Seven days and not a return.
Seven lies and not a thing learned.
Take a lover on the highway.
Do you know?


Vertical Horizon - We Are


Matt's POV


This must have been God's way of punishing me. I swear, I always thought I was a good kid. You now, never really doing anything really horrible. Hell, Tai was worse than me.

But as some cruel joke, God latched Jun Motomiya onto me. Why we? WHY? Jesus Christ, she is the most annoying, irritating girl I know!

I looked down at my neatly folded arms, and stared at my watch intently. Two more hours, and I would be free of her. I could almost shoot my dad for making me take the bus with this freak.

She kept rambling on and on and on about some stuff I couldn't give a care for. School or some shit like that.

"Yeah, um Jun. Could you shut up please?" I asked her sweetly, coving the venom in my voice.

"Sure sweetie!" she giggled idiotically. I almost sighed. She was so thick! I could tell her to drop dead, and she would think I was asking her to marry her...

"Will you just shut the hell up you freak?!" I snapped loudly, gathering a few eyes from the people beside me. It came out a lot more crueler than I had intended, hell, I thought I was thinking it, not saying it, but she became quiet, and stopped looking at me.

I felt horrible, because I saw a tear roll down her cheek, as she averted her head, and started to gaze out the window. I felt obliged to do something, but I had no clue what.

So I just let her sit there. At times, I would occasionally throw her a smile, but she just pushed further and further away from me. After about one hour, she was practically pressed up against the glass.

"Listen. I'm sorry Jun. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings..." I stated to explain. But she cut me off before I could finish, with a rather painful slap.

My head hit the back of the seat, as a few of the passengers snickered loudly. She then crossed her arms, giving me a cold look. One I had never seen in her eyes.

"You are such a jerk Matt! I thought you were different from all the other guys at school, but you just turned out to be even worse! You're disgusting!" she screamed.

The people began to clap and some whistled loudly, as a few women cheered her on.

"No! I didn't mean it Jun! I was just frustrated!" I scrambled rather desperately. For some reason, I was worried that she thought of me in such a negative light.

She slapped me again, as she stood tall over me. Her face loomed in closely to mine, and I could feel her heated breath on my face.

"You're a liar Matt... I can't believe I fell for you... I'm so ashamed of myself that I feel horrible."

"No! No!" I shouted quickly, as I stood up, and looked down at her. Just as I decided to stand up, the bus decided to stop suddenly, and Inertia took its toll, as I hit the ground. Or should I say, as I hit Jun, the fell to the ground?

"Ow!" she cried, as she head hit the floor. I guess having my weight on top of her didn't help the situation much either.

"I'm sorry!" I muttered, as I jumped off. Literally. I held out my hand, so she could grab it and get off the floor.

But she became stubborn, and hit it away. She got up herself, and sat back down. She crossed her legs and arms, and completely ignored me.

I was taken back, but I wasn't going to beg her for forgiveness. And as immature as I was acting at the moment, I sat down to and did the exact same thing as she did. If she didn't want to talk to me, fine.

"I'm so sorry." the bus driver sighed, as he stood up. "We're experiencing some technical difficulties. If you're patient, I'll have the bus up and running in mo time."

"Great." I muttered sarcastically, as I once again looked down at my watch. It was already 6 o'clock!

I let my headrest lightly on the hard seat, as my head lobbed to its side. I was so bored. Not that I already was.

"Why do I have a feeling this is going to be long?" Jun spoke to the window. I guess she was directing it at me.

"I have no idea." I told her truthfully, silently glad she wasn't going to slap me again.

And in the long minutes of silence between us, I can to the conclusion that she wasn't that bad. When she wasn't talking. Or moving. Or slapping.

"Matt..." Jun quivered, after a while. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to slap you."

"Don't worry about it. I deserved it. I was acting like a total retard. And I'm sorry. I so didn't mean to call you a freak."

"Is that what you seriously think I am?" she interrupted again.

"No..." I lied a little. But she held to her promise that she could always tell when people were lying.

"Stop it. I don't want to hear that fake bullshit you've been feeding me for the last month. Just tell me. What do you seriously think of me?"

I inhaled deeply, dreading what was going to come out of my mouth. But before I knew it, every single cruel thing I ever thought of her, spewed out of my mouth.

With every word that passed, I could see her heart slowly being chipped away. It was like a physical blow to her. Like I was punching her with amazing speed and strength. And I guess it felt like that for her.

"I'm sorry..." I apologized for what seemed like the hundredth time. "And I know that, that probably means nothing to you right now..."

"No... I... I... God... why do I feel like the worlds' biggest fool?" she sobbed lightly, as she wiped away the tears that slowly streamed down her cheeks.

"Jun no. You have to let me finish..." I trembled slightly. I had to grab at my hands, so they didn't shake like a leaf. "But I don't think that of you anymore. Now, I feel like the fool because I was stupid enough not to notice how sweet and sincere you are."

"And you're lying again. You know what Matt? Even when I ask you to be honest with me, you lie! Do you think I'm stupid? Do you think I'll ever believe another word that comes out of your mouth?"

"Jun..."

