A week passed and I had many assignments due. I was practically swamped with them. I had studied at home, in the diner after work and even in the school library. When I had cheer practice I tried to keep to myself and do what I was asked to do. Cadence tried many times to talk to me and she even looked upset when I'd walk away. But if it wasn't for Charlotte glaring at me immensely from the bleachers, I would talk to Cadence. But clearly I couldn't even do that.

School has gotten even tougher now that I had no one to be with for the whole day. I'd hide and pretend like I didn't see them when my "friends" would come nearby. I could tell they were super confused that I was suddenly not with them anymore, but that only made me even more confused. That was what they wanted, right? I felt like an absolute idiot. I embarrassed myself.

Theo, on the other hand, he was busy and was attending the odd classes here and there. I could tell things were going well for him and Stephanie because she hadn't stopped talking about him. She was super loud in the corridors clearly aiming her "friendliness" with Theo at me. They were close. Super close that I'd accidentally see them snogging and physically groping each other behind walls when they thought they were hidden. They always seemed to keep it under their wing and pretend in the open that they were just ex's. What I didn't know was why they were hiding it from everyone.

I trudged down into the kitchen and took out my strawberry milk only to see it wasn't there. I was joking when I said Callum could have it. I was trying to make it all not a big deal.

I slammed the fridge door closed and walked upstairs back into my room. I almost tripped on one of my highlighters as my pencil case was again, sprawled out all over the floor due to my hardcore studying I had just been through for hours on end. I slipped my feet into my trainers and sighed to myself. My Mom was over at my grandma's with Zoe and Callum was out again. I was completely home alone.

I slipped out of my previous sweater and pulled another out from my cupboard. But just as I did that, I caught site of one particular one. A sweater that made my skin crawl and breathing labour. I gulped and pulled it out, unfolding it. It unravelled and I immediately got a whiff of his nice scent. I hadn't washed it since the day he gave it to me - which reminded me - I had to give it back to him at some point.

I jumped out of my skin and immediately shoved away the sweater back where it came from as I heard something hit my window. In fact I could see it happen. I furrowed my eyebrows and stayed rooted to my spot. But it kept happening. It looked like miniature pebbles were hitting my glass window and I was afraid it would break it so I raced on over to the window and looked down at the suspected culprit. There, standing, was Angel and Cadence. They both stared up at me, waiting for me to appear and as soon as they saw I did, they looked relieved. I frowned. What were they doing here at my home?

Angel gave me a silent but awkward wave and I found myself waving back. I continued to stare at them before I realised how creepy that must of looked so instead, I raced down the stairs and pulled open the front door. Angel and Cadence looked even more relieved that I was here in front of them and in two quick seconds they were running at me and engulfing me tightly into a hug.

I stood, confused. I didn't wrap my arms around them like I normally would've. I just, kind of, stood there, frozen. Frozen like I had seen a ghost.

"We have a lot of explaining to do." Cadence said as she and Angel pulled out of the hug. I nodded wordlessly and gestured for them to come inside. They did, of course. They were rather hasty at the idea.

We all made our way into the kitchen and Angel was looking around the place, a small soft smile on her lips. Cadence had already seen my house back when we were coming up with our cheer routine but Angel, she hadn't ever come to my house. Even a small 'wow' slipped passed her lips as she appreciated the wall decor that my Mom made.

They both took a seat on the seats up on the island counter and I stood on the other side of the counter, hands fiddling with one another. The atmosphere was quiet and awkward and I just stared at them who looked quite sad themselves. I couldn't take this no more, "What did you want to come here and say?"

Angel cleared her throat and Cadence gave her a nod. "We wanted to come here and say we are so sorry."

I choked on my own saliva. "You're sorry?"

Angel sighed and stared down at her hands. "We are sorry that that happened, at mine on Halloween. We honestly didn't know what Charlotte said until my brother called me upstairs to say he heard everything. I was confused at first but then he explained what happened and some things started to make sense. I- we," she said whilst pointing to herself and Cadence, "had noticed how Charlotte had been acting around you lately and it was only around you. We don't know why but I tried to confront her about it and she went absolutely crazy and started saying bad things- bad words about you."

"We are really sorry for this, Willow. But we want you to know we are with you every step of the way. I can't believe Charlotte said those things to you and for you to believe we didn't like having you as our friends. Trust us when we say you're one of our bestest friend."

I inhaled a deep breath and stared down at my palms. Deep dents were in my palms. I really needed to cut my nails else this was going to keep on happening. I sucked in a tight breath and the girls both looked like they were desperate for me to say something. "Why couldn't you of told me sooner instead of making me feel like, like an idiot for a whole week? You had me thinking I was really doing something bad. You could've forced me to listen to you guys no matter the circumstances."

"We couldn't- well we could've said something sooner but, but Charlotte, she gave us no option but to stay with her. We knew how long we have been friends with her and she made us feel bad that we were going to "ditch" her for a "newie" as she called it. But we don't like drama and don't want any of this to happen. We just want to be one big group with us four again. Remember the old times at the very beginning of when you came into our group. Everything was great." She smiled thoughtfully at the fond memories but I still felt slightly angered that they couldn't of said something- anything sooner. For a week I was on my own. On my own. No one understood how horrible it felt to be on their own, especially in school when people were in their friendship groups and didn't like new people joining- which I totally understood. But I felt like I did something seriously wrong when I heard that they didn't actually like me.

