I liked spending time in the library already, but now I spent the whole day looking forward to going now that Luke was going to be there with me. It gave me an entirely different feeling.

"You're making a mistake," Jake informed me as I made my way down the stairs to the library as he trailed behind me. "Are you even listening to me, Eb?"

I wasn't. He knew me well enough to know I wasn't going to listen to anything he had to say about Luke. He'd been complaining about him ever since I first told him I liked him, and ever since then, I'd been ignoring his complaints.

"All I'm doing is helping him with a project, Jake," I assured once we arrived at the library doors, not wanting him to follow me any farther. "It's not like this is some kind of date."

Though I wished it was. But I wasn't about to say that to Jake when he was already so paranoid.

My best friend rolled his eyes at me. "I know how you feel about him, Eb. I just don't want you to get hurt."

Shooting him a flat look, I said, "Luke wouldn't hurt a fly and you know it."

Jake shook his head. "The Lost Boys are all the same."

I knew the boys didn't like to be lumped together like that, especially with something so negative like Jake had just said. They may have had their few similarities, but for the most part, they were very different. People like Jake decided to ignore their differences and assume they were all pretentious, rude assholes who only cared about themselves and money.

I'd heard about the Lost Boys before they were Quinn, Luke, Christian, and Keegan. The four boys I had become friends with were the fourth class of Lost Boys, and the three classes before them had left a lot of stereotypes for the future groups to deal with.

The Lost Boys were supposed to be selfish, only caring about themselves and the money their parents gave them. They were supposed to not even care about the other Lost Boys in the group with them. Already, the four current Lost Boys didn't live up to those stereotypes. I'd seen firsthand how much the four of them cared about each other, and others outside the group that they were close to.

One of those people being me. All four of them had stuck up for me at one point during our friendship, even Quinn and Christian, one who loved to make my life a living hell and one who barely ever spoke. It was times like that that showed me that we really were friends, even if they did still get on my nerves.

Because the one stereotype they matched to a T was the most annoying to me. Lost Boys could get away with anything and everything because of all the money their parents donated. The boys got away with skipping school, passing on doing homework, and mouthing off or ignoring the teachers. They'd stopped doing this so frequently once I got on their case about it freshman year, with Quinn commenting that there wasn't any point on coming to school if they continued this cycle, and he wanted to see me, much to my chagrin. So now, they skipped class and homework rarely, ever though they could do it all they wanted, and this calmed my inner nerd.

"Does Luke know this isn't a date?" Jake asked me, holding his arm up in front of me to stop me from going anywhere.

I rolled my eyes. "Have you ever met Luke?"

"I'm just saying," he groaned, rubbing his hand over his face. "You like him, Ebony. You very obviously like him—"

"Well, thanks—"

"And I just don't want you to get hurt," he finished, cutting me off before I could finish my retort. "You obviously like him but he hasn't shown any interest in you that way."

I did not want to talk about this. I knew he hadn't ever shown romantic interest in me, but that didn't mean I had no hope. I was used to Luke being pretty dense and not understanding when I was flirting with him.

"I think he's just dense," I muttered, trying to move past him.

"I do, too," Jake lifted his arm again, stopping me from moving forward. "And that's exactly why I think you shouldn't try to further your relationship with him."

"You don't know him, Jake," I snapped, growing annoyed. "You don't know any of them."

It was no secret that Jake wasn't a fan of the Lost Boys. But he always acted like he knew them, just like everyone else did. The boys didn't have many friends other than themselves and me, everyone else either being too scared of them or idolizing them as it they were celebrities. All the boys really wanted was to just be normal, but people like Jake stopped that from happening for them.

"You complain about them every chance you get, but now you're defending them?" he questioned, an eyebrow raising.

"They're annoying, but..." I was at a loss for words for a moment. "I know them."

"I know them, too," he scowled, as if he completely ignored what I had just said. "They're Lost Boys."

"That doesn't mean anything."

"That means a lot." He ran his hands through his hair; he wasn't going to drop this argument no matter how much I fought back. "Just... please forget about Luke."

I was growing exasperated. "Why are you so worked up about this, Jake?"

