I hate this place. I hate this place. I hate this place.

A new day. A new day. A new day.

It didn't matter how many times I repeated the upbeat mantra in my head, it always faded back into I hate this place—and it had everything to do with the blond jock glaring daggers at me during second period.

Wherever he had disappeared to the week before must have fixed that horribly broken nose, and he was now as perfect as ever. Only a bruise on the bridge of the bone hinted at the break.

I tried to ignore him, I always had before, but this time was different. This wasn't that dark humored gaze, or hungry glare I was used to. The way he looked at me now was full of hateful vengeance, and I no longer had the Big Four to protect me.

I sank down lower in my seat.

I would just stick to the crowds today, eat lunch in the hallway, not wander off into empty halls. It would all be okay, and last resort I could just call Tate and have him pick me up early.

I tried to stay with the crowd of student's as much as possible on the way to third period, and was successfully able to squeeze into the classroom without any unfortunate run-ins. But then my eyes glanced up and locked on a whole new mental problem.

Rex was sitting in his usual spot at the back of class, except instead of staring out the window as he usually did, those dark chestnut eyes were completely locked on me—in a glare so icy I could feel it freeze the blood in my veins.

What did I do now?

I broke eye contact almost immediately and dropped quickly into my usual desk, my heart racing as I dug binders out of my backpack. I had to forget about him, forget about that look in his eyes. It would only hurt more and destroy what little attention I had for this class in the first place.

I could practically feel his eyes on me throughout the entire period, and it took all I had not to squirm constantly and glance back at him. When the bell finally rang I grabbed all my stuff and practically ran from the room as fast as I could, completely forgetting about the Jason issue.

I hate this place.

"Princess!"

Oh no, I couldn't deal with this today. I only took one pill. I shook my head and picked up my pace. We weren't friends, Rex made sure of that, and I didn't want to do anything to risk that boy's wrath—no matter how much I desperately wanted to hide behind the safety of Trey and the Dimajios. When they were around, Jason wasn't.

"I know you heard me, Rose!" Trey's voice grew louder as people started filing into the hallway, but I still didn't acknowledge him and turned quickly down the nearest corner to disappear into the girl's bathroom. I locked myself into a stall and braced my back against the cold metal.

I couldn't do this today, I couldn't. I only took one dosage, and too many things were happening. Too much stuff tearing at my mind and nerves, too much... I let out a long, shaky breath but refused to grab my phone and call Tate. I just needed a minute.

A minute turned to five, then ten, then before I knew it fourth period had completely passed and the bell for lunch was ringing. I opened my eyes, surprised to find myself sitting on the closed toilet seat with my head in my hands.

The school was no doubt going to call Luce about my 'skipping' fourth period, they already did when I walked out last week—and that was not a fun talk. It wasn't like she could really ground me though.

I had no friends, no hobbies, I wasn't really good at school, and I needed to have my phone to reach her. So, she just yelled at me for a while, and I'm sure that was what would be waiting for me tonight.

I pushed slowly out of the stall, my mind foggy as I went and washed my hands. Girls were streaming into the bathroom now, and I took that as a good sign that the hall was packed enough to slip discreetly into the crowd.

I stayed in the middle of the hall all the way to the lunchroom, and only broke away to take my usual seat at the very, very, back—In the table by the trash cans. I hadn't packed a lunch, and I wasn't going to bother with the line. I could hold off until dinner. I was never that hungry during the day anyway.

I only let out of a sigh of relief when I spotted that familiar blond head of hair sitting with the other football jocks at their designated table. He wasn't even looking in my direction. I refused to look in the direction of the Big Four, even though I knew none of them would be looking at me.

I didn't know what happened that made Rex glare at me like he had, or why Trey would be calling after me in the hallway, but hopefully they were only spur of the moment things. I just wanted the day to be over with.

I sat my backpack down on the table with a huff and took out my Calculus homework—the horror of every high school senior. I was completely tense through the first half of lunch, my mind too far off in stress-ville to pay any attention to the math in front of me. How could people do this stuff for a living?

Of course, it wasn't until I finally started to relax that something happened. Two very large hands slammed into the table barely a few inches in front of me, causing my homework and binder to jump almost as much as I did.

I almost squealed when my eyes shot up to the near furious pair gazing down at me, a pair I've never seen that mad before. "You are coming with me, now." Trey didn't wait for my response before he was scooping my things off the table, including my backpack, and turning on his heels.

"W-hat... Trey- Hey wait!" I called after his retreating back, the noise from the other student's blocking out our little interaction. He was already storming back across the lunch room with quick, angry, strides. I nearly had to jog to catch up with him.

"What's going on?" I gasped when I finally reached his side, though his gaze barely spared me a glance.

"I know you heard me earlier in the hall." Was all he muttered before he led us to the very table I had been avoiding looking at the entire hour. Unlike that morning, Rex was refusing to look at me, which I was rather grateful of—but even Brett looked a little angry, though Denton just gave me a sad smile.

