"Oh, my God, Ember. What's going on? First Lucas and Tyler, and now Justin is watching your practice and following you home? This is straight-up insanity, girl. Spill!" Lucy demanded as we drove to my house.

"I don't know. I'm just as confused as you are. You know you're like my new best friend, right?" I stared at her, desperately wanting to talk to her about my problems.

"I am?" Lucy's eyebrows shot up as she gave me a huge smile. "I don't think I have a best friend, well, except for Steve and Vicky, but they're just my closest friends at school. I don't really do anything with them outside of school, except for some parties. Speaking of, I think I might go tonight, but I'm starving. I need to go home and get some food before I go. Or maybe I'll just stay home."

I grabbed Lucy's shoulder and shook. "Stop. You're babbling."

Lucy broke into a laugh. "Oh, my God. I totally am. Sorry. You were telling me I'm your best friend?"

"Yeah." I laughed. "And don't worry. I'll get you fed. I swear as your new best friend that you will eat dinner every night, okay?"

Lucy glanced at me with tears in her eyes. "Really?"

Where in the world had this girl been all my life? I needed to take care of her. She was amazing.

"Yes. Now stop. You're gonna make me cry too." I wiped a tear from the corner of my eye.

"Okay." Lucy wiped her eyes as she turned toward my house. "So, now that we're officially best friends, you have to tell me everything."

So, I did. Well, I told her everything except the superpower stuff, and the weird reactions I had to certain people, and the glowing eyes. Okay, I told her everything and left out the 'girl, you batshit crazy' topics.

After I told her about my boyfriend, Lucy shook her head. "Break up with your boyfriend. I see how you look at the guys, Ember. You could even be dating all of them now and not even know it."

"What?" I laughed, shaking my head. "That makes no sense."

"They all look at you like you're a goddess or something. Everyone sees it. You're not gonna get rid of them. They've never acted like this before. I was thinking about it earlier and I think Tyler was making out with Angela this morning purposely to piss you off. He was having too much fun with it. Usually, he only makes out with girls because he's angry or bored." Lucy pulled up to the curb.

"Holy shit. I was thinking the same thing. Tyler wanted me to react, didn't he?" I slapped my forehead before I opened my door. "And I totally fell for it. I gave him exactly what he wanted."

"Yep." Lucy slammed her door. "And he's got it bad for you, girl. They all do. Like, take Lucas for example. From what I heard, Lucas has an abusive home life, and he was a depressed puppy before you got here, but now he's all smiles whenever you're around. I've never seen Lucas get angry with Tyler, but he did today, and I heard Lucas broke up with Missy literally minutes after we left them in the cafeteria."

"Really? I didn't know that." I covered my mouth as I looked at the front steps where I sat with Lucas the night before. I remembered his sweet soul connecting with mine, and how much I'd loved it. His soul had given me joy, and it had been sensational.

How bad was Lucas's home life? I hated the idea of anyone hurting him. I'd been a total bitch to him when he tried to talk to me earlier, and he never deserved my anger. He just wanted me to give him a chance.

I sat down on the steps as I wished for Lucas to be here. He needed to hear how proud I was of him for breaking up with Missy. He deserved to be with an angel. Someone who would treat him good and give him nothing but love. If he was mine, I would treat him right, but the situation was too complicated.

As I examined the lawn, I zeroed in on a black ant trying to move a humongous leaf. Even though she was really struggling, the ant refused to give up, and I had to hand it to her, she was giving that leaf hell.

Lucy sat next to me, examining the ground as she spoke. "And Justin? Don't even get me started on him. I don't know what's going on his head, but he's usually totally withdrawn. He never laughs or gets excited about anything. I heard that since he barely speaks, all the guys always do exactly what he says. He's super smart and talented, but he's really distant, you know?"

"Geez. You seem to know an awful lot about them." I teased.

Giving me a mock gasp, Lucy elbowed my ribs playfully. "I'm just observant. Give me some credit. This tiny town is boring, okay?"

"If you say so." I smiled.

Lucy chuckled. "But for real, Justin's the hottest guy in the world, and girls have always tried to get with him, but it never amounts to anything. Now everyone's totally confused because he's a totally different person around you. We've never seen Justin laugh unless he's performing, but you make him laugh. Like a lot. I mean, he looks at you like he's a kid in a candy shop."

I thought about Justin and how detached he seemed when I first saw him. I couldn't imagine him being like that every day, and it made me sad. Justin's laughter was special. When he laughed, it was almost magical.

