Amber's pov:

"Dadddd..." I whine, trying to get away from him as he chases me from one side of the house to another.

He had a determination to get answers out of me.

Trying to quickly gather my school stuff for the day and hoping to not miss my bus was almost impossible with my Dad rapidly firing questions at me one after another.

What questions may you ask?

"What?! I just want to know how your date went."

"It wasn't a date!!!" I say, shoving all my stuff in my book bag as he stands a few feet away from me, not satisfied with my answer.

"I don't think I believe that. No only did he drop you off like any boyfriend would, you arrived blushing... blushing I tell you!!!" He says, crossing his arms over his chest.

"He was just dropping me off from hanging out with our friends... and I wasn't blushing!!!"

But deep down, I know I probably was.

I think I must have a permanent blush when I am around him, no wonder my dad is so suspicious.

"Oh don't play with me missy. I've known you since you were born, heck I was the first person to hold you in their arms after your mother, and trust me when I say this that I've never seen you look so nervous in front of a boy before in my life!"

"Dad I-..."

"WAIT!!!"

I look at him confusedly as he continues, "Is he the boy that Liam always talks about when he is here!!!"

Liam.

I'm.

Going.

To.

Kill.

You.

"No...?"

"Yes he is!!! I knew it!!! I always wondered why Liam brought up that name at times when he's been here. I always thought the name Damien was just some random actor or somethin that you had a crush on. But after connecting the dots it all makes sense now!" My dad smirks as I look away, embarrassed.

"I-...Ugh." I couldn't even argue with his words because he was completely right.

It's just embarrassing that your dad knows who your crush is.

And the worst part is that Liam has been mentioning Damien's name for years. My dad probably connected that, figuring out that I've liked this boy for that long.

"Awww, sweetie there is nothing to be embarrassed about. I've had my fair share of crushes throughout my life, it's a natural thing."

Somebody plan my funeral please.

I don't want a boy talk.

I don't want a boy talk.

I don't walk a boy talk!!!

"I know, it's just... weird when people know about your crush. Liam was already enough and that was just one person." I say truthfully.

But let's be honest, by now I think the whole entire world knows.

I still have to ask Liam who he's all told, because I am almost positive that he told all our friends.

Not that I don't trust them, but I would probably throw myself in a hole if Damien found it.

I wouldn't even be surprised if he thought I was a stalker for liking him for so long.

But I also have to consider the fact that there are tons of other girls in my school who are crushing on Damien also.

So maybe he's used to it and won't freak out about it that much...?

"Well if it makes you feel any better, your secret is safe with me." My dad says, pretending to zip his lips, causing a small smile to form on my lips.

"I already knew you wouldn't tell anybody, I trust you. It's just... lately I haven't been feeling the same way about Liam."

I glance at the clock, realizing that I had a few more minutes, I sit down on the kitchen stool, my dad taking the one right beside me.

"What do you mean? You and Liam have had each other's backs since preschool."

I shrug my shoulders, feeling guilty for what I was thinking, "I know, Liam is my best friend, and I love him so, so much. But lately, I've been going back and forth whether he's told other people or not. I feel like I can trust Liam with anything, so there shouldn't be a real reason to be worried."

"But..."

"But it's just that things haven't been adding up. It almost feels like everyone around me knows, and at first, I tried to ignore it and think that me liking him just seemed obvious, but now I'm kinda scared. No, terrified. I'm terrified that Damien will find out that I like him."

I've never really talked to my dad about a crush before, so it felt kinda weird explaining my feelings about it to him.

But the whole time I was explaining it, he was listening to my words intently while nodding his head, making me feel a little bit more comfortable.

"I understand you're scared about Damien finding out, but I honestly think you should just sit down and talk to Liam about it. Tell him how worried about it you are, and knowing him, I bet that this is all a misunderstanding. But when you said it seems like the people around you know, are you talking about all your new friends."

I nod my head, "Yes."

