I was currently in the bathroom watching YouTube tutorials on how to do different hairstyles on your hair. In the end I gave up - they made it look too easy with their ridiculously silky hair and mine never seemed to cooperate.

"April! Hurry up!" Aiden yelled from the other side of the door.

"Finally. Come on." He stood up, stretching out his muscles and advanced to the door. I followed, grabbing my purse, car keys and phone on the way out. I quickly stuffed it in my pocket and dragged my feet over to Aiden waiting by the lift.

We spent the rest of the elevator journey in silence, whilst I stared at a piece of gum as though it was the most interesting thing in the world. I shivered and hugged my arms around me, spotting my car parked near the curb. I started to advance towards it when an arm wrapped around me and pulled me the other way.

"Hey! What are you doing?" I yelled, looking upwards at Aiden.

He smiled at me sweetly, flashing his teeth. "We're going in my car."

My mouth dropped. His car was beautiful. It was a Ferrari. Sleek and matte black - just like his soul. I couldn't help the stupid grin that formed on my face as I stared at it in awe.

"A Ferrari 458?" I asked looking up at his cocky expression, but it had changed to one of surprise.

"You know cars?"

"Hmm-hmm."

As soon as I ducked into the car, my hand instinctively brushed over the controls as though they were glass, examining the cleanliness of the dashboard, the subtle curvature of the seats. I looked upwards and saw Aiden staring at me under dark lashes.

"Well, at least the loser has good taste." I'm guessing that was as good a compliment I would get.

"My sister loves cars. She tells me all about them - well, used to." I drifted into silence.

He made a small, guilty noise of approval and thankfully didn't say anything else. The journey only took 10 minutes and before I knew it we were parked up outside the café. We stepped inside, the sounds of chatter filling my ears - this was no new territory for me. I worked here, so this atmosphere was natural for me, but I'd never been one of the 'kids' that hang out here.

Aiden had already reached several people that I didn't recognize and was engaged in conversation with them. It looked heated. Diego and several other boys I didn't recognize were in the corner talking privately. I diverted my eyes and scanned crowd for Nina or Kayla. I finally found them at a booth in the centre of the café.

"Ap, I'm so glad you're here!" Kayla grinned, pushing a guy with a buzz cut of the way so I could sit. I shrugged apologetically at him and sat down, budging up slightly so he could also sit, but he simply returned by coughing something that sounded suspiciously like bitch. I dropped my eyes and sighed in annoyance. Yeah, well I don't like you people either.

"Nina," I mumbled. "I'm sorry about today. I'm just having a bad day. We cool?"

Her eyes softened. "It's okay. You know I can't stay angry at you for long... I love you too much for that." She smiled and gave me a tight hug.

After 25 minutes of sitting around aimlessly, staring at the clock every 2 minutes, wishing I was Hiro Nakamura and could manipulate space and time, I examined the room closely. I must have looked very boring just sitting there, isolated in a corner, so I made my excuses and got up, grabbing my purse and phone. But just as I was about to leave, I turned and bumped into the same blonde, buzz-cut guy Kayla had shoved out of the booth for me, which I still felt horrible for. He sneered.

"Watch where you're going bitch."

I glared at him and tried to side-stepped him, determined to ignore him lest my IQ lowered to his level.

He deliberately got in my way.

I narrowed my eyes at him. I had had enough - all I wanted to do was get home and change into my PJ's, but this meatball was in my way and I wasn't going to stand for it.

"Get out of my way please."

The boy narrowed his eyes. "No. As far as I recall, you didn't get out of my way in the booth."

I raised both hands mockingly. "It's not my fault Kayla wasn't interested in you. I guess that says wonders about your brilliant personality."

His nostrils flared at his friends chortles behind him. "Don't say shit about me. Honestly, I don't know why Nina and Kayla are friends with you - you're the one who no guy would give two glances at."

I flinched and looked around. No-one had heard. Thank God. I could feel tears of anger forming in my eyes as I stared at his stupid face. Anger built up inside me and I gritted my teeth.

"Why don't you shut the fuck up you tart. Didn't you get moved down 2 grades for being so thick?" I began walking away, before another surge of anger got the better of me. "And don't blame the 'ugly bitch' for your inability to keep a girl's attention. That's your own damn problem."

Before he could reply, I pushed past him roughly. Sure, I knew people thought that of me, but I had never heard someone say it to my face. And God, did it hurt.

