"I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE THAT you just left me there!" Marielle screeched as she paced back and forth across my room, scowling me at every time we made eye contact. She made sure to keep that to a minimum. "I was so fucking worried about you! You could have been killed by that psycho that's running around out there! Even I could have been killed! I was left stranded until I phoned my mum to come and pick me up. Do you have any idea how much I want to slap you?!"

I sat there, wide eyed at her sudden outburst, trying not to laugh as the vein in her forehead stuck out like a sore thumb. Sophie was sitting beside me, completely silent but I could tell she was also having a hard time trying to keep quiet. Marielle couldn't be taken seriously when she was angry. She hardly ever got angry, but when she did it was like a joke.

"Look, I said I was sorry about a hundred times, May. Can't we just leave it?" I asked, frowning as she narrowed her eyes at me. Clearly, I should have kept my mouth shut.

"Just leave it?!" she gasped. "You had me panicking like hell, Laura! You just disappeared!"

"I told you that I was going to the bathroom." I argued.

"Yeah, and you failed to mention that you were never to return!" Marielle said, running a hand through her hair in annoyance. I lowered my gaze to the bags that she had been kind enough to bring over, my Halloween costume sitting folded neatly at the bottom along with the other few things to go along with the vampire themed gown.

"I went to get some fresh air outside and I . . . bumped into someone." I said. My friends looked at me curiously, pondering the word 'friend'. That's when I remembered that I hadn't mentioned anything about the previous day to them - nothing at all. I guessed that they would be finding out today, it was obvious that they were going to bug me about what had happened until I finally gave in.

"And who was this 'friend'?" Sophie asked, nudging my shoulder ever so slightly. I felt a blush colour my cheeks and a small smirk appeared on my face as an image of Zayn flashed through my mind.

"Zayn happened to be in the neighbourhood." I said, with a small shrug.

"Oh, my God, May! She's blushing!" Sophie said as she pinched my cheek with her thumb and fore finger. I brushed her off and looked back up at Marielle, wondering how she would take the news. Marielle still wasn't that fond of Zayn, refusing to see the wonders that everyone else saw in him. I was just waiting for her to rub in the fact that she had been right about me falling for him.

"What happened then?" Marielle asked, walking over to me slowly. She sat down on the opposite side of me and crossed her legs as she waited for me to answer her. I wondered just how much I should have told them. I was positive that if I mentioned the part about where we had kissed, that it would spark some insane reaction from the both of them.

"Well, he saw me outside and he said I didn't look too well. Then he offered to take me home and I agreed." I said with a small shrug. When they didn't say anything, I continued. "Then I fell asleep in his car an-"

"He has a car?" Marielle asked, an eyebrow raised. Just like myself, she hadn't been expecting Zayn to have one. Clearly, Sophie didn't either as she started to giggle beside me like a two year old.

"Ooh, what kind?" Sophie asked, shaking my arm and I rolled my eyes as she squealed again.

"Are you going to let me finish or not?" I asked and she shut up immediately. "Then, instead of taking me home, he took me back to his place."

"You  didn't fuck did you?" Sophie asked all of a sudden, her eyes wide. I gaped at her, horrified that she had even thought of such a thing. How could she even begin to think that I would let that happen?

"Sophie, what the hell?!" I asked, hiding my face in my hands. "No! That's just . . . Ew, no!"

"You're blushing again." Sophie commented, nudging my side with a large grin on her face. "Don't worry, we won't tell a soul. But we're just so happy that you're becoming a grown woman now an-"

"Sophie!" I yelled. "We didn't do anything!" I said, pushing her aside. Before she could process what was going on, she tumbled off the side of the bed and landed in a heap on the carpet, in a tangle of limbs. Marielle and I burst out laughing as we watched Sophie try and regain herself as quickly as she could.

"Hey!" she yelled as she pulled herself up into a sitting position on the floor, glaring up at me.

"Well, you were saying crude things." I shot back and she rolled her eyes at me, smirking as she did.

"So what did happen?" Marielle asked, her anger from before, quickly replaced with curiosity.

"Well, he carried me into his house-"

"Eek!" Sophie squealed, covering her  mouth with her hands. "Sorry."

"Then when I woke up, I was on his couch with a hot water bottle and cover." I said, shrugging. I was purposely trying to put off telling them about the kiss, knowing that they would definitely  make a big deal out of it. They were my best friends, so things like that were important to them for some reason.

"Quit holding back, Mitchell. Tell us more." Marielle said, leaning towards me slightly.

"Tell me more, tell me more." Sophie sang the song which I recognised from Grease and I shook my head and rolled my eyes at her stupidity.

