It wasn't long after Dawson finished explaining that she finally reached home, parted ways with him and headed inside.

She couldn't explain it. Not one bit. The reason she couldn't was even worse - she didn't know who to believe.

Dawson's story had sounded legit. It was a horribly tragic accident...at least that's how he'd made it sound. But she couldn't deny that he had seemed a little creepy yesterday when they had met up.

Then there was Ryder's side of things. He claims to have been at the same party at the time, and from what Dawson had told her, that appeared to be true. However, Ryder hadn't told her the full story so much as he did make assumptions. There really was no way to figure out who was telling the truth.

With a heavy sigh, she entered her room and flopped on her bed. It wouldn't be long before dinner, which would most likely be awkward. Every Sunday, her mother insisted on them eating together properly and Erica just knew that this time, her mom would be asking a lot of questions about her first week of school and about any friends that she had made or people she had met.

She would most likely have to fabricate a story since she couldn't exactly tell her mom that she had met up with a possible killer. That was a conversation that most definitely wouldn't go down well. This was something she would just have to keep to herself...for now at least.

***********
Ryder walked along the beautiful sandy beach, lost in thought.

To most people he was a bad boy. A boy that girls tended to avoid and other boys tended to try and pick fights with to make themselves look tough.

Little did they know that him being a bad boy was just an act. No one; not a single soul, knew anything about him other than the stories he had made them believe. He didn't care that they didn't bother to look beyond that, if anything he actually enjoyed it.

Sure, he dressed in dark clothing and gave people attitude, but deep down there was more to him than a mean kid with anger issues. Though he would never admit that to anyone. Not even those closest to him.

Finally having found a good spot on the beach, he sat down in the sand and stared out towards the sea - reliving a memory as though it was only yesterday...

Walking the beach with Monica, the two were hand in hand. It was their one year anniversary and in his eyes...nothing could come between them.

The night sky was beautiful - a dark blue blanket that was illuminated by stars and the moon almost enlarged above the ocean.

It was the last day of summer, and they had decided to come down to the beach for one last little celebration before school began.

"Do you trust me?" He asked and stopped walking for a moment.

Monica nodded, and tilted her head to the side for a second to think before asking the obvious question.

"Why?"

"You'll see, just climb on." He told her, getting himself into a position that would make it easier for her to jump on his back.

For a moment, she was about to question why again, but quickly closed her mouth and did as he told her. Gripping his shoulders with her hands, she hoisted herself up onto his back with her legs clinging around his waist.

Without a word, he ran straight out into the ocean before letting her down and taking her into his arms, giving her a kiss.

He remembered that night clearly. It was the last time that things had been absolutely perfect between himself and Monica.

As soon as school started, hurricane Dawson hit and knocked him out of that picture.

What hurt the most though was that the girl had ended up making the wrong choice and without knowing...dug her own grave.

Ryder was never the jealous type. But Dawson had began moving in on Monica while they were still together. He had manipulated her to no end until she snapped and turned against Ryder. It wasn't long after their relationship ended that she got into one with Dawson.

Things only escalated and worsened from there.

If there was one thing that he could go back in time and do differently, it was being careful of that seemingly golden boy and doing everything he could to prove to Monica that the things she had been told about him, were all lies.

But he knew he couldn't...and that pained him more than he could put into words.

The only thing he could do now, was protect this new girl, Erica, from suffering the same fate. If he could to that then some piece of the person he used to be, just might come back to him. At least, that's what he hoped for.

He knew that he had to come clean with her sooner or later. What he had told her so far would only raise her suspicions and eventually it would all come out. He had told her little snippets of the story and all of what he said had been true...but she wouldn't steer clear of that golden boy unless she understood what had happened. He had no choice but to tell her the full story.

Even if it pained him to talk about it. When it was necessary for someone's safety then it was worth it.

He had already figured out what she thought of him. She had assumed that he was the bad guy. The one who made assumptions and fabricated stories in order to destroy the perfect boy's life. That was fair though. He didn't mind playing the bad guy, in fact he would go along with it for now until the puppy dog's true colours showed. Then he would reveal to her who he truly was.

After that it would be down to her.

*******
Erica just couldn't settle that night. Too many thoughts were swirling around in her head, way too fast for her to catch and stop them.

She wondered how her second week of school would turn out. Her new friends seemed nice, Gen in particular, she was warming up to but she couldn't deny that she still wanted to pack up and move back to Conrad.

Adjusting to this new life in California was taking longer than she thought it would. Then again it was such a big change and she didn't expect to be settled in fully after only a week being there. It would most likely take months...possibly even the whole year. But once she was settled in, she hoped that her over active mind would calm down and she could try to live out some resemblance of a normal life.

If that was even possible in this part of the country. Everyone here seemed to have a mask on and hide their true self. She hated that as it was impossible to know who to trust and who to avoid.

The rest of the group of girls, other than Gen, seemed all about the gossip. She knew better than to open up to any of them unless she wanted to be the top news story of the high school before even one day ended.

Of course there was always Dawson. Though she couldn't make out if he was genuine or not. Back in school and then when he'd walked her home, he had seemed so nice and friendly. That wasn't the case when they met at the mall though.

Ryder was the worst though. He told her little bits and pieces but never a full explanation as to why he suspected that Dawson killed Monica. She wasn't even sure that the boy was capable of opening up to anyone. There had to be a reason for that though, and she would continue to respect that unless he chose to tell her more.

Everything was so confusing right now, but over time she hoped that the fog would disappear and she would be able to see things clearly, exactly as they are.

Until then, she would focus solely on school and doing good in class. She wouldn't let herself get caught up in all the drama. She wouldn't. Because if she did then the outcome would most likely be that she was the one to get burned by it all.

She wouldn't make that mistake.

More than anything she wished that Shane was there. Back in her home town, whenever she was conflicted, she would talk to him since he was the best at giving her advice. He was also the best at seeing things for what they were. He never got caught up in any lies and was the most brutally honest person she had ever known. Always telling things how they were and saying how he saw it...that was part of the reason why they had become best friends. She was the gullible one who didn't know what to believe at times, while he was the one who was able to clear it up for her.