"-to class. I'll see you at lunch?" Melissa's voice interrupted my thoughts and I faltered in my step, looking up at her.

"Come again?"

She gave me a slightly amused look that looked more like a grimace. "I said I'm going to class. I'll see you in the cafeteria?" Melissa repeated and I nodded, forcing a smile on my face and hugging her.

"Of course. Bye." I replied, waving and she walked away, her body tense and gaze directed to the ground. I sighed as I watched her go.

It was the start of a new week, yet evidently what had happened last week still haunted Melissa. After her ugly confrontation with Taylor she'd become a shell of her talkative self, with a sad look always present on her face. It would lift here and there if we said the right things but her face would always settle back into a forlorn expression. It was hard seeing her like that, and even harder seeing Taylor strut around like she hadn't demolished her cousin's self-esteem.

I suspected Taylor had ice instead of blood running through her veins, her heart a chilled stone, pumping maliciousness through her being.

Or maybe she put up a good front and actually regretted her actions. But I doubted it, whenever I saw her she had a look of indifference, and I knew if asked if she would go back and humiliate Melissa again her answer would be affirmative.

I let go of my thoughts, glancing at the time. I had a couple of minutes until my class started but I needed to go to the bathroom, my bra was digging into my skin and I couldn't adjust it in the public eye. Hopefully my teacher would be late as well.

I headed towards the girls bathroom, entering and locking myself into a stall. I hung my bag on the hook and removed my shirt when I heard the door open. I was about to adjust my bra when I heard an unmistakable voice.

"I'm literally in shock right now." Taylor's silky smooth voice carried through the bathroom.

"Maybe..." Someone who I recognised to be Alyssa started.

"Maybe what?" Taylor snapped, her tone sending chills down my spine. "Maybe he didn't mean to completely disregard my feelings towards him? Maybe he didn't mean to once again pick Woods over me? Maybe he didn't mean to practically rip my heart out and stomp all over it?" Disgust and hurt coated her words.

To my surprise, Alyssa let out a giggle. "Tay, I think you've been watching too many Spanish dramas."

Taylor scoffed. "Why not when my life is practically like one? Ugh!" She groaned, and I heard the clang of something, so I assumed she'd threw something out of frustration.

As quietly as I could I closed the toilet seat lid and sat down, class could wait. This was an opportunity to get an insight into Taylor's head before I made my mind up about her, I was not about to lose it.

"Okay, drama queen. Look, it's probably just heat in the moment type of thing. I'm sure Brock didn't mean what he said." Alyssa replied and I perked up hearing Brock's name, hoping they'd elaborate.

"You didn't see his expression, Alyssa. It was the most serious I'd seen him. All because of my weird cousin and Woods." Taylor replied bitterly.

"Look, sulking won't get us anywhere. Let's go over what he said again and think of how you can get through to him." Alyssa said firmly and Taylor let out a sigh in response.

"Okay, so I approached him this morning playfully, and he just looked so pissed when he saw me." Taylor started. "So I asked who peed in his cereal, and he said he didn't want to speak to me."

"I thought he was joking so I kept bothering him, and he just snapped at me." She continued in a hurt voice. I covered my mouth in an attempt to stop my laughter coming out.

"Brock said what I'd done to Melissa last week was cruel and horrible, and he didn't associate with cruel people. He said he'd also turned a blind eye to how I'd been treating Woods," She said my name with such disgust.

"But not anymore because he valued her as a friend and blah, blah blah. He said I had to apologise to both of them and truly change my ways if we were even to be friends." Taylor finished.

"Friends, Alyssa! So I'm back on square one! I knew he was going to ask me as his date to the game this Friday but because of those chicas estupidas all my progress is ruined." Taylor finished dramatically.

I was thrilled, I was thinking Brock and my friendship had run its course but from what I was hearing I could give him another chance.

"Well, maybe apologising isn't the worst idea..." Alyssa said quietly. I could imagine the glare Taylor sent her.

"I'm Taylor Marisetta," Taylor started in a hard voice. "I do not apologise."

"And frankly I don't regret my actions to either of them," She continued. "I did my cousin a favour by humbling her, as remember she was the one talking rubbish about me. I just returned the favour, so how am I the bad guy?"