"He made us tea and showed me around his house."

"I can't believe you've been inside that house now." Marielle said, smirking. "Do you remember all the scary stories we made up as kids?"

"Yeah, those were funny." Sophie said, smirking. She blew her red hair out of her face and smiled back up at me, as if waiting for me to say something else. "More." she said.

They wanted me to tell them more? After I was provided with a tour, Zayn and I had made out like hell. How was I supposed to edge my way around the most exciting thing that had happened that night?

"Well, he's got a massive study in there. Full of books, drawing and paintings. Things like that." I said. "Everything's really old fashioned."

"Is he an antique collector?" Marielle asked all of a sudden and I frowned. What did that have to do with anything?

"I don't really know, but lots of the table and paintings looked pretty ancient." I said, grinning as I tucked my hair behind my ear. I smiled to myself, remembering how Zayn had said that he loved it when I done that. I couldn't help but remember back to the night before, when we had finally broken apart after several more kisses.

"You're getting better." Zayn said, his voice muffled against the side of my neck. I shivered at his closeness, my hands still running wildly through his hair. "Almost a professional."

"Hardly." I chuckled as his hands grasped mine in his larger, colder ones, entwining our fingers together. I shivered once again at his cool skin contrasting against mine, which had become furiously warm after our make out session.

"You win my vote every time." he whispered against my throat.

"Laura!" Sophie yelled all of a sudden and I shook my head, coming back into reality as memories of the night before flashed through my head.

"W-what?" I asked, clearing my throat before I tried again. "What?"

"You're like a flippin' tomato." Marielle said, tapping my cheek and I groaned. It was ridiculous how such memories could bring colour to my cheeks.

"You're not telling us everything, are you?" Sophie asked, an eyebrow raised in suspicion. I gaped at her. Was I really that obvious? I knew I wasn't a great liar, but surely I was able to be subtle about things such as a kiss?

Apparently not.

"Er, kind of." I said, scratched the back of my neck as awkwardness took over me.

"You either are, or you're not." Marielle said with a shrug.

I let out a sigh. Who was I kidding? They were going to find out sooner or later, weren't they? For all I knew, Zayn might even tell them if he bumped into them.

"I have been so far, but there was . . . more." I said quietly.

"Ooh," Sophie chuckled before she looked over at Marielle with a sly grin on her face. "'More' she says."

"Sophie, shut up." I groaned before I fell back against my mattress, sighing as I did. Marielle copied my actions and lay down beside me, soon followed by Sophie, who had managed to pull herself up, off of the ground and onto the bed. She settled in between the two pillows at the top of the bed, and rested her chin on top of her clasped hands.

"So, tell us. You can trust us, Laura. You know that." Marielle said, laying a hand over mine in a comforting gesture. I gave her a small smile and nodded before I took a deep breath. It was now or never.

"Zayn . . . might have mentioned that he liked me." I said and the both of them gasped.

"What did you say?"

"Well, I told him that guys never really usually like me and then he said that he did, so . . . yeah."

"Aw!" Marielle and Sophie squealed at the same time, bouncing on the bed slightly.

"So, what else? What else?!" Sophie shrieked, leaning forward so she could hear a bit better.

"Well, he showed me around the house and then he showed me his bedroom-"

"Oh, this is getting interesting." Sophie said and I slapped her leg lightly.

"And he asked me how I was feeling - because I was sick at the cinema-," I said, looking over at Marielle who rolled her eyes at me and nodded for me to continue. "And I told him 'better' and then . . . he asked how I would feel if he . . . kissed me again."

"Again?!" Marielle asked, sitting up. "He's kissed you before?"

Shit, I forgot to tell them about that. Even after Sophie had called me back on the night Zayn had been invited over for dinner, I hadn't mentioned it to her, and that was almost three weeks ago now. I hadn't even bothered to bring the subject up two weeks after it had happened.

"Er, yeah." I stammered.

"When was this?"

"When he came over for dinner." I said and Sophie gasped.

"You promised that you would tell me everything! How could you miss out that juicy piece of information?!" she moaned, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting at me.

"Never mind that!" Marielle said, waving her hand at Sophie to silence her. "What did you say back?"

"I kind of stammered. I was shocked that he'd asked me that so I started rambling and eventually I said that I didn't know."

"Talk about ruining the moment." Sophie muttered and I scowled at her.

"Then he said he'd help me change my mind and then he . . . kissed me." I said, blushing madly.

"Oh, Laura, you little minx!" Marielle laughed.

