"Detention for you, Ms.Forbes," were the first words I heard as I entered the classroom.

I looked up. Old Mrs.Smith was scowling at me like I'd committed a murder instead of only having come late to class.

I figured it would be of no use trying to argue with her. It's not like she was going to listen to me, right?

"Sure," I said,nonchalantly as I made my way to the back of the class.

I was too happy with what had happened just a few minutes ago with Aaron to get upset over this.

What seemed like hours later, the bell finally rang and I hurriedly gathered my things.I wanted to leave that hell hole as soon as I could. Not like the rest of the school was any better, though.

"Yo, Ashley!" someone called me.

I turned around. It was Cole.

"Hi!"

"I need your help," he said right away.

"Sure. What's up?"

"I have an essay due tomorrow."

I nodded. "And?"

"Do it for me."

I gave him an unimpressed look."Yeah,no."

"But Ashleeey.I don't even have time to do it today," he pouted.

No,no,no.This was not going to work again. This was absolutely-

"Pretty please?"

I had to give in. It was those puppy dog eyes. I had to.

"Fine. I'll do it."

"You're the best!" he exclaimed,pulling me into a bone crushing hug.

"Let go of me!" I squeaked,trying to get him off me.

He pulled away and grinned at me.

"Why can't you do it again?" I shot him a suspicious look.

"Oh, it's just...Oh,you know just some... family stuff," he shrugged.

"Right.",I narrowed my eyes at him."Where's Trent,by the way?" I asked him.

"Do I look like his mother?"

I gave him a once over and pretended to think about it.

"Well now that you've mentioned it..."

He smacked me upside the head."You're such a loser."

"Hey!" I protested. I suddenly remembered I had a class to get to."Crap,I'm going to be late again," I grunted before sprinting off to my class.

Luckily, the teacher hadn't come yet.

I quickly sat down on the first empty seat that I found.

I sighed. Now my doing-nothing time was gone,thanks to Cole.

An hour later I was sat in the cafeteria with Trent, sipping Coke.

"Where are the others?" I asked. It was already twenty minutes into the break and none of them had shown up.

"Well, Cole's with the new girl," he began.

New girl?

"What new girl?"

He shrugged. "He's being pretty secretive about it. He won't tell me."

How strange. I realised thats what "family time" was about. That little...

"Where's Aaron?" Trent asked, eating his sandwich.

Aaron. Dear God, that boy.

"I don't know."

"Well, I gotta get going. I have to study a bit for a test later today," Trent said, suddenly getting up.

"See ya later, Trenty," I muttered.

"See you Ashon," he replied.

"What?"

"Yeah, you know. Ashley and Aaron —Ashon."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa.Where did that come from?"

He winked. "Bye Ash."

And with that he walked away.

Shaking my head in disbelief, I finished what was left of my lunch and headed to my next class. I was early but that was better than running at the last minute and giving my lungs a hard time, right?

"Hey, Ashley!"

It was Elena, the girl from my History class.

"Hi Elena," I said as I slid into the chair next to her.

"Haven't seen you in a while."

"I guess I've been kinda busy," I shrugged, thinking of all that had happened in the past few days.

The teacher entered the class just then, putting an end to our conversation.

***

"So, you wanna hang out later today?" I asked Elena as we walked out of the classroom.

"Yeah, that'd be great," Elena replied .

Just then I saw Aaron approaching me and I instantly felt myself smile.

"Hey Ashy,"Aaron grinned the moment he saw me.

"Hi," I grinned back at him. "Where were you? I didn't see you today."

"Aww, looks like someone missed me," he waggled his eyebrows.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Aaron," I replied, although I had missed him. Yep, I was screwed.

He laughed. "Hi," he said to Elena, whom we'd both completely forgotten about.

"Hey, I'm Elena," she gave him a polite smile.

After I had introduced them to each other, Aaron went to his locker to get his stuff.

"See you in a minute,Ashy," he winked at me and left.

"Oh.My.God," Elena said as soon as Aaron was out of earshot.

"What?" I asked, snapping my head towards her.

"You both soooo like each other."

"What?No way," I laughed it off. I didn't know why I kept denying it when I knew it was the truth. At least on my part it was. I didn't know if Aaron felt that way too.

"What do you mean?" she asked, rolling her eyes."You are clearly crazy about him and he clearly likes you back!" she exclaimed looking overenthusiastic.

"No, no, no. There is nothing like that, okay?"

By this time my cheeks had already heated up.

Was it so obvious that I liked him? And even if it was, why did she think Aaron liked me back?

Maybe it was because of his flirty tone.Yeah, that must be it! But she did not know Aaron. Because if she did, she'd know that he flirted with every single girl he found.

I started laughing.

"What?" she asked, looking at me incredulously.

"You're really funny, that's what," I laughed again.

"Look, I know I don't know either of you well, but I do know the signs when I see them. So trust me on this, alright?"

"Really?" I asked, still unable to believe her.

"So tell me, do you or do you not like him?" she asked challengingly.

"I, uh...Fine..Yes I do. I like him."

It felt both relieving and strange to say it out loud to someone.

She smirked."Knew it."

"But how can you be sure that he likes me back?" I asked, very confused now.

"What?" a voice asked and I stiffened.

It was Aaron.

***