"You can't expect us not to hear from you all weekend and just stay put," Vivian whined as she, and the rest of the team, followed me around like always.

Pausing in my steps, I gave her a dry look before responding, "I do."

She groaned but still continued on pestering as I kept on walking. To be honest, I'm more stressed out than I expected. I thought that if I go to Hallie's wedding, I could find time to relax since all the worldly troubles I have here will just be at the back of my mind.

Nope. Instead, more things got piled up.

I spotted Erin talking to her friends at the hallway, her mouth turned down into a frown as I saw Side and Kick trying to comfort her. I raised a brow before shrugging, turning to the other hallway so I could avoid her. Maybe she finally found out about the problem with her mother and just like her brother, she's not taking it so well.

Then again, she doesn't have much of a right. Mrs. Matthews is not really her mother and the one who can mope around here is Evan. He first encountered his father cheating that led to the conception of his half-sister and now, he just caught his mother red-handed with a married man.

Speaking of which, the poor guy must still be so distraught right now.

"I'll see you girls in class," I told the group and before they can protest, I was off to find Evan.

Forget the rumor train, I just can't leave that guy alone to be depressed. I was the one who saw it with him and even though his buddies might know what he's going through, there was a bugging feeling that wouldn't be able to go away until I was assured that he was still functioning well.

When I caught his figure walking through the back door of the school, it was the exact moment when the warning bell rung. The students started scrambling around to get to their classes and while everyone was occupied, I sneaked out and followed him.

He was sitting by the bleachers with his group of friends, seemingly out of character for cutting classes. That was when I saw it – from his back pocket, he took out a box of cigarettes and placed one in-between his lips.

Now, I know when someone is a smoker. It's obvious from their physical features and there's always a lingering smell from them, but Evan certainly was not one.

Rushing to where they were sitting, I quickly marched up the bleachers, creating much unnecessary noise to grab their attention. Once I was right in front of them, I bent down and snatched the cigarette, dropping it down and stepping on it with my shoe, "Are you really going to go there?"

His buddies were surprised at my sudden appearance, but the boy in question was not. The bags under his eyes were a clear indicator that he wasn't able to get a blink of sleep last night and the fact that the box was still new and full except for about two to three pieces signaled that he just started this habit.

I reached out a hand, a gesture he has done multiple times for me. I was silent and so was he, but he quickly got the message and held onto it as I pulled him up and started dragging him away from his groupie.

"What just happened?" questioned the guy who I recognized was the one who allowed Evan to take refuge in his house.

I'm telling you what just happened and what's going to happen – I'm saving this guy's ass from doing something he and I are both going to regret.

"Where are you taking me?" he asked just as I stopped right in front of the school door. I held out a hand and silently told him to give me the whole packet.

When he reluctantly did, I walked over to the huge bin and threw it in there, eliciting a small protest from him, "Smoking is and never will be the answer. I'm stopping it before you sink into the point of no return."

He shoved his hands into his pocket and gave me a look, "Then why are you only stopping me? Gray had been doing it for who knows how long and you didn't bat an eye."

"Because I've learned my lesson," I replied, "I'm not going to let history repeat itself."

I just allowed Gray do whatever he wanted because I thought that it was best for him to move on like that. What did it came to? Him being a temperamental bastard who thinks it's okay to go around and sleep with anyone as he smoke about an unhealthy amount of cigarettes a day.

I'm slightly to blame for not stopping him when I had a chance. I thought it was the way to go, but it ended with him thinking that it was alright to play me around because he knows that I'll always forgive him.

"You're just saying that because you don't have him anymore," he spat bitterly.

I should really be offended, but something I've learned since I met Evan is that a person's current situation can really distort their behavior.

"But I have you," I stated, "And I told you that I'm here, didn't I?"

That's why I freaked out when he told me he liked me. I was scared that if I ever have to reject him, it would make me lose him.

Out of nowhere, he dropped his head onto my shoulder and whispered, "Can I tell you something?"

I froze, not because of what he just said, but this close contact was something I did not ask for. Swallowing hard, I knew that I have suppress my usual spontaneous reactions.

Taking a deep breath, I answered, "Okay."

