I whirled around and froze.

This could not be happening.

Standing in front of me was a boy. He was tall, but not taller than Ace. His chocolate brown eyes were looking at me in astonishment, as he stared at me. The same beautiful eyes that had made me agree to be 'his girl' two years ago. The wind rustled his wavy blond hair that reached up to his chin.

My eyes were literally bulging from shock as I stared at him in horror. How did he get here? What is he doing in this school? He can't be here, he's supposed to be in Australia.

A cruel smirk formed on his lips, raising goosebumps on my arms.

"It's nice to see you again, babe."

I recoiled away from him as if he had hit me. What am I doing? I can't act weak in front of him. He'll only use it against me. I gathered up all the courage I could muster, and stood up straighter, making me appear a tad bit taller.

"Don't. Call. Me. That." I hissed with venom in my voice.

He flinched slightly. I felt satisfied at his reaction, but it didn't last long. He seemed even more malevolent as his nasty smile came back. "Feisty. I like it even more," his tone send shivers down my spine. And they were not pleasant.

"What do you want, Luke?" I snapped at him, growing angrier as the seconds ticked off.

"Oh, I think you know what I want, don't you, babe?" he raised his eyebrows threateningly.

I backed away from him involuntarily. "N-no. I don't know what you're t-talking about." Who am I kidding? Of course I know what he wants.

"Do you want me to remind you exactly what I want?" He growled, taking a large step closer to me.

I, of course, backed away. Suddenly, something brushed past me, and the next thing I see is Ace, standing with his back to me in a protective stance.

"Don't you dare go near her," he snarled at Luke. My eyes widened at the sudden viciousness in Ace's voice.

Luke raised his eyebrows. "And who might you be?" He looked from Ace to me, and something flickered in his eyes. "Moved on, have we, Elora?" His eyes darkened considerably, and something like anger burned in his eyes.

"I...N-no...I mean-"

"Yes, she has moved on. And it'd be better for you if you move on as well. You're blocking our way." He grabbed my hand and pulled me along with him as he pushed past Luke.

Before I left, I heard the words that made my blood run cold.

"This isn't over yet, babe"

Ace's grip on my hand tightened, and I winced. He pulled me along faster, and before I knew it, we were by my locker. He let go of my hand, and when I looked up at him, I noticed a vein bulging out of his neck.

"Hey, El!" Beth came and engulfed me in a cheerful hug. She let go of me, and adverted her gaze from me to Ace.

"Um, is everything, uh, alright?" She asked uneasily. I bet she'd never seen Ace like this before.

Before he could reply, I muttered, "Yeah....I mean, no! I'll tell you everything later, Beth."

Beth knew everything about Luke, and my past. After all, she's like my sister. I tell her everything, no matter how big it is. Well, I didn't exactly have to tell her. She was with me at that time. She nodded at me, still looking at Ace warily.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Ace taking deep breaths to calm himself down. What is wrong with him? He's acting like a possessive boyfriend. A small giggle escaped my lips at that thought.

Beth and Ace looked at me like I was crazy. I giggled even more when I looked at Ace, still thinking about the 'possessive boyfriend' thing. As if he'll ever be my boyfriend. I rolled my eyes at my stupidity.

"You're starting to creep me out, El," Beth said,

At the same time, Ace said, "Do you normally act like a loner by giggling and rolling your eyes at yourself?" His voice was filled with amusement, all traces of anger gone.

"Haha, very mature Ace." I rolled my eyes at his comment, and opened my locker. I grabbed my gym clothes and shut my locker. "Aren't you going to go to your class?" I asked, turning to face Ace.

"He has class with us, dumbo," Beth said, smacking my head.

"Hey!" I protested angrily. "I...knew that already. I just meant, aren't you getting your clothes for gym?" I patted my back mentally for coming up with a good excuse.

"I already have them. Let's go to class, shall we?" He offered me his arm, as if to escort me down the aisle.

Ignoring him, I walked past him with Beth on one side of me. She's unusually quiet right now, I thought.

Ace fell into step beside me. He had his phone out, and he was texting someone. I got on my tip toes and tried to get a glimpse of his phone.

He glanced at me, annoyed, and nudged me with his elbow so I stumbled a little since I was standing on my toes. I glared at him.

"What? It's not my fault you were being nosy"

I turned away from him after nudging his side with my elbow, and faced Beth. She had this dazed look on her face, as if in trance.

"Hey, Beth? You alright?" I asked.

"Hmmm...just thinking."

Uh-oh. This was not good.

"Alright, keep thinking. And I mean, keep it to yourself. I don't wanna know."

Ace snorted.

She smiled wickedly at me. "Wanna come to a party today?"

I raised my eyebrows at her incredulously. I never went to any of the parties she attended and she knew that. Mostly because they were held by the jocks and cheerleaders of this school. And Beth knew how uncomfortable I was, going to a party, so she never really asked me. I was fine with that.

