I paced around the hallway, about the rip my hair out. The amused chuckles didn't help my case. Even after sending short, intense glares, it continued.

"Reece, if you're not helping, I'm leaving," I whined.

He shook his head and pushed himself off the wall. "Bella, I don't know what to tell you. You won't listen to my real opinion."

"You think he's justified," I asked, but it sounded more like a statement. He nodded. "But, why? Why does he think I'm a little kid who needs to be supervised all the time?"

Reece scoffed as he shook the hair out of his eyes. "It's not you. We don't know what type of guy Ben is. He was just worried. The same way you were worried."

"It's different! I would've talked to him about it!"

He amusedly shook his head. "Nope. If I recall correctly, the mission began when you guys were dating and he didn't know about it."

I opened my mouth to argue but closed it. He was right. I totally forgot about that. "But Ben's not a killer," I meekly argued.

"How do you know?" Reece challenged.

I let out a huff of air. "I–I don't, but I don't think he would." Then again, I didn't think he did hard drugs but I was super wrong.

"Too much of a risk. The only reason I even asked you to do it in the first place was because you promised to keep me updated" –he gave me a pointed look– "which you didn't do." 

Gosh, he was still upset about going to Ben's mansion twice without telling him. I get it! It was incredibly stupid.

I shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I'm over him anyway."

"Didn't realize there was something to get over." Amusement danced in his golden eyes.

I rolled my eyes. "I just mean I no longer have my vengeance against him." Which was weird considering now was the actual time to be mad at Ben. As much as I tried, I couldn't be. In the end, I felt pitiful. He had such a shitty life that he needed to take it out on others and used drugs to help fill the void.

Reece's eyes analyzed my face. "Did you go to therapy or something?"

My jaw dropped. "What?" I squeaked.

"I just mean that you're acting... normal. Not like a creepy way you've been doing. But you seem so... satisfied? Content? I don't know."

Lighter. I felt lighter. Turns out, talking about your problems makes you feel like that. Who would've known?

"Thanks, I guess?" I laughed, then grimaced as I had a second thought. "How did Skylar take it?" As much I enjoyed ignoring her presence, I wanted to know. Plus I felt a little better after I learned she wasn't with Dean. Sure, she was in love with him, but she didn't have him.

"She doesn't really understand why you left."

"Do you?" I nervously asked. I didn't want Reece to think I was a selfish bitch, but without explaining, I see why he'd assume it.

He nodded. "Yeah. I know you, Bella, and I know you don't back down unless you have a legitimate reason. I'm not going to pry and ask what happened, but if he hurt you..."

"He didn't," I said before he could finish. "Gosh, you sound like Dean."

"I'm worried!" he said defensively. "Speaking of, have you decided what you're going to do?"

I nervously bit my lip as I thought about my plan. On one hand, I was so upset that Dean went behind my back again. I understood his reasoning but it sucked being left in the dark. On the other hand, I was being a little hypocritical. I did the same exact thing as him. We both snuck behind each other's backs.

I thought about this since the day he came over. I could see the pain in his eyes but I also knew he didn't regret keeping me safe, even if it didn't work. Ironically, I was just trying to keep him safe, so we were even.

"I'm not letting him off easy," I sighed.

His eyes widened, just as I anticipated. "But you're taking him back?"

"I need for him to understand that he doesn't wear the pants in the relationship," I teased. "But seriously, he needs to know we're equals. I feel like he's always making decisions for the both of us."

"But it's always to keep you safe," Reece obnoxiously pointed out.

I hadn't thought about it like that, but it was true. As annoying as it was, he always left me when it was in my best interest.

Damn he made it hard to stay mad at.

Oh my god, I'm willing to forgive Dean.

My thoughts must've shown on my face because Reece clamped a hand on my shoulder. "Just wait it out a little. Make him beg for it."

My brows raised as I stared at him in amusement. "Aren't you his best friend?"

"I'd like to think I am," he proudly grinned. "He doesn't say it, but I think I am."

"I think you are too," I softly chuckled, patting his arm. "But yeah, I guess I'll make him suffer a little."

"Good, because that bastard has gotten away with too much." There was a hint of teasing in his tone but his eyes seemed distant. And now I was curious as to what he was talking about. I didn't ask though. Unlike Ben, everyone else wasn't really up to answering questions easily. That was something I wasn't willing to be frustrated over.