I kept walking, my face close to my hood so that people wouldn't see the angry tears in my eyes, until I realized I had no car. No chance of escape.

"Nice comebacks." I spun around and saw Aiden leaning against the wall, cigarette in his hand, grinning at me. His grin vanished as soon as he saw my expression.

"Are you... Are you crying?"

"No." I snapped, turning away from him.

"Why were you crying?" He demanded.

I crossed my arms as well and kept my mouth shut. "I wasn't - it's allergy season, you know?"

"Hey. Look at me." His tone was softer than usual and I started at the lack of sarcasm in his voice.

I took a step back and looked up at him, my expression softening. "I was not crying, Aiden, so drop it." He chewed on his lower lip, dark eyes never leaving mine. "Where is everyone else anyway?" I tried to change the topic.

"Inside. I needed a cigarette break." He replied, the muscles in his jaw twitching. I hummed in response and stifled a cough at the pungent smell of smoke permeating the air.

A few moments of welcome silence passing between us - I think this is the longest we've gone without one of us biting each other's heads off. It was only then that I realized that Aiden was my ride and so I couldn't dramatically exit.

"Aiden..."

He smirked at me. "You need a ride, don't you?"

"Only when you're ready," I said quickly, feeling the tiniest bit bad that I was being a killjoy.

"What kind of ride would you like? I mean..."

I choked, understanding his innuendo and felt myself burst into laughter at his immaturity. "A car ride," I finally managed to splutter.

"Disappointing answer, Cruella," he tutted, the sarcasm thick in his voice.

"Thanks."

"But... only if you explain why you were on the verge of tears." He probed. I shot him a warning glare, silently telling him to drop it.

"I already told you, Aiden. It was nothing - nothing of your concern anyway." My voice was icy cold, daring him to push me any further.

"Fine."

"Fine."

Aiden then turned back, his swift eyes examining the inside of the Cafe; I watched him closely, the way his eyes spoke wonders of his mood. When they reached the pea-head, I could have sworn they froze, darkening ever so slightly, his eyebrows dipping in irritation. "Bastard," I though I heard him mutter under his breath.

My expression was blank. "What?"

We waited in silence, until I finally asked him, well pleaded, when we were going to leave. I was so caught up in my thoughts, I hadn't realized Aiden had walked away already.

"Hurry up Cruella, puppies are waiting on you to skin them," Aiden called over his shoulder at me.

I shot him a death glare, jogging to catch up. Once in the car, I couldn't help but notice that we were going dangerously fast - as in, over the speed limit fast. His eyes were black, the setting sun in our face doing nothing to lighten them.

"St - stop. Slow down."

"What? You don't like speed?"

I hunched over, willing myself to puke up all over his shiny car for being such a jerk but my stomach was empty apart from my small coffee. After a couple of minutes he finally slowed down and halted to a stop. He reached over and released my seat belt, hand brushing over my waist slightly, making my heart rate increase. I quickly turned away from him and searched for the door handle, stumbling outside, my legs almost shaking.

"You alright?"

I ignored him and continued to steady my breathing. Like he cared if I was okay, that inconsiderate imbecile. He knew he was driving like a raging maniac - my head was literally thrown against the window 4 times.

I looked up and found we were back at my apartment. "Don't get too happy. People will be coming to your apartment soon - I invited them over." He said, looking away and kicking at the grass at his feet. How the hell did he invite people over?

"You haven't invited anyone over, you can't have." I said confidently.

"I have. I did it before we left whilst you were in the cafe - like I said you need to get to know my friends. All my friends. You only have two of them and one of them practically drools over me whilst the other would bat her lashes at any guy." He replied breezily. I clenched my fists and pursued him quickly, anger searing my veins. Before he reached the door, I side-stepped him and slapped him around his face. Hard. He stepped back, more in shock than pain.

"What the fuck?"

"Don't you dare talk about my friends like that. Why can't you just be a normal, decent human Aiden? You know, for someone with a pretty face, you have a very ugly soul - I don't know how I'm ever meant to pretend to love that." I snapped. "And if you think I'll let people in my home, then you're dead wrong. This is my home, my territory - not yours."

Then, I pushed past him and strode inside. Despite the iciness in my words, a small smile fought itself onto my face in triumph - I was not a pushover. And I would defend my friends to the end, no matter how dramatic that sounded. Aiden stepped silently into the elevator with me, his face expressionless. Good, so I'd finally shut him up.