Friday came sooner than usual, and I was presently in front of my huge mirror getting ready for the BlockFester party. I had on a black skintight dress with red killer heels and a matching red purse. I decided for the first time to let my hair down in my natural curls. At this point, I could care less if mother liked it or not. I didn't feel like using much makeup as I had a feeling if I did, they would most likely end up smeared and smudged, you know, the usual.

The soft ping of my phone alerted me of the incoming message. I picked it up to see the text was from Brian. He was arriving in ten minutes. As the golden couple of the town, appearing at the party in different cars would arouse a little bit of suspicion and unnecessary curiosity. We were already more than fashionably late.

After my mental breakdown on Wednesday, I had been able to maintain my composure so far. I hadn't felt like I was dying or breaking so I guess I was good. Phone in hand, I walked down the stairs after locking my door. Mother was at the feet of the staircase, waiting for me.

"Monalisa, my beautiful daughter," she praised, smiling at me once I reached the ground floor. Her smile seemed too genuine, I had to look away. I felt the familiar sensation of unease creep down my spine. The smile may be sincere but the reason and thoughts behind it weren't.

"Don't embarrass me and this family at the party; you know how famous these parties are. Oh, and don't think I am not aware of your little meeting with alcohol. You know very well you are not allowed to drink." she added, her tone taking a darker one with every word that came out of her mouth.

My breath hitched at her words and the underlying threat in them. She knew. Somehow, she had found out about my breakdown. It must have been sheer luck as before mother could say or do anything else, the doorbell rang.

A curious look crossed mother's face before she concluded it must be Brian. With a huge smile, she left to answer the door, leaving me with a brief moment of peace. Slowly, I let out the breath I didn't realize was stuck in my throat. The tension in the air was thick and I wasn't sure if she was sane enough to care about people's thoughts on her perfect family or risk it all and hurt me for her own guilty pleasure.

I was still by the bottom of the stairs when mother returned with Brian in tow. He was wearing a black tuxedo with a red tie, his outfit matching mine. His golden locks were gelled back making the frame of his face more noticeable. If I were to be completely honest with myself, I would say Brian was looking rather handsome but at the moment, my hatred and disgust for the figure parading about as my 'wonderful boyfriend' were large enough to overlook his attractiveness.

"Brian darling, come over here and take a picture with Monalisa." mother said or rather ordered. Brian being a smart guy to an extent, recognized a non-negotiable order when he heard one and so, he rushed to my side falling into an easy pose. I can't say the same for myself.

I fought to put a smile on my face. I wanted more than anything to be back in my room on my bed reading. Parties have never been my scene, even back then, it was his not mine, but I had no choice than to adapt forcefully.

Mother made sure I attended every single party organized in this town, especially high school parties. She said I had to attend these parties to retain my social ranking. It didn't help that I was always invited to every one of the parties. The cons of being the town's most loved teenager, note the sarcasm.

After the numerous pictures mother had taken and uploaded on her Instagram, we were ushered out of the house. A white limousine was waiting for us at the front of the mansion with the driver in a white suit holding the door for us. A big smile took over Brian's face as he rushed in the limo. With a disdainful look at the immaculate vehicle, I stepped in. How could I forget mother tended to be loud and attention-demanding in her theatrics?

The drive to the BlockFester party was not more than 15 minutes. While Brian was fawning over the 1948 imported white champagne in ice, I stared at the passing scenery.

The loud music I heard from the party was the first telltale sign of our approaching destination. The disco lights were the second. I hadn't even entered and I was already regretting my decision to attend the party. Brian unlike me began to whoop loudly.

"This party is going to be so lit!" he commented, downing another glass. My face, by default, scrunched up in disgust. We hadn't even gotten there yet and he was already a drunken mess. Looking at the bottle of champagne in his hands, I contemplated taking a drink. With a glance at the approaching party hall, my mind quickly got made up.

Snatching the bottle from a glazed eyes Brian, I gulped down the remaining contents. The feeling of the cool liquid traveling down my throat to other parts of my body, brain included was quite a confidence booster for me.

Ignoring my idiot of a boyfriend, I seemed to be doing that a lot, I stepped out of the limo without waiting for the driver to come and open the door.

With the newfound confidence, I headed to the party, not bothering to wait for my wonderfully drunk boyfriend. I smiled at every passing person and headed straight to the bar which was not hard to find. It literally had neon pink and neon green lights decorated around the dome-shaped area.

"Hello beautiful lady." the bartender winked. I smiled in response. He looked around my age and was easy on the eyes. His brown hair covered half of his face and his pale blue eyes were smiling at me.

