Over the last few days, I haven't taken the whole "angel having a girlfriend" situation well. Saturday and Sunday I ignored Angel when he came to my house. Monday and Tuesday I decided to stay home too. I was positive that if I saw him I'd burst into tears. Talking to Marcus Friday night made me realize how much I liked him. I knew that I liked him but I didn't know that I liked him so much. Wednesday I went to my first two classes then decided to go him when I couldn't take seeing Angel. I'm taking this way to hard but that's me. When I fall for someone, it's always hard and fast.

            "Hello?" I say into my phone. When my alarm went off this morning I nearly beat it to death. I decided not to go to school today too and sleep in.

           "Warning everyone will be over soon. It's time for you to join the land of the living. Angel will also be coming over so prepare yourself and play nice. He said he wants to talk to you." Marcus says with a smile I know he has on his face.

           "Oh joy. What time is it anyway?"

          "Half an hour until noon. We all decided to skip fifth and come to the aid of our princess."

          "First off I'm not a princess I'm a queen. Second, thank you, guys. Third I'm getting in the shower. The door will be open for you guys. Make a plan if you guys haven't already. I'm up for anything."

           "See you soon." After I hang up I stomp up the stairs to my room. Today I was planning on doing nothing. Have another lazy day alone until Marcus came over. I shower quickly letting the warm water take away all the tension in my muscles. What do I want to wear today? It's been a warm week. Or so I've heard. I haven't been out much. Not knowing what to wear I throw on matching dark blue lace bra and underwear for the time being. I'll blow dry my hair while I think. Snapping my fingers happy with my idea I head back to my bathroom.

          "Hey Rose can I talk to you?" Angel yells from outside the bathroom.

          "Yeah sure," I yell over my blow dryer. "I'm not wearing clothes so give me a sec." Quickly, I finish drying and straightening my hair. With one last fluff, I wish myself luck. "Close your eyes. I need to go to my closet. Are they closed?"

          "Yes." When I peak my head out the door his eyes are closed. My heart leaps a little at the sight of him. Not seeing him over the last few days made me forget how gorgeous he is. Why wouldn't he have a girlfriend? What makes matters even worse is how gorgeous she is too. They are the equivalent of Barbie and Ken. Shaking my head to make the thoughts go away I force my legs forward to take me to the closet.

         "Is it warm outside?"

         "Yes, very, I'm already boiling up and it's barely even twelve." Shorts or a dress? I guess it doesn't really matter because all we'll be doing is getting food. I grab a black tank top that has an all-lace back and then yank on a pair of white shorts.

          "What is it you wanted to talk to me about?" I ask as I pull on my other black sandal.

          "I wanted to apologize for what happened. It was extremely uncool for Kenda to show up unexpectedly at your house. If I had known I would have stopped her but I had no clue she was coming down here." His grey eyes sparkle with sincerity. How could I not accept his apology? It's not like he lied to me, technically. He could have toned down all the flirting.

          "Apology accepted. It's fine. Your girlfriend just wanted to surprise you. It was very sweet of her."

          "Actually she-."

          "Knock, knock! Is everybody decent?" Marcus says as he enters the room interrupting Angel. You have the worst timing ever, Marcus! Actually, she what? Told you and you guys planned the whole thing? Promise she'd visit you during her break? I shoot Marcus a death glare. "Bad timing?" He asks moving his eyes from me to Angel.

          "Nope, not at all. Ready to go?" I ask trying to act nonchalant as I walk past him out my bedroom door.

              "Yeah." Marcus says from behind me.

              "She's alive!" James yells throwing his arms around me. I squeeze him back.

              "I missed you too." I smile hugging him back and holding back tears. All these various emotions need to stop. My body can't take all of this. "Have you guys decided where you want to go for lunch yet?" Brian gives me a quick hug and pulls away grinning.

              "That's our girl. Always wondering about what she can eat next." He chuckles. "We were thinking burritos."

              "Sounds perfect. I don't feel like driving. Who can I ride with?"

              "Me." I close my eyes shut tightly easing the flare of anger that threatens to burst out. Can he not tell I don't want to be around him? With a tight smile on my face, I meet Angel's sad grey eyes.

              "Thanks, I appreciate it." Keeping my gratitude as minimal as possible I practically shove past everyone to get to my front door. Shoving the door open I walk down my porch and look around for Angel's car.

              "What's up with her?" James whispers behind me.

              "Nothing," I yell over my shoulder. Yes, I know, I'm being a bitch but I can't help it. What I've been avoiding all week is about to happen. Angel and I alone and having him telling me all about his girlfriend. His squeaky, platinum blonde, blue-eyed, gorgeous girlfriend. I groan as I wait impatiently with my hand on the car door handle. The car beeps twice telling me he's unlocked the car from wherever he is.  I yank the heavy door of the challenger open and plop into the cushioned leather seat. Angel appears by the passenger side door and opens it for me.

