Happy Monday all!!! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Stella POV

I looked at the time on my phone with a scowl. Gray was late and a part of me expected him not to show to this study group. I should have expected this. Everyone said I was crazy for inviting him over, but I wanted to prove them wrong. I wanted to show them that Grayson was more than meets the eyes. But it wasn't giving me much room to defend him.

With a heavy sigh, I stood up from my leather seat at the marble kitchen island and paced around the large opening living room. He was just making me look like an idiot. I should have told my father and Bec I was free tonight and just gone out to dinner with them. But now they were going to come home and I would have to make up some excuse about why my study date fell through.

Of course, I knew he wouldn't come. He was the loner, and that was what loners did. Plus, he had to keep up his image of being evil or something. Well, standing me up wasn't evil by any means, but I really thought he would show. I thought he differed from what people said about him, but he was giving me little to defend. Truly, I thought I knew him; I thought he wanted friends, but something held him back. I thought I would be that one person who understood him, but Gray obviously didn't want that.

Breaking me from my sour thoughts of doubt was a knock on the door. With a spring in my step, I ran downstairs to open it to see Grayson on the other side, looking like he just ran five miles. A smile came to my lips and my heart raced as I looked at him. He was here, deep down I knew he would come. "Hey."

"I'm sorry I'm late," Grayson said as he walked into the house and took a deep breath.

And with that one sentence, all my doubts flew from my mind. His words held such weight to me that I wasn't sure if it was a good thing. No one had that effect on me before, but I tried to convince myself it wasn't a big deal. "It's ok. But try not to make it a habit."

He nodded as he took off his muddy shoes. Normally I wouldn't think anything of it, but I knew it hadn't rained in days, making this place more dry than normal. Although his shoes made it look like he walked through a swamp. "So what kept you so busy?" I asked, trying to find answers casually.

"Family drama," he said as he rolled his eyes as if it wasn't anything that important. "Anyhow, I am here and ready to study for that test tomorrow."

He stated family drama so casually, but it still made me wonder what drama he actually dealt with and if he dealt with it often. "We can study upstairs," I said as I pointed towards the hall that led to the staircase to make it to the real living area. Without saying anything else walked down the hall and up the stairs to the main living area.

Knowing Bec and my father would be out until late this evening, I knew I wouldn't step on anyone's toes with having him here on the couch with me. Plus, out in the open in the family room seemed less imposing than my bedroom.

I sat down on the couch casually as Grayson looked around himself as if in aw that people lived in such beautiful houses.

"It's my father's place," I said, as if defending myself, trying to make it look as if I wasn't as fancy as him.

"It's nice."

"My mother's place is not nearly as beautiful as this house," I blurted out awkwardly as I thought about the messy small house, I called my home. This place was more like a hotel than anything and I wasn't sure if it would ever feel fully like a home.

"And your mother lives in LA?"

I nodded. We never talked about where she lived, but I learned already that gossip spread like wildfire here. Of course, the entire school knew where I came from and who my parents were.

"I've been to LA once," he said casually as he took a seat on the couch and got out his books.

"You have?" I asked in shock. This was the first conversation that seemed natural, as if he wanted to be here and talk. I couldn't help but fall into his words like a soft bed as I stared at him.

"Yeah, was there maybe four years ago."

Any information he wanted to share with me, I held onto like a balloon because in the back of my mind I knew it could pop at any moment and this conversation would fall flat on the ground. "Did you like it?"

He smirked as he shook his head, as if it was funny. But if he didn't like it, why was it funny to him? Was there something about me that made him smirk? Suddenly, a million questions filled my mind, causing doubt until he spoke. "Nah, wasn't my scene. Too many people. I felt like I couldn't think."

"And that's why you like Jackson Hole? So you can think?"

"You can say that. It's more peaceful here. Do you like Jackson?"

I shrugged as I thought about my time here. I wouldn't say that I hated it, but I wasn't loving it either, I missed the heat, the sun, my mother. Here, everything was so different. It was hard to predict standards when you had nothing to base it on. "It's ok. It's just so open and it's not the predicable city that I know. It's a different culture and I'm struggling to understand it."

"I understand what you are saying. It's hard to be thrown into a world that you don't understand," he said calmly, as if he spoke from experience. It reminded me he was also an outsider, he came to this town, unknowing, just like I did. He was in my shoes once and he knew what I was feeling. "Ready to start?" he asked, breaking me from my own thoughts, making me wonder how long I had remained silent for.

