Ethan and I made it to school with plenty of time to spare, and we even stopped at Starbucks for some early morning iced coffees on the way. Mornings, although cooler than usual are still quite warm for this time of year and we both agreed an iced coffee would be the perfect way to start a Monday.

When we get to the senior hallway everyone is already there. Angela is the first to turn around and I cringe. Ethan has no clue what happened on Friday after tryouts with her and I'd like to keep it that way. The closer we get the harder I chew down on the green straw in my mouth. Levi's head turns, his arm against my locker while Angela stands nearly inside the crook of his arm.

Shae is all smiles as she pushes past Angela's sour face and wraps her arms around me. I glance over her shoulder at Angela, she and Tori and both are glaring at me like I'm the enemy. Shae pulls away and reaches over to give Ethan a hug too.

"So you ready to draw me after school?"

Levi takes his arm off the locker and starts towards me. I watch as Angela crosses her arms at her chest. I've got Ethan on my left and now Levi headed straight for me. Her face says it all, mouth wide open and a glare that could kill.

"As long as you keep your clothes on she will," Shae says, with a devilish smile.

"I can't promise anything," Levi says, wiggling his brows - just as the warning bell rings.

"Saved by the bell," I say.

Ethan laughs, then gently takes my arm to guide me in his direction, "Hey, so I'll see you in English?"

"Mmhmm," I say, nibbling on my bottom lip.

Everyone goes their separate ways. I make a quick stop at my locker to grab my things before heading to homeroom. I wish it were longer than fifteen minutes, or that I didn't have art today, because then I would only have to deal with the weirdness between Levi and I once. The minute I get into the art room he's sitting there with a smug look on his face. I sit down next to him and I'm beyond thankful when Ms. Ryan starts the class without letting any of us get a word in.

I'm thankful for an uneventful day and not much interaction with Levi. After the last bell I head for the locker room for my first day of practice.My heart is beating wildly in my chest. I'm just as nervous as I was on Friday when I tried out. I hate feeling like this, like Angela has some sort of effect on me. I shouldn't care about it, but I can't help thinking something is going to go wrong and everything is going to go down like it did in Tulsa and we will be forced to move. I know mom would be ready to go in a heartbeat if that did happen.

We file out of the locker rooms where I managed to stay under her radar for now, and head out onto the field. Shae is standing next to me talking about her birthday at the lake. Levi throws her a big bash with all of her friends every year and this year she's decided that the theme will be Hawaii. She's chatting about pina coladas and grass skirts, and I'm trying to listen. I really am - but something feels off today and I can't quite figure out what it is.

"Welcome to your first day of practice, find a partner, do some stretching then we will work on some of our cheers for the game in two weeks. Get stretching girls," coach Hayes says.

As I'm stretching Shae comes over and sits down with me. She grunts like she's in pain and looks absolutely exhausted.

"You look zonked."

"I didn't sleep a wink last night," she says, spreading her legs and leaning to her right to touch her toes.

"Everything okay?" I ask.

She nods, then shrugs, and nods again.

"Having a hard time with something." She starts to say. For a moment she's quiet as she stretches.

"My older brother passed away five years ago today and my mom was a wreck," she tells me, water filling her eyes.

"Oh, Shae I'm so sorry."

"She cried all night. I could hear her... and it broke me, ya know? Like why?" She says, wiping some tears as we grab hands and tug on each other to stretch.

"My dad died a few months ago, I wasn't too close to him... he was gone a lot. What I'm trying to say is that if you ever need someone to talk to about it I'm here, I know what it's like to lose a member of your immediate family."

She gives a gentle smile, then we stand together to do some standing stretches. I tuck one arm in and cross the other over it pulling them tight to my chest.

"I'm sorry about your dad, and thank you for that offer. We should have a girl day... maybe before my birthday Friday. Levi is throwing me that huge bash and I need someone to get ready with," she says.

"What about Angela, I don't want her to hate me anymore than she already does. She thinks I've swooped in on her guys I don't want to swoop in on her best friend too," I say.

"Nah girl, do you see her over there with Tori?" She asks pointing to the two of them.

I follow her finger to where the two stand. They are on the opposite side of the bleachers chatting and glaring at each girl on the team.

She sighs, "Angela will always be my best friend, but I sometimes feel like a third wheel between her and Tori," she says.

"Sometimes I swear we are the same person, Shae."

She laughs at that, "how so?"

"It's a really long story that I'll save for when I'm ready to think about it, but my friends kind of paired off too and left me in the dust," I tell her.