"Sit." Trey ordered as he pulled out a chair and practically forced me into it. I frowned up at him, but he ignored it as he dumped my stuff onto the table and sat down heavily beside me.

"One of us is walking you to class for the rest of the day."

Whatever I had been expecting him to say was not that. I snapped my eyes up to him and stared like a gaping fish. "What? Why?" His angry gaze snapped down to mine, but I only blinked and clasped my hands tightly together in my lap. The scowl slowly slid from his face and his bright eyes softened.

"Jason has been-"

"Don't." Rex suddenly snarled from across the table, his dark eyes finally snapping towards us. Trey only ignored him.

"-talking a lot of shit today. A lot of really bad, stupid, shit that's only digging his own grave. Even so," He paused as Rex let out a harsh breath and turned his attention away once again. "It's best if he didn't have the opportunity to... talk to you today."

My eyes dropped to the table, my hands flexing nervously around each other. "I haven't been giving him the option. I-I don't think." I murmured as Trey's bright eyes darted to the student's around us. "I've been staying with the crowds, and I'm not going down any empty hallways, and I... and I'm trying not to need help."

I was all too aware of the stare in my direction, of the chestnut eyes of its owner as his body stiffened. I refused to lift my own off the table top. The boys were all silent for a moment, just a moment before Trey leaned a little closer. "And you're doing good, Princess. Just let us help for a while, yeah? We want to."

No, not at all of them.

But when I glanced up enough to blink over at the mountain that was Trey Maguire, he was smiling down at me with such a genuine concern that all I could do was nod.

The rest of the lunch hour was spent with Denton spewing some nonsense about baseball versus football and his brother shooting him down every time. Trey continued to watch the entire cafeteria like the security guard he suddenly was, and Rex remained completely silent—though he didn't leave like all the other times.

I would feel his gaze occasionally resting on me, but every time I raised my head his eyes would turn hard and he would glance away. Each time I was reminded of how much he did not want me there.

After making sure each of the boys had my afternoon schedule, and then deciding on which one would walk with me to each class—even Rex—Trey escorted me from the lunchroom before the bell even rang. He had to get to class all the way on the other side of the school and felt that leaving earlier was best.

"Alright, remember girly, don't leave this classroom unless Rex is waiting for you. Brett will walk you to your seventh period, and Denton will take you to eighth, alright?"

I nodded as he went over the plan once again before glancing around the empty hall. "And you're sure you have a ride home?" I nodded again as he reached up and ran a heavy hand through his sandy-colored short hair.

"Trey?" I asked just as the end of lunch bell finally rang. He raised his eyebrow in a way I was becoming all too familiar with. "What was Jason saying?" His eyes instantly darkened, and his face fell into a hard scowl.

"You don't want to know. Get to class, Princess, before the others start pouring in."

I frowned at his answer, but only nodded before slipping into the empty room. I didn't need to know what Jason was spewing around the school to understand that it was bad, and it was something about me.

Trey waited until I took my familiar seat, waved, then walked away. I let out a tight breath and prayed there wouldn't be an incident for the rest of the day.

I was nowhere near that lucky.

I was way too nervous about walking to next period with Rex that I didn't pay attention at all during class. I kept wondering about what we would talk about, if we were going to talk at all, if he would yell at me, or just glare the whole time. Or, worst of all, just completely ignored me—like I truly didn't exist.

Then again, he could just not show at all. He did make it pretty obvious that he wants nothing to do with me, wants his friends to have nothing to do with me. Why would he show?

I wouldn't blame him. He didn't owe me, if anything I was the one who owed him. He saved my butt from that monster twice, even though he wanted nothing to do with me. Rex was a good person. I didn't understand why no one else could see that.

But, despite the quickly growing fear that he wouldn't show and I would just have to stick to my original plan of staying with the crowds, he was already waiting outside when I stepped into the hall. His backpack long gone and his arms crossed firmly over that hard chest.

He gave me a quick once over, not like how Jason does, but like he was assessing me—deciding whether I was worth his time or not. But before I could think too long on it, he pushed off the wall and turned down the hall.

"Let's go."

I followed quietly behind him, too afraid to say something that would set him off. His legs were long and ate away at the ground like it was nothing. Just like Trey, I had to jog to keep up with him.

We walked in complete silence, though the crowd was far too loud to really hear each other anyway. He didn't completely ignore me like I thought, and he even paused once or twice so I could catch up to him, his eyes not as hard as usual. I knew it didn't mean anything, but I couldn't keep my heart from fluttering each time he glanced my way.

We were half way to my sixth period, the crowd slowly thinning out and quieting, when I finally felt brave enough to speak to him, even if it wasn't the smartest option. "I'm sorry." I blurted out as we walked off the stairs to the school's second landing. His dark eyes snapped down to mine, and hardened.

