I was just closing my locker and walking to first period, while talking to Jasmine when Eli, Mason and Wes walked up to us.

"Good morning Lili," Eli's voice chimed at school. I looked to Jasmine as Eli's arm hooked around her shoulders.

"You're rubbing off on him," I accused her, referring to him calling me that stupid name. "Stop it."

"You still love me," Eli beamed as he snaked his left arm around my neck and hugged me into him. He released me after a while.

"Who could love such a loser?" Wes mumbled.

"Is that what you tell yourself in the mirror every morning?" I asked with a pout.

"Oh yeah definitely, but when I say 'loser,' I mean winner," Wes responded.

Everyone was quiet and rolled their eyes. We just continued to walk down the hall until the boys stopped in their tracks and I looked ahead of us to the reason why.

"Riley!" I shouted. Now I know what he meant when he said 'see you at school.'

"Hey," he replied with a smile. I noticed that he didn't have shades on, but he had a different gray hoodie. His eyes were...wow. They were so blue that they were almost a piercing silver color.

"You again," Chase spoke, coming out of nowhere. Again, something gave me the vibe that there was something between them. Wes and Mason whispering back and forth while glancing at Riley when we compared schedules wasn't really convincing me otherwise.

"Ah. The care-giver," Riley smirked. He gestured to me. "OMG. She's in school."

Chase gave him an impatient look different than when I would be stubborn or when Wes would be an asshole.

"Let's go," Chase said as he sped up to a walk and walked around me and Riley. He and The Group left with Zoey in tow by hand.

"Don't worry, Care-giver! I'll make sure she gets to class!" Riley yelled down the hall after them. I looked to see Chase give a hard look at Riley from over his shoulder.

"Hi, I'm Jasmine," Jasmine said to Riley since she stayed.

"Riley Sean," he greeted, shaking her hand and kissing it. Jasmine pulled her hand away.

"Uh...so how do you know Lili?" she asked, using that stupid nickname. I glared at her.

"I met her at the cemetery yesterday, actually," Riley answered. "Turns out that we're brother and sister."

"No way!" Jasmine exclaimed, hitting my arm absent mindedly. Riley looked at her, wide-eyed.

"I'm kidding," Riley informed. Jasmine calmed down and broke out into a few giggles. I rolled my eyes at her slight stupidity. Then the warning bell rang.

"Well I guess I'll see you around?" Jasmine said as we started to walk off to math class.

"Yeah. He has our science and lunch," I informed with a nod.

"Oh sweet," she replied. She turned to Riley as she walked. "You can just sit with us at lunch then!"

I pulled her arm around and we started down the corridor. First thing out of her mouth was: "OMG, Lili! You totally have a crush on him!"

I denied it as much as I could, but she insisted on something so nonexistent.

***

"What's up with the guys?" I asked Zoey and Jasmine as we sat down at our table before we got our food. Usually the boys would sit with us, but they had already gotten their stock-pile of food and sat at their infamous table in the corner on the other side of the cafeteria.

"It's because of me, isn't it?" Riley automatically assumed when he arrived at our table with a tray of food for himself. Well if you could call it that; all he had was Dr. Pepper, a bag of baked chips, and an apple.

"No...well I don't know..." Jasmine replied as we all simultaneously got up at the same time to retrieve our lunch. I told Riley that we'd be right back and he just bit into his apple as he sat. We girls got our lunch and when Zoey went to pay, she couldn't find her money.

"Was it in your wallet? I found it at home on the floor," I said as I paid for her lunch.

"What wallet?"

"Black...leather...on a chain? It was by your bedroom door, so I didn't know if it was yours...but I put it on the table in the hall across from your room," I clarified.

"Oh. That wallet. Yeah it's mine. I forgot I just bought it. Thanks," she replied as she got out of line. We got back to our table and Riley was still eating his apple as he was using his phone under the table as if it was a secretive message. Other than that, we sat and just talked. Riley included. And then Chase and Wes decided to walk up.

"Hey, you owe me three bucks," I told him before he said anything, as I sipped my Gatorade.

"Why?" Wes asked.

"Not you...you," I said pointing to Chase. Instead of asking why, he shrugged and tossed a five dollar bill onto my tray. I turned to Zoey as I put the money in my pocket. "Thanks."

"Really?" Chase asked bewildered since I didn't thank him. After all, it was Zoey who left her money. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have had to cash in from her boyfriend. What gentleman wouldn't pay for his girlfriend's food. "Whatever. Let's go, Zoey."

"What makes you think you can steal my sister?" I asked Chase in a playful manner. He ignored my question as Zoey got up to join him. He grabbed her tray with his right hand and then connected his left to Zoey's right hand. They walked off together without a word. "That was rude."

"A couple's gotta do what a couple's gotta do," Wes shrugged as he took a seat in Zoey's seat. I scoffed at him.

"Do I even want to know what you're talking about?" I asked.

"Gee. And I thought you were smart..." he muttered first. I half-attempted to smack him. "What's the one thing that couples do in private?"

"Wasn't very private when I walked in on them..." I grumbled.

"Is that jealousy I see again?" Wes asked.

"I see you're an asshole again," I retorted to myself. Everyone snickered.

"Babe, it's okay if you're jealous," Wes said as he slung an arm around my shoulders. I shrugged it off.

"Wes, I know you're a pro at jealousy and all that jazz, but you're mistaken with disgust," I stated.

"Easily mistaken," he assumed. I glared at him.

