Chapter 7

"I swear, you're just taking all of my clothes now," Colton said, laughing as he pulled out long sleeve tee.

"I swear, you're just taking all of my clothes now," I mocked him.

Colton gave me the death stare as he threw the shirt at my face. I laughed and willingly caught the shirt with my face. I threw on the long sleeve and got on my tippy toes as I swung my arm around his neck from the side.

"You're my bestest friend!" I exclaimed as I nuzzled my nose against the side of his head.

Colton laughed and shrugged me off, "Go away, you creep."

I smiled as I took a step back.

Colton and I's friendship has gotten closer ever since the first day I came to this school. He was attractive, never the less he was also caring.

"Let's go get ice cream," Colton suggested as he threw an arm around me.

I smiled and nodded up at him.

"So what about that Landon thing you and Bella were talking about during lunch?" he asked.

"It was nothing important really," I trailed off.

"It was nothing important really," he mocked as he nudged my head with his knuckles.

"Colton Adams!" I screamed as I pushed him away, rubbing the side of my head. Although the nudge was barely forceful, it still hurt.

Colton laughed as he grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me back towards him, "Aw you're gonna go cry to papa now?" he talked with a baby voice.

I pouted and kept my hand covering the painful spot, "Yeah," I said back to him in a baby voice.

We got into Colton's car as he started driving us to the famous ice cream parlor. The ice cream parlor, Scoop was set up like a restaurant diner. Almost every high school students around in this city came here to get ice cream and hang out with their friends. Luckily, our high school is one of the closest to Scoop.

We entered Scoop and welcomed ourselves to one of the booths. The waitress handed us a menu filled with choices of ice cream and milk shakes. I licked my lips, nearly drooling over the pictures on the menu.

After ordering our desired treats, I received a text message from an unknown number.

hey beautiful

It said.

I raised my eyebrow in confusion as I looked up at Colton. He was busy folding the napkins into random origami shapes.

I stared at my screen for a while, before remembering that I handed my phone number to Bella not too long ago.

Haha, funny Bella

I smiled as I sent the next.

Almost immediately, I got a text again.

bella?

I scoffed to myself and blinked at the phone screen.

Not Bella?

no...

Who's this?

guess, princess.

"You sure are deep into your phone," Colton commented.

"I'm getting texts from this weird number," I told him.

"What do you mean?"

"Look!" I showed him my phone screen, "I literally don't even know anyone else besides you and Bella."

Colton blinked at me and pointed at the screen, "they called you princess, it's Landon!" he concluded.

"Stop, it's not him," I shook my head, denying that fact.

don't ignore me.

Sorry

did you figure out who I am yet, love?

My heart skipped a beat as I dropped my phone to the side, "It's not Landon, is it?" I looked up at Colton and Colton has the weirdest expression ever. He was holding back his laugh

"Just text Landon, and see what he says."

Landon?

A few minutes of anxiety went by as my phone vibrated again.

no.

No?

no.

What?

what.

Who's this?

lol, ur so stupid

Excuse me?

stupid

Who are you?

stupid, look up

I looked up, hearing Colton cracked up. He laughed so hard that his face turned entirely red, as he covered his face with his phone.

"I was on my phone the whole time, how are you not suspicious?" Colton managed to choke up between his laughter.

"Ha ha ha, very funny Mr. Adams," I said as I toss my phone to the side.

"Come on, that was good," he cleared his throat trying his best to stop laughing, "You thought it was Landon! I'm crrrrrying!"

I leaned back against the booth and crossed my arms, "Okay, I get it Colton."

"You should've seen your face! You were like 'oh my god he called me beautiful'!" Colton shrieked as he put his hands against his cheek, imitating a feminine girl.

"Okay, Colton. Stop," I mumbled underneath my breath.

"Come on, don't be mad at me beautiful," he begged and poked my arm from across the booth.

Beautiful.

I closed my eyes and savored the sweet flavor against my taste buds. I hummed as I looked back down at my strawberry ice cream. I took another big scoop and shoved the large bite into my mouth as I repeated my little savoring act.

