"This is delicious." I moaned in delight as I shoved in some more strawberry ice cream into my mouth. Cadence hummed in response and I turned to look at her. Chocolate ice cream was smeared across her mouth and I grabbed her a napkin, trying not to laugh at the state she was in.

"Thwanks." She mumbled, slapping the napkin to her mouth and wiping it clean. Me on the other hand, had ice cream dripping down my sweater. I was a messy eater, especially when it came to ice cream. But who cared!

"Hey," I swallowed. "I finished, 'It Ends With Us'." I said and Charlotte glanced up from her phone. She narrowed her eyes but then that was immediately gone from her face.

"Really?" She asked and I noticed how her tone sounded sickly fake.

"Yeah! I really enjoyed it actually." I said, scooping up some more ice cream onto the spoon.

"Did you?" She asked, her voice monotone and face neutral.

"Yup." I said. "I prefer Atlas' character. Ryle was an absolute douche and I can't believe I got myself sucked into his character. At the beginning I thought he was going to be the one. But clearly, he wasn't." I frowned and sat back against the seat. Al's Diner had the best food to exist. Best. Food. Ever.

"Yeah, clearly Ryle wasn't someone we thought he was. All he did was take, take, and take. I guess we can't trust those ones who we thought were nice and genuine." Her eyes seemed to stay on me longer than I had ever seen her look at me for. For some reason, I felt there was a meaning behind her words...which there was! Rule's character was extremely horrid. Duh! "Just makes me want to tell him to fuck off. He didn't deserve to do that."

I nodded and wiped my mouth clean. "I totally agree. People like him are the people you want to stay away from. But what's even worse is that you don't know them or who they really are until you're deep in." I pouted and she hummed in response. Then she looked away, back down to her phone. From beside me I could see Angel and Cadence looking at one another, with an unreadable expression on their faces.

"So, Mike, do you live close?" Cadence asked, trying to subside the weird tension that was somehow created.

Mike nodded and sat up, swinging his arm around Angel's shoulder. "Yeah, I actually live a couple minutes away from here. I live with my Mom and sometimes visit my grandma."

"Oh yeah, does she live close by?"

"Yes. She lives close. My Mom wanted her to be close in case anything happened to her." I nodded along and pushed back the glass of ice cream.

Angel smiled and stared up at Mike. "What's your grandma's name?"

Mike looked down at her and smiled. They were like two little lovebirds. "She's called Harriet."

"I like that name."

"I like you." Real smooth Mike. Mike coughed awkwardly and blushed ferociously. "You should meet her sometime." Mike enthused and Angel giggled. I just stared at them, mouth shut in a tight-lipped smile. I felt like I was third-wheeling but that was definitely not the case.

Cadence looked at me, at the perfect moment, and leant in close. "As much as I like to see her happy, I can't take this." I chuckled and Charlotte looked over at us. 'Let's leave them.' Cadence mouthed and Charlotte gave a reluctant nod of her head.

"We'll be back." I said but Mike and Angel were too busy and caught up with each other to hear me. I shrugged and the three of us came to sit down on a booth away from them both. I peaked round the corner of the seat and saw Angel leaning in close to him, and so was Mike.

"Girls." I started, earning their attention. "Not to be dramatic, but I think they're about to kiss." As soon as the words left my mouth, Cadence and Charlotte abruptly sat up from their seats. Both me and Cadence peaked our eyes over the top of the seat and saw them both leaning in, their lips connecting.

Cadence turned to me. "That's cute."

"Isn't it."

Then we stared, and stared. Then we stared some more.

No matter how much we stared at them, it got even more weirder. I felt like a creep. "It was cute but now it's just gotten weird." I whispered.

"I agree." Cadence whispered back and we all turned back around. "Are we going to leave her here? By herself? Or is Mike dropping her home?"

I shrugged. "Normally what happens in the books is that the men drive the women home. Or that happens if the guy is being nice." I could give an endless list on what cute and kind things the men in books do. The list would go on forever.

