"We've hung out a handful of times and you want to go to homecoming together!" She shook her head. "You're being ridiculous."

25 Molly

Daryl was mad at me when he had no damn right.

I had spoken nothing but the truth. Fair enough, I was high and my words were coming out a little less tactfully than normal, but it was still the truth.

Daryl's refusal to call it like it was pissed me the hell off. At least I was being honest. Living in the real world. He was on cloud cuckoo if he thought we could slide back into our old life by going to homecoming together.

Our lives were completely different now. It was one thing to hang out together, but falling into his world, a world that included mean girls with perfect bodies, was too freaking much.

"I didn’t realize asking you to a goddamn dance would be such a crime," he snapped. "Jesus!"

"It's not just about the dance, Daryl."

"Then what is it about?"

"Everything."

"You might wanna be more specific here, Molly."

"Fine. Do you know what your friends call me? You know; the ones you replaced me with?" I asked, feeling my own temper spike. "They call me Freddy Kruger," I hissed, not giving him a chance to answer, eyes blazing with hurt. "They've called me that for two years, Daryl," I added, forcing my voice not to crack. "You think that song was bad yesterday? Well, it wasn’t. It was the tip of the freaking iceberg compared to what they've said about me. So, quit it with this 'you're beautiful' crap, because I'm not buying it for a second. It's your guilt talking and that's cool, totally understandable, but don’t treat me like an idiot who can't see her own reflection in a damn mirror!"

His nostrils flared. "Molly –"

"It doesn’t even matter," I quickly continued. "Because I don’t care about any of it. I don’t care what the girls at school say about me because their looks will fade. Their outer shells will falter and dim until all that they're left with is their cold, dead personalities and the ugliness on the inside. And I'll be fine. These growing pains I'm feeling right now won't last forever. Because I might not look like much, but at least I can stand on my own two feet. At least I'm not afraid to be who I am, to admit how I feel. I pity those girls – the ones like Britt and Ash who belittle and berate me. They'll never be themselves because they're too busy being what they think boys like you want. So, they can have all of the fame and glory that comes with high school popularity, but just remember that I'm the lucky one. Not them!"

Jaw ticking, Daryl stared hard at me for the longest moment before breaking the tense silence. "I just want to make you feel okay again, Molly."

"I am okay," I lied. "I've been okay."