since the parking lot incident, and I had no idea if he was still mad at me. Sure, I had seen him several times during my Sophomore year, but before then, I couldn't recall seeing him around.

That was probably the reason why I believed him when he told me he came to Hill-wood during sophomore year, but since it was a lie and he grew up here, how come I hadn't seen him before?

Though I genuinely wanted to stop looking for Caelum's secrets—because it was the right thing to do, and I didn't want to be selfish this time—I knew it was going to be difficult.

Rome wasn't built in a day, and it sure as hell couldn't be taken down in a day. It seemed my self-centeredness grew over time and I had no idea, but I couldn't just change overnight.

A large part of me still wanted to satisfy my curiosity—even after everything Mother had said. I just hoped my decision wasn't going to turn out to be my worst decision yet.

"How did you do?" Clara glanced at Melanie from over the question paper she was holding.

Melanie shrugged. "Okay, I guess."

"Mine was okay too," Emery chipped in, and I nodded when three pairs of eyes turned to me.

"Good," Clara returned her attention to her paper. "What was your answer to the first question Mel?"

"Uh..." Melanie coughed. "I can't remember the question."

Clara raised the paper to her. "Do you remember it now?"

Melanie nodded, cracking her knuckles. "What was your answer?"

"I picked option C," Clara said, still holding the paper. "Sickle cell anemia obviously results from a point mutation in the HBB gene."

"Same!" Melanie exclaimed. "That was the same thing I picked."

Clara nodded, turning the paper around, before pointing at a chemical equation. "What about this one?"

Melanie sent a look I couldn't decipher to Emery, before asking Clara the same question she asked before. Clara narrowed her eyes, but gave her the answer and Melanie yelled a 'same, that was the exact thing I wrote.'

At that point, I saw exactly what Melanie was doing, and I bit my lips to prevent my laughter from spilling out. Clara pointed at another equation, before asking Melanie for her answer.

This time around, Melanie used her fingers to wipe the table before standing. "This table is dusty," she said. "I'm going to look for a rag."

I couldn't hold it in any longer so I let my laughter fill the air, and Emery joined in seconds later.

Clara chuckled, dropping the paper on the table. "She told some dude I knew the answer to all the questions, and the boy wouldn't stop disturbing me. Think of it as a way of getting back at her."

"She had to go look for a rag," Emery tittered. "I feel bad for her though."

I opened my mouth to speak but was cut off by Clara. "Talking about feeling bad, where did you suddenly disappear to during the weekend?"

And here I was, thinking they weren't going to bring it up.

"Reading," I said. She gave me a look and I complied. "I felt really bad."

Emery quirked a brow in confusion. "What? Why?"

I shrugged. "I realized I wasn't a good friend."

"What the fuck!" Clara yelled, and the other students in the cafeteria turned to look at us. I glared at her before sending a small apology their way. When they finally looked away, Clara continued. "Why would you even think that way?"

Emery agreed. "True, you're like the bestest friend in the world."

Clara nodded in agreement. "What she said."

I shook my head at them and made them understand things from my view. "Emery, when you had that issue with Cole," I said. "I had promised to be there but I wasn't. I didn't know when you spoke to him, or when he apologized, and even though you didn't tell me, I know I didn't do the right thing. Plus, a good amount of our conversations were about me and only me, and it was wrong of me to always put myself first."

She opened her mouth but I raised a finger and fixed my gaze on Clara. "Thinking about it now, I treated you and Melanie like business partners and not friends, and I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I'm going to become a better friend from now, even if it takes forever."

They let the silence fill the air before Clara spoke. "Wow, I didn't see things this way."

"Me neither," Emery muttered.

I nodded in agreement. "I didn't see things that way too until my mother pointed it out."

"Don't worry about it Daesyn, nobody's perfect." Emery looked up with a small smile. "And for the record, even if you hadn't apologized, I wouldn't stop being friends with you. You're kind, smart, funny, and an amazing person overall. I wouldn't trade you for the world."

"What she said. Only that I'd trade you for real golds and diamonds," Clara said, and I grinned. "But when shit's about to go down, you should try responding to our calls, or messages. I swear, I thought you were admitted to the hospital or something."

"Yeah," Emery said, then fully turned to me. "We sent you multiple texts and voicemails, but you didn't respond to any. Not even Caelum's."

"I'm really sor—"

"Caelum called her?" Clara asked.

"Yes," Emery said. "He was worried sick. You should've seen his face when Daesyn didn't come for tutoring and didn't respond to our texts."

My heart warmed when I heard that, and I couldn't prevent my lips from quirking up at the sides.