"What can I get for you?" he asked, leaning on the counter towards me. Maybe it was the champagne from earlier or maybe it was the let-loose effect of being in a party, I don't know. But for whatever reason, I giggled in response. I think I was flirting with him in my semi-drunken state.

"Hmmm.....what do I have?" I mused.

"You know what? Surprise me. I want something strong." I whispered because it for some unfathomable reason in my semi-drunken state, felt right.

It seemed whatever my motive for doing that was totally misunderstood when Pretty Eyes', I'm going to call him that, pale blue eyes turned a shade darker. It could be that or the poor lighting in this place.

"Sure thing, darling." he drawled out after a while of eying me and smirking. He moved to prepare my drink but not without winking again at me. I disregarded the wink. Probably, a fly got caught in his left eye, I thought, and swirled around to face the party before me.

What can I say about the BlockFester's party? Well as I mentioned earlier, it was a very prestigious party which only popular and rich kids had access to by invitation. They even had a dress code; you can't enter looking homeless or like a stripper. If you have class, then dress with class. I somewhat broke their dress code rule.

The heels on my legs which Pretty Eyes kept eying in their crossed state testified to my statement. He probably had a fetish for killer red heels. My dressing for the party was the only thing mother couldn't dictate when I was getting ready. It was either I wore my current outfit, or I didn't go at all and she loses the chance of showing me off to her snobby friends.

It was such a shame, all the effort for the sophisticated, snobby bitches look which almost all the females went for tonight, would end up washed away by sweat and smeared from the physical activities reserved for later. Pretty Eyes came back to me, my drink in his hand.

"A special drink for a special lady," he said dropping the drink on the counter before me. I smiled and reached for the drink. I took small tentative sips before grinning and downing the whole drink. Unlike the champagne, this drink burned as I took it in.

"Another glass." I slurred and bounced eagerly for the next batch. Pretty eyes with a smirk, placed it on the counter but before I could reach it, a hand stopped me. Startled, I turned to see who the hand belonged to. It was Brian.

With a tight grip, he dragged me out of the bar. I couldn't even grab my drink before he went all cavemen on me. We passed a lot of my classmates but none of them recognized me as they were all drunk. The abrupt stop in Brian's use of force alerted me of the fact that we had reached wherever he had intended on taking me to.

"What do you want, Brian?" I asked still irritated about the fact that I didn't get to taste the second drink Pretty Eyes had made for me.

"Are you dumb or what?" he yelled at me. Although the music was fairly loud from where we were standing, his yelling was highly unnecessary.

"Excuse you?" I spat. My irritation over my drink was now turning slowly to drunken, raw, boiling anger. Brian paced around the little space before finally stopping before me.

"That guy was obviously flirting with you!"

"So?" I replied coolly. It wasn't like I had actually in any way encouraged his flirting, had I? What if people had seen me? Now that I thought about it, I was kind of glad Brian took me out of there before I did something I would end up regretting. I was not about to let him know that though. His act of probably borrowed thoughtfulness, likely from the alcohol, was not going to overshadow the fact he dragged me out of there. Dragged me like a piece of trash, nothing living, nothing relevant.

"So? So!" he raged on. "You are my girlfriend, Mona, my girlfriend. What do you think people would say if they had seen you flirting with the bartender? Do you think your mother would be happy with that?"

I rolled my eyes to the extreme end as I watched Brian compose himself after his ranting. When I was sure he was done, I started.

"Don't be so dramatic, Brian. The whole population out there is drunk out of their minds. They wouldn't even remember my name not to talk of me 'flirting' with Pretty Eyes and don't you dare go on as if you are a saint in this relationship if that's what to call this. I know you f**k other girls behind my back, Brian, I'm not an idiot. So until you stop your whoring ways, don't try to preach to me when I haven't done close to what you do.

Oh, and my mother and her happiness or unhappiness about my relationship is my business so just f**king leave me alone!" I screamed not really caring if someone heard me. I was past the stage of caring, I wanted this relationship to end and at this point, I really didn't care how.

Brian was in shock by the time I finished. His mouth was open wide and his eyes wide as saucers. I think I could understand why. I had never raised my voice or fully voiced my thoughts to him. Well, I guess everything had a breaking point including poor old broken me.

"Oh, and Brian?" I called "The next time you drag me out like that, I'm going to make you regret it."

I rushed back to the party, eager to lose myself in the crowd in case if Brian had regained his senses and wanted to hurt me because of my sudden burst of confidence. It didn't take long, thank God, as a whole new set of people rushed in. At a point, I had to start pushing my way to get to the bar; finishing my drink, if it was still available, seemed to be my top priority.

"Mona!" I heard a voice call, stopping me in my tracks. I looked round to see it was Viola who had called me. I quickly withheld a groan. I wasn't a fan of her. She was a nice girl but could be annoyingly obnoxious. No matter how bitchy Melanie could get on her period, I would prefer her any day to this stuck-up rich princess.

