I breathed a sigh of relief when a saw Axle walk through the back doors of the mall discreetly looking around.

I grabbed Joney's hand and quickly made my way to him, but paused when I noticed who else was present. I gawked at Finn, spencer, Luke and Jacen, who were all glancing around as well, before anger ran radiated from me as my gaze swung to Axle.

Joney disconnected herself from me and ran to Finn, much to my, and everyone else's surprise. My eyes caught Jacen's for a split second before I dropped my gaze to my converse and walked until I was directly in front of Axle, and away from Jacen's line of vision.

"What are they doing here?" My eyes swept the four again before my gaze returned to Axle's.

He scoffed as he crossed his arms across his chest, his muscles bulging, and the slightest tip of a tattoo showing on his collarbone.

"You welcome for getting off my ass to help you. You must not even be in that much danger if you can leisurely walk to me and then reprimand me."

"I wasn't reprimanding you," I started but gave up. "You know what? Never mind, because we do have bigger problems than this conversation." I gestured behind me to the glass window by the front doors.

Axle looked over my shoulder but a look of confusion took over his features, a look I was not expecting to see.

I turned around but froze. The man that has currently been standing there wasn't there anymore. So either he was hungry and stopped at the foot court about two minutes from the store, or he was under the correct suspicion that I called someone to help me.

Either way, the man in black was gone, which was the last outcome of this scenario I wanted to happen.

Joney and Finn were still talking, slightly apart from the others, and it made me wonder when this happened. It also made me reluctantly jealous of what the two of them seemed to have.

I looked at Jacen who was continuing to stand stiffly with his eyebrows furrowed, as his unwavering gaze focused slowly on the windows.

As if feeling my gaze, his eyes snapped to mine in an instant, and clouded as if in distaste of seeing me.

"Well this was a complete waste of time." He announced with a bored tone. The way his words affected me annoyed me, but I continued to try to remain indifferent.

"No one said you had to come. I called one person, and one person only, so feel free to grab a coupon on the way out the door."

Ooh good one Zaph. Tell him to pick up a coupon for women's swimwear.

Axle snickered.

Jacen's fist clenched as his smoldering gaze kept my own locked, powerless against the mahogany brown.

"Zaph-" I held my hand up, as I faced Axle again, cutting my conversation with Jacen short.

"Sorry about the inconvenience. It won't happen again. If I had known you were bringing them I wouldn't have asked you in the first place."

I turned towards Joney.

"Jo, are you going with me or them?" I asked exasperatedly.

She bit her lip contemplating, but after Finn whispered something to her and nudged her towards me, she made her way towards me.

With a quick nod to Axle, and turned and walked out of the back doors of the store.

After I was sure we were out of sight from the guys, I took a deep shaky breath and ran my fingers through my hair. I slowed my quick strides as I looked around and then to Joney.

She gave me a look of sympathy and understanding, even though she didn't understand half of what just happened.

She walked closer to me before enveloping me in a hug, one desperately needed. That's what I loved about Joney. She didn't need a reason or push you for information, she was just there when you needed someone.

I hugged her back just as tightly, my brave facade quickly diminishing.

"It's ok to cry, Z," she whispered in my ear.

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" I whispered back. She just held on tighter, right before letting go.

She kept one arm wrapped around me as we made our way out of the mall, into the crowded parking lot. After we located the car, we drove to her house, and wasted the night away with lots of Arrow, Supernatural, and hot fries.

***

"Ok class, the list to see who your sitting next to on the bus is up. You can't switch around on the way there or the way back, so don't even think about it," my teacher said, clipboard in hand.

Assigned seats on a bus? They treat us like middle schoolers and I am getting really sick of it.

After I woke up at Joney's, I told her I had to go home and grab my already packed suitcase for the trip today.

I said bye to my mom and the twins, before making my way to my car and driving here. Joney said that we would meet up when I got to the school but I still didn't see her.

A heavy arm fell over my shoulders, which pulled me away from looking around for Joney. I was surprised when I saw Axle smiling down at me sarcastically.

"Hey roomie," he said smiling cheekily down at me. I shrugged his hand off in annoyance. I don't know what made him believe that we were friends now or would ever be. I hadn't forgotten what he had said to me.

"Leave me alone Axle. I'm in the middle of something." I looked around for my best friend.

I started walking off towards the school building, but a yank to my shoulder had me stumbling back into Axle's chest. Once I regained my footing and pushed away from him, I turned to look at him.

"What do you want?" I said, frustrated.

He looked at me for a moment and the responded. "We have to sit together on the bus. Hotel roommates are bus buddies as well." He saw my reaction as quickly added. "I hate this just as much as you do, but as long as you don't talk to me I'll be fine."

I scoffed. "Were you not the one who came over here and talked to me first?"

He had a thoughtful expression on his face, as he looked me up and down. "Were you not the one who called me yesterday because you can't solve your own problems?" He replied.

"Look, I wont talk to you ok? The hatred we have for each other is mutual, so don't think I will be pushing any friendship on you anytime soon." He looked conflicted as he looked from me to the ground, and with a nod he walked off.

I sighed. Sharing a room with this guy is probably going to be the ultimate challenge.

"Hey Z," Joney said, looking out of breath as she came up to me.

