Jason stood at the entrance of the mansions driveway, thinking to himself if he was crazy for coming. His friends had begged him constantly the week before ever since he got the invite to come and have fun, but he said no, claiming that parties just weren't his thing.

And they weren't. Jason was more of a laid back, relaxed kind of guy, which was extremely rare in his school. Most of the guys in his school were obnoxious, loud, and carefree, which was mainly the reason why they got in trouble the most.

Jason's friends, Becca and Dominic, came to the party together. Those two claimed that the were just friends, although both of them had been fond of each other for a very long time.

Sighing, Jason tried not to cringe while music progressed as he walked inside. He could barely see straight with the mass of bodies dancing against each other.

'Remind me why I'm here again?' Jason thought begrudgingly. He knew that if he didn't come, he would have to deal with his friends hangovers while they murdered him for not coming.

All he had to do was find at least one of them that were sober enough to remember that he came. Jason managed to squeeze through the crowd, trying to search for his obnoxious friends.

He could feel a headache coming, even though he didn't go near a drink yet.

"Jason!" A faint voice called out. He whipped his head around and found a familiar intoxicated blonde. Becca. "You came!" She squealed, entrancing him in a bear hug. Jason faked a laugh.

"It was either that," Jason managed to say over the loud music. "Or dealing with your murderous selves tomorrow morning."

"You know I would have done it." Becca shrugged, grabbing a random shot and chugging it down her throat. She managed to hold it in while smiling at the same time. "Did you have a drink yet?"

Jason shook his head. "You know these parties aren't my thing." Becca rolled her eyes, already used to Jason claiming that these parties weren't his thing.

"A lot of stuff isn't your thing!" Becca slurred, wobbling towards what Jason presumed to be a kitchen. He was right.

Mounts of alcohol were perched on top of one another, starting from light to completely strong. Jason cringed at the thought of drinking any form of alcohol as Becca poured a small shot of vodka.

"Just drink this," She instructed. Jason sighed. One drink and that's it. He did come in a car, after all. He needed to drive it back. He quickly drank it in one gulp, ignoring the stingy warm feeling in his throat. "Now we need to find you a beer."

"No," Jason protested, his throat raspy. "That's enough."

"Just one beer that you can sip throughout the night." Becca assured, grabbing and opening a fresh cold beer. Jason grumbled and snatched the beer out of her hands accidentally spilling some. "Now we need to find you a girl."

Jason sighed, knowing that it was bad to protest to Becca even when she was intoxicated. She was more demanding and frustrating when she drank alcohol.

Her eyes peered through the large crowd, searching for a person that seemed similar to Jason's standards. He never told her anything about what he preferred over a girl, so she just guessed.

"Aha!" She squealed, dragging Jason into the crowd. Jason was swarmed with people pushing into him, dancing and rubbing their sweaty bodies onto his. He abandoned his beer on a random desk that held a lamp an hurried to catch up go where Becca was.

Becca went outside and went up to a girl who seemed vaguely familiar. Jason felt his feelings skyrocket as he tried to remember where he had seen this girl before.

"Jason," Becca began. "I would like for you to meet Eliza."

"Eliza.." Jason murmured. "Eliza Mayes. I remember you, we went to third grade together." No wonder Jason felt something for her. He was her first crush.

"Oh yeah!" Eliza laughed, her brown eyes twinkling with remembrance. "You were that boy who was always shy around me."

Becca smiled and slowly inched away, letting them catch up. Jason hadnt been talking to much girls lately, claiming that most girls in his school were too girly and obsessive over things. She was glad that he was talking to someone that he used to have a crush on.

"Yeah," Jason blushed slightly, but not too noticeably. "I haven't seen you in such a long time, Eliza. You look great, honestly."

Now it was Eliza's turn to blush. "Thanks!" She bit her lip. "I transferred schools fourth grade, that's why we didn't see each other."

"I was wondering why," Jason laughed. "I liked seeing you during school."

"Are you saying that you had a crush on me in third grade?" Eliza accused, a smirk on her face. Jason couldn't help but think how truly beautiful she was, ever since he last saw her. She had definitely gotten more prettier as the years past.

"I still do." Jason admitted, feeling more confident in saying so because of the alcohol. This time Eliza blushed.

"Your kidding." Eliza scoffed, although the look in her eyes told Jason that she wished he wasn't joking.

"Nope," Jason said, a real smile on his face. "Why don't we get out of here and go somewhere more quiet?"

"Sure." Eliza agreed, suddenly very happy. Jason took of his cell phone and sent out a quick text to both of his friends, stating that he had left the party. Not even seconds later, Becca had replied, saying that he had better get some with Eliza. Jason rolled his eyes and put his phone in his pocket, motioning for Eliza to follow.

"So what made you come to this party?" Jason asked, finally speaking at a normal tone where the music wasn't as loud.

"I was forced." She admitted.

"I technically had a choice. If I didn't go, knowing my friends would give me hell because of it." Jason chuckled.

"Where are we going?" Eliza asked.

"I was planning to go to the park." Jason said, scratching the back of his head. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah-" Suddenly her phone rang. "Hold on,"

Minutes later, she looked at Jason with a disappointed look. "I'm sorry Jason. I have to go."

"Its alright." Jason assured, even though he was disappointed himself. "Maybe we can continue this another time?"

"Yeah." Eliza agreed. "Gimme your cell."

Jason did as told and took her cell phone, both of them exchanging numbers. "I'll call you soon?" Jason told her, taking in her breathtaking features as if this was the last time they were going to see each other.

"Definitely." Eliza said, giving him a small smile before walking away. Jason blew out a heavy breath and tried to calm his heart down which was beating erratically. He wanted to call her right away, but didn't want to seem desperate.

His own cell rang ten minutes later, while he was driving home. It was Dominic, his other friend. Sighing, he picked up the phone.

"Yeah?"

"Jason, where are you man?" He slurred, his voice hard to comprehend because of the loud music.

"I'm coming home." Jason replied.

"You are such a party pooper." Dominic insulted, although the insult had no effect on Jason.

"Everyone there was having fun except for me." Jason explained, not in the mood to be arguing him. "I have to go." Before Dominic could protest, Jason hung up the phone and shut it off, knowing that Dominic and Becca were going to swarm him with phone calls for the rest of the night.

Shortly, Jason arrived at his house, noticing that the lights were still on. His parents were awake, meaning that they were probably arguing about something. They were never awake at this time of the night without arguing about something pointless.

Sighing in anger, he thought of Eliza and his promise to call her back. He couldn't call her now, that would be desperate. Jason erased his thoughts of her and entered his home, taking off his shoes and leaving them at the door.

"You bastard!" He heard his mom shout. Jason clenched his teeth, hating it when the fought and blocked them out as well. This is what he usually did whenever his parents fought.

Jason slammed his door shut and flung himself on his bed, putting the pillow over his head to block out any sounds. He tried to focus on his breathing, still hearing the aggressive shouts between his mother and father.

Jason hated this so much. In front of him, they both acted like the worlds most perfect couple, but then when he wasn't around, they literally loathed each other. He never understood the main reason why they argued and fought whenever he wasn't around.

It would have been better if they told him straight up, instead of faking that everything was fine when it wasn't. He knew that his parents were struggling to get money, and to put food on the table. Most of the time Jason guessed that that was the reason why they argued. Because of the stress that they were having.

His door was suddenly opened. Jason sat up, pushing the pillow away from him. He clenched his teeth in anger as he suddenly noticed how tense his parents were. It was quickly erased as they noticed that he was awake.

"Jason!" His mom greeted with fake happiness. "We didn't know you were home."

"Cut the fucking crap, mom!" Jason snapped. He had never been this straight-forward with his parents before. He knew that most of this was from that small shot of vodka he had earlier.

"Jason!" His dad said, frowning. "Treat you mom with respect."

Jason scoffed angrily, standing up. "Oh, like you do to her?"

Both of them exchanged nervous looks. "You think I don't hear you guys arguing every fucking night?"

"Jason-" His mom protested once more.

"No." Jason growled, fuming. "Just explain to me why the fuck you guys have been arguing every single night."

His father sighed. He knew that Jason had every right to know, but he didn't want to tell him while he was half-drunk.

"Not tonight Jason." His dad stated, sighing. "It's late and your drunk. We will have this conversation tomorrow."

And with that, both of them left the too, leaving Jason overflowing with anger. Half of him agreed with his father, and the other half wanted answers right away. It was too late the make any rash decisions, especially now when he was drunk.

Scoffing, Jason tried to contain his anger and slipped back onto his bed, having trouble falling asleep.

---

The next morning, Jason was awake with a small pounding headache. He was glad that he didn't drink that beer Becca had offered him, or else his headache would have been worse.

Jason squinted at the bright light illuminating outside and closed his curtains, slipping back into his bed. He remembered what happened last night and groaned. Today he would take to his parents and demand a reason why they were faking their relationship in front of him and then argue when he wasn't around.

A part of him dreaded finding out the reason why. It might be beneficial to him or life-changing. Deep down Jason figured that it was the latter.

He forced himself out of bed even though his body protested otherwise and took a shower, preparing himself for the morning. When he was all cleaned up, nerves overcame his features. What could happen in a matter of minutes was frightening to him. He didn't know what was up with his parents.

Jason literally forced himself down the steps, vaguely hearing the quiet bickering between his parents. When he walked into the kitchen, they both composed themselves.

"Jason," His mother began softly, trying to keep steady eye contact. She was nervous as well. "Your father and I have some bad news."

"What is it?" Jason asked, his voice coming out rough and careless. Deep down he was nervous but chose not to show it. His mom flinched at his tone and swallowed.

"Your mother and I are getting a divorce." His dad spoke up, absolutely no regret in his tone. Jason was shocked. No, shocked would be an understatement. He was appalled.

"Is that the reason why you guys were arguing?" Jason asked through clenched teeth. He couldn't believe that this was happening. They shook their heads.

"Actually no," His mother said, guilt in her words. "We have been arguing because we both couldn't decide who you would live with."

"So, we've given you the choice." Jason's dad stated. He could not believe that this was happening. His parents were arguing over who he would live with. Jason got angry at the thought of it.

Jason was silent for a couple minutes. "I'm moving to florida, and your dad is moving to California." His mother informed softly.

"Like hell I'm coming with either of you!" Jason claimed, trying to control his anger.

"Where are you going to stay Jason?" His father snapped. "You have no choice."

"I'll stay here! In the house. I'm not living with either one of you." Jason retorted, feeling disappointed and hurt that his parents were doing this to him. "I'll get a job and support myself."

"Jason, no." His mother protested. "Just choose to live with one of us."

He shook his head furiously. "I can't live with one of you without missing the other." Jason explained, running a hand through his hair. His heading from earlier was building. "I'm staying here." Jason stated, with a tone of finality.

Both of his parents exchanged guilty looks and nodded. "If thats what you wish." His father walked away, leaving only his mom and himself in the kitchen.

"When are you guys leaving?" Jason murmured.

"In one week." His mom spoke up. Jason sighed and stormed out of the kitchen, not knowing how to deal with all of this. Jason was absolutely terrible dealing with situations like these. Most of the time he reacted with abrupt anger, which was why he was calm and collected most of the time. He kept in anything that irritated him and let it all out when it went overboard.

Looking at the time, Jason decided to call Eliza. He ignored his inner conscience that was claiming it was too early to be calling her, and called her anyways.

"Hello?" Her chirpy voice answered.

"Eliza?" Jason said, a small smile forming on his face. "It's me, Jason."

"Oh, hey Jason! What's up?" Eliza said, her voice making Jason forget everything that just happened.

"Nothing, I just woke up like thirty minutes ago. You wanna hang out?" Jason asked. Hanging out with Eliza would get his mind off of things.

"Sure! Uh, pick me up at my place, in an hour." Eliza told him her address and hang up the phone, saying that she was going to get ready. Jason changed himself into something more suitable and walked outside and into his car.

He had half of an hour until he was supposed to be at her house. not knowing what else to do, Jason occupied himself by playing a random game on his phone until he had to pick Eliza up. Soon he arrived at her house and knocked on the door.

Seconds later the door opened, revealing a very excited Eliza. "You ready to go?"Jason asked her, trying not to check her out. She truly was more beautiful without the make-up clouding her face. Eliza wore a simple red cardigan and some jeans, with flats on. Even with something as simple as that, Jason honestly couldn't help but think she was pretty.

"Yeah. Where are we going today?" Eliza asked him, curiosity lining her tone. Jason smirked.

"Its a secret." Jason opened the car door for Eliza and waited until she got in before closing it, then getting onto his side.

"Come on," Eliza pouted. "Tell me!"

"Nope," Jason said teasingly. "My lips are shut." Eliza huffed and stared out the window, pretending to be mad. "The surprise will be worth it."

She rolled her eyes and turned on the radio to block out the silence. "What's your favorite song?"

"Technically I don't have a favorite song." Jason admitted, glancing at Eliza who was looking at him with a crazed expression. "I only like the beats of the songs, so I guess dubstep?"

"At least you like something." Eliza breathed a sigh of relief. "We need to find you a favorite song that you like not because of the beats."

"Alright," Jason smirked. "It's going to be hard, because I'm very picky with songs."

"Are you doubting my song skills?" Eliza accused, narrowing her eyes.

"Maybe." He avoided her stare, trying not to think how cute she looked by doing that.

"Twenty dollars says I can find you a song sometime today." Eliza bet, a determined look on her face.

"A kiss says that you can't." Jason replied swiftly, noticing how she inhaled a breath after he said that.

"Okay," She said, after a moment. "Let's do it."

They stayed in silence until Jason stopped in front of a dead end. "Uh, this is the surprise?" Eliza asked, trying not to sound disappointed.

"No," Jason responded, getting out the car. Eliza followed. "We need to walk for a little bit."

"Oh, okay." Eliza said. They walked inside the woods in silence until Jason stopped in front of a small ledge. They both sat down at the edge and looked at the breathtaking view from here. You could see their small town from here, as well as the small trees that are surrounding it. "I guess it was worth it!"

After a moment of silence, Jason spoke up. "This is where I go whenever I don't know how to handle things."

"What can't you handle, Jason?" Eliza asked softly, her eyes twinkling in curiosity. Jason sighed, and stared at the view.

"...That my parents are getting a divorce." Jason said quietly, almost inaudible. Eliza, shocked, gave him a hug that was full of pity and sadness.

"I'm sorry Jason." Eliza responded, seperating after she saw Jason's eyes fill with sadness.

"They've been arguing every night and then when I'm around, they act as if everything is perfect." Jason explained, trying not to get aggravated. "They were arguing on who I would go with, because they're moving."

"So your not going to live here anymore?" Eliza said, her voice filling with sadness. Jason shook his head.

"I told my parents that I was going to stay here, and support myself." Jason said.

"Good," Eliza found herself saying. She blushed, knowing that she was being selfish. "I-I mean, it's good because you won't leave all of your friends."

"Yeah," Jason said.

"Okay!" Eliza said excitedly. "It's time to figure out your favorite song." Jason rolled his eyes, pretending to be uninterested when he was curious if she would find his favorite song. She took out her iPod and scrolled through her songs and stopped at one of them. "Listen to this."

Jason shook his head. "Nope, that one's too light and soft." For an hour Eliza played hundreds of songs, none of them interesting Jason at all. Most of the songs she played weren't to his preference, but two or three of them actually interested him. But, he wanted his kiss, so he said no to all of the songs an mentally kept note of the ones he did like.

Eliza let out a frustrated sigh. "Your impossible, Jason."

"Are you giving up?" Jason said teasingly.

"Yes!" She rolled her eyes. "You don't like anything!"

He laughed. "I won, so that means I get a kiss." Eliza's eyes widened at the thought of kissing him.

"Uh, no!" She claimed. "I'm just joking! Of course I didn't give up."

"Too late, Eliza." Jason said tantalizingly, leaning in and kissing her softly.

Their lips were softly pressed together for a long time, until Eliza separated. She had a bit of desire lurking in her eyes before she quickly put on a blank mask.

"Your a good kisser." She bluntly stated, a blush forming on her cheeks. Jason smirked, and stood up.

"Come on, lets go back." Jason said. Eliza followed, stealing one say glance at the view of their town before walking away. Minutes later they both walked out of the woods and into Jason's car. "Do you want to go anywhere else?"

"Nah, I actually have to go home now." Eliza said, twiddling with her fingers. Jason nodded and started driving, memories of the kiss still lingering in his mind. How perfect their lips were while they were pressed together.

Jason bit his lip and turned on the radio to distract himself. "So, I never really got to ask you. What's your favorite song?"

"Well, I have too many to decide, but if I would choose, I guess it would have to be all of Air Supply's songs." Eliza said with a smile.

"Air Supply?" Jason laughed. "They are so old!"

"I know they are old, but I love their music!" Eliza defended. "You've heard of them before?"

"Yeah, my family played them from time to time. Their music is good." Jason said, remembering a small snippet of a song. "Here I am, The one that you love," he softly murmured.

"Aha!" Eliza suddenly squealed. "You owe me twenty bucks!"

Jason raised his eyebrows and groaned, realizing what she just did. "Fuck."

---

Later on that day, after Jason dropped Eliza off, he called his two friends, Becca and Dominic to hang out. Today, he honestly did not want to be close to where his parents were. His way of dealing this were ignoring it until the problem subsided. And that's what he was going to do. Yeah, it's a bad way to handle things, but Jason didn't know how else he could handle this situation.

"We should totally go laser tagging." Becca suggested. They were at the mall, eating some very late lunch at four o'clock.

"With what people?" Jason scoffed. "Laser tag needs like twenty-four people and we only have three."

"I didn't mean now, stupid." Becca snapped, rolling her eyes. "I meant like next Friday. Dominic and I could invite some of our friends and hang out." Friday.. That's in one week. Jason thought sourly.

"I can't go." Jason said automatically. Becca sighed, while Dominic rolled his eyes.

"What excuse have you made up now?" Dominic asked, crossing his arms. Jason bit his tongue from saying something rude. He decided not to tell them. They wouldn't be as understanding as Eliza.

"Family problems." Jason decided to say. Dominic shrugged.

"Whatever," Becca sighed. "We should go do something."

"Do what?" Jason said, distracted.

"Find you a girl." Becca bluntly stated. Jason rolled his eyes.

"I already have a girl." He found himself saying.

"That Eliza chick?" Dominic asked, grinning.

"Maybe." Jason said, avoiding both of their heated stares. He didn't know if he and Eliza were friends, or more. Friends don't go kissing each other and flirting. He decided that he was going to ask her later on, when he saw her again. He hoped it would be very soon.

---

Two hours later, Jason was in his room, searching for a job. He figured that if he looked for a job during the day and then a job on the computer, he would earn double money and he wouldn't have to struggle as much.

There were two job offers while he was browsing the web that caught his attention.

ASSISTANT NEEDED AT ARA & CO'

We are looking for someone who can assist me in the building throughout the day. Working hours are at 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM Mon-Fri. $5.00 per hour.

Email for more info.

'That would be $50 dollars a day.. multiply that by five and thats $250.' Jason calculated. 'That job seems good.'

Jason bookmarked the site and emailed the person who put the job offer on the web, saying that he was interested and to send more information.

After that, he started searching for a job on the website that payed him a minimum of $100 per week. Sure, what he might be earning weekly might be very little, but it was something to start with.

Jason didn't notice it, but his mom came in the room on the verge of tears. "Jason, please just choose. You don't need to work at such a young age."

"I already told you, mom." Jason said, trying not to get mad. "I'm not going with either of you unless you guys are together. And I'm not going to be selfish about it, so I'm staying here, by myself."

His mom quickly wiped the tears away. "But your so young... you don't-"

"Mom." Jason interrupted. "I'm staying here."

Jason's mom nodded, knowing that this was his choice and she couldn't control that. "Okay. If this is what you want, then I'll accept that."

"I do."

"Okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow." His mom nodded and hid the tears, walking out of the room. Jason sighed. He didn't want to hurt either of his parents, especially his mom since she was the most sensitive. If he did choose, the other parent would get hurt. It was the best decision in this scenario.

When Jason looked at his computer screen, he realized that the person who put up the offer of the job had responded. Excitedly, Jason clicked on the email and read the contents.

TO: JASON

FROM: THE BOSS OF ARA & CO'

Jason,

We are glad to see that you have interest in our job offer. Please stop by Riverdale Street, building 104, tomorrow at 7:00 AM for your interview.

Thanks, Ava.

Jason responded with a quick thank you, and continued searching for internet job offers. At least he had found a job before his parents left.

---

The next morning, Jason stood in front of building 104. People entered and exited at a quick pace. 'It must be rush hour.' He thought randomly.

He nervously played with the collar of his white button down dressing shirt and entered the building. He stopped in front of a desk, where a lady was typing furiously on a computer. "Yes? How may I help you?"

"I received an email from Ava. She offered me an interview?" Jason said. The lady scrutinized him, frowning.

"With someone as young as you? I doubt you'll get the job." The lady scoffed. "Ava is extremely picky. Your lucky that she even gave you the interview."

"I need the job, though." Jason said slowly, not caring if he was too young or too old to be getting jobs. She sighed and typed on her computer again before looking at Jason.

"She's been expecting you. Go to the fifth floor the last room on the right." She instructed. "And, good luck. You need it."

"Thanks?" Jason said, not knowing what to say. That lady was strangely being rude, nice, and helpful at the same time. Rolling his eyes, Jason entered the elevator and hit the fifth floor. He got off and walked to the last room (which was red, for some odd reason) and knocked softly.

"Come in!" A chirpy voice said. Jason walked inside and found a woman, which he presumed to be Ava, and sat down. The room only had three main colors, red, black, and a white. Behind Ava's desk was a window that had the view of most of the buildings. Trying not to be awed at the beauty of the room, he smiled at Ava.

"Hi, I'm Jason." He greeted. "I'm here for the interview?"

"Ah yes, the gentleman who emailed me last night?" Ava said, her voice a mixture of a british accent. Jason smiled and nodded.

"What made you want this job, Jason?" Ava asked, taking out a sheet of paper and a pen. Jason exhaled a breath.

"My parents need the help financially and I want to help." He decided to say. Lying wasn't a good thing to do in an interview, but he didn't want to tell this Ava girl that he needed the job because his parents were divorced and that he needed the money.

"I see," Ava said, writing something down on the sheet. "How good are you at following orders?"

"I try to follow them to the utmost extent," Jason replied as she wrote something down. This process repeated for about an hour. Ava asked a question, Jason responded and she took notes.

"Okay. Jason, although you are a young man, I take pity for you. You have the job." Ava said, a smile on her face. "You start next on Monday."

Today was Friday. He had three days until his job started. "Great. Is there anything else?"

"Here is a packet that contains the rules and regulations of working as my assistant." Ava handed him a thick packet. "Now if you will excuse me, I have a meeting to get to."

Jason followed Ava out of her office and went inside the elevator. When he went to the lobby he went back to the lady behind the front desk. "Hey you," Jason looked at her name tag. "Jessica. I'll see you on monday."

"She hired you?" Jessica said in disbelief while Jason nodded confidently. "She must be crazy then!"

"Or maybe your the crazy one." Jason teased, exiting the building before she could respond. He went inside his car, driving back home when he received a text message. At a red light, Jason quickly checked his phone and realized that it was from Eliza. He opened the message and skimmed it.

'Jason, I need to tell you something.' Frowning, Jason typed a reply with his free hand.

'What happened?' Eliza replied instantly:

'It's better off if we talk in person.'

Jason responded: 'Where?'

'Meet me in the park that you were going to show me on wednesday.'

'Alright.' Jason hurriedly texted. What happened to Eliza? And what did she want to talk about? He hoped that it wasn't something too serious, or too shocking. He would probably react with anger, which was most likely in any situation.

He was five minutes away from the park, and didn't even think twice about the clothes he was wearing. Eliza probably wouldn't question it. She would figure that he was either at his job or getting a job.

Jason parked at the entrance of the park, in a spot where he wouldn't get a ticket and texted Eliza:

'Where are you?'

She replied instantly. 'Im at the swings.'

Jason sped to the swings, trying not to get worried. What it something happened to her? Did she get hurt?

He passed the playground and went to the swings. Eliza was sitting on one, with a solemn expression.

"What's the matter?" Jason said urgently, grabbing her shoulders. "Are you hurt? What happened?"

"I'm leaving," Eliza croaked out, a sad smile on her face. "Again."

"When are you coming back?" Jason asked, relieved that she wasn't hurt. But her leaving again wasn't any better, either.

She sniffed. "In two months."

"At the end of summer?" Jason said in disbelief. He was disappointed and hurt. He wouldn't see her for two whole months. Even though they've known each other for three days, not counting third grade, Jason didn't want her to leave. He wasn't going to deny it either, he liked her.

"Yeah." She said quietly. "That's why I've been leaving every time we've hanged out. My parents call me to come help and pack everything."

Jason stayed silent. "On the bright side, we can see other people. I can't believe I'm saying this, but... Jason, I like you."

"Even though we've known each other for three days," She paused, avoiding his gaze. Jason let his face stay blank. He was shocked, delighted, and disappointed at the same time. "I truly, do like you."

"I had a crush in you in third grade, you know." Jason said, emphasizing on had. "But I still do now."

"This can't work, Jason." Eliza whispered, tears threatening to fall down her face. "I'm moving and I don't think I'm coming back. It's best if this little crush we have on each other ends now."

"What if I don't want it to?" Jason said, his voice rising. He cleared his threat and stepped closer, wiping her tears away with his thumb.

"I don't have a choice. Frankly, we both don't. And even if we do try.." She trailed off. "It wouldn't work. All long distance relationships end horribly."

"Then what do we do?" Jason asked, not liking this at all. They both had feelings for each other but couldn't do anything because one person was moving.

"Nothing." Eliza said simply, letting Jason wipe the stray years away. "We move on. And if we see each other again, which is unlikely, we can try."

"Okay." Jason paused. "Promise me that you'll come back."

"Jason..." Eliza trailed off, her voice pained. "I can't promise that."

"Please, Eliza. Do it for me. Tell me that you'll at least try." Jason begged, whispering. He caressed her face and brushed his thumb over her lips, which were trembling.

"Alright." She gave in, shutting her eyes. Jason sighed and leaned in, kissing her as if this was their last goodbye. He put every single emotion inside of that kiss. With urgency, he ran a hand through her soft hair and pushed her closer to him. Eliza seperated, catching her breath. "I'm leaving today."

Jason slowly felt his heart tear in half. The first girl he's had a liking to and she's moving. It seemed like everyone was getting away from him. His parents.. Eliza...

"I'm sorry Jason." Eliza apologized, entrancing him in a hug. Jason stayed silent and hugged her, holding her tight. They stayed like that for who knows long, just enjoying each others presence until her phone rang. When thy seperated, Eliza was on the verge of tears.

"Don't cry," Jason murmured, playing with her hair as she answered the phone. When her call finished, she stared at Jason with tears falling rapidly down her face.

"I have to go." Eliza said, her voice full of dread.

"I'll drive you to wherever you need to go." Jason said quietly. "Where are you moving to?"

"Paris." Eliza responded, holding his hand as they silently walked towards his car. They went inside Jason's car and still held each others hands, too afraid to let go. "The city of love," She muttered dryly.

"Do I drop you off at the airport?" Jason said sadly, his voice drained. He couldn't believe that this was happening to him. First his parents, and now Eliza...

"Yeah," Eliza said, her voice distant. They soon arrived at the airport in complete silence. No words could describe how sad they both were at the change of events. As Eliza got out of the car, she was suddenly struck with an idea. "Take a picture with me."

Jason nodded as they both took out their cell phones. He wrapped his arm around her and nuzzled his head against he neck, and smiled. He took the photo, and took another with him kissing her cheek.

"I want a memory of us kissing." Eliza said, her voice pained. They faced each other with sadness and kissed each other with so much intensity. Eliza caputured the moment, as did Jason, and seperated. She was on the verge of tears again.

"I'm going to miss you." Eliza murmured, hugging him again. Jason sighed.

"Me too," He inaudibly said. "Remember your promise."

"I know," She said, sniffing. "Remember our promise, to at least try to move on."

"Yeah." Jason said, although he doubted he would. It would take a long time to get over Eliza, even though they've only known each other for three days. But time didn't matter, when you liked someone or even loved. The only thing that mattered was how you felt for that other person.

"Text me and call me when you get the chance. The time zone is changed, in Paris by like three hours." Eliza mentioned, her voice strained. She really did not want to leave.

"Okay," Jason replied. After a couple moments Eliza seperated, already crying. "Go, your parents are waiting for you."

Eliza nodded and kissed him again, hugging him for the last time before walking away. Jason watched, with a lump in his throat as she went away, just like his parents were.

This was the first time in his life where Jason felt utterly and truly alone, and empty.

---

Jason was at his home, staring at his ceiling. He was on his computer only moments before, checking Eliza's flight to Paris. She was supposed to be there in one more hour.

