"Open up your eyes, shut your mouth and see

That I'm still the only one who's been in love with me

I'll guess I'll be getting you stuck in between my teeth

And there's nothing I can do about it"

I nod my head along to the beat of the song, singing along to the lyrics as they play loudly throughout my car.

"Broke a finger knocking on your bedroom door

I got splinters in my knuckles crawling across the floor

Couldn't take you home to mother in a skirt that short

But I think that's what I like about it"

My fingers tap out the drum beat against the steering wheel as I pull up to a red light.

"She's an angel

Only angel

She's an angel

My only angel"

The light turns green and I drive on, nearing my destination of the grocery store closest to my house.

"I must admit I thought I'd like to make you mine

As I went about my business through the warning signs

End up meeting in the hallway every single time

And there's nothing we can do about it

Told it to her brother and she told it to me

That she's gonna be angel, just you wait and see

When it turns out she's a devil in between the sheets

And there's nothing she can do about it

Hey, hey"

I pulls into the parking lot of the grocery store and quickly find a parking spot, swinging into it.

She's an angel

Only angel

She's an angel

My only angel-"

I pull my key out of the ignition and the car rumbles to a stop, the music cutting off as well. Grabbing my phone, my wallet, and my keys, I open my car door and step out before making my way towards the entrance of the grocery store.

I look like a real mess right now with no makeup, a messy bun, and sweats, but I can't find it in myself to care. I have started my period this afternoon, as if to make my day that much worse. After getting a bad grade on my English assignment, mother nature decides to give me a kick in the gut as well.

I walk towards the confectionary aisle and immediately pick out two packets of wild berry Skittles. They're my favorites. Once I have acquired those, I head towards the sanitary products. I enter the aisle and paused mid-step, unsure if I am actually seeing correctly. Because I swear Reece Carter is standing in front of me right now.

Shít.

I just have to see someone from school here, don't I? Just my luck. When I look like total trash, of course the 'bad boy' shows up.

But wait. He's looking at the sanitary products. Why is he looking at the sanitary products? Does he have a secret girlfriend or something?

"Reece?" I question unsurely, taking a hesitant step closer to the leather-jacket-wearing, messy-haired boy standing in front of me.

He drops his head forward for a second, before he turns his head in my direction and his bright turquoise eyes meet mine. A scowl settles on his face when he sighs, raising a questioning eyebrow at me as he takes a headphone out of his ear.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, taking another hesitant but curious step towards him.

Reece's lip twitches up in amusement for only a second before it disappears, gone almost as soon as it came. But I can still see the laughter that remains in his eyes. He lifts up a piece of paper that I haven't realized he is holding, uttering flatly, "Grocery shopping."

"Ah, I see," I nod in understanding, starting to turn back around and entirely forgetting about the tampons I have come here to get. "I'll leave you to it then." I completely turn around and begin to walk away.

"Wait." His deep voice stops me immediately. I smile slightly as I turn back to face him. He looks a little uncomfortable, no longer looking me in the eye.

I walk back towards him slowly, fiddling with the packet of Skittles I have in my hands. "Yes?" I ask expectantly.

He sighs quietly before asking, "You're a girl, right?"

I raise an amused eyebrow at him, "Last time I checked." I look down at myself as if to check.

Reece huffs and finally meets my gaze, "I need your help."

I grin, happily skipping over to him, "Ooh, yay! With what?"

"I have a younger sister," He begins, his eyes flickering to me uncertainly before he looks away again. "And she um, yeah..." He trails off, lifting the grocery list in his hand before gesturing to the shelf beside us.

My eyes widen with realization, "Oh, she's on her period."

He nods jerkily.

"And you need my help... why?" I raise an eyebrow unsurely.

With a quiet groan, he tilts his head back in frustration, "You think I know what to get?"

"Okay, true. But why are you the one buying her pads?"

"She wrote it one the grocery list and my mom didn't know. So, she asked me to do the shopping and now I'm here."

"So, call your mom."

He groans again, "You really think I want to have a conversation like that with my mother?"