              "Look." He says shutting his car door. Leaning over the center console he looks me straight in the eyes. "I know Kenda showing up was rude and I get that it upset you. I'm sorry. If I had known she was coming down I would have told her not to even bother making the trip but I didn't know. So will you stop treating me like I'm a piece of shit!" He exclaims. If this were anyone else I'd probably punch them in the face for using that tone with me. Whether they were right or wrong people yelling and pointing out my attitude never sits well with me. It's something I should work on, I know.

              "Fine!" I huff out. "I'm sorry for being a bitch. It just really threw me off that you had a girlfriend and didn't think to tell me about her." I finish saying while throwing my arms in the air and letting them fall down on my thighs. He stares at me for a second, eyes wide as if he were amazed.

              "I was not expecting that. I thought you might hit me or at least start yelling at me like crazy." He says letting out a breath he was holding. "Anyway as I was trying to say before Marcus interrupted me. Kenda is not my girlfriend. She's my ex. My crazy, stalker, manipulative ex-girlfriend." My jaw drops open. Maybe there are such things as miracles. He places a finger under my chin and pushes it up to close my gaping jaw.

              "Ex-girlfriend," I mumble. "Thank God. I wouldn't have been able to spend any time with her because of that high pitch squeak of a voice she has." I say loudly enough for him to hear.

              "Theirs the Rose I know." He grins and I grin right back at him.

              "Now that our little spat is over with will you start driving? I'm starving." Rubbing my empty belly I continue to grin with pure happiness. No girlfriend. Yes! It's as if my body all of a sudden fills up with happiness and joy. A new found hope that maybe things can happen between Angel and I. A short amount of time goes by before we pull up in front of my favorite taqueria.

              "This is going to be so good." I say as our waiter places our dishes in front of each of us. "Have I missed anything important over the last week?"

              "Let's see. James and Jasmine are attached at the hip but that's nothing new." Marcus laughs and James punches him on the arm. "Nothing's happened the last few days. Same old boring school. The teachers have been going easy on the homework because our break is in a week. It's always nice getting less homework."

              "Mrs. S has been working us pretty hard." Brian nods agreeing with Angel.

              "She always does when we have a show coming up. It's her way of helping us." I say. "Also, thanks for taking me out guys. It was about time I joined the land of the living again." I smile fondly at each of them and they smile back at me. I'm glad to have these guys in my life. They're like the family I never had.

         *                                                            *                                                                        *      

       Brian, Angel, and I walk into dance class seconds before the bell rings. Looking around we notice the class in chaos. People are running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

       "Everybody calm down! There's no need to be so frantic. We will figure everything out but first, you all need to calm down." Mrs. S yells over all the noise. Immediately, everyone quiets down. I maneuver my way to the front of the class to get to Mrs. S.

       "What's going on?" I ask her.

       "Lindsey broke her ankle yesterday and won't be able to do her solo during the show. Now we have an empty slot in the showcase that needs to be filled." Before I can even let the information sink in, Angel, who must have followed me, says something.

       "Rose and I can do a dance."

       "What!" I exclaim whirling around to face him. The rest of the room falls silent again and all eyes are on me. "Break starts in two days and then after the break we only have half a week before the show. That's not enough time to come up with a routine and perfect it."

       "Are you afraid of a challenge?" Angel asks with a smirk. My jaw drops. What the hell is he thinking? He bites his lip, which makes me really want to kiss him and bite on his lip for him, trying to hold back a laugh. Is he trying to toy with me? He crosses his arms over his chest making his muscles bulge. He is definitely trying to mess with me. Standing up straight I turn around to face Mrs. S.

       "It'll be no problem. I'm always up for a challenge." And dancing with Angel I say to myself. "You're going to regret this," I mumble to Angel who's now standing next to me.

       "The look on your face was worth any hell you're going to put me through."

       "You sure about that?" I ask grinning wickedly at him. The smirk on his face starts to get smaller and smaller.

       "Shit. Maybe not. That grin on your face is evil."

       "Me? Evil?" I act shocked and offended. "I'm an Angel, Angel." I wink causing a grin to spread across his face.

       "You guys are lifesavers. Now let's hope the costumes show up on time." Mrs. S sighs. "Okay everybody I need to make a few calls and then I'll have people try on the costumes we already have to make sure they fit. Practice the dances for the time being."

       "So, Angel. What did you have in mind?" Angel asks me giving me a wink. Oh, boy, this is going to be fun.