"Didn't you mention something about Chloe and Brock the other day?" Taylor asked.

"Oh yeah, you see how they're not on speaking terms? Stop smiling like that, you weirdo. Anyway, so Brock tried to speak to her and she was all like 'why speak to me when you can speak to Taylor?' that just screams jealously."

I held back a laugh. As if I'd ever be jealous of Taylor. Respect me, please.

"Hmm, just furthers my point. But where was I? Oh yes, why I refuse to belittle myself by apologising. If I was to apologise I'd be lying through my teeth because I'm in no way sorry, and children of God don't lie." Taylor finished smugly and Alyssa burst out laughing.

"Now you want to claim that you're a child of God?" Alyssa laughed.

"Plus, Woods has been getting on my nerves lately." Taylor carried on, ignoring her friend's question. "We need to do something about her."

A smile formed on my face. The looks on their faces when I came out and confronted them would be picture-worthy.

But should I confront them? Maybe I'd hear the rest of their 'plan' first...

"You really think she's that much of a threat?" Alyssa asked doubtfully.

"Unfortunately, yes. She's the only person in this school that doesn't quiver when I walk past them. I have little or rather no control over her, which I hate." I smiled, feeling flattered.

"Because you're a control freak." Alyssa teased.

"Not to be stereotypical, but I'm practically Queen of this school, Lyssa. What type of Queen would I be if I had no control over my subjects?"

"A poor one, Tay." Alyssa agreed.

"Exactly. So first step is to deal with her. Second step is to win Brock over."

"Then you might want to reconsider step one, Taylor. Think logically, Chloe is the main reason Brock's mad at you. How is 'dealing with her' going to help win him over?"

There was a pregnant pause.

"I hate when your right." Taylor finally grumbled. "Ugh, why does he have to have such a good heart? My exes would have never demanded me become a better person."

"That's why their exes for a reason, silly. You're acting as if he's asking you to go to a third world country and build a school or something."

"I'd rather do that then speak to Woods or Melissa." Taylor replied bluntly, and then she sighed.

"Okay, I'll speak to Melissa; my mum's been nagging me about her anyway. That should satisfy Brock. And I'll be civil with Woods... for now." Taylor resolved and Alyssa made a satisfied noise.

"Cool, let's go to chemistry then. We should have missed Sir asking for homework by now."

"You know he'll just ask when we enter, Alyssa."

"Shoot, Library it is then."

Taylor giggled and I waited as they washed their hands, dried them then finally left.

I hurriedly adjusted my bra, put my shirt back on and left the toilet stall. Even though I hadn't used the toilet I still washed my hands, who knew the amount of germs that could be on them?

I ran a brush through my hair and brought out my perfume, giving myself a few spritz. Finally I applied lip balm and was ready to go. Hopefully Taylor and Alyssa hadn't made it far.

I quietly opened the toilet door, looking both ways and smirking when I spotted them a bit in front of me. They were slow walkers.

I let the toilet door close with a loud slam, smirking widely at Taylor and Alyssa when they turned around to see the source of the noise. My satisfaction grew when they froze at the sight of me. In a few long strides I reached them.

"Taylor. Alyssa." I acknowledged with an innocent smile on my face. Alyssa looked slightly embarrassed but Taylor's hazel eyes pierced through me.

"Woods." She replied coldly.

"I was wondering if you happened to know what class Brock is in." I continued sweetly, and then feigned a shocked look. "Oops, I forgot you're not on... speaking terms at the moment." I gave her a wide smile. She looked unfazed but her eyes shooting daggers at me said otherwise.

"Anyway, good luck with your talk with Melissa." I finished, just so they knew undoubtedly I'd heard their entire conversation. Alyssa's eyes narrowed and Taylor let out a deep breath, then gave me a smile, suspiring me.

"Thank you, Chloe." She said and walked off with Alyssa. I didn't know what surprised me more, her smiling at me or her use of my first name.

But I knew for sure that both unnerved me.

What were you planning Taylor Marisetta?

*****

It was lunch time and I was partaking in a staring contest with Elijah, which I was obviously winning. I was close enough to see the tears forming in his eyes from the strain.