He sits there, thinking for a moment, "Well, I've known that group for a while now, and I don't think it's something to be stressed about. They all seem like a wonderful group of kids, so even if they did find out, I doubt that they would tell Damien to ruin your guys friendship. But have you considered the fact that maybe you're not the one that they might know something about?"

I stare at him confused, "What do you mean?"

But instead of answering my question, he stands up, patting my head, "The bus is going to be here soon, you better go put some shoes on."

"Wait, you didn't answer my question."

At my words, I see a small grin on his face as he turns away from me, still ignoring the question.

"Maybe I'll tell you when you aren't shoeless."

"Dad!!!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He never ended up telling me.

Maybe because it was because I took too long to put on my shoes and nearly missed the bus, but I'm convinced that it was because he didn't want to tell me and wanted me to figure it out on my own.

But ignoring that, I decide to actual take my dads advice and talk to Liam.

Maybe it's just all in my head.

I think the stress of Damien finding out was just getting to me and I was over reacting for no reason.

Walking into school, I look around for a while until finally spotting Liam, who was stuffing books into his locker.

"Hey Liam!" I give him a small smile, as he turns towards me.

"Amber!!! How's my favorite person on the planet doing today?" My grin falters, trying to block out the guilt in my heart for all my previous thoughts from this morning.

"It's been... okay. I actually wanted to talk to you about something that's been bothering me. But please promise not to be mad." I say, holding out my pinkie as he stares at it confusedly.

"You're scaring me a little bit." He stares at me for a second before interlocking my pinkie with his.

Looking around to make sure there wasn't anybody that could hear our conversation, I lean towards Liam.

"Uhm... by any chance, did you tell anybody about my crush on Damien?"

Liam looks at me confusedly for a few seconds before laughing.

...

Wait laughing?

"Thats what's bothering you," he laughs, "Amber I haven't told a single soul since you've told me all those years ago."

"Not even any of our new friends?"

He nods his head, "Of course I didn't. I know that we've grown pretty close to them these last few days, but I'm not just going to tell them your deep darkest secret, even if it is pretty easy to tell that you have a crush on him."

I feel my face heat up at his words as he laughs, shoving the last book in his locker before closing it.

"Where is this coming from all of a sudden anyways?"

I sigh, "Particularly from last night. When I got into bed last night, I started thinking about the whole day and I just found it strange that they all seemed to... know."

"Coming from your best friend," he points to himself, "me, I wouldn't be surprised if they found out, you guys were basically flirting the whole time yesterday-..." I quickly cover his mouth as I see all of our friends walking towards our direction.

But not longer after that, I felt a wetness on my hand.

"Gross!!! Did you just lick me?!" I say disgusted as I look down at my hand to see that it was indeed covered with saliva.

"Eww, eww, eww!!!!" I rub my hand on Liam's arm.

"Ew it's sticky!!!"

"It's your saliva doofus!!!"

"It doesn't make it any less sticky!"

"But at least the stickiness came from your own body!"

"Is this a bad time?" We look up like deers in headlights at the sound of Julie's voice as she takes in the seen in front of her, everyone else eventually arriving a few seconds after her.

"Sadly, moments like these are normal for me." She laughs at my words as I take a bottle of hand sanitizer from the pocket of my back pack and put it on.

"You know Liam, you remind me of a very close friend of mine. You guys would get a long perfect together." Julie says, but I couldn't miss the small sparkle in her eyes as I felt like there was more behind her words than I was catching on too.

Like when you are watching a movie and know what two characters are probably going to end up together even before the characters have met?

That was the strange vibe that I felt from her.

Liam nods his head at her words and they begin to chat, but I move away and closer to Damien, who was towards the back of the group on his phone while everyone else was chatting amongst themselves.

"Hey Damien!" He looks up from his phone, giving me a toothy grin.

"Hi Amber! How are you today?"

"Im pretty okay, other than the fact that I have a huge math test today."

He winces, "Yeah I have that same class after you. Definitely not prepared but I think we will do all right."