Jake's whole face was red as he clutched onto my arm. "Because I don't want you to be with him!"

My whole mouth went dry. My whole mind went blank. I didn't know what I was supposed to say.

"What are you doing?" a new voice suddenly asked, and we looked up the stairs to see Skyler staring down at us.

Jake seemed to realize what he was doing and let go of me immediately, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Skyler gave him a look and made her way down the stairs to join us.

"So... I take it that you're going on your first study date with Luke?" my other best friend asked once she was beside us.

I shook my had adamantly. "It's not a study date," I denied, not wanting to rile Jake up again. "I'm just helping him with his project."

"Well, we'll leave you to that," she shrugged, grabbing onto Jake's shoulder and turning him away from the library. He opened his mouth to protest, but Skyler wasn't having any of it. Her grip on his shoulder tightened, a look of pain adorning his face.

"Bye, Ebony," she smiled, squeezing our best friend friend's shoulder.

"Bye, Ebony," Jake squeaked.

Skyler turned him away, leading him up the stairs and away from the library.

I let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness for Skyler.

I hurried into the library, afraid Luke had grown tired of waiting and left. I didn't even want to think about what he'd think of me if he thought I'd purposely stood him up.

All my anxiety left my body when I saw him sitting there, reading through his textbook. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he read through it, something I couldn't help but find completely adorable.

"I'm so sorry for keeping you waiting so long," I apologized as soon as I was close enough that he could heat me, rushing over to the table he was sitting at. "Jake just would not let me go."

The librarian looked up to shush me, but kept her mouth shut when she saw who I was talking to.

"It's okay," Luke assured, his accent like music to my ears. "I was just reading through the book. I can't seem to process any of this at all."

That was pretty obvious, but I wasn't about to say that. His confusion was still really cute, and the fact that I was going to be able to help him through that confusion excited me.
Honestly, I had no idea how history could be difficult for someone, but then again, I didn't find anything in school particularly challenging. It was always a little weird to me when I saw someone struggling because I never did.

"You probably think I'm really dumb," he groaned, running a hand through his golden hair. I immediately shook my head as he continued to speak. "I can't even remember which wife is which. I can hardly even remember their names."

"No, no," I assured, even though if it was anyone else, I might've thought that. "His wives' names could be difficult to remember and hard to decipher since a lot of them shared the same name."

"Exactly!" Luke gasped, excited by the fact I seemed to understand exactly what he was coming from. "Two Annes? Three Catherines? Did they have, like, no variety back then?"

I shrugged. "Probably not."

Luke sighed. "I feel like an idiot."

"No, you're not an idiot," I blurted, shaking my head rapidly. I wasn't the type of person to lie; I normally always told the truth even if it meant hurting the other person's feelings. But even though Luke wasn't the smartest person in the world, he was in no way stupid.

"That's easy for you to say, Eb," he laughed, that cute crinkle beside his eyes forming as he smiled at me. "You're, like, a genius."

Luke complimenting me left butterflies in my stomach. It wasn't like it wasn't anything I hadn't heard before. People had been calling me a genius all my life, both positively and negatively. But when Luke said it, it was different. Especially because he meant it positively.

"I'm so not a genius," I laughed awkwardly, even though I'd taken many tests that proved I was, in fact, a genius. "I actually have a lot of trouble in... um... math."

It took me a moment, but I finally thought of a subject that would be the most believable for me to have trouble in. I wasn't struggling in math, not one bit, but I didn't want Luke to think that I was some kind of robot.

"Really?" Luke gaped, shocked by my false confession. "Math is actually the one subject I'm really good at. I could tutor you, if you wanted."

Now I was the one gaping at him. Had he really just offered to spend even more time alone with me? Okay, he just offered to tutor me, but that also meant we would spend even more time alone together!

"That sounds great," I gushed, trying my hardest not to look and sound like an idiot, but I most likely wasn't succeeding. "I could really use your help."

I did not need any help in math. In fact, I was sure I had an even better grade than he did. But was I going to tell him that and pass up on the opportunity to spend more time with him? Hell no.