"Girls are bitches," she says with a smirk.

I nod in agreement, "you've got that right."

"Alright girls!" Coach Hayes shouts, then blows her whistle.

I start walking towards the center of the bleachers where everyone has gathered, but Shae reaches out and grabs me.

"You sure have both of their attention," she says, nodding over toward the field.

I glance over at the football team and sure enough while sipping his water on the sidelines Ethan meets my stare and waves. I search the field for Levi and he's got his arms open running almost backwards to catch the ball when he glances over at me and stumbles over his own two feet.

Shae laughs, "It's like an episode of The Vampire Diaries, will Elena choose Stefan or Damon. Me? I'm a Stefan girl - I like the good boys with a bad guy brewing inside."

I chuckle at her analogy, The Vampire Diaries was my favorite series; both book and show.

"I'm gonna have to go with Damon," I say, as my eyes flicker over to Levi to check the damage I've caused. I'm relieved to see that he's already up and running down the field for another try.

"Bad guy with a good heart, nice."

"Ladies, coach calls again.

We jog over to where everyone is gathered and the coach starts going over one of the cheers for the game on Friday. I'm half paying attention, half not as I wonder how I got myself caught up with the most sought after jocks in the school.

When practice ends I'm hot and sweaty from the September heat, so I decide to take a shower. Shae and I decide to solidify our plans for Friday after school and for the first time in months I have something to actually look forward to.

Like Friday, I meet Levi at his car. He leans against the drivers side door with a devilish grin on his face like he's looking for trouble.

"Are you ready to draw this?" Levi questions, holding his hand out like he's displaying himself.

"Please," I huff, "You wish you had some kind of power over me, I'm not like the others," I half lie, "I won't fall at your feet just because you're good looking."

"So I'm good looking?" He asks, a cocky grin forming on his face.

"Would it help your self esteem if I said yes."

"I already have an ego the size of Texas, not like it can get any bigger."

I snort, "Let's just get this done, okay?"

"Yes ma'am. Hope you like steak," he says, unlocking the door with the key remote.

I grab hold of the passenger door handle, and raise a brow.

"Because I'm cooking dinner," he grins.

When we get to his house I'm still in awe by all of it. Last time I was here I went around back but this time since I'm with Levi we head in through the front. The foyer is like something you see in a movie or in Hollywood. White marble floors shine below me and a huge chandelier hangs from the ceiling above, and a few inches forward a giant skylight lights up the entire area, no lights needed.

I catch him watching me from the corner of his eye, "You act like you've never seen my house," he laughs.

"I hadn't seen this part," I say, looking around.

"I'd give you a tour, but my stomach is growling for food."

We step outside onto the deck where we first met. He fires up the grill like he's a pro and then covers it to let it warm. On our way through the enormous house we stopped in the kitchen for his steaks. I helped by gathering all of the spices he needed for it and bringing them out in a wicker basket lined with blue fabric.

"What's that smirk for?" He questions.

I hadn't realised that I was, "I guess I'm just amused by how you're a pro at grilling."

He chuckles, "my dad taught me when I was twelve. He said all men need to know how to grill. He's a firm believer that all men should know how to fire up a grill before they hit puberty," he says.

I laugh,"it's a good skill, I guess."

He shrugs, "Wanna hand me the salt and pepper?"

I pull them from the basket and he opens the container with the steaks.

"Sprinkle some on," he says nodding toward the two thick red steaks.

I do as he says, then add some pepper. He lifts the grill and the heat is so hot it feels like my face is on fire. He picks them up with some tongs and throws both steaks on, they sizzle loudly.

Quietly, he browses through the items we brought out and grabs a stick of butter, cutting a piece off.

"Hand me the thyme?"

"I always thought it had a th sound," I say.

"Your one of those," he teases.

I raise a brow at him.

"And how do you say cumin?"

"Come in?"

He laughs so hard I almost expect him to fall over. He shakes his head, "You've got a lot to learn young Jedi. Doesn't your mom cook?"

"Yeah, but she screws up pretty much everything she cooks and her specialty is canned sloppy joe," I say.

He chuckles, "steaks are easy, you can also just slap them on a pan and cook them inside too."

The sliding glass door opens and I swear Levi jumps at the sound like it terrifies him.

"Hey big brother," says a young voice.

