The next morning, Sebastian, Cheyenne, and I rode in Sebastian's car to go to school, but right before we had reached the end of the alley, a gold Charger pulled in the way and it took no time between Sebastian slamming on the breaks and then he was slamming the door shut when he stepped outside. I exited the car as well, still catching my breath.

"Are you f*cking stupid!?" Sebastian yelled at Hayden, who was climbing out of the Charger. The cuts on his face from his fight with Sebastian seemed to be reopened and unhealed. However, his blue eyes were strong.

"I'm sorry, I just really need to talk to Angela right now," he said with a broken voice. I looked over to Cheyenne, who was in utter shock, and then back to Hayden. Sebastian would've approached him if it wasn't for the traffic. He was pissed.

"And you think she'll go with you after you nearly killed us back there!?" he screamed. Hayden muttered an apology, but then looked over to me.

"Please," was all he needed to say in an audible voice, before I walked over and climbed into his car. He joined me on the leather seating, but when I reached for his car keys, I took them.

"What's wrong?" I asked, looking over at him.

"I..." he tried to form words. He was in worse condition than Dastan and there was no way for him to deny it. "I messed up."

I stayed quiet. I couldn't ask him questions that I asked Dastan. I could only really listen to what he had to say. He looked over to me with dark blue eyes.

"I'm sorry about what I did to you on Monday. I shouldn't have pressured you when I know that you and Kenneth are already together. I was rushing...us and everything we have...or had," he apologized. I wasn't even worried about Kenneth at this point. I just worried as to why Hayden was so...distressed right now.

"It's okay," I whispered and meant it. Even though I cried for all of that time in Proliator's arms, I accepted Hayden's apology because I knew he meant it and he was being the Hayden that he portrayed to me this entire time, aside from Monday.

"It's not," he denied. "From the first day you got here I wanted you. And because Vega said that you were the girl that dared to—"

"Dastan?" I asked. What could I say? Another surprising action by Mr. Dastan Vega...But I do recall him being furious at my initial week of associating with Hayden, yet yesterday he'd rather me to be with him? It made no sense...as par usual.

"He said you were the girl that—never mind. I'll explain it later..."

"Explain it now," I demanded. He stressfully sighed.

"Can I at least get my keys so we're not late to school?" he asked.

"Fine," I allowed and then handed him the keys. He stuck it in the ignition and then drove off.

"You are the only girl that ever dared to backtalk Vega—not even Mickie does that," he reminded. So what? "Of course that spread around and your beautiful face with that amazing confidence? Everyone wanted you...I, especially, wanted you."

Oh.

"So I got even closer to you and I screwed it up when I fought with Sebastian over stupid shit...I thought there was no way to reconcile with you, but then I find out that you spent the entire day with Dastan, I thought that maybe you'd give me a chance if you gave him one."

"Hayden, that's why I went out with you on Monday in the first place," I informed. "But how could you expect me to want to be with you just like that, all because you think I want some social connection?"

"I was being stupid," he said. "I know you're not like that. I was an idiot for thinking you would want that popularity from me."

He pulled into his front parking spot at school and started to turn the car off.

I had made my decision about Hayden, based off of his actions on Monday night, but now...I was contradicting them.

"The only thing I want from you is you," I said to him. He looked over to me for a moment before climbing out of the car. He walked around and opened my door.

"Can you do me a favor?" he asked, holding out his hand. I nodded. "Give me another chance to redeem myself."

I was sure that if I gave Dastan an unlimited amount of chances when he was an ass to me, I'd give Hayden the same liberty when he had been nothing but nice.

"Of course," I said when he pulled me up from the seat. We kept our hands connected.

"Can we start over?" he asked, timidly.

"There's no need," I smiled. He looked down to our clasped hands and when he looked back up, it was as if the bad Hayden had reset into the smiling one that I always saw around me.

***

Hayden dropped me off at second period—after sprinting from athletics to find me—and he even kissed my cheek before our departure. I sat in my seat with a hidden grin and waited for Dastan. I wanted to thank him for his advice yesterday, but he never showed up. My grin had faded as soon as the late bell rang and he didn't walk in.

"Well, class, I don't know how she did it, but Angela has so kindly given us her pictures from the last football game and pictures of our Varsity football team," Mrs. Hayes said, ecstatically. I did what now? "We're still using the same profile pictures and ads, but we have a new cover page and new team photos."

She even put the template on the screen and, like I knew, I took none of those photos. Of course, I immediately realized this was Dastan's doing. And while everyone was busy decorating the room and updating the school website, Mickie found it within herself to walk into mine and Cheyenne's conversation.

"What did I do? Is it my beanie? I knew I shouldn't have worn it!" Cheyenne immediately assumed Mickie would criticize her outfit. Fighting herself, she placed her forehead against the desk. Mickie turned up her nose and looked to me. Oh joy. What would she bully me with today?

"Good job. I like the photos," Mickie told me. Wait. Was that a compliment? An unforced compliment without any gun held to her head!?

No way.

"T-thanks," I choked out. Then, again, another strange thing happened, because she took a seat next to me.

"So I was thinking that we could go shopping either today or tomorrow, so that we could—"

"Excuse me?" I questioned. Shopping?

"We have to go shopping," she said. "For the party after we win the first round of playoffs."

I sent a confused look to Cheyenne.

