Just like what I suspected, people were talking about me and Gray. I did tell the girls to put a halt with those who are saying that Gray and I are were flirting and with their somehow applause worthy rumor-spreading skills, they did the task with ease. Now, what was engraved in everybody's minds was that we were officially broken up.

As if we were officially together in the first place.

True to their word, I heard nothing about Evan. I acted as if the plan to take him was a well-guarded secret between the team. I threatened them that if anything got out, the fifteen laps will happen – rain or shine.

While I sat by the railings of the school steps, I saw Gray spot me and wave. I turned to my side and pretended to listen to the story Vivian was telling, choosing to ignore the handsome bad boy.

I meant it when I told him I'll stay out of his business.

My eyes then went to the car that pulled into the parking lot, emerging from the passenger side was Erin and just a few moments later, Evan also got out of the vehicle. The girls all shook me, telling me to look his way.

Vivian nudged me and I bit my lip to prevent the sigh from escaping my lips.

Plastering a smirk, I hop off of the railing and I slowly strutted to the direction where he was so that I could meet him halfway. Swaying my hips, I made sure the cheerleaders were watching. I breezed past Erin before I mouthed towards Evan, "Play along."

He wasn't able to register it quickly enough so he jolted up when I latched onto his arm and let out a giggle, showing him a pretty smile, "I was waiting for you."

"What?" he whispered so only I could hear, confusion laced in his voice.

"I'll explain later," I answered in a hushed voice, "Just laugh."

Luckily, he did. It wasn't rolling on the floor laughter, but he did let out a chuckle as I continued on my sweet pretense of happiness. Erin looked over her shoulder and paused when she saw the position her brother and I were currently in.

This is to get the girls off of my back, little lamb. Now look forward before I have to crack your neck just to make you do so.

When we were going up the stairs, I winked at my teammates as I walked along with Evan to the inside. Once we were in, I let him go and followed him as he went to his locker, "I just needed a way to make the girls see that I was alright and I don't need to chase Gray anymore."

"So basically I'm your prop," he said, his voice monotone.

I flinched at how harsh he delivered his words and my lips fell into a flat line. He sighed before grabbing the books he needed and slamming his locker door shut, "You're better than that, Clara."

Without another word, he walked away and I exhaled loudly, leaning against the wall.

I knew this was going to bite me in the ass at some point. I didn't think it would this early on with the plan.

When I saw Gray was approaching with Erin next to him, I groaned before standing up straight and strutting way past them. I don't have the energy to deal with these two right now.

But nonetheless, keep the hips swaying and the heels clacking. If I lose my poise, I lose the war.

"Clara!" I heard Gray call my name and I pretended not to hear him as I continued on my way.

You made your choice Gray, you can't have both toys. It's either you play with one and leave the other one alone.

I went straight to the classroom, taking a seat on my usual desk as I fished out my book and opened it so I have a reason to hush Gray when he attempts to bother me. My phone started ringing and I looked at the screen, groaning when I saw Hallie's name.

This girl will forever be a reminder of how down under my social life with men is going.

"If you say that 'how's my favorite cousin' bullshit, I'm hanging up," I said instead of simple hello.

"Looks like someone woke up at the wrong side of bed today," she joked. Well, more like I woke up to one hell of a day, "I was worried when I didn't get to hear anything from you during the whole weekend."

"You never get to hear anything from me," I reminded bluntly.

Whatever mood I'm in, I'll still be that snarker.

"Yeah, but you were so frazzled last Saturday that I was worried," she explained, "So is there anything bothering the cheerleader's mind?"

Let's see, I'm avoiding the guy who I kind of broke up with, the man who is his substitute for your wedding is currently annoyed at me, some lamb has entered my territory, my supposed best friend hates me, my step-father is absolutely insufferable, my mother fails to see that her daughter is going insane, and I have a broken ankle so I can't practice for cheer competition.

I don't know about you, but everything's just peachy.

"Nothing," I replied smoothly, "I'm really fine."

"You know, that's the number one lie people say nowadays," she told me, "Now what's up?"

"I promise, it's nothing," I assured, "Now you go on and relax, you have a wedding this Saturday and stress is off the table."

She was silent for a moment, probably thinking if she should just let it go or probe. Being the wiser, she sighed in defeat before responding, "Alright, see you on Friday."

"Bye," I told her, hanging up and looking back down on the screen.

"Was that your cousin who was getting married?" a voice suddenly asked, making me yelp.

Glancing at Gray, I took a deep breath before nodding, placing my phone back into my bag.

You know, the one that you promised to go with me to.

"I should rent my tux then," he chuckled, "Can't show up in the usual get up."

Was he mocking me for being date-less?

Turning to him, I gave him a sarcastic smile, "I don't need any man to go with me to my own cousin's wedding, I'm perfectly fine going by myself."