He didn't know what to do now. All of his thoughts were consumed on Eliza and only Eliza. Rarely he thought of his parents and his friends. He didn't think about his parents, and how they were already packing their belongings.

All he felt was this dull pain in his chest, as he sat there, doing absolutely nothing. He wasn't hungry, even though he didn't eat anything except for breakfast. Jason wasn't tired either. He just felt empty and numb.

"Remember our promise," Eliza's voice rang in his head. "At least try to move on."

Jason didn't think he could move on. She was his first crush, even though that was when he was little. That proved that it was nearly impossible to move on. He still liked her and had some type of feelings, for over seven years. That was a long time.

For the next couple of days, Jason was silent. He only spoke and thought to himself. He hadnt contacted his friends, although they tried to contact him for offers of parties and to hang out. Each time he ignored them and deleted their messages. His parents noticed his obvious change of behavior but didn't say anything. They thought he was like that because of the divorce. Oh, we're they wrong.

It was now Friday. It's been six days since Eliza's departure and he felt like complete shit. She texted him as soon as she got off the flight, saying that she was going to he busy for two weeks, because of unpacking and getting their summer house ready. She said that she wasn't going to be able to talk that much.

Jason stood in Ava, his boss' desk, waiting for a phone call to come. She had assigned him to answer all phone calls and to arrange appointments for her and her clients. It was boring for Jason. But then again, what job could be fun unless you didn't go to college?

The loud sound of the ring snapped Jason out of his thoughts. Sighing, he picked up the phone and answered it.

"Hi, thank you for calling Ava & Co'. This is Jason, her assistant. How may I help you?" Jason muttered into the phone, trying to sound business like. He just wasn't in the mood. This was what Ava forced him to memorize while answering the phone.

"Jason, this is Ava." She said. "I'm on the third floor. Come downstairs, I need your help."

"Alright, I'll be there in two minutes." Jason replied dryly. He put all the other pending phone calls on hold and exited Ava's office, and entered the elevator. He pressed the third floor and waited until the doors opened. Ava stood with an envelope in her hands.

"Your weekly paycheck." Ava handed him the check as she motioned for him to follow her. He obliged, feeling the money in the envelope as he shoved it in his pocket. "You told me yesterday that you had to leave early today?"

"Yes." Jason said. "My relatives are coming over and my family wants to help."

"Alright you may go." Ava instructed. Jason went into the elevator and entered the lobby, ignoring Jessica's heated glare which she seemed to be doing every day, and left the building.

He lied about his relatives coming. His parents were moving today, and they wanted him to be there for final goodbyes.

Jason sent a quick text message to both of his parents, saying that he was out of work and he was going to meet them at the airport. Flashes of Eliza appeared in his mind as he stopped in front of the airport.

Jason said goodbye as quickly as possible to his parents to avoid the pain of truly being alone.

One month has passed. Jason had been stressed and depressed for so long, he felt like a totally different person. He earned four-hundred dollars the previous month. It was barely enough. Some days he couldn't eat because he didn't have enough money. Right now he had twenty-five dollars, and only a couple things in his refrigerator.

Jason was starving. He wanted food, he wanted his parents and most importantly, he wanted Eliza. Right now he sat in the empty living room which only had a couch and a small coffee table. He felt like contacting Eliza just to hear her voice, but he couldn't.

Jason hadn't payed the phone bill, so they ended up disconnecting his phone until he payed the overdue balance. He didn't have cable, either. His parents took the tv and left him with an old one that barely worked.

He needed five dollars to wash his clothes, which only left him with twenty. And it was only Monday. 'How the hell and I going to last this week with so little money.' Jason groaned, feeling a headache coming. Now and a bunch of other times he regretted not going with one of his parents.

Jason was struggling, way too much for a sixteen year old. He was on the verge of breaking with all the pressure piling up on him. His parents had called a week ago and asked if everything was fine. Jason lied, of course, saying that everything was fine and okay. That he wasn't struggling.

But he was, and he didn't know what to do. Jason had lost over ten pounds last month from not eating properly, and he had very little money left.

Standing up, Jason cringed at the pain in his stomach and left his house, walking to the grocery store which was thirty minutes away if you walked. Jason couldn't use his car anymore because he didn't have any money for gas. On the way there he opened his useless cell phone and stared longingly at the photo of him and Eliza kissing, wishing that she was here right now telling him that everything was going to be fine.

"Hey, you!" A gruff voice said, snapping Jason out of his daze. There was a man in front of him with a hoodie hiding his upper face. You could only his lips which were transformed into a smirk. The man had his head cocked while he waited for Jason's answer.

"Me?" Jason asked, still in a daze. He still saw Eliza's beautiful face in his mind.

"Yes you," the man scowled. "We need to have a chat."

"About what? I don't know you." Jason said bluntly, his stomach growling.

"Come with me to the coffee shop, we will talk over food." The man offered, his smirk becoming wider. "You are hungry, right?"

"Yes," Jason said warily. The man nodded and removed his hood, revealing a guy who seemed around the age of twenty-six. His chin had a small amount of stubble that was barely noticeable. His piercing blue eyes had a tint of green near his irises.

"Follow me." He instructed, his voice changing from raspy and croaky to more reserved and professional. Frowning at the sudden change of events, Jason hurried and followed the man, curious to find out what he wanted to talk about. His aura changed, in fact, everything changed around him. Starting off as a random man across the street, he seemed to be a person with high authority, and not the good kind. His aura screamed power and authority, all just by removing a simple hoodie.

Jason cowered down and warily followed the unknown man into a coffee shop. Only two or three people were sitting at a table, either on their phone or reading a piece of paper. The man motioned for him to sit down at a table. Cautiously, Jason sat down across from the man, who was staring at Jason intently.

"Why don't you order something and then we can begin our conversation." The man said. Jason ignored his stare and opened the menu. He looked for the most cheapest thing on the menu and waited for the waiter to come. "Be my guest and choose whatever you want. You don't have to pay for a thing."

Jason stayed silent and ignored him, still set on choosing the donut which was a dollar. The waitress came, asking for both of their orders. What surprised Jason was how the man had ordered so much, and then when the food came he gave it all to him.

"Why are you being so nice?" Jason asked, refusing to inhale the good aroma the food was emitting. He was afraid that if he gave in and ate the food something would happen.

"Why don't we start from the beginning, yes?" The man suggested, clasping his hands together. "My name is Alexander, and your name is Jason."

"How do you know my name?" Jason demanded.

"I've been watching you," Alexander bluntly stated. Jason's eyebrows raised. He was starting to get weirded out. "You've been struggling. With everything, since your parents divorce, and your lovely friend moving..."

"Alright, who the hell are you and what the fuck do you want." Jason snapped, angry that Alexander knew so much about himself yet he knew nothing about the man in front of him.

Alexander smirked, finding the situation as amusing as anything. "Maybe some food will help you calm down. You haven't been eating that much lately..."

Clenching his teeth, Jason picked up the donut he ordered and took a bite, struggling to chew it instead of shoving the whole thing down his throat.

"Good," Alexander said, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "I have a proposal to make."

"What do you want?" Jason asked impatiently.

"You obviously need help, right?" Alexander asked, as Jason stayed silent. "You need money, and food. I'm offering that to you, and anything else that you want for a simple price."

"Go on," Jason said interested. He was struggling and he wanted a break from it all. "What do I have to do?"

"Go out with this girl. Her name is Amber." Alexander proposed, his eyes raised as if to say 'I dare you to say no.'

"I don't believe you." Jason decided to say instead of saying no. "Any thing that I want-"

"Anything that you desire," Alexander corrected, his voice hushed.

"All for dating a girl I don't even know." Jason scoffed. "Yeah, right."

"I'll give you a while to decide. I assigned a dinner date at the most fanciest restaurant in town, already paid for, with Amber." Alexander said instead, narrowing his eyes. Jason realized that he was serious.

"Why are you doing this?" Jason asked, still not believing that this was happening.

"I have my reasons." He said, the smirk going back on his face. He reached into his pocket and took out his wallet, putting one-hundred dollars on the table. Jason sneaked a glance at his wallet and notice the large amount of hundreds he had.

"This was fun and all," Alexander said, his voice full of amusement. "But I have to go. I'll text you the details."

Shocked, Jason watched as Alexander stood. "Oh and, keep the change. It should last until Sunday."

---

It was Sunday. Jason had seventy-five dollars left over. He stood in his room, contemplating on wether or not he should go or not. Alexander somehow had connected his cell phone and found out his phone number, and texted him the details.

The restaurant was in one of the most richest areas in town. Whoever ate there had to get an appointment ahead of time unless they wanted to wait for three hours.

Jason was still confused. Why was this man helping him, out of all people? Surely there were people who didn't even have a home, or a job. Why him?To add to his confusion, he thought that the price of getting anything he wanted would be large, but it was simple. Too simple. Who in the world got anything they wanted just by dating a girl?

Apparently that was what Alexander had told him. Amber, the girl, was going to be waiting at the restaurant, waiting for him to be there. A part of him didn't want to go. He was still hung up on Eliza, even though he faintly remembered her saying to at least try to move on. But he didn't want to.

Then again, at the same time, Jason was curious. He wanted to see if Alexander would keep to his word of giving him absolutely anything that he wanted.

Jason ignored his inner conscience which was telling him that it was a bad idea, and started to look for something suitable to wear.

This was the most fanciest restaurant in town. Jason couldn't be too fancy or too casual. He had to be something in between.

Jason settled on a white collared shirt, and dark blue jeans which came across as black at the first glance. His shoes were simple, yet classy. His hair was in a tangled yet organized mess.

When Jason looked in the mirror, he couldn't believe that he was doing this. Deep down he felt as if he was betraying him and Eliza. He truly did not know if she was coming back. Even though she did promise him, both of them didn't know for sure if she was.

'I have to do this.' Jason told himself. 'It will benefit me in so many ways.'

Sighing, he walked away from the mirror and exited his room, grabbing his car keys in the process. He had enough money to pay for gas. Soon he was standing in front of the restaurant, which was packed with people. Jason opened the text message that Alexander had sent him previously and re-read it.

'If you decide to go, when the man in the front asks what your name is, say 'reserved for the Richards'

Jason swallowed and walked to the front, facing the man who was eyeing him with a look like he didn't fit.

"What's your name? Tonight is reservations only." The man said nastily, scrutinizing Jason with a glare.

"Uh," Jason looked at his phone. "Reserved for the Richards."

The mans body language changed automatically as the words processed in his mind. "I'm terribly sorry, sir. I didn't recognize you. This way,"

Jason followed the man as he personally escorted him to a table. A girl who seemed to be around his age stared at Jason with curiosity. He sat down and stated at the girl.

"You must be Amber." Jason said, with a forced smile.

"Yes, I am." Amber replied, her eyes pouring into his with obvious attraction. "And you are?"

"Jason." He answered, sitting down. Already he regretted even entering this place. He decided to stay here for a while and see how the night ends up before making judgements about someone he didn't even know. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." Amber replied. "Honestly I was kind of worried that you wouldn't show up. My cousin told me that he offered you a dinner date with a girl for free. Most guys reject the offer, but I'm glad that you didn't."

Jason's eyes widened. She talked, a lot. "Yeah, he told me that it would be a good idea." Jason lied. He figured that Amber didn't know of the deal Alexander bargained, so he just lied and said something believable.

"So," Amber grinned, showing off her pearly white teeth. "What are you ordering?"

"Well, since all of this is payed for, we might as well get anything we want." Jason suggesested, looking in the fancy menu for anything eye-catching. Amber giggled and looked into her own menu.

"Ooh, the shrimp meal thingy sounds nice." Amber gushed. Jason couldn't help but compare her to Eliza. Amber seemed to be a talkative girl who liked to giggle and laugh a lot. Frankly, she seemed a bit unintelligent as well, but Jason ignored that flaw.

Eliza, on the other hand, was quiet and reserved. Her personality was bright and exciting, something that never disappointed Jason. She was carefree, and loved to flirt a little bit, and was always smiling.

Jason knew that Amber was no where near his standards, but he had to somehow keep his promise to Eliza. 'To meet more people,' He thought dryly. And besides, who knows, he might even live a better life with this offer Alexander had gave him.

"The shrimp sounds nice," Jason agreed. "I'm ordering the steak." Amber nodded and kept on looking for more food until a waitress came to their table.

"Hi, I'm Carol, your waitress for the evening. What are you guys ordering?" She asked, her hand ready to write.

"I'll have the steak, well done please, and she will have..." Jason trailed off.

"The shrimp with pasta." Amber finished, smiling at Jason. Oddly enough her smile wasn't as bright and carefree like Eliza's was. 'I have got to stop thinking about her. She might not be coming back, and I need to move on.' Jason told himself. For the rest of the night he erased any thoughts of the brunette with the carefree smile and focused on the girl who lacked in comparison. Sure, it was harsh, but it was the only way to forget and focus on more important things.

---

The next day, Jason woke up late. It was 8:00 AM and he had to be at his job at 7:00 AM.

"Fuck!" Jason cursed, rushing out of bed. He took a shower in less than two minutes and dressed as quickly as the speed of light. He didn't bother combing his hair, either. Rushing into his car instead of walking, like he usually did, he sped to his job.

At a red light, Jason checked his phone and realized he had a text message from Alexander. Frowning, he opened the message and read its contents.

'No need to go to work anymore, Jason. I've sent you $10,000 to your home. It's on your kitchen.'

"What the fuck?" Jason exclaimed, ignoring the honks of the cars behind him.

'Are you serious?' Jason typed.

'Of course. I told you to go out with the girl, and you did. All that's left is for you to ask her out. If you do, the amount of money will be even larger.' Alexander had said. Dumbstruck, Jason did a u-turn and drove back to his house, not believing him one bit.

He entered his home with suspicion and looked on the counter. It was a small black duffle bag. Warily, Jason opened the bag and found hundreds of dollars, stacked, calling his name.

'All that's left for you to do is to ask her out. If you do, the amount of money will be even larger.'

---

MEANWHILE IN PARIS...

---

Eliza was walking in one of the many parks in Paris, alone. She was observing everything, or more specifically all of the couples. What they said was true. Paris truly was the city of love.

'Then how come I'm not finding anyone?' Eliza thought helplessly. 'Im pretty sure Jason has already found someone by now. He probably forgot about me, like he did all of those years ago.'

Deep down she knew that she was wrong. Eliza didn't have any solid proof, but somehow she knew that Jason wouldn't move on for a long time. She only told him to find someone because she thought that she was useless and didn't deserve someone as perfect as him.

So far Eliza hasn't made any type of relationship in her month in Paris. She figured she would find someone to talk to, besides her parents, but she had no luck so far.

Sighing, Eliza sat down on the only empty seat in the park and stared at the sky, and the clouds. She didn't realize it, but someone had sat down next to her. She payed no mind and continued staring at the sky.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" A deep voice had said softly. Eliza looked at the guy next to her and nodded, trying not to drool on how handsome he was, and how alluring his accent was. "My name is Chase. What is a beautiful woman like you doing here alone?"

Eliza blushed. 'He called me a woman!'

"Well, I didn't know what to do, so I came here." Eliza answered shyly.

"You didn't bring your boyfriend?" Chase asked. She knew what he was doing. He wanted to know if she had a boyfriend or not.

"No, I don't have one." Eliza answered, avoiding his excited gaze and staring back at the beautiful sky. "Where's your girlfriend? Surely she wouldn't leave you here, all by yourself."

"She did, actually." Chase grinned as Eliza's hopes went down. He was taken! "She went to go use the bathroom, so I decided to have a chat with you."

"Oh," Eliza blushed again, biting her lip.

"I'm kidding," Chase told her, smirking. Eliza laughed. 'Was this the person that she finally found for herself in Paris? ...Maybe.' She thought excitedly.

"I'm Eliza." She introduced herself. She looked into Chase's blue eyes and thought of Jason's. They were dark brown, no where near the color of Chase's bright blue ones. 'Stop thinking about Jason and keep on talking to chase!' Eliza scolded herself.

"Eliza," Chase tested out the name. "It's the perfect name for you. Say, Eliza, what are you doing later on?"

"Well I was going to watch some movies..." She trailed off, blushing. She somehow liked it that Chase thought the name fit her. "Do you want to join me?"

"I have nothing else to do, so yes." Chase answered, smirking. He stood and grabbed her hand, interlocking it with his. "Shall we?"

Eliza nodded and squeezed his hand tightly. She couldn't believe it.

'Am I finally moving on from Jason? After all this time, will I finally be able to forget about him?'

Deep down Eliza didn't want to, but she didn't admit that of course.

---

Jason somehow, somewhere felt guilty. He was taking money from someone he did not know. What if the money was illegal? He could get in to some serious trouble with the police and his parents. Even Eliza, if she found out. She might think of him differently, and Jason did not like that.

Jason closed the duffle bag and pulled out his phone, beginning to write a text message to Alexander.

'Meet me in the park in five.'

'Hmm, and what do I get out of this?' Alexander replied.

Jason's jaw clenched as he wrote another message. '$10,000. If not then I will throw it in the pond until someone takes it.'

When the message sent, Jason's phone rang. It was Alexander.

"Now, Jason. Don't make me regret my decision of giving you the money." Alexander's voice practically growled through the phone. "It's ten thousand dollars, who would be stupid enough to throw that out?"

"I'm not saying it again, Alexander." Jason replied calmly. "Meet me at the park in five minutes or this money gets thrown." Before he could reply Jason closed his phone and shoved it in his pocket. He received a text message but ignored it, knowing that it was Alexander.

Jason wanted to get some things straight with Alexander. Why did he give him that much money? Where did he get the money from? Was the money fake, or real? Why did he want to help him, anyways?

Those questions and a whole lot more were flowing throughout Jason's mind the moment he met Alexander on Friday.

Today he was going to get answers from Alexander. Jason was even thinking of resorting to violence if he didn't get any answers from him, because he knew that just by burning Alexander's precious money wouldn't do anything. Jason knew that he had more money than most people should.

Walking out of the house with the duffle bag, Jason sped to the park, walking as quickly as he could. His cell phone vibrated in his pocket, again. Sighing, Jason took out his cell phone and read the two messages.

(1/2): Don't try anything stupid with me, Jason.

(2/2): I might me one or two minutes late, I'm coming there as quickly as possible.

Jason typed up a reply: 'Meet me at the pond.'

Jason walked to the pond and sat on the empty bench, grasping the duffle bang tightly against his body. He somehow felt powerful that he was carrying such a large amount of money, even though the money might have been fake.

A couple minutes later, true to his word, Alexander appeared and sat down next to him, anger radiating off of him like large waves. The tension was so thick, Jason was trying not to stutter when he first spoke.

"I came here for answers." Jason said carefully, saying his words calmly yet threatening. "And I want you to answer them."

"What if I don't?" Alexander replied, his voice hardened. He was glared at Jason with such venom and hatred that he was afraid to talk. But Jason put his nervousness aside and continued talking.

"I'll do whatever I have to do to get answers." Jason decided to say. Alexander's anger suddenly turned into something more playful, something between arrogance and anger.

"If that's how you want it to be." Alexander smirked, crossing his arms and making himself comfortable on the bench. Jason swallowed and faced him, masking his own face with no emotion.

"So," Jason began. "Why are you helping me?" Jason took out a wad of cash, that seemed to be around one hundred dollars layered in tens, and raised it over the water. Alexander didn't waver and stared at the money as if it was nothing.

"I have my reasons." Alexander swiftly answered. Jason's jaw clenched as he dropped it into the water, hearing a faint splash.

"Why?" Jason demanded, his voice cold and icy. He picked up a handful and raised it over the water, again. It seemed to be around 1,000 dollars.

"I felt bad." Alexander said, his voice holding no emotion. Jason couldn't tell if he was lying or not.

"How did you know that I've been struggling?" Jason asked, still holding the money over the pond. He noticed some people watching their encounter with curiosity. With a simple glare they all minded their business and ignored was happening.

"One of my deep, trusted friends were watching you." Alexander responded, a playful smirk settling on his mischievous face.

"Why?" Jason demanded. "Why me, out of all people?"

"I already told you, Jason." Alexander drawled. "I felt bad."

"Is this money fake or real?" He asked, a bit afraid of the answer.

"It's fake." Alexander said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Of course it's real, dumbass."

Jason stayed silent and ignored his attitude. "Why-"

"Jason, why can't you just let it be that your life will be better from now on?" Alexander interrupted. "All I'm asking from you is to just to be in a relationship with Amber, and you can get anything that you want. No questions asked."

It was true. Jason didn't want to admit it, but Alexander was right. He was offering him anything that he wanted, with the price extremely little. Why was it so hard for Jason to believe that? That was the main question he had a hard time figuring out.

"Alright." Jason said quietly. "I'll go out with her."

"Are you sure?" Alexander asked, his voice serious. "This is your only chance to get out of this."

"Yes," Jason nodded, sure of his decision. He didn't think of the possibility of Eliza coming back, and the price that would come with it. "I'm sure."

---

MEANWHILE IN PARIS...

---

Eliza felt tears prickle in her eyes, as she focused on the movie in front of her. Both Eliza and Chase had been watching movies the previous night, and fell asleep. Now it was the morning and they were finishing off the last movie they left off on.

Thirty minutes later, the movie finished. Chase sighed in content.

"I can't believe that I'm saying this," Chase paused, grinning. "But that was one hell of a good movie."

"Are you saying that you like chick flicks?" Eliza teased, poking his stomach. She stood up and stretched her stiff muscles.

"Yes," Chase said, not even denying it. "Even though they are cheesy and predictable, they are fun to watch."

"What time is it?" Eliza yawned, still tired.

"It's noon. We kind of missed breakfast," Chase mentioned. "Do you wanna go out for lunch?"

"That would be nice," She agreed. "How about you go home and get freshened up, since you don't have any clothes here, and we can meet up again in the park?"

"Sounds good." Chase replied, standing up. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her nose. "See you soon."

Eliza blushed and led chase to the door. "And hurry up too, I'm hungry."

"Demanding much?" Chase joked as he left her house. Eliza smiled and shut the door, sighing in happiness. She was finally moving on from Jason, even though every part of her didn't want to.

Twenty minutes later, Eliza was properly dressed and cleaned. She left her house, making sure to lock the door and started walking to the park. The whole way she was smiling in complete happiness. She hadnt felt this happy ever since she was with Jason, which was over a month ago.

When she arrived at the park, she saw Chase standing against a tree, playing with his cell phone. Taking advantage of the scene, Eliza sneaked behind him and screamed 'boo'.

Chase jumped and backed away, turning around with a scowl on his face. "Not cool, Eliza."

Eliza laughed loudly, causing people to look at their direction. "You should have seen your face!"

"Yeah, yeah." Chase mumbled, putting his hand in his pocket. "Where do you want to eat?"

"Uh," Eliza paused, scanning the area around her for any type of restaurants. "I don't know. I barely even know any of the restaurants here anyways."

Chase laughed. "You are missing out on so much. Follow me."

Eliza grabbed Chase's hand and intertwined their fingers. "Deja vu."

"Yep," Chase grinned. "Except that we are wearing different clothes, and we aren't watching movies."

She rolled her eyes. "Shut up and just leave it like that."

They walked in a comfortable silence for a while before Chase led themselves to a small, barely noticeable restaurant. Only two or three people were inside, most of them enjoying the view of the park.

"What is this place?" Eliza asked, marveled. This place gave her a homey vibe.

"This is my cousins restaurant. Sure, it's small, but the food here tastes delicious." Chase explained, smiling widely. Eliza found herself swooning over his charming smile. He let go of her hand and sat down, picking up a menu. She frowned when everything was in French.

"Um, do you know how to read French?" Eliza laughed nervously.

"Yes," Chase replied, smirking. "You don't know how to speak French?"

"No," Eliza mumbled, rolling her eyes. "Even though I've only been here for a month, I still haven't learned French."

"Then I'll order for you." Chase said, just as a waiter came to their table.

"Bonjour, mon nom est Blake, et je serai votre serveur pour aujourd'hui. Que voulez-vous commander?" The man said in such fluent French. Eliza's eyes widened as Chase replied in the same manner.

"Je vais avoir le saumon avec des légumes, et la jolie petite dame ici vais avoir le steak avec des spaghettis." Chase said. All throughout their conversation Eliza found the way Chase spoke French very alluring, and sensual. Sure, it was odd, but she couldn't help but like it when he spoke French.

"Va bien monsieur," The man responded, nodding. "La nourriture sera momentanément ici."

When the waiter walked away, Eliza's jaw was down in shock. "You have got to teach me how to speak French."

Chase smirked. "Really now? After you almost killed me in the park?"

She scoffed. "I barely even harmed you. I just scared you!"

"Fine," Chase rolled his eyes. "Since you asked so nicely, I'll give you a small lesson."

Eliza nodded, motioning for him to continue.

"Hello is bonjour." He said. "Say it."

"Bonjour." Eliza tested out, the language feeling foriegn on her lips.

"How are you is comment allez-vous."

"Comment allez-vous." Eliza tried to say, failing miserably. "I suck at this."

"Eliza, we've only practiced two phrases. You are doing good for a beginner." Chase complimented while she blushed."Today is a fine day is ujourd'hui est un beau jour, in French."

"Aujourd'hui.." Eliza trailed off, "beau joy?"

Chase chuckled. "Vous devez apprendre beaucoup."

"Huh?" Eliza frowned.

"You need to learn so much." She rolled her eyes.

"Shut up." She grumbled, hitting his arm just as the waiter came with their food. Chase playfully glared at Eliza while she cheekily smiled.

"Merci, Blake. Puissions-nous avoir quelques boissons? Peut-être de la limonade?" Chase conversed while Eliza listened closely to the way he pronounced the words with such ease.

"Oui, monsieur. Seulement deux?"

"Oui." Chase said, nodding. Eliza stared at her plate, noticing how delicious it looked and smelled.

"Steak and spaghetti?" Eliza moaned in agreement as she took a small bite. "Delicious. I should let you choose my food more often."

Chase grinned. "What can I say? I have good food-choosing skills."

"Yeah yeah," Eliza rolled her eyes. "No need to brag."

"Alright," Chase smiled as he ate his own salmon. For the rest of their lunch, they conversed about random topics.

"I have to go." Eliza said dreadfully, not really wanting to go anywhere. "My parents and I are having dinner with some of their new friends."

"How weird, my parents are doing the same thing, too." Chase chuckled. "Who knows, we might see each other later on."

"I hope so," Eliza found herself saying, suddenly getting excited.

---

A couple hours later, Eliza was at her home, preparing herself for the dinner her parents told her about. They also said that the people she was going to meet were very important to their stocks company, or something like that.

Eliza was contenplating on two choices. A beige dress, that stopped right above her knees, or the white button down shirt with a black pencil skirt to compliment it. Both of them were perfect for the occasion, but she didn't know which one to pick. Eliza called her mother, to see if she had any advice for her.

"Yes honey?" Her mom said, already dressed. Eliza sighed.

"I can't choose between these two outfits.." She explained, feeling silly just by asking her mom that.

"Wear the white button down shirt with the skirt." Her mother suggested. "It seems better than the dress."

"Thanks mom," Eliza said as her mom left the room. She hurried and put the clothes on, running her hands over them to cease any wrinkles. She put on her black high-heels and fixed her hair into a messy yet professional bun, sighing in relief that she was finally finished.

Eliza hurried downstairs, just in time for the guests to come inside. Coincidentally, just like Chase said earlier, they were having dinner again. Eliza brightened at the thought of that.

"Eliza," Her mom beckoned for her to stand by her side. "I would like for you to meet Mr. and Mrs. Alfred."

"Hi," Eliza greeted, shaking Mr. and Mrs.' Alfred's hands. "It's so nice to meet you."

"Same to you," Mrs. Alfred said, smiling. "Have you met our son, Chase?"

"Yes." Eliza answered, smiling widely. "We've met yesterday while I was at the park."

"How wonderful!" Mrs. Alfred said excitedly, clasping her hands together. Her mom and dad pulled Mr. and Mrs. Alfred away and into the living room, leaving Eliza and Chase by themselves.

Eliza couldn't help herself. She started checking Chase out, who was wearing a very expensive suit, which seemed to be made of silk from up close. His vibrant eyes stood out more now that his bangs were out of his face.

"Eliza," Chase breathed out. "You look beautiful."

She blushed, suddenly being reminded of Jason when he told her the exact same thing. Only this time, when Chase had said it, it didn't have the same effect. Eliza didn't like that.

"Thank you." Eliza replied, the heat in her cheeks pounding like crazy. "You look good yourself."

"I would have never guessed that our parents knew each other." Chase laughed, wrapping his arm around her waist. Eliza loved the feeling of it, but for some reason every time Chase did something she found herself comparing him to Jason. The way he wrapped his arm around her did not make her feel the same way she did when Jason did it.

"I know, right?" Eliza sighed, a mixture of sadness and delight. 'I have got to stop thinking of Jason. He most likely moved on already.' She told herself.