Before he could continue though, the door swung open and we jumped apart, afraid that it was a teacher. Thankfully or not-so-thankfully, it was only Gray there.

His eyes switched from the two of us and I didn't even blink and so did Evan. Even before, he was never afraid of Gray and I praise him for that.

How come he always catches us in this exact spot?

Like the first encounters were okay, but come on, fate was just playing with me right now. He could go to any spot in this school but he always chooses the back field. And what's worse, he manages to go here just as when Evan and I are as well.

"One-Eighty Degrees?" Evan suggested. It was vague but I knew he was talking about the café where I asked him to join me to Hallie's wedding.

"I have practice," I told him.

"I'll wait," he muttered before he walked past Gray into the school.

Turning to Gray, I wasn't shocked when I saw him seething. The grip he had on the door handle was turning his knuckles white and the pure anger in his eyes were evident.

"So you're screwing with him now?!" he growled.

My eyes widened at the sudden accusation. Enough is enough, I lifted a hand and sent it right across his cheek, creating a loud smacking sound while I was at it. The area where I slapped him was now tinted red and it matched my growing frustration at him.

How dare he say that? He was the one screwing around like a fucking wanker. When I showed a bit of concern to some other guy, he goes around telling me this. He's like a fucking whining baby who's complaining because he can't get all the candies in the shop.

"Get it into your head, Gray," I said to him, "You're not the only guy in my life anymore."

He lifted up a gentle hand and ran it across my cheek, making me inhale audibly. Slowly, he let his face descend closer to mine, and when we were just inches apart, he told me under his breath, "And I don't want that."

And then our lips connected, it was unlike what I expected. It wasn't aggressive or forceful, but it was gentle and sweet, giving me the permission to retreat at any given moment. His hands still caressed my cheeks and perhaps, this was the first time we shared something like this.

It was always rough, sloppy and quick, just like our escapades. Although there was the desire, it lacked the genuine side of this gesture.

I wanted it to last, because it felt like I finally had him, but I know that wasn't the case. Slowly pulling back, I took a step away as he released me. We just stared at each other, trying to sink in what just happened.

This relationship of ours was doomed from the second it started and I'm afraid that we were just about to repeat history.

"Erin..." I trailed off, reminding him what broke us off.

He shut his eyes, taking a deep breath before revealing those brown irises again, "I'm confused," he finally admitted.

About what? His feelings? His relationship? Erin? Me? His sexuality?

Okay, forget the last one.

"You know that I practically ignored her this whole weekend because I was too concentrated on reaching you."

"You're really good at making yourself look like an asshole."

He let out a bitter chuckle, "Yeah, but I never realized that I just lost the greatest consistency in my life."

Wow, so deep, man.

"You're too much of a wolf to say these cliché and corny things," I stopped him before this becomes too dramatic even for me.

"You could just say that you like him," he said, referring to Evan, before adding under his breath, "Wouldn't like it though."

Taking a deep breath, I shook my head, "I don't."

When I said those words, he seemed to brighten up. It was short lived though, because I quickly added after, "But I want to like him."

He's safe, extremely safe. He's kind, a little bit too kind. He's a snarker, a very blunt deadpan snarker. He's the breath of fresh air from the suffocation I suffered from Gray, so even though my heart wasn't with him right now, I want to give it to him.

Because I know he'll take care of me.

"Do I still have a chance?" he asked, reaching out take gently take my hand.

"Do I?" I shot back his question.

You know what's making this complicated? He had me wrapped around his little finger from day one and even though I was willing myself to move away, I'm afraid that if he pulls the string, I'll be back by his side.

"Yes," he replied.

***

Turning around, I waved my hands up in the air before twirling then striking a pose. The girls behind me also did their parts of the routine and when the beat changed, we clapped our hands, moving into the next position.

We still haven't gotten to perfect the pyramids and the lifts so we just made sure we got the choreography down. As we did our last moves, we paused just as the music stopped. Facing around, I showed them a preppy smile, "We're done for the day."