"But it was more of a snog, to be honest." I muttered and Sophie's eye widened.

"So, it wasn't an innocent peck on the lips, it was like . . . tongues and all?" she asked, an eyebrow raised.

I nodded slowly and then let out a sigh as they got me to tell them everything about what had actually happened. I didn't hold back when telling them about the drawings either and they seemed most interested in the one sitting on my bedside table.

"He's amazing at drawing." Marielle said while studying the drawing in her hands. Sophie peered at it over her shoulder and she nodded.

"He sure is." Sophie agreed as she looked at the life - like sketch of myself.

"So, what are you two? Is he your dream guy?" Marielle asked me all of a sudden and I frowned.

"Well," I started, not sure exactly what she was meaning. "He's really mysterious and different from other guys I've met. But at the same time, with all of that, I feel . . . safe around him." I said, shrugging and Marielle and Sophie squealed again. I rolled my eyes at them.

"You're definitely growing into a fine young woman." Sophie chuckled.

"So is it official?" Marielle asked and I frowned.

"Is what official?" I asked.

"You and Zayn. You know? Are you an item now? Dating?" she said, eyebrows raised and I froze. What were Zayn and I? Just when she'd asked, the question had come at quite a shock, as it had in fact, been unanswered. What were the pair of us? Neither of us had mentioned anything about taking things further and being in a relationship, so that obviously meant that we weren't . . . right? I mean, sure we both admitted that we liked each other, but did that affect us as friends?

"Er, I'm honestly not too sure about what's going on between us at the moment." I said, telling nothing but the truth. "All I know is that we both like each other."

May and Sophie shared a look all of a sudden, almost as if they were talking to each other with their eyes and I watched closely as they continued to look at each other.

"Do you want it to be official?" Marielle asked me and I frowned. Her question once again, caught me off guard and I had to think for a moment about how to answer.

I'd never been in a relationship before, so the thought of Zayn being my first boyfriend was quite exciting but nerve wracking at the same time. Would I have time for a boy friend with all of my school work and busy schedules?

"I don't know. I'm inexperienced with things like relationships." I said and she nodded, Sophie joining in as well.

"We can always help, you know." Sophie said, resting her chin on my shoulder. Her red hair tickled the side of my neck and the memory of Zayn's lips against my throat clouded my vision.

"Yeah, we can give you tips and teach you how to be in a relationship." Marielle said before she frowned. "I know that sounded incredibly weird, but we've both been in a relationship before, so we could lend you a hand whenever you need it. We're always here for you Laura, you know that and so do we, so if you want to tell us anything or want help, let us know." she finished, wrapping her arm around my shoulders.

At least she had forgotten about the incident at the cinema quicker than I had thought she would.

I leaned into her touch, hugging my friend as a thank you. It wasn't long after that Sophie's arm encircled the both of us as we group hugged. 

"Thanks, guys." I mumbled into Marielle's hair. "You guys are the best friends anyone could ask for." 

And I truly did mean it - they had been there for me from the start, ever since I had met them. Despite Kate's departure from our group, she was also still one of my best friends, I had relied on her so much that I missed her being around. If things were the same as a year ago, there would be four of us huddled up in a hug, not only three.

To be completely honest, I missed having Kate with us. She was like the missing piece of the puzzle and her not with the three of us felt almost foreign.

"SO, YOU JUST DRAW?" I asked as I looked over at Zayn's sketch filled piece of paper. "And it magically turns into a masterpiece?"

Zayn chuckled as he hunched over his drawing, his eyes glued on the area of shading he had been working on for the last lesson. I watched intently as he used the side of his finger to create shadows on the page, making the oak tree look more realistic.

"That's only if you want to call it a 'masterpiece'." he said as he sat back and examined the tree trunk. "Most of the time, I can't get the proportions right unless I have something to look at, like this one for instance. I'm just drawing this tree from memory."

"Well, it's still amazing." I commented as I took in the unfinished leaves and semi finished trunk. "Only unfinished."

 Zayn smiled as he worked, his pencil scratching against the paper as he did. I leaned back over into my own seat and  looked at my nearly finished painting. The previous week, I had finally managed to finish the bowl of fruit I had been working on, and I was currently working on a summer landscape, filling in the main colours of the scene.

So," I started, flicking the paint brush across the paper. "Are you going to the Halloween Disco on Friday night?" I asked, glancing sideways at Zayn who was still working contently on the tree.

"What disco?" he asked, setting his pencil to the side and looking over at my painting.

"Every year the school has a Halloween Disco, and I was wondering if you were going?" I said, dipping the brush into the water pot to clean it. I heard Zayn shift in his seat as he tried to get a better angle of his drawing.

