"So what's going on with you and Carter?" Olivia whispered to me. We were sitting around our normal table. I had made sure to sit between Olivia and Trinity, which normally I would never consider doing. Their mindless and nonstop gossip was almost comforting today, like a white noise machine. I only had to nod my head and act shocked every couple of minutes. Easy.

I glanced around the table, trying to decipher if anyone was listening. The boys seemed occupied with their conversation.

"Nothing." I said quickly, keeping my voice low. I busied myself by pushing the salad I had purchased around the plastic container it came in.

"Really?" Olivia raised her perfectly manicured eyebrow.

"That's not what I heard." Trinity added, shrugging her shoulders and giving Olivia a you know what I'm talking about look.

"He told everyone you guys were hanging out." She said the last part in air quotes. "AKA hooking up." She giggled, daintily covering her mouth.

"I told him no way he was the one to take Seren off the market." Benji's voice interrupted us. I looked up from my uneaten salad to find everyone's eyes on me. "Don't worry babe, I got your back." Benji finished with a wink.

"So is it true or not?" Olivia casually urged me on, like I would normally tell her my secrets.

"Not true." I sat back in my chair nonchalantly.

"Knew it bro." Tyler fist bumped Benji. They were like five year olds.

"I don't know." Trinity mused. "You two seemed pretty cozy at the lake house."

"It'd be a shame if you were lying." Jax's voice rang out. To anyone else, he sounded like he was joking. To me, it was a direct threat. He had a shit eating smirk plastered on his face, staring directly at me.

I willed my eyes not to leave his. "There's nothing going on between me and Carter." I gritted out. I grabbed my bag from the floor and rose to my feet. I knew coming to school today was a fucking mistake.

My feet knew where to go as they carried me to my smoking spot. As I crouched down the wall I buried my head in my arms as they rested on my knees. How can no one else see what he's doing to me? It's like he's torturing me in public, and no one cares enough to lift a finger.

Maybe they do see it. Maybe they all know. Zane said it himself, they all see the way he looks at me. Maybe I was blind to it before, but I saw it now. He looked at me like I belong to him. He said it himself.

You belong to me.

I fucking love you.

You made a mistake.

I clenched my eyes shut, trying to get his voice out of my head.

"You good down there?" A voice startled me. I looked up to see a tall guy standing in front of me, looking down at me with a half smirk on his face. I recognized him from parties, but I didn't know his name. I think Cain bought weed off him.

"I'm fine." I said before putting my head back down in my arms. Can't people take the fucking hint and leave me alone?

He didn't answer, but a couple of seconds later I heard him slide down the wall next to me. Involuntarily, I flinched. He was too close to me. I scooted away from him as quick as I could.

He chuckled. "Don't worry. You're not my type."

That made me raise his head. I turned to look at him, he was still smirking, but he looked a little concerned now, too. "Really?"

His smirk turned into a frown. "I'm a little worried that you sound to happy to hear that."

I leaned my head back against the wall, pondering his words.

"I mean, don't get me wrong. You're a smoke show, but pretty girl about to throw herself off a bridge doesn't do it for me." He continued, swiping his nose with his thumb.

"I'm not about to throw myself off a bridge." I muttered.

"Could have fooled me."

I took in his appearance. Typical bad boy, leather jacket, scared face, ruggedly handsome, annoyingly arrogant. We were on the same page about something, at least. Bad boys had never been my type.

"I'm Austin." He continued, seemingly unaffected by my staring.

"Seren." I told him.

He shook his head at the ground, chuckling softly. "Yeah, I know who you are."

I nodded, taking a cigarette out. I heard the bell ring, meaning I was already late for my class. I didn't move, and neither did Austin.

"Ditching?" Austin asked me, it seemed like he was surprised.

"Looks like it." I said between drags.

We were silent for a couple minutes. Austin had pulled out his own cigarette. To my surprise, his presence didn't irk me. It was as close to a comfortable silence as I had been in ages.

"I think you sell weed to my friend Cain." I said finally. I wasn't just making conversation.

He turned his head to me, observing me for a second, rubbing the stubble that was on his chin. His smirk returned as he reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a joint. He ripped the cigarette from his mouth and flicking it away. I repeated his action with my own, as he held the joint between his lips and lit it. He blew out a cloud of smoke just barely, before sucking it back in through his nostrils.