"Just give up," I taunted without breaking eye-contact.

"Never." He replied resolutely.

"Why not?" I asked softly. "Maya won't think any less of you, if that's what you're afraid of."

"Don't listen to her, babe!" Maya exclaimed from my right. "I will think less of you. Don't. Blink."

I heard movement on my left and was tempted to see what was happening but forced myself to stare into Elijah's brown eyes.

"You have nice eyes." I complimented. He didn't reply, just stared stonily at me. "But I bet they look better, shut."

"That was lame, Chloe." John booed at my attempt at trash talk. "That didn't even make sense."

"I think I see something in your eye." I carried on as if John hadn't spoken. "Maybe an eyelash?"

"Nice try." Elijah replied. "But my eyes feel perfectly fine."

"Which is why they're red and filled with tears, huh?"

"You know, Chloe, you're a lot of talk." Elijah told me. "Maybe you're speaking to take away from the fact that you know you will lose this staring contest?"

Our onlookers let out a noise at his response in unison.

My nose wrinkled slightly. "You know what; I'll just let my skill speak for myself."

Elijah moved closer by a centimetre. "Bring it."

"There's thirty second left on the clock, and they've been going at it for three minutes now. Any bets on who's going to win?" Cory asked loudly in a commentator's voice.

"I bet an easy ten that Elijah's winning." Maya replied confidently.

"My money's on Chloe, her trash talking may be lacking but she's good at staring." John retorted. I extended my fist to him without breaking eye-contact and he bumped it.

"Nah, Elijah's never lost a staring contest before." Benji interjected. "Sorry Clo, but you're toast."

"Elijah's toast with butter, Chloe told me she used to practice not blinking as a child." Teresa argued and I saw them all turn to me in my peripheral vision.

I shrugged. "I had a lot of free time."

"Fifteen seconds on the clock... Oh, is that a tear sliding down Elijah's cheek?" Cory's voice boomed around us. Maya hurriedly came over with a tissue and gently wiped it away.

"And Chloe's eyes have turned slightly red..." Cory continued.

"Red is a good colour on her." John defended and I smiled slightly, narrowing my eyes.

"Five seconds, four, three, two, one!" Everyone counted in unison and the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch. I knew I would be practically stampeded on if I didn't move but losing was not in my blood.

The sound of footsteps and chairs skidding on the ground filled my ears but I focused on the brown of Elijah's eyes. This would have been terribly awkward if I had a crush on him.

I knew I looked better than Elijah, he was clearly holding on by a thread. His eyes were red and filled with tears, but his jaw was set. I knew he wasn't budging anytime soon, so I knew I had to take on a different tactic.

I shifted slightly when someone bumped into my chair roughly, but managed to not blink.

"Watch it, punk!" John snapped at them and I snickered internally. He was such a dork.

"Do you guys not have class?" The offender mumbled to themselves before moving on. We all had a free period actually, so we were in no rush.

The atmosphere was tense, with everyone quietly focused on us. They knew one of us was bound to break soon.

Specifically, Elijah.

I shifted my gaze to his eyebrow and frowned slightly. Then I looked closer and my eyes widened in horror.

"I'm not taking the bait, Chloe." Elijah told me smugly. I didn't move my gaze from his bushy eyebrow.

"That's fine, if you want that small bug to have babies on your face." I replied and Maya got up and approached us.

"She's lying, there's nothing on your eyebrow." Maya told him after looking closely.

I smirked. "Of course she would say that, she doesn't want you to blink. Don't you feel it? It's moving closer to your eyelid."

Elijah's mask cracked and he looked panicked, but didn't blink. "Maya, I feel something!" He exclaimed. I knew he had a hate for insects, and was it wrong to use it against him? Maybe.

Did I regret it? No.

"There's nothing there, I promise!"

"Then why do I feel its tiny legs-"

"You blinked!" I shouted victoriously, abruptly standing up. "He blinked! I'm the winner!"

I started doing my victory dance while John and Teresa cheered me on. Elijah placed his head in his hands and Maya and Benji looked downcast as they handed over money to my supporters.

"Come on, we don't need to see this." Benji told Elijah gently as he stood up. I smiled widely at the trio.