As I walked through the empty hallways, making my way to the cafeteria to eat lunch, I couldn't help but mull over my decision.

Was it smart to forgive Dean? I was going to make him work for it, but was I too easygoing? I still loved the guy and it was hypocritical to hold a grudge considering I did the same thing.

Man, I wish it was the Skylar thing. At least then I wouldn't have caved so quickly.

Speaking of the devil, I needed him to tell me about her past with him before I could truly get over everything. He managed to avoid the topic for a long time, which made me feel worried. Why would he avoid it if nothing was wrong?

If he managed to tell me his history with her, I'd be willing to forgive him.

In theory, it sounded too easy, but I knew it was a big deal for him. The fact that nobody else was willing to tell me about her only showed the story was bigger than I hoped.

Forgiving Dean didn't seem like a terrible decision, even though I'm sure I was blinded by my feelings for him. It just felt right.

Besides, in the end, it was for my benefit. We needed to have a serious talk about our relationship, but as long as he promised this was the last time he kept everything hidden, we'd be okay. I could only hope he'd stick to his promise.

Something hard collided with my head, sending me backward onto my ass with a soft oof.

"I'm so sorry..." I trailed meeting a pair of gray eyes. My apology died on my tongue as my eyes hardened. "You."

Ben stared down at me awkwardly. After a moment's hesitation, his hand reached out to help me up. I couldn't help but cock a brow. Ben being polite?

Sketched out (and wanting to deflate his ego) I stood up without his help, glaring the entire way.

"So I take it you didn't get my note."

I sucked in a breath. Note? That was from Ben? "What note?" I asked, just in case I was wrong.

"I shoved it in your locker. Er... I hope it was your locker?"

My eyes widened as my suspicions were confirmed. Ben was the one who sent the note. Never in a million years did I ever expect it to be him.

No way. No freaking way.

"So this is all your fault," I groaned. Because of him, I had the worst headache of my life. And I fainted. And Dean took care of me. 

Okay, something good came from that, but everything else sucked.

And it was all because of him. It was like my bad luck streak was returning.

"Pardon?" he asked, looking utterly confused.

Rolling my eyes, I walked around him and toward the cafeteria. Ben apologized? No way. This was some sick prank. He wasn't sorry.

From the months that I knew Ben, I knew he didn't apologize. Never. Not once.

And for what? Like treating me like an ass? Even so, that happened weeks ago. Why the delayed response?

I shook my head to rid the thoughts. I was done with Ben. So done.

Isn't that what you said about Dean?

I scowled at my inner thoughts as I entered the cafeteria. After some searching, I found my table. And when I went up to the group, my jaw unhinged.

"Emma..."

She noticed my presence and frowned until realization dawned upon her. She beamed while she twirled her platinum blond hair through her fingers. "You like?"

I hadn't seen her natural hair color since the big fight between her and Will – so since summer. And now that I was... I remembered how amazing she looked with it.

But it meant the old Emma was back. The optimistic Emma.

"Love it!" I beamed before squeezing between her and Jaz. Dylan was giving me a weird look from across the table, probably wondering why I was acting so happy. And I'm pretty sure Will was falling in love with Emma all over again by the awed look on his face.

Adorable.

Jaz and I shared knowing glances and I could bet we were thinking the same thing. As for Dylan, I had no idea if Emma ever told Will about him. I didn't linger on it though. It wasn't my problem. It wasn't going to slip up from me, it was none of my business.

The lunch bell rang, making me groan. I barely finished my chips, let alone my lunch. And it didn't help that I skipped out on breakfast again.

Dylan and Emma went to their classes while Will, Jaz, and I made our way to Gov.

As soon as we took our seats, Jaz wiggled her brows. "So I noticed you weren't in class yesterday." I opened my mouth to tell her but she cut me off. "I also noticed Dean wasn't in class."

I nervously bit my lip and watched her eyes widen as I silently confirmed her theory.

"You–"

"Shh," I hissed before she could tell the whole class. "Look, I fainted and he happened to be there, okay?"

Concern flashed in her eyes. "You fainted? I thought you were just skipping 6th and 7th periods. Holy shit, are you okay?"

I nodded. "I'm fine. But yeah, that's why I wasn't there."

The concern vanished so quickly I swore I imagined it in the first place. "So, you and Dean?" She suggestively wiggled her brows and it took everything in me to not groan.