Lie. If that was the case, I wouldn't have needed to plead Evan to go with me.

"I'm not saying that," he muttered, "I promised to go with you."

Hell, you promised you wouldn't leave me as long as I didn't leave you.

"Then I'm setting you free from that promise," I told him, "Don't need the lamb from getting any misunderstandings."

He opened his mouth to say something, but he quickly paused before saying, "Lamb?"

"And if the lamb doesn't think that, maybe Side or Kick will suddenly make her think otherwise and your possible relationship might go down," I kept going.

Just like before, he had this confused expression, "Side or Kick?"

Oh my god, is he really clueless?

"I'm going alone," I stated with confidence, "If you go with me, it's going to be like nothing changed."

With that, I turned away from him and looked down on my book, signaling the end of the conversation. He shook my shoulder, trying to get my attention but nope, I was stubborn as hell and I refuse to be swayed by his charms again.

Go with your lamb, wolf. This queen is perfectly fine having the throne for herself, she doesn't need a king.

When lunch came, I was less than pleased. I think for the past two weeks, my mood has gone lower than low. The table was still rowdy as always, but Gray was missing and that was because he was trailing behind Erin like a puppy to his owner.

He was lovesick and because of that, I was going to be sick. You know, the throwing up in the toilet kind of sick.

"So how's it going with the brother?" a cheerleader asked, sitting next to me, "Any progress?"

"No, but I'm getting there," I answered, just forking around my food on the paper plate, "Do you think this is wrong for me to do?"

Vivian shrugged before resting her elbow on the table, "Just remember that he didn't apologize to you, he just made you all guilty and now he's flaunting his new girl in front of your face as if the last two years didn't happen."

This is the reason why you shouldn't take advice from these girls, your morality will just go down the drain. That, and they will point out any reason for you to be angry and hate the world, making you have a sudden urge to take revenge.

But I'm too classy for revenge right now.

"You're right," I said, getting up on my feet, "I should go on get laid."

"That's our girl," they cheered as I grabbed my bag and went to the vending machine, buying two cans of iced coffee. With a determined look, I marched out of the cafeteria.

Once I was safely out of their view, my expression fell and my shoulders slumped, holding the cold beverages in my hands.

Like always, I just put on a show to get them off my back.

Going outside through the backdoor, I looked around the field until my eyes fell onto the bleachers where Evan was peacefully taking an afternoon nap. Funny, this was how he found me back then – just laying on those metal seats taking a break from it all.

Our roles were ironically reverse.

Climbing up the bleachers, I pressed one of the cans onto his skin. When the sudden cold temperature made contact, he jolted up, accidentally hitting his head on the bleacher a step above from the one he was occupying.

Looks like that iced coffee will serve as a drink and an ice pack for his head.

"You alright?" I asked, handing the drink to him before sitting down on beside him. He slowly turned to me with an expression indicating that he already expected me here, "Can we talk?"

"Do you notice that all we really do is argue?" he groaned and just like I suspected, he used the drink as a compress for his poor head, "So I already have a pretty good idea why you're here."

I need him for that harsh truth that I often forget. He keeps my feet on the ground and like he's always there, just standing and waiting to help me. Whenever we fight, he doesn't even break down and apologize, he goes and wait for me to realize my own fault.

Strangely enough, he's my voice of reason.

"I need you, Evan," I finally admitted, "I need you to give me that karate chop when I'm spacing out, I need you to tell me when enough is enough, and most importantly, I need you to come with me to my cousin's wedding."

If you didn't come along, I wouldn't have noticed what an ass Gray was. If it was only the lamb who came here, I would just have gotten rid of her like the other victims. Evan stopped me from doing that, he was a good slap of reality.

And sometimes, the person who delivers the slap needs a good one as well.

"Okay," he said softly, opening the can and taking a sip, "But you need to stop with trying to please people who aren't really important in your life."

Wrong, I consider my team important. They help me, even though the good graces aren't there, they mean well. They just lack the common sense to give me some good and genuine advice. Without them, I wouldn't be cheering towards my dream, I would have to deal with everyday drama without a good army, and most importantly, they're my stupidly lovable girls who frustrates me to no end yet I can't live without.

Leaning back, I let out a sarcastic laugh, "Then what do I do?"

"Just do you," he answered simply, "By the way, that took faster than I thought."

It took me a couple of seconds to realize what he was talking about. This smartass meant that I was quick to apologize this time.

"Hey!" I complained, faking offence. He chuckled at this and I my façade quickly broke down as I also laughed.

He was right, we argue too many times that I knew that we would fall into this situation again.

The door of the school suddenly opened and we turned around, afraid that it was some faculty member.

To be honest, when I found out who it really was, I was kind of hoping it was a faculty member.

