Alicia wasn't in the next day. Angharad was, though. And surprisingly, when Mikey decided to sit opposite her at lunch time, she didn't snap at him or tell him to go away.

Frank, Gerard and Ray (who was actually ill the day before) were all sitting at their usual table watching Mikey sit across from Angharad. They were confused as to why he'd attempt it again and surprised as to why she wasn't telling him to go away again.

“Alicia's looking after her brother because he's ill and her mum's at work,” Angharad said which made Mikey furrow his eyebrows in confusion. This made her roll her eyes. “It's why she's not in school today.”

A look of realisation crossed Mikey's face. “Oh.”

They just sat in silence for a few minutes, Angharad taking several sips of her water and Mikey trying to find words to say to her. He wanted to talk to her about something, anything, but he didn't exactly know what he could talk to her about. Even though she was being relatively civil with him, he didn't know what would make her start snapping and being bitchy to him again. And as much as he liked that, he didn't like it.

In the end Angharad done the lid up of her bottle before resting her hands and chin on it, looking at Mikey in a strange way. Just as he was about to say something, she beat him to it. “Do you remember our conversation?”

“What conversation?”

“The one we had when you took me to the nurse's office, Mikey.”

He just nodded.

Angharad nodded as well and stayed silent which wasn't what Mikey thought she was going to do. But he wasn't going to keep it because it just felt so awkward sitting in silence.

“What about the conversation, Angharad?”

She just shrugged as if saying that it wasn't anything.

“You're not planning on doing something... are you?” he asked, not entirely confident of himself.

Angharad looked over at the table where Frank was watching her from and Gerard and Ray were having some sort of arm wrestle. Despite not liking Frank, she knew he wasn't a bad guy. Not really.

With a sigh she looked back at Mikey who was looking at her with an even more anxious expression.

“You're a good guy, Mikey. You... you spoke to me when no one wanted to, you didn't give up when I didn't want you to talk to me. Hell, you sometimes catch me when you can as I fall from your locker. No one else would do that, Mikey, not all the times you have.”

Mikey's expression went from anxious to confused with a hint of worry.

“It's why I would hate for you to end up hating me. But... I don't know, you probably will end up hating me. And I guess the only thing I can really ask you to do, is just remember that I wasn't always a bad person – well, at least I assume you don't think I'm a bad person all the time. It's what I got from the way you want to talk to me when most people don't.” She shrugged.

“Why would I end up hating you, Angharad?” Mikey asked, hoping she'd give him a straight answer and not skirt around it.

All she did was shake her head. “You'll find out soon, Mikey. Alicia really does like you, Mikey, and I know you like her a lot, too. Why don't you spend more time with her?”

With that Angharad stood up from the table and walked away and out of the canteen. Mikey sat where he was for a few seconds, his thoughts plagued with what she just said.

He didn't get it.

Sighing, he stood up and went back to his normal table. Gerard and Ray looked at him when he sat down; Frank's eyes had never left him.

“Why are girls so cryptic?”