| Lydia

"You're in town for what, two minutes? And you're sticking your dick where it doesn't belong?!" Riley shouted, grabbing a fistful of Carter's jacket as he pulled him along the side of the car and away from Lydia.

"You'd know all about that," she scoffed.

She had to adjust her stance as she was no longer between Carter's legs. She defensively folded her arms across her chest and stared at her ex as he kept a grasp on her friends clothing.

"I thought we were friends?" Riley continued, ignoring Lydia's snide remark. Carter didn't seem one bit bothered about the confrontation. He pushed Riley's hands off and adjusted his jacket with a smug smile.

"I thought you were a decent guy," Carter shrugged and the two tall boys got up close and personal, staring each other down with twitching jaws and balled fists.

Lydia sighed with frustration at the situation. It was typical. She might as well not exist with all of this ego taking up space. "Riley, leave. You've got no right to come out here and start throwing your testosterone around. You're one caveman move away from pissing all over me."

"Don't go near her," Riley warned, pointing a finger at Carter who was the picture of confidence, tall and staunch despite his smaller build. "Don't even think about touchin-"

"We already slept together," Lydia announced.

Both of the boys whipped their heads in her direction and while she noticed a brief look of surprise on Carter's face, the devastation on Riley's held her attention far more.

"He got here two days ago!" Riley cried.

"Yeah. I know."

"Almost four years together and you slept with him that fast?!"

"I'm curious," Lydia held a balled fist under her chin and adopted a thoughtful expression. "Was that going through your head when you cheated on me with a nameless stranger?"

She knew that she had him with that. How could he possibly argue? Well, he couldn't. And that's when he turned his aggression on Carter, bowling him up against the car with his collar clutched in his fists. Carter's back hit the vehicle with a thud and he grunted as Riley pulled him up and slammed him against it once more, shouting about what a traitor he was.

"What the hells going on?!" Nathan shouted, storming across the parking lot from the direction of the gym. Carter stood up right and gave Riley a violent shove in the chest, putting a foot of space between them.

The timing couldn't have been worse. Lydia was sure that punches were about to be thrown and with Carter's boxing experience, she was sure that he would have done a good job. Some twisted part of her wanted to see her ex get his comings.

Carter and Riley reluctantly dropped their challenging stares as Nathan came to a stop beside them. He glanced between the three students and it didn't take a genius to see that some sort of pathetic teenage triangle of drama was unfolding.

"Lydia, go home," Nathan ordered.

"Wait, what?"

He gave her the slightest nod and she understood that he was giving her an out. A chance to head home and have a breather. She wanted to hug him but she figured it would be best to keep it professional.

"Good idea Coach Bryan," Carter nodded as he retrieved his keys from his pocket. He swung them around his finger and dropped an arm around Lydia's shoulder. "I'll drive her home."

"No you won't," Nathan rolled his eyes and pulled him back before he could take two steps. "Get to class."

"Yeah I can do that too." Carter spun on his heel and sauntered off, flicking his hood back up. Once he was out of Nathan's line of vision, he turned around and gave her a wink, mouthing something about the weekend that she couldn't quite make out but she smiled nonetheless.

"Lydia," Riley stepped forward but she shook her head and took a step back, dropping the smile that she'd been wearing. It didn't matter though because Nathan was between them in a matter of seconds, pointing in the direction of the gym.

"Go and start warm ups. Lunch is almost over. I'll be back in ten minutes," he instructed.

"Can I jus-"

"No," he cut him off. "You're lucky that we have a student- coach relationship kid. Real lucky. Now get to the gym."

Riley gave up when he realised that the coach all but threatened him. He didn't realise how blessed he was that Nathan wasn't just her step Dad.

Riley stuffed his hands in his school pants and sulked off across the wet parking lot as a fresh snow fall began to flitter from the sky, dusting the concrete with specks of white powder.

"You okay?" Nathan asked, handing her the keys to his pick up. She nodded and wrapped her cold fingers around them. "Take the car home. I'll get a ride."

"Thanks," Lydia gave her step father a quick hug, grateful that he looked out for her so well.

"Do yourself a favour and cook dinner tonight," Nathan suggested as he started to stroll backwards, his shoulders becoming damp with melted snow. "It'll help with the frustration when Mom finds out you were home all afternoon."

Lydia laughed but agreed and soon she was was in the pick up, headed home for solace and quiet. She became a little nervous when she swung into the drive. For some irrational reason she thought someone might be home. She just desperately wanted some time herself.

Her concerns were squashed when she opened the front door and not a sound could be heard from inside the home. She wandered around the kitchen for a few minutes, opening and closing the cupboards and fridge while she tried to decide what she could cook for dinner.

Her mind was made up when she counted all of the ingredients to make home made pizzas. She pulled the bases out of the freezer and threw them on to the counter top to defrost before she went upstairs to change.

After she was in a jumper and a pair of jeans, she gave Vidia some snacks and a scratch and then flopped down on her bed, letting her mind wander to the dramatic events of the afternoon. She felt kind of bad for throwing Carter under the bus by claiming that they had slept together and if he wanted, she'd take it back.

She'd said it in a moment of anger. She wanted to hurt Riley the same way that he had hurt her. But she knew that she shouldn't have brought Carter into it. She smiled as she thought about the fact that he didn't call her out in front of Riley for talking shit. He'd have been within his right to.

Her phone buzzed beside her head and she rolled on to her stomach, swiping the message open and smiling.