"Are you sure everything's fine?" Chase's voice rang through the phone. He sounded almost guilty. He hated the fact that he'd left me here and I could tell, just from his voice.

Which was why I lied through my teeth. "Everything's perfect, Chase. Don't worry about me. How are things on your end?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Classes are good, the people are great. There's nothing for me to complain about. But I'm worried about you, Tay. I didn't want to leave you there, but I didn't have a choice."

Assuming he was talking about not wanting to move me to a whole new country, I nodded, before realizing that he couldn't see me and saying, "Yeah, I know Chase."

"No, you don't know." Chase said, gravely. I was playing with the tassels on a random throw pillow in my room, but his words startled me.

"What do you mean?" I demanded, sitting up straighter.

"Nothing, it's nothing." He insisted, sounding a little flustered.

"It's not nothing, I can tell. I know you, Chase, and I know it's not nothing." My curiosity had piqued at this point, and Chase sighed, cursing under his breath.

"It's something I shouldn't have said, though. Just....forget it, please. Please, Tay." Chase begged, and I reluctantly backed down, not wanting to fight with him when he was already so far away.

"Okay." I relented, thinking of something to change the subject to, "So, have you met anyone?" He knew exactly what I meant by that.

"The girls here are really hot, but I haven't met someone I'd want to date, if that's what you meant." I could practically hear him roll his eyes.

"If you say so." I teased, before glancing at the clock on the wall and cursing.

"Taylor Anne Channing, say that word again and I'll fly all the way back there and wash your mouth out with soap." Chase threatened, and I giggled. I sometimes joked that he was my brother, father and mother all rolled up into one and statements like these just proved that.

"Sorry!" I apologized. "I just have to get to school. I'm super late."

"Go. I'll call you again tonight, okay? I'd like to hear more about these new friends of yours."

I said a quick goodbye to him before grabbing my backpack and rushing downstairs. I didn't have time for breakfast, although I probably would've just eaten a fruit or something.

I got to school in record time, after driving my mother's white Range Rover faster than I should have.

I managed to get to Physics just before the late bell rang but, with my luck, Mr. Barker was absent and, in his place, was a substitute who was fast asleep.

I groaned as I slid into my seat, glaring at the substitute. Julio looked at me with something akin to amusement and I was taken aback for a second, unused to him showing emotion.

"Good morning." I said, smiling at him.

"Thought you were all talk and no show, princess, with those parting words." He stated simply, turning back to the front of the class.

I was confused for a moment, before realizing he meant what I'd said to him yesterday, about wanting to see him around. I'd been so embarrassed once I'd gotten home, the words repeating themselves in my mind until I almost gave myself an anxiety attack. They'd sounded so stupid.

"I don't go back on my words." I stated, faking confidence. I expected Julio to say something, but he merely nodded, before putting his head down on the desk, probably trying to sleep.

I sighed, twiddling my thumbs in boredom. Ryo was all the way in the front of the class, while Julio and I say closer to the back. I didn't have anyone to talk to.

My stomach rumbled, almost too loudly, and I looked around, mortified. Had anyone heard that? I blushed, focusing my gaze on my table. It rumbled again but, although it was loud, it wasn't as bad as the last time.

My stomach continued to make weird noises for the rest of the period and I was grateful for the fact that, even if someone heard, they didn't acknowledge it.

When the bell rang and the substitute teacher jerked in his seat and almost fell over, I gathered up the books that I'd been pretending to look at and shoved them into my bag.

A quick glance to my left showed that Julio, while he was usually the first to leave class, was still standing there and watching me, a glint in his eyes.

I tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear, self-consciously before raising an eyebrow, as if asking him what he wanted.

"Here." He said, pulling something out of his bag and handing it to me. It was an apple. "I could hear your stomach all the way from my seat." He explained, seeming slightly uncomfortable at my awed expression.

I was, embarrassingly, staring at the apple. "God!" Julio growled, sounding awkward and slightly defensive. "It's just an apple. Stop acting like I bought you diamonds or some shit."

I nodded, snapping out of it. "Sorry," I apologized sheepishly, getting over my previous shock.

"Whatever." He said, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. The substitute had gone back to sleep, but people were beginning to file into class, their period being next.

A quick glance at my phone told me that I had a little over one minute before the late bell rang.

"We're almost late!" I informed Julio and he shrugged, looking indifferent.

"So?" He asked and I shot him a dirty look. Stupid rebel.

"I don't want a detention." I informed him, haughtily crossing my arms across my chest.

"Then, princess, you better leave now because the late bell's going to ring in about thirty seconds." He said, smirking down at his wristwatch as he spoke.

"Bye!" I shouted, racing to the door, knocking into a more than a few people and apologizing multiple times.

I couldn't even eat the apple.