Eliza brought Chase to the living room, most liking interrupting something her parents and his parents were conversing. They nonetheless ignored them and continued their conversation.

"So, are you going to be taking after your parents?" Eliza asked, leaning onto Chase.

"My parents want me to since they don't have anyone to take over them once they are retired." Chase whispered into her ear, his breath fanning against her neck. Eliza inhaled a sharp breath.

"But do you want to?"

"No.." Chase said honestly. "But what choice do I have?"

They both stayed silent, until Eliza's mom told them that dinner was ready.

Everyone ushered into the dining room and sat down at the table, which was filled with all sorts of food. Chase sat on her right, while her mom sat to her left. Eliza's dad sat across from her mom, while Chase's parents sat next to each other. It was some weird seating arrangements.

Their parents were the ones that were doing most of the talking while everyone ate. Occasionally, Chase's leg would brush upon Eliza, which made her inhale sharp breaths a bunch of times. Feeling sneaky, Eliza brought her hand under the table, hidden from everyone else's and grabbed Chase's hand.

Chase gave her a smile and squeezed her hand, continuing to eat in case their parents thought anything.

Soon, dinner was finished. Both of their parents stayed in the kitchen, discussing more work related terms while Chase and Eliza sneaked out to her front porch.

"Your mom's food tasted delicious." Chase complimented, staring at the small view they had from her front porch.

Eliza felt her cheeks warm up. "Thanks. She hasn't cooked that much food in a long time."

They stayed in silence after that. The only thing they heard was the ongoing sound of the crickets.

"Eliza." Chase gulped, stepping closer to her. "Can I ask you something?"

Eliza nodded, smiling. Chase wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close, just as she rested her head on his chest.

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

---

MEANWHILE...

---

Jason sighed. An hour had past after his encounter with Alexander. He had gave Jason Ambers number to ask her out. Right now he wanted nothing do do with her but it was too late. Jason had already accepted Alexander's deal, and he already said that once he agreed to this he couldn't back out.

Right now, Jason was contemplating on calling her or not. One side of him could care less, but the other somewhat logical side of him told him to call Amber so he wouldn't get in trouble with Alexander.

Sighing for the umpteenth time, he begrudgingly called Amber.

"Hello?" A chirpy voice answered. "Who is this?"

Jason rolled his eyes at her too excited personality. "Hey, Amber. It's Jason, the guy from last night?"

"Oh! How are you doing?" Amber said happily. "I had such a great time last night."

"I'm doing great, I just wanted to ask you a question." Jason practically said in a monotone voice. "Do you wanna be my girlfriend?"

Jason cringed as the words finally left his mouth, while Amber squealed into the phone. 'Can this girl scream any louder?' He thought, irritated.

"Of course I do!" She chirped. They talked for fifteen minutes, although it was Amber who was doing most of the talking. Jason mumbled a couple of 'yes', 'okay', and 'mhmm' most of the time so she wouldn't think he wasn't paying attention. Which he wasn't...

Suddenly Jason thought of Eliza. He felt guilty that he found someone, even though he was practically forced into doing so. He wondered if Eliza had found someone, after all this time. Jason knew that if he hadnt met Alexander and accepted his deal, he would still be single, waiting for her.

Eliza was in the famous city of love, after all. She was bound to find someone, or someone that loved her sometime. It pained Jason to think of Eliza moving on, but he had no choice.

Jason decided to call her to see how things were going with her, and if she had found anybody yet. He hasnt heard her sweet voice in forever, which made him almost forget how she sounded. Quickly, Jason dialed her number and waited for her to pick up.

"Hello?" Eliza answered, her voice sounding ecstatic. Jason noticed how she didn't sound as chirpy or excited as Amber. She was cool and collected; happy too. Just like Jason was, once.

"Eliza?" Jason breathed out, loving how amazing she sounded. "It's me, Jason."

"Oh," She said, sounding surprised. "We haven't talked in forever."

"I know." Jason agreed. "I miss you. How are things in Paris? Have you met anyone?"

"Paris is great." Eliza exhaled a breath. "I met someone."

Jason felt his heart drop in complete sadness. He didn't know what to say. 'So she really did move on..' Jason thought miserably.

"Who is he?" Jason said after a moment of silence, starting to get irritated a angry. He knew why. She had met someone that she genuinely liked, besides him. And Jason hated that.

"His name is Chase." Eliza said, her voice full of happiness. For a second, Jason thought he heard regret in her tone, but it quickly vanished. "What about you? Have you met anyone?"

"Yeah." Jason said, even though he didn't want to. "Her name is Amber."

"So this is it, huh?" Eliza said quietly, her estatic personality gone. "The end of something that never began."

"Yeah." Jason responded, his heart tugging in pain, heartbreak. "We might try again, if you come back."

"Yeah if.." Eliza trailed off, sighing. "If I come back."

Another moment of silence passed while Jason tried to comprehend everything that was happening.

"J-Jason," Eliza stuttered, sniffing. "I'll talk to you later, alright?"

Before Jason could reply, Eliza had already hang up the phone.

---

"Will you be my girlfriend?" Chase asked, stunning Eliza. She seperated from him, not knowing how to reply. This was the moment she was waiting for; the moment that she would finally be moving on from Jason. Would she risk that step? Would she finally move on? This was her chance, and Eliza was going to take advantage of it.

"Yes." Eliza answered after a while, a smile stretching on her face. "I will be your girlfriend."

Chase genuinely smiled and pressed his forehead against hers, rubbing their noses together softly. Eliza took advantage of the situation and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him softly, and then gradually adding more pressure.

The kiss was absolutely perfect. There was no denying it, either. Sure, Jason was better hands down, but this kiss sealed the deal. This was her first step on moving on.

Chase stopped but still held her close, as if she would leave him anytime soon. They stayed like that for a while until Eliza suggested they go inside.

Thirty minutes later, Chase and his parents had to go. All throughout the goodbyes, Eliza had a large smile on her face. In fact, her face had began to hurt from smiling to much.

While she was walking to her room, her cell phone blared in her pocket. She sighed in happiness and answered the phone, not realizing that it was Jason.

When their conversation was over, Eliza was heartbroken. She thought before that Jason had moved on, but that was because she forced herself to think that. Now that she heard it loud and clear from the person she was trying to move on from, it took a huge toll on her, and it hurt, a lot.

Things were tough, for both Eliza and Jason. Of course, not financially, but emotionally. Eliza was the one who had the hardest time believing the fact that Jason had indeed moved on from her. Even now, a month later, she still couldn't believe that he had moved on with another girl that wasn't... her.

Jason was emotionally broken as well. But he didn't show it. On the outside, in everyone else's eyes, Jason was always happy, almost ecstatic. But deep down he was just a heartbroken boy with a dulling pain in his heart.

Jason's life had been great ever since he had accepted Alexander's offer. Each week, he had given Jason 15,000 dollars, which left him with more money than he ever had before. He wasn't struggling financially anymore- it was almost like he was living with his parents.

And by great, it meant by no struggles. But his love life wasn't so great. Amber had been clinging to him ever since Jason proposed that he wanted to go out with her. He found any little thing that she did annoying and irritating.

For example, when she laughed. It was too high pitched, and for some reason she was always giggling when something wasn't even funny. Not to mention that she always threw her self on Jason whenever she had the chance.

With Eliza, her relationship with Chase was amazing. Sure, she still had trouble accepting the fact that Jason had moved on, but otherwise when she wasn't thinking about him she found her relationship with Chase very healthy and exciting.

Both of them thought that this was it, the end of something that never even started...

But this was only the beginning. The beginning of a perfect mistake...

---

ONE MONTH LATER...

---

This was it. The end of summer. And for some reason, Jason found himself anticipating the start of the new school year. He still faintly remembered what Eliza had said at the beginning of summer, that she was going to stay in Paris for summer, and that it was a small chance that she still might be returning.

But still, Jason was excited nonetheless. He was going to see Eliza after two whole months.

Jason was now putting on his school uniform, getting himself ready for the first day of school. For some reason he was nervous, excited, and enthralled at the same time. His phone buzzed in his pocket just as he was about to exit his home.

'Hey babeee, morning! Pick me up!!'

Jason rolled his eyes. Amber had gotten it stuck in her head that they had to go to school together so that people would know they were together. But of course, Jason disagreed with her. The last thing he wanted to do was to tell everyone that they were together.

Sighing, Jason typed up a harmless lie.

'Sorry, I already passed your house. See you in school.'

Sure, it was rude and heartless, but frankly, Jason didn't care wether or not Amber got hurt. She meant nothing to him. On the other hand, he cared deeply for Eliza, even though he hadnt seen her for such a long time.

Walking out of his house with a small sigh, Jason entered his car and drove as quickly as possible to his school in case he saw Eliza. At a red light, Jason found himself fantasizing what would happen if he did see Eliza.

'Jason pulled up in the schools parking lot which was filled with students chattering obnoxiously about unimportant topics. He grabbed his car keys and exited his car, turning around to find sweet, sweet Eliza grinning at him with her perfect smile.

Her brown hair was down in shiny, luscious waves with a white flower pinning on one side. Her cheeks were flushed red, making her vibrant eyes pop out more than ever. Eliza's smile never left her face as Jason stared at her, blinking twice to see if this was real.

Jason, not realizing what he was doing, engulfed Eliza into a hug, smelling her strawberry with a hint of mint hair, all in complete bliss. He seperated and pressed their foreheads together, staring into her mesmerizing eyes that held so much emotion, and kissed her.

Eliza's soft plush lips were pressed against Jason's with so much want, need and intensity, while she ran her hands through his already messed up hair.'

Snapping out of the mini-daze, Jason pressed on the accelerator and pushed the fantasy away, knowing that was far from happening. The dull ache in his chest reminded him of that.

Sighing for the umpteenth time this morning, Jason parked his car and couldn't help but look for a brunette throughout the parking lot. Surely enough, like Jason had predicted, Eliza was nowhere to be seen.

---

Eliza sniffed and wiped the remaining tears from her eyes. She desperately tried not to show any emotion but failed miserably. She had expected it, but not today, out of all days.

Her parents had told her that she had the choice to move back to her original home town. But she was conflicted.

Chase had become a very important person in her life- in a matter of a month. How was she going to break it to him that she was moving, and never coming back?

Eliza hadn't felt this way since Jason, and she hated that. She hated that she got so close to people to only end up hurting them and herself in the end.

She groaned and mustered up any leftover courage she had left, and knocked on Chase's door. One minute later the door opened, revealing Chase with a smirk on his face.

"Hey babe," He greeted, bringing her inside. He frowned when she noticed how upset she was. "What's the matter? What happened?"

Eliza vaguely remembered Jason saying the exact same thing when she told him. "I'm moving."

"What?" Chase said, shocked. He pulled Eliza into his arms and held her tight, afraid that she would leave him right away. "Why?"

"I have to go back," Eliza lied, even though she didn't want to. She had to let go of Chase. "My parents are forcing me."

"I'll go with you." Chase blurted out, leaving both of them in complete shock. "My parents have the money..."

"Chase," Eliza sighed. "You already have a life here... I won't ruin that for you."

"But my life here revolves around you.. as cheesy as that sounds." Chase laughed nervously. "I'm coming with you. When are you leaving?"

"Wow, you really are serious about this." Eliza mumbled so quietly that Chase couldn't hear her. "I'm leaving in three days."

"Perfect." Chase murmured. "That gives both of us the right amount of time to get ready."

"But Chase.." Eliza protested, pulling back. "Where are you going to live?"

"I'm pretty sure my parents can find somewhere for me to stay." He assured, caressing her cheeks. "I'm not letting you go so easily."

"Good," Eliza found herself saying, even though a part of her didn't want Chase to come with her.

---

Exactly three days later, Eliza found herself sitting next to Chase on a first class plane trip to her home town. She was still shocked that Chase was actually coming with her, back to where Jason was...

A small, little spark of hope ignited in her chest as she thought of Jason. She hadn't contacted him ever since that conversation they had about meeting different people, so she hoped that he had already broken up with that Amber girl and was waiting for her.

'Wait what?' Eliza thought to herself. 'Thats just being a plain hypocrite! I'm hoping that Jason had been waiting for me with open arms, yet I'm not even single!'

Eliza sighed and erased any thoughts of Jason, already accustomed to doing so after so many times.

"Hey, you alright?" Chase whispered, grabbing her hand. "You seem tense."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Eliza replied quietly, staring out of the plane window. "Just a bit nervous."

Chase chose not to respond, holding her hand tightly while rubbing soothing circle on her back to ease the tension. Half-way there, Eliza had fallen asleep.

"I never loved you," Eliza snapped, pushing the guy in front of her away. She didn't know who she was talking to, because their face was hidden.

"But I have always loved you," The guy replied back, his voice full of pain and misery. Eliza squinted, trying to see who was in front of her.

Suddenly she was pulled back into someones arms, automatically feeling secure, safe, and comforted. Again, she didn't know who was holding her. All she focused on was how.. right she felt on this anonymous person's arms. She hadn't felt this way with anyone, ever.

"Be careful with who you love," The person murmured in her ear, their voice sounding husky and unrecognizable. "In the end, with whoever you choose you will seriously regret it."

Eliza opened her eyes, panting heavily, trying to calm her racing heart. A million questions ran through her mind, the main one being what kind of a dream that was.

Although she didn't want to think about the purpose of the dream, for some reason she had a feeling that her dream was about Jason and Chase. The dream was obviously about love and two different boys. It didn't take Eliza long to know that the dream she had was about both of them.

'Be careful with who you love. In the end, with whoever you choose you will seriously regret it.' The sentence ran through her mind for the rest of the flight, nagging her with her every thought.

'This is it.' Eliza thought dryly as she got ready for school. She had missed the first four days, due to the fact that she had to pack and unpack, but Eliza was pretty sure that she didn't miss anything important.

Staring at herself in the mirror, Eliza hoped that she wasn't forgetting anything and walked out of her room, and outside. Only she found Chase there, with a brand new car.

"Chase!" Eliza said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I decided to pick you up," He explained, giving her a quick peck on her cheek. "I needed you anyways to help me register."

"Alright," Eliza replied, stepping into his car. Her heart skipped a million beats per second as she got closer and closer to the school, all of her thoughts focused on Jason. She vowed to herself on the plane that she wouldn't think of him, but right now she was having a hard time controlling herself. She hasn't seen Jason in two whole months after all. Had he changed? Was he a totally different person than the last time they had a conversation?

Eliza shut her eyes and breathed a nervous sigh, trying not to think of Jason and how good her day might be. She would get to see her friends again, even though they had contacted each other over the summer numerous amounts of times.

When Eliza opened her eyes, Chase had parked in front of the school and was waiting for her to exit. Trying to calm her heart beat, she got out of his car and walked beside him inside the school.

Her eyes raked around the school's parking lot for Jason. She didn't see him.

Chase wrapped his arm around Eliza's waist as she led him inside of the school and to the main office. Blaise, one of the school secretary's smiled at her once they entered.

"Hey Eliza," Blaise greeted. "I thought you weren't coming back this year?"

"I thought I wasn't," Eliza laughed. "But my parents decided to move back."

"That's good," She said, smiling. "Who is this?"

"This is my boyfriend, Chase." Eliza introduced, feeling weird by saying that. "He needs to get registered into the school system."

"Oh I see." Blaise murmured, typing on her computer. "Eliza, why don't you head on to your home room class, while I get Chase ready, okay?"

"Alright," Eliza said, somehow feeling happy that she was away from Chase. She started getting irritated with herself while she walked away.

'Why am I happy that I'm not next to Chase?' She thought bitterly, hurriedly walking to her AM Homeroom class. 'I'm his girlfriend, I'm supposed to be sad when I'm not around him.'

Eliza sighed and quickened her pace, not looking where she was going before walking straight into someone. She groaned while on the floor, rubbing her nose and her forehead in soothing circles to ease the pain.

"I'm so-" Eliza stopped mid-sentence and stared at the person in front of her. He looked so different the last time she saw him. He wasn't happy. He looked depressed, irritated, and angry all at once.

"Jason," She breathed out, taking in all of his features. She felt her heart quicken while she blinked so many times to see if this was really happening. Before she could even think, she was engulfed in a hug.

Eliza hugged him back, smelling his familiar scent. Jason seemed different. He didn't seem like his happy, bubbly self the last time she saw him. Eliza didn't dwell on it and focused on how comfortable she was in his arms as she hugged him with all the love in the world.

"I missed you so much," Jason's husky voice whispered in her ear. Oblivious to the people staring at watching what was happening, Eliza smiled her first real smile and willed the tears to not fall down. They both seperated once someone cleared their throat.

She stared at the girl in front of her as she glared at Eliza with hate. Frowning, Eliza looked at Jason who seemed irritated that this girl interrupted them.

'Good,' Eliza found herself thinking.

"Hey, babe." The girl said. Eliza's eyes widened in shock, hurt, and even betrayal as they made out right in front of her. Angry tears prickled at the corner of her eyes as she stormed away.

Eliza didn't know why she was feeling this way. Jason had really moved on, while she was still hoping that he didn't. She shouldn't have felt angry, hurt or even betrayed. She should have felt happy that he found someone that wasn't her.

But Eliza didn't like that. For some reason she wanted to be that girl Jason was kissing intently. She wanted to be that girl who called Jason 'babe'. Eliza wanted to be everything that girl was.

But she couldn't, and Eliza knew that. She had Chase. Sure she's rather prefer Jason over him anytime, but Chase was her boyfriend, and she wasn't planning on changing that anytime soon.

Eliza angrily wiped her tears away and hurried into the classroom, sitting down all the way in the back just as the late bell rang. Students beside her sat down and chatted about useless things while Eliza tried to calm herself down.

"Class, my name is Mr. Burkley and I will be your Homeroom teacher for this year." The teacher introduced, silencing all conversations. Before he continued Jason barged into the room, looking angry and irritated. "Jason, what a nice time for you to join us. You're late."

"Whatever." Jason grumbled, locking eyes with Eliza. From afar she could see how swollen and red his lips were, which made her more angry. Biting her lip, Eliza ignored him as he sat down next to her, staring at her intensely.

"Now, as I was saying," Mr. Burkley continued. "You will have ten minutes of morning and afternoon to do whatever you want. I suggest you take advantage of this time throughout the year to catch up on homework..."

Eliza tried to focus on what her new teacher was saying, but failed miserably. She couldn't concentrate with Jason staring at her. Clenching her teeth and her fists, she begged for Mr. Burkley to dismiss their class for first period. Eliza couldn't be next to Jason. She was angry at him- for what, who knows - and wanted to be as far away from him as possible.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Mr. Burkley dismissed the class and let them go to their first period class. Eliza hurriedly got out of her seat and carried her bag, checking her schedule which was emailed to her two days ago. She had biology first period.

"Eliza," Jason called out, catching up to how fast she was walking. He stood in front of her and grabbed her shoulders.

"Let go of me!" Eliza snapped, walking away from him.

"Why are you mad?" Jason demanded, pulling her back. Eliza bit her tongue and kept on walking, ignoring him. She didn't know why she was mad at him, but she didn't want to be near him. "Eliza!"

Ignoring him again, Eliza hurried her pace and saw Chase at a locker. Smiling mischievously, she ran to where he was and kissed him, just like Jason's girlfriend did to her. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arm around Chase's neck, kissing him passionately. Eliza imagined that he was Jason.

"Hey babe," Eliza said, seperating from him. She noted how Jason looked furious while he walked away from her. "Let me see you schedule."

Chase grinned, loving how Eliza showed off to everyone that they were together, and handed her his schedule.

"Yay!" Eliza jumped, giving him a quick hug. She noticed how the hug was entirely different from Jason. There was no spark, no warmth, or safeness. It was just... empty. "We have biology together!"

"So that means we can be partners," Chase said, smirking. He kissed her affectionately and shut his locker, grabbing her hand. "Let's go to class."

Eliza smiled, but for some reason it was forced. She was angry, and annoyed. She wanted to go back to Paris where there was no Jason and his stupid girlfriend.

While they walked to Biology, Eliza realized that she was jealous. She was jealous that Jason had kissed that other girl. She knew it all along, but didn't want to admit it.

She was jealous of Jason and his retarded girlfriend, Amber.

---

Jason stormed into Biology, sitting in the front row seat so that he would have to look at Eliza, and her dumbass boyfriend while they snogged instead of paying attention in class. He was furious- no, he was jealous.

Of course he was jealous. All throughout this time he was thinking that Eliza was his, and only his. But he wasn't thinking about her boyfriend. He didn't care about her boyfriend. He only cared about Eliza.

Jason deeply regretted kissing Amber right in front of Eliza. They were having a moment, of themselves only before that fucking bitch came and ruined it.

He saw it. He saw that Eliza was hurt, enraged, and jealous. And for some reason, he thought it was hot.

Jason decided to break up with Amber later on that day. Fuck Alexander and his deal. He was going to get Eliza back.

It was lunch time. Eliza wasn't as angry as she was earlier, but she still felt a bit irritated. She was now standing in line, waiting as patiently as she could to get her lunch. When it was finally her turn, Eliza grabbed the first thing she saw and sat down at an empty table, glad to be alone after such a long day.

While Eliza had A lunch, the first lunch of the day, Chase had B lunch. She didn't want to admit it, but she was happy that they didn't have the same lunch period together. Last year, she always used to sit by herself during lunch, while her friends sat at another table. Eliza liked to eat her lunch by herself, especially in school.

Taking a bite of her peanut-butter and jelly sandwich, she flinched when a loud screech blasted throughout the cafeteria. Everyone's conversations stopped. Their attention was solely and fully focused on the two people in the center of the cafeteria.

Almost choking on her food, Eliza struggled to listen on the conversation between Jason and Eliza while she tried not to make it that noticeable.

"B-But you can't break up with me!" Amber shrieked, throwing herself over-top of Jason. Eliza clenched her teeth and tried to control the arising jealously inside of her. "We were meant to be!"

She heard Jason scoff silently. "It's final. I don't have to tell you why I'm breaking up with you. It's my choice."

Eliza's heart skipped a beat as she eagerly listened to Amber's reply. "You will regret this!" Amber threatened. From afar she could see how she truly meant her words. "Alexander won't like this!"

"Fuck Alexander," Jason said, paling up at the mention of his name.

Suddenly Amber gasped, too dramatically. "I know the real reason why your breaking up with me!"

"Oh, and what is that?" Jason rolled his eyes, saying the words sarcastically.

"It was that girl!" She practically spat, pointing in Eliza's direction. "That girl that you were hugging this morning!"

Automatically, everyone's gaze was turned onto her. They whispered loudly, which soon turned out into mean and hateful comments.

"Eliza has nothing to do with this!" Jason snapped angrily, pushing Amber out of his way. He went to where Eliza was sitting and grabbed her hand.

"Let me go!" She protested nervously, not liking all of the sudden attention, including Amber's. She was staring at Eliza with such hatred and animosity while she was pulled out of the cafeteria, it frightened her. "Jason where are you taking me?"

Before Eliza could even blink, Jason had her pressed against the lockers. Blushing at the proximity between them, she tried to pull away from him even though her whole body did not want to.

"You're mine," Jason growled possessively, kissing her with everything that he had inside of him.

---

Frustratedly, Amber let out a scowl of anger and stomped to her seat, where all of her friends were. All of them had their faces in complete shock, some of them even had anger and a twinge of jealously in them.

"I cannot believe Jason!" Mariah, one of her faithful friends said with a hint of sympathy. In response, Amber clenched her teeth and started scheming on ways to get Jason back, and how to ruin that whore, Eliza.

"I'm going to fucking ruin that bitch." Amber fumed, pressing her nails onto the palm of her hand. She was so, so furious. "Jason was suppose to be mine!"

"I know," Mariah agreed, as did the other girls at the table. "You guys looked totally perfect together."

"I'm telling Alexander," Amber declared, whipping out her cell phone. The girls around her gasped and started whispering furiously to the person next to them. They knew that Alexander was not a person to be dealt with- he was dangerous and could ruin your life in a blink of an eye. He was a criminal, after all.

Amber swore the girls to secrecy when she told them. Not like they could do anything anyways. They knew the power that Alexander had. Amber took advantage of that as well.

"What are you going to do?" Chelsea, one of the more sensitive girls asked. Rolling her eyes, amber refrained from snapping at her and calmly answered.

"Like I said before," Amber said slowly, dangerously. "I'm going to ruin that bitch."

Mariah smirked, knowing how evil her friend could get once she was mad.

Amber searched through her contacts and hit Alexander's phone number, already scheming a devious plan for Eliza.

"Hello?" Alexander answered, his voice sounding gruffy and irritated.

"Alexander, babe," Amber greeted while the girls tried to listen in their conversation. "We have a problem..."

---

Eliza tried as much as she could to resist Jason as he hungrily kissed her with such passion and intensity. Her heart beat quickened as she tried to take control of the situation.

Suddenly, Eliza couldn't take it anymore. This was what she was craving over the summer. She needed this, just as much as Jason needed her. At the moment, Eliza forgot about everything. She forgot that she was in school. She forgot that she had a boyfriend, and that she was cheating on him.

All she focused on was kissing Jason, and his sweet loving self. Their mouths explored each others with such hunger, want, and lust that they didn't even notice the snap of photos being taken around them.

Jason seperated, breathing heavily and rested his head on Eliza's forehead, staring into her eyes with no emotion. He loved what just happened- he wanted it to happen over and over and over again, until he was about to pass out.

"Go out with me," He whispered, staring at her red, swollen lips. "Be my girlfriend."

Stunned, Eliza tried to calm her racing heart and her body which was filled with lust, and pushed Jason away with every ounce of self control she had left inside of her.

"No." It pained her to say it, so much. Her heart slowly broke, the same way it did earlier but this time with more force and effect. "I have a boyfriend."

"It doesn't seem like it." Jason replied, his voice void of any emotion. Truthfully he was affected deeply that she had said no. He liked her so much, and he wanted to be with her. He couldn't believe that she had said no when they were kissing so intimately a couple seconds ago.

"Well believe it." Eliza struggled to say, trying not to cry. "Whatever we had at the beginning of the summer is over."

Jason flinched. "You promised that we would try.." He whispered, his voice cracking. Eliza swallowed, trying to push away the growing lump in her throat. Tears overflowed in her eyes as one, lone simple tear slowly slid down her cheek. Before Jason could notice it, she wiped it away, breathing deeply before composing herself.

"I'm sorry." Was all she could say before she ran away from him.

More tears slid down Eliza's face as she sobbed, running through the schools hallway. Students looked at her with curiosity, wondering why she was crying during the school day.

Eliza didn't know why she kept on denying the obvious attraction towards Jason. They both liked each other, and she kept on pushing that away. What was her problem?

She didn't want to admit it, but she had a boyfriend. A guy who wasn't Jason. But she didn't want that.

What kind of a person would she be if she broke up with Chase after he willingly came with her just so they could stay together? That was just plain cruel. Eliza didn't want to do that to a guy like Chase.

---

Not once, in Alexanders short lifetime, had he felt so angry, so menacingly furious. The anger was up to a certain level that he would kill anyone who rose it up even higher.

Never, had anyone defied Alexander or his father. They knew what would happen if they did. Whoever they cared about would die, slowly, and painfully until they fixed whatever they have done.

But of course, stupid little Jason didn't know that. He was a new member to Alexander's group. He didn't know what would happen if he didn't listen, or defied his orders.

And that's what Alexander was going to do. He warned Jason, during their encounter at the park that once he agreed he wouldnt and couldn't get out of it. Meaning, that once he started dating amber, there's was no going out of it or else hell would come.

What Alexander had asked of him was simple. Usually when he made deals like these, he forced the person to do something illegal, dangerous, something that was life-threatening to prove their loyalty to him.

But Jason, he was lucky, so so lucky. Alexander wanted someone to entertain his special, close benefited friend, Amber. But he broke up with her, which made him absolutely furious with rage.

Alexander would show Jason what will happen to him and the people he cared about. He would make him regret the moment he defied Alexander until the point he was on his knees, begging for mercy and forgiveness. And he would start with the girl that made Jason break up with Amber.

Eliza.

Eliza sighed as she sat with Chase in his home. They were watching a movie that they found while walking home, and he had decided to watch it with her.

To be honest, Eliza was bored out of her mind. The movie that Chase chose was utterly boring, and had no plot whatsoever. She didn't say that of course, because he seemed to really enjoy the movie. Just as Eliza was about to fall asleep, her phone started vibrating in her pocket.

"Hello?" Eliza answered, yawning. She was in Chase's kitchen.

"Eliza." Jason breathed out, sounding relieved, and a bit worried. She frowned.

"What?" She snapped, not meaning to be so rude.

"You have leave Chase's house now!" Jason demanded, panting through the phone. "There is a man that's going to shoot both of you!"

---

SEVERAL HOURS EARLIER...

---

"Hey baby," Amber greeted, pecking Jason on his lips. Disgusted, he wiped at his lips to remove the excess lipgloss that she had left.

"Amber, we are aren't together anymore!" Jason stressed, walking away from her. "Leave me alone."