"You're gross," Colton commented as he made a disgusted face.

I smiled with my mouth full of ice cream and puckered my lips towards him, initiating a playful kiss.

Colton rose his eyebrow and took a napkin. He put the napkin against my lip. The napkin stuck on the leftover ice cream that were on my lips. I swallowed the ice cream and laughed in amusement as I used the napkin to wipe my mouth.

Colton chuckled as he started eating his ice cream slowly.

The door bell rung as someone entered Scoop. Me and Colton looked at the door curiously. At the door, there stood Isaiah Chaser. Isaiah was companied by the rest of his soccer team. Apparently, the soccer team stops by here often after practice, just to eat away their gains from practice.

Isaiah still had a couple scratches and bruises on his face. However, his condition now looks ten times better than it was when he first got them. I turned back around towards Colton as I duck my head.

Colton copied me.

"Why are we hiding?" he whispered.

"I don't want him to see me."

"But you saved him."

I shook my head and sneakily took a big scoop of ice cream before shoving it into my mouth. "I still don't want him to notice me," I mumbled between the ice cream, "popular kids are crazy in the head."

"You're hanging out with one of the popular kids right now." Colton whispered to me.

It was true. Colton was well known as one of the smartest people in school. He was respected for his good lucks and incredibly smart brain. There was no way he was able to win class president if no one in the school knew him.

"You're nothing!" I teased.

Colton shrugged and sat back up.

"Hey," I heard Isaiah's voice from behind me.

Isaiah welcomed himself to sit next to me. I scooted over and blinked at him.

"Hey," I responded.

"Thanks for doing what you did back there," he said.

Isaiah was still dressed up in his dirty soccer uniform. Even though he did smell like grass and dirt, there was no uncomfortable smell of body odor.

"Aren't you benched for the next two weeks?" I heard Colton ask from the other side of the table.

"Yeah, smarty," Isaiah scoffed and suddenly shot a glare at Colton.

Colton rose his eyebrows and leaned back against his seat. It was clear that there was past tension between these two.

I cleared my throat and turned my body towards Isaiah, "Well, what are you going to do?"

"I still practice," he shrugged, "I'm benched because I got in trouble, not because I'm hurt." Isaiah smiled reassuringly to me. Then he shot up from his seat, "I still don't know your name."

"It's Aubrey," Colton interrupted.

Isaiah furrowed his eyebrows at Colton and then casually looked back at me.

"Yeah, it's Aubrey," I casually greeted and pressed my lips together awkwardly.

"Well, Aubrey," Isaiah started and glanced at Colton, hoping for him not to interrupt our conversation again, "It's nice seeing you again. Hope to see you around school and thanks again."

I nodded and waved at him, "No worries."

"I owe you," he said as he pointed at me. He then got up and wandered back to his soccer team.

"What's his problem?" Colton asked with an attitude.

I laughed at his childish behavior and tilted my head, "He just came to say thanks, Colton."

"Yeah but he didn't have to be rude about it."

I shook my head at Colton and continued eating the ice cream.

- - -

"Thanks Colton," I hummed before closing the door to his BMW. I stretched my arms out and Colton raced off in his car. I sighed as I take a look at my cute, little house. I can get use to this little place. I smiled upon the thought.

"Rawr!" a loud scream from behind me hollered.

I released a terrified scream as I first turned around and shoved the person with all my strength. So much strength that I also lost balance and fell flat on the grass.

Austin stood there doubling over laughing.

"How are you going to push me, and you end up falling?" he questioned, laughing as if it was the funniest thing that ever happened.

I rolled my eyes, yet sighed in relief.

"You're a jerk." I mumbled underneath my breath.

"Who was that?" Austin calmed down as he questioned, "He has a nicer car than mine and dad's. Is that your boyfriend?"

Austin handed me his hand before I grabbed onto it, pulling myself up.

"No, it's Colton. Just a friend," I said slightly blushing.

"Just a friend?" he questioned as he squeezed my cheeks, "Or is that my little sister's crush?" He stuck a tongue out and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. We both walked towards the front entrance of the house.

