“When are you getting married?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then why are you planning your honeymoon right now?”

I looked up at Alice and away from the brochures, giving her a flat look. I couldn't just look at places I wanted to go? I was just planning ahead... It was a good thing to plan ahead, wasn't it? I didn't want to wait two weeks before the wedding and just randomly pick one.

I wanted everything to be absolutely perfect.

No matter what.

I didn’t even know why I was looking through brochures for a place for our honeymoon, since we didn’t even have a day that we were going to get married yet. I just liked being prepared, I guess.

“Well, River said that I would get to pick where we get to go,” I told her, flipping over so that I was now lying on my back instead of my stomach. I held the brochures in the air, still flipping through them. “I’m not sure where I wasn’t to go, though…”

“You get to pick where you guys get to go, but then he’s paying? You’re one lucky bitch, Delilah,” Alice told me, sounding amused.

I looked up to see that she was smirking, which didn’t really surprise me very much, and I only shook my head. “I don’t have any money, but River does. Even if I tried to pay for it, he wouldn’t let me.”

“Where do you want to go, anyway?” Alice now asked, actually sounding very interested. I knew that she wanted to help me, even though she tried her best to seem like she didn't, and I wasn't about to stop her.

“I’m not sure yet,” I answered truthfully, still flipping through the brochures. “My number one place right now is Paris, but I don’t want to go anywhere really expensive. But even though River can speak French, he can speak about every other freaking language, too. Well, not really, but you get what I mean…”

“I get what you mean.”

“Paris is definitely my number one choice,” I repeated, nodding as I did so. “I know a little French, since River used to tutor me and everything, but River can speak it fluently. He’d know what to do and say, and he would know what places to take me to and what restaurants to eat at…”

“Yeah, like you guys would even leave the hotel room.”

“Alice!”

“What?” she asked, smiling innocently at me. But innocent was definitely the last thing that she was, no matter what she said otherwise. “I’m just telling you the truth. Paris is the city of romance, is it not? Maybe you guys would go outside once in a while, but I highly doubt it. If River had his way, you’d be handcuffed to the bed and--”

I clasped my hands over my ears, not wanting to hear anymore of what she had to say. “Okay, I’d like to stop hearing about my supposed sex life please.”

Alice smirked at me, crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned against my desk. I could tell she was amused, but I didn’t really blame her. I would have been amused if I was in her place, too. I was going to have to tease her about Rex one of these days…

That would be the day. There was no way I would have the guts to actually do that, which sucked. Alice and Marnie had no problem talking about sex with each other, and I knew that River, Seth, and Rex didn't have a problem because they were guys. I felt so out of the loop and stupid...

One day I would tease her about Rex. I would do it even if it killed me.

And it might just do so.

“You have him totally whipped. Literally, too, if you’re into that sort of thing.”

“First of all, I’m not into that sort of thing. Second, I do not have him whipped.”

“You so do,” Alice smiled, jumping over to my bed and sitting on the edge of it. “River’s totally willing to do absolutely anything for you! It’s not a bad thing or anything, I guess, but I just find it really sweet. And you know how hard it is for me to find something sweet or cute.”

“Especially when it comes to Rex,” I muttered, sitting up now.

Alice continued to smile, knocking me in the shoulder lightly. “Nah, pretty much everything Rex does is sweet and cute. I don’t get how he does it, but he can act like a cute little kid no matter what situation he’s in. I really admire him for that, because there’s no way that I’d ever be able to do that. You know me, I’m tough.”

I smiled at Alice sadly. “Well, you have a reason to be.”

When she was little, Alice was abused by her dad, and her mother was too powerless to stop it. This caused Alice to grow up to become tough and strong, and she learned to stick up for herself. When she was thirteen, she called the cops on her dad when he hit her mother. Ever since then, she hadn’t been afraid to speak her mind or stick up for herself and the people she cared about.

The only person that she had when she was little was her cousin, Avery. All the other kids were scared of her because of the cuts and bruises her dad would give her. But now she was scar-free, and she had plenty of friends and didn’t need a jerk like Avery.

It was so weird to think that Alice and I used to hate each other. And it was all because she tried to hit on Seth, and he used me to try and get her away. But now we were such good friends, and I was glad that she was going out with Rex. Because if she wasn’t going out with him and we hadn’t become friends, I would still be judging her without knowing what she had to go through.