"I suggest that you ask me back out," Amber said in a low tone, her eyes glazing over his dangerously. Jason raised his eyebrow and rolled his eyes.

"Uh, no." Jason said, trying to walk away from her. Amber squealed in anger and pushed Jason on one of the lockers, trying not to flinch at the loud bang that illuminated. "What the hell?"

"We are boyfriend and girlfriend." Amber said through clenched teeth, pressing her arm against Jason's neck. "I suggest you start acting like it or else that bitch Eliza gets hurt."

Jason angrily pushed amber off of him and refrained from hitting her. "I fucking dare you to even touch her."

"Oh I won't," Amber said, a teasing grin on her face. "But Alexander will."

He. paled at the mention of Alexander. He had called Jason with a clear warning last night with what would happen if he continued defying him. Jason payed no mind to it because he figured what Alexander didn't know didn't hurt him or himself. But now that Amber might say something, he panicked, for the safety of Eliza and his parents.

"Fine," Jason murmured, regretting his decision of accepting the deal with Alexander. Now out of all times he regretted making the deal, now that Eliza, sweet sweet Eliza was back.

"Good," Amber grinned, wrapping her arms around his neck. "And that's how it should be."

---

Jason sighed in frustration and kicked the nearest object, which happened to be one of the lockers. It was fourth period. He was supposed to be in class, but he decided to skip, knowing that Amber was in there.

Jason hated himself. At that exact moment he hated how he got himself into this. If he would have known what would happen to him once he accepted Alexander's deal beforehand, he would have said no right away.

But it was too late. Jason didn't know what to do. He felt so helpless in this situation. What could he do?

The most logical thing he could do would go to the police and tell them everything that Alexander did. Not only would Alexander get in trouble, Jason would as well for accepting a deal like that. After all, Jason did not know where Alexander got his money from. It could be fake, even though he had said that it wasn't.

Knowing that the police was out of the option, he didn't know what else to do.

Suddenly, a huge, brilliant idea formed in his head. Sure, it was risky, but it was worth a try.

---

Jason stood in front of the school, waiting for Amber. She had texted him during lunch when he didn't show up to come over to her house after school to hang. Of course he protested, making up a silly excuse about his parents or something similar to that, but Amber told him to cancel any plans or Eliza would get hurt.

That was when he started to get seriously annoyed and irritated with Amber. Any little thing that Jason disagreed on, she would threaten him with harming Eliza- which she hasn't done yet - and it was tiring, and getting old. Even though it only has been three days ever since she came here.

Jason's plan that he had formed earlier would flew in his thoughts. Another idea added to it when he thought of how he could get some serious information out of Amber. If he faked everything, he may get something useful out of it and use it against her.

"There you are!" Ambers annoying voice yipped, snapping Jason out of his thoughts. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"I've missed you." Jason smiled, giving her a quick peck on her lips. He refrained from cringing and wiping his lips while she grinned in excitement.

"I'm glad you feel that way!" Amber responded, her voice overly chirpy. "Come on, lets go to my house!"

Sighing an inaudible sigh, Jason begrudgingly followed Amber even though every ounce of him didn't want to. She led him towards her red car, strapping herself in and driving out of the schools parking lot.

"So, did you hear what happened today?" Amber yipped. Jason mumbled something in return which only made Amber talk even more. Most of the car ride he blocke her and her annoying voice out of his head an focused on the plan, clearing out any flaws that he pinpointed.

Soon Amber drove them to her house, luckily without any serious injuries- that girl couldn't drive for anything - and led Jason inside and into her room. Before he could even utter a word, he was pressed up against the wall with Amber kissing him roughly and possessively.

Jason imagined that he was kissing Eliza, which only encouraged him to kiss her back. They heavily made out for five minutes until Amber seperated, panting for breath.

"Do you have any drinks?" Was the first thing that came out of Jason's mouth. This was step one of his mini-plan for tonight.

"Of course," Amber replied, leaning in for a kiss, again. She quickly seperated an winked at him. "I'll bring a lot."

As soon as she left the room, Jason took advantage of the situation. He hurried to her dresser, which mainly held makeup and other accessories, searching for her cell phone or anything else that caught his eye. Jason opened the first drawer and felt the bottom, opening a small compartment which had various amounts of notes, papers and...

A cell phone?

Jason picked up one of the notes and the cell phone, shoving it inside his pocket. He closed the drawer, making sure to shut the compartment just as Amber came inside, holding two bottles of beer.

"I dare you," Jason said, smirking as he stepped closer to amber. "To drink both of those bottles."

"No!" She protested, laughing. "Drink some with me." Jason shook his head. 'Like I'm going to get drunk with you.' He thought sourly.

"What, you can't handle it?" Jason teased, the smirk still plastered on his face. He saw a flash of irritation and annoyance in Ambers eyes as she eagerly opened one of the beer bottles, determined to show him that she could handle it.

Amber chugged down the bottle as quickly and effortlessly as she could, trying not to let the burning in her throat bother her. When she finished the bottle, she took the second one and opened it right away, chugging down the contaminates like she did with the first.

"Do I look like I can't handle it?" Amber slurred, already getting drunk. She started to get a little bit dizzy but didn't show it.

"Definetly not, babe." Jason replied, leaning in for a kiss. They heavily made out again until Jason thought he was sure that Amber was fully drunk, and that the effects of the alcohol had already began.

"So," He seperated, pushing her into the bed. Amber giggled. 'Good.' Jason thought. 'When a girl giggles over anything she's drunk.' "What's with you and Alexander?"

"Alexander?" Amber giggled, biting her lip. "He is my ex-boyfriend! I guess you could say that we are extra-friends with benefits, ya know?"

Disgusted, Jason answered: "You told me that he was your cousin."

"I lied silly!" Amber erupted into a fit of giggles while Jason still felt disgusted. 'Friends with benefits?'

"What is it with you and Eliza?" Jason couldn't help but ask. Ambers playful aura immediately vanished and was replaced with frustration, and anger.

"I want that bitch to die!" Jason flinched. "She is going to die!"

"When?" Jason demanded, struggling to not hit Amber right then and there. Even though every part of his body was practically forcing him to do so.

"Today." Amber cracked up, sighing happily while her eyes glazed over his dangerously. "Right now."

"Amber!" Jason snapped, running towards her and shook her shoulders, trying as hard as he could to stop from slapping that bitch. "How?!"

"There's going to be a man shooting at her and her pathetic boyfriend," Amber practically spat, rolling her eyes. "Now lets fuck."

"Let me go use the bathroom," Jason panicked, running out of her room. He flew down the stairs and hurriedly searched for the exit, taking longer than he should have.

Jason ran inside Ambers red car which stupidly had her car keys inside- how idiotic - and sped off to Chases house. He knew where it was because he accidentally listened into Eliza's conversation with him...

Speaking of Eliza, Jason whipped out his cell phone and dialed her number, hoping that she was okay.

"Hello?" She answered, yawning.

"Eliza!" Jason breathed out, relieved that she was okay, yet still worried that she might have gotten hurt.

"What?" She snapped. Jason figured she was still mad about what happened a couple days ago, when he begged for them to be together. That wasn't his most proudest moment...

"You have to leave Chase's house right now," Jason demanded, speeding as quickly as he could to the house, which was unfortunately thirty minutes away from Ambers. "There is a man that's going to shoot both of you!"

Eliza dropped her phone on the counter, forgetting about Jason, only thinking about the last words he said to her.

'There is a man that's going to shoot both of you!'

Everything felt like slow motion to her. First there was a loud, ear-splitting gunshot, which sent chills throughout her whole body. Then there was a loud shriek of pain. Eliza ran as quickly as she could to the living room only to find Chase sprawled out on the floor in an increasing puddle of blood.

A small shriek of shock escaped Eliza's mouth as she desperately tried to erase the image in front of her. His eyes were shut, and frankly, it didn't look like he was breathing at all. She didn't know if he was unconscious or... dead.

"Chase!" Eliza shouted, running to his side. Tears flew down her face at a rapid pace, while her heart ached in worry and despair for him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and sobbed, hoping that everything would be fine when she had a huge feeling that it wasn't.

Pathetically wiping the tears away, Eliza placed to fingers on his neck and willed for movement on his pulse. She flinched when her fingers came in contact with cold skin. Swallowing down her nervousness, she tried to feel for a small pulse but it never came.

"He'd be good as dead by now," A voice told her from behind. Eliza's head whipped around in complete fear as she saw a man holding a handgun with a black mask covering his face.

"You bastard!" Eliza couldn't help but snap. She stood and started hitting and kicking him with all the strength she could muster, but it didn't seem to be doing any affect to him. All he did was laugh. "You killed him!"

"And your next," The guy chuckled, stepping closer to Eliza. He reached up with his free hand and twirled a lock of her hair, while staring intensely at her scared, worried eyes. Eliza pushed him away, and tried running. But before se could get away, she ended up tripping over Chase's motionless body, falling face front on the floor.

Eliza moaned on the ground, rubbing her nose which was surely bleeding. The guy simply laughed at her, cocking his gun and pointing it at her direction.

"I've wasted enough time," The guy murmured. "You die, now."

There was a loud blare of a gun shot, and then everything went black.

---

Eliza felt numb. Too numb, that she couldn't feel or move any parts of her body. It was like something was restricting her from moving, and it irritated her deeply, because she was confused and wanted answers.

She saw stars cloud in her vision as she tried to open her eyes. But they were too heavy, and they didn't seem to be responding. Then Eliza felt a bright light take over from the stars, which started to hurt her eyes.

"Ow," Eliza moaned, trying to reach up to her eyes and rub them to soothe the pain. She heard voices, and then hands caress her cheeks, and another squeezing her hand.

"Eliza," She heard a faint voice call out. "I need..."

"What?" Eliza barely whispered.

"I need..." The voice trailed off, sounding very faint and distant. "I need for you to wake up."

The words triggered something in her brain. Suddenly she felt an increasing pain on her left leg, as she finally got control over her senses. Eliza tried to open her eyes, which were protesting in pain from the bright light. She reached up, glad to have control, and rubbed her eyes, yawning.

When Eliza finally could see, she saw Jason looking at her with a worried yet relived expression, a small smile on his face.

"Eliza!" Jason breathed out, engulfing her into a hug. She sighed and enjoyed his comfort, wondering why she was in a hospital. "You awake... thank god!"

"What happened?" She croaked out, looking at her surroundings as if they had an answer. "Why am I in a hospital?"

"You don't remember?" Jason said, his eyes flooding with panic.

"All I remember is hanging out with Chase," Eliza trailed off, ignoring the jealous expression that took over Jason's face. "And then..."

Suddenly everything, everything came back to Eliza like a big smack in the face. Images of Chase on the floor in a puddle of blood overcrowded her vision, making her start to hyperventilate.

"Chase!" Eliza shrieked, breathing irregularally. "H-He got shot! He died!"

"Yes, he did get shot," Jason said calmly. "But he's okay. The doctors were close to losing him, but..."

"But what?" Eliza demanded, trying to control her breathing and her close panic attack.

"He's in a coma." Jason replied, ever so softly.

"Oh..." Eliza whispered, tears clouding her vision.

"I'm sorry, Eliza." Jason whispered, giving her a hug again. He scooted his chair closer to the hospital bed and started rubbing her back while she cried in his shoulder. "This is all my fault."

"How did you know?" Eliza demanded, sniffing and wiping the tears away, even though they kept on falling. "How did you know that someone was going to kill us?"

"It's a long story," Jason said gravely, sounding terribly guilty.

"I don't care," Eliza said. "I have a bunch of time."

"Okay, I'll tell you." Jason gave in, avoiding her stare. "But when I finish, don't look at me any differently."

Eliza nodded, suddenly scared of what Jason was going to tell her.

"I guess I should start right after you left." Jason began, running a hand through his hair. Eliza swallowed, waiting for him to continue. "As you know, my parents were getting divorced. They left a week after you did. And that's when all the problems started happening."

"I had to get a job. Two, if you count the online one. I earned around $50 a week, which was barely enough for me. Some nights I even starved, because I didn't have enough money for food, which is why I look like I lost a lot of weight."

Eliza nodded, feeling pity for him. "I struggled a lot that month. And it didn't help that I was by myself, without anyone there to help me. Yeah, I had my friends, but they didn't know that I struggled. No one did, not even my parents. I didn't want them to worry."

"And then it was August." Jason paused, almost afraid to continue. "I had a very little amount of money left and I was starving. My cell phone was disconnected because I didn't pay it on time, which was why we didn't speak for a while."

'That explains why we didn't talk that much during the first month of summer.' Eliza couldn't help but think.

"Then Alexander came..." Jason trailed off, visibly getting paler. Eliza nervously bit her lip, afraid of what was happening. But before he continued, a doctor came inside with a clipboard.

"Eliza, your awake!" The doctor said, smiling. She blinked and looked at the doctor while he turned his gaze towards Jason. "You should have told me."

"Sorry." Jason apologized, annoyed that the doctor interrupted them.

"Eliza my name is Dr. Cole." He introduced. "You are probably wondering why you are here, yes?"

"Yeah," Eliza responded. 'But I was going to get the answers from Jason, not you...'

"Well you and your friend got shot." Dr. Cole stated bluntly while Eliza flinched. She felt her handbeing squeezed by Jason. "You got shot in your stomach and your leg, and passed out from the shock of it."

"Oh my god.." Eliza trailed off, shaking. Jason starting rubbing soothing circles into the palm of her hand, visibly calming her down.

"Although both bullets were aimed to kill," Dr. Cole continued. "They luckily did not hit any important spots of your body."

Eliza breathed a sigh of relief. "Good."

"Right now you have morphine inside of your body which should be blockin out any traces of pain. It might feel uncomfortable, though." He said.

"Yeah," She said softly.

"You might feel a stinging feeling of pain in your stomach for about a week, two weeks the latest. For your leg, I put a small cast on it which should be there for about two weeks." Dr. Cold notified. "You will be checked out by Sunday."

Soon Dr. Cole left the room, leaving Eliza and Jason to themselves again. But before he could continue the story, Eliza's parents barged inside of the room, both of them having visible tears in their eyes.

"Oh my poor, poor baby!" Her mom cried out, tackling Eliza in a huge hug. "Are you alright?"

"Yes mom," Eliza replied, a faint blush on her cheeks. For some reason she felt embarrassed.

"What happened?" Her dad asked, his forehead having lines of distress. "The doctors wouldn't tell us anything."

"I got shot in the leg and my stomach," Eliza cringed, remembering the evil sadistic chuckle she last heard before everything went black to her.

"I knew that boy was trouble!" His dad growled, angry.

"Dad no!" Eliza snapped. "Chase has nothing to do with this."

"Then who did?" This time her mother asked. Eliza refrained herself from looking at Jason, who was looking down at the floor guiltily.

"I-I.." She trailed off, fiddling with her fingers. "I don't know. But Chase is not involved."

"When he wakes up I want you to stop associating yourself with him." Her dad demanded, clenching his fists.

"Dad no!" Eliza protested. "That's not fair!"

"You shot because of him!" He argued. "Twice!"

"It wasn't his fault!" Eliza shrieked, shaking her head angrily.

"I don't care," Dad snapped. He stormed past his mom who was standing there in shock, and left the room.

"I'm sorry Eliza." Her mom apologized, although she could see that her mom agreed with her dad. "I'll go talk to him."

Eliza bit her tongue from saying anything that she would regret, and stared at Jason, who was looking more guiltier than ever.

"I'm so sorry," He whispered almost inaudiblely. "This is all my fault."

"No it's not," Eliza disagreed. "Finish what you were telling me and then I'll decide."

"I know you are going to hate me in the end," Jason mumbled to himself, knowing that Eliza couldn't hear him. "One day, I was going to walk to the grocery store to get something to eat even though I had very little money left. I just couldn't take it anymore..."

"I'm sorry," Eliza couldn't help but interrupt. He smiled sadly at her and nodded.

"While I was walking there, some guy stopped me. He had a hoodie on, and looked like a homeless person. I didn't know who he was, but he told me if my name was Jason, and I said yes. He told me to follow him, and me, being stupid, I actually followed him when I had no idea what he was capable of doing. If I had the chance, I would have never followed him..."

Jason continued, getting nervous as he went deeper into the story. "He led me to a cafe, and told me to order something. I chose the cheapeast thing on the menu, which was the only thing I could afford. The man, Alexander, had ordered a huge meal and gave it to me. He told me that he has been watching me for a while, and noticed that I was struggling."

Jason swallowed, running a hand trough his hair to ease the nervousness. "He said that he wanted to help me, all for a simple price."

"What was it?" Eliza whispered, afraid of the answer.

"To go out with Amber." Jason said, staring into Eliza's eyes for any type of reaction. "He said that he would help me if I went out with Amber."

Eliza stayed silent, not sure how to react. "So I did. I didn't think, Eliza. I didn't know what to do, since I still have feelings for you."

She noticed how Jason said still have, instead of still had. "I thought you weren't coming back so I thought why not?"

Eliza swallowed the lump in her throat, waiting for him to continue. "The day that I broke up with Amber, was when Alexander started to get mad. Two days after that, Amber had told me to come over to her home. That's when I decided to take advantage of the situation and get information out of her, to get out of this stupid sick deal I had with Alexander."

"I got her drunk," Jason continued. "And I asked her what was her deal with you, because you were the reason why I broke up with her. I still like you, Eliza, and I think I might even be in lo-"

"Don't." Eliza interrupted. "Don't say it." She whispered.

"But I do Eliza!" Jason protested, getting closer to her. "I do have feelings for you, why do you keep on denying that?"

"I don't know," She said truthfully, tears falling down her face. "I don't know."

Jason sighed. "Anyways, Amber told me that she didn't like you and that she wanted you dead. I asked her when, and she said that there was a man that was going to kill you and Chase. That's when I called you..."

Eliza was silent, staring down at her hands. She didn't know what to do. "This is all my fault, Eliza. It's my fault that I got you- and chase- into this mess, all because Amber saw that I had feelings for you."

"It's not your fault," Eliza blurted out. "It's none of ours. It's that Amber girl and Alexander."

This time Jason stayed silent. "What are we going to do, Jason?" Eliza couldn't help but whisper.

"I don't know," Jason replied truthfully. "I have a plan, but I don't think it'll work."

"Tell me. I might be able to help you." Eliza insisted, wanting to help Jason get out of this mess.

"No." Jason immediately protested. "If you continue being next to me you might get hurt, and I don't want that to happen again."

"Who said I was going to be next to you?" Eliza said, smiling. "I have a little plan too."

---

"He fucking got you drunk?!" Alexander demanded, scrunching up his face in anger and disbelief. Amber nodded, rolling her eyes at his behavior. She was already used to Alexander's random spits of anger.

"He got drunk too!" Amber protested, although she really didn't know for sure.

"So he gets you drunk, and he ditches you?" Alexander scoffed, clenching his teeth in disgust. "I treated you better than this!"

"So?" Amber sucked her teeth in, playing with her finger nails. She frowned when she noticed dirt behind her ever so perfect nails. Suddenly Alexander pressed his body against her, while Amber gasped at how close they were and how soft and delicate his touch was.

"Amber..." Alexander whispered huskily in her ear, nibbling at her earlobe playfully. He went to the collar of her neck and applied soft, memorable kisses, sucking on her neck as gently and delicately as he could. "I miss you..."

"Alexander," Amber exhaled, extending her neck to allow more room for him I explore. Her hands clenched and unclenched excitedly as she realized that she missed this.

"I want you back..." Alexander whispered, kissing her jaw line. As he went closer and closer to her lips, she closed her eyes and enjoyed his powerful cologne and the heat that radiates off of him. He stopped when he reached her lips, biting her bottom lip and tugging at it playfully. Amber moaned, forgetting about Jason and their previous argument as she took everything in. She missed this.

Not taking the teasing anymore, Amber leaned in for a kiss, only to be met with air. Confused, Amber opened her eyes and saw Alexander at the door, smirking with his eyes filled with obvious lust.

"You wanted Jason, right?" Alexander mocked teasingly, smirking. "You can't have me until you cut things off with him."

Amber groaned in frustration and kicked the closest object near her, which was unfortunately the wall.

"Fuck you!"

---

"Jason go," Eliza smiled, urging for him to leave the hospital room.

"I don't want to go," Jason frowned. "I'd rather stay here... with you."

Eliza inhaled a sharp breath as Jason started leaning into her, for a kiss. She wanted to kiss him so badly, to run his hands through his hair and smell his addicting scent, but she knew she couldn't. She had Chase, wether she liked it or not. She didn't have a choice. Chase was in a coma and technically still thought they were dating. How would he feel if he woke up, and realized that the girlfriend he moved overseas for, cheated on him with someone else?

"Jason, no." Eliza protested, pushing him away. "We can't."

"Why not?" Jason demanded, this time getting pissed. "Eliza I fucking have feelings for you. Why the hell can't you accept that?"

Deja vu... "Because I'm dating someone else! I just can't be kissing you while my boyfriend is in a coma!"

Jason growled in frustration and stormed out of the room, while Eliza sighed in disappointment and longing. If only Chase wasn't in a coma. She would break if off with him even though he traveled just to be with her. What kind of a relationship is it if one person didn't have the same feelings as the other? That was exactly how Chase and Eliza's relationship was.

Eliza wished that she hadnt have met Chase, as rude and heartless as that sounded. She wished she would have never moved to Paris, and that Jason's parents didn't get a divorce. She wished that she could be Jason's girlfriend. She wished that everything would be back to normal, the way things were supposed to be at the beginning of summer.

Eliza wished so many things, yet only one of them was possible. To be Jason's girlfriend...

But of course, when she broke it off with Chase. Which would take forever...

Eliza sighed, pulling the covers over her sore body and snuggled into the uncomfortable hospital bed, shutting her eyes and willing for sleep to come and erase her thoughts and worries.

---

Jason punched at the elevator button, wishing that the slow mechanism would hurry up and get to his floor. He was pissed off.

He hated, so much, how Eliza was going out with Chase, and that they couldn't do anything about it because he was in a coma. He hated that they both had obvious feelings for each other, yet Eliza was denying it.

He hated how he still had to go out with that annoying bitch, Amber, or else Eliza got hurt. He hated every little thing in his life at the moment, and he just wanted to let everything out and to have a night of peace.

Jason took out his cell just as the elevator came. He pressed the first floor and started texting his friend, or acquaintance since they never hanged out anymore, Dominic.

'Any parties tonight?'

Tonight he was going to forget about everything that was happening to him. Only for today. He needed just for a while to think that everything in his life was free of any danger of worry, and full of happiness and tranquility.

Jason didn't like drinking. At the moment, while he got out of the elevator, he didn't care. Tonight he was going to get drunk so much, he wouldn't even remember his own name, or where he lived. Jason entered his car and felt his phone buzz while he pulled out of the hospital drive-way.

'Hell yeah! My house, in one hour!' Dominic texted.

Jason smirked and replied: 'I'll be there soon. Make sure that there's lots of alcohol.'

He sped down the highway and to his home, ignoring the tugging feeling in his chest that was telling him that this was a mistake, and that he should be with Eliza. He ignored whatever his mind was telling him an chose to be reckless.

For the first time, ever, calm and collected Jason was going to become loud, obnoxious, and terribly drunk.

The lights were turned off. Strobe lights were in each corner, flashing rapidly in one spot and another, adding to the heat of the many bodies pressed against each other. The music was pounding so loud you couldn't hear yourself think. Drinks were being poured and shot down throats every five seconds.

Jason walked to the kitchen which took him forever, since most of the girls were begging for a dance. He politely declined and promised them that he would dance later, when he was more into the mood of the party.

Almost twenty people were inside the kitchen, most of them drowning drinks like there was no tomorrow. Jason grabbed the first beer he could get his hands on, and chugged it down as quickly as he could, focusing on the burning as the liquid poured down his throat. When he finished, he coughed and rubbed his eyes from the strength of it.

The people around him cheered him on, urging him to grab another drink. Jason did as he was told, starting to get tipsy while he grabbed a different drink. He swallowed the shot down, loving how the tension in his mind was slowly easing away, and was getting replaced by a overly happy, and carefree feeling.

More and more drinks were put in his hand until he could barely even walk without tripping or falling.

Jason finally stopped when he wanted to dance with the girls he promised earlier. His mind was free of any thoughts. He felt like nothing could stop him- he felt carefree and full of energy.

Jason stumbled passed the sweaty bodies, tripping on people more than once. He made his way to the middle of the dance floor and wrapped his arms behind a random girl, dancing and imagining that she was Eliza.

Her hair was black, unlike Eliza's which was dark brown. Even in his drunk state, he was still thinking of Eliza and her beautiful self.

Jason erased his thoughts and cleared his mind, focusing on dancing with the girl in front of him who seemed to be grinding on him too much. But since he was drunk, he didn't mind. As their bodies mingled, the song finally finished and changed to a different song. The girl turned around, smirking at Jason with obvious lust in her eyes.

"Let's go upstairs!" She shouted over the music. Jason nodded, thinking that she probably wanted to talk or something similar along those manners. He grabbed her hand and pulled her through the crowd, walking along to the beat of the current song.

He led her upstairs all the way to the attic, where he was sure that the music would be muffled and that they had complete privacy. Jason remembered where this was because he went over Dominic's house a bunch of times to help him put furniture or unwanted items away.

"So," Jason slurred, as the music turned into something more muffled. "What's your-"

Before Jason could complete the sentence, the girl pushed him to the wall and pressed her body soon his, silencing him with a slobbery wet kiss. But Jason still went on with it, because his mind was in la-la land. He didn't comprehend what was happening until they were on the floor, both of them shirtless.

"What's your name babe?" Jason breathed out as her hands explored his stomach. He couldn't help it. He imagined the girl as Eliza, which turned him on to the point where it hurt.

"Bailey," She pulled the zipper of Jason's jeans down with her teeth, then removing his jeans with her hands.

And for more than two hours straight, they stayed in the attic.

You can already guess what happened.

---

Amber clenched her hands in anger. She was so fucking pissed that she felt like killing someone and ripping their ugly hair out until they begged and leaded for mercy. Amber was that mad.

Fifteen minutes ago, Alexander started teasing her how she couldn't have him because she had Jason. This made Amber angry and annoyed, which led to a bunch of insults in return.

' "Amber, you are just jealous that you can't have me." Alexander said cockily, smirking. Amber clenched her teeth and kicked him in his leg, which didn't do anything to him but make him chuckle even more.

"I'm glad that I can't have you." Amber snapped, even though she was lying straight through her teeth. "At least I have someone."

"Oh but I do," Alexander replied in the same cocky and mocking tone. Ambers eyes widened in shock.

"Who?!" She demanded, her hands clenched in such tight fists that blood was about to come out. He simply smirked and crossed his arms.

"Like I'm telling you." Alexander scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Knowing you, you would probably run to her and kill her."

Amber bit her tongue until she tasted blood and did not reply. She was completely livid. Alexander was supposed to be hers, even though they weren't dating. It was like a silent agreement that they would always be with each other, even if one person had a relationship. But the thing was that only Amber had been in relationships and Alexander was fine with that. Now that he himself was in a relationship, she did not like it one bit.

"Fuck you," Amber cursed, kicking him again. He simply rolled his eyes and stood up.

"I think I really love this girl," Alexander continued, a longing look in his eyes. He stepped closer to Amber until they were an inch apart. "She might have been better than you..."

Amber snapped. She punched Alexander in the face as hard as she could, wishing that his precious nose would crack and never be fixed. He recoiled just for a split second, which Amber took advantage of, kicking him where the sun don't shine.

Alexander clutched his 'baby' and fell to the floor, moaning in pain. She smirked when she saw blood gushing out of his crooked nose at a rapid pace.

"Don't fucking mess with me, Alexander." Amber spat, clenching her fists to refrain from punching him again. "I don't like being teased. This is what happens when you tease me."

"You bitch!" Alexander hissed, still rolling on the floor.

"Whatever you say, Alexander." Amber said cockily, mimicking his previous demeanor. "I'm glad I can get someone better than you." '

And now there Amber was, standing outside of Alexander's apartment, fuming with rage, and jealousy. She really wanted to kill that bitch that Alexander was supposedly in love with. She thought that love was impossible for people like them- cold, heartless killers.

But maybe she was wrong.

---

ONE WEEK LATER...

---

Eliza was finally being released after a week of being in the hospital. She was glad that she was finally out. There was nothing she could do there anyways, besides sleeping and watching some crappy, uninteresting television. Not to mention that their food was horrible as well.

She didn't want to admit it, but it was more boring because Jason wasn't there. It's been a full week since they've last spoke, and she had a good feeling that he was mad at her.

Eliza had been leading him on for almost four months, after all. She kept on denying it too, which didn't help. She wouldn't blame him if he gave up on being with her, even though it made her sad at the thought of it.

Before Eliza left the hospital, she decided to visit Chase to see how he was doing. All she knew was that he was in a coma, which was what Jason had told her. She wanted to see him herself to see if he was alright.