"Hey Jo, where've you been? I was looking for you." Her eyes flashed to something behind me and then back to me as she bit her lip. A lively blush took over her face, as she brushed a piece of hair behind her ear.

"I had to turn around and go home to get something I forgot." She said. I opened my mouth but shut it, nodding stiffly.

I'm not sure why I neglected to tell her that I saw her car here when I pulled in.

I groaned as the bus jerked forward, pulling me out of my dream and back into reality. My head hit the headrest in from of me, and action that made Axle laugh.

"What's going on?" I asked groggily, still disoriented, while people were moving around me.

"We're at the hotel." Axle told me, getting all of his stuff together while checking his phone every now and then. People started exiting off the bus as my mind started to clear, and I began to get my stuff together too.

"The hotel in Florida?" I asked sitting up, and looking around. The sun had just set and the sky was a canvas of colors.

Axle paused, and with his eyes closed he said, "No you dipshit; how would we get from Pennsylvania to Florida in eight hours?"

"I just woke up, give me a break," I said, defending my pride. I patted down hair which was probably a complete and utter mess.

"I would, but you drooled on my shoulder. You should fix that problem," he cringed, "immediately."

My hand came up to feel the area around my mouth, wiping it just in case he was telling the truth. "I don't drool, "I murmured, as I finished getting all of my stuff together.

We walked out off the bus, and made our way into the extravagant hotel.

Mrs. Evans was waiting at the door, and gave us our room key. "You've got room number 1605. Breakfast tomorrow is at seven o'clock and we leave at eight. Room check is at eleven tonight, and I expect lights out by twelve." She gave me a sympathetic look as I past by her and made my way to the elevator.

When we got to our room, I was pleasantly surprised by the interior decoration. There were burgundy walls with dark wooden tables. There was a flat screen tv and the carpet was brown and green, but it all fit together well.

"Yay!" I squealed as I threw my stuff down in a corner and belly flopped onto the bed. Clean sheet smell.

I smiled to myself as I continued to inhale deeply. A sharp slap to my butt had me up in an instant. "Axle!" I yelled in surprise and indignation, rubbing my bum.

Axle threw his stuff on the bed I had previously belly flopped on. He turned to me. "Sorry princess, but this is my bed."

"But I was just there!"

"But now I am. So deal with it."

I placed my hands on my hips. "I thought the strongest person was supposed to be closest to the door in case something bad happened."

"Well what if someone comes through the window? What then?" He countered, plugging in his phone in the outlet on the lamp.

"Who would climb sixteen feet up the side of a hotel?" I asked incredulously. He shrugged, and situated himself on the bed.

"When it happens, you will thank me," he said nonchalantly. I rolled my eyes and unzipped my bag, getting ready to take a shower. I felt gross after that long bus ride next to a slob.

"I call first shower," Axle said, speeding past me and into the bathroom. He slammed and locked the door in my face, my mouth open.

"What the hell?" I grumbled to myself. He obviously saw me getting ready to get into the shower. I didn't even hear him open his bag and grab his clothes.

A knock on the door pulled me out of my kneeling position. I looked through the peephole to see a man carrying a silver platter with what I assumed was food.

I unlocked the door and look out at the guy with a red hat. "May I help you?"

"Are you Ms. Phelo?" He asked me politely. I looked at him confused.

"Who is asking?" I replied suspiciously, my grip on the door tightening. He simply smiled and handed me the sliver platter.

"I didn't order room service," I said pushing it back to him gently.

"But a man downstairs insisted that I give this to you," He said, sounding genuinely confused. I paled when I heard this but quickly accepted it after that. I thanked him and shut the door in his face, bolt locking it, and took the dish to my bed.

"Who was at the door?" Axle asked with a towel wrapped around his waist, his dark hair wet and stuck to the sides of his face. That was the quickest shower I have ever heard of someone taking. What was that, about two minutes? I dont think its possible to become clean that quickly.

"I'm not exactly sure I know," I said slowly. The bed dipped as Axle took his place next to me on the burgundy sheets.

He touched the platter. "What is this?"

"If I knew then I would've already told you." My eyes were focused on the object in front of me.

"What do you know?" He asked me, his hand stilling on the thing.

"That you should open whatever that is." I said.

Without anymore words, Axle pulled the cover off to reveal what was underneath it. It took me a moment to register what the object was, but after that, it took less than a second to realize it definitely shouldnt be here.

"Oh God," I gasped, my hand flying to my mouth in disbelief.

"What?" Axle asked in alarm. With trembling hands, I picked up a gold watch that was laying on the middle of the plate.

I fingered it gingerly, tracing my eyes over its subtle yet complicated designs that have crossed my eyes more times than I would now care to remember.

This was my mom's watch. A watch that she never took off. Ever.

And somehow, it had gotten to me about five hundred miles away from home. Someone had been in my house, and more importantly, someone had touched my mom.

The unfamiliar texture on the bottom made me turn the watch over. There was a small piece of paper attached to it.

I opened the sheet to its actual size and read the note out loud to Axle with a small voice.

Time's ticking. If you don't come to me, I will find my way to you.

*

*

Yay! I updated :) I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Xoxo,

jean margaret