He does everything he can to avoid the girls.

My mom wouldn't let me stay out of school the next day, so I begrudgingly had to drag myself in. I knew that Amy would have talked to the other girls and that they would all try to talk with me today, but I wanted nothing to do with any of them. I came in through the back of the school and walked into first-period just as the bell rang, giving Amy and Corrine no time to talk with me.

I sat in my usual seat against the wall, ahead of them both, and stared straight ahead for the whole lesson. I could almost feel their eyes on me, silently willing me to turn and face them. At one point, the girl who sat behind me gave me a tap and passed a note with Amy's handwriting on it, and I made a point of tearing it in half as soon as it got into my hands.

After learning absolutely nothing for forty minutes, I timed my exit perfectly and was out the door before most of the other students had closed their books. I immediately went into the men's room, hiding out in one of the stalls in case they had they sent anyone in to look for me.

I spent second period ignoring Elizabeth as she looked over at me with big pouty eyes from across the room. She kept silently mouthing my name, and the guy next to me even tried to help her get my attention, but I ignored them both and stared into space until the next bell.

Stephanie tried to corner me next, rushing towards me in the hall between periods. I somehow managed to pull a Jason Bourne, blending into the crowd and disappearing past her. I would have felt pretty cool if I wasn't feeling so shitty.

Talia sat next to me in third period, so it was especially difficult to ignore her, considering we were in the back of the room together. She tried to brush her foot against mine, so I moved my feet away. She held her hand out across the aisle towards me, and I let it sit there until she got the hint and let it drop. At one point when our math teacher was writing a rather complex equation on the board, Talia quickly lunged toward me and clutched my arm, whispering softly, "Please talk to me, Ian."

I said nothing to her until she quickly returned to her seat as the teacher turned around.