"Hey Viola." I gritted out in false happiness. I think the alcohol of earlier had reduced my acting skills and their quality because no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't seem to fake a genuine smile.

Viola either didn't notice or she chose to ignore it, I'm going for the former. She ran towards me in the pace she could manage in her heels and with the crowd. When she got close enough, she pulled into a hug I did not expect nor want. I had no choice than to return the hug. I would look incredibly awkward if my hands just kept to their sides.

"You look gorgeous!" she gushed out, "I love your outfit. You know they remind me of an outfit I saw in a store in Paris called-" she started to say but I quickly interrupted her.

"Sorry but I have to go." I rushed and ran, the sound of her huffing in annoyance or bewilderment, faintly registering in my ears.

I needed to get out of the party. The whole environment was starting to suffocate me; I was getting choked up in there. It was either I got out or I fainted and so, with renewed resolve, pushed my way out of the party. I received some weird and curious looks, but I didn't bother about them as I knew they were too drunk to differentiate between the haze of the alcohol and reality.

I wasn't bothered about Brian; he wouldn't risk his reputation to come screaming out my name, looking for me. He didn't care that much about me. I finally managed to get out and didn't hesitate to look for a vehicle apart from the limousine that had brought me and Brian; it would lead me straight home. I did not want to go home.

Luckily for me, I found a black motorcycle far from the sight of the bodyguards surrounding the hall. I checked and to my joy, found the key still in its place. The owner must have been in so much hurry that he or she forgot to take the keys.

Ripping the sides of my dress to allow for easy access, I climbed onto the bike and zoomed off before anyone could notice. I don't know if it was legal or safe to drive a power bike in the middle of the night drunk, but I didn't care. If I ended up dying, I was sure mother would paint the picture of a heartbroken grieving mother so well.

The harsh slap of the wind across my face felt extremely good. It sped the process of me being sober. I felt raw, exposed. I felt like me, the real Monalisa Del Lana. I suddenly had the urge to scream so that was what I did. I screamed so loud, my lungs hurt. I continued even though angry and concerned people were shouting at me from all corners of the road. I could imagine how I looked, drunk and crazed party girl screaming on a bike. That would give Bloomville media a story for two days. But I didn't care about them, I was free and besides, no one would be able to get a clear shot of me.

The sound of police sirens reached my ears and I sighed. Someone must have reported the crazy girl on a bike trying to kill people and herself. No matter how much I wanted to stop, I had to keep going. Mother would kill me if I got caught and ended up with a criminal record behind my name. Wouldn't it be befitting of the perfect girl?

I quickly swerved off the road to a sharp narrow corner road, effectively ending the police chase short. From there, I continued on the rocky road to my destination. The rocky road gave way to the uphill grassy path as I neared the Bloomville Cliff.

The moon hanging above the spot, casting down its silver rays and the busy town below it made the cliff seem too ethereal, so peaceful. I guess that was why I loved the place since he had shown it to me. He had discovered it and was ecstatic to show me. It soon became a place where we would stay to escape our troubles heartaches. It's funny how a eighteen-year-old and twelve-year-old could have so much pain.

I shut off the engine of the bike and got down. Walking till I reached the edge, I halted. The view was breathtaking. Who knew such a little town as this could look so beautiful at night?

I could see the lights from the BlockFester party from here; no doubt they were all having fun. I wish I could say that about myself but after staying there for long, trying to at least pretend I was having fun, I got tired and wanted to do nothing more than drink myself to sleep.

Still looking at the view below me, I wondered if anyone would miss me if I died. Would they cry? Would mother start regretting the bad choices she had made as a mother? Would father regret neglecting his daughter and blame himself for not being there for her when she needed him? Would any of her friends in school cry? Jarod? Melanie? Layla? Would they hold a one minute silence for me and carry on with their lives like I never existed? Or, will they forever remember me as the girl they all loved?

No one knew who the real Mona was, I didn't even know. I want it to end; the lies, the façade, the hurt, and the pain, all of it. Just as I was about to move closer to the edge, my left foot hit something. I looked to see it was a small wooden plank with words scribbled on it with a black marker.

I bent down to take it and read the words out loud.

'No matter what you are going through, death is not the way. You are stronger than whatever it is that is bothering you so cheer up and man up(^-^)'

I broke down in tears when I finished reading them. He was the one that wrote them after we both promised that no matter what, we would never think of committing suicide to end our pain. The words on the plank as to serve as a reminder of our promise but he ended up breaking it. He left me all alone. The tears left me like a faucet as I poured out my pain and aches.

"I miss you, Ezra."