Late Friday afternoon, you were sitting on your bed watching TV, but your mind was drifting. You decided to do what you had wanted to do all week long. You picked up the phone and dialed Tom's number. You heard 2 rings, then someone picked up.

"Hello?" a female voice said into the phone.

"Hi, uh...I think I might have the wrong number." you said, confused. Then you heard laughter in the background...laughter that you couldn't mistake for anyone else's but Tom's.

"On second thought, maybe I don't." you said a bit angrily.

"What? Who is this?" the girl asked.

"This is Molly. Can I please talk to Tom?"

"Tom....there's some girl on the phone named Molly....she kinda sounds like a bitch." the girl said as she handed Tom the phone. You gasped and rolled your eyes at what she said.

"Hello?" Tom said into the phone, still giggling a bit.

"You've got some explaining to do." you said sternly.

"Oh hi Molls, how are you?" he said.

"Cut the bull shit Tom, who's the girl? and why is she answering your phone?"

"Hold on, don't go getting all angry...she's just a friend." he started.

"Yeah, ok," you said sarcastically, "Then why doesn't she know who I am?...why did she say "some girl named Molly?"...she has no idea that I am your girlfriend. Tell me the truth Tom. I want to hear it, regardless of how much it might hurt." you said.

"Molls, seriously, she's just--"

"Tom! The truth!" you exclaimed feverishly.

"Ok, ok....um, well....the girl, her name is Lauren. She and I...well, we've been sorta seeing each other...ever since we started school here." Tom said, his voice trailing off.

"WHAT?!?!?!?" you exclaimed, "Tom, you asshole! I can't believe you!!!!!!" you said.

"Molls..." he started.

"No Tom....you have a lotta nerve yelling at me and giving me all that grief about cheating on you when you were off doing the exact same thing! All the stuff you said about caring about me and loving me and acting like I was so wrong for cheating on you...it was all a bunch of lies Tom! But everything I said....that was all true. Sure, I messed up, but I apologized for it, and I admitted to it, and I told you exactly how I honestly felt about our relationship. But you, you just shrugged it off and made me feel like the bad guy!" you shouted.

"Molly, listen....I'm sorry, I screwed up. I shouldn't have lied to you about this. You came clean and I should have done the same thing. I just didn't want to hurt you, that's all." he said.

"That's a joke Tom...because finding out like this hurts 10 times worse than it would have if you were just honest with me and said that you thought we should take a break or something. Especially after you condemned me for cheating on you with Nick." you said.

"I'm sorry. Look, I'm gonna break things off with Lauren, and we can be together, ok? We can work on things, alright? I'll even come down there this weekend if you want and we can talk." he said.

"Oh no Tom...no way. See, me and you, we're over. This relationship...the one that you claimed was so meaningful to you is completely and totally done with. So feel free to go and be with Lauren. Goodbye Tom." and with that, you hung up the phone. You flopped down on your bed and buried your head in your pillow as tears of anger streamed down your face. You cried for so long that your eyes were swollen and you had given yourself a headache. After laying on your bed for near to an hour, you finally decided to get up. You went and took some Tylenol and splashed cold water on your face, but it didn't help diminish the redness of your cheeks and the puffiness of your eyes. You wiped your face off and looked at yourself in the mirror. 'Guess I'll be staying in tonight' you thought to yourself, disgusted by your appearance. You walked back to your room, and when you opened the door, you were surprised to see Sydney sitting on her bed watching TV.

"Hey!" she said cheerfully as you closed the door behind you.

"Hey Syd," you said, still sniffling a bit, but trying to put on a fake smile.

"Something wrong?" she asked when she noticed your red, blotchy cheeks. She could tell that you had been crying.

"He cheated on me," you said.

"Wait, hold on...who cheated on you?" she asked, confused.

"Tom....I called him today to try to talk about things, and a girl answered the phone...so I confronted him about it, and he tried to tell me she was just a friend, but I knew better than that. So finally he admitted that it was a girl he had been seeing since school started. God Syd, I got so mad."