"Good game, Elijah." I said, holding out my hand for him to shake with a smug smirk on my face. He met my eyes and shook it hard.

"Would have been if you didn't play dirty." Maya piped up.

"Sore loser isn't a good look on you, cuz." Teresa immediately retorted smugly.

"Well, cheating isn't a good look either."

"Maybe take care of your boyfriend's irrational fear before accusing Chloe of cheating-"

"Alright guys, calm down." Cory intervened, chuckling. Maya gave Teresa one last glare before dramatically stalking off with Elijah and Benji who sent me a small smile which I gladly returned.

"Ah, victory smells sweet." John sighed as he looked at the cash in his hands.

"It does indeed." Teresa agreed as we stood up, collecting our things to go. We walked out of the cafeteria joyfully and headed to the library. I was about to enter after them when someone's hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to see Brock with a wary expression.

"Is it cool if I talk to you for a minute?" He asked in a low voice. I nodded with an impassive expression, stepping away from the entrance and leading the way down the hallway. We stopped at the end of it and I turned to look at him.

"So, I reflected over my actions during the weekend," Brock started, shoving his hands inside his sweatpants pockets. "And I realised I've been a really horrible friend to you. It was selfish and rude of me to choose Taylor over you when she sat in your seat and disrespected you. I'm really sorry, Chloe."

"I know it's not enough to just apologise, so I've spoke to Taylor. I made it clear that I can't pursue things with her if she continues to act cruelly to you and Melissa and asked her to apologise. If she doesn't then, I guess that's it." He finished, peering at me hopefully.

I couldn't keep a blank expression any longer; I let my smile burst out as I threw my arms around him. I felt him breathe in relief as he hugged me back.

"So I take it that I'm forgiven?" Brock asked once we separated. My smile widened.

"Yeah. I was starting to get bored without you anyway, so why not." I replied. He smirked.

"Aw, I knew you missed me."

"I mean bored of not having anyone else to annoy. The other guys aren't as reactive." I clarified, giggling when his smirk dropped.

Brock rolled his eyes. "Whatever, I'm just happy we're cool again. It sucks not speaking to your best friend."

I raised an eyebrow. "You seemed fine to me."

"I was upset internally." He reassured me and I nodded sarcastically.

"I've been meaning to ask, what do you see in Taylor anyway? We've already confirmed that you have feelings for her. But I don't get it? Sure, she's beautiful on outside but hideous on the inside." I asked unapologetically. Brock looked slightly thrown off, his eyebrows furrowing.

He took a minute to think before replying. "Taylor may be arrogant, rude, selfish and have no filter 90% of the time, but when she shows me that 10% of her that's smart, funny, caring and shy it makes me forget about the bad. I feel like she holds that hard exterior to see who cares enough to try and get past it. And for whatever reason, I do. I think I see something in her so pure and beautiful that's hidden behind a lot of problems. And whenever I get a glimpse of that, I can't help but like her. And I do like her, more than I wished I did." Brock answered with sincerity coating his words and affections shining in his dark eyes.

The Taylor I knew and the one he spoke so passionately about didn't match up. But I could see his point, sometimes hope allowed us to see the good in people that might not actually be there.

I nodded with a small smile on my lips and my hands placed on my chest. "The way you talk about her is adorable."

Brock sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, his gaze on the ground with a shy expression. "Whatever." He grumbled. "Let's just go to the library."

As we walked he spoke again. "I was thinking of asking her to come for me to the game this Friday then we could do somewhere afterwards." Brock said it in a way that implied he was expecting me to blow up on him. His body had tensed and his expression was wary as if waiting for a shouting match, and it broke my heart.

Sure, I believe Taylor had no good bone in her body. I believed Brock deserved someone way better than her and she would do nothing but hurt him. I believed dating her would be some sort of betrayal to me.

But above all that, I knew Brock was my best friend, and that meant while I could voice my concerns to him, I had the duty to ultimately support him with his decisions and comfort him if they turned out wrong.

I wouldn't be happy with them together, but I would be happy seeing Brock happy. And that was all that mattered.

"Brock, listen." I started, standing still and turning him to face me. He met my gaze uncertainly.