"Hi," Eliza greeted, to the lady in the front. "I'm looking for Chase, he was in a coma a week ago?"

The lady nodded. "Ah, yes. He is i room 4A, on the fourth floor."

Eliza thanked her and entered the elevator, lightly pressing the fourth floor button. A couple seconds later she got off the elevator and searched for room 4A, which was right next to her.

She inhaled a deep breath and walked inside, nervous of seeing Chase after so long. When she finally set her eyes on him, she gasped.

Chase's eyes were swollen shut. He was breathing through a machine and looked visibly pale, and too still for Eliza's liking. Every second or so she heard the wheezing of his breath, which didn't sound so healthy to her.

"Chase..." Eliza breathed out, grabbing his hand, which was cold and almost lifeless. "I'm so sorry that this happened to you..."

"I'm sorry for everything that I've done to you." Eliza continued, tears forming inside of her eyes. "This is all my fault. I shouldn't have led you on. You probably thought that I had the same feelings for you, but I don't. And that's why it makes me feel so guilty."

"E-Eliza..." Chase croaked out, coughing and wheezing.

"Yes Chase?" She said hopefully, squeezing his hand which was getting some of its warmth back.

"It's okay," He mumbled, sounding so unlike himself. Chase's eyes struggled to open, reminding Eliza how she had done the same thing before. "It's not your fault."

Eliza blushed, embarrassed and a bit guilty that he had heard her say that, even though it was true. It felt good to have that all in the open. Now she wouldn't have to feel as guilty because Chase already knew she didn't have any real feelings for him.

"I kind of already knew," Chase coughed, his voice sounding like his normal self the more he spoke. Eliza sheepishly smiled and hugged him.

"I'm glad that your okay," Eliza hugged Chase, truly relieved that he was fine. "I thought you almost died."

"What happened anyways?" Chase scratched the back of his head, frowning. Eliza bit her lip, not sure how she was going to explain this. Would she get Chase involved into this mess? Would she take the risk and tell him everything Jason told her, increasing the chance of him getting hurt?

"Well," Eliza frowned as well. "Some guy was in your house and he wanted to kill both of us. You got shot in your chest, and I got shot on my stomach and my leg."

"Are you okay?" Chase asked, checking her to see if she was fine himself. Eliza nodded.

"Yeah, it's just uncomfortable." She answered. "You were in a coma for a week..."

Before Chase could reply, the same doctor Eliza had, Dr. Cole, stumbled into the room with a frown in his face.

"Chase, your awake!" He noted, then looking at Eliza. "And why didn't you say anything?"

She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry!"

Dr. Cole explained Chase's condition, and said that he might have breathing problems for a while, which meant no sports for at least two months. He looked a bit disappointed in that, but didn't complain anyways. When Dr. Cole was done explaining, he gave both of them a moment of privacy.

"I guess I should go." Eliza said, standing up. "I really am sorry for leading you on like that..."

"It's fine," Chase assured, although he looked a bit sad. "At least now you can go out with that Jason kid."

"What?" Eliza squawked, blushing very noticeably.

"It's obvious he likes you," Chase continued, a small, sad as supporting smile on his face. "And you like him too."

"I do not!" Eliza protested, feeling the blush spread even wider. Chase laughed and shook his head, sighing.

"You're too adorable, Eliza." He said, still smiling. "I guess this is it, huh?"

"Yeah," Eliza said, feeling sad all of a sudden. "This is it."

"I'm probably going back to Paris as soon as they release me from here," Chase continued. "Maybe I can find a new love in Paris."

Eliza smiled, although it was filled with sadness and happiness.

"Maybe."

---

With a huge, bright smile on her face, Eliza was determined to talk to Jason and confess how she truly felt, even though he already knew that. She wanted to be in a relationship with him now that she didn't have a boyfriend and guilt consuming her every body.

She was now free, and could do whatever she pleased without any confusing feelings.

Eliza couldn't help but feel very excited. She whipped out her cell phone and punched in Jason's number, which she had memorized for some odd reason. After the first five rings, he had answered.

"Yeah?" Jason said, sounding very out of breath.

"Hey, Jason." Eliza chirped, biting her lip from squealing in excitement. "I'm out of the hospital."

"That's good," Jason tried to sound supportive but he sounded distracted from all the shuffling and heavy breathing Eliza heard.

"Am I calling at a wrong time?" Eliza asked, feeling a bit disappointed.

"No no no!" Jason replied a little too quickly. She frowned. "You didn't call at a wrong time."

"Can we meet up?" Eliza asked him hopefully, the feeling of excitement and anxiety filling her stomach with butterflies. It took a couple seconds for Jason to reply, but when he did it wasn't him. It was a... girl.

"Listen bitch," The girl spat, her voice sounding too familiar. Amber. "Unless you want to go back in the hospital, I suggest you leave my Jason alone."

Before Eliza could reply, the phone call had ended. Hurt coursed through her body. No wonder Jason was distracted. He was too busy fooling around. With that Amber girl.

"And to think he still has feelings for me." Eliza whispered to herself, tears clouding her vision. "This stupid plan involves absolutely no contact with me, and even more with her."

'I should have expected this.' Eliza thought dryly, wiping the tears away from her face, even though they kept on coming.

---

The morning after the party Jason had went to, he had woken up in Dominics attic with some random girl, butt naked. He cursed under his breath and untangled their sticky bodies, searching for his clothes which were all over the room.

What happened last night? He barely remembered anything, only drinking two beers with some random guys. The rest of it was blurry and hazy, with black spots on the way.

And it didn't help that he had a huge headache, which was pounding every time he thought of something. He shut his eyes in pain and irritation, hurriedly putting on the rest of his clothes and rushing out of the attic before that girl woke up.

For the rest of the day he lazed around town, ending up in his bed at the end of the day. For some reason he thought of his parents, wishing more than anything that they were both there with him. Whenever he was sick or had a headache similar to the one he currently had, his mom would always be there with an aspirin and a cup of water.

The next five days he went to school and came back home, sleeping in his bed. It was a boring routine, really. Jason woke up, went to school, dealt with Amber and her annoying irritating self, and then went home, thinking about Eliza while he tried to go to sleep.

Truthfully, Jason wanted to visit Eliza at the hospital, but he was too embarrassed, and angry. He had been so close to confessing that he was in love with Eliza, yet all she did was interrupt him and say that she was already taken with that Chase guy.

Jason couldn't face her. He couldn't face her, or talk to her without feeling embarrassed and jealous for wanting her when he couldn't.

Which led to him hanging out with Amber, on Friday evening. She had practically forced him over to her house when she noticed now depressed he was.

"Depressed?" Jason scoffed, rolling his eyes while Amber led him inside of her home. "How am I depressed?"

"Well for starters you've been having that faraway unattractive look on your face," Amber snapped, pouting. "And you've been ignoring me."

Jason didn't even try to deny that he had been ignoring Amber, or that he was daydreaming throughout the whole day.

"I'm sorry, babe." Jason cringed as he pulled her into an uncomfortable hug. When he pulled away, Amber kissed him, accidentally catching him off guard. He breathed a sigh and begrudgingly kissed her back, thinking that it was Eliza, even though it wasn't.

Eliza's lips were more soft kind. Thy weren't chapped- she always wore strawberry chapstick instead of lipstick, like Amber wore.

Amber kissed him aggressively for a couple more minutes until he seperated when his cell phone rang. That didn't stop her, unfortunately as he answered a bit breathless.

"Yeah?" Jason answered. His breath hitched when Amber started sucking on the sensitive spot on his neck.

"Hey, Jason." Eliza chirped, catching him by surprise. They hadnt talked in forever... That did help his situation either. He was still embarrassed. "I'm out of the hospital!"

"That's good," Jason said dryly, trying to sound supportive. He was too distracted with Amber at the moment.

"Am I calling at a wrong time?" Eliza asked, with a hint of disappointment.

"No no no!" Jason replied, frowning. "You didn't call at a wrong time."

"Can we meet up?" Eliza asked him hopefully. But before Jason could reply and agree with her very tempting offer, the phone was snatched from Jason's hands. Amber took his phone and scrunched up her nose in disgust.

"Listen bitch," Amber spat, rolling her eyes while Jason visibly got angry. "Unless you want to go back in the hospital, I suggest you leave my Jason alone."

Amber then ended the phone call, throwing it on her bed and smirking at Jason. "Now, where were we?"

"Are you fucking serious?" Jason snapped, pushing Amber away from him. She frowned, rolling her eyes again.

"What?" She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"What the hell is your problem with Eliza?" Jason demanded, getting fed up with her hatred. "She did absolutely nothing to you yet you're treating her like crap."

"She deserves it!" Amber snapped, putting her hands on her hips. "That girl tried to steal you away from me!"

"So fucking what!" Jason yelled, clenching his hands in complete anger. "Who cares!"

"I do!" Amber yelled, silencing Jason in shock.

"I love you, Jason." She continued, her eyes filling with tears. "She's been a threat to our relationship-"

"What relationship?" Jason hissed. "You mean the relationship I'm forced to be in by Alexander?"

"Jason-" Amber tried to say.

"Fuck you Amber." Jason spat while she recoiled. "I'm tired of pretending. News flash, I do not fucking like you!"

"You will regret this." Amber uttered, her eyes filling with tears.

"No," Jason laughed, although it was empty of any humor. "You will regret it."

Jason stormed out of her room, grabbing his phone in the process, and flew down the stairs, clenching his teeth in anger as he exited her house.

He seriously could not believe Amber. How could she love him? She was just a spoiled brat who forced him to go out with her. And she had the nerve, oh, she had the nerve to say that she loved him, in this forced relationship?

"You have got to be shitting me," Jason cursed under his breath while he exited Ambers home. He breathed heavily in anger and rubbed his neck, trying to remove any of her disgusting spit that she left on his neck. When Jason checked the sensitive spot on his neck, it was slightly red and a bit dark in the middle.

'That bitch gave me a fucking hickey!' Jason thought, completely pissed off. He took out his cell phone and started typing up a text message to Eliza.

'I'm sorry about that, Eliza. Why don't we meet up now and talk about whatever you wanted to talk about?'

After fifteen minutes Eliza still hasn't replied, which ticked Jason off a little bit. He knew that she was ignoring him because of what Amber said and he hated that.

Groaning, Jason started walking to Eliza's house, which was thirty minutes away. It was times like this where he wished that he brought his car, instead of letting Amber drive him places.

When Jason finally arrived at Eliza's home, he suddenly became nervous, and a bit scared. He remembered what Amber said before, the previous week when he broke up with her. She said that Jason would regret it.

And he did. He got two people hurt.

Now Amber said it again, he did not know what was going to happen to either of them. Jason did not know if Amber or Alexander would try anything again, and that made Jason a little bit wary.

Sighing, Jason knocked on the door and looked on his shoes, suddenly nervous. For all he knew, Eliza would be mad at him for not visiting her throughout the week. He wouldn't blame her if he did.

The front door opened just a crack, revealing Eliza who looked like she had been crying for the past thirty minutes.

"Eliza-"

"Goodbye, Jason." Eliza snapped, shutting the door. Before she could do so, Jason blocked the door with his foot, earning a large scowl from Eliza. "What do you want?"

"Eliza," Jason tried to say, "Why are you crying?"

"It doesn't matter," Eliza laughed, although it was empty from any humor. "It doesn't matter."

"Of course it matters!" Jason argued softly, stepping inside of her home. Eliza shook her head and looked down at the floor, tears falling down her face rapidly. "Why are you crying?"

"You want to know why I'm crying?" Eliza said, wiping the tears away. She felt her heart break the more she spoke. "You want to know why?!"

"Yes," Jason answered stepping closer to her. His thumb wiped some stray tears that she had missed. Eliza's eyes stared into Jason's, filled with hurt and heartbreak, the most prominent of them all.

"Chase woke up," Eliza began, still looking into Jason's confused eyes. "He's leaving as soon as the hospital let's him go."

"I broke up with him," She said after a moment of silence. Jason looked up at her in surprise. "I was going to tell you about it so that we could to go out, but I guess not. You have Amber now." Eliza said bitterly pushing Jason away from her.

"Eliza no," Jason said, a smile breaking out on his face. "I broke up with Amber."

"You did what?" Eliza almost yelled, her innocent eyes widening in shock, and a hint of fear.

"She had no right to talk to you like that." Jason shrugged, still smiling. They were both silent for while until he spoke again.

"So, we are both single." He smirked, stepping closer to Eliza as her breath hitched in excitement and nervousness. "And we both like each other."

Eliza bit her tongue from saying that she loved him instead of liking him. How would he react?

"I love you, Eliza." Jason blurted out. He pulled her close to him and kissed her passionately, loving how sweet, tender and soft her lips were. Eliza's eyes widened even larger in complete shock. Sure, he was close to saying that he loved her in the hospital, but that was when she was in a relationship. Now she was single, free to say I love you to anyone she pleased, which was Jason.

She separated, smiling and laughing while a small blush outlined her cheeks. Their foreheads were pressed together as they sighed in content.

"I love you too, Jason." Eliza whispered. "I've loved you for so long, but I couldn't say it because I was with Chase."

Jason's eyes twinkled in delight as he kissed her softly, loving everything about her at the moment.

"I love you," Jason repeated, staring into her eyes to make the moment as special as possible. "So much."

Eliza sighed and kissed him eagerly, adoring the feeling of being loved in return. Flutters went throughout her body like a drug as she slowly escalated to cloud nine. She seperated and placed her head on his chest, hearing the satisfying thump of his heart-beat.

Jason's arms rested on Eliza's waist as she listen to his heart-beat. His thoughts were drowned with her voice, softly murmuring I love you millions of times. A bright, large smile of pure happiness was on both of their faces as they thoroughly enjoyed each others company.

After what seemed like forever, Eliza seperated and led Jason to the couch and lay down, as they cuddled and gave each other warmth.

"We need to make a new plan." Jason whispered in Eliza's ear, close enough to smell her strawberry scented hair. She sighed and wrapped her arm around Jason snuggling into his chest.

"What are we supposed to do?" She mumbled, not really wanting to think what was wrong with their lives at the moment. Eliza felt Jason sigh.

"I know for sure that Amber is planning something," Jason said slowly, thinking and trying to remember anything important. "But what? I don't know."

"Well we need to think of something or else we will get hurt." Eliza replied, almost whispering. "Try to remember anything you did with Amber, if she gave away anything or something like that."

Jason shut his eyes, trying to remember what he did with Amber. He remembered something, but it was a bit hazy to him. In his mind, all he saw was a piece of paper in her room.

Suddenly Jason sat down, almost making Eliza fall off the couch. He held onto her before she fell.

"I remember!" Jason swallowed, suddenly becoming a bit scared yet excited.

"What is it?" Eliza asked, her eyes widening, her emotions the same as Jason's.

"While I was at Ambers house, the day you got shot," Jason said quickly. "I told her to get some drinks, to get her drunk. While she went to go get it, I took advantage and searched through her stuff."

"What did you find?" Eliza whispered, staring into his eyes with curiosity. Jason suddenly smiled, glad that he was thinking so smartly that day.

"I found a piece of paper and a cell phone," Jason sighed, feeling happy that he might have the advantage for once. "But I haven't had the chance to look through them."

"Where did you put it?"

"In a pair of jeans. I have no idea where they are though..." Jason grinned sheepishly while Eliza rolled her eyes.

"Why don't we go to your house." Eliza suggested, getting off of Jason even though she didn't want to. They had to get all of the information possible in order to get rid of Alexander and Amber. "And we can look for your jeans."

Jason nodded and stood up, grabbing Eliza's hand while she blushed, intertwining their fingers together. They both walked out of her house and started walking to Jason's in silence, only enjoying each others company throughout the way. When they arrived, Jason opened his door and led Eliza to his room, where most of his clothes were thrown.

"You are such a boy," Eliza scowled, picking up the first pair of jeans that were on the floor. Jason simply smirked and rolled his eyes, searching through his jeans as well. Five minutes later, Eliza had found the cell phone and the note.

Jason grabbed the note from her hands. "Let's read the note first," He suggested, while beginning to read the note. It was crumpled and had scribbly writing, and some random smudges on some undecipherable words. Eliza peeked over his shoulder while they both read the note.

' killed three people... police don't... can't find out.. no one... knows... its secret... death is coming... '

The rest of the writing was undecipherable for either of them to comprehend. "Amber killed three people?!" Eliza squawked, her body filling with fear.

"It seems like it." Jason whispered softly, getting tense. "Where is the cell phone?"

Eliza shakily handed him the cell phone with trembling fingers, the realization of what might happen to her finally dawning. Jason swallowed and grabbed Eliza's hand for support, knowing that both of them were afraid for their lives and needed each other to go through all of this.

"I'm scared Jason," Eliza whispered, her bottom lip trembling. "W-What if Amber-"

Jason silenced her with a kiss. "Amber won't do anything, as long as we create a good plan to make both of us safe." He assured, wiping the tears that were about to fall down her face. "I'll protect you. I will always be there for you, Eliza."

"I love you," She replied, kissing Jason again.

"Love you, too." He kissed her back and separated, turning on the cell phone. Jason heard an odd sound as the phone turned on, unfortunately blocking the entrance with a password. "What do you think the password is?"

Jason felt Eliza shrug. "It could be names. Try Amber, Jason, or Alexander."

"Lets see," Jason replied. He typed in 'AMBER' as the password, but it was declined. A hint appeared on the screen, stating: 'Someone you love.'

Jason swallowed and entered his own name, actually surprised that the password was incorrect. The hint reappeared on the screen, stating that he was getting closer. Jason deliberately wrote down Alexander's name, even more shocked that the password was correct.

"We got in."

Jason vaguely heard Eliza's breath hitch as he stared shocked at the phone, still not believing that he got inside. Amber loved Alexander? Since when? He shook his head in disbelief.

"Amber loved Alexander?" Eliza said, equally as shocked as Jason. He didn't answer and started searching through the phone, first looking through the phones history of the calls Amber received and the calls she dialed. For some reason, though, the last time she got a phone call and dialed somebody was over a year ago.

"Should I call?" Jason whispered, his finger hovering over the redial option.

"I-I don't know..." Eliza replied, biting her lip in nervousness.

"We might get information," Jason sighed, pressing the number and putting the phone to his ear. He felt Eliza tense up as soon as he put the call on speaker. After five dial tones, someone finally picked up. Music was heard loudly in the background, making it hard to hear the person who answered.

"Hello?" A gruff voice answered. Jason frowned as he tried to recognize the voice. It sounded extremely familiar to him...

"Who is this?" Jason spoke up, after a moment. A few seconds later, the music was slowly fading away until there was silence.

"I told you not to call this number unless you wanted me to kill someone," The guy mumbled into the phone, sounding fierce and cold-hearted. Eliza and Jason locked eyes, both of them in complete fear. "So, do you want me to kill someone?"

Jason's heart thumped quickly inside of him, almost blocking out what the guys said to him. 'What do I do?' he mouthed to Eliza. She shrugged and stared at him, feeling extremely scared and nervous of what was about to happen.

'I don't know?' She mouthed back, running a distressed hand through her hair.

"No, actually." Jason finally replied, shocking both of them even more.

"Then what do you want?" The man snapped, audibly sighing angrily. "I'm busy, if you can't tell."

"I want to ask you some questions," Jason said, trying not to anger the guy. He was extremely important to their plan to beat Amber and Alexander.

"Listen, for whoever this is, I'm not answering shit unless I get something out of it." The guy grumbled, while making some shuffling noise. Jason swallowed and tried not to show his nervousness through his voice.

"I'll give you five grand." He answered, while Eliza's jaw dropped.

"Alrighty then," Jason could almost hear the guy smirk through the phone after a swift moment of silence. "Where do we meet?"

"Where are you now?" Jason asked.

"Im in Philadelphia," The guy answered dryly, more shuffling coming on the phone. "In one of their largest clubs, Exotic."

Jason sighed. Philadelphia was two hours away from where they were, and they needed to somehow get there without anyone knowing.

"I'll be there in two hours and thirty minutes." Jason replied, hanging up the phone.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Eliza snapped, pushing him. "You don't even know the guy! He might kill you!"

"I doubt he will kill me," Jason shrugged, standing up. "I'm giving him five grand."

Eliza sighed, frustration building in her tone. "Jason, you heard him! He specifically said that if we are calling him, that means we want someone dead. That means he killed someone before!"

"Eliza," This time Jason sighed. "I promise you, I'll be fine."

"I'll?" She frowned. "Only you are going?"

Jason nodded. "I won't risk bringing you."

"Oh," Eliza scoffed, holding out the 'o'. "So you are leaving me here while you go and meet a guy who you don't even know- who killed people- just for answers?"

"Yes." Jason nodded, going under his bed to grab a duffle bag. That's where he had been hiding all of his none, since he was too young to be having a credit card.

"I'm going with you." Eliza said crossing her arms.

"Eliza no," He disagreed. "I won't risk bringing you." He repeated.

"I'm coming with you." She said stubbornly, getting angrier by the second. Jason sighed, rolling his eyes.

"I'll let you come if you stay in the car while I talk to him." Jason bargained. Eliza frowned, obviously not liking this but nodding either way. He secured the duffle bag to his shoulder and started walking downstairs with Eliza right behind him.

Jason walked outside and hurried to the car, not wanting to waste time. Eliza went in the front seat, putting on her seatbelt while Jason drove out of his driveway.

"Do you even know how to get to Philidelphia?" Eliza asked after fifteen minutes.

Jason shook his head, smirking. "No, but I have a GPS."

Eliza rolled her eyes, staring out o the window. "Do you think we are crazy for doing this?"

Jason cocked his head and shrugged. "Most likely."

"What are you going to ask him when we get there?" Eliza asked, a small frown on her face.

"Things about Amber, and Alexander." Jason replied.

"Let's hope everything ends up okay..." Eliza whispered, low enough so that Jason couldn't hear her.

---

MEANWHILE...

---

Amber let out a scream of frustration and slammed the door to her room shut. She ran to her dresser and open the first drawer, taking off the top of the hidden compartment. Amber frowned, in disbelief and shock as she shook the few items in there, not believing that the phone and the piece of paper that could ruin her life- forever, was not there.

"Where the hell is it?" Amber shrieked, shaking the items more furiously. Tears sprouted in her eyes as she became afraid of the thought that someone practically had her fate in their hands.

Panicked, Amber reached for her useless cell phone and speed dialed Alexander, knowing that it was logical to call him. He always had answers.

"Alexander speaking," He breathed out, sounding breathless. Amber swallowed.

"Someone stole it." Amber gritted her teeth together in fury, emphasizing on the it.

"What are you talking about?" Alexander said after a moment. He no longer sounded distracted. Instead, he was more focused and spoke in his hushed tone that he usually did whenever something meant business.

"The cell phone!" Amber practically spat out. "And the note!"

"Are you fucking with me?" Alexander hissed. Amber imagined him with the furious and pissed off look on his face, while he grasped the phone tightly, his knuckles most likely turning white. He was probably like that now.

"Of course not!" Amber sighed, pissed off just as much as he was. "Someone stole it, and I do not know when."

"Why were you looking for it?" Alexander demanded, his voice lining with authority and suspicion. Amber swallowed.

"I wanted someone to kill Jason," Amber said calmly.

"And you couldn't do it yourself?" He growled, ticking Amber off.

"I can do whatever the fuck I want to do, Alexander." Amber hissed, slamming her drawer shut. "Now help me."

---

Two, stressful and utterly boring hours later, Jason had finally drove them to Philidelphia to that club, Exotic. It was now eleven in the night and he was parked at a far enough distance from the entrance of the club.

"How do I find this guy?" Jason asked to himself, and Eliza. "I don't even know how he looks like."

"Try calling him on his cell phone again." Eliza suggested, her voice a little shaky with nervousness. Jason nodded and took out the phone which had twenty percent battery left, and re-dialed his number, putting the phone on speaker.

Loud, ear-blasting music with a lot is shuffling and commotion filled his ears while the guy answered after a couple dial tones.

"Hello?" He answered, his voice hard to tell apart from the music and the other people shouting in the background.

"I'm here," Jason almost shouted so that he could hear him better.

"Oh!" He said. There was a lot of shuffling and some curse words edits everything was silent again. "I'm in the back of the club. Hurry up and get here."

The call ended. Jason locked gazes with Eliza and looked at her with pleading eyes.

"Stay here, in the drivers seat." Jason instructed, his voice firm. "If anything happens while I'm gone, you drive away and call the police, okay?"

Eliza swallowed, tears filling in on the brim of her eyes. "Don't get hurt." Her bottom lip trembled with fear.

Jason half-smiled and leaned in, kissing her softly to ease some of her many worries. He pretended to act as if everything was fine when on the inside he was completely freaking out with fear and nervousness.

"I'll be back soon, okay?" Jason assured, grabbing the duffle bag in the back seat. He secured it on his shoulder and nodded at Eliza, exiting his car and locking it while she slid in the drivers seat with her phone tightly gripped in her small hand.

Breathing out a nervous sigh, he walked to Exotic and made his way inside, sneaking in with one of the groups that the guy let inside. He cringed as the loud music pounded every step he took while he scurried his way through the crowd, holding on to the duffle bag as tightly as possible.

Many people stared at Jason with confusion, wondering why a teen like him was in an adult club like this. Jason shrugged off the looks, having a good feeling that the guy he was about to meet was older than most people.

Somehow, Jason found his way to the back door, which took him over five minutes. He opened the door and shut it, making sure that it was closed securely. That way no one would try to listen in to their conversation.

"Hello?" Jason called out, seeing a distant shadow a couple feet ahead of him.

---

Eliza breathed in and out multiple times, trying to calm her racing heartbeat. She was overcome with worry, nervousness and fear. What exactly had she gotten herself into?

She fell in love with a guy who had made a deal to go out with a girl for money. And now he broke up with her, causing people to harm her and her ex-boyfriend, and possibly her family.

Eliza didn't know why she fell in love with Jason anyways. He had gotten her hurt, even though he didn't have no control over it. She figured she loved him because of how sweet, loving and caring he treated her whenever they were alone.

She felt flutters when Jason kissed her. She felt giddy and high with happiness whenever she was next to him. Jason was like her personal drug, and she knew that she would always love him and care for him like he did to her.

Eliza was too consumed in her thoughts of Jason and their everlasting love to realize that someone had smashed the window of the car, also pressing a gun to the temple of her forehead.

---

Jason stepped forward, squinting to try to have a glance at what the man looked like. A street light shown upon him, blinding him for a split second. When he could finally see, he almost fainted.

His dad was standing in front of him. His pupils were dilated. His eyes were bloodshot and had bags under them. His clothes were raggedy, broken and cheap. To top it off, his dad acted as if he didn't know him.

"Dad?" Jason choked out, staring at him in pure disbelief.

"Listen kid," His dad said, his voice deeper and more gruff then usual. "I didn't father no kid. Yet, that is."

"Don't fucking play games," Jason spat, clenching his hands into a fist. His dad simply smirked and rolled his eyes, crossing his arms across his dirty chest. "I can't believe this... You dad? Out of all people?"

"You must be talking about my brother, Darrel." He said shrugging. Jason frowned, his head pounding with confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm Hunter, and my twin brothers name is Darrel. He's the one who fathered someone, not me..." Hunter emphasized on the twin part. Shocked, Jason swallowed and tried to digest the recent piece of information.

"You aren't Darrel?" Jason asked, still not sure. Hunter nodded.

"Now," He blew out a breath. "Where's the money? You wanted answers, and I got them."

Jason removed the duffle bag from his shoulders and threw it to Hunter, who caught it with ease. He opened the bag and took out a wad of cash, and oddly enough he started to smell it. After a minute or so passed by, he threw the money back into the duffle bag and closed it, putting it on his shoulders.

"So," Jason began, trying to believe that this guy was not his father, even though their resemblance was terrifying.

"Listen, I know you don't believe me." Hunter pursed his lips. "Call Darrel and you'll see."

Jason frowned and grabbed his cell phone from his pocket, and dialed his dads number. On the tenth dial tone, he finally picked up, his voice sounding strained and tired.

"Hello?"

"Dad," Jason answered, shocked that Hunter was telling the truth. His dad had a twin brother, and he didn't even know about it. "Uh, am I calling too late?"

"It's midnight. I'm sleeping, Jason!" His had grumbled. He heard shuffling and then silence.

"Sorry, I'll call her you later." Jason excused, ending the call before his real father could protest. Hunter smirked at him and dryly chuckled.

"Now," He sat down on the floor and made himself comfortable. "Start asking questions. I have this hot babe waiting inside and I cannot waste-"

"Alright," Jason snapped, a scowl forming on his face. "How do you know Amber?"

"Amber?" Hunter frowned, his eyes showing very little remembrance to the brunette. "I think I remember her. She had brown hair, right?"

Jason nodded, an unwanted image of Amber appearing in his mind. "Yeah."