"...Your Mom's letting you throw a party?" I decided to play dumb.

"Are you kidding me? I wish, but no. Remember Alec?" He was the star athlete of this school. "The party's at his house. Everyone's going. And, well, I decided you need to live a little so...yeah."

"No. I'm not going. And that's final," I added, as she started protesting.

"But El, com'on! You'll have fun, I promise!"

"I said no. Nothing is going to change my mind. Not even if you come to my house with a dress or makeup, or stupid accessories that you use." I said sternly.

"Not even if I ask Ace to come with us?"

"What?!" Both me and Ace, who had been busy texting, exclaimed incredulously.

"I said-"

I cut her off. "I heard what you said, I meant, what, as in an 'Are you crazy' what."

"I'm not joking. What if he comes? Would you still not come?" She asked, looking a little smug about something.

"Uh. Yeah, I'm still not coming," I said, and her smug look fell off, and she looked at me in puzzlement.

"I'm hurt, Princess," Ace said, with hurt in his voice.

My head snapped up to his in shock. "I...I didn't mean it like that! I just-"

"I'm kidding, Princess," he snickered, and stalked off in the boy's locker room.

I didn't even realize we were by the locker rooms already. I quickly went inside, leaving Beth outside, since I knew she wouldn't stop bothering me about the whole 'party' topic.

"Hey, El. Were you serious when you said you still wouldn't come even if Ace comes to the party?" Beth asked out of nowhere.

I took off my T-shirt, and put the gym shirt on, on top of my tank top. "Yeah, I was serious. Why?"

"Oh. I just thought...I thought you liked him."

I choked on nothing, and whipped my head to her. "I don't like him!" I stuttered. Why did it feel like I was lying? Is it because I am lying? I mentally shook my head. I don't like him, do I?

"Yes you do, El. I can tell when you like something or when you don't. And you definitely like him," Beth folded her arms across her chest.

"But it's not the same! You can tell when I like something, not someone," I argued. But she was right. Lots of times, when I wanted something, Beth could immediately tell that I wanted it.

"Ellie, tell me this. You denied my brother's offer just a few weeks ago, when he asked you to give you a ride home on his Bike. Your excuse was that you were afraid of bikes. And today, I saw you riding a Motorcycle with Ace." She arched an eyebrow at me.

"That doesn't mean anything. I was getting late to school."

She ignored me like I'd said nothing. "Plus, you had your hair down, which I rarely see you do, even inside your own house. You throw a fit when you can't tie your hair up with something, and you didn't give a damn when you went out like that in front of him."

I realized she was right. I didn't even think about my hair once when I went out like that.

"That still doesn't mean I like him. I was getting late, and I knew I couldn't tie it up while I was sitting on the death machine."

" 'Cuz you were too busy pressing up against him," she smirked. "You think I didn't see anything?"

I blushed at her choice of words. I smacked her arm, and stormed out of the locker room, and outside. I started walking around, because the teacher wasn't here yet.

Someone came outside at that moment, and I turned to look at him. I completely froze as I saw who it was.

Luke.

I looked around frantically, trying to find someone I knew, and spotted Angelino and Zach, standing off to one side of the field. I started speed-walking towards them, but before I took even four steps, Luke grabbed my wrist and yanked me towards him.

I struggled in his grip, but his grip only tightened. His eyes were dark, no longer the brown color I had loved so much. "I told you it's not over," he spat through clenched teeth.

I tried to back away from him due to fear, but he yanked me forward once again.

"I'm not done with you! Don't even dare to try to walk away from me, do you understand?" His voice held so much chagrin, that I recoiled away from him.

My wrist was throbbing painfully, where he still had it in a death grip. I feebly tried to wrench it away from him. His eyes darkened in rage at my attempt to get away from him. He pressed his hand tighter around my wrist, and I gasped at the intense pain. Tears pricked at my eyes. He was really strong, that I could tell. And crazy.

"Let go of her." I recognized Angelino's voice. He sounded dangerously calm.

I whipped my head around, only to find Angelino and Zach standing next to each other. Angelino's face looked murderous. Zach's held a mixture of worry and anger as he glanced at my wrist, still in Luke's grip.

"And why would I do that?" Luke's voice was hard.

"Because you don't want to mess with us. There's two of us, and only one of you. And I assure you, soon it would be the whole population of boys against you," Zach's calm voice rang in my ear.

Luke's grip on my wrist loosened, and I needed no encouragement from anyone to tear my hand away from his.

I hastily backed away from him. Zach put a comforting hand on my shoulder, and I turned around and flung myself at him. He caught me in his arms in surprise, and hugged me comfortingly. I let my tears flow freely onto his shoulder. I was really scared right now, and didn't care what anyone thought of me. Plus, my wrist was throbbing painfully.

"Stay away from her," I heard Angelino threatening Luke in a low voice.

Luke walked away from us after shooting me a glare, and I saw him stand off to the side of the field, far away from us.

