"So what's the Halloween festival?" Chase asked Zoey as our group walked in the hall on Monday. Us girls looked to each other and started to laugh. "What...?"

"Halloween festival is the event of the semester," Jasmine exaggerated.

"Well what exactly is it?" Eli asked.

"It's like a fundraiser event," Zoey explained.

"We get to dress up at school and then the fun starts at night," I added.

"All that's missing is trick-or-treating," Eli laughed. We were silent. "Is there trick-or-treating?"

"If teachers and faculty like your costume, they give you a piece of candy...not to mention the carnival..." I answered. I saw Eli's face light up at the word carnival.

"Where's the carnival?" Eli asked, excited.

"Parking lot," all the girls answered.

"Some schools have a dance for Halloween, but this school has a carnival?" Mason asked.

"Dances were overrated," I shrugged. The guys shrugged.

"Do your questions mean you're going?" Zoey asked Chase.

"Probably not," the boys answered for him. We all rolled our eyes and scoffed at their stubbornness.

***

"Hey, hey, Riley!" I called after class. He walked fast and then turned around with a sigh. "I missed you the last couple days..."

"Oh..." he said. I looked to him as he wore a hoodie and sunglasses indoors.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing."

"Riley, I may have only known you for a short time, but I know that there's something wrong—"

He grabbed my waist and steered me into the lockers.

"Are you or are you not going out with Wes Knight?" he whispered down to me. The tone in his voice made me think that he was pissed off about that.

"Definitely not," I answered. And then, he bent down to kiss my cheek.

"Good," he answered with a smirk. He leaned away from me and held his arm out for me to walk with him. Dazed by the cool touch of his lips to my skin, I grabbed his arm and strolled down the hallway with him to science class.

"So what did you do this weekend?"

"Cliff diving and camping," I answered.

"Outdoors girl. I love it," he laughed.

"What'd you do?" I asked, dismissing his comment with a laugh.

"I was sick," he said, plainly.

"Well I'm glad that you're okay now," I smiled.

"Me too," he replied. We exchanged smiles, but I noticed that Wes and Chase exchanged pissed off glares in Science.

***

"I thought I told you to stay away from her," Wes growled at Riley after school. He slammed him into the nearest wall.

"What makes you think that I'd oblige you?" Riley retorted.

"Because—" Chase started to answer.

"Look. We warned you. You went behind our backs. Now you have to deal with the consequences," Wes threatened. Riley smirked.

"Me deal with consequences? What about your consequences when I tell—"

"You won't tell anyone...anything!" Chase yelled.

"Hey. We gave you a choice," Wes said firmly to Riley. "You made your decision."

"And yet you're threatening my life just because you don't like my decision!?" Riley yelled.

"You're doing the same, so stop acting surprised!" Mason piped up.

"I am not!" Riley responded in a shout.

"Oh really? Let's go ask your birth parents," Wes suggested. He started to ease off of Riley for the image of telling his parents, but Riley grabbed the collar of Wes' collar and slammed him into the wall. Eli, Mason, and Chase immediately pulled him off of him.

"Touch him again and die," Chase growled. Riley laughed once.

"Threatening me again, I see," Riley noted. "Let's see your smart remarks after I make out with precious Alicia—"

Chase and Wes immediately pinned him to the wall again.

"If you touch her, I swear I'll—" Chase started, but was cut off.

"You'll do what?" Riley challenged. Chase and Wes gulped at their almost loss cover. Riley's silver eyes flashed to Wes before he pushed both boys off of him. "You can't do shit without me."

"Sure we can," Eli said,. Riley's face changed.

"You wouldn't dare," Riley doubted with a hint of fear in his throat.

"If we need to, we will," Chase assured.

"Or you can keep your distance," Wes hissed at Riley.

"I'll have to choose 'or'," Riley sneered. The other four boys glared at him, but didn't back down. Then suddenly, Wes sent a punch to Riley's gut and it didn't shake him. All Riley did was laugh and whisper in Wes' ear. "Calm down, lover boy."

"That's it," Wes said, jerking towards him as he quivered in anger. Chase and Mason held him back.

