My head swam and my throat suddenly hurt, and I had no idea what I was supposed to think. River was my boyfriend, my fiancé, and he was supposedly already engaged the entire time I knew him? But it didn’t even matter! That was ten years ago, when they were kids!

I was so looking forward for this year to be better than the last. I was looking forward to nothing with Mr. Higginson or Arianna, or anything else that had caused me pain in the past. But now there was something else to cause me pain, and it seemed a lot worse.

Well… maybe not worse than the stalker thing, but what could be worse than that?

The only thing I could think of was if someone I loved got killed. That was the only thing that could be worse than getting stalked, but I didn’t even want to think about that.

It was silent for a few moments until the familiar blonde broke the silence.

“Do you really know that girl? She’s psychotic!”

I found myself rolling my eyes at Rex as we made our way to our homeroom, late. Alice had left to go to her homeroom, and I was lucky enough to have all three boys in my homeroom. I hadn’t checked their schedules yet, so I didn’t know about the classes.

I hoped Mrs. Dyas wouldn’t care that we were late, since I was showing new kids around and everything. I was sure she wouldn’t really care, but I was just being paranoid. But I thought that I had the right to be paranoid, especially after what had just happened.

“We were friends when we were little,” River shrugged, hands stuffed in his pockets. “I barely remember her…”

“You don’t remember agreeing to marry someone?” Rex asked in mock-horror, pretending to look appalled. “So, what, are you going to forget that you’re engaged to Deli Sandwich and go propose to some other girl while she waits for you for ten years?”

Seth wacked Rex on the back of his head as my stomach dropped and my face turned white as a sheet. There was no way River would ever do that to me… right? I felt horrible for even thinking that he would! He loved me! Me! Not Kendra or Bekka, me!

I wished that I wasn’t letting this get to my head. It was so annoying. How could I let something that happened ten years ago get to my head?

“Of course I’m not going to do that,” River snapped, grabbing my hand and squeezing it tightly. “I didn’t love Kendra. I love Delilah.”

I found myself smiling, until Rex spoke in a dark voice, “You say that now…”

Whack!

This time it was both Seth and me that hit Rex, but he only burst out laughing. I knew he was joking, he wasn’t insensitive or anything like that, but he was starting to annoy me more than usual. That horrible sinking feeling was still in my chest, and I just wanted it to go away. I didn’t even know what it was!

“Shut it, Rex,” Seth snapped, stuffing his hands in his pockets after he had done so. “You’re just worrying her. Can’t you see she’s paranoid enough?”

“Sorry, Deli Sandwich,” Rex apologized with a grin. “I was just messing with you! You know that I’m not really serious… River loves you!”

“You’re talking like I’m not even here,” River said, squeezing my hand slightly. “But he’s right. I do love you, Delilah. Not Kendra. If anything did happen between us, it was when we were stupid kids. I can’t believe I even agreed to do something like that…”

“Well, you were eight-years-old,” Rex pointed out, striding in front of us, even though he had no idea where to go. “I’m guessing she was a pretty girl, so of course you were going to say yes! What guy wouldn’t?”

River rubbed his free hand over his face. “You’re such an idiot.”

Rex looked insulted, but I knew that he was only pretending. “Why, River, I’m insulted!”

River only rolled his eyes, not even looking at him as we got in front of Mrs. Dyas’s door. I thought that it was going to be open, but it was closed instead. I reached for the doorknob and dropped River’s hand, and I couldn’t help but notice how cold my hand was once his was away from it.

When I opened the door, I could see Mrs. Dyas sitting on her desk, talking to the class. When she heard the door open, she turned her head and smiled at both River and me. “Oh, Delilah, River, you’re here! You’re showing the new students around, correct? That’s great! Come in, come in!”

River and I did as we were told, Seth and Rex following after us. Once I stepped into the classroom, everyone started talking.

“Delilah, you look so pretty today! What kind of straightener do you use?”

“I love your makeup today! Well, I love it every day!”

“You’re so pretty!”

I blinked, definitely not expecting this. Of course it was all girls that were saying this, and it would have been even more surprising if guys were saying this, but I still wasn’t expecting to be complimented like this. What had changed over the summer?

“Hey,” a voice said very flirtatiously from my right, causing me to blink again. I turned to see Trevor Endpound smiling as flirtatious as he possibly could, but it wasn’t directed at me.

It was directed at my boyfriend.