I huff, turning back to the shelf, "Alright, she'll probably want something like..." I take a moment to scan the various packets stacked on the shelves before reaching out and picking one out. "this."

The look on Reece's face is too good not to laugh at. A chuckle bubbles out of me as I place the packet into the basket he is carrying. His replying scowl is just as funny.

"Thanks." He mutters after a moment, putting one headphone into his ear again. He then turns and starts walking away from me without another word.

"Bye, Reece." I call out to him and watch him pause momentarily before he grunts as his reply and continues to walk away.

I smile to myself. I feel like that's progress.

After I grab the tampons I need, I start towards the ice cream section of the store. On my way there, my phone starts buzzing in my hand. I pause momentarily, glancing at the caller ID before answering with a harsh, "What?"

"Babe don't be like that." My now ex-boyfriend complains in an annoyingly whiny tone of voice.

"What do you want?" I snap, continuing my walk to the ice cream section. I am not in the mood to put up with his bullshít.

"How many times do I have to say that I'm sorry? It was a mistake!" He insists for what feels like the billionth time.

"Shoving your díck in another girl's vagina isn't a mistake, Preston." I hiss my reply quietly, not wanting to draw attention to myself in the middle of the grocery store.

"I said I was sorry!" He repeats, as though they are magic words that will make me fall back into his arms instantly.

Rolling my eyes, I look into the freezer filled with ice cream in front of me, "You cheated on me twice. We only dated for two months! Do you realize how ridiculous that is?"

"But I apologized." He mutters again.

"That doesn't make it right." I clip, "We're over. I'm glad I didn't get too emotionally invested in our relationship. Because clearly you didn't at all."

"Babe wait-" I hang up on him before he can finish saying whatever bullshít excuse is about to spill out of his mouth. Huffing, I pull open the freezer and grab a pot of cookies and cream ice cream.

I stare at for a moment, before whispering to myself, "What did I ever see in him?"

~

"Please, babe." Preston wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me back into his chest abruptly. Students scatter around us, all heading in the direction of the cafeteria. I had also been going in that direction before my ex stopped me.

"Forget it, Preston. Leave me alone." Pushing away from him, I continue walking down the hall which is now almost clear of students.

"Why the hell are you acting like such a bítch?" His comment makes me stop in my tracks.

I slowly turn around to face him with a raised eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

He holds his arms out with a smug smirk on his face, "You heard me."

I laugh humorlessly, "There's no way that you seriously think you can talk to me like that."

He shrugs, smirking, "I'm just stating the truth."

Scoffing, I turn around and continue walking away from him. "Unbelievable."

Not a second later, I'm roughly pushed against the row of lockers to my left. I wince as my back slams against the metal surface.

Preston leers down over me, holding both my hands at my sides as he sneers, "Don't walk away from me, slút."

I hiss when his grip tightens, "Preston, you're hurting me."

"Stop talking back to me, bítch." He grabs both of my wrists in one hand and lifts them above my head so his free hand can rest dangerously low on my back.

"Hands off, ásshole." I seethe, squirming around, and trying to free myself from his grip.

"I don't think so," He mutters, sliding his hand even further down my body, "You never let me have my way with you."

"Hey!" A new voice shouts from down the hall and the sound of footsteps near. I don't bother looking to see who it is and decide to take matters into my own hands.

Before his hands can travel any further down my body, I bring my knee up and hit him between the legs with as much force as I can muster. He immediately drops his hands from me and instead holds them to his crotch as he takes a step back and groans in pain. I use the opportunity to step away and put some distance between us.

"You bítch!" Preston shouts as two pairs of footsteps come to a stop beside me. I don't get the chance to see who the footsteps belong to as Preston attempts to charge at me.

"I don't think so." A deep voice mutters from beside me before a tall, well-built guy covered in tattoos steps forward and swings his fist right into Preston's jaw. My jaw drops when I recognize the figure. Reece Carter. I smile a little to myself.

Reece doesn't bother throwing another punch and instead turns his piercing turquoise gaze to me. "Are you okay, Sunshine?"

A weird but welcome feeling washes over me at the term of endearment. Sunshine? Why did he call me Sunshine? Unable to make sense of my thoughts and come up with a verbal answer, I only nod my head.