"Holy shit!" Clara exclaimed, stretching her index finger out to me. "You're fucked."

Melanie plopped herself on the chair beside me, with a frown. "Who's fucked?"

"Daesyn," Emery pointed out, and I shook my head at her. She never failed to throw me under the bus, every time.

Melanie placed her elbows on the table, leaning forward. From the gleam in her eyes, I knew she was genuinely interested in whatever the girls had to say. "How?"

Emery opened her mouth to speak, but Clara cut her off before she started. "Where's the rag, Mel?" Melanie leaned away from the table with a shrug. "Don't even bother answering that," Clara said. "Daesyn is fucked because she has a crush on Caelum."

Melanie narrowed her eyes at me, and I could see the wheels turning in her head.

"I do not have a crush on Caelum!" I argued. "Who even told you that Clara?"

When Clara gestured towards Emery, I knew I was really fucked. I gave her a look saying 'Jesus Christ, Em!' and she rose her hands in surrender.

"And even if Emery didn't tell me," Clara said. "I would've found out either way. Girl, you weren't subtle about it."

I peeked a glance at Melanie, who was tapping her long nails on the table, before turning back to Clara. "I so was."

"Hot damn!" she snickered. "You just indirectly confessed your feelings for Caelum."

Emery nodded, and I sent her a glare. "Shut up, you guys."

Clara ignored me. "Remember that day in the diner? When Melanie said she tried to kiss Caelum?" I narrowed my eyes at her, but she continued. "Yeah, the way you banged your fists on the table just made things clearer."

Melanie nodded, still tapping her fingers on the table. "I see."

I chuckled awkwardly. "Don't worry about it, Mel," I said. "Caelum doesn't even like me that way. It's just a silly crush."

"Hold on." Melanie rose a finger. "I knew this was going to happen, believe me. I knew you were going to fall for that boy, every girl in our school has a crush on him. Clara even did before she met Luke." Clara instantly glared at her, but Melanie didn't seem fazed. "So, I'm not going to rant on and on about it. But, why isn't Emery saying anything about it?"

I pursed my lips. "Huh?"

She shrugged. "Emery should have a problem with you and Caelum."

"True," Clara chirped in, and I sighed. "When we all became friends, she told us—" she gestured between herself and Melanie. "—that her brother was a no-go area, and she was going to stop being friends with us if we thought of having a relationship with Caelum."

My eyes popped out of the sockets, and even though my mouth was wide opened, I had no words. Why didn't Emery tell me any of this? I mean she told me she didn't have a problem with my crush on Caelum, and even after everything, she told me Caelum was going to come around, so what was I hearing?

"Shut up Clara," Emery finally spoke. "Just drop it."

Clara raised her hands in surrender, before packing her books from the table. "Fine." She snapped her fingers at Melanie. "I have to go home now, are you coming with?"

"Yup." Melanie nodded, standing and pointing a manicured finger to me. "If Emery is letting you get close to her brother, she should have a damn good reason why she didn't want me to do the same."

Clara nodded. "Even though I'd love to sit and chat with you guys about why Caelum is this and isn't that," she said. "Or why Emery let you do this and didn't let you do that, I have a lot of studying to do. So, see you tomorrow Daesyn boo and Emery bear."

Emery muttered a 'bye,' while I giggled at the names, and sent a small wave to the both of them. "See you tomorrow."

Minutes later, after Melanie's and Clara's departure, I turned to Emery and used my thumb to gesture to the door behind me. "Shouldn't we like go too?"

Emery nodded. "Yeah, I'm going to call Caelum from the music room, so you could wait in the parking lot."

Before I opened my mouth to speak, she was out of the cafeteria.

When Emery and Caelum came to meet me outside, I could sense the tension in the air, and from the looks on both their faces, it was obvious they got into an argument. Caelum gave me a tight-lipped smile—once again—when I said 'hi,' and Emery rolled her eyes at his behavior.

On our way home, I was amazed at how Emery's eyeballs weren't stuck at the back of her head from the number of times she rolled them, or how the steering wheels were still stuck on the car from how tightly Caelum gripped them.

I wish I knew what went through their heads.

-

Author's note:

Yay, I uploaded!!

I finally decided to update twice/thrice a week.

And, I changed the title from 'Finding You,' to 'What Lies Beyond You.' I mean I found it pretty annoying whenever I searched up Finding You, and like seven hundred and eighty seven books popped out (just exaggerating).

So, I completed the movie I was watching months ago 'Fall From Grace,' and I lo_oved it. You need to watch it :))