"Just a friend." I said.

Austin grabbed the keys and unlocked the door.

"Oh! I almost forgot," Austin said before he reached into his backpack. He pulled out a grey side bag, similar to my old one.

"For some reason, your old bad had blood all over it?" Austin rose his eyebrows questionably and held the new bag out towards me, "I don't want to know if you killed someone, just take it." He stated bluntly.

I smiled widely and hopped in his arms.

"Austin!" I exclaimed.

"This is so cute!" I cried and hugged him tightly around the neck, "Aw my sweet, sweet brother!"

Austin chuckled as he hugged me back tightly, before pushing me off of him. "Okay, I need to study. I have a midterm tomorrow and it would be nice to have you not groan every single time you see your homework."

Putting my hands on my waist, I looked at Austin, "Is this your way of kicking me out of the house?"

Austin grabbed my shoulders and turned back around to face the door, "Yes, little sister," he commented before forcing my small body towards the door. "I love you, but I need absolutely no distraction in this house."

I turned back around to Austin and batted my eyelashes, "I mean, I guess I can leave you alone. But what can an eighteen-year-old girl do without a little bit of money in her pocket?" I tilted my head to the side and leaned towards Austin.

He sighed and reached for his wallet, pulling out a five-dollar bill. "Here you go." He smiled wildly before opening the door and leading me out the door.

"What am I going to guy with this?" I called out, clutching the five-dollar bill in my hand. I still had my old bloody side bag with me. "Should've at least let me switch my bag," I mumbled underneath my breath.

I looked up at the sun setting directly in front of me. The sunset was absolutely beautiful. The color of purple, pink, red and orange blended so well together in the sky. I walked towards the edge of my lawn and set my stuff down on the concrete. I reached into my bag and pulled out my sketchbook, along with a bunch of color pencils.

I lost track of time as I started doodling the colors of the sunset. The sun set was quickly replaced by the moon as I finished the rest of my artwork with just my memory. I breathed in deeply as I continued to blend the colors smoothly onto my paper.

"What are you drawing?" a voice above me spoke out.

I tuned out the voice and continued drawing. I heard the voice, however I was too busy finishing up my artwork and assumed it was Austin's voice.

"Leave me alone Austin," I mumbled underneath my breath as I used my fingers to blend the colors together on the paper.

"Austin?" the voice questioned.

I furrowed my eyebrows and looked up towards the voice.

Isaiah stood there, munching on his chips.

"Who's Austin?" he innocently asked me as he continued to shove his face with chips. He set his duffel bag down and casually invited himself to sit next to me.

"My brother," I responded blankly, before putting my attention back onto my drawing. "Why are you, here?"

"I'm just walking home. Why are you sitting out here?" Isaiah asked as he peered over my shoulder.

"No reason."

A moment of silence passed by. "Are you always this," he paused, "boring?"

I released a soft chuckle and looked at him. I didn't take any offense in what he said. Instead, I agreed with him. "I guess so. Better than putting on a show for people, right?"

"Is that supposed to be targeted towards me?" he asked me, offended. He sat up straight and turned his whole body towards me.

"Of course not." I shrugged.

"Wanna see a cool trick?" Isaiah got up out of nowhere, catching my full attention.

I looked up at him.

He crumbled up the empty bag of chips and tossed it at his foot and kicked it softly. The empty bag of chips immediately leaped towards my face. As soon as I felt the impact from the bag, I laughed and put my hands over my face.

"What the heck!" I called out and laughed at the situation. Isaiah looked at me nervously, before laughing along.

"Sorry! Not that," Isaiah picked up the empty bag of chips again. This time, I inched a little bit further from Isaiah and pulled my knee towards my chest in case I needed to take cover from the chip bag.

Isaiah dropped the bag of chips on his foot and bounced it repetitively multiple times before kicking it above his head. I watched in amusement before he caught the bag of chips with his mouth.

I laughed and clapped my hands together like an amused child. Isaiah took the bag of chips away from his mouth and sat back down next to me.

"Ta da!" he childishly screeched.