Alice’s dad would try to get in touch with her once in a while, but she refused to talk to him. At first I didn’t understand why; I mean, she should have at least talked to him once, right? To see if he had changed? But when she asked me what I would have done if Mr. Higginson called me, I shut up. She said that she felt the same exact way that I did if that were to happen. She said that every time she got a phone call from him, she felt the same way that I did whenever I got a note.

So I didn’t bother her about it anymore. Whenever she got a call, she would just ignore it. If we were having a fun conversation or something and the phone rang, once she saw it was him, she would go silent and solemn, and not talk for a few hours. I hadn’t ever seen Alice Walters scared of anything before I learned about her father. And Alice Walters being scared is probably one of the scariest things I had ever seen.

Along with everything that had happened with Mr. Higginson, of course.

“Speaking of which,” Alice started with a sigh as she stood up from my bed, “I think today’s the bastard’s birthday. He usually calls on birthdays. Even his own.”

The way Alice had said it made me sad, and all I wanted to do was try and find a way to make her happy. But I knew that there was nothing I could have done. I knew that she wished that her father was a good person, and I knew that she wished that he was with her then and not locked up in prison, but she was really afraid of her father. Though he had been sober since he got thrown in prison, she was afraid that once he got out he would start drinking again and go after her, since she was the reason he had gotten thrown into jail in the first place.

“Don’t worry about him, okay?” I asked, trying to smile. “You don’t have to be afraid of him. He’s in prison.”

Alice shook her head, and I knew she was fighting back tears. I felt so bad for her; I knew what it was like to be afraid of someone that was in prison. People would tell you that there was no way that he could get to you because he was in jail, but something inside of you would always tell you that there was a possibility, even if there really wasn’t.

Both Alice and I had that in common. Even though there was no way that Mr. Higginson or Alice’s dad could have gotten out of jail, something inside of us always had to worry us and tell us that it was possible. It was always in the back of our minds, and it wouldn’t ever go away.

When I had first met her, I didn’t think I had anything in common with Alice Walters. But now, she and I were probably more alike than anyone else I had ever met.

“I’m just always worrying, you know?” Alice asked, sitting back on my bed. She usually got fidgety when she thought about her father, but I didn’t blame her. “I’m just scared that he’ll come after me or something. He’ll get out soon, I’m sure. It’s been five years, but… He’ll get out eventually. He doesn’t have a life sentence like John Higginson. I hate that I can’t even remember how long his sentence is…”

I hated that I still called him Mr. Higginson, as if he was still my teacher. But I couldn’t call him John or just John Higginson, because it was just too strange for me. I was always going to have to call him Mr. Higginson, or it just wouldn’t feel right. But I hated that I still addressed him like my teacher.

Alice chuckled slightly, wiping at her eyes so no tears would fall. I knew that she didn’t like crying in front of others, and I couldn’t remember a time when I had actually seen her cry, or when I heard someone else say that they had seen her cry. She was such a tough girl.

“I remember… you do know how it feels. At least I don’t have hallucinations or nightmares about my dad. You do, and they sound horrible. I can’t even imagine having to go through what you had to. I wonder if anyone like River would come and save me if my dad came out…”

“Rex would save you!” I blurted, not even thinking. I knew that Rex would save Alice, because I knew he loved her. “Rex would definitely save you! And I would, too! Even Seth, River, and Marnie! Even Gabe! Alice, I know you’re not really used to having friends, but that’s what we do. We help you when you’re in trouble, no matter what. Seth and Rex came to save me when I was with Mr. Higginson, and they’re my friends. River saved me, and he’s my boyfriend. So of course Rex would save you!”

Alice smiled sadly. “Delilah, I’m… I’m so sorry for how I treated you before.”

I smiled right back at her, except mine wasn’t a sad one. “No problem. I’m sorry for how I acted, too. We both didn’t know what each of us was going through. But now we know, and we’re great friends. We’re the only two people that will ever really understand each other.”

Alice stared at me incredulously for a moment, but she then smiled. Not a sad one, but a real, genuine smile.

“Thanks, Delilah.”

“For what?”

“For just being there.”           

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

Weeks went by, but Jay didn’t even try to talk to me. It confused me, and it also made me wonder what the heck he wanted to talk about. We had gotten into the school year, and Kendra didn’t really seem to understand that Alice couldn’t stand her.

“I hate that girl,” Alice would say every time we got back to our dorm. “She just doesn’t understand that none of us want her around! It’s just so aggravating!”