"For what?" His voice had turned into that icy sneer from before, the one that had made me want to curl into myself and never come out.

"For... for all of this. I know I said I would stay away from you guys, and I'm trying but-"

"Stop. Just fucking stop." He let out a hard sigh and reached up to run a hand through his dark hair. I snapped my mouth shut and glanced away as that familiar heat flamed the back of my neck.

"You really need to stop saying things like that. It's fucking annoying." He didn't sound angry as he spoke, just slightly annoyed as we pulled to a stop in front of the class.

I didn't respond to that, even though I knew I would never be able to stop apologizing when I made people angry, or I caused bad things to happen. It was owning up to my mistakes, my problems, in the only way I knew how.

"Thank you for walking with me." I murmured down to our feet, my eyes glued to our shoes. I hurried into the classroom before he could say anything. I didn't want to wait around for the harsh words that would fall from his lips.

He left quietly as soon as I was in my seat.

There's this thing my school does, a thing we all had forgotten. Half of the school goes on a break for thirty minutes during third period, and the other half goes for thirty minutes during sixth period. It's supposed to keep our minds sharp or whatever, but it threw a major wrench into the plan. Especially since Jason and I were in that same half of the school.

I clutched the straps of my bag in a death grip so tight I'm surprised my fingers didn't fall off as I practically raced down the nearly empty halls. I just had to get lost in the crowd taking their break in the front lawn of the school, it would be okay. Just needed to stick with my original plan.

I—thankfully—didn't see Jason in the halls as I hurried outside, though spotting him with his little football friends in the open field wasn't any better. Brett and Denton were both on the football team, quarterback and linebacker if I wasn't mistaken, but they never hung out with the team.

I knew it was a huge thing around the school a while ago, that our two best players wanted nothing to do with the others outside of the sport—everyone got over it eventually. But now I knew why they didn't hang out with them. Most of the football team were best buddies with Jason, and Brett's made it obvious more than once how much he hates the guy.

I tried to walk as inconspicuously as I could to the large tree near the parking lot. I could just hide in its shadow for most of the break, there were enough student's around that he wouldn't try anything and even if he did I could probably scream loud enough to be heard.

I crouched as far down in the tree's shadow as I could, facing the parking lot and pulled my hood over my head. Please, please, don't see me. It was just my luck the Big Four didn't have the same break period as us. Or, most of them didn't.

My face was buried in my phone, too focused on trying to ignore the nerves strumming through me to notice the furious being stalking in my direction.

"Get up."

My eyes snapped up to the extra shadow now adding to the tree's, dark eyes glaring in that familiar fire at the blonde across the field. "Rex?" My brow furrowed in confusion as his hard gaze snapped down to mine, his jaw clenched.

"Get the fuck up, now." His voice was a dark command, one that had me climbing to my feet immediately, my bag clutched tightly in my hands.

"What's going on-?"

His large hand was suddenly clamping over the old hoodie I stole from Tate and around my bicep, completely ignoring the question. His buff body began dragging me to the parking lot before I could react. "You're coming with me." He snapped and continued pulling me away from the field.

"But why-?"

I was interrupted again by a football 'whooshing' right past my head and straight into the car in front of us. It smacked against the metal door with a solid 'thunk'. "Where do you think you're going?!" The monster's voice hollered behind us, too close for comfort.

I stopped trying to question Rex and just let him pull me wherever he wanted. I would take his hard glares and harsh words any day over Jason Shepherd's appetite.

Rex was practically jogging into the parking lot now, tugging me through car after car. I had just spotted his sleek convertible at the back of the lot, relief flooding my system, when that football came out of nowhere again and slammed into my back.

"Ow!" I cried and stumbled forward at the impact, crashing right into Rex. The force wasn't great but it did surprise us both enough that it pushed him forward too. Even though he didn't stumble much and was even able to steady me before I hit the ground.

"Just fucking perfect." He hissed into my ear when he let go of my arms, though I didn't think it was directed at me—for once.

The fumble had cost us, and I followed his icy gaze over my shoulder to the group of four boys jogging easily our way—their heads thrown back in laughter.

"Stay behind me, and don't fucking say anything."

Before I could respond he was slipping my body behind him effortlessly and shielding me from the football player's view. It was all I could do not to press flat against his back in sheer terror. The monster had brought back up.

"Get lost Turner, this has nothing to do with you."

For a moment, just a moment, I actually thought he would leave me, but then I quickly shook that from my head and stepped closer. He was a good person, he wouldn't do that. I didn't care what everyone else said.

Despite the visible, stressed out mess I was, Rex seemed calmer than ever. He leaned slowly on one leg, his hands resting loosely in his jacket pockets, and his head was cocked to the side as if he were considering Jason's words.

I've seen Rex angry before, seen the way those eyes shot like daggers at anyone who made him mad. But this new calm, relaxed position of his was almost twice as terrifying.

"I think you're the one who needs to 'get lost'. You don't know what you're fucking with."