A soft knock on my door sent me shooting out of my bed, fearing I had overslept. It turned out I had, but not by much so I would still be able to make it to school on time. Dad walked in a few moments later, poking his head through the doorway.

"Gotta get ready for school," he told me with a tight smile.

I just nodded and rifled through my dresser for some clothes. Dad had left and shut my door so I would be able to get ready. I noticed a bruise on my leg from where I had been hit with the puck, but I wasn't in pain.

After doing my morning routine, I rushed downstairs to grab something to eat on the way to school. Josh, Mindy, Dad, and Ava all sat in the kitchen as I looked through the cabinets for something to eat.

"Are you ready?" Josh asked me, standing up from his seat at the kitchen table.

Hearing him speak to me immediately soured my mood so I ignored him and continued to look for something for breakfast. I settled on a banana and a granola bar and headed out the door without saying anything to Josh, him following behind me. I heard him sigh as we got into the car. Ensuring he wouldn't talk to me, I put my headphones in my ears and turned on my music.

Once we were at school, the two of us wordlessly parted. No one approached me until I got into my English class just before Ryan, Jude, Ian, and Fox. Ryan stopped at my desk and tapped on it so I would remove my headphones.

"Sit with us," Ryan commanded lightly, motioning his head toward the back of the room where the others were sat.

I looked to the door, thinking of Nadia and Lexa, but quickly decided I would go sit with the guys. It wasn't like Nadia and Lexa paid much attention to me in this class. Following Ryan, I headed to the back of the room and sat beside Jude and in front of Ian.

When our teacher allowed us to begin working on our homework together at the end of class, Ryan, Jude and I turned our desks around to face Ian and Fox so the five of us could work together. I worked on my notes for the reading while the others talked. I wasn't really in the mood to hold a conversation with them.

"You in, Ellis?" Ryan asked, causing me to look up from my notes.

"What?"

"The guys are coming to mine for the Bruins game tonight after practice, you in?" he asked me again.

I shook my head. "No thanks."

My anger at Josh was unintentionally carrying over to the other guys and the last thing I wanted to do was hang out with them tonight, mostly because Josh would be there.

"What?" Fox questioned. "You're not watching the game tonight?"

"No, I am," I answered, closing my book with a sigh and twisting the bracelet on my wrist between my fingers. "By myself, in my room. Alone."

I was met with strange looks from the guys as if they couldn't fathom the idea of me wanting to be alone for the night.

"Are you pissed at us or something?" Fox asked me with an unreadable expression.

I just shook my head and sat back in my seat. None of the guys said anything about it after that and for that, I was grateful.

Part of me felt bad for blowing them off, but I was still mad at Josh that I wouldn't be able to enjoy myself if I had to spend the night with him. My relationship with Josh continued to be strained and his loyalty to my father only made it worse. It was like we were on opposing sides, being forced together but the harder we were pushed, the more we repelled each other.

My mood didn't pick up by the time lunch rolled around. I sat between Lexa and Nadia, who were arguing over me. Across from me, Trevor sent me an apologetic smile while the two girls spat curses at each other.

"Can you two chill out a bit?" Trevor softly asked the two girls. They both sent him harsh glares and directed their anger at him.

"Where's Holly?" I asked, trying to direct the attention away from Trevor to which he sent me an appreciative glance.

Lexa huffed and nodded her head to the other side of the cafeteria.

"Claudia invited her to sit with her today," Lexa grumbled with annoyance evident in her tone.

I looked over to where Lexa motioned and saw Holly sitting next to Claudia with an obvious blush on her cheeks, covering her face with her hands as Claudia whispered something to her.

"Claudia's got that girl wrapped around her finger," Johnny commented, shaking his head in disapproval.

Nadia scoffed. "Fuck off, let her have her fun."

Johnny glared at her. "I didn't say she couldn't have her fun," he argued.

I exchanged a frustrated glance with Trevor before taking a sip of my water. Instead of Nadia and Lexa arguing, we were going to have to deal with Nadia and Johnny spitting insults at each other. I couldn't decide which was worse.

