She had survived to the last day of term. She had been silent for the past few days, want and wishing the days to go by faster. But the day dragged on and on, trying to make sure she didn't get out of school. She hated that feeling. But when the final bell rang, she felt a sense of relief flood over her. 3 weeks, 3 weeks where she didn't have to see Nathan, Mark or Robbie or anyone in fact. She could go away and just disappear from everything for a while. She nearly ran to her locker and stuffed most of her books straight into her bag, just concentrating on getting out and away from the schools buildings. As she grabbed the last of her books, someone came up behind her and covered her eyes. She shrugged the hands off, slipping under his arms to grab her bag. She turned around and was caught in a massive bear hug from him. She returned it as much as possible before pulling away. He kept his arm round her shoulder as they both walked towards the exit. They chatted about the holidays and some slightly random stuff which was just like normal. He dropped his arm when they got to the main gates, but kept walking with her as she continued on to the bus stop. Her mind was racing as they walked. Suddenly a car pulled up beside them and tooted their horn. Nicola jumped towards Mark as she looked into the car. She recognised the face and smiled. She had completely forgotten that her uncle and aunt were picking her up that afternoon. Mark looked at her for an explanation.

"Yeah that would be my aunt and uncle. They are picking me up and then taking us to the airport tonight."

"Oh." He was disappointed.

"I'm sorry." She hugged him "I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah ok then I guess. I really wanted to talk to you actually."

"Well shoot." She turned to him and looked deeply into his eyes and he stopped for a second, before gathering his words and thoughts together. He took a deep breath before starting.

"Come on. You must know what I am going to tell you. Or at least some idea."

"Um well obviously not." She put her arms up onto his shoulders.

"Ok then. I like you." He looked down at his feet and muttered "Why was that so bloody hard to say?"

"Hmm. It always is." She said answering his question. He looked up into her eyes. He opened his mouth to say something else when the car behind them tooted its horn.

"I'd better go now." Nicola gave him a quick hug, before jumping into the car and leaving him standing on the sidewalk.

That evening she sat on the plane as it flew over the Tasman Sea, on her way back to New Zealand as she did every holiday. She rest her head against the wall of the plane and stared through the window. The clouds sailed beneath them smoothly and they parted showing her the ocean, glittering in the moonlight. She sighed and closed the window and reached for her book again. Since she couldn't sleep, now would be a good time to write down all she was thinking, keeping in touch with the real world that, at that particular moment, floated a couple of hundred kilometres beneath her, far enough away for her to escape and just breathe.

Just a quick note - This is the last chapter for Term 2. Term 3 2008 will be coming as soon as I write it! Just so you know Term 3 was the interesting one! Thanks for reading!