Levi's face pales for a quick moment, before his color returns upon hearing the voice. I turn to see a girl probably not older than ten skipping out into the deck. She has Levi's pointed nose and round eyes. Her hair is pushed back into a high pony and she's dressed in a Lakeside cheer uniform. Lakeside is the town over and I only know that because that's the team the football team is going against next week.

"Charlotte," he says with a smile that reaches his eyes.

She runs over and sniffs around by the grill, "Ew meat," she says.

He chuckles, "If you go inside I made some veggie kabobs I can grill up for you. Made them before I left for school," he says.

I probably look like a crazy person just staring at the Levi I didn't know existed.

"Did dad come in with you?"

His body stiffens the moment he says his dad's name.

She shakes her head, "No, but he's coming back..."

"Oh."

My phone rings and I'm thankful for that, because I feel like whatever is about to go down between Levi and his sister should stay between them. I pull it from my back jean pocket and see Shae's name.

"So who's the hottie," the little girl says as I walk away, and I'm shocked by her words, but then hear Levi respond telling her she hangs around with him and Ethan way too much. She laughs, and her footsteps start for the house just as I pick up the phone.

"Hey," I answer.

A sigh on the other end, "So I wanted to call to give you a heads up."

Immediately my stomach churns wondering what Angela could have done now, because it feels like any moment she could strike.

"What's up?"

"Well after you left practice, the girls and I were leaving the locker room when we heard coach yelling at someone through the gym doors. We walked over to check out all the commotion and this dude is standing there with a camera strapped around his neck, and all I could hear from his mouth was your name and her saying that he needed to stop taking pictures of the girls practicing."

My appetite for the steaks are gone, and the smell is making me nauseous. I'm tempted to tell Levi to take me home right now, to check on mom. If what happened in Tulsa followed me here I don't know what I'll do. Dad really left a mess for mom and I to clean up. I hate that he led the other journalists into the line of fire that day. It was a bank robbery gone bad and dad had to be right there in the action. Two co-workers were killed and one injured, and dad died too.

The media flocked to our home after that. The worst part was that I had two people in my life that were affected by my fathers bad decision.

"Morgan, hello?"

I'm not sure how long I've been staring off at the lake, but it must be a while because even Levi is starting to call my name.

"I'm sorry," I tell her. "That's crazy, did she find out what they wanted?"

"I don't know," she tells me. "I just thought you should know."

"I appreciate it, thank you."

"Stay safe girl," she says.

I attempt to put my phone back in my back pocket, but the shaking is so bad that it takes me three tries before I do. My eyes are trained on the choppy lake, that doesn't look as warm as it did the first day I was here. You can tell summer is ending soon. I zone out to the point that I can no longer hear the steaks sizzling on the grill. My chest is tight like someone has my body in a vice and someone keeps saying, pull the lever over and over again.

"Steaks are done," Levi is so close, that when I turn around I nearly smack into him.

"Woah, you alright?"

He takes in my appearance and I wonder what my face looks like at this very moment.

"That was Shae," I say, surprised I still have a voice. It's shaky, but it's working. "She said there was this guy taking pictures at practice and she heard him ask the coach about me," I say, shivering - not because I'm cold though.

"Did she say what this guy looked like?"

Levi's squares his shoulders like he's ready for a fight.

I shake my head, "No idea, she just wanted to give me a heads up," I say.

My voice wobbles as I let out a breath.

"Is there any reason why someone would ask to take your picture?"

"Yo! Your steaks are about to become charcoal!"

We both glance over at the steam pouring from the grill, Charlotte stands there, her kabobs in hand and arms crossed staring at us.

"Shit, sorry," he says, rushing to save the steak.

He lifts the lid and pulls them off the grill, "Still good!" he calls out, meat thermometer in hand.

I give a smile, but stall walking over for another few seconds. I'm conflicted if I should tell mom or not. If I tell her she'll just worry and we'll probably be packed up and back on the road before morning. If I don't tell her and things progress the way they did back in Tulsa with people harassing us then she'll be angry I didn't say anything.

Levi jogs back over to the edge of the deck where I'm still standing like a moron.

"Do you want me to take you home? You look worried."

"No, I'm okay. We should eat."

Levi introduces me to Charlotte as we all sit down at a picnic table at the far corner of the deck. She chows down on her kabobs while Levi and I enjoy some steak.

"Where are you from?" she asks me, as I cut myself another peice of steak.

"Tulsa, we just moved here a few days before school."

"That's cool," she says, her mouth full of red pepper, "I'm from here, but I started living with dad right before school started."