"Has anyone told you that you're annoying?" I asked him honestly.

"By annoying you mean attractive right?" he asked.

"No. I mean annoying," I stated. "As in infuriating...bothersome...aggravating...and everything in between."

"You know what I wanna be in between?" he asked. I cocked an eyebrow out of stress. "Your legs."

"Asshole," I named.

"Maybe that too," he said with a smirk before I slapped him. When I was about to drop my hand to my side, he grabbed it with my other hand and squeezed them together. I just realized that I wasn't wearing my brace.

Wes got close to my face. I was able to see the blue allure swirl in his irises and each muscle twitch into a smirk on his stupidly handsome face.

"Babe, when are you gonna realize that every time you try to hit me, you do nothing but boost my confidence?" he whispered.

"When are you gonna realize that you bugging me is gonna go to an extreme one day and you'll end up with the inability to ever reproduce?" I countered. His eyes narrowed.

"You think I care about reproduction?" he asked. "Because I really don't."

"Good. No one would want little Wes juniors running around here humping everything in sight without a care in the world," I responded. I thought I heard a growl rip through him and then he snapped his head away from mine and stomped away.

"Um. What's up with him?" Riley asked confused.

"Has he lost it?" Jasmine asked. I watched as he stormed out of the cafeteria's back door and slammed the door in the process. From the other side of the cafeteria, I saw Eli and Mason watching too before Mason followed him and Eli walked over to our table.

"What did you say to him?" he asked but his eyes shifted over to Riley for a second before he returned his gaze to me.

"What didn't I say to him?" I figured. Eli shook it off (because our feuding would be never ending) and grabbed Jasmine's hand and her tray so they could exit from the table and throw away her trash. Instead of them coming back, they left through the double doors. I sighed and leaned back onto my chair.

"So what about you and this...Wes character?" Riley asked. I rolled my eyes at the sound of his name. "What'd he do? It's either he broke your heart or he's in love with you, but I can't really decipher the kind of rejection you're giving him."

I stared at Riley with an eyebrow raised. Was he serious? What was up with him and his crazy assumptions?

"None of the above," I answered slowly. "He just gets on my f*cking nerves since day one."

"Eh. Seems like he likes you," Riley said. I stared at him.

"No."

"So none of the guys I've met are any boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, and/or f*ck buddies, correct?" he asked.

"Correct you are," I nodded. "No guy you meet will be any of those."

"So you've never..." he started, narrowing his eyes.

"Nope," I said, holding my hands in a defensive state. Most girls at my school would never admit to such innocence, but I do. It was nothing to be ashamed of.

"Maybe I can change that," Riley said as he scooted his chair next to mine and threw an arm over my shoulder. He wiggled his eyebrows and smiled goofily. I couldn't help but laugh. And then I saw Chase walk in with a hard glare towards Riley. Even from here I could tell his eyes were dark. It seemed as if he hated Riley even more than before. He took a seat at his—now—empty table and Zoey took a seat across from him. They talked for about two seconds before he reached over and pressed his lips to hers. It's as if you could hear every girl who fancied Chase get their heart shattered by witnessing such affection for the first time. Thank God I wasn't one of those girls.

***

"You're coming home with me today right?" Zoey asked Chase as they met the rest of us in the hall after the last of our classes. Coming home so you guys can make out and do who-knows-what else? GROSS.

"Yep," Chase answered.

"That means you're sitting in the back, Lili," Zoey informed.

"What, why?!" I asked.

"Because I call shot-gun," Chase said. I rolled my eyes.

"Who cares what you call?!" I exploded. I glanced at The Group that was becoming more and more insufferable. "What the hell is up with you stealing all of my seats!"

"Now you know how I felt...again," Wes mumbled. I smacked his chest.

"He has permission for this seat," Zoey notified.

"By who?" I questioned.

"Me."

"That's not legitimate permission," I retorted.

"Well it's my car," Zoey recalled.

"That Mom paid for," I reminded.

"And?"

"And I'm sure she wants her daughter in the air-bag-protected passenger seat rather than some guy that her other daughter is bringing home," I stated.

"Oh please. She likes Chase fairly well," Zoey said as she smiled up to Chase. I rolled my eyes once more.

"I hope she likes him when she catches you sucking face on the bed..." I mumbled to myself as I looked to the floor. Zoey scoffed, meaning she didn't hear me, but Chase snapped his head at me and I glared back into his brown eyes that were full of...something not too positive.

"Alicia!" a voice called. I found myself stopping in front of Riley.

"Riley," I greeted with a half-smile.

"I was thinking that maybe we could get lunch tomorrow? Since school lunch sucks and you won't have to worry about your friends ditching you," he said, specifically articulate on the last sentence.

"Uh sure," I agreed with a smile.

"And if you want, we can hang out after school and I'll drive you home," he added. I glanced over my shoulder to see Wes, Eli, and Chase glaring at us. That only made me want to oblige more.

"You know what? That sounds like a plan," I accepted.

"Cool," Riley replied. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye," I said with a small wave before he left.

"You do have a crush on him!" Jasmine squealed.

"Eli, shut her up before I do it myself," I said as I walked to Zoey's car without looking back at them.

"Well you do! It's so obvious!" Jasmine insisted. I turned back to her and placed my hands on her shoulders.

"Stop trying to convince me that I like him or any other boy, okay," I ordered before turning on my heels to head for Zoey's car. I sighed out of stress.