I smiled at him. My front door opened as my brothercalled out, "Aubrey!"

"So, who was that this time?" Austin asked. He held the green apple by the stem and spun it around in his palm. His bright red hair swept to one side, big brown eyes staring at me.

"I don't really know him," I answered carelessly. I opened the dishwasher and pulled the top drawer out. Grabbing the dishes and carefully stacking them on top of each other before setting them in the cabinet.

"You don't know him? It looked like you knew him," Austin commented.

"Well, I guess," I shrugged, "I guess he's just a friend also."

"How come I don't see you having any girl friends?"

I had a feeling that Austin's brotherly protective side was seeking through.

"I do, her name is Bella. I've only made like two friends during school."

"Those two guys?"

"No," I paused, "Well, one of them and Bella."

Austin nodded slowly, watching me as I moved towards the dining table. I sat on the same two cardboard boxes of furniture I've stacked a few weeks ago and looked at Austin.

"Well..." Austin trailed off, attempting to figure out his positioning as a brother.

I laughed a little and looked up at Austin, "I'm fine, Austin."

"Okay then," Austin tossed the green apple in the air and swiftly catches it, "I was just making sure."

I nodded reassuringly and stretched my arms out, releasing a loud groan.

"Gross."

- - -

Colton released a deep sigh, slamming the door of his locker closed and looked at me. I rose my eyebrow in amusement.

"What's happening with you?" I asked him.

Colton was dressed in Adidas sweatpants and a high-neck athletic jacket. His dirty blonde hair was not combed to the side this time, instead it was as if he just came out of bed. His light blue eyes appeared a lot darker than it was before, along with the dark eyebags beneath his eyes.

"I stayed up all night," Colton lazily responded, rubbing his palms against both of his eyes, "was helping my dad out with stuff."

I nodded understandingly and rubbed my hand on his back, up and down attempting to make him feel more relaxed and less tired somehow.

Colton flashed me a small smile before he leaned his head against the lockers, looking down at me before slowly closing his eyes.

His look of tiredness somehow looked attractive to me. I felt my cheek heating up, as well as my back. A person cannot possibly look cuter on days that he doesn't try compared to days that he does; but Colton made it possible.

I bit the insides of my cheek and didn't notice how long I was staring at his face for.

"Stop checking me out," Colton casually stated as he opened his eyes.

As a reaction, I stood up straight and peered behind his shoulder, casually shaking my head. I crossed my arms and legs and rose an eyebrow at him, "Why would I check you out?" I asked.

Colton gave me a stink eye before he straightened up and stretches. "Why not?"

In the distance, a loud noise echoed through the hallway. The noise had only occurred once, but the sound was loud enough for everyone to stop their tracks. Almost everyone's attention was quickly drawn towards where the sound was possibly coming from.

A few seconds later, students that were hovered around the entrance of the hallway quickly cleared the doorway. From the crowd, a student was being dragged towards the center of the hallway by another student. A girl, with dirty blonde hair and dark brown eyes was dressed in a long summer dress, covered by a khaki thick knit sweater. Her hair was in a single French braid that ended towards the middle of her back and above her nose laid a pair of thin framed black reading glasses. In her left arm, she was hugging a few sets of notebooks in effort of not dropping any of them on the floor. Her other arm was clutched by another male student as he had viciously tugged her down the hallway. The girl soon started to lose control over her notebooks as the boy yanks her harder and harder. Notebooks started to scatter all over the floor. The boy shoved her against the locker as her lifeless body flopped against it.

Students were watching, Colton was watching, I was watching; but no one moved. No one dared to take a step towards the abuse. She was crying for help, but everyone pretended not to hear her. Even when our full attention was on her, we all pretended that we lost our ability to hear and that we were helpless.

We watched as the guy forces the girl against the lockers. He hands clutching both of her wrist, as he attempted to maintain his anger by whispering harshly into her ears. She struggles, but he holds her down. Many times, he releases her wrist from his grips only to be replaced by gripping her shoulders, slamming her against the lockers.