***

Ryo and I were perched on the couch in my mother's pristine, white living room after school watching, of all things, reruns of The Bachelor.

I couldn't help it, though! When we'd been flipping through channels and I'd made a comment about one particularly bitchy girl and Ryo had said he'd never seen the show, I had to fill him in on all the drama and make him watch the rest with me.

They probably had nothing else to show or something because, for the past three hours, since we got to my place, they'd been playing season 20. I wasn't complaining, though, because it was Ben's season and I loved Ben.

"Wait," Ryo said, his eyebrows raised. "So this Leah girl just lied about Lauren B to Ben and now she's telling the other girls that it wasn't her? This bitch!" I giggled at his outraged expression; he'd complained so much at first but he was getting into it now. He secretly loved it, I was sure.

"Yup, we hate Leah." I informed him, before shoving some popcorn into my mouth, and licking my fingers clean of butter.

"I mean, yeah, she's a bitch." Ryo said, not even bothering to look at me, riveted by what was happening onscreen.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang and my eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Who could that be?

We were alone, the maids having gone home for the day and the housekeeper having quit a couple of days ago, when my mother had yelled at her for rearranging things on her desk.

Basically, I had to be the one to get the door.

"Who's that?" Ryo asked, entirely aware of my living situation.

"I don't know, but I guess I have to get it." I sighed, dusting off the front of my jeans as I got up.

It took me a while to get to the door, it being all the way on the other side of the house to where we'd been sitting.

"Finally!" Ally said, pushing past me, when I opened it. She was in cutoff shorts and a cropped t-shirt and Chris and Charlie followed after her, each holding a plastic grocery store bag, probably filled with more food than we needed.

"Please, come in, why don't you?" I muttered, under my breath. I hadn't meant for anyone to hear it but, judging by the quick smile Chris shot me, he'd heard.

Ally led the boys to the kitchen, so they could toss their stuff onto the counter. I rolled my eyes, going after them.

"Who was it, Taylor?" Ryo called, appearing in the door to the kitchen, before stopping in his tracks at the sight of the new arrivals.

"Oh, hey...." He said, cautiously.

"Hi!" Ally chirped, before giving me a suggestive look that I could identify in a second. She wiggled her eyebrows, but I shook my head vigorously, telling her that nothing like that had been happening, although Ryo's messy hair probably didn't look very good.

"Hey, man." Chris greeted, nodding, as he pulled out a pack of Doritos from one of the plastic bags.

Charlie looked at him oddly, as if wondering why he was there. His expression was hostile and I didn't really appreciate it. Ally looked almost pained.

I'd gained a little insight into her and Charlie's relationship over the past couple of weeks. They'd been dating since junior year, and the spark had faded not long after that, but she was doing all she could to try and bring it back. I felt bad for the poor girl.

She liked him enough, she said, but she didn't love him like she wanted to and, while he was sweet most of the time, he had a pretty bad attitude towards people outside his social circle and that frustrated Ally, I knew for a fact.

"I, uh, think I should go." Ryo said, glancing awkwardly at Charlie who shoving his face with Skittles and ignoring Ryo completely.

"You don't have to." I protested weakly, annoyed with the way Charlie was behaving.

"No, it's okay. I do need to go." He attested, smiling slightly to show that he wasn't mad.

"If you're sure." I was reluctant to let him leave. At first, I thought, if Charlie had that much of a problem, he could leave, couldn't he? But then, I realized he'd say something to Jack, after adding a little to the story, and Jack would probably say something to my mother and I'd be out on the street.

"I'm sure." He promised, and I gave him a quick hug. Ryo and I'd been hanging out a lot over the past week especially and we'd become pretty close.

"Bye." I said, grinning at him while he just waved. I didn't bother walking him to the door, way too lazy to move.

The moment he left, Charlie turned to me, his eyebrows raised. "Why was he here?" He demanded, and I immediately bristled.

"Because he's my friend?" I stated, even though I didn't need to explain anything to him.

"We're your friends." Charlie said, with too much seriousness.

Before I could say anything, Chris caught my eye and shook his head. Why was everyone shutting me up when I was trying to put assholes in their place?

"Dude, enough." Chris said, putting a hand on Charlie's shoulder. Charlie breathed in before saying, "Look, I'm just looking out for you like my dad asked me to do. You're new here and you don't know how this works, so that's cool. You can be friends with who you want." I almost let out a snort at his words. How generous.

"But," Charlie continued. There was more? "It's just that you shouldn't let those kinds of people get too close to you. At least with us, our families know each other so it's okay. Bringing a stranger into this that we know nothing about is just.... I don't know."

"I know what you mean." I lied, biting my tongue to stop myself from saying any more words while Ally and Chris both shot me grateful looks.

Just one year, Taylor, just one year.

way