"And she has a bitchy attitude, right?" Hunters frown formed into a scowl, his thoughts probably thinking of any past memories he had with her.

"Yeah," Jason laughed. "That's Amber."

"I knew her from Alexander." Hunter began. "He and I- we were best friends. I was his confidante, in the gang that he ruled."

"Hold on," Jason's eyes widened. "Alexander ruled a gang?!"

Hunter nodded, not finding this piece of information as shocking as Jason thought it was. "This was about five years ago. I don't know if he still rules it or not. You need to find that out."

"Continue," Jason demanded, feeling his phone buzz once, and then twice. He ignored it.

"In my third year of being Alexander's confidante, I met a girl. She was Amber of course, but not the Amber you know today." Hunter explained, his eyes turning somber with grief, pain and sadness. "Before she was so sweet, fun, lovable and selfless. She was such a bright woman. I fell in love with her in a short time."

"I told Alexander about her, which was the biggest mistake of my life." Hunter said venomously, fury lining in his tone. "As soon as he met Amber, he changed her. She started hanging out with him more than me."

Jason raised his eyebrows in shock. "Alexander somehow made Amber fall in love with him." Hunter continued with his hands clenched. "One day, he brought her to his home. Five guys were hiding in his room, planning to kill Alexander for revenge on something ruthless and stupid. He killed two people and forced Amber to kill the other three."

---

Eliza screamed as soon as she registered that a man was in front of her with a gun applied to the temple of her forehead. The man sighed, obviously used to these type of reactions and slapped her with the tip of the gun, efficiently shutting her up for a while.

"Be quiet," The man snapped, unlocking the door with his fingers. He pushed Eliza onto the backseat, earning a cry of pain as she stumbled. He then slammed the driver door and swiped the remaining glass off the windows. To any bystander, it would have looked like the window was rolled down, not smashed and broken.

In the backseat, Eliza started trembling and shaking with fear, not knowing what this man would do to her. He did break the window of Jason's car, after all.

"I have a few questions," The guy said slyly, pointing the gun towards Eliza. "You will answer them or else I will have to force it out of you."

Eliza nodded shakily, wiping the few tears that overflowed her eyes. She ignored the mans heated stare and only focused on the barrel of the gun, which was pointed straight at her. It terrified Eliza to even think that this object in front of her could end her life in a matter of seconds, just like it almost did when that other guy killed her.

"Are you Eliza?" He asked, his voice cold and heartless. She nodded, afraid of her own voice to say anything. An idea sparked in her mind, suddenly. She brought her hands behind her back, hoping that the guy couldn't see her with the darkness, and took out her cell phone.

She put it on vibrate using the switch on the side so he wouldn't hear anything, and started typing a message to Jason without looking. Eliza relied on pure memory of the keyboard and tried to write a quick and sufficient message to Jason.

"Very good," He smirked, while Eliza inwardly shivered, glad that he couldn't see what she was doing. "Now, what is a sweet, sexy little girl like you doing here all by herself?"

Eliza swallowed, tears or fear filling in the brim of her eyelids. She also shivered, greatly disturbed and disgusted that this man spoke this way to her, out of all people. Why did he choose to harass her, anyways? There was a club right across the street!

Luckily Eliza had sent a quick help to Jason and slid her phone back into her pocket, wishing that he was running back to the car right away.

Eliza's wishing was cut short when the man in front of her started leaning in, aiming for a kiss....

---

'So that was what the note meant.' Jason thought, feeling the note in his pocket. 'Amber had killed three people and wrote it down. But why?'

"I have a note," Jason blurted out, reaching into his pocket and taking out the note. He handed it to Hunter who snatched it out of his hands, looking greatly shocked.

"Where the hell did you get this?" He demanded, reading over the note over and over again, not believing his eyes. "I've been looking for this for years!"

"What do you mean?" Jason frowned, feeling his phone buzz again. He was tempted to check what it was, but he wanted to get as much information as possible now that he was here.

"After Amber killed those three people, it took a huge toll on her. Emotionally, physically, and mentally." Hunter continued, rushing his words as he grasped the piece of paper tightly. "She never told me what she did and disappeared and never came back. Alexander was the one that told me about what she did."

"I remember him telling me that she wrote it down, somewhere on a piece of paper since she couldn't tell anyone else." Hunter explained, a faraway look on his face. "After that, she changed. Instead of being sweet and kind, like she usually was, she turned into a cold, heartless bitch she is today."

Jason's jaw dropped slightly, stunned by this piece of valuable information. Before he could comment on it, Hunter continued.

"So I've been searching for this paper," Hunter raised it in the air and grinned maliciously. "To ruin Amber and Alexander's life."

"But why?" Jason asked, confused.

"She never loved me." Hunter shrugged carelessly, although Jason could see the pain clearly in his eyes. "Instead she loved Alexander. Which is why I plan to get my revenge. And you, my friend, just helped me."

"Wow," Jason said, staring at Hunter in shock. "But I'm still confused. You said, on the phone call earlier to not call unless you were going to kill someone-"

"That's just bull crap," Hunter shrugged it off, pursing his lips. "I say that every time someone calls me by that number. And besides, where did you get that cell phone anyways?"

"I found it." Jason half-lied. He felt his phone buzz again. "Listen, can I get that paper back?"

"Hell no," Hunter almost growled.

"I plan to ruin Amber as well and I need that paper," Jason tried to say, stepping forward. Hunter glared at Jason and stuck the piece of paper back in his pocket.

"Kid, your just a teenager." Hunter smirked, opening the door to the club. "I'll ruin her for you. You just need to watch the flames burn."

Jason frowned, not liking it at all. But he almost trusted the guy, since they both had something similar. They both wanted Amber gone, but for two different reasons.

Jason sighed and reached into his pocket again, taking out his cell phone and checking the text messages. He froze as he realized that all of them were from Eliza, all of them asking for help.

"Fuck!" Jason swore and opened the door, running through the huge swarm of people. He pushed them out of the way as he was overcome with worry and fear. Lots of people cursed at him and pushed him away, but at the moment, he didn't really care. Eliza was in danger and he needed to save her.

When Jason was finally inside, he saw his car a couple yards away. He could vaguely see the silhouette of man on too of someone.

And that someone was Eliza.

---

Tears flew down Eliza's face as she desperately tried to push this man away from her as he kissed her sloppily with his disgusting tongue. Never in her life had she felt to violated, disgusted and terrified all at once.

But it was happening. The man kept on running his hands all throughout her body, not even hiding how turned on he was by this. Eliza squirmed and tried to kick him off of her, only making his hand touch her with even more force.

"Help!" Eliza screamed, hitting the man an kicking him with all of her might. Unfortunately it did not do anything but make the man web angrier, making him back-slap Eliza across the face.

More tears flew down her face rapidly as she thought of Jason. She loved him more than anything and hoped that he was running towards her right now to save her.

Minutes passed by, and Jason still wasn't there. Eliza was getting more terrified and repulsed with fear as the guys hands kept on playing around with the zipper of her jeans.

The more Eliza squirmed and moved around, the harder and rougher his movements were. She begged and pleaded, telling him to stop and have mercy. All he did was continue and kiss Eliza with force so she could shut up.

Finally, after what seemed like the worst five minutes of her life, something miraculous happened. The weight of the man on top of her was vanished, and was met with cold air which brought an immense amount of relief to Eliza.

Sobbing, Eliza stared at her savior, Jason, who had pulled the guy out of the car, beating him with his fists. Jason surprised her even more by taking out his cell phone, snapping a picture of his bruised face. He punched the man until he was unconscious, and went back inside the car.

"J-Jason," Eliza trembled, tackling Jason in a hug while she sobbed in his shoulder.

"Baby I'm so sorry," Jason whispered, hugging her back tightly. He felt so relieved that she was fine, even though she had a couple bruises on her face.

"He-he tried t-to ra-rape me!" Eliza cried out, the images of the man touching her and kissing her overflowing her mind.

"I know, I know," Jason murmured, in pain himself. He held her tightly and whispered soothing things in her ear. Slowly, and surely enough, Eliza started to calm down, but not fully. "We need to call the police." Jason said, taking out his cell phone.

Eliza sniffed and wiped her eyes, which were swollen from crying too much. She regretted ever coming with Jason, even though he pleaded and begged for her to not go, incase she got hurt. And look what happened, she was so close to being raped, all by being stupid and tagging along with Jason.

"Are you okay?" Jason asked, wiping the stray tears down her face. He opened his cell phone, not taking his eyes off of Eliza while he dialed nine-one-one.

"Don't," Eliza barely said, closing Jason's cell phone. "Don't call the police."

"Why?" Jason asked, seeing the pain lurking in her eyes.

"Jason I want to forget this ever happened," Eliza whispered, more tears overflowing her eyes. "Involving the police only makes this worse for me."

"Alright," Jason replied softly, resting Eliza's head on his chest. She listened on the steady beat of his heart as it slowly calmed her down. After a couple minutes passed by, Eliza fell asleep with a troubled expression on her face.

Gently, Jason set her in the backseat and applied a soft kiss to her forehead. He sighed, hating the fact that this happened to Eliza out of all people. What did she do to deserve this?

Jason bit his tongue in anger and made his way to the front seat, wiping the few pieces of glass out of the window. He turned on the car and started driving, searching for the nearest hotel which was luckily a couple blocks away from Exotic.

Jason decided that it was too late to drive back to his home when it was midnight. He was tired and he knew that if he drove he would either crash, or fall asleep while driving. So it was pretty wise to check in a hotel this late at night.

Jason parked his car in the parking lot and carried Eliza to the entrance of the hotel, which seemed small yet comfortable at the same time. Eliza groaned and wrapped her arms around his neck, snuggling herself in his chest.

Jason smiled and walked inside of the hotel, ignoring the weird looks by the few people in the lobby as he strode towards the front desk.

"Hi," Jason greeted. "I need a room just for tonight."

"How many beds?" The man asked, looking at Eliza quickly before returning his gaze on Jason.

"One is fine." Jason replied. The man nodded and handed him the key, or more like placed the key on Eliza. Jason walked towards the elevator and pressed the third floor, sighing deeply.

So many things happened that day. It seemed like karma set her full attention on Jason and Eliza today, putting her powers on ultimate blast.

Jason yawned and walked out of the elevator when it stopped on his floor. He somehow managed to open the door with the key while holding on to Eliza at the same time. He shut the door with his foot and carried Eliza to the bed, gently placing her on the soft material.

She let out a soft groan and curled herself into a small mall, snoring softly. Jason smiled a small smile, loving how cute she seemed at the moment, even when she was half-asleep.

He took of her sneakers and set them at the edge of the bed, and did the same to herself. Another yawn escaped his lips as he made himself comfortable in the hotel bed, wrapping his arms around Eliza tightly.

In mere seconds, he was asleep.

---

"Did you find it?" Was the first thing that escaped Ambers lips as soon as she saw Alexander. He shook his head, frowning in irritation.

"The cell phone seems to be out of the state," Alexander mumbled, sounding very stressed and pissed. "The tracking device I have only traces objects in the state."

"You ass," Amber almost growled, clenching her perfectly manicured hands into fists. "I meant the note! I could care less about that phone."

Alexander's eyes were in slits. "I don't know where your precious note is. We wouldn't be dealing with this if you didn't write it down!"

Ambers eyes widened in shock, while her jaw dropped in anger. "I wouldn't have written that note if you hadnt forced me to kill those three people!" She seethed, tears filling in her eyes.

"It was either you live, or you die, Amber!" Alexander spat, his eyes glazing with anger. She let out a frustrated cry.

"I'd rather die than deal with this!" She finally said, fresh tears falling down her face. For the first time, in a while, Amber was breaking down.

Alexander's face softened as he stepped close to Amber, wrapping her up in a hug.

"I'm sorry," He whispered, rubbing her back while she silently cried. "I'll find out who took the note and kill them limb from limb, myself."

---

Eliza woke up the next morning hearing her cell phone buzz on the table next to her a bunch of times. She sighed and glanced at Jason, who was still sleeping soundlessly, and managed to remove his arm from her waist to stand up.

She stood up an grabbed her phone, walking to the hotel bathroom. Luckily they provided two, fresh and new tooth brushes and toothpaste. She ripped one of the packages open and threw it in the garbage, applying toothpaste onto the brush.

Eliza started brushing her teeth while she felt her phone buzz in her hand. She rolled his eyes and sighed, checking her phone which had over a thousand messages and phone calls from her parents. She wasn't that shocked, really. I mean she didn't come back the whole night without telling her parents where she was. They surely must have called the police already after this much time.

Eliza smiled a small smile and continued brushing her teeth, not thinking of what happened the previous night. What happened in the past stayed in the past. Or in other words, Eliza would not think about what happened the night before and she would try to forget that it ever happened.

But it would be hard. She had two, large and extremely noticeable bruises on her chin and a large hand print on her right cheek. Not to mention that Eliza also had various bruises on other parts of her body, the main part being her hips and her legs.

In short, Eliza looked like complete crap. Her hair was tangled, messy, and a bit dirty. Her lip was swollen and cracked a little bit. She had large bags under her eyes that made her look like a zombie.

Another sigh escaped her lips as she rinsed her mouth from the toothpaste. Eliza let out a shriek of surprise when she noticed Jason entering the bathroom.

He, too looked like crap. Except to Eliza she thought he looked better than she did.

Jason also had bags under his eyes and some various lines of stress on his forehead. His eyes were close to being shut and frankly, he looked as if he was about to fall asleep standing.

"Good morning," Eliza said, half-smiling. Jason blinked twice and smiled, leaning in and kissing her on the cheek.

"How are you?" He asked, a small frown filling in on his face. "Are you okay..?"

"I'm fine, Jason." Eliza assured, forcing a bright smile on her face when deep down she was still affected by everything. "I'm fine." She repeated.

"Are you sure?" Jason said, looking a bit suspicious. Eliza nodded and pecked him on his lips to make it more believable.

"In sure," She lied. Eliza was far from sure, but she wasn't going to admit that anytime soon. "Go brush your teeth so we could go, and so you can tell me about that guy you spoke to last night."

Jason nodded, images of Hunters face appearing in his mind while Eliza left the bathroom. He couldn't wait to tell Eliza about Hunter and how he wanted to ruin Amber and Alexander just like they did, but for two totally different reasons.

Jason brushed his teeth quickly and exited the bathroom, grabbing his wallet and leaving one-hundred-dollars on the bed as a tip, and for the bill.

He took Eliza's hand and walked out if the hotel room, prepared to tell her everything he found out yesterday.

Jason held onto Eliza's hand while he drove out of the hotel, a soft, chilly breeze filling the car due to the broken window on the drivers side of the car. He grasped the car wheel tightly, getting a bit nervous of how Eliza would react.

"I found out a lot of interesting information..." Jason began, feeling Eliza's gaze on him. He purposefully ignored her stare and focused on looking at the highway, as if it was the most important thing in the world.

"What is it?" Eliza pipped, squeezing Jason's hand to reassure him that everything was fine. Jason sighed.

"The guy I spoke to, his name is Hunter." Jason said, shutting his eyes for a quick moment before re-focusing them on the road. "At first I thought he was my dad

-"

"Wait," Eliza interrupted, her innocent brown eyes going wide. "That guy was our dad?!'

"No," Jason shook his head, smiling a little bit. "He's my dads twin. To prove it, Hunter told me to call my dad. And he was telling the truth."

"It must've been scary," Eliza said, frowning slightly. "Talking to a killer that looked exactly like your dad..."

"Technically Hunter isn't a killer." Jason corrected, slowing the car down at a red light. "He said that whenever someone calls him on that specific cell phone, he says who do you want me to kill, or something similar to that."

"Oh," Eliza said dumbfoundedly, half-believing Jason while he smiled.

"You remember that paper? The one that Amber wrote about killing three people?" Jason said, visibly getting pale at the thought of kissing someone who killed three people.

Eliza nodded, motioning for him to continue. "From what Hunter was telling me, Amber used to be a really sweet, loving and caring girl." Jason explained, half-believing what Hunter told him. He just couldn't picture Amber being sweet. Not like the way she was acting before, saying that she wanted to kill Amber.

"They went out." Jason said, frowning. "Hunter said that he was Alexanders confidante while in the gang-"

"Alexander was a leader of a gang?!" Eliza interrupted, her eyes becoming wide with fear and worry. Even though she hadn't met Alexander, she was still afraid of him after what she hard from Jason.

Jason nodded, getting a bit uncomfortable himself. "He hid Amber from him for a while. But soon Alexander found out, and he started hanging out with her. More like brainwashing."

"She ended up falling for him." Jason continued, making sure his eyes stayed on the road while he quickly spoke, wanting to get this explanation out of the way. "One day they were walking to his home and there were five people in his home, aiming to kill Alexander."

Jason felt Eliza tense up. "While Alexander killed two of them, he forced Amber to kill the other three."

"Oh my god," Eliza gasped, furrowing her eyebrows together in shock. Her hand was removed from Jason while she raised her hand to her mouth. "So Amber isn't the bad guy here, sort of. Alexander brainwashed her, and she didn't even realize it!"

"Are you defending her?" Jason almost spat, his eyes widening in disbelief. "After she sent a guy to kill you and Chase?!"

"No!" Eliza almost shouted, recoiling into her seat. She sighed frustratedly and ran a hand through her messy hair, getting annoyed. "I'm just saying. Amber is the way she is now all because of Alexander. If Alexander didn't force her to kill those people.." She trailed off, biting her lip. "None of this would be happening."

Jason's lip twitched slightly, disagreeing with her. If he was in Amber's position, he would have ran from Alexander as soon as he forced him to kill those people. Not stay with him and fall in love with him.

Eliza realized Jason disagreed with her because of the sour expression on her face. "Jason."

"Just forget it." Jason almost snapped. He bit his tongue, trying to control his anger. "Anyways, after that incident, Alexander forced Amber to not say anything. I guess the guilt tore her sweet-self away, turning her into the cold-heartless monster she is today. Since she couldn't tell anyone she wrote a note."

Eliza didn't say anything, still a bit irritated that Jason didn't agree with her. Instead she just motioned for him to continue, to annoyed to speak to him.

"I gave the note to Hunter." Jason blurted out, grasping the steering wheel tightly. He braced himself for Eliza's reaction.

"You WHAT?!" She shrieked, his hands moving the steering wheel on accident. His car moved on the wrong size of the road while another car was speeding straight towards them. Panicked, Jason swerved the steering wheel just in time. The car span in circles a few times before it skidded to an abrupt halt on a small grass clearing. He blew out a shaky breath while his heart raced, trying to comprehend what just happened. Eliza seemed to be having the same reaction Jason was.

"Are you okay?" Jason asked, his eyes widening with worry. He tried to make it seem as if he wasn't freaked out to make Eliza calm down a bit. She looked like she was on the verge of passing out.

"I'm fine," She replied a little bit too quickly, blinking a couple times while breathing heavily. Jason frowned at her abrupt change of behavior and sighed, unbuckling his seat belt and getting out of the car. He walked out of his seat and walked towards the passenger side of the car, opening the door and engulfing Eliza into a hug.

She wrapped her arms around him as he held her tightly, tears falling down her face rapidly. Jason didn't know what happened to her, so all he did was just hold her in his hands, telling her soothing words and phrases. More tears clouded her vision as disturbing, graphic and almost realistic images over-threw her mind of that guy, touching Eliza and saying foul, disgusting words that made her want to hurl.

Jason's touch only made it worse, as cruel as that sounded. Eliza's mind made her think that Jason was the guy that tried to rape her, which made her recoil from his touch in fear.

"Eliza what's wrong?" Jason demanded softly, wiping the never ending tears from her eyes with a simple brush of his fingers.

She sniffed and tried to compose herself, swallowing a couple times to remove the large lump in her throat. "I'm fine," She mumbled, although Jason didn't believe her.

"Eliza." Jason deadpanned, staring into her trouble eyes. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," Eliza said, sniffing and wiping her cheeks with the edge of her sleeve. "I was just scared of everything that's happening at the moment. Hunter, Amber, Alexander... The car crash..."

'The attempted rape..' Eliza almost said, biting her tongue while tears threatened to fall down her face again.

"I'm sorry," Jason apologized, pulling her into a hug again. He was telling the truth this time. He sincerely and truly was sorry for causing all of this to happen to both of them, all because a simple and silly mistake that occurred during the summer. "I really am."

"Why?" Eliza asked, hearing Jason's heartbeat which slowly calmed her down. "Why are you sorry?"

"For bringing you into this mess," Jason sighed, resting his chin on Eliza's head. At the moment he felt so guilty and responsible for everything that happened in the past few months.

"It's okay," Eliza whispered, almost inaudibly. "It wasn't your fault."

"But-" Jason protested, frowning.

"You didn't know that this was going to happen to either of us, right? We both didn't know." Eliza removed herself from Jasons chest and looked at him with a firm gaze, determined to prove that what happened these past months werent intentionally his fault. When Jason didn't answer, Eliza's frown deepened into a scowl.

"Well?" She said.

"No." Jason said incoherantly, although Eliza managed to hear him say it. "We didn't know." He said a bit loudly.

"So its not your fault." Eliza said softly, her mouth quirking up into a smile as she poked his chest. Jason returned the smile and kissed her forehead, resting her head on his chest.

They stayed like that for a while. Eliza listened to the familiar thump of Jason's heartbeat, making her feel more calm, safe and secure. Jason focused on hearing Eliza's soft steady breaths, glad that she didn't blame him for everything that happened.

After what seemed like hours, only it was about fifteen minutes, Jason separated and kissed her head, bringing her back to the car with a disappointed expression. He didn't really want to seperate from their embrace but he had a two hour drive ahead of him and wanted to get home already, after what seemed like forever.

Eliza entered the car, trying to control her uneven breathing as her mind was swarmed with thoughts and vile images of what happened the previous night. She didn't want to admit it, but the attempted rape had shaken her and scared her to a point that she was hallucinating and having images popping up in her mind.

Was this how Eliza was going to be for a while? Until she forgot about it?

Even thinking about having these images and hallucinations in her mind for a while had her fidget around in her seat uncomfortably.

Eliza couldn't wait to get home.

---

Amber tsked and sighed furiously, slamming her keyboard with her hand. Right now she had downloaded a program that took her three hours to get that tracked anything down, as long as she had the correct information. Now that she had the program, though, it was taking forever to download and at 7:00 AM in the morning, she had little to no patience.

Another frustrated sigh escaped Ambers lips as she stood up, walking out of her room and running downstairs. She decided to go outside and get some coffee to get her senses more awake. Amber only hoped that there was a coffee shop nearby that was open this early.

Just as she entered her car, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket.

'Is the DiH finished downloading?'

It was Alexander. Amber had told him of the program-which initials were DiH- sometime during 5:30 - 6:00 AM and said that she would see if this program would work.

'Not even halfway finished.' Amber sighed as she typed the message. 'Im heading out for some coffee now, wanna come?'

Amber didn't know why, but something inside of her told her to invite Alexander with her to get some coffee. She hadnt spoke to him recently - not about his personal life and how he was doing. Lately they only spoke about Jason and that bitch, Eliza. Never about themselves.

Frowning at the thought of that, Amber felt her phone buzz with its odd tone whenever she got a message. She entered her car and started it, opening the text message while she drove out of her driveway.

'Sounds nice. Meet me in the café next to my building in ten.'

Amber smiled and drove to Alexander's apartment, which was five minutes away from hers. She hummed a random tune and tapped her fingers on the steering wheel, suddenly excited about drinking coffee with Alexander. Honestly, it seemed like forever since they done something like this and she missed it.

While Amber stopped at a red light, she forced herself not to think of the note and the cell phone, and to think of how fun her morning was going to be because she was with Alexander. A smile appeared on her face as she parked in front of the small café. It seemed to be open and empty of customers.

She could vaguely see Alexander inside of the shop, checking something on his phone with a frown on his face. Amber still kept the smile on her face nonetheless, and exited her car, making sure to lock it in the process. She put her keys in her front pocket and entered the café, an overwhelming aroma of caffeine filling her nostrils.

For some odd reason the coffee seemed to calm Amber down and make her even more relaxed as she approached Alexander's table, poking him while she sat down.

"Hey." Amber greeted. His head snapped up, the frown still evident on his face.

"Hey." He said flatly, looking terribly moody. This time Amber frowned, albeit it was a small one at that.

"What's the matter?" Amber piqued, her eyebrows furrowing in curiosity. Alexander sighed, although it sounded more like a scowl, and rolled his eyes, running a distressed hand through his oh-so-messy hair.

"Nothing." Alexander snapped, a mixture of a scowl and a frown forming on his face. Oddly enough Amber felt a bit hurt that he didn't trust her enough to tell her what happened with him. He seemed like he was becoming distant with her, ever since she asked him to get Jason to go out with her. She remembered the day she asked Alexander for Jason like if it was yesterday.

' Amber strode down the park, staring at everyone and everything. There was this couple that looked so engaged in their conversation that they seemed to have forgotten about their surroundings. Amber noticed how the girls eyes twinkled with some excitement, happiness, and most of all, love and adoration. The guy across from her seemed the same way as well.

Ambers heart swelled with jealousy, wishing that she had something similar to that. She had that with Hunter, but he broke up with her once he found out that she liked Alexander instead of him. Of course during that time she didn't really know what she was doing, or how she felt about that, so now was one of those moments where she regretted everything she did.

Amber tore her gaze away from the couple and kept on walking, glancing at the birds who were eating some bread that an elderly lady was feeding them.

A loud cry and sniffle interrupted her, as she snapped her gaze towards another couple. This one seemed different from the previous couple. The girl was crying, with over what seemed like a million tears falling down her face. She had a guilty and heartbroken expression on her face while the guy held her.

When Amber turned to look at the guy, she found herself not wanting to look away. What she found more interesting was how brown, almost hazel his eyes looked like and how they filled with such warmth and softness. His hair was tousled to the side in almost a messy yet attractive way.

What made Amber frown was how the guy had a somewhat solemn expression on his face, mixed with a hint of depression and sadness. She stepped behind a tree and tried to listen on their conversation.

"I'm leaving today." The girl said, her voice cracking. Amber cocked her head to the side and tried to listen to the guys reply. Maybe this was his girlfriend and she had to move away, or something similar along those lines.

The guy mumbled something, but Amber couldn't catch it. She was too entranced by how deep, and alluring his voice sounded, making her heart swoon with flutters. '

From that moment on, Amber had forced Alexander to get all the information on that guy as possible. In a matter of a week, she found out that his name was Jason, his parents were divorced, and that girl, (which she didn't bother getting the name out of) was just an important friend of his.

Then she made someone watch Jason for a while, to see what he did while living by himself. Amber realized that he struggled, and of course she made Alexander do something about it, which led them to where they were today.

Alexander had turned distant with her. She didn't realize it until now, after three months. Ambers head whirled in disbelief as she registered this information.

"Tell me what's wrong." Amber demanded, her voice firm and cold. Alexander's head snapped up in shock, surprised that Amber was talking to him this way. To him, she was happy, and calm and then in another second she seemed angry and demanded. Amber figured he thought she was bipolar.

Alexander sighed, shaking his head. He mumbled something before speaking, his words loud and clear:

"My girlfriend broke up with me."

At first, his words didn't reach Amber for a while. And when it did, her mouth dropped open in shock. It wasn't the shock where you felt bad and said your condolences- oh no. This shock that amber had was one that was filled with happiness, relief, and okay, a twinge of sadness.

"Your girlfriend broke up with you?" Amber grinned, feeling devious, elated and overflowed with euphoria. Alexander gave her a flat look, glaring at her smile that was ever so prominent on her face.

"Yeah, yeah." Alexander shrugged, not meeting Ambers gaze. "Laugh about it, celebrate it."

"Who was it, anyways?" Amber asked, her devious grin turning into a full blown smirk. She hadnt been this happy in ages. What a surprise that she was this elated when Alexander was single.

"If I tell you, you would probably murder her." Alexander rolled his eyes, sighing. "So I'm not saying anything."

"Well," Amber whispered, forcing Alexander to look at her. "We are both single... "

"No." He interrupted, glaring at her. "I'm not going out with you."

"Who said that I was suggesting that we would go out?" Amber said innocently, grinning. "Although it would be very tempting and fun..."

"Shut up." Alexander snapped, pursing his lips. Amber let out a giggle.

"I'm just saying..." She trailed off, biting her lip. "Why don't you want to?" She asked, after a moment. Alexander's head snapped up and met her gaze, staring at her skeptically.

"Would you really like to know the answer to that?" He said, smiling. Although it was filled with pure coldness, no where near happiness. "You want me to tell you the real reason why I won't risk going out with you?"

Amber frowned, disliking the way he spoke towards her. She bit her tongue from saying anything and ignored his comment, staring out the window.

"i'm getting coffee." She announced, standing up while Alexander smirked at her. Truthfully she did not want to know the reason why he didn't want them in a relationship. She figured that when he would tell her it would really hurt.

