Jolie came back upstairs and they finally saw Austin's headlights pull into the driveway next door.

"I'm gonna head out," Bailey told them . "Good luck with telling Austin and I'll see you guys at school tomorrow," she said before heading out the door.

As she was going down the stairs she heard Blaze telling Jolie, "Good job on the makeover. Bailey Starks is freakin' hot now. Who knew!" he laughed. That made her smile. Blaze McDaniels just called her hot. She never in a million years thought that would ever happen.

Austin got home from football practice and headed up to his room. He looked over into Jolie's bedroom window and saw her in there with Blaze McDaniel's sitting on her bed talking to her and smiling.

"What the f*ck?" he said out loud. Was another girlfriend of his going to cheat on him with Blaze McDaniels?

He heard a ding from his phone and looked down to see a text message from Jolie.

'We need to talk. Are you busy? Can we come over?'

It felt like a punch in the gut. She used the word 'we' referring to her and Blaze.

'Yeah come on over,' he texted back.

A couple minutes later he heard the doorbell ring and there on the other side was Jolie with Blaze McDaniels standing next to her. Austin looked at Jolie but her eyes were on the ground and she was fidgeting with her hands and seemed really nervous. Blaze looked nervous too, which was not like him at all. He was always Mr. Cocky and arrogant.

The way they were acting made Austin nervous because they both looked guilty and he couldn't even imagine what they needed to tell him.

Austin stepped back and opened the door wide, "Come on. Let's go up to my room and we can talk," he said, leading the way.

He shut his bedroom door behind him and sat on the bed and Jolie and Blaze stayed standing. They looked at each other waiting for the other to speak. Blaze stepped close and whispered to her, "Come on Jolie. You can do this. You need to tell him. He needs to know."

Jolie gave him a pained smile and then paced the floor and started wringing her hands together.

She finally spoke up and said, "Ok. Austin you have to promise me you won't freak out or beat someone up ok? Can you promise me that you'll stay calm about this?"

Austin's heart sank and he suddenly felt like tearing Blaze apart with his bare hands. He narrowed his eyes at them and said, "I already know what you're gonna say."

Jolie looked shocked. "You do?"

Austin shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't believe this had happened to him again. Another girlfriend had cheated on him with Blaze, but this time hurt way worse than the last time because he was in love with Jolie and he had thought she was different.

"I can tell by the way you guys are acting guilty and looking at each other. You had sex with Blaze didn't you?" Austin asked, feeling the anger and hurt building up inside him. The anger that he tried so hard to control was threatening to spill over at any second.

"No! Oh my gosh! Austin no! That's not what it is at all!" Jolie shouted, coming over to him and wrapping her arms around him, pulling him into a hug. "I love you and I would never do cheat on you," she said, kissing his cheek and he looked down into her eyes and could tell that she was telling the truth.

He was so relieved to hear her say that and he exhaled and relaxed a little.

"What do you guys need to tell me then?" he asked.

Jolie stood back up and paced the floor, wringing her hands together again before finally saying, "Austin, you know how Mandy cheated on you that night at the party that you didn't go to?" she asked.

Austin said, "Yeah. What about it?"

Jolie got quiet and seemed to struggle to speak so Blaze stepped in.

"What she's trying to say is that people told you it was me that slept with Mandy that night, but that wasn't true. They've been lying to you this whole time about it," he said.

"What?" Austin asked. He was so confused. "Why would anyone want to lie to me about it?"

Jolie spoke up again, "Some of them didn't know the truth and the ones that did were bribed or threatened to keep quiet. Blaze didn't sleep with Mandy that night Austin ............ Ryan did."

"What!?!" Austin asked in shock, not able to even comprehend the words that just came out of her mouth. His best friend since 2nd grade, the guy he considered a brother that he would trust with his life had done it.

"No that's not possible. You must be mistaken. He wouldn't do that," Austin said shaking his head in denial.

Jolie walked over and put a hand on his arm and quietly said, "I'm so sorry Austin. It's true."

He walked over and sat on the bed and leaned against the wall for support. He couldn't believe it. His mind was racing and replaying conversations in his head he had with Ryan and Mandy about that night. They had both told him the exact same story, that she got drunk and slept with Blaze that night.

Jolie walked over and sat down next to him and laid a hand on his leg to help comfort him. She could obviously tell how upset he was by this news.

"So what makes you both so sure this is true?" he asked, hoping there was a chance they were mistaken. He just refused to believe Ryan could do something like this to him.

"I figured it out today after how weird Ryan was being at lunch when I asked if he had ever slept with Mandy. I confronted Mandy in class and she confirmed that she slept with him and that it was a big secret that no one was supposed to know. Her and Ryan swore never to tell anyone," Jolie told him.

Blaze cut in and said, "I had wondered why you all of a sudden hated me so much this year when we used to be friends, so when Jolie told me that you thought it was me that slept with Mandy at the party it made total sense. I was there that night and Mandy had flirted with me a little bit like she always does but then later I saw her and Ryan going into a bedroom holding hands and saw them kissing right before the door closed and locked."

"There's something else," Jolie said, picking up his hand and putting it into hers. He looked over and could tell that all of this was weighing very heavy on her. "After I confronted Mandy and she confessed, she told Ryan all about it. He was waiting for me outside of my class," she said, with her eyes tearing up. "Tell him Blaze," she sniffled.

Austin looked up at Blaze who was still standing. He was waiting impatiently for answers, wondering why Jolie was so upset.

Blaze stopped pacing and said, "I was at my locker when I looked over and saw Ryan slam Jolie up against the lockers really hard and get in her face. He was squeezing her arms really tight and looking like he was mad enough to kill someone with his bare hands. His face was red and he looked crazy, almost desperate. He said if she didn't keep quiet about this then she was gonna get hurt because he didn't want her ruining your friendship."

Hearing that Ryan had laid his hands on Jolie changed everything. Any sympathy or understanding he might've had for him at that point was over. All Austin could feel right now was anger.

"Did he hurt you Jolie? Let me see your arms," he said.

Jolie looked over at Blaze and hesitated for a minute before finally lifting up the sleeve of her shirt revealing a large red mark the size of a hand on her upper arm that was already turning into a bruise.

"There's also a knot on the back of her head from where he slammed her against the locker so hard," Blaze added.

"Let me see," Austin told her.

Jolie lowered her head down and pulled some of her blonde hair over and there was a large lump on her head and when Austin felt it, she winced in pain.

Austin felt the anger building up inside and his expression changed instantly into a look of pure rage and he felt like he could tear someone apart in that moment.

"I'm gonna kill him," he growled through his gritted teeth, his hands tightening into fists and the vein in his neck bulging.

"Austin you promised not to get too mad and overreact! Please! This is why I was so scared to tell you!" Jolie pleaded, tears starting to form in her eyes.

His mind was so clouded with the need for revenge that he couldn't even hear her cries as he walked past her like he was in a trance and grabbed his Letterman's jacket off the back of the chair and his Jeep keys off the desk.

"Austin where are you going? What are you gonna do? Don't throw your whole future away over one idiot! Don't throw our future away Austin," she cried, grabbing his arm as he was heading out the door.

He paused for a second and came back to give her a kiss before saying, "No one is going to lay their hands on you like that and get away with it."