Marcus really focused when I explained the things he struggled with. I was really proud of him, though he made a lot of mistakes and I had to be patient with him. Finally, spending hours of studying with Marcus, we finished. Marcus sighed and I patted his back,"You're gonna ace this, Marcus," I said honestly.

"You think so?" he smiled, running his fingers through his tousled hair.

"Yeah, you might be better than me," I said.

Marcus snorted and I laughed. He looked at me while I started clearing up the table, packing his books away. In the corner of my eye, I could see him stare at me. My lips slowly curved into a smile,"Marcus, stop staring at me please. It's uncomfortable."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just thinking about something. I didn't realise I was staring at you... Baby cheeks," he said, staring somewhere else.

"It's okay." I nodded and zipped my bag closed. I looked back at Marcus who had covered his face with his hands murmuring something.

"Marcus?"

He removed his hands from his face and looked at me. "Mhm? "

"What's bothering you?" I asked.

Marcus first stared at me longingly before he chuckled,"Nothing's wrong... in fact... I want to try something," he said, crossing his arms.

I furrowed my eyebrows,"I'm listening."

"Sit down," he said.

I nodded, sitting down across him. Marcus stared at me, he looked around then drew his face closer until there was about a centimetre between us. His hands cupped my cheeks,"I love you."

My heart stopped, and mouth dropped slightly open.

Did he just say he loves me?

With Marcus' gaze moving from my lips then to my eyes, our gazes locked.

I didn't know how to react though a small part of me knew he was lying. Or it was a prank. We didn't know eachother that well but he was already saying that he loves me.

Marcus' lips slowly curved into a smile, "You thought I was serious?" he asked, grinning.

"What? No." I scowled backing away. I wasn't lying. I knew he was lying about loving me. "Was that what to wanted to tell me?" I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Well yeah, Baby cheeks, I want us to have this secret code thing," he said.

"Why?" I asked in confusion.

Marcus sighed and met eyes with me again, he seemed to look away when he spoke about this. "When you need me or you want my help, I want you to say 'I love you, Marcus'."

I snorted,"Wha--"

"Trust me, Baby cheeks. It seems... weird but when you want to warn me about something but you don't others to know... say 'I love you Marcus'," he said.

"Seems... oddly specific." I narrowed my eyes at Marcus.

"You know what... that's dumb. I don't know what I was thinking." Marcus chuckled, shaking his head.

I love you as our secret code. That was a bit weird. Why couldn't I say 'Help me!' like a normal person would? It was a bit funny when I thought about it. Me shouting 'I love you, Marcus' while I was about to be kidnapped. No thanks, my kidnappers would think I'm weird.

"Very dumb," I said as I stood up with my bag. He stood up with me as he grabbed his car keys from the table. We walked to the door,"Hey, where's your mom? Is she still at her meeting?"

"Yeah." Marcus opened the door for me and I walked through, heading to his car that was parked right outside. I got in the passenger side while Marcus locked the door of his house before walking to the driver's side of the car and getting in.

Once he started driving, I turned on his music, interested on what music he listened to. He watched me as I did. I listened, nodding my head to the song.

I smiled,"What is this song called?"

Marcus chuckled,"Beautiful."

"Ooh, it's a nice song," I said honestly, listening to the song. Marcus mouthed out the lyrics to himself while he drove.

"Can you sing, Marcus?" I asked with a smug look. Marcus didn't answer, instead he smiled wider.

I gasped, slightly confused as to why he was smiling,"Sing for me, Marcus."

"No, I can't," he replied simply.

"Please, pretty please! I'll do anything to hear you sing."

"But what if I have a horrible voice?" he asked, running his fingers through his hair and turning the steering wheel.

"I'll. Do. Anything," I repeated in a lower voice, leaning over to his side then backing away. Acting serious for effect.

"Anything huh..." he thought for a moment before answering,"I'll save it for later."

"Later? I won't remember." I said.

Marcus took out his phone and typed while he was still driving.

"What are you doing?" I asked him as I held the wheel while he typed on the phone screen. He brought the phone close to my mouth.

"Say it," he said.

"Say what?" I asked, letting of the wheel and he quickly placed his hand on the wheel.

"That'll you will do anything so that when you forget, I play this recording of you saying it." he smirked. I sighed and he pressed the 'record' button.

"I, Alyssa Heart, will do anything Marcus wants. Only one thing," I said, playfully glared at him which turned into laughter quickly. Marcus laughed with me.

"Now sing!" I told him and he ended the recording of us.

"Fine," he sighed.

"The way that Gucci looks on you, amazing

But nothing can't compare the way you naked

Tomorrow comes and goes before you know

So I just had to let you know," he sang along with the song and my mouth dropped open in astonishment. The song was playing softly but I could hear the beats. All I heard was Marcus' beautiful voice.

Marcus Sawyer can sing!

He started to turn red and I laughed, feeling myself heat up as well. He could sing, beautifully as well. Geez, he was perfect. He was good-looking, popular and could sing like a professional.

"How come you aren't a singer?" I asked him, still staring at him.

He stopped smiling,"I liked singing but I didn't want to become a singer." he almost cringed.

"Oh, why did you stop?"

"My dad died, music wasn't an interest to me..." he said simply, glancing me and the road.

"Well, could you become a singer?"

"No, never," he said, glancing at me.

"For me?" I pouted and batted my eyelashes.

Marcus chuckled,"No but I could sing for you."

I gasped excitedly,"Please do it?"

Marcus shook his head in response and I frowned,"Sorry Baby cheeks." I glared at him while he drove which made him chuckle.

"What's so funny?" I asked, still shooting a glare at him.