Justin said he was the future king, which by all intents and purposes made him Prince of something, right? He admired the clouds for having the freedom that he wanted, which meant he was on a tight leash. We had a lot in common, but in all honesty, a king's responsibilities were much larger than anything I could even begin to imagine.

"And I know everyone has their story, but Tyler's story is sad," Lucy said sheepishly, fully grabbing my attention.

"Tell me." I needed to understand Tyler better.

Lucy quickly glanced away like she wasn't supposed to tell me this. "Tyler's dad went missing a couple years back. It was a huge deal. The entire town searched for weeks, but they never found him. It upset everybody especially Tyler and his family. He wasn't in school for a few months, and then one day he came back, but he was a complete jerk."

Lucy's story hit me hard like a punch to the gut. I could completely relate to Tyler's tragedy. And just the memory made me feel like I wanted to throw up. My skin instantly burned as my brain began spinning out of control. Everything in my vision blurred.

"Whoa, are you okay?" Lucy grabbed my hand and lucky for me there wasn't a reaction, but my head was still spinning like a motherfucker. "Breathe, Ember. You're scaring me."

Releasing a heavy breath, I leaned into her and focused on her calming vanilla scent. After finding normality, I realized I was staring at the same ant that had been struggling to move the leaf before, but three more ants were helping her and they were doing great. Four ants got the job done. Good for them.

"Are you okay?" Lucy held me as she stroked my hair softly.

I nodded as I continued to observe the four ants and their amazing progress. "I'm good."

"Thank God. I was about to call 911." Lucy sighed in relief.

I stood up slowly as Lucy stayed by my side, keeping a close eye on me.

Wrapping my arms around her shoulders, I pulled her in for a hug. "Sorry for scaring you. I get horrible migraines sometimes."

Lucy pulled back and shook her head. "I'm just glad you're okay."

Needing to change the subject, I thought about the guys. "So, back to what we were saying. You think I should give them a chance?"

"Yeah, and if I were you, I'd go for all three of them because they're fine as fuck, and they all want you, so what's the harm?" Lucy shrugged one shoulder.

Slapping her arm lightly, I scoffed. "But that's crazy. I don't want to come between them."

"I don't think you have a choice." Lucy shook her head with a small smile as Justin's motorcycle echoed down the road. "They already chose you."

She had a point, but this was crazy.

I chuckled nervously as Justin pulled up behind Lucy's car with my box of roses. "So, I guess I have to break up with Josh, but I hate thinking about doing it. He's a good boyfriend. I don't wanna break his heart."

"Do you love him?" Lucy asked as one eyebrow lifted.

"I don't know." I kicked a pebble.

"How long have you been together?" Lucy asked.

"Um... two years." I kicked another pebble.

"Dump him. You deserve love and so does Josh." Lucy's words of wisdom came out like it was a no brainer.

"I know. It's just so hard." I whined.

"Cheating is worse, Ember," Lucy said.

"Fuck," I groaned. "You're right and as my best friend, I officially hate you right now."

Lucy laughed. "So, make that call tonight, okay?"

"What's so funny?" Justin glanced between us.

"Nothing." I shook my head and led them through the front door, upset about the call I had to make before I went to the party.

"Pick anything you want." I set the box of flowers on my dresser before I opened my closet. "I mean it, Lucy. No holding back. I have tons of clothes back home, and I can get new stuff this weekend. Take anything, and that includes any dance stuff or shoes or whatever. Just leave me a jacket. It's cold here."

Lucy's eyes went wild as she took in my closet full of clothes. "You have more clothes than this?"

I nodded. "Way too many."

"Oh, my God, Ember!" Lucy threw her arms around my neck, pulling me in for a tight hug. She began hopping up and down. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

Justin grinned softly as he examined my ugly room.

"So, get to picking, okay? I'm gonna go downstairs and make some food because I'm starving. Justin, you wanna come with?" I didn't want to leave him alone with Lucy because I knew his presence would overwhelm her.

"Sure." Justin followed me downstairs. "Where's your aunt?"

"I think she plays bingo on Friday nights, but I'm not sure." I shrugged as I led him into the kitchen.

"Will she be pissed if you go to the party tonight?" Justin asked.

I opened the fridge and took out sandwich stuff. "That depends."

"Depends on what?"

"Depends on if Missy rats me out. She's always been a little tattletale, and at this point, I can only assume she's searching for any reason to ruin my life."

