Dear Journal, (getting cliché, sorry)

I know I've been running away for a while now, but I'm now ready to face it. I'm ready to take the bull by the horns (I'll be dressing up as a cowgirl for Halloween this year, by the way). I'll take a deep breath and face my fear. I'm going this weekend :(

Signing out for now.

Can we talk? Pretty please?

Everything couldn't happen the way she wanted, but while there was time, Bella had to fix the fixable.

She stared at her text to Stephanie, her thumb hovering over the send icon. The cursor blinked as if telling her to hurry up and, before she could change her mind, she tapped on 'Send.'

She let out a sigh afterwards, then placed the phone beside her food tray. The cafeteria seemed empty as she sat alone at what used to be her and Viola's table. She couldn't believe it was just a few hours ago that she witnessed the argument between her brother and her best friend.

Viola now sat with Jake, apparently, away from her, and how lovely fate was putting her table directly across from hers at the far end of the room.

Bella watched the happy Viola chat with Jake like nothing happened. If Viola looked up, she would've seen her, but it was either she wasn't looking on purpose, or didn't even care who was watching.

"She still hasn't talked to you, has she?" Cody asked, slipping into the spot beside her and placing a small tub of vanilla ice cream in front of her.

She looked down, immediately taking the lid off the tub and taking the spoon from him. "No." She put a spoon in her mouth. "She's happy."

Cody's gaze slid to Viola's table. "Yeah. She is." Then he looked back to his sister. "I know this isn't a right thing to say, but maybe you should let her go."

"You're right," she said, taking another spoonful. "It isn't a right thing to say. I can't possibly just throw ten years of friendship away." She said it steadily, trying to keep the tears out of her voice. She was still a bit weak from crying so much that morning.

"Look at her, Bella—she doesn't seem affected by any of this right now, and I'm sure she would've listened to me if she wanted to make things right."

She knew Cody was right, but what did that mean? Her and Viola shared memories right from kindergarten. "I can't do this, Cody—I can't let her go." She suddenly became tearful, and she stopped eating her ice cream. What would stress-eating achieve? Getting her to put on weight, yes, but nothing good.

"You've had more ice cream in a day than you've had your entire life. Apart from being your personal ice cream man, I can't stand seeing you like this anymore. Besides, I'm scared if I leave school one more time, I'll get caught." What time was this? The fifth?

She put the lid back over the tub and released a defeated sigh. "Okay. But I'm stopping because of you; I'm not letting her go."

He gave her a sad look. "Well, that's fine as long as you're not thinking about getting cupcakes."

"Now you've put the idea in my head."

"Seriously?"

She smiled. "Fine. No cupcakes," she lied.

"I'll pretend I believe you." He looked in his phone for a moment, then looked back up at her. "Um... I won't be able to drive you home today."

Her eyes widened. "Why?!"

"Kyra really wants to go to HalloWiener and, after our argument this morning, the only way I can assure her we're good is by getting her a ticket. So I'm taking her to get one after school."

"What do you expect me to do? Don't make me feel worse."

He looked at her, his eyes trailing from her face down. "Um, you actually look kind of fat—"

"No way!"

"—so a little walk wouldn't kill you. By the way, the weather is lovely today."

She narrowed her eyes in a glare. She hated not being taken seriously when she wanted—especially by her brother.

Bella's glare could put out a fire, and Cody saw that she wasn't happy with his... choice of persuasive words, so he put a hand out, defensively.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I would've let you come with me, but it's also kind of a date, so." He thought for a while, then said, "I promise to make it up to you. Ice cream—I'll get you one more tub before the last bell."

"You're so unsure of yourself. One minute you're telling me not to have it, and the next, you're trying to bribe me with it."

"Just for today. Please?" He gave her puppy dog eyes, but her glare remained.

Cody's bribing eventually worked.

Bella could feel the weight of the ice cream tub in her backpack as she walked home after school. She was frowning like she was being forced to live, but she still walked.

She put her phone on to check if Stephanie had replied to her text, but stopped when she saw the email from Twitter. She hadn't gone online for days, had she? And her giveaway? Oh God, she was roasted turkey! She had completely forgotten about it, much less thought about what the gift would be.

She didn't move as she considered going online right there, and didn't notice the car approaching her.

"Go online now or wait till I get home," she mumbled as a guy on a skateboard moved past her, her mental imp and angel having a battle.

You could get hit by a car.

No, it's cool. She's lying.

Why was it so hard to make a decision?

The car stopped beside her. "Uh, are you okay?"

She turned to Beau, her eyes widening momentarily. She probably looked stupid standing there, talking to herself. "Um, yeah. Definitely. I was just... sky-watching. The weather's lovely today," she said, repeating Cody's words from earlier.

"O... kay? I'm not going to mention the stress lines on your forehead—"

Her right hand immediately shot up to her forehead.

"—so I don't ruin your excuse."

