I don't think I could have been more proud of Keelan and Cal than I was when we walked into the cafeteria and saw the two of them sitting with Brock. There had been whispers throughout the two periods that there had been a fight in the corridor somewhere, I had some idea that Brock would have been involved but didn't realize Keelan had been there too.

Nat went straight over to Cal and I went straight over to Keelan, he slung an arm around me as soon as I was settled in the seat between him and Brock. I offered a broad smile to Brock, his face was a little bruised and he had missed a bit of blood under his nose that had now dried. I felt sorry for him, so sorry because everyone that had been a friend previously was suddenly hostile towards him.

"Hope you don't mind girls but we've got a few new friends in our group." At first I thought Keelan had just been talking about Brock, but over the course of the next ten minutes others joined our table and I realized...they were all people that were accepting of Brock, they weren't close minded and they were the kinds of people who didn't let other peoples opinions bring them down.

Lunch was loud, full of laughter and happiness despite what had happened earlier in the day. People walked by and offered insult to Brock but the entire table, which consisted of at least sixteen people booed and hissed at whoever was brave or stupid enough to walk by.

By the end of the lunch period the number of people that walked by with insults had dwindled considerably, I think people were realizing that Brock still had friends and they were really vocal about who said what around him.

We went straight from lunch to the school assembly, I wasn't sure about Cal, Keelan and Nat but I sat there nervously waiting to see if Maggie would get up on stage to publicly name and shame the troop that helped her plaster things all over the school and if she would apologize.

When she did come out on stage the atmosphere inside the hall kind of changed, it went from this heavy, depressed feeling to something entirely different. It was really hard to describe, but the attention was firmly moved away from Brock and now sat on Maggie as she asked for forgiveness to all those students she had picked on, those that she had mentored and shared their secrets and that she would be leaving the school willingly even though the school year had just started.

At the end of the day, when the school bell rang for the final time that day I waited at the front of the school for Keelan to come around. He insisted on driving me home, even though Martin had wanted to come and pick me up.

Things were getting better between Martin and I, the shopping trip I think opened his eyes a little more to what I was used to. Since then he'd apologized often for not being around, he let me earn money by doing my chores around the house but we had to set a cap on how much money he was allowed to give me as he was giving way too much money.

I mean, one hundred just to keep my room clean was ridiculous and I had the feeling that he was trying to just shove money at me any chance he got. So we ended up having to set boundaries, I wasn't allowed to buy the things that I needed with the pocket money I earned. Martin said that it would be a privilege for him to buy me things that I needed, so I kinda caved on that front.

"Hey slut, hope you have fun with your boyfriend. Just remember one thing, I went there before you." Maggie caught me completely off guard, so much so that I almost didn't catch what she said as her step-dad shuffled her past me to the waiting car.

All I could do was watch as Maggie gave this really weird smile as soon as the door on the cars were closed and they drove off. Did I believe her? Yep and I would lie if I said it didn't bother me a little that Keelan had gone out with Maggie but the question of who we'd dated before now had never come up. I wasn't sure if I was being fair or if it would be fair to even ask Keelan the question.

"Hey, ready to go?" I turned when I heard the question from Keelan and brightened immediately as he walked towards me with a broad smile.

When I was around him nothing bothered me it seemed, not even his past girlfriends. "Yep, I'm ready to go. I can already feel the homework and assignments building and it's only been the first day of school. Want to be my study partner this year?" I don't know why I was being hopeful that he'd say yes, call me a little insecure but I just had this feeling that Keelan would blow me off.

Maybe I didn't trust him enough, maybe Maggie had put that much doubt in my mind with that simple statement.

Keelan slung an arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his side, it seemed to be his favourite way of walking. Which I didn't mind, he was very public about his affection which took a bit getting used to but now I didn't even care. If he wanted me to walk right beside him then I was happy to, but I realized too that it was how we could have a quiet conversation with each other while out in public.

"I kinda assumed that I would be your study partner anyways, though I don't know how much study I'm going to get done with sports try outs coming up and stuff. Just kidding, I'll be good and set aside some time a week to study and all that. But, if I'm your study partner you have to be my cheerleader." I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the request, his cheerleader? I don't know how much of an impact I would have on Keelan's playing if I were his cheerleader, I doubt I could yell loud enough to startle a mouse.

"Come on Ilyse, it's a good trade off. You get to look at me both times anyway." I elbowed Keelan in the side when he said that, which made him laugh like he always did. He seemed to have picked up on the fact that I couldn't stop staring at him, which I couldn't...especially when he walked around half naked.

"Okay fine! But only because I get to stare at you." Even though he was teasing I usually stuck to being a little more serious, my sense of humor was something we were both working on. It came alive with a hiss and a roar occasionally but it never lasted too long before dying out.

"That's the spirit! Okay, we better get you home before Martin starts wondering where you are." I laughed at that, Martin didn't really care what I did after school. So long as I was home for dinner most nights he was fine with that, but I did need to go home and plan out my projected school year just so I was prepared for any and everything that was coming up in the classes.

The ride back to Martin's house was full of giggling and joking, there was a bit of singing too but off key as usual. Keelan tried to rap but his rapping was about as good as my screaming, it just wasn't.

When we pulled into Martin's driveway I kissed Keelan and told him that I'd be dropped at school in the morning but we'd likely talk a little more on Facebook later on in the night. It had sort of become a ritual that we did, I mean to me it felt like we'd been going out for ages because we sort of fell into routines pretty easily.

Keelan kept saying it was because we went so well together but a lot of the time I think he let me have my way rather than the both of us going around in circles until one idea proved better than the other one.

I wasn't complaining, but it was just weird to be as content as I felt when I was with Keelan.

Home life too had fallen into a routine, I'd get home from where ever I had been and Martin and Laura would be there waiting to hear all about my day. At first, when Laura had first come in to listen to me talk I'd been a little unnerved, but Martin had told me later on that she was feeling left out and really did want to connect with me and understand me a little more. So since then she'd been there, waiting to hear how my day was going.

The first week I think I was skeptical that she was just there to be fake, but she actually wasn't. Laura even joined in the on the conversation and began offering me advice on somethings, as usual I thought she was wrong on a lot of it but that was just me getting defensive. After the fourth or fifth time I realized, she was sort of right and had logic behind her suggestions.

I smiled when I walked in and both Laura and da...Martin were standing in the kitchen talking about what they should cook for dinner that night. It was kinda cute and I was finally, finally feeling sort of normal again. But my mom and siblings deaths still lingered at the back of my mind and I wasn't sure they would ever go away.