Chapter 21

There was no sign of Luke this whole day either. I caught a glimpse of Nick a couple of times, and he waved, but I mostly tried to stay away from him. All the seniors got their year books today, and nothing exciting really happened.

I spent some time with Beth, Ace, and the rest of the boys after school in my house (or more like they spent time with me), and after that, Beth and I finished my homework when they left.

Beth stayed with me after everyone else left, and she suddenly looked up from her phone. I gave her a questioning look.

"We got our year books today! I can't believe I forgot!" With that, she jumped from my bed to fish her year book out of her book bag. I shook my head and went back to studying for my Math exam for tomorrow.

"There's Angelino... Zach... Jayden... Me... Oh my God!" She yelled out suddenly. I glanced at her in surprise.

"What now?" I asked, irritated. "I'm trying to study here."

"I look horrible!" She wailed, glaring at the year book. I sighed.

"If you interrupt me one more time, Beth, I'll just kick you out. I need to study," I replied seriously, but she just laughed at me.

"No you don't. You're a nerd. And anyway, don't you want to see Ace's picture?" She wiggled her eye brows at me suggestively. I glared at her, but it was half-hearted. She knew she had already caught my attention by mentioning Ace.

I tried to ignore her anyway. "I'm not a nerd." I went back to my book, but out of the corner of my eye, I watched Beth get up from the floor, and come plop down next to me, practically shoving the year book in my face.

"Look, I look horrible, and this is my last year!" She whined, and I sighed, putting my Math book down on the bed next to me. I adjusted my position by sitting criss-crossed, and leaned over her shoulder, trying to see her picture.

"You look fine. More than fine, you make everyone else look dull on this page," I laughed lightly, patting her back.

"You're my best friend, obviously you're going to say that. Whatever, let's look for Ace. I'm sure you're dying to see his picture," she laughed as I blushed and mumbled a 'no I'm not.'

She flipped two pages, and I spotted his picture before she did. He was wearing a graduation gown, as all the seniors were supposed to for the pictures. Our colors were bright yellow and blue; yellow for girls and blue for the boys.

The blue hat and gown complimented Ace's hazel eyes very well. It was a bright blue color, so even his eyes' gold flecks were slightly visible. I smiled as I noticed the dimple on his left cheek.

"God, El, you're a total goner," Beth's voice broke me out of my thoughts. I scowled at her and moved back, putting distance between us. "Let's look at your picture," she laughed.

"I don't want to," I mumbled quietly, grabbing my Math textbook again.

"Oh, here you are! You look beautiful. I wish I looked as good as you," Beth gushed, pushing the year book in front of me again.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, you know it's not--" I broke off suddenly, noticing the person in the row right underneath mine. I snatched the year book from her hands to get a closer look at the picture.

"Ellie, what's wrong?" Beth asked in surprise.

My gaze went to the name, and I sucked in a surprised breath. "Nick...Fletcher." It was the same guy who had talked to me outside in the field today. He was indeed a junior, like he'd said. A thought suddenly came to me, and I scrambled off the bed and went to my closet.

I took out the previous year books from the last two years and plopped back down on the bed. Beth didn't say anything, just watched me curiously. I flipped through the pages until I found the Sophomores' pictures from last year. "D...E...F...Fletcher!" I exclaimed in shock. "Nick Fletcher!" I repeated loudly.

Putting last year's year book down, I grabbed the one from my Freshmen year, and flipped to the F's in the Freshmen's pictures. I looked back up at Beth in disbelief, my eyes wide. "You were wrong," I blurted out.

"What?" Beth's expression turned confused.

"Nick...the guy I met in the morning...he wasn't lying. He has been here since Freshmen year. He's not a new student, Beth."

"Really? I could've sworn I'd never seen that guy before, though," she took the books away from me one by one, checking his picture to make sure. "You're right, he has been here since first year."

"I guess I overreacted. He probably found out about the incident with Luke somehow and just mentioned it," I pondered over it a minute, then relaxed. "I don't really need to worry about it. I only thought he would be a problem because I thought he was lying about him being here since beginning," I shrugged.

"Maybe...but you still be careful Ellie, you can't trust anyone," Beth said seriously.

I smiled. "Mhm, I will be careful," with that, I grabbed my Math textbook again, Beth reluctantly grabbing hers.

*******

"Let's ride my bike, it'll be faster."

"No."

"But--"

"No," I repeated, already walking away from his house.

Ace and I were both standing in front of his house, and we were arguing about whether taking the Motorcycle, or walking to school. It was still pretty early, and we would still have about fifteen minutes left even after walking to school. Plus, I was still afraid of his Motorcycle, and I didn't want to ride it ever again.

"Oh C'mon Ellie, let's ride my bike, walking is too much...work," he complained, although he had already started walking with me. I smiled when I realized that. He, apparently, hadn't.

"But we're going to be there too early if we ride your bike! What will we do when we get there?" I asked, stalling, since he still hadn't noticed that we were almost about a block away from his bike.

"Hmm...I can arrange something," he whispered the last part, and when I looked up at him, he winked.

