"What is she doing here?!" Drew shouted at his friends, his eyes fixed on me. I'm sure a lot of girls wished they were the object in his sights, but "if looks could kill", I definitely would be dead; like "chopped to bits and cremated" dead. What's his problem? It's not my fault he got suspended. Lauren wrapped her arm around mine, her other hand holding it in place, and pulled me closer to them. "Are you crazy!? I'm not hanging out with him!" I protested, trying to wriggle out of her grip. I didn't make any difference, but now her hand was tighter on my arm. Her nails were sharp enough to legally be classified as a weapon, and they were digging into my flesh. Sweet Lord, save me now. "We are going to have fun today, chica," she said in a "no nonsense" way. Now silent, we walked up to the guys. Jayden was shooting me an apologetic smile; he clearly knew I heard Drew's outburst. Riley, on the other hand, gave me a full on bear hug, lifting me into the air with ease. "Glad you decided to join us, Nat," he said with a smile once he put me back down. Yeah, he called me by my nickname. I wasn't sure at first, but it's been a week. It's not like he wasn't already my favorite person, which I would never tell Lauren; she'd probably kill him. "Yeah. Not sure how long I'll be staying, though." "What? You can't leave. I signed up for a fun day with my closest friends!" he whined, giving me puppy dog eyes. He's adorable. "Closest friends?! You barely know this girl!" Drew scoffed, pointing at me. He was still giving me a grimace, but I hardly noticed because around one of his eyes was a purplish red ring. Omg, that's from Paully! Oh, he's going to flip when I tell him about this! "Come on, man. Don't be like that. I know me and Nat are getting closer, but you know you're still number one in my heart," Riley teased, walking toward Drew with his arms out for a hug. Drew pushed him off, but the rest of us were fighting back laughs. I started to think it might not be too bad if I stayed. I'd have Riley, who could lighten any situation. I'd have Lauren, who'd make sure I had a good time. And I'd have Drew's black eye to constantly put a smile on my face. "I just don't see why you invited her. You know this is my only day off," Drew continued to complain. "Y'know, if my presence bothers you so much, why don't you just go home? Besides, you wouldn't want to get clocked for public indecency by a mall cop because of the shiner you're sporting, would you?" I said, putting my hand over my mouth in mock disgust. I watch his mouth twitch at my words. Good, maybe I hit a nerve. He deserves it, since he's been plucking mine since I met him. "Why don't you go home! I'm here to hang out with my friends, not the newest trollop in town!" he shouted, his temples pulsing. Trollop! Who does he think he is saying something like that to me?! I closed my mouth because it was hanging open, and started to leave. It wasn't because I couldn't come up with a comeback; trust me, I had plenty of those stored up. But, I just didn't want to be apart of that conversation anymore. I knew she wouldn't be proud of anything that would come out of my mouth, so I bit my tongue. Before I could take another step away, I heard Lauren speak up. "Andrew Collins!" she scolded, not caring that we were in public. "Don't you ever call her out of her name again! She's my friend!" She slapped him on the shoulder, which probably didn't even hurt him, but he seemed to listen to her. It reminded me of how he listened to Riley back in the parking lot my first day at LHHS. "Okay. My bad," he said half-heartedly, still talking to Lauren. "Don't apologize to me! Apologize to mi hermana," she ordered through gritted teeth, gesturing to me. Mi hermana. I know that from spanish class. So she's referring to me as 'sister'...like a close friend? Does she really see me that way after only a week? Whatever her reasons, it was nice to hear someone refer to me like that since I just lost the last friend I considered a sister. I didn't even feel weirded out by it. "If you think I'm apologizing to her, after what she did, you have lost your mind," Drew scoffed before he sauntered off. "I'll go after him," Riley volunteered before jogging away. When they were both out of sight, I turned to face Lauren and Jayden. They were cuddled up together, his arm around her waist and her arms around his torso. They were a really cute couple. I made a mental note to post a pic of them on tumblr under "couple goals" later, but right now I needed answers. "What is his deal with me?" I asked in a somewhat calm tone. "I have done nothing to this guy. NOTHING. Why is he so freakin' hostile towards me?" "I don't know," Lauren answered first, shrugging her shoulders. "He's not usually like that." I was about to complain again, but I noticed that Jayden was awkwardly looking at the wall beside him. Bingo! "You know something," I accused, squinting my eyes at him in a suspicious manner. "What?! Pshh, I don't know what you're talking about." He was so obviously lying, and from the look on her face, Lauren could tell, too. "You know something and you didn't tell me!? I've been asking you about this all week!" I kinda felt bad watching this little argument considering it was somewhat my fault. But, if anyone could make Jayden talk, I figured it'd be the gorgeous guatemalan girl in front of me. "You better say what you know, or else you aren't getting anything from me," she threatened, taking a huge step away from him and crossing her arms across her chest. "What do you mean by that?!" Jayden asked. I think I literally saw sweat forming on his forehead. "You know exactly what I mean by that," she stated, unwavering in her ultimatum. If you could see the look of horror that possessed Jayden's face, you would be struggling not to laugh just like I was right now. "Come on, boo! You can't do a brotha' like that!" "I just did, brotha'," Lauren retorted, sassily mocking him. Yep. I like her ten times as much as I did before. Jayden started looking around, probably searching for Riley or Drew to come to his rescue. They didn't, so he gave in. "Alright, alright. But you are cold," he noted, pointing a finger in his girlfriend's direction. "Just tell us," she sighed impatiently. "Look, all I know is that he's really pissed off about what happened with that sophmore. He had some beef with him and he's pissed that you got in his way." "Got in his way?! He looked like he was gonna kill that kid! What could he have possibly done to deserve that kind of a beat down?!" I asked defensively. "Chill, Natalie. That's all I know." I let out a disappointed huff. That doesn't really tell me anything. "That's not good enough! You know I hate cliffhangers!" Lauren complained. "I know, but...Hey! It's Riley," Jayden shouted, relieved and pointing behind us. "He knows everything! Ask him!" Without a second thought, I watched as Lauren ran (IN HEELS) over to Riley. She started bombarding him with questions, one after the other. Man, she is a force to be reckoned with. Riley looked over at us with a pleading face, but we didn't move. Jayden refused to risk Lauren threatening him with abstinence again, and me? I wanted answers, and Lauren could get them for me. Sorry, Riley, but this is the way it has to be. A moment later, I finally noticed that Drew wasn't with Riley. I guess he can't always talk him into reason. "Why don't we just go to the arcade? Knowing Lauren, they won't be far behind us," Jayden suggested, gesturing in the opposite direction of Lauren and Riley. "Okay, let's go." When they finally showed up, I could tell something is wrong. Lauren's usual bubbliness was gone, and her face looked troubled. Riley looked mentally conflicted instead of his usually lighthearted self. When Jayden saw them, he immediately rushed over to Lauren, who was on the verge of tears. I didn't know what to do. One moment I was playing skeeball, and now I felt like I was about to get some really bad news. A few seconds later, Riley was by my side. He ran his hand through his hair before speaking. "I didn't tell you this before because when everything happened I had just met you. But now, you're my friend. And since everyone else now knows...I guess you should, too," he said, reaching out to grab my shoulders. And what he said next was the last thing I wanted to hear. It was probably the worst thing he could say. Why? Because now I had to do something that would probably kill me. Scratch that, it would definitely kill me. It would make me want to move all over again. But, she would want me to; and I would do anything to make her proud. As much as it sucked, I had to do it. I had to freakin' apologize to Drew Collins.