"I thought your aunt wouldn't care since Missy goes to all the parties." Justin sat down at the table.

"Yeah, but Missy probably tells her mom she's spending the night with a friend." I started making three sandwiches. "You good with turkey and cheddar?"

"You're making me a sandwich, too?" Justin's tone was full of shock.

"Well... are you hungry?" I lifted my eyebrows.

Justin nodded. "I'm always hungry."

"Then, yeah, I'm making you a sandwich. Turkey and cheddar, all the way?" I pulled out the veggies and condiments.

"Yeah. Thanks." Justin grinned as he pulled out his phone and called someone. "Hey. Where you at? Did you tell the guys? I don't give a fuck. If they have a problem with it, tell them tough shit. Is Missy still there? Go tell her I said there's no way they'll ever get back into our good graces if anyone treats Ember badly again, and I'll know if they do. Yeah, I'll wait."

I glanced at Justin as he held the phone to his ear. He sent me a grin with a half shrug. "They need to know there's hope. Otherwise, they'll just make things harder for you."

I nodded as I built three gigantically yummy sandwiches.

"Okay. What did she say? Good. Yeah, you're not gonna believe this. She's feeding me." Justin chuckled. "I know, dude. Okay. I'll tell her. Later."

"So, what's the verdict?" I asked after he ended the call.

"No one will rat you out," Justin said as he watched me cut the sandwiches in half. "You didn't have to do that."

"Do what?" I separated the two triangle halves and set a huge handful of potato chips in the middle before I slid the plate in front of him.

"Cut my sandwich." Justin eyed his plate hungrily. "But thank you. This looks awesome."

"You're welcome." I nodded as I added chips to the other plates.

"If you want, you can just say you're spending the night with Lucy, so you can go to the party. Oh, and Lucas said he can't wait for you to feed him someday." Justin crunched down on a chip while I grinned at what Lucas said.

"I can't wait either," I mumbled the words without thinking. My grin fell flat as my gaze snapped to Justin, but he wasn't angry. "Sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"Why not?" Justin's eyes flicked between mine. "I think it's cool that you wanna feed us."

Knitting my brow, I analyzed his face. "I think it's weird how you guys are acting."

Justin sucked in a long breath. "I promise I'll tell you everything when we have privacy, okay?"

"You better because I'm totally lost." I shook my head as I opened the fridge to find him a beverage. "What do you want to drink?"

"Water's good with me," Justin said.

I turned my head, eyeing him. "Water? Really?"

"What? I like water. It gets a bad rap, but water is important for the body." Justin was being dead serious.

"Okay," I sighed and shut the fridge, grabbing a glass. "One water for you."

"What's your favorite drink?" Justin took a bite of his sandwich as I slid his water to him. "Mm. Damn. This sandwich is fucking good, Ember."

The way Justin hummed and said my name made sparks of joy come to life as my stomach instantly filled with needy flutters. And holy hell, the urge to crawl over the counter and kiss the fuck out of him hit me like a freight train. I wanted him so bad. Shit. What was wrong with me? I needed to control myself.

I turned away and took a deep breath before I grabbed a napkin. "Um... I like V8 and apple juice."

"V8? You're kidding right?" Justin took a drink of water.

"V8 gets a bad rap too, but it's fantastic. You should give it a chance." I handed him a napkin.

Lucy timidly walked into the kitchen with five grocery bags filled to the brim. "I don't want to take all your clothes, even though you told me I could. Well, to be honest, I wanted to take all of them but don't worry, I didn't. I just took the stuff I liked most. I hope that's okay, but maybe you should look through what I have, just to make sure it's still okay. I feel terrible for taking your best stuff, but they're just so cute. I can't wait to—"

"Lucy," Placing a hand on her shoulder, I grabbed the overloaded bags. "Did you take what you wanted?"

Lucy nodded as she glanced at the sandwich and chips that I made for her. "Yeah, but I feel like I took too much. Maybe I should put some of it back."

"No. Sit." I set the bags on the table and spun to grab her plate, but Justin beat me to it. He grinned as he handed it to me. I set the food in front of Lucy. "What do you want to drink?"

"Wat—"

"We're out of water, but we have juice or milk." I opened the fridge.

"Juice," Lucy said with her mouth full.

"Okay. Now we're talkin'." I filled two cups with apple juice.

When I turned around, Justin had a huge smile plastered to his face, causing my entire body to heat up. Setting Lucy's juice in front of her, I sat next to Justin and started eating.

Justin was right. This sandwich was fucking good.

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