I was at my locker, still trying to process things when a certain tall blonde came up to me. "Okay. Tell me exactly what happened," Riley said, leaning up against the lockers beside mine. I looked up at him, taking in his expression. He looked angry, but I couldn't tell if he was angry at me, or just frustrated that Drew got suspended. "If you're here to yell at me, then go away," I muttered, closing my locker and heading to second period. He probably wasn't expecting my cold response, but I was on edge and couldn't filter my attitude. "I'm not gonna yell at you," Riley said with a sigh, running his hand through his hair as he walked with me to my next class. "Okay, good," I sighed, letting my guard down. "What do you want to know?" I figured, if anyone deserved to know what happened, it was Riley. He already helped me out two different times, and that was all on my first day. All the other nosey kids could take their questions and stick 'em where the sun didn't shine, but I'd do my best to answer his. "People are saying Drew got into some fight with a junior. Is that true?" "Yeah, it is," I answered, void of any emotion. "Well, who is he? I heard someone say it was a fight for your honor? Does that mean the guy was your boyfriend or something?" he asked, bending down to my height as he looked me in the eyes. He looked serious, but I couldn't keep from making a disgusted face at him. "Gross! No! Paully is my step-brother," I stressed, making sure that point was very clear. "Ah, that makes sense. The other new kid would be related to you. At least I know why he hates Drew, too." "First of all, Paully is a Castrano. I am a Drake. We don't share the same blood, so we're barely related," I started saying as he listened attentively, holding his chin with his hand. "Second of all, Paully wouldn't hate Drew just because I did; which I don't. I strongly dislike him, but I don't hate him." "Well, you shouldn't. He's actually a good guy." That stopped me dead in my tracks. A good guy? Ha, yeah right. I just met the guy, but even I can tell that's not likely. "Riley, I literally witnessed him pounce on a sophmore and beat his face into the ground. That doesn't sound like a nice guy to me." "Yeah, well you don't know him. He could have had a very good reason to do that." Once again, I was confused on how I felt about this potential friendship with Riley. He was super outgoing and friendly, and I felt really comfortable around him. He was currently my favorite company here, although it was only my second day. Plus, it was obvious he and Drew are best friends. Just yesterday, in class, I could tell there was a serious bromance that'd been going on for years between them. So, if I wanted to be friends with Riley, it'd be inevitable that I would see Drew more often than I would without Riley as a friend. "How long have you known him?" I asking, no longer wanting to focus on my thoughts. "Drew?" he asked with a smile. "Man, I've known that guy since second grade." Yup, that could be a problem. Seeing I had no further interest in knowing more about his friendship with Drew, Riley went back to questioning me. "Well, now that I know it's not Paully, I'm curious. Do you have a boyfriend?" "What does that have to do with Drew and the fight?" I snapped. I didn't really mean to be so sharp with him, but just hearing the word "boyfriend" made me think of Ryan and Kennedy. I had zero closure for that wound and it was a fresh one. "Sorry," I apologized before he could respond. "And no, I don't have a boyfriend." I looked away from him so he couldn't see the change of emotion on my face. Telling a stranger how I felt about my fresh break up and betrayal, despite how cute and friendly he was, was not something I wanted to do. "Good. That's one less guy for Drew to piss off and get in a fist fight with when he bothers you again," he joked, winking at me. I must have a better stone-face than I give myself credit for. "Fingers crossed," I said, putting in effort to show that I was only slightly amused at his comment. When I got to second period, with help from Riley, I waved him goodbye and went in. "See you later, Natalie!" he yelled into the classroom, cupping his hands around his mouth. When I looked at my teacher, another overweight balding guy, he was thoroughly displeased, but his eyes were on me. How is this my fault!? "Riley, get out of here," I said, shooing him away in a whispered yell. He did as I said, but not before dazzling the whole girl population in the room with a killer smile. Well, every girl but me; although I was still able to semi-appreciate his cuteness. I just was not in the mental space to entertain his light flirting today. At least, I thought he was flirting. I could've been wrong. Anyway, I needed a couple of days without boy drama. I hated admitting that it was because of Ryan, but I thought I meant more to him. Hearing how he moved on with my best friend (EX best friend) was hard. But, at least I had the rest of the week without having to see Drew's face. Suddenly his suspension seemed like a gift from God. That period I had Computer Art/Digital Studios, which basically meant the teacher gave us a project that we worked on for like a month, while he waited to judge them. Mr. Chester assigned us a topic for a promotional ad that we had to make to raise awareness on and mine was "Homelessness". Some people were making pamphelets, others were making websites, but I settled on making a short film. I'd need to find actors, but it would give me an opportunity to meet more people. Not long after being released to work independently, a few guys came up to me. "Hey, you're Natalie Drake, right?" one of them asked. He was chewing his gum grossly in my face; at least it was spearmint, my favorite. "Yeah," I sighed, not bothering to look up from my computer. I already knew what they were going to ask. "We heard you got in a fight this morning with Andrew Collins. They say you gave him a black eye. That true?" the other chimed in. Seriously, who comes up with these rumors? "No, it's not," I said, but they were oblivious to my annoyed undertones. "Dude, of course she didn't. She's too small to reach his face. I mean, just look at her." He had a point. "I am, man. Trust me," the one with gum smirked, shamelessly checking me out. Ew. Just the look on his face made me feel dirty. "Will you just leave me alone? I'm trying to work," I said as nicely as I could. "Mmhmm, but can I get your-" "Oh my God! She said to leave her alone! What part of that did you misunderstand?!" I was surprised, but also grateful that the girl beside me said something. Honestly, did the guys around here get away with everything? I mean, Mr. Chester was there the whole time, and he didn't even bother to tell them to go back to their seats.