Finally leaving school, my mind became foggy with a mixture of feelings, namely; doubt, confusion, hurt, and betrayal. I never thought the day would come where I would feel this way with Ethan. We shared many years of a wonderful friendship, had our inside jokes, places to hang out, deep conversations, and situations that we helped pull each other through but then, things went south when I had this infatuation.

I thought he was honest. I always felt like I could trust him, except today, I was proven wrong. Ethan had used me as a temporary escape from his controlling girlfriend and I was stupid enough to fall for the lies he weaved. It beat the hell out of me how Ethan could convince me into thinking he likes me when Elle's beauty and wisdom were unmatched by everyone in school.

"Trouble in paradise?" Kaleb asked with amusement gleaming in his oceanic hues as I caught them in the rearview mirror.

I didn't know what to say to that. Being at the back seat of his Chevy was awkward enough for me to explain about the incident back at school. Besides, I didn't want to give Emilio a bad first impression of Ethan. I would much rather be quiet until I reached home.

Kaleb risked a glance at me, then fixed his eyes again on the road. "You know we both saw what's going on, right?"

"Don't be nosy, man." Emilio's said, his eyes intent on the person driving beside him.

"Why? I'm just asking," Kaleb pestered, quirking his head to the side. "Also, he's a friend of my friend."

"Yes, you're friends with Ethan but Andrew isn't obligated to tell you everything that goes on with him," Emilio replied and Kaleb briefly turned his eyes upward.

Curiosity got the best of me and I blurted out. "You know Ethan?"

Emilio looked back at me and his lips curled up. "I saw him on my first day at school. The dude seriously has one of those faces where I'm like, 'Who is the intimidatingly cool guy over there?'"

"I know right? I still sort of get physically sick when people ask me to introduce them to him," I replied before the two of us cracked up laughing.

"You should all get together and start a fan club for him," Kaleb interrupted our moment. It caused my laughter to quickly die down, whereas, Emilio's intensified.

"Oh damn, what is that smell?" the new guy exclaimed making a sniffing gesture as he leaned in into Kaleb. "Jealousy?"

I stiffened in nervous anticipation as he said that, because I expected him to receive a solid punch in the face. However, Kaleb only gave away a scoff and kept his attention ahead. His sudden playfulness caught me off guard for sure. Since when was he so easygoing?

"So, you're staying here with your aunt, huh." I spoke up, trying to shake off the strange feeling in me at the thought. "Mind if I ask about your folks?" It was something I'd been wondering - what possibly brought Emilio into this town.

Emilio's expression changed and his smile was not as bright as it usually was. "They're separated. My mom stays in my hometown in Ohio."

"Why do you live here then? Is she with your other siblings?" I questioned while trying to interpret his glum look.

"You're nosy too, huh?" Emilio answered to which he drew out a low snicker from Kaleb and at the same my cheeks tinged in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry if I upset you," I murmured and he began to chuckle.

"Nah, I'm messing with you," he admitted before turning to his friend. "This guy is too precious, bless him."

Kaleb's eyes scrutinized me through the mirror. "Yes, Lio, yes he is."

"My mom kicked me out of the house because I don't agree with the way she doesn't spend my father's child support on me but on other useless things," Emilio said.

At that, my hands flew up to cover my mouth accompanied by a loud gasp. Emilio blinked, appeared to be incredibly surprised by the vehemence of my reaction.

"I told you he's fucking dramatic," Kaleb butted in only for Emilio to wave him off.

"I don't need your sympathy, man. I'm happy to live here with my aunt Alexis. It's better than being emotionally tortured at home. I know it's only been three days but this place feels better and the people are nicer," he reassured me.

Emilio's sob story was like a good reminder that I was hugely privileged and fortunate enough to live in a stable household with two parents who were happy together.

"Just don't get your hopes high because certain people here have tricks up their sleeves," I told Emilio while Kaleb and I shared sideways glances.

Emilio tugged on a smile, assuredly oblivious to the tension. "Thanks for the heads up, Andrew."

"Kaleb..." I trailed, as soon as I realized he had pulled into the parking lot of a store. "Why do we stop here?"

"My aunt asked me to buy her booze. You wanna come inside too?" Emilio invited me as he undid his seatbelt.

My head jerked in frantic disagreement. There might be someone I went to school with or my neighbors who would see me buying those items. "Wouldn't they ask for your ID?"

"Don't worry, bro. I have a fake one. You guys want anything from the store?" he asked, eyes bouncing between me and Kaleb.

"No," we both said in unison.

"He's wonderful," I murmured just loud enough for Kaleb to hear after Emilio had gone into the building to do his shopping. "What I can't wrap my head around is why he wants to be your friend."

Hearing that, his brows twitched together. "Why he wants to be my friend? Umm because I'm awesome. Duh."

"The kind of person to wake up and choose to inflict violence on other people? Nope, you're nowhere near awesome." I huffed out a humorless laugh after I told him off.

Kaleb looked back over his shoulder to scowl at me with the fury of a thousand suns' intensity. "Don't make me climb back there and show you what real violence is like."

"Take it easy. I was just kidding," I said and to my surprise, he turned in front again. I could see the muscles tensing in his lower jaw as he grounded his teeth together.

"I'm not proud of my actions but I gotta do what's necessary to get you away from Ethan. It's part of my responsibility if I want to clear my team's name of humiliation," he spoke after his anger eased off.

I needed to learn to control my tongue If I wanted to get home in one piece. "Everything is going according to your wish. We hardly see each other now."

"Then who's tailing my car seemingly for you like a miserable puppy back there?" Kaleb asked aloud.

I threw my head back and groaned. "Did it occur to you that Ethan doesn't care about people's opinion who he's friend's with?"

"Of course, I knew. Why else would I be here talking to you?" Kaleb snarled.

"Wow, this whole car ride thing is a just setup," I muttered. "Why am I not surprised?"

"I mean no harm other than to make you understand the reason for my doings," Kaleb talked, and now his tone was patronizing.

It was my turn to scowl. "What I've understood is you're trying to justify your misbehavior towards me."

"I'm just gonna jump right in. Ethan is being subjected to bullying. You might see him as a respected captain on the field but it's a different story in the locker room. Some of the dudes had said crude things behind his back and made fag jokes about you two to his face. I was there and it's embarrassing," he spat.

I looked at him questionably. "I don't trust anything that comes out from your mouth."

"Who says I need your trust?" Kaleb sneered. "You should've noticed he's out of his character lately. Off the top, he's missed two practices, has gotten into fights with his girl and he's smoked weed during the season. If you haven't realized you're the source of his problems, you're not as clever as people think you are."

His words pierced through right into my heart with ease and later coursed past my mind to create more doubts. "Ethan never said he was bullied," I murmured, a sad feeling filling my chest.

"Are you that dense, Landry? He's never going to say this to you because he puts your feelings ahead of his own, dammit!" Kaleb snapped menacingly.

"What can I do to stop the bullies?" I choked out as I felt my throat constricting.

"Many things and you can start by keeping your distance from Ethan. I don't want him anywhere near you, you understand that?" Kaleb said in a final tone.

My emotions were everywhere. I didn't know whether I should feel more pity for Ethan or be less mad at him. Just conflicted. As for now, I only wanted to be in bed, hold a pillow under my head, and cry my eyes out.

"Fine. You can have him all to yourself. I'm done doing this with you," I responded to a stupefied Kaleb before I opened the door and slipped out.

**

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