I couldn't believe I had not just this opportunity, but now another to spend time alone with him. I had been waiting for years to finally have a reason to be alone with him without looking weird or obvious. And now, here we were. All alone.

"Oh, Ebby!"

And I had spoken too soon.

I felt like I was finally going to snap at that moment. I had that feeling a lot with Quinn, but right then more than ever. Quinn grinned as he made his way closer to us, the librarian having given up on trying to make anyone be quiet. I felt like hitting myself in the head with a textbook.

"I talked to Mr. Flores and asked if I could change the subject of my project to Henry VIII," Quinn informed us, and I really thought my head was going to explode. "Isn't that neat?"

Oh, hell no.

"Did you actually ask Mr. Flores, or did you tell him that you were changing the subject of your project to Henry VIII?" I had to ask, the venom in my voice prominent.

Quinn shrugged. "Same difference."

And here were that Lost Boy power that annoyed me so much. He could do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted, and he was well aware of that. He just seemed to use his power whenever it would get on my nerves.

"Looks like we'll all get to work together, then!" the leader of the Lost Boys grinned, taking a seat next to his second in command.

"You're not even in our period," I reminded him nastily, even though this wasn't something he needed to be reminded of. "Can't you find someone in your actual class to work with?"

Quinn shook his head. "I want you to help me, Ebby."

I nearly growled. "I don't think you need any help with Henry VIII."

Quinn shook his head adamantly. "I know nothing about old Hank," he shrugged, and I wasn't sure if I was annoyed because he was referring to King Henry VIII so informally, or because I knew he was lying. "Didn't he have, like, fifteen wives?"

"Dude," Luke groaned, his head in his hands. "It's already difficult enough for me to keep track of his actual wives; I don't need you making any more up."

Quinn blinked. "So, like... twelve wives, then?"

"Six," I spat.

Quinn waved the fact away. "Same difference."

I couldn't let this happen. I finally, finally, had time by myself with Luke. And of course Quinn had to try to ruin it, just like he always did.

"I think that's enough studying for one day," I spat, slamming my hands down onto the table and standing up.

"I must say," Quinn grinned, "that I never thought I'd ever hear you say that."

"Bye, Quinn," I snapped, taking a deep breath and turning to smile at the second Lost Boy. "Bye, Luke."

"You're so cold, Ebby," the leader whined, flopping around in his chair. "Why won't you love me like I love you?"

I glowered at him. "Because you're insufferable."

"Ooh, a big word! Use another!"

"Ignoramus!"

I spun on my heel, huffing as I stormed out of the library, trying to get as far away from Quinn as I possibly could. He knew exactly how to get under my skin, and he did everything he could to get there. I'd had enough of him for one day.

I pushed the door to the library open, making my way into the hallway and toward the stairs. I was going to need this walk home to cool off, because I felt like I was about to explode.

I wasn't surprised when I heard Quinn following after me, though I wished that it was the other Lost Boy instead. He clutched onto my arm, stopping us about halfway up the stairs.

"You want a ride home?" he asked, that usual smirk on his face.

"No, I don't want a ride home," I scowled, ripping my arm from his grasp. "I want you to mind your own business."

"Well, I can't really do that," he shrugged, as if he wasn't even listening to me at all, "but I can give you a ride home."

"You did this on purpose," I continued as Quinn crossed his arms over his chest. "You know how happy I was that I finally got to be alone with Luke, but you still had to ruin it!"

Quinn rolled his eyes. "It's just studying."

I frowned. "You know it's a lot more than studying for me."

Quinn knew how much I liked Luke, but that never stopped him from doing annoying things like this all the time. It was almost as if he was trying to sabotage me; it was almost like he'd do anything he could to get in the way of my relationship with Luke. It wasn't even almost; it was something he always did, and deliberately on top of that.

The leader of the Lost Boys leaned against the railing of the stairs, his arms still crossed over his chest as he asked, "So, what? Do you want me to tell Mr. Flores that I'm switching back to my original subject?"

"Yeah," I nodded, as if it should have been obvious.

"Do you know how annoying that would be?"

"What do you care? You're a Lost Boy."

"Are you trying to get me to use the powers you hate so much?"

"You already used it to get us into this mess!"

