my dad may not care about me. I'm going with he doesn't want to bother me.

"It's time for school, Earnest," my dad says, breaking the void of silence. "I should be going to work too."

I nod and stand up, placing my plate in the sink. I grab my backpack, and I'm out the door, just like that. No one says goodbye to me, and I'm on the watch as I walk to school, just to make sure those guys aren't around. The schoolyard fills up with students, as usual, and I have to push my way through some students, although most of them avoid me anyway.

I walk to my locker and see another post-it stuck to it. This time, it does look like Sarah's handwriting (unlike yesterday's.)

i see u with that new guy. u like him, dont u? u like him much more than a friend.

I look up from the note and see Alex walking down the hall. I crumble the note up and shove it into the pocket of my blue jeans before he can see it.

"Hi, Earn," Alex says, stopping in front of me. "How is everything?"

"I'm fine," I reply, staring down at the floor.

"How's your bruise on your cheek?"

"It's... fine," I answer refusing to look up at him.

"Yeah?" he says. "I can't see it when you're looking down like that, though."

I slowly lift my head, showing him my face for the first time today.

"Oh, it's... slightly swollen," he says, moving his hand toward my face. He touches my cheek, but I sort of move away at first. It's awkward, but I slowly get used to it. Alex is staring at my cheek, looking at the bruise.

Alex pulls his hand away. "Well I hope it heals soon."

I blush, staring at the ground. "Me too."

"So I was thinking," Alex says, fixing his messenger bag strap over his shoulder. "Maybe we can... go out later. Only if you want to, of course."

"Go out?" I ask. "Like where?"

"Somewhere downtown. We have to take the bus, but it'll be fun."

The bell rings, and I open my locker, putting away my books.

"We should be getting to class," he says.

"Oh, yes," I reply. "See you later, then."

Alex walks away and I touch my cheek, blushing.

I go into math class, and I see Sarah already sitting by her window seat. She quickly glances over at me, and I wave at her. She looks at me as if I'm supposed to be saying something. "Oh," I say quietly, taking out a sticky note.

You mean Alex? I write, thinking back to this morning. I like him. So what?

I nudge the note to Sarah, who looks down and takes the note from under the desk. She quickly reads it and flips the paper over, writing her own note on the back and passing it to me again.

everyone likes him. my other friends are telling me that they like him.

I take out a new piece of paper since this one is filled up, writing:

Do you like him?

Sarah pauses after reading my note and hesitates to write a response.

yes.

And then, all of the sudden, I feel a sense of jealousy. I knew that my crush on Alex was something I didn't have for myself, but my own friend likes him too. I guess I shouldn't be too jealous, since I know him and he knows me, but there's still the chance that he's straight. I move onto a different topic. I don't want to keep talking about Alex.

Why do you ignore me? You know I wouldn't do this.

do what?

The thing with my sister?

i know u wouldn't do it. but it hurts my reputation to stay with u.

You care about your reputation more than your friends?

i have other friends.

I feel so hurt when I read her response to my question. So she just ditches one friend if it's convenient for her reputation? Friends are there to support each other, not to just leave them behind for them to die.

I start angrily scribbling a message in the small space left on the post-it.

"Okay class," the teacher says, closing the door to the hallway. "We're going to take the test now. I hope you all studied because this is a pretty difficult test."

The math test was today? Shit, I barely studied for it. I remember my teacher telling us about it last week. But that was before the thing happened. I've been so caught up with it, and we haven't even had the funeral yet.

I put the note in my pocket and take out a mechanical pencil as the teacher goes around the classroom, handing every student a bunch of papers stapled together.

"So the test is difficult, but if you studied for it, you should be fine," my teacher says to the class after giving out the last test sheet. "It isn't a particularly long test, and I'll give you an hour to finish the test. After an hour, you cannot change or write down any answers. Make sure you check your work and I'll collect the tests when everyone it finished."

I look down at the three page, double-sided test. I'm supposed to finish this in an hour? I didn't even study for this either.

"You may begin the test."