Sat in front of Dawson, the same feeling that Erica had on Saturday came creeping back inside her. This time however, she ignored it and pushed it to the back of her mind rather than running from him.

It wasn't quite seven yet. She had a good twenty minutes to talk to Dawson and still make it to the beach and hear Ryder's side.

"Thank you for coming. It's nice to know that you chose the right side instead of that juvenile delinquent." He smiled, a smile that was almost genuine.

Fighting back her urge to smack him and wipe that smile off of his face, she cleared her throat to speak.

"Cut the crap Dawson and just get to the point of why I'm here." She ordered.

"Right. As you wish....look, whatever Ryder has told you is a lie. The truth is that long before Monica ever dated him, we were friends - she and I, that is. We grew up together. Then Ryder transferred schools and they got talking. They started spending every minute they could together and eventually got into a relationship. I can't deny that I had feelings for her. She was my best friend after all."

Erica nodded. She didn't bother replying with words as she didn't want to get sidetracked from the reason she was there. Getting answers was the only reason.

"I admit that I got jealous, and what little time I did have with her after that was spent doing some questionable things. One day though, her and Ryder got into a fight and she came to me for comfort, one thing led to another and we slept together." He revealed.

She felt her mouth open partly in absolute shock. Monica had cheated on Ryder with her best friend. Could it really be that he killed her for revenge?

"After that, things weren't the same between us, nor between the two of them. Eventually he found out through Gen and the rest of the girls that Monica had cheated on him. He snapped. They had a massive argument in the school cafeteria and he stormed out angrily leaving her with her friends." Dawson continued.

"What happened after that day?" Erica asked, fully focused on everything he was saying.

"The night of the party rolled around. Monica had asked me to be her date and so we went together. But we ended up fighting as she accused me of taking advantage of her the night we slept together. She said that she wasn't thinking straight because of how upset she was and that I should have pushed her away. I honestly didn't see the problem with what happened. Anyways, we got into a fight and Ryder walked in unexpectedly. He and I got into a fight, Monica tried to stop it and he ended up killing her out of jealousy. I witnessed the whole thing." Dawson finished.

A pit of bile rose in her stomach. The story that he was giving her was just sickening. If what he was saying was the truth then that meant Dawson had unintentionally caused her death by sleeping with her. It was so wrong for him to go through with it knowing that she was in a relationship. Complete and utter disrespect to both Monica and Ryder.

She felt the need to get as far away from this boy as possible, and furthermore she really needed to hear Ryder's side of the story. Dawson's side had sounded so convincing and it all made sense, but she couldn't come to the conclusion that Ryder had killed Monica out of jealousy without speaking to him first. That would be unfair.

Making her excuses, she parted ways with Dawson and left the cafe. With less than five minutes to get there, she ran for it.

Hurrying her way down the streets, she picked up her pace as she reached the halfway point. She was already breathless, but would only stop for water once she reached the beach.

It didn't help that she had to weave her way in and out of crowds, dodge people who weren't looking where they were going and cross a few roads. Despite the set backs, she made it to the beach with only one minute remaining before the clock struck seven.

Fumbling around in her bag, she pulled out her water bottle and downed half of its contents in one go. Closing the lid and placing it back in her bag, she looked around the beach for Ryder.

Her eyes scanned the beach, which was pretty empty due to the time of night, and finally she spotted a silhouette that was the exact description of Ryder, sitting at the front near the ocean.

She hurried over to him, dreading his reaction to her being just a little late, and stopped when she was right behind him.

He appeared to be staring out at the ocean. A blank expression written on his face as though his mind was elsewhere. Taking one step closer, she found a nice spot next to him to sit.

"Hey." She greeted.

Only once she spoke, did he break out of his trance like state and turn his attention to her.

"You made it." He greeted, surprise creeping into his voice.

"Uhh...yeah." She confirmed, unsure of how to start getting to the point of the conversation.

"I take it that you went to hear his side first." Ryder guessed.

"..Yeah, I did, but how did you..?" She questioned confused.

"Like it isn't obvious. You're breathless, and you seem nervous, which you weren't before." He answered her.

She swallowed hard as a lump formed in her throat. There was so much uncertainty in her mind that it was impossible to decide what the right thing to do was. Maybe she had made a mistake by coming to see both of them.

"I just wanted to know both sides. Are you mad?" She asked nervously.

"No. Not really. You're a big girl and you make your own decisions. It's not like I'm your boyfriend or anything...besides I understand. It's important to hear both sides before judging." He informed her.

Despite how smug his response had sounded, she took it with understanding. If what Dawson said was correct, then Ryder has had a hard life and so has learned a lot from it.

"It is." She agreed, referring to his last sentence, "So, Ryder Griffin, what is your side of the story?" She asked, finally biting the bullet.

Ryder shuffled around so that he was facing her a little more before beginning. He wanted her to know that he was being completely honest. Unlike how everyone else saw him, he wasn't a boneless bad boy with a stone heart who's only mission in life was to cause trouble. Far from it, in fact. The only reason he landed himself in lots of trouble was because he was a brutally honest person. Always telling things exactly how they were. Though he couldn't deny that another reason was because he didn't like the idea of anyone getting too close to the real Ryder Griffin.

He was a bad boy on the surface but beneath that he had a big heart, and would never wish Monica's fate on anyone.

Yes, he could be cruel and harsh towards people at times, but that was not without reason. Many times he had attempted to get close to people and each and every time he had, they either walked away after finding out about his past or they stuck around...and stabbed him in the back.

The ultimate reason why he did not let anyone see past the bad boy act was because he was tired of being the one who got hurt. Every single time it was the same. Only the people changed.

Yet he felt like he could trust Erica. Though he couldn't understand why. Maybe it was her good girl ways of maybe it was because she reminded him of Monica.

Monica and Erica were very similar when it came to their looks, but on the inside they were worlds apart. Monica was a smart girl, sometimes kind and caring...but she also liked to gossip and shame people for their secrets. She would use people to get to the top and then ditch them as soon as they became useless to her. But she had her reasons... her life was not as perfect as it appeared to be.

That was probably why he had fallen for her...she had been there for him when he first transferred, and the only person who was there. He had become attracted to her bad girl personality.

But looking back now, he regretted it deeply. Monica was an amazing girl, but she was no good for him. He had become so blindsided by her that he forgot what she was truly like. Just when he thought he had her forever...she betrayed him.

Erica, on the other hand, he could tell was different. She didn't seem to have a bad bone in her body. It seemed like once you got to know her, and got close to her, that she would care about you. She was a genuine good girl. That's what attracted him to her...

With all the bad he had suffered in his past, he felt the need for something good in his life.