"Enough! I'm sick of this. I'm leaving. Hell," she laughed, "I do wish Tk had taken the bus with me. At least I know I would have been in tolerable company!" she bit, as she stormed off the bus. Her bag in hand.

"No! Wait! I was telling the truth!" I screamed after her, but one of the men on the bus held me back, shaking his head miserably.

"Let her go. She deserves better than someone like you." he said earnestly.

"You don't even know me! How dare you pass judgement on me?!" I retorted bitterly, as I pulled my arm out of his grasp.

"Listen to me young man!" he boomed. "I had to sit this whole bus ride, watching you two. She was pouring her heart out to you, and all you did was look annoyed, and acted as if you were on a one way trip to hell!"

"You know what?" I hissed, as I balled my fist. "You don't even know the situation I'm in! That girl is stalking me! I hate her!" I yelled, suddenly realizing what he was trying to tell me. "I hate her..." I repeated slower, letting the words take their effect.

"So you were lying. She was right." he scoffed. "People like you that make me sick. You know that? She had every right to leave you. In fact, I don't even know what she saw in you!"

"Neither do I..." I muttered, collapsing carelessly on the seat. I shoved my hand through my hair, clearing it away from my face. I blew out air that I had been keeping in my throat and almost chocked.

What did she see in me? It wasn't as if I had ever given her any hint that I was interested. "Why?" I asked the people around me.

"Because honey." a woman from the back roared. "If you had been listening to her, you would have known!"

She pushed aside a bunch of people, as she cleared a path to me. He was really, REALLY short and looked like an Umpalumpa.

"She was telling you that she thought you held up the moon and stars! She explained why she had it bad for you, and she explained why she acted like a ditz around you!"

"She did?" I gulped, feeling worse than scum. I looked down at my shoes, squeezing my eyes shut tightly. No wonder why everyone was so pissed at me.

"You know that feeling you have right now?" she asked me, holding up my chin.

"Yeah." I pouted shamelessly.

"That's what she's feeling right now. But a thousand times worse." she sighed, before taking a deep breath. "Now. I want you to go find her, and apologize to her right this instant. And I want an honest apology."

"Yes miss." I said childishly, as I exited the bus, jumping down the few steps. A took off like a bullet. I just belted down that street, hoping I could catch up to her.

Luckily for me, she hadn't gone that far. In fact, I wasn't even out of breath. But what I saw made my heart bleed.

She was sitting down on the side of the road, crying her eyes out. And her sobs were so heart breaking that I had to pinch my arm, so I wouldn't cry.

"Jun..." I coughed shakily, letting her know I was there.

"Get the hell away from me." she snapped, as she got up and began to storm off.

"Will you listen to me for Christ sakes?" I bellowed. I was now mad again. Wow! She had a talent. Nobody could get me that riled up, then that depressed, then that mad again.

"I gave you your chance to talk! I gave you ore than one chance to talk!" she screamed. "And you took advantage of that, and screwed me! If you want to talk to someone Matt, I suggest you get a psychiatrist!"

"Jesus!" I spat as I rushed over to her, grabbing her arm. "I AM SORRY! How many more times do I have to say it?"

"Until I believe it." she whispered. My grasp instantly weakened, as she pulled away, and stumbled a little bit away from me. "When I believe it, I'll forgive you."

Tears were flowing down her face more and more rapidly as she continued to stumble. And I wanted to crawl out under a rock and die.

"Jun..." I started. But then, my eyes widened. A scream was caught in my throat, as I saw the car heading straight for her. "Look out!"

But it was too late. The car had already made contact with her body, and then speed off, as if nothing had happened.

Her body was thrown back several feet, as the blood fell to the earth like rain drops. Deep maroon raindrops.

"Jun!" my mind shrieked, as I raced over to her limp body. There was already bruising where the car had come in contact with her, and her head was bleeding.

A long gash was across her face, almost dividing it. The sight made me sick. "Somebody help us!" my scream yelled, breaking the silence of the sill dusk air.

"Matt..." she whimpered, looking at me. Her whole face was a sticky red that covered literally all of my hands and her hair. "Please help me..."

"I will! I swear I will!" I promised her rapidly, as I shouted out again. I kept screaming, until my voce went low. Until my throat was sore, and swollen. Until help finally arrived.


"Matt, she's still unconscious. But you can see her if you want." the doctor promised me, as he opened the door to her room slowly.

Rays of light began to penetrate through the dark room, as a ghostly silhouette of a girl lay on a bed.

I muffled a gasp, as I saw her. There was a long soiled bandage that completely covered half her face. Her eye had a huge bruise next to where she hit the floor.

"Oh my God..." I muttered, as I fell to my knees. "I did this to you... I know I did..."

I was hoping for some response from her, but I knew that she wouldn't answer. I was praying that she would forgive me.

"Jun." I choked. "I swear to God. I am sorry. I really am. And I promise you right now, that I'm not going to be so mean to you. I care about you, and I'm sorry that a car accident had to show me that."

I smiled at her softly, pushing a few of her hairs away. I looked at her, never really noticing how cute she really was. "I promise you."

With that, I gently leaned down, and kissed her. It wasn't half as horrible as I had expected. But I knew that this was only the beginning, of something I would never fully understand.

And I didn't care if I really did.

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