She walked towards the counter and offered a small smile to the clerk in front of her, who looked half-asleep. Amber ordered a caramel cappuccino, with a lot of caffiene and caramel glazed together. When she recieved her order, which was about five minutes later, and walked back to their table, sipping her cappuccino with a blan expression while she sat down.

A sigh escaped her lips as she started playing around with the table, tracing the small but barely noticeble cracks on the corner. Amber indignantly traced the cracks even harder when she felt Alexanders piercing stare on her with that stupid and retarted smirk on his face.

Amber clenched her teeth and irritably took a long sip of her cappuccino, still focusing on the small cracks on the table as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. For a moment she regretted even thinking of having a normal conversation with Alexander. He was freaking impossible to speak to whenever he was grumpy, or in a sour mood like he was now.

"We should go back to my house to check on the download." Amber said nonchalantly, while on the inside she just wanted to get away from Alexander. He had ruined her mood all because she asked him why won't he try being in a relationship with her.

Alexander winked, as if hearing her thoughts, and stood up. "Since you didn't give me any coffee, I'll get some and then we can go."

Amber barely acknowledged him as he exited their booth, with that stupid irritating smirk on his face. She took a sip of her cappuccino, sighing softly. She wished that Alexander didn't act that way, with that attitude that screamed 'I'm a man, I can do whatever the fuck I want and frankly, I don't care if you like it or not.' That was the exact way Alexander was acting. Arrogant. And it was so infuriating. Why couldn't he just act like himself, like everyone else?

"Are you just going to sit there or are you going to come?" Alexander's voice intterupted. Amber could almost hear the smirk that was on his face, making her clench her teeth in pure anger.

She stood up and grabbed her cappochino, almost squishing it from her hard grasp as she walked past Alexander, 'accidentally' bumping into his shoulder while she walked out of the door. Amber slammed the front entrance's door open, a scowl on her face as she entered her car.

Alexander followed, the smirk still evident in his face as he strapped himself in the car. He found it amusing how angry Amber was getting just by him smirking.

Amber let out an inaudible sigh as she started her car, driving out of the café and onto the street. The whole car ride from the café to her home was silent, but both of them could literally feel the tension between them as it radiated in the air. Being in a car didn't help, either.

When Amber finally pulled into her driveway, she was more than happy to get out of the car. She let out a breath of relief, glad to be out of the tension-filled vehicle.

She opened her front door and left it open, not caring at the moment if Alexander closed it or not. One of the maids that came in during the afternoon would probably close it.

Amber started grumbling under her breath, low enough so that Alexander couldn't hear her. She regretted even inviting him. All he would do was just distract her, allowing more time for the thief to ruin her life.

Her body went cold at the thought of it. What if the thief succeeded in ruining her life? What would happen to her?

People would look at her differently, for starters. Instead of admiration and a tiny of jealously they would stare at her with disgust, fear, and a large load of despisement. People wouldn't think of her as the sweetest (with a twinge of bitchiness) teenager anybody could hope for. They would think that he was just a cold-hearted female bastard who murdered three people to her delight.

Amber swallowed, her eyes filling in with tears the more she thought about what would happen to her if everyone found out. She would lose everything that she worked extremely hard for ever since she killed those people. It took a while, to get herself to the way she was today. She had to change herself completely. No longer was she the sweet, loving girl everyone adored and loved. Sure, she had some of those features but most of them vanished. It was replaced with a colder, vindictive and a more bitchier side.

Amber sniffed and wiped the lone tear that fell down her face and stormed inside of her room, biting her lip to stop herself from crying. It was one of those rare moments where she just felt like completely bawling.

Alexander noticed her abrubt change of attitude in a matter of seconds, but decided not to comment on it. He figured she was like that because of what he said to her earlier, which was not the case at all.

Amber sniffed and frowned, walking over to her computer which was on stand-by, with its standard procedure of showing photos of places around the world. She shook her mouse, making the photos vanish.

In front of her was DiH. The download was complete, which took an hour and a half to finish. A small grin set on her face as some of her worries were vanished. Maybe this program would work, considering it cost over one-thousand dollars.

Amber then had to fill out a bunch of forms, beginning with her full name (which she put a fake one, for security reasons) her address, cell phone number and a bunch of other useless things. Then the forms slowly started transforming into something more serious, like what she wanted to track down.

At the moment she was stumped on the last question; if she had the serial code or something similar along those lines of the cell phone. Amber knew it started off with a letter, two numbers, a vowel, three letters, and the same thing repeated, but the thing was she didn't know what the serial code was.

"What happened?" Alexander's voice startled her, making her frown go into a small scowl.

"I'm stuck on the last question," Amber stated, sighing and running a hand through her hair. "The serial number of the cell phone."

"You are lucky that I have it written on my phone." Alexander mumbled, his breath fanning against Ambers ear. Shivers started to crawl down her neck and then her spine. It was the good kind of shiver, though.

A bright smile was plastered on Ambers face as she turned around, kissing Alexander straight on the lips. At first, both of them were shocked. Why did Amber kiss him anyways?

She ignored her mind which was screaming at her to seperate and apologize for doing this, and started listening to her heart which was begging her to continue kissing him with all she could.

Of course, Amber did the latter.

Amber grabbed onto a fistful of Alexanders shirt and brought him even closer so that she could smell his addicting cologne that he always wore. Alexander was too shocked to kiss her back, but after a few moments he thought 'fuck it' and began returning the bittersweet kiss.

He ran his hands through her soft, a bit tangled hair, loving the feeling of her small petite mouth pressed against his with such force, want, hunger and need.

Amber wante this to last forever. Her body was slowly but surely enough traveling to cloud nine, with tingles spurting and glowing every now and then. Her heart was filled with flutters and was beating with excitement while she pulled him even closer to her while pulling at his hair, hungrily kissing him as if this was the last time she would be kissing him.

Amber begrudgingly had to seperate, because she was on the verge of passing out. Panting with rushed breaths, she stared into Alexanders eyes which were filled with pure lust, and a bit of hunger as well. Still breathing heavily, she bit her lip to try to calm her racing heart.

Somehow they had ended up on the wall next to her bed, which was around ten feet away from the computer desk. How did they end up here without Amber realizing it?

A small grin sprouted in her face as her mind relived what just happened, tingles running down her spine as the scene repeated over again. Amber swallowed, her body filling with shivers as she tried to calm herself from this high euphoria of lust.

A shaky breath escaped Ambers lips as she found Alexander still staring at them hungrily. She forced herself to walk back to the desk, although every single ounce of her wanted to run back and kiss the hell out of him until she passed out. More graphic and sexual images flew through her mind as she sat down at the computer, grabbing Alexanders cell phone which he had somehow left during their quick make out session.

It was unlocked and had the serial code clearly printed on the screen. Amber cleared her throat and stared typing the number on the screen, breathing in nervousness as the DiH said that it would take about ten minutes until they tracked the cell phone.

Amber wished that whoever had her cell phone had the note as well. She didn't and wouldn't know what to do if they didnt have that little piece of paper in their hands.

She could feel Alexander watching her intently from behind her as she focused on the screen, wishing desperately that it would hurry up.

"Now you know how I feel." Amber found herself saying, her voice sounding strong, confident and a bit cocky. Feeling daring, she stood up and sashayed her way to where Aexander was, grabbing fistful of his shirt an pulling him close until they were centimeters apart.

"To be teased..." She whispered, giving soft, lingering pecks on the side of his mouth. Amber stopped when she was close to his mouth, and seperated, a cheeky smirk on her face as she walked back to the computer leaving Alexander dumbfounded with shock.

Amber let out a small giggle as the DiH was almost done doing the trace, hearing Alexander let out a series of curses under his breath. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the tracing had finished.

A map had showed up on the screen, showing a red blinking dot as it moved. It seemed to be in a car, about an hour away from here. Ambers eyes widened with anticipation as she forgot about Alexander, zooming in on the map.

It only showed where the dot was going, not the car which got Amber extremely frustrated.

"I know what to do." Alexander said suddenly, his voice hard and serious. He, too, seemed to have forgotten about the previous scene. "Follow me, we have got to follow this car. I have an idea."

---

Eliza yawned, fidgeting in her seat while she looked at the street signs. They were saying that they had about thirty miles until they finally reached their town, which unfortunately would take an hour with the pace Jason was taking.

After that little scene that happened earlier, Eliza and Jason didn't speak for the duration of the ride. Both of them were tired, worn out, sleepy. Of course they weren't chatty after that near car accident.

Eliza managed to keep herself occupied during the first hour of the ride, thinking about things that made her happy. Like that time when she was thirteen. Her grandpa would tell her about stories of what he did while he was a child. Her grandpa was a trouble maker when he was a child. Eliza absolutely loved hearing stories about him while he was little, because he was such a funny and entertaining person. Right now he was living in a retirement home with a few friends he made in New York.

And then there was this time where her dad was working, and her mom was sick. Eliza was only seven at the time and decided to at least try to make some soup to make her mom feel better. Only what ended up happening was that the soup got a little burnt. It made her mom feel a whole lot better, since Eliza made the effort and cooked it with love.

A small, teeny tiny smile formed on Eliza's face as she thought of memories while she was a child. She had so many she could write a book with them, or maybe even paint them. Or she could make a song about it.

It was right then and there that Eliza realized that it was good to make memories, even if they were good or bad. Because in the end, she was the one who went through them and it made her to who she was today. That was what mattered. She couldn't be hung up in the past, like she was doing right now.

The small smile on her face widened as Jason finally started driving to their town.

"I need to stop by my house first before we go to yours." Jason spoke up, clearing his throat. Eliza looked at him and nodded.

"That's okay." Eliza responded, giving him a small smile. Jason noticed her change and smiled back, a small twinkle in his eye. In five minutes Jason was finally in the route to his home, which would luckily take a few minutes. Eliza let out a sigh of relief as Jasons house came into view. She could finally stretch her sore limbs out.

While Jason pulled into his driveway, Eliza's smile immediately vanished, while Jasons did as well. The sight in front of her made her heart drop in panic, and a little bit of fear. Jason's expression matched hers as well, although his had a more of a surprise and shocking kind of face.

In front of them were five police cars. In each of them they had two or three police officers, holding a gun straight at them. Eliza's eyes widened in fear as she held onto the car's handle for support.

"J-Jason," Eliza trembled, while a police officer motioned for them to come out with a angry look on his face. "D-Did you do something?"

"No!" Jason rushed out, his eyes looking at Eliza's frantically. "I didn't do anything. I-I don't know what's happening."

Both of them were filled with fear as the officer yelled at them once again to get out of the car. Eliza swallowed and opened her side of the car, her whole body shaking with fear and nervousness. Did one of them do something to make five police cars go in front of them?

In less than seconds, Eliza was being pressed up against Jasons car -more like being slammed- by a police officer, putting hand-cuffs around her wrists tightly, almost painfully.

"Ah," Eliza squaked, tears clouding her vision, while her arms were being twisted in an uncomfortable position.

"You have the right to remain silent." The police officer behind her demanded, his voice hard and gruff while he led her to a police car. Eliza stole a glance at Jason and realized that they were doing and saying the same thing this police officer was doing to her. "Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you."

'What the hell is happening?' Eliza thought, tears falling down her face as the officer in front of her sped to the police station.

Eliza was paralyzed with fear during the whole ride to the police station. The officer who was driving the car kept on giving her glares of disappointment and most of all- disgust. What made Eliza even more afraid was that she didn't even know why she was being arrested in the first place.

What had she done? If she recalled correctly, the last bad thing that she did that affected someone was last year, when she poured a soda down someone's business shirt. Eliza didn't blame herself for doing so. The guy kept on saying bad remarks towards her, which got her irritated enough to pour an ice-filled soda down his shirt.

But that was a year ago. Why would the police arrest her now, when that was such a long time ago?

Eliza wanted to ask so many questions to the officer in front of her, but his words kept on ringing in her mind, making her remain quiet.

'You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you...'

So if she even asked why she was being arrested, it would be used against her? That's unfair. She had the right to know why she was being arrested.

Just as Eliza was going to say something, the officer had exited the car and opened the passenger door, roughly taking her out of the car. Eliza groaned in pain as the handcuffs dug into her wrists, most likely leaving a mark and possibly a bruise.

A frustrated sigh escaped her lips as she was dragged into the police station. As Eliza entered, she caught a glance at Jason who had the same confused, terrified and worried expression Eliza did. His officer was leading him somewhere opposite to where her officer was walking, which made Eliza angry.

"Why am I being arrested?" Eliza blurted out, a frown crossing her face. The officer spared a glance at her and kept his face blank, not answering. "Tell me!"

"You are under arrest for accompanying Jason Cross from stealing a valuable cell phone by the property of Amber Wright." The officer stated, sounding like a monotone robot. Eliza's eyes widened as the officer led her to a cell. Was she seriously taking time for this?!

"But I didn't steal anything!" Eliza protested, withering against his grasp. "I'm innocent!"

"That's what they all say," The officer shook his head disappointedly, shoving Eliza in a cell with a random girl she didn't even know. He shut the door and motioned for Eliza to turn around.

Tears lined Eliza's vision as he unlocked her handcuffs. She didn't do anything! It was Jason who snooped and found the cell phone. Eliza didn't accompany him!

"Wait!" Eliza wailed, pressing her face against the bars. The officer muttered something under his breath, turning around and glaring at Eliza.

"What?" He demanded.

"Don't I get a phone call or something?" Eliza almost yelled, not wanting the police officer to leave her in this cell with a girl she didn't even know.

"Don't even bother," Eliza heard the girl say. Her voice sounded like a monotoned robot, void of any emotion. Blank. Eliza ignored her and willed for the officer to come and get her out of here.

"You will get a phone call later on, after I get all of the paperwork." The officer announced, rushing off before Eliza could protest. She sighed and wiped her eyes that were overflowing with tears, slumping against the cell bars in defeat.

There was nothing she could do but wait. Wait for the officer to come back and allow her the phone call she desperately needed. Wait to be released. To wait for answers.

---

Amber had a small frown on her face as she followed Alexander into her car. She wanted to protest when he got in the drivers side, but with one look-more like a glare- she was quiet and passively seething with impatience. Amber wanted to know what Alexander's plan was. She didn't like being in the dark for long.

"What are we doing?" Amber snapped, getting more irritated as the seconds passed by. "What's your plan?"

Alexander kept his face blank. "I'm going to where the car is. The map stared that they were thirty miles away from here. At the pace the car was going, they were spending about two minutes every mile."

"Okay..." Amber motioned for him to go on while Alexander slammed his foot down on the accelerator, speeding so quickly she almost felt dizzy.

"If I speed fast enough I can go to where he is right now," Alexander paused, a determined look on his face. "And call the police."

"The police?!" Amber shrieked, hitting him with all the force he had. Alexander simply shrugged the punch off and sighed.

"Yes, the police." He dragged on nonchalantly. It seemed like he started speeding even more, precisely dodging every car that was in their way. "That way whoever stole it," He emphasized. "Would get in serious trouble."

Ambers eyes widened. "That's brilliant!"

Alexander allowed a small smirk to form on his face. "Your welcome."

In less than five minutes, Alexander was on the highway where the car was supposed to be. At the moment there were only five cars, so he figured that one of them were the thief's. Amber's eyes glazed over the first car that was nearest to her, eager to get a glance of who stole her phone.

Any of the five people in these vehicles could have stolen her phone, and the piece of paper. The thought of being so close to the thief chilled her, in a good way and a bad way.

A good way, because she would get to see the look of terror on their face when the police arrested them. A bad way, because he or she had managed to steal her phone and note when she had it in a secure place. Where no one would even think to look.

Amber strained her neck, trying to get a clear sight on the person next to her. They windows were tinted, but she could vaguely see the outline of a male driving, and a female accompanying him.

She sighed and looked to her left, where Alexander was looking. There was a female driving by herself, and by the looks of it she seemed to be singing along to a song on the radio. So far Amber had checked out two cars and none of the people she had looked at had been someone she knew.

"Alexander," Amber called out, her expression turning into a determined one. "Speed up so we can check the other three cars."

Alexander did as he was told and sped up, allowing Amber to have a more clearer view of the three cars surrounding them. To her left was a male, smoking a cigarette with his window down. She didn't know him, or recognize him as anyone she knew either.

To her right, however, was someone Amber knew very well. His mouth was set in a grim expression, while his eyebrows were furrowed together as if he was thinking about something deeply. Next to him was the girl Amber despised and loathed.

Jason and Eliza were in a car together, driving to who knows where. Amber was thankful for the tinted windows in her car, and for not driving. If she had, she would have rammed her precious car into Jasons and made sure that the car flipped over and over again until his head would crack against the windshield.

"Alexander." Amber seethed through clenched teeth, her breaths coming out heavy and tight. His head snapped towards Ambers direction and frowned, obviously noticing the deadly expression on her face.

"It's him." She almost growled. "And her. Jason and Eliza."

"What?!" Alexander's voice was made of steel at that exact moment. It was so thick and filled with such venom, pure anger, and rage all at once. His eyes flew to Ambers window, very well seeing Jason at the window with Eliza next to them.

"I want him fucking dead." Amber spat, her hands shaking in fists of steel. Alexander could practically feel the anger and rage that was radiating off of her, but it was no where near the level of anger he had inside of him.

Alexander trusted Jason with Amber. He warned him, during the summer that once he agreed to this, he would not back out. And look what he did. He broke up with Amber, twice. To top it off, that little sneaky bastard stole the cell phone and the note without either of them suspecting that it was him.

"How the hell did he even steal that?" Alexander asked, frowning.

"I don't know." Amber replied, crossing her arms against her chest. Her cheeks puffed up as she thought of any times Jason might have been in her room. The only time Jason was there was when she led him there to make out. And then he told her to go get drinks!

"It was the time he got me drunk!" Amber explained, her leg bouncing up and down impatiently.

"I'm going to ruin Jason." Alexander uttered, breathing slowly to calm his raging body. "I'm going to fucking torture him until he's at his weakest spot, and then I'm going to kill him."

"And I'll be there to watch him." Amber said, agreeing with Alexander fully. "Are you going to call the police?"

Fifteen minutes later, Alexander had called the police and told them of the situation. He made sure to emphasize that it was all Jasons idea by getting Amber drunk, and then by stealing the cell phone. He also added that Eliza had accompanied him by giving him ways to get the phone.

Alexander made sure to avoid mentioning absolutely anything about the note. He was going to get that himself, once Jason got himself out of jail.

When the phone call had ended, Alexander started speeding over 100mph to Jasons home. He planned to hide in the bushes and see his reaction while the officer arrested him.

This was just the beginning for Jason. He had no idea what he was getting himself into the day he defied Alexander. He had so much ideas, schemes, and plans running through his mind, all of them ending with his death and that girl that accompanied him, Eliza.

Both of them were slowly being led to death every second they breathed. They didn't even know what was coming their way.

---

Amber had a deadly smile on her face as she merrily watched Jason being led inside a police car. The look of pure confusion, terror, and shock was some of the many emotions that were being shown on Jasons face.

"I love you so fucking much right now," Amber grinned excitedly, tackling Alexander in a hug. He returned the grin and hugged her back, ignoring the loud thump of his heart that was screaming with adrenaline. He didn't even process that she said 'I love you' to him until the last minute, when she had already seperated.

"Tell me, Alexander." Amber drawled, her eyes lining with lust. "What do you have in mind for Jason and Eliza?"

Alexander smirked, stepping closer to Amber and pressing her against the tree that they were next to. Their bodies were pressed together so tightly it was as if they were one person.

"I plan to," He whispered, fanning his breath on her ear. He teasingly started nibbling on the top of her earlobe, almost letting out a loud groan when he heard her breath hitch.

"Scare him," Alexander kissed her collarbone, sucking and biting on the skin softly. He didn't know why he was doing this. Lust and Anger didn't combine well, which was how he was feeling right now. "I already scared him with the police."

"I would then kidnap Eliza," He whispered, biting softly on her neck teasingly. "And torture her. I would kiss you with her blood on our hands."

"Oh yeah.." Amber moaned, arching her neck allowing more space for Alexander to explore.

"Leading Jason to Eliza.." Alexander said huskily, his hands grabbing Eliza's waist firmly and possessively. "You can have the honor of killing Eliza first, and then Jason last. Or..." He trailed off, getting closer to her lips.

"We can kill them together."

Amber lost any sense of thought. She forced her mouth upon his, their mouths pressed againsts each others hungrily. Her hands were playing with Alexanders hair as she moaned, panting.

This was what she wanted. And it was the perfect time to do it, right when everything was going smoothly for them.

---

It seemed like days had passed. All Eliza did was just sit down and state at the wall, reading the messages that were engraved in the wall. Most of them had some type of threat and their name signed sloppily next to it. And then there were some small holes that had grime coming out of them.

The girl that Eliza was accompanied with had been fairly annoying. All she did was just stare at Eliza, and nothing else. She would blink twice in one minute and then continue with staring at Eliza with a blank expression.

By now, after about an hour, Eliza was more than ready to leave the police station. But no officers were passing by. There was one that was guarding, but he seemed to be snoozing off even though it was the late afternoon. Eliza let out a scream of frustration and kicked the cell bars, willing for something or someone to come and rescue her.

"Hey!" She shouted to the guard, who actually fell asleep standing. His head shook but he resumed his previous position. "Hey!"

Finally, the guards head snapped up, his eyes lazily checking where the commotion was coming from. His gaze landed on Eliza, who was waving her hands, motioning for him to come near her.

"What do you want?" He snapped, glaring at Eliza while crossing his arms.

"When do I get a phone call?" Eliza replied in the same manner, getting more impatient and irritated as the seconds passed. The guard simply rolled his eyes, and shrugged.

"Don't know." He said, slumping against the wall. "Don't care."

"I'd like to see you in this cell doing absolutely nothing!" Eliza snapped, pressing her face inbetween the cell bars as best as she could. The guard rolled his eyes and lazily started walking towards Eliza's cell, taking out a walkie-talkie.

"Collins?" The guard said, a bored expression on his face. Eliza bit the inside of her cheek, about to scream from how isolated and claustrophobic she felt in this overly small jail cell.

"Yeah?" The voice answered. So Collins was his name. He was the one who arrested her.

"I have a girl here to demands a phone call." The guard said, throwing a pointed look at Eliza.

"Oh, I'll be there in a couple minutes. Tale her out of the cell and wait till I get there." Collins said, his voice sounding less harsh and hard throughout the speaker. A sigh of relief escaped Eliza's lips as the guard finally took her out of her misery. He roughly grabbed her arm and practically dragged her out of the cell, locking it and leaving that creepy girl by herself.

The guard kept a watchful eye on Eliza, making sure that she didn't try anything. Eliza wondered if Jason was being treated the same way. Are the officers mistreating him? Have they told Jason the reason why they were in jail?

How did Amber even find out, anyways? What she did was a very low move- ratting them out to the police? They could have easily took Amber to jail as well for associating herself with a gang member. But the police didn't seem to realize that Amber was apart of that.

Eliza hated to admit it, but Amber was extremely smart. She snitched to the police and made sure not to involve or say anything about herself, Alexander, and the gang that they were both in.

Before Eliza could dwell on Ambers actions, Officer Collins was in front of her with a small yet noticeable scowl on his face. He grabbed her arm forcibly, making the guard's grasp loosen as she was dragged away. Collins led Eliza to a room where a couple other people were standing in line, waiting to make a phone call as well.

Collins gave Eliza a quarter in her hand, staring at her impassively. "You get one phone call."

"Thank you," Eliza said thankfully, sighing as the line moved forward. She wondered how Jason was doing. Were the officers treating him as bad, or even worse as they were treating her? Were they interrogating him? She didn't get interrogated yet, and that made Eliza wonder why.

Eliza let out a nervous breath when it was her turn. She picked up the rusty phone that obviously showed the dirt in the handle, and pressed it against her ear. With her other hand, she slid the quarter in the slot and hurriedly starting calling her mom's cell phone number. Eliza knew that if she called her Dad, she would be dead in less than five seconds.

Not even seconds late, her moms panicked, rushed and worried voice answered the phone. "Hello?!" She shrieked. She sounded as if she was crying, which made Eliza feel even more guilty.

"Mom?" Eliza said, almost too quietly. She was afraid to speak any louder, because Collin's was watching her every move.

"ELIZA?!" Her mom almost screamed. "Where the hell are you?! You were gone for almost a day! Oh lord, we called the police but hey said they couldn't do anything about it because it hasn't been twenty-four hours--"

"Mom." Eliza interrupted, knowing she had little time to explain everything over a simple phone call.

"Eliza are you okay?" Her mom sobbed, sniffing. There was a lot of shuffling, and she could hear her father yelling at her. When she got home, she would be in so much trouble!

"Yes mom," Eliza replied, cradling the phone to ear. She felt as if she had very little privacy with Collins, and the people behind her listening to her conversation. "Listen, I'm at a police station, and--"

"YOU GOT ARRESTED?!" Her mom screamed. Eliza cringed and bit her lip, knowing very well that when she got out of here she was dead.

"Mom--" Eliza tried to say, panic lining her tone as she tried to explain herself. Her mom screamed some profanities and a couple threats here and there. She even heard her dad through the line, saying to explain herself.

"I can't do so now," She admitted hurriedly, wanting to get to the point already. "But I need you guys to bail me out-- I don't know how much it will cost. Just get here, I don't want to be here any longer."

"Okay." Her mom's shaky voice replied. Eliza heard her sniff for the nth time and some shuffling before her mom told her that she will be there soon, expecting an explanation a soon as she was out. Eliza sighed as Collins dragged her away from the phone, mumbling something incoherent before leading her somewhere she didn't know.

"I assume that you called one of your parents, and they are going to bail you out?" Officer Collins asked, his eyebrows furrowed as he motioned for Eliza to sit down. She did sit down, noticing that she was in the main office of the police station. There were other kids surrounding her as well, nearly her age. Some looked scared, petrified, even. Others looked like they were bored and wanted to get out of here.

Eliza was a mixture of both.

"Yes." She answered, playing with her fingers behind her back. "How much is it? The bail money..."

"For stealing a cell phone, its usually around $400." Officer Collins stated, keeping note on how Eliza visibly paled. "But since you helped--"

"I did not help steal anything!" Eliza snapped with a hint of a sneer. The kids who looked petrified stared at her in shock, while the calm ones gave her looks for her to continue. "I'm innocent until proven guilty!" She declared, while Officer Collins gave her a flat look.

"We already have the evidence." Collins argued, although Eliza knew, somehow, that he was lying.

"Show me." She demanded, clenching her jaw. She saw Officer Collins swallow, even slightly before shaking his head, the stone set blank expression back on his face.

"That is to be viewed by officers only." He emphasized, avoiding Eliza's glare. "Since you helped," He continued. "You will only have to pay a minimum of $400."

"But what about Jason?" Eliza asked helplessly, ignoring what he said about her helping, when she obviously had nothing to do with it.

"He is guilty as well." Officer Collins announced. "Since he committed the crime, he will pay the maximum fine of $400."

"But.." Eliza trailed off, not knowing what to say. What could she say? Collins was an officer of the law; he wouldn't believe anything she said, claimed, or pleaded without any solid evidence. How could she prove her innocence?

Officer Collins rolled his eyes, and sighed. "If you will excuse me, I have more important manners to attend to." He said, walking away. He paused when he was almost out of eyesight.

"Your parents will be here soon." He notified, portraying a scrutinizing expression. "So sit sight and wait, because it will take a while."

---

It did take a while. Three hours, to be exact.

Eliza was sitting in the same spot Officer Collins had left her at. She had been fidgeting for the past fifteen minutes, waiting for her parents to come through those doors and take her out of her misery.

She had been entertaining herself the first hour by watching the kids around her as they squirmed, umcomfortable of where they were. By the second hour is had become too boring to look at, so Eliza started staring at the old clock in front of her, counting the seconds as minutes to keep herself occupied.

And then the third hour. Counting had gotten her even more bored, which led her to just staring at absolutely nothing. She fidgeted and moved around in the seat a lot, willing for her parents to come through that door. Frankly she didn't care if they were angry at her, she just really wanted to get out of there.

Just as Eliza was about to scream from complete boredom, her parents bursted into the room, looking frantic and worried.

"Thank god!" Eliza sighed, standing up. She was exhausted as she walked over to her parents, slightly smiling as they tackled her with a huge hug.

"Are you okay?" Her dad asked, a stern yet a hint of worry on his face.

Eliza nodded. "I'm fine."

"What happened?" Her mom almost yelled, already catching the attention of the kids that were next to Eliza.

"I'll tell you in the car." Eliza spoke in a low and hushed tone, disliking how the people, including the officers, were listening intently to their conversation. They didn't even try to hide it, either. All eyes were on them, as if they were a trophy everyone envied and worshipped.

"Alright," Her mother agreed, her expression matching Eliza's. The trio ushered themselves out of the police station and into the car, where Eliza had started being interrogated by her parents.

"Explain." Her father demanded, his face strict and angry. His eyes met hers through the rear view mirror as she swallowed, feeling very intimidated by his --almost-- glare.