I had to admit that I did agree with her. Though Kendra hadn’t done anything wrong, she was still annoying. And it wasn’t funny annoying like Rex; it was just flat out annoying. She hadn’t tried anything on River, which I was glad about, but I still suspected that she wasn’t over him.

I was glad that Kendra wasn’t a senior, because then she could have been in classes with River or me. Unfortunately, River wasn’t in all of my classes, but whatever class I didn’t have with him, I had Seth, Rex, or Alice with me. And then there was Jay, who was in all of my classes but one.

I still couldn’t help but wonder what he wanted to talk to me about. It had been weeks, a little over a month, and he hadn’t spoken a word to me. His sister wouldn’t shut up, but he didn’t even glance at me. Maybe he just needed help with something and someone else was able to help him… Yeah, that had to be it.

“I run and run a thousand miles, and I am barely breathing!” Rex sang from next to me at the lunch table, causing me to elbow him in the side. Lunch time was the only time I could ever really have quiet time, since every grade had a different lunch period. So, since Kendra was a junior, she wasn’t there. And Rex was annoying me with whatever song he was singing.

“What song is that, anyway?” I asked, voicing my thoughts. “It’s annoying.”

“I don’t know. I heard some freshman singing it on the way to third period. Now it’s stalk in my head,” Rex shrugged, now humming whatever it was as he continued to eat. I rolled my eyes, poking at my salad. Though the food at Bentwood was good, it didn’t compare to the food at Arkwright. We had a professional chef and everything. But I just wanted hungry that day, so all I had gotten was a salad.

And I was immediately regretting that decision when I saw that they were serving crème brûlée.

“Are you sure you don’t want any?” River asked, pushing his bowl in my direction. “You can have the rest. I don’t like it anyway.”

“Liar,” Rex, Seth, and I said in unison, causing the three of us to start laughing. River rolled his eyes, pushing the bowl closer to me.

“Seriously, take it,” River said with a shrug, glaring at his two best friends quickly before turning back toward me. “You look miserable with your salad.”

I stared at him flatly as he smirked, but I only pushed his bowl back toward him. I wasn’t about to take some of his lunch away from him. It was his, and I was stupid and only got a salad instead of a whole meal. I’d get it the next time they served it.

“Eat,” I told him, waving a hand in front of my face. “I don’t need it.”

Rex made a big deal of stuffing a huge spoonful into his mouth, obviously trying to tease me, but that only resulted in crème brûlée seeping out of his mouth and back from the table.

I turned toward Alice in disgust. “You find that attractive?”

“To an extent.”

“Hey!” Rec defended after he had wiped his mouth.

We all burst out laughing, even Rex. I loved being with my friends more than anything, and this was the only time that I had ever been able to do it ever since senior year had started. Kendra was always there, hanging over one of our shoulders, and it made me wonder if she had any friends her age. Who did she eat lunch with?

If only Gabe and Marnie were here. Then it would have been perfect.

Jay was friends with a bunch of jocks and cheerleaders that I didn’t really care about, and it didn’t really surprise me. I was sure that he would become friends with popular people, and yet he hadn’t talked to me since the day he had asked to talk to me in private.

I had now come to realize that I was probably the most popular girl in the school, and I didn’t even know how that happened. I surpassed the cheerleaders, and I just didn’t understand. Was it because of my singing? I still didn’t think it was anything that special…

“Delilah, Delilah!” I heard someone call from my right, and I looked over to see a blonde girl and a redheaded girl smiling down at me. “Can we come over to Mrs. Davis’s room and hear you sing after school? Please? It would be so amazing!”

I only nodded, not knowing what else I was supposed to say. Almost every single day, underclassmen would come into Mrs. Davis’s room just to hear me sing. Sometimes seniors did as well, but not as much as underclassmen did. I still didn’t get what was so great about my singing.

If only Arianna knew. I would have loved to see the look on her face when she found out that I was the most popular girl in school now.

The girls turned away, giggling in excitement as they made their way back to wherever they had been sitting. I turned back toward my friends as well, surprised when I saw all of them smiling at me.

“What?”

“What do you mean, what?” Alice asked, continuing to smirk as she poked at her crème brûlée. “I just find it kind of funny about how everyone looks up to you like you’re famous or something. I don’t even think Jay Harris has that much attention.”

I shrugged, not caring very much at all. Though, if I had to admit it, it was kind of exciting being popular. I had always kind of been the outcast (especially when I was the only girl!) in school, but now I was actually popular. Not Arianna, but me.