Ahem.

Fiancé. 

There were rumors going around the school that Trevor was gay, but I hadn’t ever had a class with him to see if the rumors were true. But with the seductive way he was looking at my boyfriend, I was definitely sure that the rumors were true.

The girls around me continued to talk, but I wasn’t really listening to them. River was making a face, obviously understanding what Trevor’s intentions were, but he didn’t say anything. He only continued to stand there, next to me and our two best friends.

“He’s straight, man,” Rex said suddenly, which normally would have caused me to burst out laughing if I still wasn’t stressing about what had happened with Kendra minutes before. “You’re out of luck unless River’s been hiding something from us.”

Another smack to the back of the head was what Rex received, courtesy of River.

“I’m not hiding anything, you moron,” River snapped, crossing his arms over his chest moodily.

Trevor smirked, causing me to make a face. I’d seen that smirk so many times before. It was the I’m-not-going-to-give-up smirk. I hated that smirk.

“Well, emos are usually gay, aren’t they?” Rex asked curiously, as if it was an afterthought. “That’s what everyone in middle school said.”

“Not all of them!”

“Someone’s getting defensive… Are you sure you’re not--”

“I’m not gay!”

I was laughing by then, even though I knew I shouldn’t have been. There was no way that River was gay, but I loved how frustrated he got when someone teased him the way Rex was. He just got so cute. Even though he hated it when I called him cute, I’d always think that he was.

“That can be changed,” Trevor sing-songed from his seat, causing me to stop laughing almost immediately. There was no way he was going to turn River. No way in hell. River looked disgusted, anyway.

River scowled, pulling me to his chest protectively. My cheeks turned bright red, because I then remembered that we were in front of the whole class, and Mrs. Dyas was smiling patiently at us.

“You all can sit in the back,” she smiled once we had given her our attention. “There’s a seat for each of you.”

We nodded, making our way to the back of the classroom. I plopped down in my seat, letting out a long sigh as River, sat to my left, Seth sat to my right, and Rex sat next to him.

The person in front of me turned around, smirking. “Why, hello there.”

I felt my stomach drop when I saw that this person was Jay. I’m surprised the girls hadn’t jumped him when he entered the room, but it looked like a few of them wanted to. They were watching us like we were a climax in the middle of a movie.

“Hi.”

“Aw, Delilah, you don’t have to be so harsh,” he said, feigning hurt. I only continued to give him a flat look, waiting for him to turn back around so I could listen to whatever Mrs. Dyas was saying. She was also my science teacher, and I had that class after lunch.

Jay rolled his eyes, smirking as he turned back around in his seat. I found myself rolling my eyes as well, not really understanding how girls could like him. Sure, he was good looking, I guess, but he wasn’t anything special. He wasn’t River. I had never had a huge crush on him, but it wasn’t like I hated him or anything.

“You know, you made Kendra cry pretty hard,” Jay murmured loud enough for only me to hear. I rolled my eyes once again, not being able to control myself.

“So? She said she was engaged to my fiancé,” I reminded him flatly, in case he somehow forgot. It was just so stupid; how could Kendra actually think that River would wait ten years for her, especially when he didn’t even remember who she was?

“I finally had to send her to her homeroom looking like a raccoon because of her running makeup. I hope she doesn’t get picked on…”

I continued to stare at the back of his head flatly. Was he trying to make me feel guilty? Because it wasn’t working. I wasn’t about to feel guilty for Kendra. Why should I feel bad for her? River and I had been through so much together, and it was finally time all our troubles went away. But it didn’t seem like that was going to happen anytime soon, no matter what.

“So?”

Jay rolled his eyes, leaning back in his chair. “I’m just saying… you really hurt her. She really did love River…”

“I love him more.”

“Possessive, aren’t we?”

“Very.”

Jay chuckled, shaking his head. We were talking quietly enough for no one else to hear, and my two best friends and fiancé didn’t even seem to notice, which was a good thing. Rex and Seth would make fun of me for it, and River would get jealous for no reason. Even though it was cute when River got jealous…

He didn’t say anything back to me, so I leaned back in my chair and zoned out as Mrs. Dyas continued talking on and on about school rules and other stuff that I had heard a bunch of times before. No fighting, dress appropriately, and blah, blah, blah. Not important.

When the door opened, I wasn’t expecting to see Mr. Higginson standing there, a note in his hand. I let out a small scream, earning everyone to snap their heads in my direction.