"I'm just sick of you jumping down my throat every time I say something," I heard Johnny nearly yell when I mentally checked back into the conversation.

"Stop saying ignorant shit and I won't jump down your throat," Nadia said in a final tone with a shrug.

Johnny's scowl looked like it was going to be permanently attached to his face as he looked at Nadia with anger. He shook his head and stood up from the table, taking his tray with him and leaving without another word. Trevor and I each sighed, giving Nadia an annoyed look.

"He's too fucking sensitive," she spat, stabbing her salad harshly with her fork.

Austin, who hadn't said anything since we sat down, had an uncomfortable expression on his face and looked as if he wanted to get up and follow Johnny as he looked at the doors of the cafeteria where he just left.

"I'm, uh, I'm going to go find John," Austin stammered, getting up from the table and grabbing his nearly full tray.

Nadia said something under her breath that I didn't quite catch and continued eating her lunch and the rest of our meal was eaten in silence.

Dealing with the constant arguing of this group was tiring and I didn't know how much longer I could do it.

***

Josh dropped me off at home and almost immediately left for Ryan's after practice, still not saying anything. Not that I really wanted him to speak to me unless it was going to be an apology.

"You're not going out with Josh?" Dad asked as I walked into the living room.

I shook my head. "I didn't feel like it."

He looked as if he wanted to intrude on what I was feeling, but he didn't say anything else. My father worried too much about me and it was beginning to feel suffocating. His worried expression followed me as I moved to go to the stairs. I let out a sigh and turned to face my father.

"Listen, Dad," I started. "Can you please tell Josh to back off? I don't need him to protect me and it's annoying having him tell you every detail of my life."

Dad looked taken aback at my words, but quickly recovered and the concerned expression returned to his face.

"Elijah, we just want to be sure that you're safe," he consoled.

I groaned. "Dad, I know, but if something is really going wrong I will tell you. I don't need Josh telling you every little thing. It's only going to worry you more."

"Elijah..." Dad trailed, seeming uneasy about what I was asking of him.

"Seriously, can you please trust me?" I pleaded. My biggest problem with Josh would be solved if I could get my Dad to tell him to back off. Once that was done, I could try to have a less strained relationship with my step-brother.

"I do trust you, Elijah," Dad assured me. "I just know that you won't want to tell me things that are bothering you."

"This is bothering me," I tried to convince him. "This situation is making it hard for Josh and I to even get along."

Dad looked troubled by my confession. I knew he loved Josh like a son and wanted the two of us to love each other like brothers, but we would never get there if Josh kept ratting me out for everything.

He reluctantly nodded. "I'll talk to Josh, tell him to back off a bit."

I let out a relieved sigh. "Thank you."

With that, I turned on my heal and headed up to my room and got comfy in my bed, turning the TV onto the channel of the game. There was still quite a bit of time before puck drop, but I liked watching the pregame too.

A few moments later, someone barged into my room, causing me to look at my doorway in confusion when I saw that it was Fox.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him, sitting up straighter.

Fox shrugged, sitting himself beside me on the bed after shutting my door.

"Wanted to hang," he answered.

"I thought I told you this morning I wanted to watch the game alone," I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest.

Fox rolled his eyes and leaned back on my headboard. "You're just being pissy."

Instead of arguing with Fox, I decided I would just let him stay. After all, he wasn't the one I was angry with and I was trying to be friends with him.

We were silent for a while before the game started, but once it began, Fox was yelling at the TV and cursing under his breath. I found his intensity quite comical, but didn't let him see the faint smile on my face.

Fox groaned loudly and threw his head back. "He can never keep the puck on his fucking stick. I'm sick of him turning it over."

I looked from Fox to the TV to see that the opposing team now had the puck and were moving quickly to our end of the ice.

"Their backcheck sucks," I commented, shaking my head as I watched the Bruins struggle to catch up with the opposing team and allowing them to take a shot.

Fox hummed in agreement and then let out a loud groan along with a curse when the opposing team scored.

"They suck, they fucking suck," Fox raged with a look of anger on his face. I couldn't help but chuckle which caused him to scowl at me and cross his arms over his chest.