With the confirmation that I am okay, Reece turns back to face Preston. Reece tenses as he walks forward and picks Preston up from the floor by his shirt, slamming him against the lockers.

"Don't you ever touch her like that again." Reece threatens, his face cold and hard. "You understand me?"

Preston holds up his hands in mock surrender as a smirk lifts his lips, "I hear you, mate." Despite his cocky attitude, I can see the fear in his eyes.

Reece slams him into the lockers once more before dropping him back onto the ground carelessly, "I am not your mate."

Preston chuckles darkly as he stands up and begins walking back down the hall still facing us. "Shít, okay, calm down." When he is a few feet away from us, he continues, "Tyler says 'hi', by the way." As soon as the words leave his mouth, he turns and runs the rest of the way down the hall and around the corner so we can no longer see him.

"Son of a bítch." Reece mutters, running his hands through his hair. He takes a couple steps forwards as though he is going to go after Preston, but he quickly changes his mind and turns back around, walking closer to me. His eyes soften ever so slightly as he repeats, "Are you sure you're okay?"

I nod again, finally able to verbalize my response, "I'm fine, thank you, Reece." A small smile tugs at the corner of his lips, but the second set of footsteps interrupts before he can reply.

"Dude, nice punch." The other guy steps forward and Reece's eyes switch from me to him as they do a handshake. I immediately recognize him as Reece's best friend, Liam.

Liam is taller than Reece, but only by a little. With his dirty blonde hair and caramel colored eyes, it is safe to say he has more than his fair share of attention from the female population. Reece does too, of course, but most never express their thoughts of him as they are too afraid. Liam has a sort of 'bad boy' vibe, much like Reece. He has various tattoos littering his body – although he doesn't have as many as Reece – and multiple piercings. His personality seems a lot more carefree than Reece's and it seems he is mostly seen as a bad boy because of his friendship with Reece.

Liam turns to me after they do their handshake, grinning widely, "And when you kicked him in the balls! Dude, that was hilarious! And then Reece comes in all macho, like," He puffs his chest out dramatically and speaks in an overly deep tone of voice, "You can't touch her!" He then relaxes his body and switches back to his normal voice which is already pretty deep, "Then he's like 'pow'! Landing one right on his jaw. That was sick, man!"

"Are you done now?" Reece deadpans with his arms folded over his chest. Despite his tone and body language, I can see the small smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

Liam only rolls his eyes and turns back to me, sticking out his hand, "Hi! I'm Liam!"

I raise an eyebrow at him as I shake his hand, "I know. We're in the same English class."

His eyes widen slightly in realization, "Oh yeah! You sit a couple seats in front of me, next to the brunette."

I nod, about to reply before a new voice cuts me off, "Bítch, you left me alone in the cafeteria!"

Turning at the sound of the voice, I grin when I see her. "Here is said brunette now." I murmur to Liam before replying to my clearly annoyed best friend who is now standing right in front of me. "Wasn't Mark with you?"

Amanda pouts, "No, he had football training, so I was by myself. What's taking you so long?"

"Sorry, I was being harassed," I deadpan.

Amanda's eyes widen almost comically as she flickers her gaze to the two boys standing behind me. "By them?"

I laugh, "No! By the dipshít that is my ex-boyfriend."

"You dated that fúcker?" Reece pipes up, making me turn my head to look at him.

"Unfortunately." I reply with a sigh.

When I turn back around to face the fiery brunette, she is steaming, "Where is he? I want to introduce him to my fist. Then my knee and my elbow and my foot and-"

"Whoa, chill. Reece already took care of that for you." Liam reassures her with a small smirk playing on his lips.

Amanda raises her eyebrows at Reece questioningly, "Really?"

Reece shrugs nonchalantly, "It was just one punch."

"One punch that had him running away like an idiot." Liam mutters under his breath with a snicker.

Amanda's lips quirk into a small smile, "You did that for my best friend?"

Reece's eyes flicker to me and he holds my gaze for a split second before he returns his gaze back to Amanda. "Of course."