"I-I.." Eliza stuttered, not knowing how to begin. Could she be able to explain to her parents what she was going through? Or would they get in trouble, like she was right now? Eliza didn't know what to do at that moment. As didn't want to hurt her parents, but she didn't want to lie to them either...

"My friend," Eliza began, fidgeting in her seat as both of her parents stared at her. She wondered for a split second if her father was even looking at the road. "He needed my help."

"What kind of help?" Her father almost spat, his tone making Eliza flinch.

"Well. He needed me there, for support." Eliza babbled, biting her lip in nervousness.

"He?" Her mother pitched in, frowning. Just as Eliza was about to answer, their car was jolted to the right. Eliza could barely process what was happening before the car starting flipping, her head slamming against the window of the car.

Her vision started to get hazy as the car jostled in flips. It seemed like forever before the car jolted to an abrupt stop. Her moms screams were silenced, as did her fathers. They both seemed to be knocked out cold, while Eliza was on the brink of passing out.

For a couple seconds, everything was deathly silent-- too silent for a car accident that just happened. Where were the people? Eliza was her that before the car started flipping there was at least more than three people on the road. So where were they?

There was a scream, a very loud blood curling one at that. And then there was one even louder gunshot, and a chuckle. It was a male.

Eliza blinked as fear overcame her whole body, chilling her straight to the bone. There was another cackling laughter that sounded more sinister than anything in the whole world, and then two more gunshots.

She blinked again. The window beside her was broken abruptly. Eliza winced as glass was shot on her face. For a second she felt as if something was going terribly, terribly wrong. The feeling amplified as her seatbelt was clicked off.

Hands were being wrapped around Eliza as she was pulled out of the vehicle. From Eliza's hazy vision she could see that her parents' car was seriously wrecked up. She winced again as the stinging in her head had increased.

Weakly, Eliza raised her hand and tried to touch her head, but it was swatted away. She groaned in pain and tried to wiggle out of the mans grasp, wondering who exactly was carrying her. Was it a good bystander who had decided to help her? Or was it someone that was associated with Alexander's gang?

"Who's carry.. carrying me?" Eliza muttered incoherently, hoping that the person could hear her. As the seconds passed Eliza started to feel woozy and more dizzy, and her vision started to slowly go black.

The last thing she heard was a low chuckle and some words that made her blood run cold, and completely and utterly petrified.

"Looks like we can finally meet, Eliza."

---

Alexander planned on doing many things, but he never thought on doing them tonight. Both him and Amber were making out for about an hour, and then finished what they started at her house for about three or four hours.

By then it was nighttime, and Alexander had to go back to his apartment, as much as Amber whined and pleaded. He left with a kiss and a million sorry's, but he never really meant them.

Amber was nothing to him, as harsh and cruel as that sounded. Even though he cared for her once, it was all gone. That's why he had been distant with her these past few months. After she asked him for Jason, Alexander strayed away from her and forced himself to move on.

That's when he found his girlfriend, Tabitha. They started dating the second week Amber asked Alexander for Jason. He had managed to keep Tabitha a secret from Amber only for about three months, until he told her.

And then Tabitha somehow found out about the kissed he gave to Amber and broke up with her, which led to what happened a couple hours ago. He didn't really want to be with Amber right after Tabitha, and while she still had to deal with Jason.

Alexander cursed and slammed -- more like punched-- the steering wheel, getting frustrated. Why did he give in to her kisses and allowed for them to have sex? He was supposed to be ignoring her and moving on-- not kissing her and having sex!

Just as he passed the Police Station, he saw the Eliza girl get into a car, with her parents. An idea struck his mind as he slowed down his speed, blending in with the few cars that were on the road this late. The car started driving slowly, and Alexander could almost see her parents asking her, interrogating her with questions.

Alexander then saw his opportunity. It was slim, but he took it. He jammed his foot in the accelerator and swerved his car to the right, causing the car beside him to do slam onto the side of the road. The other cars did the same reaction, stopping at Eliza's car.

It did a complete turn, which was what Alexander was hoping for. He sped up even faster and slammed his car into there's, causing it to do multiple flips on the hill. He grinned and wiped the blood on his forehead, which appeared there because he slammed his head on the windshield.

Alexander hurriedly stepped out of the car and grabbed his spare gun that was hidden under the seats. People had stepped out of the car and started yelling profanities at him. Getting irritated, he shot the first two people that were nearest to him.

An ear piercing scream met his ears to his left. A woman, who seemed to be around her thirties, was screaming bloody murder at the sight of two people dead. Alexander cocked his gun and shot again, getting a clear shot to her forehead.

He hurried down the hill and smashed Eliza's window, getting her out of the severely damaged vehicle. Alexander heard her moan in pain while her face was filled with blood. He smirked at the sight and started running to his car, breathing heavily.

Alexander heard the girl murmur something, but he didn't hear her correctly to say a response. Now that he could see her better from the car, he noticed how pretty she was, despite the blood splattered on her face.

"Looks like we can finally meet, Eliza." Alexander grinned, carressing her bloodied face.

---

Jason sat in the corner of his cell, staring at the floor in an uncomfortable position. He didn't know how long he had been in jail, but he knew one thing for sure-- he was exhausted.

He was on the brink of falling asleep, but forced himself to keep his eyes open. Most of Jason's thoughts were about Eliza, wondering if they were treating her right, or if she had gotten out of jail yet.

During his short time in jail, Jason never felt so full of anger, and rage all at once. He knew that this was Alexander's fault-- he saw his sadistic smile before he was forced into the police car. Jason knew that Alexander had planned this, making sure to avoid mentioning anything about himself in the process.

And that's what got Jason even more irritated beyond belief. Alexander had managed to involve Eliza-- yet again -- and get her in to jail when she was completely innocent.

How much revenge did Alexander exactly want from Jason? Sure, he broke the deal they made at the beginning of the summer, but did Alexander really have to play dirty and involve the police, blaming everything on him?

"Jason?" A voice called out, snapping Jason out of his thoughts. He blinked twice and clenched his fists, trying to calm his erratic body down.

"Mm?" He said to the female cop. She was standing in front of his cell with a set of keys in her hand. Surprisingly, she started to jam the key into the cell door, leaving it wide open.

"Someone had been generous enough to bail you out." The female notified, motioning for Jason to follow her. He kept a passive, blank expression on his face while his mind twisted with curiosity. Who had managed to bail him out? Eliza was most likely still in jail-- and his parents were across the state. They couldn't have gone here that quickly.

Jason was running out of people to think who would have bailed him out. His friends, which he hasn't spoke to in forever, had most likely forgotten about him. So who bailed him out?

The female officer led Jason to a busy-looking entrance, which seemed like a mixture of a really large room with mini-offices surrounding it. Her face transformed into a frown as she looked across the room, looking for someone.

"Where is he?" Jason heard the officer mumble under her breath.

"Who bailed me out?" Jason asked, a little harshly to be honest. As soon as this officer allowed him to leave the police station, he would first bail Eliza out, and then drive them to his home to come up with a plan. After all, if Alexander wanted to play dirty he might as well play dirty, too.

"I don't know," The female admitted, a bit sheepishly if you asked him. "He said that he left a note at you house, claiming that you knew him."

Jason's frown deepened. "What did he look like?"

"He has black hair," The officer described, looking deep in thought. "And dark-brown eyes. He had a tan, and seemed to be in his late twenties."

'Alexander.' His mind screamed, while his whole body went cold. "Thank you." Jason managed to say, trying to control his overflowing anger in front of the officer. She obviously noticed how Jason's demeanor changed, but decided not to say anything about it.

"If that is all.." Jason trailed off, silently begging the officer with his eyes to let him go. The female nodded and walked away, a small, barely noticeable smile on her face.

When she was out of eyesight, Jason let his composure drop just for a split second. He was so enraged how Alexander had managed to leave a note in his home-- while he was in jail. Jason suspected that he was up to something ever since he got him in jail.

First, Alexander puts both Jason and Eliza in jail. Then he manages to pay Jason's bail money and tells a police officer that he left a note in Jason's home. Alexander was obviously planning something, and frankly, it seemed like he wasn't even trying to hide it-- which was the bad thing.

Jason shut his eyes and tried to silence his mind, which was going haywire with the million questions coursing through there. He let out a long, dragged out breath with relaxed him slightly enough to walk back to the front desk.

"Is Eliza still here?" Jason asked to the male in front of him. He gave Jason a suspicious glance before returning to the computer, typing something in.

"No," He stated, shaking his head. "She was bailed out just about an hour ago."

"Who bailed her out?" Jason couldn't help but ask. He didn't know if it was her parents or one of her friends. Either ways, as her boyfriend, he figured that he should know.

"I'm not allowed to release that information." He stated, in a robotic monotoned voice. God, do all police officers talk in that voice? It was so annoying how they spoke without any emotion whatsoever.

Jason pursed his lips and managed to refrain from rolling his eyes. He knew damn straight that what that man just said was a lie. And to think that all police officers were honest. Pfft.

Jason bit the inside of his cheek and walked away, feeling the stare of the man as he left the police station. So Eliza had already been bailed out. That was a good thing. Hopefully she was safe.

He started walking to his home, determined to find out the note that Alexander had supposedly left. Unfortunately since his car was still at his home, he was forced to walk the almost hour trip.

When Jason got there, he was starving, dehydrated and in a desperate need of a shower. He hadnt seen anything remotely close to the note yet, but he was still keeping a close eye while he ate in the dark, in silence.

When he finished his somewhat dinner (which was cereal. Jason was too lazy to make anything grand) Jason headed to his room to go take a shower, and then head to bed. But before he entered the bathroom, something caught his eye.

On Jason's bed was a note. Moonlight illuminated through the window and landed on the note, making it stand out from the other objects in his room. Swallowing with nervousness, Jason inched to his bed and grabbed the note, opening it with haste.

'Jason

What a pleasant surprise that you've broken our deal-- twice. I suppose you have already figured out that I must have done something, or planned something along that matter.

And your right. I do have a couple tricks up my sleeve.

No one betrays me once and gets away scott free. That's why your precious Eliza -- and her boyfriend -- got shot, multiple times. Now, if you betray me twice, you are asking for a death wish.

I want to play a game of hide-and-seek, Jason. I'm going to give you twelve hours to come up with something, a plan of some sort. I bet you are probably wondering why should you even play, am I right?

You should, because as you are reading this I have Eliza, unconscious, bloody, and tied down to a chair. And I plan on doing many, many things to her.

So like I said, I'm counting twelve hours. After that, I'll give away the address of our position.

See you soon,

Alexander :)'

That cunning devil just had to add that fucking smiley face, right?

---

Eliza was experiencing a series of random blackouts. When she first woke up, she first noticed how she was in a room with a light shining straight on her. The floor had dirt, grime, and some dried blood caked in many spots. The room was too dark to catch the walls, or where the door was, which made Eliza panic a little.

When Eliza tried to stand up, there was an icy pain that started on her wrists, and then traveled up to her spine like a snake. There was a thick rope surrounding her wrists. It seemed that whenever she pulled the rope, her hands would twist in a very painful position and then her back would stretch and twist as well.

Elizas feet weren't tied down, but they were clasped with some type of metal against the chair that was nailed to the ground.

Eliza observed her surroundings as best as she could, trying not to move her hands in the process. Where was she? The last thing she remembered was being in a car accident with her parents. Shouldn't she be in a hospital, being tended to?

The stinging in her head made her panic even more. Eliza knew that she was injured. She wanted to check up on her injury but since she was tied and strapped down on a chair, it was hard to do so.

Suddenly Eliza heard a large slam of something being opened, like a door. Footsteps echoed the room, which made Eliza realize that there must have been very little fabric to make footsteps echo like that. She figured she was in some type of underground room, or a room that was isolated from human view.

Surprisingly, it was Amber who entered the room. She had a cunning, conniving and sadistic smile plastered on her face as she slowly walked to where Eliza was.

So it was Amber who had brought her here? Wait, no. It was obviously a male that brought Eliza here. She figured it was that Alexander guy she never met, since he did say 'we can finally meet' before she passed out. So Amber had been apart of this kidnapping as well?

"Well if you look at who it is," Amber said sweetly, too sweetly to match her dead personality. Eliza inwardly shivered and bit her tongue, the action making her a bit dizzy and woozy. "Eliza."

She kept the passive look on her face while Amber practically drilled holes on her face.

"Amber." Eliza replied, avoiding her glare. Before she could even blink, Amber had back-handed her across the face, earning a cry of surprise from Eliza.

"You stupid manipulative bitch!" Amber screamed, her practically red eyes blazing with rage, and a hint of steam. "You stole Jason away from me!"

"Technically he went to me," Eliza said cockily, preparing herself for another hit. Her cheek pounded with pain but she chose not to show it. She had never acted this way before, but at the moment it seemed right to do it. Besides, Eliza was getting fed up with Ambers antics already. "But you wouldn't believe a word that comes out of my mouth, right?"

"Shut the fuck up, you whore!" Amber spat, punching Eliza in her face. Eliza bit her tongue --hard-- and held in her cries of pain. For a girl, Amber could really pack a punch. Her fist landed up on Eliza's jaw, making her head snap to the right so fast her neck almost cracked.

"I'm the whore?" Eliza laughed, although it was void of any humor. She spit blood on the floor and continued with the cocky act, when all she wanted to do was just crawl in a ball and cry. She was exhausted, so so exhausted, and she was starving.

"At least I didn't fall in love with my boyfriends best friend." Eliza sneered, her face scrunching up in disgust. Her whole body went cold while Ambers went rigid. Another punch met her face, this time hitting her in the eye. Eliza let out a loud cry of pain, which only encouraged Amber to continue.

Amber struck her hand in Eliza's stomach, efficiently knocking the breath out of her for five seconds. She was looking for blood, and she wanted Eliza's on her hands right at that moment. Savagely, almost like an animal, Amber grabbed onto Eliza's neck and squeezed. She stared into Eliza's pleading eyes which were begging for mercy.

Amber saw no sympathy or remorse. Eliza did a low blow by even mentioning her ex, Hunter. And it made her even more enraged that Eliza was right. Amber had fell in love with Alexander while in a relationship with Hunter.

It pained Amber to think of Hunter, because all she saw was his goofy grin as it popped up in her mind. It took a while to forget about him and Eliza mentioning him did not help.

When Eliza's eyes started to roll to the back of her head, Amber finally let go. After all, she still had a lot in store for Eliza. Killing her would just ruin that, and she couldn't let that happen... yet.

Eliza let out a gasp of air as tears filled her eyes, her cocky demeanor gone. Her regular, petrified self was back. Amber grinned, staring mockingly at Eliza as she suffered.

"So how did you find out?" Amber asked, her sweet tone that did not suit her returning. Eliza cringed, knowing that she should not say anything. How would she lie? This reminded Eliza of her parents. What happened to them, anyways? Were they tied up, like she was? Or were they safe, in a hospital?

"What about my parents?" Eliza managed to ask, trying to control her irregular breathing and quick-paced heart. Her vision started to get hazy as she struggled to stay awake, the stinging in her head intensifying up to the point she almost screamed in agony.

"Answer my question, bitch," Amber demanded, striking Eliza across the head. That was Eliza's limit, as darkness overcame her vision with ease, as if it was welcoming her.

Eliza woke up like around two times after that, losing count after Amber kept on hurting her. It was almost like a routine. Amber would practically scream at Eliza for answers, hit her until she answered (which she didn't. Eliza stayed silent and didn't reveal anything no matter what.) and then, Eliza would black out from the injury on her head, and the new injuries that Amber had been causing.

After what seemed like the nth time, Eliza woke up again. This time Amber was no where in sight, which made Eliza breath out a sigh of relief. Her whole body was bruised and bloodied-- hell, everything hurt on her. Eliza refrained herself from moving as much as possible but it was getting hard since her body was stiff.

The room was silent while Eliza breathed heavily, trying to control her uneven breathing. She was sure that Amber had at least fractured or broken one of her rib bones, or that she was internally bleeding. Either one of those options was probably the reason why he was having trouble breathing.

Again, almost like déjà vú, some time of loud noise occurred, and then the door opened. Much to her surprise it wasn't Amber, nor Jason. (Eliza knew that Jason would have come for her by now, or would be doing something to save her. Okay, that was a lie. A small part of her wished that Jason or at least someone was looking for her but she didn't know for sure.)

The person standing in front of her was Alexander. He looked like a college student, to be honest. His eyes were almost black, but it was the dark dark brown kind. His hair was black and was in a messy style. His expression portrayed nothing, giving Eliza the feeling of nervousness. Alexander knew how to hide his emotions very, very well.

Eliza wished he would have showed some type of emotion, like Amber. At least then, she was able to predict what she would do. With Alexander, it seemed like anything he did would be unpredictable. A cold, chilly feeling spread through her body as Alexander continued to stare at her eyes.

"Eliza," The name rolled off of Alexander's tongue with such grace and calmness it made Eliza squirm and fidget in her seat with fear.

"Y-Yes?" Eliza trembled, she actually trembled under Alexander's intimidating gaze. He seemed unfazed by her trembling, in fact, it seemed like he was used to it. He probably was, considering he was a leader of a gang and all..

"I want to know something..."

"What?" Eliza asked, swallowing as she shivered. Alexander scared the crap out of her. After all, he was the leader of a gang, and he did murder two people, if not more. What he did only scared Eliza a little. It was the way he stood in front of her so calmly and almost murderously that freaked her out.

Alexanders eyes were too dark to begin with. Sure, there were some people that had dark brown eyes that could be classified as black, but his were too consumed with death for it to be even referred to as "dark brown."

"How would you feel if. . ." Alexander trailed off, his lips turning into a small devilish smirk. ". . . Jason was here?"

Eliza gulped, biting the inside of her cheek. She didn't expect that question, to be honest. She expected something along the lines that hinted towards her death. But then again, Alexander wasn't as predictable as Amber.

"Answer me." Alexander demanded, his jaw clenching and unclenching.

"I-I would feel relieved. . ." Eliza managed to say, her hands shaking with fear. What exactly was Alexander planning?

"Why?" Alexander asked, stepping closer to Eliza while she flinched. His hot breath fanned in Eliza's face in an almost sensual way. "Because you get to finally be away from Amber and I?"

Eliza avoided his piercing gaze, squeezing her eyes shut while her whole body trembled.

"Well here's a heads up," Alexander said calmly. Eliza felt a something coming as his face was less than an inch apart from her's.

"Jason's never, ever going to save you. You know why?"

Eliza tried so desperately to block out Alexander's words. Her hands, even though they were tied together, shook with anxiety of his next words.

"He's dead." Alexander whispered, his words so cruel and harsh it made Eliza cry a strangled sob.

"Stop lying!" Eliza cried out, shaking her head back and forth. She wouldn't -- she couldn't believe that Jason was dead. For all she knew Alexander could be lying to her, and manipulating her into believing that Jason was dead. Either ways, Eliza still cried, the thought of Alexander actually telling the truth making tears shed down her bloodied face.

"He's dead." Alexander grinned mercilessly, relishing the sight of seeing Eliza in so much pain. In a way, he liked and almost craved the way the blood was splattered across her face in a almost artistic way. His body raced with adrenaline as it coursed through his body like a drug.

"There's a reason why I wasn't here these first few hours," Alexander smirked, hearing Eliza's sobs loud and clear. "He begged his life for yours, but you are going to die anyways."

"Stop!" Eliza shouted, hyperventilating. She ignored the way he kept on whispering Jason's death in her ear, and the way he described how he did it. That bastard enjoyed Eliza's fear, and he hated that.

With Elizas bottom lip trembling, it took a lot of effort to gather enough saliva to spit it in Alexander's face. For a second, everything was quiet except for Eliza rushed breaths.

And then it came so quickly, Eliza barely even had time to brace herself for it. Alexander lashed out, punching her so hard in the face she blacked out, again.

---

Jason swore. He screamed and hollered so many profanities he almost expected the police to come and shut him up. An undescribable amount of fury flew through his body like an uncurable disease aiming to kill.

It didn't help that Jason was exhausted. At the moment, he had eleven hours and thirty minutes remaining. He had wasted thirty minutes by taking out his anger on his house, and on the objects that were closest to him.

Now that Jason was somewhat calm, he didn't know what to do. He had a lot of time to think of something, but what could he do? He had to think of something to outsmart the leader of a gang. How the hell was he going to e able to do this? Doing nothing was out of the option. He had to save Eliza, no matter what. Jason shut his eyes and took in a deep breath, and then letting it all out. It relaxed him ever so slightly, but it helped him enough to start thinking rationally.

Hunter's face appeared in his mind. He seemed like a good person who can help Jason, since they had somewhat the same intentions. And besides, he had the note, which they could trade with Eliza.

But Jason didn't want that. Of course he didn't. If he got Eliza back and gave Alexander the note, they would have the upper hand. That was the last thing Jason wanted to do.

Keeping the idea in mind, Jason reached into his pocket to take out Ambers cell phone. He cursed when he realized that the cops had it. How the hell was he going to contact Hunter without his cell phone number?

Something dawned on Jason right then and there. He was going to have to drive to Philadelphia, again, to find Hunter ad bring him back here. It was the only thing Jason thought was smart to do at the moment, anyways.

Jason decided to get ready. He impetuously removed his clothing and hurried into the bathroom. He took a shower which made him more or less awake. A couple minutes later he emerged from the shower and started to get dressed. Jason wore a long sleeved shirt and some dark denim jeans.

He wasted about thirty minutes freshening himself up, leaving eleven hours until Alexander would give him the address. How he planned to do so, Jason had no idea, but either ways he still had to be alert.

Jason had eleven hours to think of something clever, and he wasn't about to waste any time. He rushed downstairs and grabbed his car keys off the counter and made his way outside. He entered his car and sped out of his driveway, going to the nearest gas station to fill up his close to empty tank.

When that was finished and out of the way, Jason advanced onto the road and started speeding his way to Philadelphia. Unfortunately the trip took longer than expected, wasting an extra hour due to traffic. By the time Jason made it to Philadelphia and near the club, Exotic, he had wasted three hours, leaving about eight hours remaining.

A small dull pain started forming in Jason's chest as he was reminded of Eliza. Images of her picture perfect smile appeared in his mind as he got out of the car, his mind set on one thing and one thing only.

To find Hunter, kick Alexander's and Ambers asses, and to save Eliza in a matter of eight hours.

---

Jason sneaked inside of the club, Exotic once again. It felt like deja vu, but some minor things were different.

So far he had been inside the club for who knows how long, hoping that he could find Hunter in this overly packed club. People had been looking at Jason like he didn't fit, but frankly he didn't care. So what, he was a minor in an adult club. It wasn't like he was drinking or anything like that.

Jason let out an aggravated sigh and made his way to the bar, which was packed as well. Hunter seemed like the guy who would drink a lot, because he seemed to hold a grudge on a lot of things.

Finally, it was as if God was blessing him when Hunter appeared right in front of him. He was staggering, holding a beer bottle that was half full.

"Jason!" Hunter almost cried out, blinking too many times. He was obviously intoxicated and Jason hated that.

"I need your help!" Jason yelled over the music, which seemed as if it was increasing by the seconds. Hunter nodded, as if he heard him (he really didn't) and motioned for Jason to follow him.

Jason did follow him, and made sure to keep a watchful eye on Hunter in case he lost him in the crowd. He hoped that Hunter wasn't as intoxicated as he seemed, because Jason really needed him to be sober. Maybe when he brought him back to his home town, he would be sober enough to help him.

Hunter somehow managed to lead Jason outside of the club. At the moment Jason seemed grateful for the fresh air, because it was almost like an oven inside of the club.

"I need your help." Jason repeated, although this time it was more clear. Hunter blinked and leant on a street pole.

"What kind of help?" Hunter slurred, wiggling his eyebrows. Jason sighed and tried to compose his emotions, which were going on haywire.

"Theres no time to explain," Jason rushed out, dragging Hunter to his car. "I'll explain when we get back on the road." 'And when you are more sober,' He thought dryly.

"But I have these hot chicks--" Hunter protested, his shoulders sagging in disappointment.

"What I'm going to tell you is more important." Jason claimed, pushing and urging Hunter into his car. Unfortunately, as soon as Hunter sat down he fell asleep. Jason wished he could go to sleep as well, but he had to get out of Philadelphia right now. He had about seven hours and thirty minutes remaining. It would take about two hours to get back to his home town, leaving around five hours to come up with a solid plan. Hopefully Hunter would be sober by then.

TWO HOURS LATER...

Jason was back at his home town. Hunter was still sleeping, and it was close to midnight. Jason couldn't help but wondered why Alexander chose to give him the note at 5 in the morning. Maybe he figured that Jason would be overcome with fatigue-- in a state where he couldn't do anything even if he tried.

Jason had to give it to Alexander. He was smart, as much as he didn't want to say that.

"Hunter." Jason snapped, his eyes getting droopy with tiredness. He needed coffee, pronto. Hunter groaned under his breath and fidgeted, resting his head back on the window where it was previously. "Wake up."

"Shut up, I have a killer hangover and I'm fucking tired." Hunter grunted, a loud sigh escaping his lips.

This time Jason sighed. "I need your help." Jason paused, thinking how he could word this. "Lets just say that you have the opportunity to sabotage Amber and Alexander."

Hunter perked up automatically. He opened his eyes, which were tinted red, and grinned. "I'm awake."

"Good," Jason kept his face passive. "Alexander and Amber took Eliza, my girlfriend. I was thinking--"

"--That if I give you the note, we can exchange Eliza with the note. Right?" Hunter said sarcastically while Jason made a face. "Not a chance in hell."

Jason allowed a small smirk to form on his face. "Who said that I was going to give Alexander the exact note?"

---

Eliza woke up. She hated the fact that she was tied up, so utterly vulnerable to anything that came near her. She kept her eyes closed, just in case Alexander or Amber came into the room.

Eliza had to physically and mentally force herself to not cry. She hoped, deep down that Jason was alive and okay, an that Alexander wasn't just playing with her mind. The truth is, is that Eliza would not know what to do if Jason dead. She loved him, so much. And she couldn't and just wouldn't believe the fact that he was possibly dead.

She heard a familiar creak and bang of the door opening. The only difference was that it opened with urgency, not with calmness of anger like Alexander and Amber did.

Much to her surprise it was Jason. A loud, cry of relief escaped Eliza's lips as he ran towards her, with someone awfully familiar behind him. Eliza figured that it was Hunter, since she noticed the dark aura that radiated off of him.

"Eliza I'm so glad that you're okay," Jason shut his eyes and hugged her so tightly, as if he hadn't saw her for years. "What the hell did Alexander do to you?!"

"He said that you were dead!" Eliza cried out, tears falling down her face as she tried to hug him back. The stinging sensation returned. Her wrists were bent and her spine was twisted, making her cry out again in pain.

"Im not dead, sweetheart." Jason assured, his eyes darkening just a tad when he noticed how bruised and bloodied she was.

"Well look who finally decided to show up." Alexanders voice interrupted, sounding colder than ice. His body stepped into the light, showing that he had a gun in his hands.

"You fucking bastard!" Jason roared, lunging towards Alexander irregardless of the fact that he was holding a gun. Hunter luckily noticed that Jason was going to do so, and managed to restrain him from ripping Alexander to shreds.

"Now, Jason," Alexander said teasingly, waving the gun in the air. "Is this what you planned, after I gave you twelve hours?"

'Jason had twelve hours to plan something?' Eliza thought, her head pounding with confusion. She was still shocked that Jason was here to even comprehend that Alexander was holding a gun, and pointing it at Jason.

"I have something," Jason sneered, taking something out of his pocket. It looked awfully familiar, but Eliza didn't want to believe it.

"Jason no!" Eliza protested. He couldn't give the note to Alexander-- he was going to give him the upper hand!

Alexanders eyes darkened even more as he set his eyes on the note. "Give me the fucking note." He snarled, cocking his gun just as Amber entered the room. She seemed surprised that Hunter was in there, but she seemed like she had expected Jason to be there. 'What was going on?'

"No," Jason replied in the same manner, almost crushing the paper in his hands from how unbelievably enraged he was. "I'll give you the fucking note if you free Eliza."

"Deal." Amber spoke for Alexander, earning a hard glare in her direction. "Alexander, untie the girl."

Eliza refrained herself from rolling her eyes. 'That girl has a name,' She thought dryly, flinching as Alexander came closer to her. He went behind her and slowly, almost in a teasing way, began to untie her. Eliza slowly felt the pressure being released from her hands and her spine as she stood up. Not even a second later, Eliza fell to the ground, her mind whirling with dizziness.

In a blink of an eye, Eliza heard two gunshots being fired. She struggled to see who had been shot, but the haziness in her eye made it almost nearly impossible to see what was happening. Eliza saw a very blurry image of Hunter shooting Amber and Alexander. They were both on the floor next to her, lying in a pool of blood.

Eliza let a small smile form on her face as everything slowly went black.

'Everything is finally over...' Eliza last thought before she became unconscious.