"Here." He passed the joint to me. I didn't hesitate before pulling my own cloud of smoke into my lungs. I sighed as I felt the relief of the anxiety I hadn't even realized I was holding.

We passed the joint back and forth, resuming our silence. Once it was done, he rose to his feet.

"Give me your phone." He ordered.

And probably due to the weed's influence on my now cloudy brain, I did.

He tapped on it for a while. "Call me if you want more. This was the only freebie, though." He said before handing my phone back to me and walking away.

I had my own drug dealer now. My mom would be so proud.

I managed to make it to my last class, after spraying a fuck load of perfume over my body. I couldn't tell you what we were learning, or what the teacher talked about. I could barely tell you what subject it was. The whole time I was focused on the galaxy print shirt of the guy who was sitting in front of me.

"Seren." The person next to me whispered. I looked to my right and found Cain sitting there. Did he always sit next to me? How long has he been there? I giggled to myself as a thought of him magically appearing half way through the class and no one noticing appeared in my head.

"Cain." I tried to whisper back, but a couple of people turned their heads to me, so I think I was louder than I thought.

"Here." Cain whispered back, he was smiling this time like he was trying to hold back a laugh. His eyes were pointed down to his hand, which was subtly trying to pass something to me under the desk. I grabbed it from him, it was a small bottle of eye drops. I guess I was less subtle than I thought.

For some reason, the thought of me having to put eye drops in made me giggle again.

"I can't." I told him. Cain titled his head at me, his mouth threatening to laugh again. "You do it." I pushed the bottle back to him and turned around in my chair, gesturing for him to do the same. Luckily we were right at the back, and the class was big enough that the teacher likely wouldn't see.

I tilted my head back and waited for him. He glanced at the teacher, waiting until her back was turned before quickly dropping two drops of the liquid into each eye. I blinked quickly before raising my head back up, using my thumb to catch the fallen liquid that trickled down my face.

"Thanks." I whispered when I had turned back around. Cain smiled at me in return, mouthing no problem.

The rest of the class passed quickly, probably because I was zoned out for the most part. Cain had to tap my wrist every time the teacher instructed us to do something. It was a double period, so by the time the bell rang, my high had mostly worn off. I already missed it. I was back to feeling the ice run through my veins.

"Seren." I shut my locker to find Carter standing there. My eyes darted around the hallway, looking around the crowds of kids getting ready to leave the school. I looked for Jax in particular, but was relieved that I couldn't find him.

"Hey." I greeted Carter, zipping up my back pack.

"Do you want to do something? We could head to my house, watch a movie or something?" Carter rushed out, he sounded nervous.

"Uh, I can't." I told him, hoping he would get the hint.

"Oh." The smile Carter was always wearing turned into a frown. "Maybe tomorrow?"

We had started walking towards the exit to the back parking lot now. I sighed as we pushed through the doors. "Listen Carter, I'm not really looking for anything right now."

Carter stopped walking and turned towards me, grabbing my arm to stop me as well. I only hesitated for a second before shrugging it off. He looked at his hand which was now hovering in the air, he looked angry now.

"Are you serious?" He asked me.

"Yeah." I muttered, hugging my chest, almost like I felt the need to make myself smaller.

Carter started laughing, but not a happy laugh. Like he was exasperated.

"Everyone told me, but I didn't believe them."

I didn't know what to say to that.

"This morning when I told people we were hanging out, they basically said I had no chance. I didn't believe them because otherwise why would you kiss me back in the hot tub? Why stay with me all night on Saturday? Why would you fall asleep in my arms if I didn't have a chance?"

I didn't think he was expecting answers to those questions, because he continued without taking a breath. "And then you ignore all my texts last night, and act like a total bitch when I gave you a ride this morning."

He rubbed his face before looking directly in my eyes. "I told you how much I liked you and you, what, thought it was funny to lead me on?"

He waited for me to respond this time, but I didn't.

"You're just a tease, Seren. Find another ride home." He spat at me before turning on his heel, and leaving me alone in the parking lot.

My high was completely gone now.