They cheered as they all ran into the locker rooms, once my back was turned to them, my smile fell as I bent down and picked up the speakers we were using. Glancing towards the edge of the mat, I saw the poster that we abandoned to dry after making it. I moved it to a safe spot before I collected all the spray paints into my arms and dumping them into a bag. Releasing my hair out of its ponytail, I got back up and walked into the locker room.

"Clara, we're going to that frozen yogurt shop," Vivian said, "Let's go."

"I have plans," I told them, "Some other time."

"You've been so busy lately," she pointed out, "Keep us in the loop."

These girls deserve to know what's happening since they did almost all the work with the torture plan targeted on Erin. Though when I tell them, I'm going to be vague as possible, "I will, but I have to go."

Some things, even by your dearest army, shouldn't be known.

Stuffing everything that I didn't need to bring home into my locker, I wore my jacket before rushing out. Checking my wristwatch, Evan could have been waiting for me for two solid hours.

As I pulled up into One-Eighty Degrees Coffee, I walked inside, looking around for the guy. When I saw him on the farthest booth, I straightened myself up before slowly going up to him, dropping on the cushion opposite to him, "Sorry I took long."

"I told I'll wait," he shrugged as he called up a waiter, "She'll have one cappuccino and a peach danish."

The waiter nodded as he wrote it down on his notepad before walking away. I turned to him, giving him a questioning look, "How did you know?"

"That's what you ordered the last time," he answered, "I went home earlier."

"And?"

"Mom was at work so I just got more clothes before I went back to my friend's house," he explained, "His parents know me and when we explained the situation, they allowed me to stay there."

Avoiding the situation was not the answer, but I'm not the one to talk. I barely say anything to mom and Will because I think it's easier that way. Same thing with Gray, instead of just yelling at him to shut up, I refused to answer any of his calls and texts the whole weekend I was at the haystack.

Speaking of the bad boy, I glanced back towards Evan. He needs to know that Gray was slowly inching himself back into the picture.

He's a jerk, Clara, a jerk.

"I don't know what's the deal with Erin though," he sighed, "Before I had the chance to tell her, she looked like she was already about to cry."

"So Erin doesn't know?" I asked.

Once again, he shrugged, "Probably, I thought that it was better not to stack the problems on her, I don't know what's going on with her end."

So that depressed look on Erin earlier was not because she knew about Mrs. Matthews. The gears in my head were turning as I tapped my index finger on my chin. Gray mentioned earlier that he ignored her all weekend because of me and maybe the lamb was slowly finding out that she's losing the grip that she had on Gray.

It confirms the fact that she likes him. She actually fell for the bad boy, she took the cliché bait and was now going through her state of rejection.

Was he returning to me the same pace that I was returning to him?

One part of me just wants to go back to the way we were – the late night talks, the spontaneous sneaking outs, the way that I was his priority just as he was mine. The other part wants to deliver another slap on his sorry ass.

You messed with me once and I'm not letting you mess with me again.

So far, my head for this day was just a battle between yes and now.

What snapped me out of my thoughts was not Evan's usual chop on the head, but the waiter who placed my cup on the table in front of me along with the danish.

"Are you done thinking now?" Evan questioned when the waiter walked away. I looked up from my drink and my shoulders slumped.

This guy has an amazing ability of making me feel like a jerk.

"Sorry, practice made me hungry so I was thinking about the food," I lied as an excuse, biting onto the peach pastry, "Please continue."

"I feel like if I don't tell anyone, I'm going to go mad," he mumbled.

"Then why did you think that I was the one you should be sharing this to?"

Without breaking eye contact, he responded, "Because you told me to trust you, and didn't you say that you were here for me?"

I bit my lip and decided to remain silent, gesturing for him to talk as I took a sip of my drink. I feel like I'm going to go deeper into this than I initially thought. But he needs me right now, he was there when I needed him so I have to go through with this while having an open mind.

"You were correct when you said that Erin and I have different mothers," he started, "My dad was having an affair with the next door neighbor when my mom found out that she was pregnant."

So that explains that even though they were only half-siblings, they were able to play around as children. They lived just across the fence, they can still be close while being apart.