On one hand, I didn't wanna give her the satisfaction of knowing she was right. If I did, she'd never stop the pestering. But on the other hand, Jasmine was my best friend. I needed to tell her.

Sighing, I caved and leaned in. She met me halfway, beaming.

"We talked."

She squealed.

"I think we're going to get back together."

More squeals.

"But he has to work for it."

This time, she squealed so loud she nearly jumped out of her chair.

"Ms. Shelton, Ms. Wilks, I noticed you don't have an issue with interrupting my lecture," the teacher said, pausing his lesson. Jaz and I warily glanced at each other. "Do I need to give out detentions today?"

Will snickered.

"No sir," I responded. He looked satisfied and gave us a warning look before resuming his lesson.

Jaz ignored him and continued staring at me. "So, what're you thinking?"

"I want him to tell me what his past with Skylar was. It's the only way I'll be certain the feelings aren't mutual," I whispered.

"Good idea!" She agreed. "So, just to clarify, they're not dating?"

Before I could answer, a shadow stood in front of where Jaz and I were huddled. I gulped and braced myself.

"Detention for both of you."

"Yes, sir," we both muttered. The giddiness was gone and I scowled for the rest of class while Will snickered.

I zoned out, hard. I should have paid attention because I would've expected what came later, but I was too annoyed to do that.

~~~

When I stalked to detention with Jasmine, I genuinely expected Mr. Cullen to be there. He seemed like the only teacher willing to work the shift. That, or it was a mere coincidence.

Either way, when I poked my head into the classroom, it wasn't him. Much to my horror, it was an admin monitoring it. She was super strict when it came to school rules so I knew this detention wouldn't be fun.

There were surprisingly a lot of kids in here, unlike last time. Jaz's eyes wandered around the room while I gave the admin our detention slips. There was only one area that had two desks next to each other and I was dragged there before I could protest.

My eyes locked with Dean's and I let out a gasp of surprise. I didn't realize he was here too.

"Dean's here?" I asked as she pulled me to the desk next to hers. He eyed the spots around us, but there were no free desks.

When I turned to Jaz, amusement twinkled in her eyes. "Weren't you paying attention in Gov? He had his phone out."

Somehow this didn't surprise me. Dean coincidentally getting detention when I did was the norm by now.

"Must've zoned out," I distractedly mumbled, meeting his eyes once again.

"Silence! You are expected to stay the entire hour. No talking and no phones. Work on homework or do something silently. No sleeping," the admin barked.

Jaz and I silently mimicked her and snickered. From behind Jaz, Dean also laughed but covered it with a cough.

So he was staring.

I was doing my Stats homework when it began – "it" being Dean's annoyingness.

I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary until Jasmine snickered. I looked up to see her reading a folded paper. My eyes instinctively flickered to Dean and saw his annoyed expression. It didn't take a genius to figure out he was passing notes.

After she was content with her amusement, Jaz passed the paper to me. I furrowed my brows and read the note.

'Have you thought about it?'

I wrote down 'sort of ' on the paper and asked Jaz to pass it back. She had to read my message before rolling her eyes and passing it back to Dean. The entire time I hoped the strict admin wouldn't lift her eyes to us. She was busy typing away on the computer in the room.

Then I figured the conversation was over. There wasn't much more to talk about. I went back to my homework.

Big mistake. Jasmine did something. Something dumb from the looks of it.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dean pass another note. She read it and scribbled down a response, making me think they were having their own conversation. It wasn't until the same paper landed on my desk seconds later.

'Do you wanna go to Mel's after so we can talk?' – which was obviously from Dean.
'Yes' – which must've been "my response," except Jaz wrote it before I could argue.

Dean obviously saw her negligence in passing the paper and gave me a look. My eyes shifted to the admin and saw her looking at all of us with narrowed eyes. I pretended to work on my homework as she scanned the room.

What felt like five minutes later, I was able to meet Dean's expectant eyes. I gave a subtle nod, hoping Jaz wouldn't see. If she did, she'd probably freak out, then force me to tell her all the details afterward. Maybe she'd stalk me there.

She did.

She almost went ballistic, flapping her arms and slapping me in the process, if it weren't for the mean blond lady sitting at the front of the classroom. She must have sensed something because she was looking straight in our direction.