I loved book men.

"He hasn't brought his car with him, remember? Angel insisted on picking him up." Cadence told me and I nodded my head.

"Right. Well, that makes it even easier then. She can drive herself home." I suggested and the girls nodded in response. In the silence, I leant my chin on my open palm. "But I don't feel nice if we just left her."

"It would seem rude, right?"

I hummed.

"Let's just leave." Charlotte said, taking her phone back out and messaging someone. Me and Cadence stared at her warily. "What are you doing?" Cadence asked. But before we could get a verbal response, a ping of someone's phone made us both look over to the table we recently sat at.

Angel turned her focus away from Mike and picked up her phone from the table. She scanned over the message that Charlotte must've sent and looked over at us, giving us a thumbs up. Then she looked down at the phone, typing.

All of our phones pinged from a notification from the group chat.

He's so hot.

"I think we've officially lost her." Cadence groaned, slamming her face into her hands.

🝮🝮🝮

I was running late.

School was in an hour and I had only just gotten up. Normally I'd be up earlier and not stressing for time. But this morning, was not one of those days. It was one of those days.

"Willow, you have to drive me!" I heard coming from Callum's bedroom.

"Whatever!" I shouted back and ran into the bathroom. I was up late last night studying and the next time I checked my phone it was two in the morning. Well, I say studying, I may of binged Gilmore Girls for the majority of the night.

Guilty.

I stared at myself in the mirror and my face was swollen from sleep and my hair was frizzy and matted.

Shower it was.

I stripped off my clothes and stepped into the shower, wasting no time in turning on the water. I winced and almost let out a cry when the cold water sprayed me in the face. You'd think I'd love the coldness since I live in one of the hottest parts of America, but you were wrong. Especially when it was early in the morning.

Lathering myself up in my marshmallow smelling body wash and the matching shampoo and conditioner set, I closed my eyes; trying to get rid of the fatigue feeling that was still very much present in my body. I took a deep breath and took a peak outside to see school kids who were already on their way to school, the school bus that was driving by and my brother who was sat outside in one of the deckchairs on his phone. He was ready and waiting to go whereas I was nowhere ready.

I washed out my hair, free of the soap suds, and snaked the fluffy white towel around my body. I had no time to properly wash my face so I just cupped some cold water in my hands and splashed it onto my face. Brain freeze. It felt like literal brain freeze.

I needed a butt load of coffee in order to help me not fall asleep today. But coffee also did unimaginable things to my body. Things I did not want to speak of. But it wasn't my fault it was so addictive!

I might of genuinely had a coffee addiction.

I dried my hair with my head towel and ran into my closet. I tutted to myself at the amount of clothes that were sitting - clean - on the floor. I was a seriously messy person.

I managed to pick out some mossy green low-waisted cargos and a thin white tank top. I slipped my feet into some white socks and quickly pulled my hair into two sections, plaiting them.

I spritzed myself with some random spray I found lying under my desk when I was tying my shoes, and then I ran to check out myself in the mirror. Holy heck I looked horrid.

I glanced at my heart shaped watch that my grandma bought for me years ago when I was thirteen, and saw that I still had a little bit of time before we had to leave. I grabbed my makeup bag and took out my concealer stick; swiftly dabbing it onto some of my pimples that were coming through. Then I filled in my eyebrows with a pencil. I also added some lipgloss and used my eyelash curler. Then I decided I'd just take my whole makeup bag with me to school because you never know, I might ended up needing it at some point.

I scooped up Zoe who was peacefully sleeping in her cat bed, and took her into my Mom's room. Mom was fast asleep so I made sure to put Zoe under the bed sheets next to my Mom. What a nice surprise that would be to wake up to.

"Bye Zoe, love you." I whispered, nuzzling my face into her fur. She was insanely cute.

She meowed in response and for some reason, I waved her goodbye before quietly shutting the door.

I dashed downstairs, with my bag on my shoulder and phone wedged in my pocket, and poured myself some coffee into my white flask.

