The bell rang for the last time that day and everyone jumped out their seats. "Thank you class, I'll see you tomorrow! Have a great afterno..." the teacher trailed off realising no one was listening. She met eyes with me, "Oh, Ms. Heart. May you please come to my desk?"

I sighed and walked to the table,"Yes Miss Richards?"

"Marcus told me that you helped him study for the Maths test," she said.

"Yeah, he's a good learner." I nodded.

"Very good. In fact, he got second highest in the class," she stated and I grinned.

"He's paying attention in class as well," Miss Richards added. "I'd like it if you helped him study for the other subjects... to help his grades improve."

I smiled, holding the strap of my backpack tightly,"I'd love to." I turned around and walked to the door.

"I'm proud of him." Miss Richards smiled.

I grinned with her,"Me too." I walked out the door. "Thanks, Miss Richards!"

I called out.

Walking confidently through the hallways, I smiled at the guy who nodded at me.

Marcus had always hated Math. He would fail and he wouldn't care. Hearing that he got an A in class really made me proud of him. My heart sped up when I spotted him walking in the boys' locker room with Sam and Kendall.

"Marcus!" I called and he looked at me, immediately breaking into a grin.

I walked faster to him, with probably the goofiest smile on my face. Marcus' arms slowly rose up as I got closer to him.

Marcus was about to hug me but I ducked down and hugged Kendall instead. Sam and Kendall chuckled and looked at Marcus. Marcus forced out a chuckle and clenched his fists.

I pulled away from Kendall as who had also hugged me back, and quickly hugged Marcus. "Whoa, Marcus, chill!" I laughed. "I was just kidding."

"Well, you don't kid me with other dudes. Especially with them," Marcus said, hugging me while glaring at Sam and Kendall.

"What do you mean? They aren't that bad," I said, turning to look at the boys that looked like twins. Sam and Kendall scoffed simultaneously at my comment.

"You seriously don't know their other side yet," Marcus murmured.

Sam and Kendall quirked the eyebrow at me as they slightly tilted their heads to the side. Marcus shook his head and walked inside the boys' locker room. Sam and Kendall followed with and I stood outside, waiting for them.

"Come in, nerd," Sam said.

"Uhm," I hummed. "I don't think so... I'll wait."

"It's empty," Kendall stated and held my hand, leading me inside.

"Geez, it's smells weird in here," I commented as I looked around the locker room. I sat on the wooden bench as I awkwardly looked around. Trying not to make contact with the three bare-chested boys in front of me.

"Sam," I said and he turned to me after he wore his grey vest.

"Are you with somebody?" I asked and I saw Marcus pause to look at Sam.

"Yes, in fact I am. Sorry, Alyssa." he chuckled.

I scoffed,"I'm good with Marcus. Thanks," I rolled my eyes at Sam. Marcus smiled to himself and I smiled.

"What about you, Kendall?" I asked.

He shrugged,"It's complicated," he replied and unzipped his jeans.

"Oh." I nodded. They took off their shirts and I looked down. I heard Sam chuckle, my cheeks heating up due to them being shirtless. A minute passed and they were all dressed up for practice. I stood up with my backpack and left the locker room. They followed me and we went to the school's field.

I was greeted by a group of boys and I greeted back, suddenly blushing. I sat at the middle row of the bleachers and placed my backpack next to it. I took out a chocolate bar from my backpack and started eating. Marcus, Sam and Kendall came in sight and started jogging around the field with the other boys, waiting for their coach to arrive.

"Run, run boys! All I see is waddling!" the coach shouted, entering the field. "Malcolm, you can run faster than that! Liam, I bet a sloth could crawl faster than you. And Marcus, stop staring at the young lady!" the coach yelled at them and pointed at me.

The boys chuckled and so did I. Marcus smiled and chuckled, looking down. "Stop!" the coach ordered and they slowed to a stop, panting.

"So you all know that we're about to face one of the most strongest schools ever: Wolvecott High," the coach said. "And they have never lost a single match within the past four years. One of the reasons being, is because of one player," he explained.

"What's this guy's name?" One of the boys asked.

"I'm not sure," Coach replied.

"Why would someone name their kid that?" the same boy said and everyone laughed including me. Marcus looked up and met eyes with me again, smiling widely. I blew him a kiss and his eyes widened as he grabbed it and patted it on his chest.

The coach stared at Marcus while he had been doing that. He turned to me and I quickly looked away, chewing awkwardly. "Marcus, you're acting insane. What the hell are you doing?" the coach exclaimed.

"Busy with my girlfriend," he replied simply. The coach sighed.

"If she's going to be a distraction then she shouldn't even sit with the subs during the match," he said.

"I'm sorry then," he chuckled and glanced at me.

Wink.

I shook my head, smiling. Practice was fun to watch, Marcus and the boys were making jokes all the time though they played very well. I walked down the bleachers and to Marcus and his group of friends.

"Hi." I nodded at them and looked at Marcus. He walked over to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"Eww, you're sweaty." I chuckled and tried to move away from him.

"Well I'm sorry," he said and hugged me while we walked to the bleachers to fetch his things. He took his sports bag and bottle of water. He gulped it down until it was almost empty. We left the field with Sam and Kendall and went back to the boys' locker room. Since more boys started coming in, I left and waited for Marcus by his car.

After about 20 minutes, I saw them exit the school, laughing at their own conversation. Marcus, Sam and Kendall got in the car and I got in the passenger side. "Was anybody strange talking to you or staring at you?" Marcus asked me as he drove.

"Yeah, you," I quipped and the two boys sitting in the backseat chuckled.