"Your glare looks adorable," he cooed, smiling beautifully.

The smile I loved.

Marcus dropped me off at my house and left after pecking my cheeks. I stared after the car as it drove away, I turned around and headed towards the front door of the house.

"Alyssa."

I shut my eyes and gritted my teeth, I turned around to look at her.

Bree.

She had her notorious yet attracting smirk on her face. She stood with two other girls standing beside her. I only had recognised one of them as Veronica, I wasn't sure the others were even in our school.

"What do you want?" I asked, trying to act cool and calm. It was hard to, especially when I had a bottle in my hand ready to be thrown at someone.

Bree then smiled,"No need to be so moody," she said walking closer and closer to me, her minions following her. One of them literally copied what Bree was doing. They were standing a few centimetres away from me.

I didn't reply to what she said, I just glared at her, waiting for her to say anything else. A tiny part of me was scared of Bree, she was also one of the reasons I got bullied. Sometimes, she told other people to beat me up and they did without a second thought.

But she couldn't beat me up now.

We are standing in front of my house and... I got Marcus.

But he's not here.

"Alyssa, I didn't come here to fight with you."

"Great, please leave before I lose control of my hand," I said, faking a smile at her.

"Alyssa don't be such a bitch--"

"Oh I'm the bitch?" I interuppted, chuckling slightly. "That's new."

"Look, I'm sorry Alyssa. We all know who's the bitch." she narrowed her eyes at me when she said the last part. "But I came here to ask you to come with us to the mall."

She really looked excited when telling me this, it kind of scared me.

"Yeah... no." I turned around and the front door of the house revealing my mom standing there. She immediately smiled when her eyes landed on mine.

"Oh, hey mom." I nevrously smiled at her, though she wasn't looking at me. She was looking at Bree and her friends.

"Hi girls." she got out of the house and and approached Bree. Bree smiled at my mom and hugged her.

"Hello Mrs. Heart," she greeted with a warm smile. Her smile didn't look faked or anything, it was a genuine smile.

"Alyssa, they're your friends?" Mom asked me and my eyes widened, I glanced a look at Bree and Veronica. Bree smirked and quirked her eyebrow at me. Veronica flicked her hair and looked down on her phone, typing furiously. The two other girls also looked at me for an answer.

I sighed and shut my eyes,"Y- yes." I forced out and looked away. Bree chuckled and looked back at my mom.

"We were just asking her to come with us to the mall, just hang out together," Bree said to my mother causing her to smile wider.

"Of course she can go," My mother answered. "She's not busy right now."

I silently groaned and turned around, avoiding the look from Bree and Veronica. "Will you?" Bree asked, although I didn't look at her, I could sense her smiling.

I sighed, giving up,"I'll be back. Just need to go change." I walked inside the house, ascended the stairs and went to my room, slamming the door. I walked over to the bedroom window and looked out. Bree, my mother and the girls who still standing by the door chatting about something that made them laugh, and made Veronica chuckle.

Bree looked up and spotted me staring them. She winked at me and I immediately backed away from the window.

Why were they here? Why now?

I was suspecting them for them to pull a prank on me or something. It was just odd that they suddenly want to hang out.

I took a quick 5 minute shower because I had gone to the gym and I was sweaty. After a few minutes of deciding what to wear; I chose to wear a grey crewneck and black jeans. I untied my hair and ran my fingers through them to straigten it slightly. I applied a lip gloss and eyeliner before taking my phone and walking out the door.

Outside, the weather was quickly starting to change. It was warm before but the wind started picking up. "Bye Mrs. Heart." the girls said as they walked towards a car.

"Bye girls! Enjoy yourselves but... not too much." Mom smiled and waved at me. I looked away, a bit embarrassed and upset because I was going out with my worst enemy. They got in the car, Veronica and the two girls sat at the back and I hesitantly sat in front with Bree.

Bree switched on the music and Bhad Bhabie's song 'I got it' blared in the car.

Yep, I listened to her.

Bree, Veronica and the girls started rapping along with the song as Bree drove the car. I frowned and looked out the window, trying not to shout out the lyrics. Instead, I silently murmured the song, nodding my head slightly.

"Come on, Alyssa." Bree sang moving her body to the beat of the song, moving her hips in a circular motion. It was then I noticed she had a belly ring since she wore a red cropped hoodie. The two were singing and moving their bodies to the beat while Veronica took a selfie of this.

"Can I take a picture with you?" Veronica asked me and I looked at her.

"Sure,"

I only took a few selfies from time to time, one of the reasons I didn't take a selfie was because I usually had a bruised face or lip. Veronica smiled and held the phone out and she pouted, looking at the camera while I closed one eye and smiled.

Veronica snapped a picture and backed away, returning to her seat. "Are you on Instagram?" Veronica asked. "I wanna tag you."

I shook my head in response. If I was on social media, I'd be begging for a death wish.

"Give me your phone," Veronica said and I gave it to her after I typed in my password. Veronica was busy with it for a while then gave it to me. I looked at it and saw that Veronica had made an account for me on Instagram.

@

She put a picture of me as the profile and no bio. "You'll thank me in a minute," Veronica said, grinning. She posted the picture of me and her and captioned . My phone beeped.

tagged you in a post.

I went to her profile and found the picture she posted. I gasped when I saw her followers. 113K followers! She was a model so I wasn't that surprised.

The picture started getting a lot of likes in minutes and many people commented:

Five minutes later, the picture had gotten 20 834 likes and 899 comments.

I had started gaining followers as well, 9K followers. I was so happy, people were so nice in the comments... some comments were... inappropriate but Veronica liked them.

"Thanks," I smiled at Veronica and she winked at me.

"You got it." she smiled back.