I smile at his words, "You're right, but other than that, how are you today? You seem like you are in a good mood."

At my words, the smile on his face widens, "Actually, I am. This morning, we got a call from the hospital telling us how well my sister is doing with her new medication."

I clap my hands excitedly, "Are you serious?! Damien that's great! I'm so happy for her."

His eyes glimmer as he watches me jump up and down, a big smile on my face from the news.

But my words were true.

Ever since I met his little sister, Layla, she's had a special place in my heart.

She deserves so much more in the world than to be laying on that hospital bed every single day and night.

"So yeah, that was probably one of the best starts to my day."

"One of them? There are more?" I raise my eyebrow as he looks away, his ears turning slightly pink by my words.

"Actually-... that's it."

"Really? Not even my presence was counted as a good start?" I joke, but for some reason, he chuckles nervously.

"M-maybe. But now that you've brought up the math test... I think I would have to think otherwise." he gives me a playful glare.

"Sorry, sorry! But in my defense, you were the one who asked me how I was today." I say, matter of factly.

His cute, doe eyes continue to give me a playful glare while he scrunches his nose, "Next time I won't. Hah!"

I laugh, "Bet!"

He was about to say it back but Gianna's words cut him off by doing so.

"Who's that?" She asks, pointing towards the entrance of the school.

Confused by her words, we all look to where she was pointing and indeed, entering the school was a girl that I've never seen before.

She was dressed in high wasted black jeans, a red crop top, but not so much to get her in trouble with dress code, and black heels.

"Why is she giving me 80's fashion vibes-..."

"Luke!!! You can't say that, it's rude." Ella says, whacking his chest as he flinches.

"Sorry babe..."

"Whipped." Ally coughs as everyone laughs, except Luke, who crossed his arms pouting at her words.

"I think I actually overheard my teacher talking about there being a new student, and from what I remember, apparently she got expelled from her last school." Julie says.

"By doing what?" Liam asks, looking at Julie than back at the girl.

Julie shrugs her shoulders, "She didn't say, so I'm not sure."

Turning away from the girl, we all face one another as Julie pulls out her phone, looking at the screen before a large smile appears on her face.

"What are you so smiley about?" Luke asks, trying to look at Julie's phone, but she quickly hides the screen from his curious eyes.

"Ohhhh, protective boyfriend alert, someone's in trouble-..."

"What-... Gianna! No!!!" Julie says, a small blush forming on her cheeks as everyone laughs.

"Julie, baby, I just wish I was there with you-..." Luke starts to say mockingly before Julie hits him in the arm to shut him up.

"Why am I always getting abused!!!"

"Because you speak more than your brain can function." Gianna smirks.

"Ella!"

"Not again," she closes her eyes as if she is collecting her thoughts, or maybe even sanity, before looking at Julie, "but seriously, what did he say?"

The smile soon reappears on her face, "He said that him, Zander, and Jake are able to all visit this weekend!"

"Wait really?!!"

"Who's the smiley one now, hmmm." Julie teases Gianna.

"Okay excuse me... Unlike you who gets to see her boyfriend twice a week, I only get to see mine twice a month." She says, matter of factly.

"It's not my fault Ashton is only a half an hour away!!! It just happens that he can visit... a lot."

Gianna laughs, "If you say so..."

Julie just ignores her words and turns towards Liam and I.

"I already mentioned the idea with Ashton and the two other boys, they would love to meet you guys as well."

"Wait really?!" Liam says excitingly, while I on the other hand take in the information.

It was just crazy to think that not so long ago we joined the friend group, and by her telling us that the last three actually want to meet us, it almost feels like we are now "officially" part of the friend group.

"Of course!! They know that we don't just ask anybody to be in our friend group." Julie says.

Gianna nods her head, "Exactly, I like to call it a sixth sense."

"You mean to tell me the other five are working." Luke mutters under his breath as Gianna shoots him a glare.

"Murder is my seventh."

...

"OH SH-..."