"Nah." he said finally. "I don't do Halloween Discos." he said and I frowned, slightly disappointed.

"Why not? They're usually a lot of fun, especially for the seniors - we usually host it." I said, smiling over at Zayn who was fixing his hair with his hands.

"They're just not my kind of thing, and besides, Halloween isn't very fun." he said, biting his bottom lip as he looked over his paper once again. I wondered why he was so unhappy with it - the guy could draw, and extremely well.

"Aw, but it's the senior party as well!" I said, upset at the thought of Zayn not attending the most ridiculous but fun party of the whole school year. Besides the Christmas Dance, the Halloween Disco was by far, the most fun to attend.

"It'll be just like every other party, I'm sure." he said, smiling at me once again.

"Please come, Zayn." I begged, looking up at him with puppy eyes. He slowly looked down at me, a grin forming on his lips as he took in my pleading stare.

"We'll see." he said, grinning and I huffed. He just didn't like to give a straight answer to anything, did he? I crossed my arms across my chest and scowled at him, my behavior representing that of a five year old who had been denied a sweet from the shop.

"Don't look at me that way." Zayn said, grinning over at me. "I'll give in too quickly."

"Exactly the point." I said, making sure to raise an eyebrow at him before he looked away, shaking his head. I knew he found my childish behavior amusing, the large grin on his face confirmation enough.

"What are you going as?" he asked all of a sudden. "To the disco?"

I thought for a moment, not sure whether to tell him or not. By him asking, he was clearly interested in finding out, so I grinned when an idea came to my mind.

"It's a secret. Unless . . . oh, I don't know, you were to go to the disco, then you would find out." I said, shrugging and looking back around at my half completed painting. Zayn glanced over at me, his dark eyes hypnotic.

"I know what you're doing." he said, grinning before he let out a sigh. "Fine, I'll go. But only for you." he finished with a wink in my direction. I couldn't help but blush at his actions, tucking my hair behind me ear and looking up at the clock. The bell was about to go, so I started to pack up my things, careful with the wet paint.

By the time the bell had went, Zayn and I were the last ones to leave the classroom, laughing about how stupid some of the Halloween costumes were last year. I had told him about the zombie costume Liam had once wore and we had both burst out laughing.

On our way down to the canteen, Zayn slung his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his side. I stopped smiling suddenly, and I looked down as Zayn steered me down the steps and into the lunchroom. I could feel everyone's eyes on Zayn and I as we walked, obviously curious as to how someone like myself was acting so casually around Zayn. Most of the girls in the school were throwing themselves at him and then there was me: trying to act as normally as I could.

I didn't like all of the attention suddenly being directed at me, so I kept my gaze low, watching my shoes as Zayn and I walked through the canteen. Zayn squeezed my shoulder gently and I relaxed a little, comforted by his gesture. I looked up, around the canteen and when my eyes met somebody else's, they would instantly look away.

However, a particular pair of blue eyes caught my attention and I looked away as Kate sat gaping at me, her eyes wide. When I looked back at her, I frowned when I saw how tired and pale she seemed to be, as if the colour and life had been completely drained from her. My eyes darted down to her neck, where a slightly smaller plaster was covering her skin and I frowned. I still hadn't found out what was wrong with her.

As Zayn led me over to the table where all of my friends were sitting, he suddenly pulled his arm back and looked down at me, smiling. He slipped his hand into mine, pulling me closer.

"I have to go hand in some Biology homework. I'll be back soon." he said before he quickly pressed his lips to my cheek. I blushed a violent shade of pink as I felt every pair of eyes in the room, suddenly focus on the pair of us once again. When Zayn dropped my hand I quickly turned to look after him.

"I thought you said you didn't have any homework?" I asked, remembering when I had picked up his folder in his room and asked him if there was anything incomplete. Zayn grinned at me before he rolled his eyes and waved goodbye, turning and dashing up the stairs.

I was glad that everyone had decided to go back to doing their own thing and not keep their eyes glued on me. Everyone except for my friends and the populars. I couldn't help but wave a hand and grin cockily over at Hayley and Megan who looked completely raging. Kate however, still looked rather pale.

I turned and sat down at the table with my friends, Sophie and Marielle sharing a look with each other as I did. Niall was intently watching Zayn as he walked down the hall, his eyes slightly narrowed. Liam, however, was reading a book, his nose almost touching the paper and his body turned away from my own.

"So a devil would be perfect for you, Soph. You know . . . because you're evil." Niall said before he took a drink of his water, a grin on his lips. Sophie lightly smacked his arm before she turned her attention back to me.