I really, really wanted to call and tell her. I wonder if she still had the same number…

No. I told myself that I’d never talk to that bitch again. And boasting to her about how popular I was getting was something that she would do, and I didn’t want to be like Arianna. Because, if she continued to act the way that she did toward people, she was going to be all alone. I wondered if Violet and Ericka still followed her around like minions. I wouldn’t have been surprised if they did.

I would just call Julie later and hope that she’d tell Arianna. Even though they weren’t really friends anymore, they still had lockers right by each other. If I told Julie how popular I was, I was sure that she would tell Arianna. I wouldn’t go boasting about it to anyone else, but I just wanted to rub it in Arianna’s face. She deserved it.

Pulling out my phone, I quickly texted Julie, telling her that I would call her once she got out of school. She still got out three hours later than me, and I wondered what I was going to do until that time after I got out of school. Eh, I was sure I would find something. I remembered Marnie saying something about how she was going to come over, and I thought that I remembered inviting Gabe over as well.

So, yeah. I was sure that I was going to be preoccupied for those three hours.

She didn’t reply back, but I knew that she got the message. Unlike Arkwright, our old school didn’t allow phones out on campus at all. Stupid rule, I know, but you got used to it after a while. The teachers even knew that people hid their phones and texted, but they didn’t even care. They were doing the same exact thing under their desks.

“Are you sure you don’t want any?” River asked again, obviously just making sure.

I rolled my eyes at him. “Eat it and shut up.”

He smirked, doing as I said after he kicked my shin lightly. I let out a squeak, not expecting him to do that. It didn’t hurt; it was just surprising. Rex dropped his spoon, looking at us in shock. I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, but I was sure he was, when he cried out, “Sexual assault!”

I rolled my eyes, along with River. “How is it sexual assault when all he did was kick me? Not to mention that he’s my fiancé?”

“… Physical abuse!”

I rolled my eyes again, going back to poking my salad. He was definitely just teasing and messing around, so I didn’t think much of it. He was always teasing about sexual tension or assault, so I brushed it off as I laughed with the rest of my friends.

I almost jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder, since I wasn’t expecting it. I hated being snuck up on, even though this person didn’t really sneak.

“Can I talk to you?”

The voice was familiar, but I hadn’t really heard it for the past couple of weeks. I twisted my neck around and looked up at Jay. He was asking to talk to me again? Was it going to be about the same thing that he tried to talk to me about weeks before?

“Sure,” I said with a shrug, dropping my fork onto the table and standing up. River, being his jealous self, looked like he obviously didn’t want me going anywhere with Jay alone. I rolled my eyes, blowing him a kiss.

His cheeks turned bright red, and that look was wiped off his face almost immediately. Alice and Rex both made gagging sounds, and Seth only smirked in amusement. I rolled my eyes at my friends before following Jay out of the cafeteria and into the ghost town hallway.

“You’re getting pretty popular, aren’t you?” Jay asked with a smirk after the cafeteria doors had shut behind us. I shrugged, not really thinking about it much. But getting an idea, I smirked. It was always a little fun to tease someone, wasn’t it?

“Jealous?”

“Yeah.”

That definitely threw me off guard, since I didn’t think he would actually admit it. He was actually jealous of how popular I was? Was that what he wanted to talk to me about ever since the first day of school? What was he going to say? What was he going to do?

“Wait, what? You’re really jealous?” I asked incredulously, blinking a few times, as if to make sure that he was really there.

“Yeah, but not of you,” he answered, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

I blinked in confusion once again. What was he talking about?

“Then who are you jealous of?”

“River.”

I stepped back, surprised at what he had said. He was jealous of River? Why would he be jealous of River? What did River do to make him jealous?

“Are you pregnant?” Jay asked, leaning closer to me now, as if he was inspecting me.

“What?” I shrieked, stepping back. I was a few inches away from the wall, and I wished that I had more room in case I wanted to run away or something. Why would he ask me if I was pregnant? Hadn’t he already asked me that when I first met him. “Why would you think I’m pregnant? I’m not!”

“Well, you’re planning on marrying someone when you’re only seventeen. Even if you actually loved him, you wouldn’t be planning on marrying him,” Jay told me, as if he knew everything.

“I’m not pregnant! We’re planning on getting married because we love each other!”

“Sure.”