She looked away, mortified, and he laughed.

"How do you always know when I'm lying?" she mumbled.

"Mm..." He looked up at the top of the car, pretending to think about it. "I think that's my secret," he said, looking back at her.

"Well, you didn't have to point this one out," she said, then continued walking.

Beau slowly followed her with his car. "Hey, I didn't point it out. I just said I wasn't going to mention your stress lines."

She shot him a look that shut him up and had him looking a little terrified for a moment, and he turned to the road. At the thought of actually scaring him for the first time, Bella wanted to smile.

"You've really put a meaning to that saying, 'if looks could kill'," he said, still focused ahead, and she shook her head in that mother-scolding-her-naughty-three-year-old-son way of hers. "Can I drop you off?" he asked, finally looking at her.

"If I say no?"

He lifted an eyebrow, then gave a one-shouldered shrug, a small smile on his lips. "My loss, then."

She stopped walking, causing his car to stop too, then turned to him. "You're lucky your ego is beyond further destruction."

The corner of his lips pulled up in a lopsided grin. "I can take a little more if it's coming from you."

"Shut up," she mumbled, then made her way to the passenger side of his Ford. Her cheeks felt hot, and she tried to cover it up by looking at her feet.

When she got in and shut the door, she noticed the wet stain on the back of her backpack. Immediately, she unzipped the backpack and took out the ice cream tub before it ruined her books. She was grateful for the distraction.

Bella guessed Beau was watching her, but only saw it for herself when she finally turned to him. "Don't ask," she said.

He looked amused, but did as she said and continued driving.

For the first few minutes of the ride, they were both silent, just like the first time they rode together—the only difference being that she was having ice cream, and he was glancing at her at intervals.

Finally she said, "Sorry I'm not sharing. I'm selfish when it comes to sugar. It's a bribe, actually."

"Really?"

"Yeah. My brother's taking his girlfriend on a date, so he bribed me to walk home."

"And, let me guess, you're not going to tell him you didn't actually walk all the way?"

"Nope. He's gonna pay for suggesting it."

Beau laughed. "Typical of sisters. You guys are so evil."

"It's in our blood."

He glanced at her, then drove in silence for a while before asking, "You know we're in trouble, right?"

"Trouble?"

"Yeah. We missed homeroom and first period."

"Oh. That." A fluttery feeling filled her chest when she remembered how he had stroked her hair—gently, like he wouldn't've been doing anything else, even if he was held at gun point.

"I think my homeroom teacher called my mom. That lady watches me like it was what she was born to do." He gave her another glance. "Actually, I don't blame her."

"I wonder how your mom puts up with you."

He flashed her a smile that made her cheeks flush, and she had to put another spoon of ice cream in her mouth to conceal the look on her face.

She couldn't deny she was enjoying his company more and more everyday, and her heart had started beating weirdly when he was around, like it was reaching out to his.

By the time his car stopped in front of her house, she was done with her ice cream and made a mess out of herself. There was ice cream on the corner of her lips, but she didn't notice as she put the empty tub in her backpack.

"Thank you so much for the ride. You're an angel," she said, zipping the backpack up.

She held the door handle afterwards, but before she could open the door, he spoke. "Hold on."

She looked at him, and saw him pulling tissue out of a tissue box. Her eyebrows lifted in confusion before he leaned over. Her breath caught in her throat when he placed his arm over the back of her seat and gently started wiping the corner of her lips.

He looked so focused, and she didn't dare breathe. Up close, he was something entirely different; there was an innocence in his features she was just noticing, and it made her heart thump hard in her chest.

She didn't realize she was staring at him until he looked up and their eyes locked. Caught in the act, she wanted to look away—badly—but their proximity wasn't letting her, neither was the tenderness in his eyes.

Bella could almost hear her heartbeat, but she couldn't do anything about it. They both stared intensely into each other's eyes until it was the only thing that mattered.

Beau ran his thumb over a spot below her lower lip, and her senses went on hold. The space between them started to vanish, and her eyes fluttered close, but their lips had barely touched when her phone pinged in her hand.

So cliché, she thought, snapping out of the moment, and he slowly pulled away from her.

Bella swallowed, then looked down at her phone. Cody.

Home yet?

She turned to her house, having the crazy idea that her brother was watching them, because the timing was too perfect to be a coincidence.

She looked back at Beau, averting her eyes almost immediately. "Um, I should go. Thanks again for today. I'll—I'll see you tomorrow."

"Sure."

She gave him a smile, then got out of the car, shutting the door a little too gently. She lifted her hand in a small wave, and he returned the gesture. Bella took it as her opportunity to get out of there and into the no-boy-tension-or-almost-kiss zone of her house.

Immediately she shut the front door and heard Beau drive away, another text came in on her phone, this time from an unknown number.

Good thing you're in your home now. And after what just happened - YWN.

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Shout out to @ElleLeeLove for her support! <3 Thank you all for reading!