“Delilah?” River asked, almost jumping out of his desk so that he was at my side.

I blinked rapidly, shaking my head as quickly as I could. When I looked back over at the door, it was only an underclassman sent to give a note to Mrs. Dyas.

“I… I just… thought I saw Mr. Higginson,” I explained, burying my face in my hands. These hallucinations were never going to stop. I was going insane! No wonder I had to go to therapy once a week…

“Mr. Higginson?” Jay asked from in front of me, sounding amused. “Who’s that?”

I didn’t feel like answering him, but even if I was going to say anything, I would have been cut off by Mrs. Dyas saying, “Delilah, they need you up in the office.”

What would they need me for? Did I do something wrong? It was the first day of school!

“Ooh,” most of the kids chanted, causing me to roll my eyes. I walked passed River to the front of the room, and with shaky hands I took the note form Mrs. Dyas and exited the room.

I could only hope I wasn’t going to get in trouble.

Maybe Kendra had told Headmistress Pease that I had made her cry! It wasn’t like I did it on purpose or anything! I was marrying River, and there was nothing she could do about that! Maybe if she didn’t move away they would have a chance together, but now it was too late!

When I got into the office, I was still shaking slightly. I always did this whenever I thought I saw Mr. Higginson, and I wondered when that was going to stop as well. The secretary smiled and told me to sit down, which I did almost immediately. I didn’t want to get into any trouble.

“Delilah,” a voice said from my side, causing me to jump and let out a scream. What was with people sneaking up on me like that all the time? Was I fun to scare? When I turned toward the person that had scared me, I let out a breath of relief when I saw that it was my therapist, Dr. Kite, who was staring at me with wide eyes as she said, “Are you alright? Is everything okay?”

I was breathing rather heavily as she placed a hand on my shoulder. “I thought I saw Mr. Higginson… twice today.”

Dr. Kite patted my back. “I know, that’s why I’m here. Headmistress Pease called me and said that you saw Mr. Higginson earlier today. Did you see him again after the first time?”’

I nodded, rubbing my forehead. “When the girl that gave Mrs. Dyas the note came inside the classroom, I thought it was him.”

“Everything’s alright.”

“I know.”

And she just talked to me from there, telling me about how everything’s going to be okay, and asking about River and how I felt and other things therapists are supposed to ask. I never felt safer anywhere else but this school, not even Bentwood, and I hoped that it would never change.  

*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~*

“You weren’t in third period,” Alice informed me matter-of-factly after she plopped down on her bed, as if I didn’t know. I didn’t go to first, second, or third period because I was talking with Dr. Kite. And I felt a lot better after I had done so.

“I was talking to Dr. Kite,” I told her truthfully, lying down on my bed myself. “I thought I saw Mr. Higginson twice today, so Headmistress Pease called her and asked her to come down and talk to me. I really needed that… I was so freaked out.”

“River was pretty freaked out,” Alice said with an amused smirk, causing me to shoot up into a sitting position onto the bed. Even though I had already told River where I was for the first half of the day, I still felt paranoid about Kendra. Had she really cried as much as Jay said she did?

“Ugh… the Kendra girl,” I groaned, falling back onto my bed. “She’s so… ugh. Every time I think of her and River together, I get such a horrible sinking feeling in my chest…”

Alice’s eyes lit up. “You don’t know what that is?”

I blinked, lifting my head to look at her. “No? What do you mean?”

Alice rolled her eyes, sitting at the edge of my bed now. “You don’t know what that feeling is? You’ve never felt it before? Ever?”

I shook my head in confusion. “No…?”

“You’re jealous, Delilah!”

My mind blanked as I tried to take what she had said in. I hadn’t ever been jealous before, at least not like this. River got easily jealous, and I knew that he had felt this before, but I had never had this sinking feeling of jealousy before. No girl had shown as much interest in River like Kendra did before then.

“River will be so happy when he finds out you’re jealous! He always gets so easily jealous whenever another guy hits on you!” Alice giggled, crossing her legs as she bounced slightly on the bed. “It’s so cute! You guys are so perfect for each other, Delilah!”

It was so strange to think that Alice and I used to hate each other. She had spit in my coffee, laughed when I tripped, and just full-out hated me. And I felt the same way about her. It took some time, but after a while we became really good friends. I wanted to get along with my best friend’s girlfriend, so I had to suck it up and be nice to her. But now she was a great friend of mine.