“Is there something you need?” I demanded now, starting to lose my patience. “Or is this all you wanted to talk about? Let me assure you, I’m not pregnant, and I’m not going to get pregnant until after River and I are married. Now, do you need something? Do you need to know where something is, or do you need help with homework or something? Or is it something Kendra wants? No offense to you or anything, but your sister annoys me.”

Jay smirked, shaking his head as she let out a chuckle. “I have to agree with you there. But, no, it isn’t something my sister wants. It’s something I want.”

“Oh?” I asked, blinking in confusion as I did so. “What do you want?”

He took a step closer to me, causing me to take a step back. I was now pressed against the wall, his arms on either side of my head. I had been in this position with so many different people before--Seth, River, Gabe--but now Jay, too?

“Wh--what do you want?” I repeated, stuttering like an idiot now.

Jay smirked down at me. “You.”

“Wh--what?”

“I want you.”

“What do you mean, you want me?” I demanded, trying to push him away. “G--get off me! What are you even talking about? What do you even mean? Tell me!”

Jay rolled his eyes, pushing himself off of me and the wall before stuffing his hands in his pockets. I stayed pressed against the wall, scared for a reason I didn’t know. He had been way too close to me. I didn’t like getting close to anyone after what had happened with Mr. Higginson… I couldn’t only be close like that with River, and that was it. With everyone else, my breathing got heavy and I almost zoned out thinking that it was Mr. Higginson that was the one touching me.

“I mean what I said. I want you, Delilah. I want you for myself. That’s why I’m jealous of River,” Jay told me uncaringly, waving a hand in front of his face. “You should be flattered, actually. I’ve never wanted a girl like I want you right now. You’re interesting, and something’s drawing me to you. So why don’t you leave that emo freak and come with me? Literally.”

Though I realized that he was only joking with the last thing he had said, I couldn’t help but cringe with disgust. “I’m not leaving River,” I told him sharply, pushing myself away from the wall. “I love him. Not you, him. I’m not about to leave him for you.”

“Oh, come on. You’re going to stay with some freaky emo?” Jay asked, shaking his head as he did so. He did not just call River that! “I’m rich and famous. Be with me, and you’ll get everything you want. Money, fame, fortune… Everything you could ever want!”

“All I want is River,” I snapped, stepping back toward the cafeteria. “I love River. He has money, too, not that I care. He could live in a box and I’d still be there for him. And don’t go calling him emo, you bastard, because just because he dresses that way doesn’t mean that he’s emo. It’s the style he likes. And even if he is emo, at least he isn’t a jerk that goes and hits on other guys’ girlfriends.”

Jay smirked at me, an eyebrow raised. “And how do you know that?”

“Because he loves me!”

“Sure he does.”

I felt my eye twitch, and I wanted nothing more than to bash his face in. If I thought Kendra was annoying, I was way wrong. The annoying one was Jay. Actually, they were both annoying.

I turned back toward the cafeteria, getting ready to push the doors open until Jay called out, “Just so you know, I’m not the kind of guy that loses. You’ll be mine eventually, and that emo freak will have his heart broken. It’s just a matter of time.”

I turned toward him, my hands gripping onto the door handles tightly. “Then let me tell you that I’m not that type of girl that loses, either. You’re going to be with one with his heart broken, you bastard. Now leave me and my friends alone. You can tell your stupid, annoying sister that, too.”

“She’s not the type that loses, either,” Jay added right before I was going to push the door open again. “She may say that she’d over River, but you didn’t have to deal with her yapping about him every single day for the past ten years. She’s definitely not over him. She never will be.”

And with that, he brushed passed me and into the cafeteria, leaving me there in shock. Usually, any girl would have been ecstatic if Jay Harris confessed his feelings for them, but I couldn’t have cared less. I didn’t want Jay Harris’s love, I only wanted River’s.

“Delilah…?” I heard, causing me to jump high in the air. I turned around to see Marnie standing there, a look of confusion evident on her face.

Oh, no… Had she heard all of that?

“What are you doing out of school?” I asked, trying to avoid the subject of Jay.

“My school got out early today,” she told me, though she sounded kind of out of it. “Delilah… Did I just hear what I think I just heard between you and Jay Harris?”

And there goes never telling anybody.

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You get to learn more about Alice. ^_^

Since it's summer now, I'll try to write more...

I'm going to be busy next week, though, because my birthday's on Saturday and my sister's taking me to a Britney Spears concert... So, yeah. I'll try to upload soon. ^o^

I can't wait to turn fourteen! :D

That song on the side... Pretty perfect. :D

Please COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN! :D