Amanda nods once, "Respect." Then she turns to me, "Can we go get food now?"

~

I'm píssed. Beyond píssed in fact. Why? Because my parents have taken my car keys and now, I have no ride home from school. After I got home from the grocery store last night, my parents got home and told me the school had called them about me not showing up to my last two classes. My punishment is I'm allowed to drive for the rest of the week. So, I have to walk home.

I'm walking out of the school gates now, quietly muttering to myself pointlessly. "Stupid teacher giving me a stupid C which made stupid me leave early making my stupid parents confiscate my stupid car and-"

"Do you always talk to yourself?" A deep voice interrupts my mumbling rant to myself and makes me halt my steps. I turn to find Reece Carter leaning up against a sleek looking black car with a girl that looked strikingly familiar to him.

I smile sheepishly, "Not usually, only when I'm really annoyed."

He raises an eyebrow at me, "And what would have Sunshine so annoyed?"

A squeal interrupts any answer I would have for him and I instead turn to look at girl standing beside Reece. She has the same striking blue-green eyes as Reece and the same dark hair.

"You gave her a nickname!?" She exclaims, turning to Reece with a grin on her face. He rolls his eyes, but I see the way his lips tilt up slightly. The girl steps towards me with her hand outstretched, "Hi, I'm Anna, Reece's younger sister."

I smile and reach out my own hand to shake hands, but instead Anna uses our joined hands to pull me into a hug. My eyes widen and I let out a small chuckle, returning the hug. "I'm Layla, nice to meet you." When Anna finally releases me, I look to Reece with raised eyebrows, "This is your sister?" She seems much bubblier than Reece.

He nods then replies gruffly, "One of them."

My eyes widen, "How many do you have?"

"More than enough." He replies vaguely.

Anna elbows him in his side with a glare, "Don't act like that. You know you love us."

He only rolls his eyes, turning his attention back to me, "What has you so worked up, Sunshine?"

I sigh, "My parents have confiscated my car for the rest of the week because I skipped the end of school yesterday, so I have to walk home."

"Ooh! You can catch a ride with us, right, Reece?" Anna suggests, turning to her older brother.

He looks like he is about to object but then he nods with a sigh, "Sure." he replies gruffly.

My eyes widen, "Oh, no. That's okay. I wouldn't want to bother you."

He shakes his head, "No. I'm giving you a ride home."

His statement leaves no room for negotiation. I smile a little. "Thanks."

He nods once before turning and gesturing to the car, "Let's go then. We gotta pick up the rest of my siblings on the way." He hops into the driver's seat and shuts the door with no further discussion.

"You can ride shotgun," Anna tells me, opening the back door, "I wouldn't want you to have to deal with the rest of my siblings in the back."

I send her a grateful smile. "Thanks." I round the car and hop into the passenger seat next to Reece.

Once Reece has pulled out of the parking space, Anna leans between the seats to speak to me. "So how do you know my brother?"

"I caught him skipping class yesterday." I reply with a smile.

"Oh yeah! Our siblings' school had a half day yesterday, so Reece went to pick them up." Anna tells me.

"Aww," I coo, looking at Reece, "That's so sweet!" He grumbles something incomprehensible under his breath, making me laugh. I then turn my attention back to Anna, "What year are you in?"

"I'm a Sophomore. I'm guessing you're a senior like Reece?"

I nod, "You guessed right."

Reece clears his throat quietly from beside me and I direct my attention to him. "I have to warn you that my siblings can be a little... much sometimes."

Anna snorts, "That's an understatement."

We pull up outside an elementary school where a group of four kids are standing. As soon as Reece stops the car, they rush over and open the back door, piling in.

"Anna? Why are you sitting in the- Oh." A boy stops when he takes a seat next to Anna, noticing that I'm in the car. I turn to look at him and notice that he looks to be about thirteen, around the same age as my younger sister, Bella. He looks a lot like Reece – minus the tattoos and piercings, obviously – with the same striking blue eyes. His lips lift into a smirk as he settles in his seat. "Hi, I'm Max, but you can call me the man of your dreams."