"Why is that so weird to have a new outfit for a party?" Mickie said within a pathetic chuckle. 

"Why would I go shopping with you?" I asked.

"She's not even going to the party!"

"You're not going to the party?" Mickey asked with wide eyes. "But...but you have to. Who else is Hayden going to take?!"

"I don't know," I shrugged. "Whoever he wants to, I guess."

Hayden and I had a flirtatious friendship, but we weren't boyfriend and girlfriend. Even if we were, I wouldn't want to be subjected to some tradition that others of girls had been to.

"No," Mickie denied. "You have to go. In order for Hayden to go, you have to go."

"Actually...I don't," I denied. I glanced around and saw other girls listening to my conversation.

"But it's tradition!" Mickie squealed.

"Well I'm not breaking that," I reasoned with a shrug. "I'm sure if he's found a girl up until now, he should be fine this year."

"It wasn't just one girl..." Cheyenne mumbled. What? The bell rang and then Mickie started to stand up.

"Well, when you change your mind, just give me a call," she smiled as if her offer wasn't to be declined. I walked out of Journalism and immediately went the opposite way I normally did.

"It wasn't just one girl" wasn't playing right in my head. I didn't know what to make of it. After all, he could be just like Dastan; go out with a lot of girls. Play them, even.

I made it to Precal and Hayden was there—of course, because his class was next door—and he immediately looked to me with concern.

"Everything alright?" he asked me.

"Yeah," I lied and continued my way into class. As the seat behind me wasn't filled, I felt Dastan's absence more than his deep, dagger-shooting glares he always gave me.

***

"Are you mad at me?" Hayden asked, walking up to my table at lunch. I gave a look to Cheyenne and Nik before standing up from my seat. I heard Hayden sigh, but he still grabbed my binder and trash. I started walking towards the door with him and he threw the tray away for me and still opened the door. He guided me to an empty bench beneath some trees and he looked at me. "You've avoided me all day. What did I do? What happened?"

"So what's the tradition with the playoff parties?" I asked him in a nonjudgmental tone. He shut his mouth and slightly looked down. He knew what I meant. It was already around school that I was denying Hayden's party invitation, although I never even got one. I was just shocked that everyone expected me to go with him anyways.

"Ever since I made Varsity in sophomore year, it was...custom for me to bring a different girl to each party after every won playoff game—actually; I brought a different girl to every party, anyways," he admitted. As I understand it, the situation is worse because this school's football team is a State-winning team. "I don't know if you're mad that I was with all of those girls, or that I hadn't asked you to go yet...either way, I'm sorry, and I hope you know that."

I didn't actually care about being asked or not because I was leaving this weekend regardless.

"Who said I was mad in the first place?" I asked him. He stressfully sighed, knowing that he put himself into a hole. "I just want to know what exactly you have to do with me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well I'm just another one of those girls, right?" I asked. He dropped my binder to the ground and pulled me onto his lap with a hiss, as if in pain.

"You're not like any of those girls, Angela. Don't you ever think that," he said, firmly. His blue eyes melted into mine. "The only thing I want to do is be with you. That's it, okay? Forget about who I've been before I met you."

"I don't think that's possible," a new voice said. I looked over and saw Dastan. He continued to walk by us with his hood up and his head down. I had no idea he was even here. Hayden moved me off of his lap and chased his best friend. I leaned down to pick up my binder and hoped that I could hear their conversation.

"Make up your mind," Hayden told him. With his tone, I realized I should've said Hayden chased his punching bag down. 

"How can I do that when you've made up yours?" Dastan retorted, turning to face Hayden in a threatening way. I had a feeling that they weren't talking about me. "I had this all under control until you f*cked it up."

"Yeah. That's exactly why—"

"Shut up," Dastan ordered in a deadly tone I had never seen him use to Hayden. He didn't even use that much anger towards Sebastian. "Shut your damn mouth before I make sure you can never open it again, so help me God."

That's when I got up and stepped between them. They staged fights all the time between each other, but I had never seen Dastan so mad before. His eyes nearly glowed red with fury, unless that's how much I perceived it, although no human could have authentic red eyes swirling with a visual hatred.

"Guys—"

"Stay out of this, Angela," Hayden growled down to me. His warning blue eyes connected to me, but I was still looking at Dastan. He looked as if he was about to lunge at Hayden.

"But—"

"Go away, Angela," Hayden told me once more, this time glancing from me to Dastan and back and forth. "Something can happen and he can hurt you—"

"Don't you ever dare say that again," Dastan hissed at Hayden, stepping near him...which meant stepping closer to me. He kept his gaze on Hayden. "I can never ever hurt her and don't you take it in your sick mind to try to persuade her otherwise."

As menacing as he seemed, I couldn't fear Dastan anymore. He was dead serious, but it didn't sway Hayden's concern for me.

"Do something you'll regret and I won't have to be the one to convince her," Hayden replied. Somehow, that was a smack in the face to Dastan because he lightly shook his head and looked over to me with eyes that seemed to give off...sadness. His menacing stature had subsided and he reached out to touch my waist, but no matter what assurance he gave, I flinched back.

"I can't..." he whispered to me as if I knew what that meant or maybe what he'd finish the sentence with, but then it gave me a memory of the Proliator, minus the accent.

Dastan didn't send another conclusive look to Hayden. He only stalked away in a new emotion.

"I can't."