"Well, Molly...I mean, you cheated on him too....so..." she replied.

"No, no, I know that. I'm not angry about that cause we're kinda even. But the fact that he made me feel so crappy about cheating on him when he was off doing the same thing...that pisses me off. He made me feel so terrible...so worthless, and uggghhhh....what a jerk!" you said as you began to get choked up again.

"Yeah, that is pretty low," Sydney said, "So what'd you do? I mean did you just yell at him or what?"

"Oh no, I broke everything off. Me an him are so over! How could I possibly want to be with him after he did that to me?" you responded.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Well I'm sorry things had to turn out this way Molls." she said as she came and gave you a hug.

"Thanks, Syd." you said as you managed to smile a bit.

"So for the first time in over 2 years you can finally consider yourself a single woman, huh?" she said smiling. You laughed. "So what do you say we go out and celebrate...girl's night out!" she said.

"Oh, I appreciate it, but I don't feel much like doing anything tonight. Plus, look at my face. I can't go out in public." you replied.

"Alright, I guess that's understandable," she said, "But we will go out soon to celebrate this, ok?"

"Sure thing!" you said.

"I guess I'll just go out with the other girls tonight, unless you want me to stay in with you." she said.

"Oh no, don't let me hold you back, go ahead." you said.

"You sure?" she asked. "Positive." you said smiling.

Sydney had gone out for the night and you were sitting in your room attempting to get rid of or destroy everything that reminded you of Tom, when the phone rang, startling you a bit.

"Hello?" you said picking up the phone.

"Hey there!" a voice said back.

"Nick!" you said excitedly, "How are you?"

"Good, tired, but glad to finally be home. And yourself?" he asked.

"Ha, have I got a story for you. Let's just say I'm not in the best of moods right now."

"Oh really? I'm sorry. Well we can talk about it if you want. What are you up to tonight?" he asked.

"Nothing. Sydney and my other friends went out, but I wasn't in much of a social mood."

"Well, do you maybe want to come over here or I'll come there or something? We can just chill, talk, maybe watch a movie or something." he said.

"Sure, I'd like that." you said.

"Well, do you want to come here or do you want me to come there?"

"It might be better if I came there. Just to get away from here for a while. Is that ok?" you asked.

"Sure," he replied, "But give me like half an hour. I gotta shower and stuff."

"Alright, I'll see you in a bit then." you said.

"Ok bye!" he said.

"Bye!" You hung up the phone and grabbed your makeup bag and ran to the bathroom. You immediately began trying to touch yourself up and make yourself look presentable, and after about 15 minutes, you looked at yourself in the mirror and thought 'This is the best it's gonna get' and went back into your room. You rummaged through your closet to find something to wear and finally decided on an old pair of jeans, a white t-shirt, and a navy blue pullover hoodie. You pulled your long hair back in a ponytail, put your tennis shoes on, grabbed your purse, and walked out the door. As soon as you started the car, you heard "Breathe" by Faith Hill blaring out of the speakers of your radio. You quickly turned it off and began flipping through the radio stations. That had been yours and Tom's song, and hearing it made you sick to your stomach. You finally stopped at a station that was playing "More Than That". You had never really listened to the song before. When you heard Nick singing his part, a smile crept across your face. The words he was singing and his incredible voice made you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. You were glad that you were on your way over to his house to be with him. You drove down the long, winding driveway that was now becoming familiar to you. You quickly glanced at yourself in the rearview mirror before stepping out of your car. 'Great...eyes still bloodshot, cheeks still red...I'm lookin' great' you thought to yourself. You walked up to the door and knocked softly.

A minute or so later, it opened to reveal Nick dressed in a pair of jeans and a white tshirt. His hair was still wet from the shower. You looked at him and the most amazing feeling came over you...one that you hadn't felt in a long time.

"Hey, come on in." he said motioning you inside.

"How are you?" you asked him once you walked through the door.

"I'm alright, how are you doing?"

"Oh...I've been better," you said.

"Why? What's wrong?" he asked. "Oh man, its a long story. We better wait till we sit down or something," you said.