Gray stood there in all his handsome glory, his hands stuffed in his pocket as his backpack hanged on one his shoulders. He blinked upwards at us, his eyes questioning what the hell was happening.

That's the same expression I have whenever I see you and that little lamb talking.

Turning back to Evan, I showed him my grunted expression, "Fate hates me."

"Keeps throwing you and him together?" he questioned for clarifications and I nodded.

At the corner of my eye, I watched as Gray slowly walked up the steps of the bleachers and I groaned, but I'm not going to back down. If he thinks that I'm going to stand up and walk away like a coward, then he's wrong.

He's no longer anything to me.

But if he isn't, then why am I putting so much effort to avoid him?

Don't tell me after anything and everything, I still kind of like him. The fact that I admitted that I was jealous to his face was already a big stab to my pride, for me to keep on doing this was another jab. I'm starting doubt this blonde cheerleader thing if it was a good idea in the first place.

Once again, I just have to remind myself of my loving for cheering to stop all of those negative thoughts.

And then I felt it. Evan's infamous karate chop on my head, snapping me right out of my train of thoughts. I slapped his hand away and he smiled at me, "You kind of asked for it."

"I got it!" we heard Gray have his eureka moment, making us pay attention to him, "That night, you did that pose because he always does that to you."

Oh seriously? That's what he got out of this?

"Do you have any idea you're hurting her?" Gray suddenly said to Evan.

That's gold coming from you.

"I'm not doing anything right now because you're nice to my sister," Evan quipped, his tone far from the friendly one he was using on me, "But then again, you were an asshole to Clara."

And as temperamental as always, Gray's bag dropped to the floor as he grabbed Evan by the collar, "Don't call me an asshole."

Well, you kind of are.

Evan turned to me and questioned, "You're not going stop him?"

I crossed my legs and shook my head, "No."

Because I know Gray won't do anything to Evan while I'm around. He knows how much I disapprove of his violence and although this doesn't stop his ways – just like his smoking habits – he just doesn't do it right in front of me. While I'm here, I know he won't do anything that would harm the other boy.

I'm just hoping that that part of him hasn't changed.

"Why?" he gaped.

"Because I know Gray," I replied simply, staring right into the bad boy's eyes.

Just like I predicted, he let Evan go and his features softened when he looked at me. Biting my lip, I gave him a silent thank you for not going through and listening to his rational side.

Evan fixed his shirt and fired me another inquiry, "What do you mean by that?"

I don't think this guy would like his reputation to be tarnished by me saying that he was really kind under that persona. I know he wouldn't hesitate to help a grandma cross the street, I know he has this soft side for the animals he pass by whenever he's walking down the street, and I know that as long as I didn't like it, he doesn't do it.

And I'm glad he's still the same.

"Secret," I winked as I took my bag and stood up, "Thanks for the talk, Evan."

I grabbed Gray by the arm and started dragging him away. I didn't dare to leave him and Evan alone, hell might break lose if I did. It would be better if I just get him away with the knowledge that I could calm him down.

"You know, thanks for not punching him," I said to Gray when we back inside the building.

Not really a compliment, but hey, it's something.

"Because you said I wouldn't," he muttered, "You trusted me even when he thought otherwise."

The tables have turned. He used the same words about me when Erin doubted me and now, he just shows how deep we really are into this.

"Do you still trust me?" he asked after minutes of silence.

Peering over to him, I took a long time to answer, but when I did, I really did feel it. The way he lit up in happiness and how sincere my answer was, "Yeah, I do."

Although you already have given me enough reasons not to.

"And I trust you," he admitted.

And even though I gave you enough reasons not to.

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

I'm aware that most of you guys don't follow me on my social media so you guys need an explanation why the update was late this week. Basically, I've been feeling unwell since Wednesday and still, I went to school because a stomachache ain't stopping me from getting a high ass grade. This went on until Friday when the pain was extremely unbearable to the point that walking was difficult. So while I was on the train home from school, I called my mom on the brink of tears so she made my uncle pick me up. The minute I got into the car, I started throwing up. So basically, I spent Friday night in the hospital.

I do want to publicly apologize to the doctor I was yelling at. Tip, don't go near me with a syringe because I won't just cry, I'll scream and trash around. They needed a bunch of nurses to hold me down because I wouldn't stay still.

But I managed to get a chapter up because an illness ain't stopping me from making sure you guys are happy. I see your comments saying that you had a tough week and such and you always look forward to Friday because of this and that really touched me. 

By the way, no ship has sunk yet. Every ship is still floating so don't lose hope. 

Question: Should Evan and Clara get a chance?

I love you guys and once again, I'm so sorry for getting this up late! Don't forget to comment, vote, and follow. I shall see you all next chapter!