"It's only the beginning of the season," I consoled him with a laugh.

He let out a deep breath. "It's going to be a long season if they keep playing like this."

I couldn't help but nod in agreement. It seemed as though the beginning was always the hardest, but I was confident it would pick up and be more entertaining to watch as the season went on.

The rest of the first period went by with Fox cursing at every turnover, offside, and icing before the first intermission was underway.

"So, why aren't you at Ryan's?" I decided to ask him, raising my eyebrows in question.

"Didn't I already tell you I wanted to hang?" Fox replied in a rude tone.

"Yeah, but you could 'hang' at Ryan's with your friends," I countered with a challenging look.

Fox rolled his eyes and sighed. "I meant I wanted to hang with you, dumbass," he grumbled.

I would be lying if I said his words didn't cause a jolt of excitement in me. This was all I wanted, to be friends with him. All I did was smile, to which he reluctantly returned. His smile was small and close lipped, but it still showed me his effort in trying to be friends with me.

"Where'd you get the bracelet?" Fox wondered in an almost muffled tone, pointing toward my wrist. I held my wrist up and looked at the bracelet that decorated it as if I had forgotten it was there.

"Oh, Trevor made it for me," I told him with a light smile which only caused Fox to look uncomfortable.

"That kid's in love with you," Fox muttered, shaking his head and turning back toward the TV.

"You sound jealous," I teased with a smirk to which Fox just rolled his eyes.

"You wish," he retorted, still looking straight ahead at the television. Maybe I did wish, but I wasn't about to admit that.

I playfully scoffed. "You think too highly of yourself."

"You would too if you were me," he replied, causing me to laugh loudly. Fox smirked at me, letting out a light chuckle at my amusement.

"But seriously," I started after I finished laughing. "Trevor's just a friend, if that."

"Whatever."

When the game ended with a loss, Fox and I stood up from the bed and went downstairs after I had offered him some food. Dad, Mindy, and Ava were already in their rooms and most likely asleep. Well, aside from Ava. I was sure she stayed up into late hours of the night, but I wouldn't call her out on it.

I pulled open the fridge, with Fox standing behind me, to see what food we had. There wasn't much I was in the mood for, so I pulled out a carton of strawberries and a can of whipped cream.

"Want some fruit?" I asked him, holding up the strawberries. Fox just nodded and I got to cutting them up and putting them in two separate bowls before spraying whipped cream on top.

Fox gave me a strange look, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"You know putting that shit on top kinda defeats the purpose of a healthy snack?" Fox commented, pointing at the mountain of whipped cream in my bowl.

I shrugged. "I never said I was going for a healthy snack," I answered, holding the can out to offer it to him. He stared at it for a moment before taking it out of my hand and spraying some on top of his own fruit.

"Don't tell the guys about this. They think I follow my diet during the season," he warned, his eyebrows raised as if waiting for me to swear to secrecy.

I laughed, shoving a spoonful of whipped cream into my mouth. "No one actually follows their diet all season long. I can do it for, maybe, two weeks tops."

"That's because you're weak," Fox teased, pointing at me with his spoon before dipping it into his bowl and getting himself a mouthful of whipped cream.

Not even a second later, the front door opened and shut and footsteps made their way down the hall and into the kitchen to reveal Josh. When he saw Fox and I sitting at the table, he glanced at us with a look of confusion, his face pinched together.

"This is where you've been all night?" Josh asked Fox, ignoring me in the process.

Fox shrugged. "I guess."

Josh hesitantly nodded, looking at me briefly before quickly diverting his gaze. He told us goodnight before scurrying up the stairs to his room.

"Is there somethin' goin' on with you two?" Fox asked, his voice muffled by his food filled mouth.

I didn't want to get into it with Fox about Josh. All it would do was put me in a bad mood and I didn't want anything to ruin this surprisingly enjoyable night.

I shook my head. "Nah, we're good."

Fox looked as if he didn't believe me, but he didn't push further and I was grateful for that. Spending time with Fox had put me into a better mood and I was excited to explore our friendship further.

Maybe he would be what helped me find my sense of belonging here.

**