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Searching for a needle in a haystack might have been easier than finding Kevin. No matter where I looked, he wasn't there and it was almost time for third period.

"Hi, Elizabeth!" A cheerful voice sounded behind me.

I turned around to see Micah. His adorable smile immediately lifted my mood.

"Hey, Micah," I waved. "I haven't seen you in a while."

He stared down at the floor, with a troubled look, but it was gone in an instant and his smile returned. "I wasn't here for a while. But I'm back now."

"You should come eat lunch with me and my friends," I suggested, knowing that Melissa and Callie wouldn't mind.

I didn't remember ever seeing him in the cafeteria. He was new here so he probably didn't have that many friends yet.

He smiled shyly in response. "Were you looking for someone?"

"Yeah," I sighed. "Do you know my friend Kevin?"

His eyes clouded over with an unknown emotion as his eyebrows pulled together. He avoided my eyes and stared at the ground. "I don't know where he is."

"Oh, no worries," I assured him quickly. The change in his mood surprised me and I didn't know what else to say.

He gave me a pure smile and waved goodbye as the bell rang for the next period. I guess I'd just have to find Kevin later, I thought as I rushed off to Physics.

After third period, I met up with Melissa and then Callie and went to the cafeteria. Ashton's table was noticeably empty, but no-one dared to sit there. I still hadn't seen Kevin. There was no way he didn't realize that he didn't have his phone.

We got our lunches and went to our usual table. Melissa was gushing about her most recent date with Trey.

"We need to have a triple date," she pleaded. "It'll be fun!"

Callie rolled her eyes. "Demetri's in his feelings right now."

"Still?" Melissa questioned in surprise. "He's been like that since the party. Did something happen?"

I remembered how icy he had been when I had interrupted him and Callie at the party. At the time I didn't think it was that serious though.

I suddenly spotted Micah who had tentatively entered the cafeteria.

"I told Micah to have lunch with us today," I informed them. They stared at me in confusion before I pointed out who I was talking about.

"Why not," they shrugged

"Micah, over here," I called, waving my hand. He grinned and made his way over to us.

"Hi," he greeted with a sunny smile.

Melissa and Callie smiled at him in awe of his cuteness.

"I transferred here a month ago. I'm in Freshman year," he explained.

"You remind me of my little brothers, if only they were this adorable," Callie grinned.

By the middle of lunch, Melissa and Callie had officially adopted Micah as their little brother. Micah was smiling shyly as he was being showered with attention. I was happy that I'd invited him to eat with us.

He seemed a lot more vibrant and animated than this morning. There was no longer that distant, unidentifiable emotion in his eyes. That was, until Ashton appeared.

The noise in the cafeteria faded down as Ashton and his group walked in. At least half of the room became stuck in the 'Ashton daze'.

Kevin wasn't with them though, and Nicole, who usually sat with her friends, was practically sitting in Ashton's lap. Couldn't they behave like this was a school?

I rolled my eyes in irritation and refocused my attention on Melissa, who was telling Micah about her Law classes. That seemed to interest him a lot.

I glanced back at Ashton's table to see if Kevin had come in, but he still wasn't there. Ashton was laughing at something one of the guys said, but then he suddenly looked up in my direction and his expression quickly changed to anger. But he wasn't looking at me. He was glaring at Micah, who was sitting beside me.

As if Micah could feel the change in Ashton's mood, he looked over and immediately paled. His smile disappeared and he lowered his gaze to the ground. The emotions from earlier returned to his eyes and he mumbled an excuse, picked up his tray and left quickly.

Melissa and Callie were surprised at his sudden departure, but they thought that he probably had something to do.

But I saw everything that happened, like the way Ashton glared at Micah. It just didn't make sense to me.

Then again, Ashton's glare seemed to have that effect on people, but why did he have to do that to a new student? Was he still being protective because of the stupid soulmate thing?

Ashton's dark eyes flickered to mine, but just as quickly, he refocused his attention on Nicole.

Micah's infectious smile had made me forget everything about Ashton and Kevin, but now all the unanswered questions were back.

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