"I'm ready." I said, catching Callum's attention. I locked the door shut and walked passed him to my car. He yawned and sat down in the passenger seat, ogling the coffee in my hand.

"Why didn't you make me some?" He asked, sounding hurt.

I took a sip and handed him the flask to which he took a sip from. "Cold coffee? Who has cold coffee these days?" He grimaced but I knew he liked it. He just didn't want to say it.

"Shut up and drink it." I said, starting up the engine.

Music softly played out of the radio and the ride to school was surprisingly peaceful. Callum was calmly sat in silence, admiring the surroundings as we passed them. I felt pride in my chest that he wasn't on his phone. I guess my driving skills were really amazing.

We soon arrived and I parked the car in my usual spot. I noticed how a certain mustang was parked next to me. I tried to ignore the little spark that jumped in my heart.

I pulled open the door but Callum's voice made me pause. "Will." He started, and I looked at him, waiting for him to carry on. "Are you, alright?"

I gulped and stared at him. "I'm fine. Why'd you ask?" Was he watching me all the time?

He shrugged and after one last sip of the coffee, he handed it back to me. "Just wondering. I'm trying to be a proper good big brother."

I continued to stare at him. Now was probably not the chance to mention you know what. "Do you have practise after school?"

He stared at me weirdly. "Yeah, why?"

"I have to tell you something urgent so as soon as practise is over, come straight home. Okay?" He nodded slowly, still looking at me weirdly. "Don't look at me like that." I said and he rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. Goodbye." He said, stepping out of the car and swinging his backpack onto his shoulder. "Oh, and make sure you make my coffee warm. Cold coffee makes me feel all cold."

I scoffed. "Do it yourself. I'm no slave."

"Bye." He rolled his eyes and this time, he really went.

I wonder what the change of heart was all about.

He wanted to be a 'proper good big brother', now.

I shook my head and walked inside the school. As I got inside, from a distance, I saw my brother walking off with his friends. Jackson didn't seem to be there and I could see Callum glancing down at his phone before he rounded a corner and disappearing from my sight.

I walked inside business class, the class that I had been dreading ever since me and Theo hadn't been on good terms. I walked down the isle to my seat. I could feel my stomach rumble with anxiety and I felt sick. I tried to take a deep breath in but that didn't help. The feeling was still there.

I was relieved to see Theo wasn't in - yet - and hoped that I was actually going to get something done in this class. With or without his help.

People were swarming into the class and sitting down in their seats. One person seemed to have some sort of massive A3 paper in their hands. They clearly knew what they were doing for their project. Great.

I took out my pencil case and my coffee and took another sip. Most of it was gone. Thanks a lot, Callum. I knew he liked it. Sisters intuition.

"Good morning, Mr Willis." I heard from the front of the class and I kept my head down, but my eyes were very much wide and my ears were on alert.

"Mornin'" He husked out and I bit down on my lip.

I could feel and hear his footsteps walking around me, until he stopped and scraped back a chair. The chair beside me. But I knew this was going to happen. This was his seat and I did move to sit back here. He was also my project partner. I just had to get used to it.

He quickly sat himself down and I watched his feet sit beside mine under the table. I moved my leg away from his and made sure I wasn't one bit close to him.

"...I like that I saw Miss Summers here, have a plan of her project. I know you all have come really far with your projects and I absolutely can't wait for your presentations. For this lesson and the next, I would like everyone to really get more things down and I'll be coming round to each of you to have a look." Ms Gill said, pushing her glasses onto her head. "What're you waiting for, get cracking." She clapped her hands and soon the class was filled with the maintained chatter and workings of everyone. I, on the other hand, just stared down at the pen in my hand.

We had no plan. No idea. No thoughts. Not once had we even spoken of this project. We had barely any time to do this.

Even if he wasn't going to do anything - which looked like the case since he was on his phone - I took out my notebook and flicked to a spare page.

I wrote down the title, 'Ideas For Business Project'.