I nod, acting like I knew that Levi's dad no longer lived here. It does explain a bit about why he's been so short tempered, I'm positive even without knowing that this development is a bit recent.

"Why don't you tell her about cheerleading," Levi says, attempting to change the subject.

"Yeah, Charlotte," I smile, "how long have you been cheering?" I ask.

"Since I was four. Mom put me in one of those gyms and I've been a high flyer since," she says, straightening her back.

"That's amazing, this is my first year back at it. I had a setback in seventh grade," I tell her.

"Oh, that's too bad, how do you like the team here?" she asks.

Staring at this young girl sitting at the table, I realize that she's not ten, she's around twelve and can hold a conversation like she's a young adult. It seems she and Levi probably had to grow up fast, since their parents were not around much, which I heard from Ethan.

"It's cool. I mean I made it so I have to be doing something right. Today's practice was pretty tough, I haven't cheered since then, but I've danced. I realized I forgot a lot since then," I say.

She laughs, "I dance too. I go to this great studio right here in town, been going since I was a toddler."

"That's awesome, maybe when I get settled more I'll try it out. I haven't danced in a few months either."

"You should," she tells me with a smile.

We finish dinner and before it's over Charlotte comes waltzing out of the house with a basket of S'mores in her hands.

"The grill is still hot," she calls over. "I got sustenance."

For another twenty minutes while the sun begins to set we stand by the grill with sticks and roast marshmallows. I'll probably have to run for a month to get rid of all the weight I've gained.

Afterwards Levi and I head upstairs. I drop my backpack next to Levi's bed as we head to the roof.

"Oh," I say, bending down into my bag, "I have your sweater."

I'd forgotten I washed and packed his sweater this morning before school. I pull it out of my bag with my sketchpad and pencils, then try to hand him his sweater.

"You may need it tonight, supposed to go down to sixty, gonna be a bit chilly."

He takes it from me and rests it over my shoulders, and I settle myself into it. His warm body is so close to mine that I feel mine heating up from the closeness. He leads me to the window and I climb out first. I sit and get settled, while he does the same.

I glance out over the lake for a moment and the sky is lit up with a pinkish/purple tint as the golden sun is setting. I immediately open to a clean page and start sketching the background before I get to him. The sunset tonight will be etched in my memory, but I want to make sure I capture it just right. He leans over looking at the page and scoffs, "That doesn't look like me..."

"Shush you, I'm giving you a pretty backdrop," I tell him.

He chuckles, "Oh, do you want to see yours?" he asks.

"Why don't you surprise me on Friday when it's due?"

"Yeah, and you do the same," he says, sitting back.

"Then stop looking," I tease.

He smirks.

By the time I"ve almost finished the outline of my sketch, the sky turns dark and the clear skies lead way to a starry night sky. A door slams from somewhere in the house and Levi jumps again, his face losing color. Then I hear it.

"I don't give a fuck what Brandi wants, if that little slu..."

"Well, um... maybe I should take you home?" he questions, over their loud voices.

I have a feeling those voices are his folks. I nod, closing up my sketch pad and start to stand.

"Can you give me a minute though?"

I nod, and follow him into the room.

"Just hang out here, okay?"

I nod again, unsure if there's anything I can say in this situation to make any of it better. I start to put my things away when I hear more yelling.

"Can't you guys ever shut the fuck up? I have a guest over and she doesn't want to hear about our problems."

"You better watch your tone young man," a deep male voice fights back.

"I'm not watching shit. Why don't you take Charlotte and go live your fancy life with your secretary and stop coming here," I hear Levi yell.

"You don't know anything, so back off," the other male who I assume is his dad says.

"Just go! You're both an embarrassment," Levi yells, his voice breaking at the end.

I don't hear Levi anymore, just angry steps like a herd of elephants - how one boy can make so much noise I'll never know. His bedroom door swings open and I jump as it nearly hits me. Concern flashes in his eyes when he notices how close I was.

"God Morgan I'm so sorry. I should take you home."

"Okay, yeah."

I scoop my bag off the floor and throw it over my shoulder. As we walk out of the house I can still faintly hear the sounds of two voices shouting at each other. I glance over at Levi, he's got his hands balled up into fists at his side as we walk together to this car. I'm taken back by the force of the door shutting when he slams it, in fact I make it a point to grip the sides of his seats, worried that he might speed off down the road - only he doesn't. Maybe he just wants to take his time bringing me home so that he doesn't have to go back to that.

