"Valerie you have nothing to be sorry about", I told her as I pulled away from her. I wanted to keep the distance between us far enough. If I stayed close to her I might not be able to tell her that we couldn't be friends anymore. "You should leave Valerie. Its safer this way. I'm used to being alone", I said trying convince both her and myself.

"Rowen, stop trying to be self sacrificing all the time. Everything's fine. I took care of it", Valerie said in a self assured tone. She walked around my room with her fingers roaming over my belongings. Every few seconds she picked up an item to stare at it for a moment. Then she proceeded to place each item back down where it belonged.

"What do you mean you took care of it", I asked her suspiciously. No offense to Valerie but she looked rather weak in comparison to Ember. I watched her hand pause as she passed by the jewelry box atop my dresser. It was my mothers jewelry box. Valerie opened it up with a curious expression on her face.

I never touched the music box before this; it reminded me too much of my dead parents. Valerie wound up the ballerina to play a melancholic melody. I watched the ballerina spinning in circles with a heavy heart.

I remembered my mom sitting in my old bedroom as she touched that same music box. 'Gabby, there's magic in this song. One day you will find out what I mean by that' she said to me. At that time, when I went to touch the music box with my small hands, my mom stopped me from peeking inside. 'Don't touch it though, not until you're older and you're ready', she said in a strange tone. Since my parents' passing the box remained closed. Even now, as Valerie held the music box, I didn't dare to touch it myself.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me", Valerie said as her expression darkened. Valerie shut the music box tight as the ballerina stopped twirling. "I'll tell you all about it tonight. Just know that Ember and her friends won't be bothering you anymore, I promise", Valerie said as her expression returned to normal.

"Valerie, you can't promise that. Also you might get hurt if you try", I said to Valerie in a serious tone. Ember had too much influence in the school for Valerie to control her. It hurt my head to think about tiny Valerie defending herself against Ember and her posse. Valerie looked like the one who needed to be protected

"Hahahaha", Valerie laughed as she clutched her stomach. She looked like a mad woman from where I stood. "Listen come over my house. I can explain it to you more clearly without anyone eavesdropping", Valerie said as her laughter disappeared. The glimmer of darkness stayed within those fiery brown eyes.

"I don't know Valerie. I told Aunt Tabby I would watch movies with her today", I told her hesitantly. I wanted to stay at home with Aunt Tabby where everything was safe because it was easier. However I knew that the moment my fist collided with Embers face, my destiny changed.

"Rowen, please just think about it." Valerie said as she handed me a piece of paper. On the paper was an address scrawled out in hot pink ink. I put the piece of paper in my pocket for safekeeping. I would look at it more carefully when Valerie left.

"Let me walk you downstairs", I told her kindly. The two of us walked in silence down the flight of stairs. I turned to face Valerie as we approached the front door.

"Rowen, I really want us to be friends", Valerie stated as she held my hands tightly. I saw a loneliness in her eyes that I understood all too well. Despite all the threats that told me not to step any further into the situation I decided to take my chances. It was my desire for friendship that outweighed the warnings from everyone around me.

"I want that too. I'll see what my Aunt says", I told her as she opened the door. I looked outside and saw that Ian parked at the end of my driveway. "Has he been there the whole time", I asked. Valerie shrugged her shoulders as she stepped outside. I watched her receding figure as she walked down the driveway.

She waved goodbye as she stepped into her brothers car. I waved goodbye back to her, stepped into the entryway, and closed the door. the last noise I heard was the sound of the engine revving across the road dangerously. Ian definitely had his own unique way of driving, I thought to myself.

I checked the time on my cellphone noticing that it was only one in the afternoon. I had some extra time to kill before I left my house. I found Aunt Tabby in the living room with a bowl of popcorn looking excited to see me. I sat down next to Aunt Tabby then grabbed a handful of popcorn. I tried to settle down so I could watch the movie but my thoughts were racing around in my head. Throughout the movie my eyes kept wandering over to the clock on the mantel. I needed to ask Aunt Tabby to go over Valerie's house but I didn't want to hurt her feelings.

"Rowen you've been staring down that clock like its on fire. If there's someplace else you would rather be let me know", Aunt Tabby stated. I knew that I needed to make a decision. it was clear that I wanted to see Valerie now I just needed the courage to ask.

"Actually Aunt Tabby, I have a favor to ask you", I said. I grabbed the paper that had Valerie's address on it with shaky hands. I handed the paper over to Aunt Tabby nervously. "Do you think you can drop me off at this address by 3:30pm", I asked he'd shyly. I noticed Aunt Tabby smiling at me widely.

"I thought you'd never ask", Aunt Tabby said excitedly. Aunt Tabby stood up from the couch to dust the popcorn onto the floor. "You know Rowen, I think this Valerie is a really good influence on you", Aunt Tabby mentioned.

"Yeah, I think so too", I said with a genuine smile on my face. I looked down at my outfit thinking I needed to change. Right now I wore my black tank top with the blue jean capri's but I needed to cover up.

"Hurry up", Aunt Tabby said as she passed me by on her way to the entryway. I stepped into the laundry room to find something to cover my skin. Thankfully Aunt Tabby had all the clean laundry folded into a neat pile. I grabbed a grey shawl out of the pile and put it over my shoulders. Aunt Tabby stood at the bottom of the steps impatiently.

Fifteen minutes later Aunt Tabby pulled up to a grand mansion style home with a long driveway. I thought my eyes almost popped out of my head in amazement. I never pictured Valerie as someone who came from a rich family. Then again I didn't really know her much at all.

Aunt Tabby stopped off at the front of Valerie's house. I felt intimidated as I rang the doorbell. I waited for a few moments for someone to appear. If no one answered in the next few minutes I planned on returning back to Aunt Tabby's car. The door opened; Valerie was on the other side.

"Ackkkk, Rowen. You have to come inside", Valerie gushed as she held my hand in hers. I waved goodbye to Aunt Tabby on the way inside.

I felt flabbergasted about everything inside Valerie's house. It was clear that Valerie came from money but she didn't flaunt it. She dragged me by my hand towards an unknown location.

"The guys are going to be so happy you came. I know we will all be best friends", Valerie said as she led the way. I didn't have time to wonder what she meant by 'the guys'.

Valerie stopped outside a big den area where two older boys huddled together over a video game. One of the boys I recognized right away as Ian. However the other boy had a hoodie on that covered his features.

"Ian", Valerie yelled as she raced up to ones of the boys. She threw her arms around the boy who was obviously Ian with gusto. "Guess what Rowen's here", Valerie stated to her brother.

"'Sup Rowen", Ian said. Ian poked the guy next to him in an irritated voice. "Dude say hi", Ian told the hooded boy.

"What", the familiar male voice stated as he ripped the hoodie off his head. He turned around so that I could see those blue eyes I knew all too well. "Rowen", his deep timbre sent shivers down my spine.

"Nixon", I breathed out lowly.