Marcus glanced at me with a smile and he chuckled. "Seriously, Baby cheeks. Did anyone talk to you when we weren't there?"

"Nope," I replied.

Marcus nodded and placed his arm on my thigh causing me to blush,"So... we've decided today is the day." he said.

"Today's the day for what?" I asked in confusion.

"We teach you how to use a gun," Sam and Kendall said simultaneously and I turned to them and saw a smirk plastered on their faces.

"Really?" the grin on my face widened.

"I wanted to teach you yesterday but... I got a little occupied," Marcus said, his hand slowly rubbing my inner thigh.

"S- so where are we going?" I stammered as my skin burned from his touch.

"Well... since you know about the house and the gang, I'll teach you there," he replied.

A split second later, my phone started ringing and I sighed. I took it out of my backpack and saw it my mom was videocalling me. "Who is it?" Marcus asked me.

"My mother is videocalling me," I answered and Marcus smiled.

"Well... answer I want to say hi." he grinned.

"Eh, I don't think my mom will like me in a car with three dangerous-looking dudes." I turned to Sam and Kendall and they shrugged.

"Just answer it," Marcus said.

I answered the call and saw a random lady's face, she looked a bit old. She gasped when she saw me. "Sydney, I think it's... on," she said to my mother and gave the phone to her. When I saw my mom, I smiled and almost went teary.

"Mo-- ohhh..." I trailed off when I saw she looked extremely tired, her hair was a mess and somehow had a branch and a few leaves stuck in it. "You had quite a day," I said and looked at her worridly though with a smile on my face.

"No kidding." she chuckled and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I mean it's great and all but I hate when kids get stuck in trees. I had to rescue three kids today." she laughed. "Three!" she yelled, taking me by surprise and Marcus laughed.

"Geez, I--"

"I only sleep four hours a day since I keep hearing weird animal noises at night and we rarely eat anything good," she ranted and sighed. I awkwardly looked at Marcus who was smiling and I looked back at mom.

"Anyway... how is at home? How's school? Where are you now?" she asked.

"School's great," I replied.

"How about the house? Are you inviting Marcus over?" she asked and narrowed her eyes at me.

"Uhm..." I glanced at Marcus. He saw the look on my face and took the phone from my hands. "Hey--"

"Hi, Mrs. Heart," he greeted and I glared at Marcus. He looked at me and winked.

"Sawyer? What at you doing with my daughter?" she asked.

"We just came back from school and we're taking her out." he turned the car.

"We?" she repeated.

"Marcus," I whispered desperately trying to get his attention. "Marcus!"

"Yes, we. Meet her friends," Marcus said and angled the phone so that all of us would be in the video. Marcus looked back at the road as Sam and Kendall greeted my mother.

"She looks like your sister," Sam and Kendall said and my cheeks heated as I felt slightly embarrassed.

"Why thank you boys," my mother said. I knew she was smiling."What are your names?" she asked.

"Sam."

"Kendall."

Suddenly the phone went black and we shared a look, the screen was back on and we saw Alyson. She frowned, "Aww, no fair! Alyssa gets to hang out with hot boys while I'm hanging out with freaks--"

I chuckled. "I miss you guys."

"I miss you too, sweetie. Please be safe okay, I can't call the police to arrest the boys with you because we gotta go hiking in a minute," mom said. "I love you. Bye boys."

"I love you," I said.

"Bye Mrs. Heart!" the boys said in unison.

I sighed and glared at Marcus,"I could just choke you sometimes."

"That'll only happen in the--"

"In what?" I interuppted him.

Marcus smirked and said nothing. We stopped by the woods again, we got out and Sam walked to the back of the car. He opened the truck and took out a black backpack and shut the trunk, walking towards us.

Marcus held my hand as we walked deeper into the woods, deep to the point that I didn't even know where we were. Finally Marcus stopped and I saw the house though we were a distance away from it. Sam opened the backpack and took out a gun and threw it to Marcus and he caught it with ease.

"Wouldn't it be wonderful if the gun went off when you caught it?" I said sarcastically as I slightly glared at Marcus.

"Okay, baby cheeks." he walked beside me and I watched how he held the gun. He pointed at nothing and shut his one eye. He pulled the trigger and I jumped in fright.

"Holy shi--"

"Easy enough," Marcus commented. Suddenly the door of the house burst open and the whole gang rushed out with their guns in the hands. They saw us and they groaned.

"What the fuck? You gave us a fright!" Cameron exclaimed.

"I told you that we'll be teaching her how to shoot here," Marcus yelled back.

"Asshole," Cameron murmured.

"What?" Marcus said as Cameron said nothing and walked back in the house.

I looked back at Marcus,"I think I can try it." I said and Marcus stood behind me as we both held the gun and pointed forward.

"Just focus, baby," Marcus whispered, his breath fanning against my neck.

"Marcus, you're making me lose focus," I whispered back with a grin on my face. Marcus chuckled and I stared at how a held the gun. Then stared at where it would shoot.

"3... 2... 1," he whispered and we pulled the trigger. The force made me push back a bit and but Marcus held me tight. "Well done, baby cheeks. But we need to practice a bit more."

I smiled and took the gun from his hand. I searched for an object on the grass and saw a pinecone. I picked it up and threw it in the air. Feeling bold, I aimed at the cone and pulled the trigger.

I missed by an inch and I groaned. Marcus grinned at me,"That was wonderful."

"I used to do archery," I stated and smiled.

"That was very good for a beginner," Kendall said. I grinned wider as I looked at Marcus. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and stood behind me.

"Let's just get your stance right," he said.