We spend the less than five minute ride to my house in silence, in fact I'm not even sure what to say as we pull up to an empty parking spot right in front of the laundry room. He puts the car into park and starts banging on the wheel hard enough that it shakes the car. I unbuckle my belt and lean over towards the door away from him, unsure about where this is heading.

He notices me cowering away from him. His glassy eyes find mine and he tries hard to wipe away a tear that falls so that I don't notice. I act like I don't see it, but keep my eyes on his.

"I'm sorry," he says, sniffling.

"Hey, don't be."

"Dammit!' he curses hitting the wheel again.

He runs a hand through his already messy hair and glances back at me.

"It's complicated..."

"You don't have to explain..."

"I do," he says. "I do."

"Okay, if it makes you feel better," I tell him.

He nods, "My parents were always gone a lot, but there was one thing I always knew from the time I was I don't know six...that my dad was always unfaithful. They may have never been home, but the times that they weren't they were never with each other. Dads a really well known lawyer and he always traveled to the city a lot, and mom she's a surgeon so she was gone a lot for that."

He stops for a minute and tugs at the ends of his hair, like the pain from that will take away the pain he's feeling in his heart.

"Mom always knew, but she never did anything until he slept with his secretary and mom's best friend."

"Wow," I say.

I'm not sure if I'm shocked by the story itself or shocked that he felt like he could confide in me. I wish I could do the same, but for now I'm still keeping my past a secret.

"That's intense, how is your sister with everything?"

"Charlotte was always, team dad, no matter what he did - that man could do no wrong in her eyes. That's why she lives with him now. She and my mom never really got along, ever since she was a toddler, it was like my sister just had it out for her."

I rest my hand over his even though mine is covered by the enormous sleeve of Levi's sweater. He turns his hand over and connects my fingers into his and it's like finding a missing puzzle piece. My entire body fires up on all cylinders and I'm taken back by the feeling it brings me.

I don't tell him sorry, because I hated when people would say they were sorry that my dad was dad, or sorry that people were coming after us - I know now none of them meant it and I don't want him to think I'm pitying him.

"That's really shitty," I say instead.

I take notice of the sides of his lips, they twitch like they want to smile. I squeeze his hand and he does the same back.

"It is really shitty isn't it?" he questions a smirk returning to his face.

I laugh and nod, and he laughs alongside me.

"I should go," I tell him, "I can see my mom leaning over the rail," I say, looking up through the windshield.

"Let me at least introduce myself," he says.

"Really?"

"If that's okay?"

"Yeah, sure come on."

Levi let's go of my hand and I don't know why, but it feels empty now that it's gone. He steps out of the car and I follow, but before I leave I take the sweatshirt off - not wanting to give him any ideas and gently fold it onto his seat. I shut the door and he smiles waiting for me at the steps.

He follows me up and as we get to the top mom starts walking towards us. Her eyes are showing some relief in them and I'm not sure what has her so worked up unless the coach called her about what happened today.

"Hi Mrs. Adams, I'm Levi," he says, extending his hand.

"So your Levi."

I can see it in her eyes, she wants to tell me how cute he is too.

"It's nice to meet you," he tells her.

"Same."

Levi turns to me and mom does it right there in front of him, she mouths; he's a babe - and right there I want to crawl into that hole again.

"I should go, but I just wanted to say hi," he says.

"Oh, yes. It was nice to meet you. Thank you for getting my daughter home safe."

"Not a problem Mrs. Adams," he says, looking her straight in the eye. Then he turns to me, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," I whisper.

As he walks by he allows his fingers to brush over mine and my whole body tenses. I try so hard to not let mom see the look on my face, especially when he glances back over his shoulder at the top of the step. My heart pounds so hard that you could probably see it pumping out of my chest.

Once he's in the car I turn to mom and she's smiling, "Wow, we move to New York and you've got two guys after you..."

"Mom oh-my-god stop," I laugh, her humour is making me feel a little better.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asks, "I heard about what happened."

So the coach did call her, I sigh.

"My friend Shae called me, but I don't really know anything further than he asked about me."

"We have to be on our toes now. I can't have them knocking at our door and yelling things at us again. I just hope it's a fluke and that it was just him."

"Me too," I say.

"Wanna paint our nails?" mom asks, changing the subject.

"Yes, my toes are chipping so bad," I laugh.

Mom smiles and throws an arm over me, "So Levi and Ethan, huh?" she asks as we head for the front door.

"Mom," I laugh, rolling my eyes

"Just be safe my dear."

"I know. I will."