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"So they like cornered you? The hell?"
Steve was sitting next to me on my bed while I was laying down, staring at the ceiling.

"It was the most ridiculous thing, honestly." - "See, I told you." - "Told me what?" - "That all of them are dickheads. Including Billy."

I sighed, thinking back to the day I'd picked up the documents at school - when he hugged me and wished me luck. Generally, why was he so different all of a sudden? Shaking my head I sat up and took a sip of my hot chocolate.

"I just- I dunno when I talked to him he seemed fine." - "That's because he wants to bone anything that isn't up in the trees on the count of three." - "Steve, gross."

He just shrugged and picked up my hand, examining the bruised knuckles.
"So your dad is out of the picture and now you're being bullied at school. I'm gonna have you homeschooled."
I laughed and looked at my friend. "Guess the trouble my father gave me just seriously overshadowed anything that was already there. I just had a weird day today, a lot of energy and it had to get out somehow." - "I'm just glad you didn't punch any of them in the face." - "Trust me, I wanted to."
Steve chuckled. "I think everyone does."

Suddenly my cousin busted into the room and Loki jumped up, more startled than anyone else.

"Luce, you won't believe me- oh hi Steve - I HAVE A DATE!"
I grinned up at him and gave him my knowing look. "With the girl that you were so totally not crushing on just this morning?" - "Ah shut up," he chuckled as he left my room again and Steve looked at me with a confused expression.

"The daughter of my lawyer for the case and him sort of got along really well. They spent most the time in Seattle together." - "Alright, cute."
Letting out a laugh I patted Lokis head as he sat back down again and my best friend and me spent the remaining evening trying to figure out what the hell was going on with that maths problem.

A few weeks went by and Tommy kept trying to provoke me enough to get in trouble, but I managed to hold myself back. I even held back whenever Billy started to talk comeplete bullshit. I didn't know what he thought he was doing but I started to feel like he was serious - maybe he regretted opening up to somebody too much. That happened sometimes.

Either way, one Friday in November it all just exploded.

I was sitting on the hood of my car, Steve next to me, both having lunch during our free period and enjoying the sun that kept coming out ever so rarely by now.
"Would you look at that, the two traitors together again."
I raised an eyebrow, shaking my head at Steve.
Whatever the hell was he on about now?

"Hey!" Billy called out and threw something that hit the back of Steve's head. "You deaf?"
Sliding off the car I turned to look at the group.

"What do you want now?" - "To have fun. And you better make that happen voluntarily."
I scoffed and looked at Steve. "Is he implying what I think he is?" Tommy took a step closer and looked at me with a gross smile. "Forget it."

"You'll want me eventually." - "What? You? Please." - "Right! If anyone she should come to me," Billy called out and laughed. I shook my head as I started to feel sick at how dumb they all were behaving.

"You wish," I retorted before I could think about it and now it was Billy who walked towards me.
"You'll come crawling to me like a little bitch someday. They all do."

Okay, so either things are terrible at home for him or he actually hates me for whatever reason. Or both.

"The only bitch I can see right now is you," Steve interrupted and pushed Billy away from me. Two of his friends reacted by grabbing my best friend and he struggled to escape. Billy grabbed my chin.

"You just wait."

With that he let go and waltzed off, followed by his entourage. I felt sick to my stomach at the bare thought that I had started to develop some sort of feelings for this guy. At how somebody could change so quickly within just a few weeks.

"What the fuck …" I groaned and went to check on Steve, but he seemed to be alright.
"Right? Jeez, what's wrong with them? Hey, Luce, are you okay? You look pale."
Shaking my head I forced a smile. "I'm fine."
We resumed eating after silently standing around for a while and I stared off into the sky.

"Looks like it's gonna start raining again," I commented as we heard the bell ring from the building. "I thought you liked rain?" Steve wanted to know and I shrugged. "I do."

The last two classes for that day dragged on and I caught myself staring at the back of Billys head several times. On the car ride home I took some detours and blasted Iron Maiden while the rain was drumming against the windshield.

Arriving at home I sprinted towards the front door and up the stairs, where Cameron had already opened the door for me. He was already back to college but sometimes he came home over the weekend, although the drive was way too long.

"You're late," he noted and I hung up my jacket. "Got stuck in traffic," I replied and headed straight for the kitchen, grabbing a glass and the wine bottle from the fridge.

"Wow, okay, tell me everything," my cousin told me while I hopped up onto the kitchen counter, filling the glass and taking a sip.

"How does a person go from taking you out on a really nice date, to being a complete dick that insults and threatens you?" - "You talking about that Hargrove boy?"
I sighed as Loki came running up to me, wagging his tail.

"I don't really know what to tell you … I don't know much about guys your age." - "But you dated one when you were my age!"
He held up his hands in defense and motioned for me to hand him a wine glass as well. I filled it and gave it to him.

"You see, the thing about people … everybody is different in so many complicated ways. Everybody's mind functions differently, everybody has experienced different things and dealt with them differently." - "So basically I'll never find out what's wrong?" - "Not unless he tells you," Cameron concluded and I downed some more wine, savoring the light burning sensation in my throat.

"Were you hoping for it to go somewhere?" He then asked, after a while of silence. I shrugged.
"I don't know what I expected. I just know that I thought he was different."

Cameron let out a bitter chuckle. "Yeah. That's probably one of the most common things people say in situations like this. Like in a sitcom."
I threw a grape at my cousin and he held up his hand to protect his face.

"I was gonna head back to college on Monday, can I really leave you here all by yourself?"

"I'll be fine. It's just been another weird day."

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A/N: I hope you guys liked the new chapter!💕
Also, little information bit: I'm starting university on Monday and I will try to keep updating regularly, but I can't promise anything. At the moment my anxiety is just going through the roof so I'll have to see how that works out in the end🤷🏻‍♀️
Either way, again, thanks everybody so much for voting and commenting and just generally reading this story, it really means a lot!❤

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