I felt my heart beat increase, and I cleared my throat. "P-perv," I muttered, picking up my pace. But you like it, I told myself inside my head.

"We can still take the bike, you know," he called out to me as I walked farther in front. I could hear the laughter in his voice.

"Nope, we're about two blocks away from your house now. Too late," I mocked him, laughing as I heard a small gasp leave his mouth. I still didn't turn around to look at him.

I heard his footsteps right behind me, and then, "You better run."

I whirled around to face him in surprise, and almost smacked into his chest. "Too late," was the only warning I got before I was swept off my feet and into the air. My book bag fell on the cement as a small scream of surprise left my mouth, which subsided into laughter as Ace bounced me in his arms.

He bent down to retrieve my book bag, with me still in his arms, and plopped it on top of me. He continued walking, as if the extra weight of me and my book bag was nothing. He even started whistling, which I realized was to annoy me.

"Hey, put me down! I can walk, you know," I wiggled in his arms, trying to make him let go, but he only tightened his grip. Then he suddenly let go. I shrieked, grabbing on his neck and shoulder to keep me from dropping on the cement. Before I could lose my hold on him, he adjusted his hands underneath me again, laughing his head off.

"What the hell, Ace! I could have--" again, he let go. This kept going on whenever I started complaining about him carrying me, and no matter how scary it was, it was still very funny, although I wasn't going to say that out loud.

We reached the school in about ten minutes, and we both caught many students' attention who were milling in the parking lot. But one student caught my eye. Luke. Just looking at him brought fear back in me without even him trying. Luke turned and caught my eye, and then he smiled his chilling smile.

Ace chose that moment to let go, and because of my shock at finding Luke there, I forgot to clutch him. So this time, I definitely would have fallen flat on my back, if it hadn't been for Ace's fast reflexes. He caught my back just in time to break my descent down on the ground.

He put me back into standing position and gripped my arm gently. "Ellie! Are you okay?" His worried voice brought my attention back to him, and he must have seen something in my face, because he added, "What's wrong?"

He looked away from me and forward, until his gaze landed on Luke. I watched in fascination as Ace's eyes slowly narrowed, and his whole body stiffened, then he gripped my arm tight. His whole posture was rigid, and I quickly grabbed his arm and told him to lets just go inside. He reluctantly complied, still shooting daggers in Luke's direction.

"Ace, let's go," I urged him quietly, which fully brought his attention back to me. He sighed, and with a shake of his head, we took off in the direction of the main entrance. We made it by my locker, none of us saying anything.

I'd jinxed it. I had kept thinking again and again how Luke wasn't there for a whole week, and the next day, I see him first thing in the morning.

When I noticed Ace still by my locker, I raised my eyebrow at him. "Why aren't you going to yours?" I asked him curiously.

"I'm not leaving you alone."

A warm feeling spread through my stomach to my chest, and without thinking, I hugged him. He looked surprised, but he hugged me back nevertheless.

"No matter how tough you look, you're still so sweet," I murmured into his ear.

"Sometimes only," he muttered, embarrassed. I smiled at his un-comfortableness.

"Hey guys. Sorry to interrupt, but 'No PDA please,'" Beth said in perfect imitation of Ms. Kim's voice. I jumped back a little, but Ace didn't even look fazed. He just slid his arm around my waist, holding me close. Beth noticed, and wiggled her eyebrows at me. I shot her a dirty look.

Her smugness vanished, though, and was replaced with seriousness. "Did you guys see him today?" she asked us both.

"Yep. First thing my eyes landed on as we entered the school," I replied back as nonchalantly as I could, but inside, my stomach was knotting in fear and unease.

Beth suddenly laughed out loud, and I glanced at her incredulously. Why in the world she was laughing at this serious moment, I had no idea.

"There's nothing funny about that," Ace frowned at her, and I could hear the annoyance in his voice, so I put a hand on his arm, silently indicating not to say anything to Beth.

Beth took a deep breath, and said, "She called him a thing. 'First thing my eyes landed on...' whatever, you guys don't have a good sense of humor," she flicked her hair, then turned back to her locker.

I cracked a smile anyway, because I knew she was trying to lighten the mood. I noticed even Ace had a slight smile on his face, so whatever Beth was trying, it worked.

All three of us grabbed our gym uniforms and headed for the locker rooms. Beth told me to head outside because she needed to use the bathroom, so I agreed and walked out of the locker room and into the field.

Immediately, Ace headed towards me when I emerged outside. Someone bumped into me from behind before I could fully exit the door, and I turned to see Zach giving me a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, El. Didn't see you," Angelino and Jayden showed up behind him, and as I watched in amusement, Angelino bumped into Zach, and Jayden walked into Angelino. They both cursed and Zach glared at them both while Ace and I laughed.

"All three of you need glasses, boys," Ace smirked at them. The three of them came and stood next to Ace, and I turned to face forward.

"Don't act so smug. You almost dropped Ellie this morning. A 'man' won't drop his girl like that," Jayden said haughtily.

I blushed and Ace glared at Jayden, but before he could say anything, we were interrupted by someone's loud panting and the grabbing of my arm.