"Alright, well come on," he said. You guys walked through the house and into the kitchen. "Did you want something to eat or drink?" he asked.

"Oh no, thank you." you replied. You couldn't help but notice that Nick was staring at your face awkwardly.

Nervously, you asked, "What? Is there something on my face?"

"Oh no...it's just...it kinda looks like you were crying or something." he replied.

"Oh well I was...a lot. But that's all part of my story." you said.

"Alright, come on, lets hear it then," he said as he took your hand and led you outside onto his deck. You both sat down on his porch swing. You relayed the entire story to him, and he seemed a little bit shocked.

"Wow Molly, I'm so sorry." he said.

"Well thanks, but honestly, I was starting to think that I didn't want to be with Tom anymore. I just was too afraid to admit to it, and I didn't want to be the one to break things off with him. I'm actually a bit relieved." you said as you looked up to the night sky.

"Really?" Nick asked.

"Yeah...I mean, you're in a relationship with someone for so long, and it just gets tiring...it gets old after a while....I mean, sure there's still chemistry, but it's not the same. Starting college was a completely new chapter in my life, and its like, I wanted to start everything over, but Tom was still a part of me, and it was starting to feel like a hassle. But now I don't have to feel that way anymore," you replied.

"Well, when you put it that way, I guess it doesn't sound all that terrible." Nick said, half-smiling. You smiled back.

"Anyways, thats why I was doing all the crying, and that's why my face is all blotchy and my eyes are all red and my hair is a mess, and I'm wearing scrubby clothes. Sorry I look so rough." Nick smiled and giggled a little bit.

"Molly, you look good. In fact, you always look good, no matter what." he said boyishly.

"Well thank you," you said, staring into his piercing blue eyes. He stared back into yours and then you 2 leaned close together and kissed softly. You pulled away from each other, and you said, "Gosh, that feels good." Nick laughed.

"What do you mean?"

"It feels great to be able to kiss you and not feel guilty. I mean, kissing you always felt great, but now its just amazing!" you said.

"Oh really?" Nick said grinning as he leaned back in. You guys started kissing more passionately and intensely now, and for once you were simply able to enjoy the kiss without having tons and tons of thoughts racing through your brain about Tom. You were finally able to focus on Nick, the guy your heart had been telling you to choose for weeks now. You 2 proceeded to make out for quite some time, and things were starting to get pretty intense. Nick finally pulled his lips away from yours and said, "As much as I want to continue this, I don't want you to end up doing something that you'll regret."

"Gosh, you are such a sweetheart." you said. You stood up and fixed your mangled hair and stretched a bit. "Well, I think I should probably be going now. I'm kinda tired." you said.

"Awwww....so soon?" Nick asked, frowning and giving you his sad puppy dog eyes.

"Don't do that to me Nick," you said smiling. "Alright fine, come on I'll walk you to your car." he said, reaching for your hand. He interlocked his fingers with yours as you walked through the house and out to your jeep.

"Thanks for listening to my story and everything." you said.

"No problem. That's what friends are for." he said.

"Friends?" you asked smiling.

"Well thats what we are, aren't we?" he said, smiling in return.

"Well I guess so, I mean..." you started.

"Trust me, I'd love to be more, but I don't want to pressure you into anything after just getting out of your relationship with Tom." he said.

"Well what if I told you I wanted the same thing?"

"Really?" he asked. You nodded your head, grinning from ear to ear. On the inside, you questioned just a bit whether or not you should jump into things with Nick so soon, but every part of you felt that this was the right thing to do.

"Well then...Molly, can I call you my girlfriend?" he asked boyishly.

"Yes you can." you said giggling. A huge smile stretched across Nick's face, and he grabbed you up in a huge hug. He kissed you softly on the lips.

"I'll see you tomorrow." you said.

"Ok, goodnite." he said. "Goodnite." you said, as you stepped into your car and shut the door. The whole way home, you felt incredible. Excitement overwhelmed you, and for once, you didn't have a pit in your stomach or feel any guilt about being with Nick. For the first time in a long while, you were truly happy.