A/N : Hey peeps! Am back!!! I'm sorry that I have so many looonng breaks between updates. But this time, I'm competing the story :D So please vote and comment to let me know what you think <3 Happy readin!

PLAYLIST : The Middle - Zedd, Maren Morris, Grey

     Buzzz....buzzzz...bweep... went my alarm clock.

     I woke up groggily and stretched. Waving my arms blindly, I turned off the alarm. Why did it have to be morning already, I cursed silently. I was in the middle of a beautiful dream, which involved a certain guy I knew. Smiling broadly to myself, I threw off the covers and made my way to the bathroom.

     Wait! I stopped midstep. Last night wasn't a dream too, was it? No. I shook my head. I could still feel Derek's lips on my lips. I smiled recalling last night. It wasn't a dream, but it didn't even feel real. It was just perfect.

     After showering, I stood in front of my closet silently going through every piece of clothing I owned. Taking an eternity longer than always, I selected a violet cinched waist top and skinny jeans and nude leather pumps to go with it. I looked at myself in the mirror and applied eyeliner to my eyes. I looked alright, but my cheeks were a little flushed.

     I was getting way too excited, I scolded myself. At least, I didn't have to apply blush.

     I walked down into the kitchen and grabbed a granola bar. "Come on, Gina. Let's go," I said to my sister who was eating cereal. "Don't wanna be late today."

     She raised one eyebrow at me. "Why? Something special today?"

     "Nope," I said brightly.

     She eyed me up and down before following me outside. "You have a spring in your step. What's going on, sis?"

     "Nothing. Can't I be excited to get to school?"

     "Even for you, that's a little over the top."

     I laughed in reply. I was going to tell her about Derek and me, but probably after a while. Derek had apologized to Gina and I'm guessing she's not mad at him anymore, but they aren't even friends. And Gina always said whatever was in her mind, no filter applied. I didn't want to make it awkward, not on the official first day of Derek and me being together.

~~~

     We parked the car in the usual spot. As soon as we got out, I saw Derek leaning against his car with his hands folded across his chest and ankles crossed. When he saw me, he grinned and my heart fluttered yet again.

     "Oh, god," Gina said, realization dawning on her. "I get it now!" She subtly rolled her eyes.

     Derek made his way towards me. Then noticing Gina, he said, "Hi, Gina."

     "Hi, you," Gina said monotonously.

     Gina kept eyeing him with a sour look when he linked hands with me and leaned in for a kiss. "Hi, girlfriend." He grinned.

     I kissed him back but had to stop immediately because I couldn't control my giggling. It was funny as hell to see Gina's priceless expressions.

     Her eyes kept growing wider with every passing second and I was afraid her eyeballs were going to pop out. "Ugh, I thought you could do better, sis," she said.

     Derek laughed. "What, I thought you didn't hate me anymore."

     "Yeah, but I don't even like you."

     "Ah, it's okay. All you have to do is stop popping your eyes out everytime you see me kissing your sister." With that, he kissed me again.

     Gina quickly covered her eyes in mock outrage. "I don't think I can witness this anymore. Not in one day. I'm leaving. You and I are going to have a talk later, sis." She locked the car and strutted off to school.

     "You know," I said, running my hand through Derek's hair. "She didn't mean any of that. If she really had a problem with us, she'd make sure I was on house arrest."

     "Shh . . ." He said pressing his finger against my lips. Then he slid one hand in my hair, and the other around me, and I immediately felt a jolt down my body. "Yeah, enough about Gina now."

     He pushed me back against the hood of the car and I was overpowered by the intoxicating smell of him mixed with his cologne. I put my hands around his neck for support.

     Giggling, I said, "Derek, I'm late for class."

     "Mm-hm," he said, kissing me again. "I missed you."

     I tilted my head to the side to look at him. "We met last night."

     "We didn't talk last night."

     "You didn't call."

     "I didn't want to scare you away."

     I laughed. He left a trail of kisses starting from my lips to my neck. My face felt hot and my body melted in his arms. We were in the middle of the parking lot. Anyone could walk in on us.

     And . . .  I had a weird feeling that someone was watching us.

     Still euphoric from Derek's kisses, I hoisted myself a little higher on the hood to look behind Derek.

     Shit!

     "Derek, stop!" I pushed him away and slid down from the car.

     Derek looked at me and chuckled. "You really need to stop doing that, babe. It ruins the moment."

     I slowly shook my head, gesturing him to stop talking. When he saw the deadpan look on my face, he followed my gaze in confusion and saw what I was seeing.

     It was Shayna!

     She was standing right behind us and she had seen everything. She looked at me with hate etched on her face.

     "Shayna," Derek started.

     She clasped her hands together and smiled. It was as fake as a smile could be. "Don't bother saying anything. I know everything I need to know." The fake smile left her face and it was replaced with the hateful look she was giving me earlier. "Thank you so much for the wonderful birthday present."

     Shit! It was Shayna's birthday today!

     How could I forget. I was so caught up in myself that I had zoned out the entire time Tiffany, Shayna and I were talking about the birthday. That's all we had talked about the past week.

     Noooo!

     Shayna didn't wait for either of us to react. She turned on her heels and stormed off. My gaze was fixed on her till she was out of view. "Shit shit shit!" I cried out.

     "Hey." Derek rubbed my shoulders. "It's not your fault."

     "I need to go after her," I said.

     Derek nodded. "I'll see you in class."

~~~

     I bumped into several people in the hallways and kept mumbling half hearted apologies. "Shayna, wait!" I called out to her. She was walking at top speed and I kept bumping into several people to keep up with her.

     "Damn you, what's the rush!" some random person shouted at me.

     I ignored her and kept following Shayna. She heard me call her, but didn't even pause. She was headed straight for her first period class.

     "Shayna!"

     Just before entering the class, she spun around and pointed an accusing finger at me. "You always wanted to do this, right? Take something that belongs to me?"

     "Shayna, Derek didn't belong to you."

     "Don't play with words with me. You're a boyfriend stealer. You're a horrible person to do that to a friend!" Her icy stare was jabbing me.

     "You . . .you said at the coffee shop that it was okay if it didn't work out between you two." I was just grasping for straws, trying to say anything that'll cool her down. I was clearly failing. "You dated for a week and you already broke up."

     "So what? That doesn't justify what you did!"

     "It was just another guy for you. Not for me," I argued.

     "It doesn't matter who feels what. I'm not losing a guy to you!"

     "I really like him, Shayna. A lot," I confessed.

     "You do? Well, fuck you!" With that, she entered her class leaving me alone.

     It was useless trying to talk to Shayna. She'd never understand. To her, it would look like a defeat. And Shayna never lost.

     Shayna and I were finally starting to warm up to one another. All the progress we'd made over the past few weeks was lost. Forever.

A/N : Thanks for being here! Please don't forget to vote & comment if you like the story :) Any kind of feedback you have for me, it's always welcome. Until next chapter, xoxo.

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