"I wouldn't really call it a mess," he corrected.

I stared at him flatly. "Anything involving you is a mess."

"A hot mess," he winked.

I made a face.

"Listen," he sighed, cocking his head to the side as he gave me his signature grin. "Just forget about Luke."

I scoffed. I didn't mean to, but it was out before I could even stop it. I wasn't surprised that Quinn was saying something like this to me, but that didn't make it any less annoying.

"I just don't want to see you get hurt," he told me simply.

I couldn't help but bark out a laugh. "That's rich."

"Is that so hard to believe?" he asked, and I bit down on my tongue to stop myself from saying yes. "You're my friend, Ebony."

"You're my friend, so you should encourage me," I rebutted. "Like Skyler does."

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "Does Jake?"

This was where he got me. "Well... no, but—"

It all seemed to make sense to him as he said, "Thought so."

I couldn't believe I was having this argument for the second time that day, with a different person, so I had to ask, "Do you really think Luke is capable of hurting me?"

Quinn didn't answer right away. He took a moment, not because he was trying to think of what to say, but because he didn't want to say it.

"No," he finally answered after what felt like an eternity. "I don't think he'd capable of that."

I glared at him. "So what's really your reason for not wanting me to be with Luke?"

Quinn said nothing.

"Jake was going on and on about the same thing earlier," I continued, since Quinn obviously wasn't going to answer my question. "What is wrong with the two of you?"

"We're both idiots," he muttered, though his tone for some reason made it sound like it was much more of an insult to me than it was to them.

However, I said anyway, "Well, you got that right."

I understood the want to protect me. I felt the same way about my friends, and when they liked someone, I always felt like I needed to protect them from getting hurt. But I'd learned that you just couldn't do that, because people didn't have to listen to you and they could make their own decisions. You just needed to be there for them if those decisions ended in pain.

"Just... give up on Luke," Quinn said, quietly.

"I'm not going to do that, Quinn," I informed him sternly, turning to start making my way up the stairs again. "There's nothing you could do or say that would change my feelings for him."

"If you could just listen to me for once—" Quinn started, cutting himself off as he took a step in front of me, causing me to take a step back and into the wall. His hand went to the railing behind me. "If you'd just listen, you'd understand."

My eyes went to his arm, so close it was almost touching me as he gripped onto the railing. "I don't understand what I'm supposedly supposed to understand."

"You never think I'm ever being serious—"

"Because you're not ever being serious—"

"Well, have you ever thought that maybe I am serious about yo—"

"Quinn!" a new voice suddenly squealed, and he was quickly pushing away from me as we looked up to see Lindsey at the top of the stairs. I rolled my eyes. "I didn't expect you to still be here!"

"Neither did I," I deadpanned, but she ignored me.

As Lindsey made her way down the stairs toward us, Quinn rubbed the back of his head with his hand, as if he was embarrassed. I simply rolled my eyes.

Just like she always did, Lindsey wrapped her arm around Quinn's. They looked like such a natural couple that it was hard to believe they weren't official. It was pretty obvious how badly Lindsey wanted that, too.

"Let's go get something to eat," she smiled, placing her free hand on his chest.

Quinn glanced at me. "Uh..."

I turned away, happy that I finally had an excuse to leave. I could see Quinn frowning out of the corner of my eye now.

"I'll see you guys later," I waved as I continued away, even though I hoped that that wouldn't be true.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm incredibly sorry this took almost eight months.

I'm not going to try to make any excuses, like school or work or whatnot. Both have been pretty time consuming, but it's because writing isn't a stress reliever for me anymore, for some reason. Nowadays, it just adds on to my stress. Which is revolting, considering I still love it and I still have many, many ideas for future stories (one that was influenced by the song attached to this chapter, though it also works for this story I think a little too but I have to end Enders before I can start writing it for reasons and just I have a lot of feels about that story and I haven't even started writing it yet).

Also, I saw Baywatch and Alexandra Daddario's character was literally Ebony and I cry

I don't think I can promise a quick and speedy update. I'll try, but like I said about, I just get... grumpy when I write. And I'm really, really, really hoping that that goes away.