"We only found out about it when our neighbors were having a divorce. Apparently, the husband discovered that Erin wasn't his and told my mom about it," he continued on, "Sadly, Erin's mom would rather stay with her husband than keep Erin so she shoved her into my family's responsibility."

Ouch. It was bad enough to find out that you're not your father's child, but it's even worse when you realize that your mom thinks of you as a nuisance and blames you for a broken marriage. Instead of staying strong and vowing to raise you properly, you were instead given to your real biological father who already had his own happy sappy family.

Mrs. Matthews must have resented her so much and even up until now, she hasn't properly warmed up to Erin. She was the spawn of a homewrecker.

Now I know why Evan was so protective of Erin, he has seen how much she has been through.

"Mom didn't take it so well, so she divorced my dad and took me with her," he told me, "Dad was so distraught that he went into a pit of despair."

Somehow, I don't like where this is going.

"He didn't harm Erin if that's what you're thinking," he said when he saw my horrified expression, "But he got fired because he refused go to work, he started drowning himself in alcohol, and I get frequent calls from Erin crying out because she found our dad just lying on the floor, unmoving."

At least this was not the story of physical parental abuse. That was hitting a new kind of low if you're going to hurt your own daughter like that.

"My dad, while during the rare time that he was sober, appeared at our apartment and begged my mom to take Erin while he gave himself up into rehab."

Not really a bad guy if you, yourself, admit that you have a problem and go on your way to help yourself.

"Although she agreed, she couldn't take care of two children with the job that she had," he spoke, "So my grandma told her that she will help mom as long as she keeps close to her. We moved back into my mom's old family home and with some connections, she got a well-paying job."

"What happened to your grandma?" I finally muttered after being silent the whole time, "Whenever I visited, she wasn't there."

"Retirement home," he replied, "But do you know who got mom her job?"

I didn't even need a clue, just from the gruff tone, I already knew the answer, "Will."

"And the moment we moved, she already had the job," he informed, before he slammed his mug onto the table, "Meaning, she knew what she was getting herself into, she was ready to be with him the moment she got the chance to come back."

I blinked at his conclusion before I realized, "You knew about it yet you didn't do anything."

"Because I didn't want to assume," he defended himself, leaning against the cushion and crossing his arms over his chest, "Should have went with my gut feeling though."

"What are you going to do now?" I questioned, "You can't avoid your mom forever, you need to go home at some point."

Letting out a deep sigh, his hands played with the coffee cup, thinking about a reply. He just kept staring at the half-drank coffee with the empty plate next to it, probably where his pastry once sat. His eyebrows were knitted together and I knew that he was already deep in thought.

Tilting my head to the side, I observed the way his gaze may be set on one thing yet his mind was completely somewhere else. By now, his thoughts has probably drifted away, it was no longer at my question.

I don't know how long I just sat there, watching him stare at blank space. Is this what he feels like when I space out on him?

Leaning forward, I lifted a hand and did his classic karate chop on the top of his head. When he felt it, he was shaken back into reality and when his eyes focused on me, I showed him a small smile, "I'll order us each a piece of that chocolate cake by the display case," I said, "That may make you feel better."

He lifted a hand and took my hand that was still on top of his head. He squeezed it for a short while before nodding, releasing it and letting me do what I suggested.

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

This week has been amazing and today was one of the best examples of TGIF. Our prof treated us to pizza (although we kind of pushed him to doing it, all for good fun), my friends and I went to a movie house, and three of my classes got canceled. Save for the broken aircon on the train ride home, I enjoyed today. That was my day, how was yours?

Now am I good at playing with cliches or what? First we got the cheerleader, then we have the bad boy, and now we have the broken boy with a bad past, can't forget about the good girl too. Just ticking things off of the list.

Question: I feel like this question is so overlooked most of the time, but it's very important to me as the one writing this story. So far, how is everything going on in this book for you?

I'm doing #writewemay on instagram. For the whole month of May, I'll be posting a picture for the corresponding theme of the day. A lot of other writers are doing it as well so go check out the hashtag if you want to see more.

Instagram: trulyyourstrina. I repeat, this is on instagram only!

Well, that's it for now. Please vote, comment, and follow. I love you guys and I shall see you all next chapter.