"Yeah, sorry. I'm ready," I said as I got my textbook from the coffee table in front of me. "So where do you want to start off with?"

He smiled as he got out his book which looked brand new. "From the beginning?"

"Have you studied at all?"

He shook his head and gave a sheepish grin. "No."

"Oh..." I mouthed, realizing this would be more than a simple study group. I would have to give him the crash course on the last month of material. As impossible as this task sounded, I wanted to at least try. He came here in his free will, he wanted to improve but he had a lot of headway to gain.

"But I am a fast learner. I can keep up if you just want to start where you were planning."

As kind as the offer was, I had a feeling he needed this review more than I did. "Nah, we can start at the beginning of the unit." And that was where we began until the sun went down, and natural light was replaced with fluorescent light within the house.

<>

"I think I got enough information in my mind for tonight," Gray said as he stretched. He rubbed his thighs as if he had sat down for too long and he was ready to leave.

"We went over a lot of material," I stated as I checked the time, realizing it was almost nine in the evening. "You know, I didn't think you would come tonight."

He nodded as he looked out the large windows of the family room as if he was looking for something. "I didn't think I would come either."

"So what made you want to?"

"A change."

I smiled lightly, knowing I was right about all my thoughts about Grayson. He was a longer, an outsider, but he didn't want to be like that. He was just looking for some change and I was giving him that.

"Anyhow, thank you so much for going over all this with me. No one else would ever think to help me because they think I am a killer monster. But what I want to know is why don't you think that?" he asked as he stared into my eyes, trying to find the answers deep inside. "Do you have a death wish?" he added with a humorless chuckle, causing me to shift uncomfortably.

As a stared at his dark blue eyes, I knew that there was nothing to be afraid of him. I knew bullies; I saw them and was picked on by them in LA, but Gray was not like that. I didn't understand why he made everyone believe he was a bad guy. He was like a candle, burning down, providing light but burning everyone around him. "See, I know bad boys and you don't fit that mold."

Gray smirked as if that was funny, then shook his head as if I was foolish. "And how are bad boys supposed to act?"

I thought about last year how the football captain would shove me into the lockers or how he tried to force himself on me at a party. He was kind for a second and when he realized I wouldn't give him what he wanted; he made my life hell. That was a bad boy. But Gray was nothing like that. He was more like a crushed soul, masking it with spit and vinegar. "Not like you and I should know."

"You speak from experience?"

I nodded in silence, unable to say anything more. What I just shared with Gray was something I had told no one. No one knew that the football player tried to rape me over the summer. No one knew he was terrible during the first week of school this year. Just to avoid him being here was like a small godsend. Those secrets were only for my thoughts, never to be uttered. But as I looked at Gray, I couldn't help but spill at least a little bit of my secret to him.

"Ok then, I guess we won't dive into specifics."

His words caused a flame of anger to be lit within me. He never dived into anything and when I didn't, he gave me a hard time. I didn't like this double standard he had. "Listen Grayson, I haven't even told my family about that. You can't expect to know all of my secrets when I know nothing about you."

He nodded as he shifted his gaze back towards the papers in front of him in silence.

His silence consumed the room and although he was the one to blame, he made me feel guilty that I snapped at him. But I shouldn't feel guilty, he was a stranger in my house; he was the outsider, and I was trying to be nice to him. He didn't need to know everything about me.

"Why do you have so many colors of pens?" he asked, finally breaking the silence.

I frowned, knowing he would make fun of it since so many people did. I took a breath as I braced myself for him to pick me apart. "It's to take better notes."

"Aren't you like a straight-A student or something? Why do you need better notes?"

The fact that he knew my grades was past the point. The main reason I had so many colors was the fact that my notes were predicable, I had taken notes like this since middle school. Each color meant something completely different, making studying easier and my grades better. "The colors are for control."

"So it's in terms of being predicable?" he asked, as if he knew me.

"Exactly."

He nodded as he thought about it. "I like it. I think it's smart," he finally said as he stood up from his seat on the couch and packed up his things. "Well, I've taken up enough of your time."

I wanted to say that he hadn't, that I wanted him to stay and talk, but something told me to let him go. Maybe I wasn't bothered by his presence, but it bothered him he stayed so long. "Sure. I'll see you at school, right?"

He smirked as he slipped on his coat. "I wouldn't miss it."