My heart pounded, wondering she saw the note-passing. But her eyes glazed right over us and I felt myself shrinking in my seat.

Thank God.

Jaz took the note and passed it back to Dean. I furrowed my brows when he winked at me then furiously scribbled something on the paper. He got it to Jaz who, of course, had to read the message herself.

My curiosity piqued when her cheeks turned red. She quickly folded the paper and set it down as if it burnt her.

But it was too late.

"Ms. Shelton, Mr. Cullen, is there something you'd like to share with the class?" the admin asked, standing up and approaching them. "Please, read the note aloud."

Jaz paled and even Dean looked a little embarrassed. Oh god, what did he write?

Jasmine cleared her throat as she flattened out the paper. "I–I don't think I should."

The uptight blond lady wasn't amused. I swear her hair was tied so tight that it made her face twist into a permanent scowl. "You thought it would be fun to pass notes so you have to deal with the consequences. Read it." Her tone didn't leave room for questioning.

Jasmine turned red as she clutched the paper in her hand. Her hands were shaking slightly. "Do–" she hesitated, "do you t–think we'd ge–get caught in the staff bathroom? I'd like to bend–"

"Enough!" the admin barked. She herself was turning red.

My jaw dropped. Now I understood the wink. Dean was writing something scandalous to get Jasmine to stop reading our notes. Little did we know that this would happen.

I bit my lip to control my laugh. It was a hilarious scenario for me because I was an onlooker. But if that note reached me... let's just say I'd be worse than Jasmine.

"You students are disgusting," the blond muttered, shaking her head. "I've got my eyes on you."

Jaz visibly relaxed as the lady went back to her desk. Then she looked over at Dean and flipped him off.

We unanimously decided that was enough trouble for one period. Surprisingly, we all worked on our homework, distraction-free.

When Ms. Uptight dismissed is, I nearly bolted out of the classroom. Detention was totally boring and I wanted to sleep so badly, but no, we couldn't even nap. I regretted everything bad I ever said about Mr. Cullen.

An arm yanked me to slow down. Jaz was panting dramatically, causing me to roll my eyes. "You! I cannot believe you made me do that!"

I defensively tossed my hands up before stopping in front of my locker. She leaned on the one next to me and looked forward. "Hey, I didn't do that. It's your fault for meddling."

"You meddle in Emma and Will's relationship, I meddle in yours. After all, without me, you two wouldn't have gotten along."

I paused entering my combination and gave her a side glance. "What do you mean?"

"Remember your whole fake dating thing? If you didn't think Dean had a crush on me, then you would've never asked him to help you. Then you wouldn't have been forced to tolerate each other. So, I'm the one who got you guys together."

What a stretch. I rolled my eyes and opened my locker, only to see a bouquet of flowers in there.

What the...?

"Jasmine, does anyone else know my locker combo?" I stared at the flowers, scared to touch them. They were a bright, colorful arrangement.

Without waiting for her response, I plucked the card from the holder. In there was written the same apology message I received before, same handwriting and everything.

Ben.

But, how? How'd he get in?

"No..." Jaz trailed, furrowing her brow. "Why?"

"No reason," I quickly replied, shutting my locker so she wouldn't see its contents. She'd only ask more questions.

"You're being awfully suspicious."

"And you're being awfully nosy," I replied in a teasing tone. "Don't you have to meet Dean at the staff bathroom?"

She scowled. "I hate you."

"Good," I laughed, hitching my bag higher on my shoulder. All talk of the abandoned flowers disappeared, thank God. I needed to figure this situation out soon.

And by soon I meant ASAP.

"Ooh, I think your prince charming is here to take you to the staff bathrooms," she sang, pushing herself off the lockers. "Hey Dean!"

I turned around and saw Dean walking our way. He had a small smile on his lips. "Ladies."

"Gross," I groaned.

He playfully rolled his eyes. "Arabella, always the charming one." Damn, he was in a good mood today. I'd never seen him so laid back. Well, I have, but not lately.

"Ew, can you guys stop eye raping each other?" Jaz screeched, making both of us roll our eyes again. When she was satisfied by our annoyance, her face split into a wide, creepy grin. "Have fun on your date."

"It's not a–" I stopped my sentence knowing it was useless to argue with her. Instead, I let her skip off into oblivion while Dean and I would be awaiting the dreaded talk.