I snuggled my face into Zach's shoulder, and he rubbed his hand up and down my back soothingly.

"Sshh, it's okay now, Ellie. You're safe with us," Zach said quietly. Even though he didn't know anything about Luke, he sure knew that Luke was dangerous.

I pulled away from him, and wiped my tears away. I offered a small smile to Zach. He smiled back reassuringly, and patted my head. He glanced down at my hand, which was now red, right where my pulse should be and around it. I was going to have one heck of a bruise tomorrow.

"Please don't tell Ace about this," I said, pleadingly looking at Angelino and Zach.

They hesitated, then nodded reluctantly. I smiled at them both, "Thank you."

Just then, Beth came outside, looking a little breathless. She looked around, spotted me, and quickly made her way over to me.

"Hey, El, I just remembered that I didn't do any of my homework for today. So guess what I'm gonna do?"

"Com'on, Beth, not again! You promised me you won't ditch anymore!" I argued, trying to sound like I wasn't crying just a second ago.

"Oh, that was last year!" She waved me off. "And besides, I knew you'd try to stop me, so I waited for you to leave," she said with a grin on her face.

She started jogging away to the parking lot.

"Beth, Wait! Someone might see you!" I called after her, but it was no use. I felt stupid after calling out to her like that; someone would see her now that I said it.

"Adios!" she yelled back, and sprinted through the field and into the parking lot. I sighed, shaking my head.

I turned and faced Angelino and Zach, who were looking at her in disbelief and awe. I rolled my eyes.

"She's crazy," I said bluntly. They both chuckled at me.

"What's so funny?"

All three of us turned, and saw Ace standing a few inches away from us.

I panicked a little and looked at Zach and Angelino. Angelino gave a small nod, assuring me he won't tell Ace anything about what had happened. I quietly put my hand behind my back so he wouldn't notice the already forming bruise.

"Nothing, bro. Ello here was talking about how she loves the nickname I gave her," Angelino lied smoothly. He could've just told Ace about Beth ditching.

I glared at him. "Don't call me that. It makes me feel like I'm some kind of jello." Angelino and Ace snickered, and Zach gave a small chuckle which I knew was forced.

"Everyone listen up!" Ms. Kim's voice floated up to us. "We're going to be playing dodge ball today. I don't have the soccer ball today. I looked for it, but it seems to have vanished." Angelino, Ace, and Zach grinned at that. I looked at them suspiciously.

"Why do I get this weird feeling that you guys had something to do with it?" I whispered to the three of them.

"Maybe because we did," was Angelino's reply.

"Ace didn't like the fact that that particular soccer ball had touched you in any way...in this case, your head, so he decided to get rid of it," Zach grinned at me.

Ace smacked him across the head with his hand. "I don't like the fact of your existence. Maybe I should get rid of you too," he said in a sarcastic manner.

Ms. Kim's voice cut through our whispering. "So, everyone's going to be playing dodge ball today. You get to pick your team members." With that, Ms. Kim walked away.

A guy turned towards us. He looked at me and smiled. "Wanna be in my group?" He asked me.

I was about to reply, when Ace cut me off, by saying, "Sure, count us all in." He sounded challenging, as if daring the guy to say no to him. I gave him a strange look, while Zach and Angelino shared knowing looks. I shrugged it off.

The guy glared at him, and nodded reluctantly. The four of us walked to the group, and the game started. I was actually enjoying myself, as I dodged the balls easily. I was good at dodging, but not at catching.

I noticed, with a little satisfaction, that Luke was on the other team.

Until he got the ball, and he decided I would be his victim.

He walked to the right, so he could get a good aim, and with a smirk, raised the ball.

Everyone's attention was on us now, and they looked from me, to Luke. I guess they could all feel the tension between the two of us.

He pulled back his arm, and threw the ball hard. I was frozen in spot, too shocked to even move.

Out of nowhere, Ace threw himself in front of me, and just in time, too, and caught the ball. Everyone looked at him in awe, and some wolf-whistles were heard.

"You're out," he spat at Luke. I could hear the mock and hatred in his voice. Luke grumbled some incoherent words, and stormed to the other side where all the players that were out stood.

Ace looked at me, and gave me a heart-melting smile. I looked at him in admiration, as he continued catching the balls for me, whenever I wasn't paying attention to them, as the game continued.

Every game ended, with only me and Ace still left on our team. And of course, Angelino and Zach. It was like we were a separate team altogether.

The bell rang, indicating that the period was over. Ace looked at me one more time, before walking off towards the locker room after giving me a small nod. Angelino and Zach did the same, and Zach muttered a quick ''be safe" to me before he left.

As I stared after them, I realized how fortunate I was to have met them. Especially Ace.

I also realized, with a jolt, that I...I did like him. I told you so! I could already imagine Beth saying that to me. I still wouldn't care.

Yes, I'll admit it now. I really like Ace Horris.