"I noticed that something was wrong with Charlotte. At the beginning everything was fine, but it was more when things started happening between- no it's stupid." I sighed, covering my face. I couldn't believe I was about to say that.

Cadence and Angel looked at each other before looking back to me. "What were you going to say? Please tell us because it could possibly help us understand what's going through her mind." Angel said and Cadence nodded. I sighed and rocked on the heels of my foot.

"It's going to sound completely stupid and not for one second do you think I think this because I don't. It's just a theory and- okay. You know the couple times of when I ran into Theo?" I asked and they both nodded, still looking confused. "Well, the times we- you guys, perhaps- mentioned him to her about me, she always seemed to not like that. She didn't seem to be happy with the idea that I had come into some sort of communication with Theo. I don't know if she has any relevance to the messages-"

"What? What messages?" Angel and Cadence asked on command. They looked so confused.

"I've been getting these random, threatening messages from this unknown number. It started weeks back but I just ignored them at first. I just blocked the number but they kept coming back with even more intense messages on new numbers and I didn't know what to do. It had something to do with Theo and I don't know why. He's just some guy." I said with a shrug. I had to admit, it was extremely good getting that off my chest. I certainly did feel a lot lighter.

"Holy shit. Do you still have those messages?" Angel asked standing up from her seat.

I shrugged, grabbing my phone from my pocket. "Possibly. I don't know. I did delete most of the contacts but perhaps they are still on my phone somewhere." I said and scrolled through my many contacts and messages. I was scrolling for a good minute or two before spotting one unknown number. Just reading over the messages sent chills down my body. I couldn't look at it anymore. I shoved the phone in Angel's hand and Cadence came racing round to take a look, too.

As they read the message they both looked extremely disgusted. "Willow, this is serious shit. They are threatening you." Angel said before looking back down at the message. In one quick move she was taking a screenshot of the chat, blocking the number and getting rid of the contact altogether. "I took a screenshot of the message because if this goes any further and you end up getting more messages from whoever this is, then we'll go to the police."

"We?" I asked.

"We're coming with you. You're not going alone. We are your friends." Cadence said and Angel nodded her head.

I felt a small smile appear on my lips even though this moment, when talking about something so serious, was not the time. "T-thanks guys. That means a lot." I said and pulled them both into a hug which they were both keen on. "So, are you back as being my friends again?" I pulled my head back, checking their reactions. They both smiled and pulled me into a tighter hug, "We never stopped. We love you."

I giggled, "I love you guys too."

🝮🝮🝮

School had been much better now that I had my friends back- well most of them anyway. Charlotte had seemed to had taken time off school and when she did come in, she'd keep well away from us. But the famous glare and harsh expressions she was sending me when my friends weren't looking didn't go unnoticed. She only wanted attention and I wasn't going to give it to her. Not in a lifetime.

"I'll be back in a sec'."I said to my friends as I stood up from my seat in the cafeteria.

"We're counting. Oh look! That second's over now." Angel said teasingly and I walked off laughing and shaking my head. I loved them. They seemed to be taking extra care of me after everything that happened and I felt a lot better about coming to school. It was weird to think that I dreaded school and would almost throw up every morning because of my nerves last week and now I was feeling so much happier. Much, much happier. At least I wasn't almost puking in the mornings anymore.

I walked down the corridor down to where my locker was because I needed to grab my school books and my math assignment. It was hell now that I didn't have Betty in my math class...but I had come to live with it. Even if that meant I had to now sit next to Mike.

But if I was being honest, everything worked out now that he and Angel were together. She had filled me in on all the juicy gossip that I missed last week. Apparently Mike asked her out on a random Wednesday and since then, they had been together.

They were so cute.

"What the fuck? How could you do this?" I heard from the end of the corridor. I cleared my throat and looked away to enter in my pin. My locker door opened and I almost fell over when the shouting happened again. "I thought you said we had something? Now you want to end things before it got out to everyone that we were sleeping with each other?" My eyes widened. Trouble in paradise much. "Is it because of her? Is that why you're ending this?" I looked back down at the corridor. No one was there and if it wasn't for the voices coming closer, I'd think it was a voice recording someone had put on the speaker in the principal's office.

Then they appeared and I gasped into my hand. It was Stephanie and she didn't look happy at all. She was stomping down the end of the corridor, seeming to be screaming and shouting at someone who had yet to appear.

"You're a coward." She seethed, pointing at someone. It was like it was in slow motion as I watched them appear. My eyes focused on their broad chest and strong thighs. I knew then and then that it was Theo. He stood directly in front of Stephanie and stepped even closer that the pointed finger of Stephanie's was coming into contact with his chest. She stood up straight, though it wasn't much difference since he was a lot taller. "Do you want to say something? Your last few words before I walk away?"