"Stop!" a deep voice hollered through the hallway. Within seconds, a dark-skinned teacher ran up towards the couple. He grabbed the boy by his arms and forces him off her as he held the girl in his arms. Papers and notebooks were scattered everywhere, yet everyone remained still. School staffs started to run towards the situation. Two older males in their late-thirties held the boy with his arms, forcing him against the lockers. The dark-skinned teacher escorted the girl out of the hallway with both of their heads down.

Adrenaline rushed through my body as well as the feeling of guilt hovered over me. I turned over to Colton, speechless. His face seemed unamused, as if this situation occurs often. I heard him sigh as he walks towards the notebooks and papers scattered all over the floor. With his silent actions, I sensed that Colton was annoyed. I followed him and helped him pick up the loose papers, and ripped notebooks.

I hugged the pile of school supplies in my arms and stood up.

"Just go without me," Colton spoke up. I nodded as Colton started to walk in the opposite direction.

The students in the hallways started whispering, giggling, and going back to their original tasks. My heart was still beating fast from adrenaline. I kept my head down and hugged the books closely to me as I reach towards the exit of the hallway.

There was a sudden push on my shoulder, however not hard enough for me stumble or anything. I turned my body and looked at the person I've just collided shoulders with. Landon glared at me, something about his expression shows that he'd bump shoulders with me on purpose. His light blue eyes were locked in mine. It felt like this moment was played in slow motion the moment our eyes connected. He released a silent scoff as he turns his attention back in front of him.

- - -

"Thankyou, for bringing this to us," my counselor thanked me as I set the books on top of her desk. I nodded and flashed a small smile at Ms. Harper.

I was about to turn around and leave until a question of curiosity popped in my head.

"Does this happen often?" I asked.

Ms. Harper looked at me and forced a half smile, "Yes, it does." She fiddled around with a pen between her fingers.

"And no one does anything about it?"

"It happens so often that no one wants to do anything about it," she answered. I felt the sympathy in her voice.

Ms. Harper was a kind woman who looks like she appreciates the kindness of everyone. Even though I've only met her once, I've felt a positive vibe from her. Something tells me she truly is very dedicated to her career as a counselor, and wants the best for everyone.

I nodded understandingly and left her office.

The school bell rung, and I made my way towards my math class. As I entered my math class, I noticed that class was already piling up. Everyone was in their assigned seats, joking and laughing.

Aside from one girl in particular. I rose an eyebrow as I walked towards my seat. There sitting, was a girl with wavy blonde hair. She was extremely skinny, however the only meat that was on her body was her chest and bottom. She was sitting only on half of the chair, majority of her body leaning towards Landon. They were joking and flirting in some type of way. She glances back at me for a second before giving her full attention back to Landon. I sensed that she was ignoring me on purpose.

Quietly, I set my bag on top of my table, and stood patiently until she got out of my seat. Class was already starting, and Mr. Winston was horrible in getting the class to follow his guidelines.

A few minutes passes by and the girl uneasily took a few glances back at me. She finally cleared her throat and turned her body towards me, "Do you mind?"

I lifted my eye brows looked at her in disbelief, "Yes, I do." I bluntly responded.

Other classmates who were sitting around us looked over. Some holding back their laughter, some looking at me disgusted.

The girl continues to ignore my presence as I shook my head. Tired of the situation, I grabbed her books and swiftly pushed it over Landon's table.

I maintained a blank expression as I also pushed my bag onto Landon's table. Landon rose an eyebrow and kicked the leg of my table. One of the broken bars from the table stuck out, happened to hit against my knee cap. My knee heated up in pain as I bit the inside of my cheeks to keep myself from making a sound. Calmly, I pushed the table back into it's original position and sat on it.

"Excuse me!" the girl behind me scoffed, "You're in my way."

I didn't respond. Instead, I reached into my bag and pulled out my notebook and pen, jotting down the notes that Mr. Winston had wrote on the board. I ignored the burning sensation in my knee that was throbbing from the impact earlier and continued to focus on Mr. Winston's lecture.

"Bitch," I heard Landon mumble beneath his breath from behind me.