"So what were you and Lover Boy talking about?" she asked and I looked down, tucking my hair behind my ear.

"Shut up." I mumbled and out of the corner of my eye, I swear I saw Liam glaring down at his book. "We were just talking about the Halloween Disco."

"Is he going?" Niall asked all of a sudden, his accent thick. "I think it'd be cool if he did."

"I asked him in Art and he finally gave in and agreed." I answered.

"Gave in? You had to persuade him to come along?" Marielle asked, raising an eyebrow.

I sighed. "Yeah, he said Halloween wasn't really much fun for him."

"Then he's an idiot." Sophie said with a grin. She picked a chip of of her plate and began to nibble on it slowly.

"That's what I thought. I told him it was fun at the discos." I said and Marielle grinned before she nodded her head and looked down at her nearly empty plate. I was a little curious as to why everyone was being as quiet as they were, Liam especially. He usually greeted me with an enthusiastic 'Hey!' and a happy smile on his face. Now, he seemed to be ignoring me.

"Do you know what he's going as?" Niall asked.

"Well, he wasn't even planning on going in the first place, so I doubt that he'll have a costume ready yet." I said, my mind wandering and creating images of Zayn dressed up in a silly costume for the disco.

"He should go as Dracula." Sophie said. "He has the bone structure."

"You've been paying attention." I commented and she grinned.

"Not as much as you, apparently." she finished with a wink and I glared at her before I turned and looked at Liam who still hadn't said a word at all.

"You alright, Liam?" I asked, but he never answered, only flipped to the next page of his book.

"Someone's in a mood." Marielle muttered as she looked over at Liam. Slowly, he glanced up at her and glared slightly  before he picked up his book mark and pushed it into the pages he was reading. He held the book tightly in his grasp before he pushed his chair back, his eyes low.

"Where are you going?" I asked as he stood up, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"Library." he bluntly said before he took his rubbish, discarding it into the bin as he made his way up the stairs, towards the library. I frowned as I watched him go, his few words replaying in the back of my head.

"What's wrong with him?" I asked, looking back around at my friends. Everyone shrugged apart from Niall who looked down as I met his eyes.

"Niall." I said sternly and he looked up at me almost in an innocent way.

"Yeah?"

"What's wrong with Liam?" I asked and he frowned, his mouth hanging open as if he were about to speak.

"What makes you think that I know?" he asked, shrugging.

"Because you're his best friend, and he tells you everything." I said. "Also, you're a bad liar, so spit it out."

"It's not my place to say." he said, with a small shrug.

"Oh, things just got interesting." Sophie said, nudging Marielle who nodded and leaned forward to get a better look at Niall who had started to go red. 

"Please tell me Niall. I don't want him to be mad at me for something." I said and Niall's eyes widened.

"Look, just ask him, Laura." Niall said as he stood up, picking his bag up as he did. "He'll probably tell you after recent events."

"'Recent events'?" I questioned. Niall looked up at me again, a small, almost awkward smile on his lips.

"Yeah, you and 'Lover Boy'." he said before he turned and walked away, up the stairs and into the library where Liam had disappeared to. I sat, frozen in my seat, confused at what Niall had meant. Surely, he wasn't saying what I thought he was?

"I think we have a love triangle on our hands." Sophie said, sitting back in her seat with a grin on her face. I gaped at her, shocked that she had even thought of such a thing.

"For once, I think you're right." Marielle said, her eyes meeting mine.

I cleared my throat before I spoke again. "You guys honestly don't think that Niall was saying Liam has a crush on me? Were you?"

I waited for them to speak again, but nothing except a awkward silence fell between the three of us.

"That's exactly what I think he was trying to say. He's jealous because he turned and saw Zayn kissing you." Marielle said.

"It was a kiss on the cheek!" I said. "It was nothing to make him jealous, and besides, he can't have a crush on me. We're good friends."

"Well, it clearly did make him jealous, friend or not." Sophie said.

I sat back in my seat, frustrated at the current situation. Liam couldn't have a crush on me - we were friends, weren't we? Only friends. Yes, very good ones, but there was nothing romantic going on between us. I sighed and turned to look over my shoulder, my eyes meeting Kate's once again but only this time, she looked scared.

Before anyone could say or do anything, she turned and left the canteen, disappearing through the school doors.

"Hmph." exclaimed Sophie. I looked back around and figured that both of them had been watching Kate leave too.

"What?" I asked.

"You're not having a very good time, are ya? Both Kate and Liam wanna kill you now."