It was Beth. She turned me around, and I instantly noticed the expression of anger and a little bit of fear on her face.

Alarmed, I asked, "Beth, are you alright? What happened?"

Still panting, she replied, "I... he... grabbed," she paused, and took a deep breath before continuing. "Luke. I came out of the locker room, and then he was waiting there. He grabbed me, but when he turned me around, he realized it was me, and not you, so he let go of me, and asked me where you were. I... I didn't know what to do, so I ran," she finished sheepishly.

I was frozen, just staring at Beth blankly. Beth could've been hurt because of me. It was just sheer luck that I wasn't there, or I wonder what would've happened. Even Ace wouldn't have been there.

"Ellie?" Ace cupped my cheek gently, his eyes holding concern. "You know it wasn't your fault, right? I'm pretty sure you're giving yourself a mental speech right now of how it was your fault," he added sternly.

Damn you, sensitivity, I thought, as tears sprang to my eyes. "She could've been hurt because of me, Ace," I whispered, trying to hold my tears in. I turned to Beth, who was looking at me with wide eyes, and whispered a "sorry, Beth."

She then did something totally shocking. She slapped me. In the face. She slapped me. We all stared at her in shock and on Ace's part, stiffened in anger.

"What the hell are you apullo- appol...saying sorry for?! It's not your freaking fault if that Luke doesn't have the brains to understand the meaning of 'stay away'? And anyways, it's not like I'm helpless. I got away from him, didn't I?"

I let out a small strangled laugh, already feeling better, and then said, "Apologizing." I smacked her hard on the arm before pulling her into a hug. She muttered a 'whatever' and hugged me back.

"You're right," I said, pulling back. I noticed the others all smiling, even Ace. "It was just...so overwhelming, you know?" I added, shaking my head in frustration.

"I can go in and break that ass hole's face right now if you want," Angelino interrupted, starting to walk away, grabbing Jayden and pulling him along.

"Angelino, stop! It's not worth it," I gave him a stern look, to which he finally sighed, and came back to join us, dragging Jayden back as well.

"Does it look like I'm a rag doll--" Jayden started saying, but was cut off by the sound of a whistle. Ms. Kim was beckoning all the students over to her.

We played volleyball again, and the boys actually joined us this time, all of us making one team, and some other students making another. To my surprise, Nick came over to us, and asked me if he could join.

"No," Ace said immediately, tightening his hold on me.

I glared at Ace, and told Nick that yes, he can join us. Ace frowned, but gave in nevertheless.

Luke didn't show up to first period, but he did show up to second. Whenever I caught his eye, he would always give me his evil smirk/smile, and I would look away immediately. I tried my hardest to avoid him the whole day. And of course, Ace was with me the whole day, except inside the classes.

When the lunch period came around, I was pretty tense, afraid that Luke would start another drama this time. But, to my surprise, Luke didn't show up to lunch either. My shoulders sagged in relief when I didn't see him anywhere.

The rest of the day went uneventful, except for the exams in some subjects. I had Math last period, and Beth was sitting next to me, and I was too focused to notice that Beth was whispering to me.

She nudged me with her elbow when the teacher wasn't looking. I discreetly looked over to her, and whispered a ''what?''

"What's number 34?" She whispered back. I rolled my eyes. I'd told her to focus on studying last night, but no, she had to go through the year book the whole time she stayed with me.

Either way, I made a D with both of my hands, letting her know the answer, without looking up.

"Elora, what do you think you're doing?"

I looked up, startled, into the face of the teacher. Beth's eyes widened in horror, as she realized we were caught.

"What did I do?" I settled for nonchalance, as I looked at the teacher with a straight face. Inside, though, my heart was hammering.

"Your hands. It looked like you were giving Beth an answer with your hands," he raised his eyebrows questioningly. By now, the whole class was staring at us.

I set my tone in defiance, and stated, "I was just scratching my hands? Like this?" I scratched my fingers with my other hand, imitating the earlier position of my hands. My face probably had the 'duh' look as I did that.

"Oh. Well, in that case, I suggest you finish your exam and everyone, keep your eyes on your paper," he said stiffly, and went back to his desk.

Heart pounding, I went back to my test. That was close. I sighed, and completed the test, just as the bell rang.

Once we got out of the classroom, Beth laughed, and exclaimed, "Dude, that was so close! I was scared we were caught. And then you go treating the teacher..." she laughed again.

I agreed with her as we made our way to the lockers. Ace met us halfway there, and gave me a quick peck, making my heart jump inside.

As we approached our lockers hand in hand, I noticed that something was wrong. Uneasily, I broke off into a jog and reached my locker first.

My combination lock was broken in half, the bottom part on the ground and the top half-ring still hanging on the handle. The locker was slightly open, and I cautiously opened it further.

"Ellie, what's wrong?" Ace asked as him and Beth joined me.

I didn't reply, peeking into my locker to see if there was something wrong. There was. My gym shorts were torn apart completely, the pieces strewn across the locker floor, and my gym shirt was hanging on one of the hooks.

On the white shirt was something written with red spray paint;

You better be careful from now on Babe. Lots of love ;)'

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