Heading out of Taco Bell, the two friends began searching for their next activity.

They wandered slowly through the mall, this being the first time that Erica had seen it properly - last time she was in too much of a hurry to get out of there, to even pay attention to all the amazing things around. Everywhere she looked just increased her excitement.

Of course they had a mall back in Conrad, if you could even call it that. But this was massive. It went above and beyond any expectations that she had.

"So what do you want to do next?" He questioned, stopping as they reached the escalators.

"I don't know. What is there to do around here?" She asked curiously, her eyes still wandering through the place.

"Well... there's a cinema, bowling alley, mini golf, an ice cream parlour, a bear builder workshop and so much more." He informed her with a wide set grin upon his face.

Knowing all that there was to do in just this one mall alone left Erica speechless. She had no idea what to even say about all the activities that there were to choose from and she could only smile at the thought of what the rest of the county had to offer.

It had taken a while for her to adjust but she had to admit to herself that she was beginning to warm up to California and that she might be starting to find herself liking it here.

"Why don't you show me your favourite activity?" She suggested.

"That's a great idea." He agreed.

Taking her hand, he led her through the mall at a hasty speed. Down the escalator, then to the right, around the corner and to the left. He stopped in front of a massive shop.

Looking up at the banner, Erica's eyes widened. It looked like a place that was aimed more at children. It read...

CHILDREN PLAY AREA

Yep. More of a place for children to play in than for a couple of teens who just wanted to chill together. She was beginning to question his interest in this, but did not want to offend him so she let it drop.

Before she could say anything though, he was already inside acting like a giant child. He was running around the provided space, weaving himself in and out of all the little ones that were innocently playing, and performing ridiculous circus acts that usually only trained professionals would be doing.

She could only stand watching both in shock and confusion as his goof ball behaviour only grew more extreme.

Hesitantly stepping foot inside the place, she looked around to see if she could spot any staff amongst all the children at play that had now erupted into fits of laughter as they watched Dawson. It was a little odd that he was in a play area meant for young kids.

Though she knew that she couldn't judge. Maybe he just loved children or was making up for the loss of a child in his family that he was close to. Seeing him entertaining all the young ones and making them laugh was actually kind of sweet.

Her legs a little achey from standing around, she crouched down against the side of the wall just watching and observing the boy that she had made the decision to get to know.

*******
Wide awake inside the jail cell as yet another day was slipping by slowly, Ryder rose to his feet and walked over to the front of the cell.

It had been a week since he had been arrested. A whole week and no one, not even his father had come to see him. He was grateful for that though because it proved one thing... that no one cared about him at all.

He had not expected Erica to visit since her last words to him were goodbye, but he had thought that his father might help him to prove his innocence or come to visit him at the very least. But this was the story of his life. He was more unloved than an abandoned puppy, and nothing would ever change that. The thought of how everyone at school probably barely noticed his absence or preferred it there without him was a reoccurent one.

They did not miss him and he certainly did not miss them. It was as simple as that.

Still. There was an indescribable pain within him that wouldn't go away. No matter what he had tried to get rid of it.

Did he kill Monica?

Well... unless there was an explanation like he blacked out that night, then as far as he knew, he didn't.

That only left one explanation.

Someone had set him up.

The trouble was that there were so many people who hated Ryder, and were against him that it was impossible to pin point exactly who it could have been.

Obviously Erica had started those stupid rumours out of spite or to get him back for being so vague with her, though which one he could not decide. The thought of her betrayal was too much for him to bare.

In fact, whenever the image of Erica popped into his head - her beautiful chocolate brown eyes and her dazzling blonde hair - it sent a pang of both pain and guilt throughout his body which caused him to freeze almost every time.

"Excuse me, Sir... Mr Guard?" He called out, sending an echo of his voice bouncing off of the walls.

"Mr Griffin, you know the rules... you're supposed to be quiet." The guard reminded him, unimpressed by the boy's sudden call.

"I know but I just have one question...well two actually but please answer them." He requested.

"Alright, but make it quick otherwise we will both be in big trouble." The guard warned.

"I will Sir. I was wondering... when exactly is the date of my trial?" He questioned.

"The trial is on Tuesday, Mr Griffin. The first day of the summer holidays." The guard answered.

"I see. And since I'm still a minor, how exactly does this whole thing work?" He asked nervously curious.

"Well after your trial, you will be put on probation until you turn eighteen. After that you will receive your sentence." The guard explained.

Ryder's heart dropped once again. Even more than it had at the time of his arrest - as if being arrested in a room full of school students wasn't humiliating enough, now he had to continue to live amongst them like nothing had happened until the day he turned eighteen.

Though now he would dread that day. His own birthday. It saddened him to think of how he had wasted the past seventeen years of his life. From the moment he was able to walk, all he ever did was cause trouble.

Getting into fights at daycare, preschool, middle school, elementary and secondary. Being such a handful that it drove his mother to drink and destroy her liver while his dad continued to sleep with his secretary.

Now he had gone and gotten himself arrested and pretty much destroyed any shot he had at getting into college in the meantime.

Life sucked. Unless you were Erica Atwood, then life was easy. For a rich girl who had everything handed to her on a silver platter, she certainly had a side to her that he did not expect.

Though deep down he knew that he should have known better than to trust anyone with something as personal as the night of Genevive's birthday party.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. He mentally kicked himself.

If only there was a rewind button on the remote of life... then none of this would be happening to him right now.

"Thank you Mr Guard." He concluded and sat back down on the concrete bed.

All there was to do now was lay down, fall asleep and pray to God that she didn't appear in his dreams again tonight.

Erica Atwood was one of a kind, and once she seeped inside his heart, it was almost impossible to get over her.

*******
Finally, Dawson had grown tired of his fooling around and joined her near the exit to the place.

She was tempted to ask him exactly what that was all about, but at the same time she was scared of causing a fight with her only friend.

That last thought made her heart suddenly ache. As much as she was beginning to enjoy Dawson's company and feel comfortable around him, there was a small part of her... actually no, a huge part of her, that missed Ryder.

His mysterious bad boy demeanour. The way he would talk to her with such a charming yet sweet tone and the way he....

No! She thought, angry with herself. Ryder did not care about her and nor did he trust her. He even had the audacity to pin the blame of those rumours onto her. There was absolutely no way that she was going to be letting herself think positive things about him after everything that had happened.

His words had hurt her. She was angry with him. That's how it had been for the past week or so, and that is exactly how it was going to remain until he apologised to her for being such a first class jerk to her.