"No." He said and I looked away into my locker. What was I doing standing here-? And how come I always seemed to watch the gossip happen or somehow be involved? This was everyone's dream but I just felt scared. It wasn't like I could make a run for it now. I'd look like an absolute melon.

I stupidly tried to hide my face away behind the locker door but totally forgot I had legs that were sticking me out like a sore thumb. No there was no escape. Holy moly. I was doomed.

"Fine. Hope you're happy with being something as gross as her! Have you seen how she looks?" Stephanie screamed. Who was she speaking about?

Theo chuckled, "I'll be a lot happier than being with you." He said and that made Stephanie's blood run cold. She stomped her foot and flicked her hair in his face. He shook his head and watched her as she walked down the corridor that I was coincidentally in. Theo seemed to see me and for a spilt second I thought he'd continue to stare at me. But he just walked off outside.

"I hope you're happy now! You got what you wanted!" I jumped as Stephanie screamed in my face. Her cheeks were covered with mascara and I almost felt bad if she didn't say what was next. "He's all yours. Maybe he can break your heart now."

I watched as she left through the school front doors and I stood there absolutely stunned. So all those things she said was about me.

The corridor was left in silence and I grabbed my books and my assignment and shoved it all into my bag before closing my locker door. I was about to go back into the cafeteria with my friends when I felt like I needed to go and find Theo. Even though I had previously felt like I needed to do something like that time with Charlotte on Halloween, a part of me didn't want to go find him in case it would turn out bad. But for some reason, I felt even more of a push to go find him.

So I did.

I pushed open the school door he went out of and followed the footprints in the stones. I followed it for quite some time before they stopped. There were no footsteps anymore. How? Did he magically fly?

"Are you following me?" I heard from my right. I gasped and snapped my head towards the sound and there was Theo. Cigarette placed between his cherry red lips whilst leaning his back against the brick wall. He continued to stare at me whilst blowing out the toxic fumes.

"N-no." I replied and slapped my forehead mentally at how flustered I sounded.

"So what're you doing out here then?"

I bit my lower lip and saw his eyes fall down to them. He inhaled more of the smoke before looking back up to meet my eyes. "I was just- I wanted to go for a walk." I said. That was the best thing that came to mind, okay?

A light chuckle left his lip and I watched as his lip ring wobbled, "a walk?" He asked.

"Yep."

"At school?"

"Yeah. T-they have some really nice blossom trees and, stuff." Holy crap. He totally knows I was following him.

Some silence fell and he was there just inhaling more of the smoke. Then he'd blow it out. I watched in admiration as the smoke danced its way up into the air after each puff. Orange ember was dropping from the cigarette as he tapped the bud towards the ground. He fascinated me and I didn't know why.

I cleared my throat but he wasn't fazed by that. I went and stood next to him. As I got closer, being this close to him, I felt butterflies erupt in my stomach. He seemed to always have that effect on me and I'd never admit it. It was only for me to know.

Theo looked down and I looked down at the floor at the realisation that he saw me staring up at him. I felt a dark red hue colour my cheeks and I looked in the opposite direction. Theo lightly chuckled and I didn't dare to ask why. I didn't question a thing that he did because he seemed to have it all under control. Sort of.

After a couple minutes of semi-comfortable silence and time for me to pluck up the courage to talk, he spoke first.

"Why are you here Willow?"

I felt a bundle of chills run along every part of my skin. The way my name sounded with just him saying it. It sounded amazing. It felt amazing. It made my heart jump for joy. But he didn't need to know that. Only I did.

"Honestly?" I asked and looked up at him.

"Honestly." He replied and I looked down at my trainers.

"I wanted to check on you." I confessed. There it was again. The silence. I was looking down, away from his face, so I couldn't see what his reaction was.

"I can take care of myself you know." He said lowly and there was still a firmness to his voice. "But thanks." He said, much softer. I appreciated that.

I gulped. "I-it's fine." I said and the words soon disappeared into thin air. Now it was awkward. "Well see you aroun-"

"I'm sorry." He blurted out and I turned around to face him.

"You're sorry? F-for what exactly?" I asked feeling my nerves bubble up.

He coughed before looking back at me. "For everything. You didn't deserve any of that."

I watched him as he just stared at me. There was a clear sign of regret that seemed to be holding himself back until I forgave him. Of course it still annoyed me about everything that happened so I wasn't going to accept his apology just like that. "I didn't deserve any of it, you're right. You actually made me really upset." I told him and his eyes looked sad. He inhaled some more smoke. Then some more.

"Will, after I left your house, I felt so angry that I almost did that so I just distanced myself away from you. I can't explain it- I can't explain how you make me feel." I gulped and began to clench my fists.

"How I make you feel?" I asked, confused on what he was talking about.

"Something in me wanted me to kiss you. It was like I allowed that emotion take over my whole body and before I could let it get any further, I stopped. I had to get out of there because I knew I was going to say something or do something that I later on would regret." Holy shit.

"Why did you want to kiss me?" I asked him and walked back over. He seemed to shift in discomfort but soon warmed up to our normal proximity once again.