“Hello, hello, I’m coming inside,” a new voice said, knocking on the door as they opened it and walked inside. Alice and I smiled when we saw Marnie shut the door behind her, making her way and sitting down on Alice’s bed, looking so innocent as she did so. “So… what did I miss?”

“Delilah’s jealous!” Alice blurted, giggling like crazy after she had done so. I rolled my eyes, waving a hand in front of my face, as if that was going to get rid of my blush.

“I… I’m not…”

“She so is! It’s so cute!”

“How are you jealous?” Marnie asked, her head cocking to the side as her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Did something happen with River…?”

“An old friend of River’s just entered the school,” Alice explained, cutting me off before I could. “Ten years ago, when they were kids, they promised that they were going to get married. She actually thought that they were still going to get married until she saw Delilah! And what’s the best thing about it? It’s Jay Harris’s sister!”

Marnie blinked, taking the information in. She looked confused at first, but the look quickly went away and was replaced with a grin. “Aw, Delilah, that’s so cute! I don’t think I’ve ever seen you jealous before! It’s always just River! This is so cute!”

It was strange that Marnie and I were such great friends, too. I was introduced to her as her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend, and she looked like she would have killed me if Seth wasn’t standing right there. But now we were best friends, and Alice was just as good friends with Marnie as she was with me.

“It’s not cute,” I insisted, and I couldn’t help but think that I kind of sounded like River. “I don’t like this feeling.”

“Well, no one does!” Marnie giggled. “How do you think River feels every time you get hit on? You know how he feels about himself; I’m sure he’s terrified that you’re going to think some guy’s better than him and leave him!”

“I--I’d never do that!” I stuttered, shaking my head violently.

I was sure that that was how River was feeling whenever another guy tried to hit on me or something. I knew that River didn’t like how he was, and I was sure he thought that I was going to leave him for some other guy. But I wasn’t going to do that. I loved River more than anything.

“I’m so glad I have a new roommate,” Marnie told us, stretching a little. “Bekka was so annoying. I can’t believe I actually thought she was my best friend for a while. She doesn’t care about anyone but herself. Oh, yeah, and Avery. She talked about him nonstop after they got together.”

I couldn’t help but think of Arianna as Marnie said this, causing me to give the carpet a flat look. Arianna and I hadn’t talked to each other since the night of the party at my house, and I couldn’t have been happier about that. I didn’t want to talk to Arianna after what she had done. I actually thought that she was my friend at one point, but she definitely proved me wrong. She didn’t care about anyone but herself.

Alice wrinkled her nose at the mention of her cousin. I knew from the beginning that they didn’t have that great of a relationship. “Bleh. Anyone willing to go out with Avery is completely brain-dead.”

Marnie’s eyebrows rose, and I gave Alice a flat look. She looked at me for a moment before realizing what she had said. “Oh, oh! Not you, Delilah, just Bekka!”

I knew that she meant nothing by it, so I smiled at her. “No problem.”

Avery and Bekka were like River and me, except our roles were switched. For them, the girl was emo instead of the boy, and the boy was the prep instead of the girl. I hated the fact that we were like them, even if it was only a little bit. I didn’t want to be like Avery and Bekka at all.

Bekka only went out with River because she thought his hair was cool, and Avery… I don’t even know why Avery went out with me. I guess he liked me, but now he sure did hate me.

After Marnie quickly changed out of her school uniform, we made our way out of Alice and my dorm in search of our boyfriends. I knew where River’s dorm was, but not Seth and Rex’s. I would find out eventually, I guess, but until then I guess we were going to go visit River and Mountain.

I wonder if Mountain has any extra tambourines.

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So, an old friend of mine is harassing my friends and me here on Wattpad. I hate this because she's ruining my favorite website for me and hurting my friends. I couldn't care less about what she says to me, but I hate when my friends are hurt.

She goes and says that the only thing that pulls my readers in is the title. And then when they see the "horrors of my word placement," they find another book...

Do YOU agree with that? If it was true, would you be reading this right now? No, right?

I'm not going to say her username, because I'm sure I'll get in trouble for that, and she might even be reading this right now. But I don't care. I love Wattpad, and I'm not going to let her ruin it for me!

Sorry for my rant. :P It's just so annoying!

On a better note... my history teacher wore the River shirt yesterday. :D Hehe.

Please COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN! :D