"Think of what we came here for," Eli stated. They all calmed down a notch. "Exactly...Riley, you crossed the line. So don't say we didn't warn you."

Riley still laughed in arrogance.

"Shut your f*cking mouth!" Wes commanded. Chase had a hand on his chest to keep him from fighting.

"I will...but not without Alicia," Riley teased. Wes and Chase boiled with rage. They both lunged at Riley, but Mason and Eli held them back.

"Stop pushing it," Eli growled. "You wanna stay alive? Then you'll keep your space and comments to yourself."

Without another word or promise, Riley smirked and then pushed his way through the boys in order to walk around them. Wes lunged, but Mason held him back. They were all steamed with some degree of anger.

"Let's just go," Chase muttered.

"You're just gonna let him do that?!" Wes yelled. "I want to kill him myself."

"You?" Chase asked with disbelief. "You have nothing to be mad about. It's me that has to worry about all this shit and—"

"Nothing to worry about?" Wes asked incredulously. "I have enough to worry about considering Alicia's mine. Chase turned on his heels to face him.

"Excuse me?" Chase said down to him as he narrowed his dark brown eyes. Wes noticed his dark eyes. They stared for dominance, but Wes sighed and ran a hand through his hair because it wasn't a battle he would pick right now. Not over Alicia.

"Dude. I fell for her," Wes announced.

"You're such a little—"

"Stop!" Eli yelled before Chase made a mistake. Mason grabbed Wes' forearm and dragged him away as Eli grabbed Chase's arm. He looked up at him. "Don't worry about him."

"Don't tell me what to do!" Chase replied before stomping off, even though he never meant to yell at his best friend. Mason and Wes left to themselves, but Eli wasn't able to catch Chase...which was bad considering the things he's done in cause of his anger.

***

No reply.

No reply.

NO REPLY.

And then she didn't even reply.

I heard someone slam the front door and jog up the stairs. I assumed our door was unlocked because our mom wasn't home and when I stepped into the doorframe of my room, I looked and saw Zoey standing at the doorframe of her room as well, looking at who was running up the stairs since it was neither of us. Then Chase's tall frame appeared at the top of the stairs and he strode over to Zoey.

"Chase—"

He silenced her by grabbing her face and crashing his lips onto hers. He ate at her mouth and Zoey pulled away, confused. Chase grabbed her waist and backed her into the wall sort of hard. I blinked. He whispered something in her ear and Zoey replied with a confused and concerned look on her face. Chase's glare towards her was growing stronger and stronger as he said something back. Before Zoey could reply, he crashed his lips onto hers. She broke the kiss again and talked up to him with a concerned expression. As I watched cautiously as someone called my phone and I pressed talk without looking down at who it was.

"Hello?" I asked, sidetracked.

"Is Chase at your house?!" Eli asked, frantically.

"Yes? I don't even know why or how or—"

"Get him out of there," Eli warned. Before I could reply, I watched as Chase crashed his lips onto Zoey's and his hands roamed beneath the lower part of her shirt, but she pushed him away from her. He grabbed her forearms and kissed her again, but this time she pushed him away harder and then slapped his face. Chase growled to her before stomping off.

Get him out of there, I remembered. I followed him down the stairs.

"Chase, what's going on?" I called to him. He turned around on his heels and I looked up at him and his eyes were pitch black. Not brown—black. I stayed locked with eyes, switching as I looked into each of them. He was beyond pissed.

"Stay away from me," he growled before turning back around. I grabbed his shoulder and felt his extreme heat and him shaking. His eyes were the same though.

"Chase. What is wrong?" I asked desperately.

"Leave. Me. Alone!" he roared. He removed my grasp and left with haste. Immediately, I jogged back up the steps and looked at Zoey who was still shocked at what happened.

"Zoey, what the hell just happened?!" I asked.

"Ask your best friend," she said choking on tears before she left into her room. I strode over but right as I'd talk to her or walk in her room, she slammed the door in my face.

Safe to say, I spent the whole night trying to get her to open her door and talk to me. GREAT.