Nothing came to mind. It was even worse that my project partner was no help. Most girls, and boys, would be jumping in their seats to be partnered up with Theo. But I wasn't. I would rather be partnered up with Stephanie - if it came to it.

The class went by and I ended up scribbling on the white lined paper with doodles of cats and flowers.

No ideas were forming and Ms Gill was coming closer and closer.

I knew Ms Gill liked me, but that was when I did everything she told me to. Finding out that we had nothing down, that not even me, I knew she wasn't going to be happy.

I side-eyed Theo and he was typing on his phone.

No help from him.

I sighed silently and propped my leg over my other. I had to think. Come on.

Bake sale? No, too basic. I was sure the majority of the class were going to do that.

Science project? Ew. No. I disliked science with a passion. No way-

"What have you both come up with then?" Ms Gill's voice broke my clustered thoughts and my head snapped up to her. She was smiling at me and I was just staring up at her in shock.

Silence filled the air around me and it was like I had thousands of pair of eyes staring at me. But that wasn't the case. Everyone was doing their own thing, too busy to notice my hesitation. Although, from behind me, I could feel someone's gaze on the back of my head and I didn't have to turn around to see who it was.

I really badly wanted Theo to save me from this embarrassment but he wasn't saying anything.

"It's, e-erm. It's a surprise." I managed to force out.

A surprise? What? Are you, lying?

Ms Gill's smile spread wider and she looked intrigued. "A surprise?" She asked and I nodded quickly. "Well, that sounds extremely exciting. I can't wait to see what you both have done." Her gaze differed between me and Theo which meant he was looking this way. I wished I was in her shoes so I could just see Theo from her perspective.

"Yeah! You're going to be blown away." As soon as the words left my mouth I scrunched up my face. I was just digging myself deeper. You were not helping yourself. Worse thing was that I couldn't stop. It was like word vomit. "You're going to be so blown away because we are going to have the best presentation and we are going to earn the most money."

"I love your enthusiasm. This is exactly what this is all about." She was practically jumping for joy. "Well, I'll leave you both to discuss your, surprise." Then she wandered off to the next group.

Fudge cakes.

"We're going to have the best presentation and earn the most money?" I heard from beside me and I looked at him. Was he mocking me?

Holy- His hair was scattered over his eyes but the brightness of his green eyes allowed me to see clearly that he was watching me. He was finally looking at me. He wasn't running off and ignoring me like he had been doing for weeks on end.

"Yeah. We best get working on this project else we're doomed." I said but he took out his phone again and leant backwards on his chair. I tried to keep my eyes away from his muscular biceps and the prominent veins that were dancing their way up his arms like vines. His tattoos looked incredibly impeccable. He really suited tattoo's.

He tilted his head, but continued to look down at his phone. "Good luck."

"What? You're not helping?" I asked him in disbelief and he stayed quiet. "You're supposed to be my partner and help me."

No way was he going to get a good grade for doing shit all.

"You know what?" I asked and that was when he looked at me again. This time, he raised a brow. "I'll just ask to be on my own, or better, with someone else who clearly gives a shit about their grades." I started to stand up and walk out of my seat when a tight and firm grip on my wrist was pulling me back down into my seat.

"Sit." He said lowly and I scowled. If it wasn't for everything that happened, I would've loved this. Loved his hands on me. His warm touch on my bare skin. His emerald eyes searching mine as he spoke deeply with that amazing voice of his.

But times were different and I was angry. Angry at him.

"Get off me." I said and looked down at his hand that was still attached to my wrist. He stared at me intensely for a few seconds, as if waiting for me to say something. Or maybe he wanted to say something. I just couldn't associate anything to do with him because he was too confusing. I hated when I couldn't suss out someone. I continued to scowl at him which made him, in the end, jerkily remove his hand.

I twisted in my seat and faced forwards, biting down on my acrylic nail.

Then he chuckled; and it was out of frustration.

"What?" I asked, snapping my head to look up at him.

"Anyone would be happy to work with me." He stated and I rolled my eyes. How stuck up could one person be?