I felt as if my lungs had collapsed inside of me. Had they just been too shocked by the strange question? Because I was chocking on the air or was it my saliva? Yuck. I could almost feel my face had drained its natural colour.

Oh my gosh! What if there was invisible vampires on this balcony? Maybe they drained me.

Surprisingly it was Dimitriv who had retrieved a glass of water and gently patted my back. My hands unclenched themselves self to hold the glass. I didn't waste time as I jugged the water down slowly, trying to soothe my throat which burnt a bit.

I'm way too dramatic.

Yes you are.

I dropped my tense shoulders and stared at the black velvet carpet. I palmed both my cheeks trying to cool them down. I've been embarrassed too many times tonight. Goodness.

"Annie." Desi's thick accent was alluring, especially when he said my name. I heard finger tappings on the table in front of me.

I honestly disliked when people do that, it could damage the property with finger indents.

"Annie." Again his voice was heard this time it was slightly harder.

"Y-Yes." I said meekly and lifted my head but kept my eyes low.

"Alright, now lets try this again. How long have you and Nikolai been lovers?"

It was the second time that I had heard the outrageous question, and I still couldn't keep my mouth from dropping.

"W-What? I-I mean we're not t-together." I managed to stammer out. I finally looked into his stormy eyes. His eyes shone with curiosity. They swept over my profile remarkably slow.

"Hmm? Interesting. So you have never been involved with Nikolai?" He bit his lip making them turn a more vibrant colour.

Mr Grumpy scoffs from beside me and pours him another glass of his poison. He's always being scary. He really needs to smile more.

"Um define involving." I mutter as I nervously glanced back at Desi. Desi rubbed his hand over his chin which revealed a shiny rolex watch. It probably costs more than my life.

I've always wanted a rolex watch actually. They looked so cool and fancy.

He raised his brow at me. "Have you been to his house?"

"Well see I got an email a few months ago stating that I should take some photos of this charity event thingy. By the way the charity thingy was last week. Anyway so on the day I got home and saw a beautiful dress and necklace on my bed for me. I obviously wore the pretty thing. Oh my gosh, it was actually so pretty by the way. Then I went to the event and there was this lady Sharron, who looked really quiet and nice, but oh my goodness lama bells she was scary as. Anyway she was the host, and just when I was eating my steak I saw a hand on her wrist. Guess who it was? Nikolai. Oh my gosh. Anyway fast forwarding, I was in a room with Jasper and then this guy game and took me to Nikolai. The room was really boring but there was this pretty green flower. So cute. Anyway he just started talking to me about how I should see him again, and he bought the dress and necklace. Can you believe it?"

The room was dead silent. Like dead. It was as if I was alone in the room talking to myself. I looked around and saw everyones gaping expression besides Mr Grumpy who looked a bit frustrated.

Desi let out a low chuckled as he came out of his trance. I felt my cheeks turn a bright pink. "You sure have a mouth on you Annie."

"Yes she does aye," Boyan smirks at me winking. I nodded unsure of what to say. What does that even mean?

All I heard was a slapping sound and a loud yell. Boyan held his left cheek , quieted down and avoided eye contact with me.

Violence isn't the answer.

I gaped at them as a tiny giggle slipped out and I tried to muffle it. Desi looked thoroughly amused.

While Desi began to stare me down I could practically feel the annoyance rolling off of Mr Grumpy.

I whispered if he was okay. He turned his head to me and harshly blew out a smoke cloud. I flinched slightly.

"Jasper and you were in a room together?" His voice calm but I felt anything but calm when I heard his words. The words hissed at me like a snake staking its pray.

They were taunting me with its threat.

"What?" Brows were furrowed on my face. What was he talking about?

"Were you with Jasper in a room alone at Nikolai's house kid." He snarled out and I watched Desi's eyes perk up at this. While Desi sipped his poison, a smirk graced his handsome face.

My mouth formed an 'o' shape. "Oh yeah, he found me when I came out of the bathroom. I was a bit lost so." I let out a grin. His face didn't change all he did was nod.

He stared deeply into my eyes, and just like that I forgot that I was in a room with other people. I shuddered. He kept my gaze firmly.

"Good."

* * * *

After the overwhelming conversation with Mr Stormy attractive guy I found myself being driven back home. I checked his car clock and it read 12:34. That must be the reason why I was so tired.

I couldn't stop the yawning that came out of my mouth. Somehow Mr Grumpy managed to pick my front door lock. I didn't know if I was worried or impressed.

I stepped inside my cold house shivering slightly and leaned on the door frame. He didn't make any indication if he was coming in. He stared at me with those watchful eyes again. My eyes momentarily drifted to his eccentric tattoos peaking out of his shirt.

I tiredly watched him watch me.

"Tha-" I let out a yaw. "Oh Pardon me, thank you for taking me on an adventure."

He nodded briskly and turned on his heel. Just before he was about to walk down the driveway, I latched onto his signature jacket.

He froze. I didn't.

I shyly pulled his arm towards me and wrapped mine around his solid torso. I grinned and awkwardly rested my head where his heart was.

I took in his natural smell. Heavenly I tell you.

If not for his quick heart beats I would have thought he was a robot. He was always so serious and stoic. "I like spending time with you Mr Grumpy." Then I let go and quietly shut my door.

The next morning I woke up with an extraordinary amount of energy. I had literally skipped through the halls in school looking for my next class which of course was English.

"Hi Mr Pierce." I grinned as I saw that I was the first one in class. I unzipped my bag and got out my exercise book and pencil case.

The old man grunted when he saw me sitting behind my desk. He nodded frantically and turned back to his chalkboard then elegantly wrote today's lesson.

All of the classrooms in our school have whiteboards or those projector boards, but Mr Pierce insisted on using a chalkboard. He would babble on about the advantage of having one, and oh my did he babble. Soon enough the principal installed one in.

"Mr Pierce?" I asked, he paused his writing and turned around again. He nodded and put down his white chalk." Are we having quickies today?"

The poor old man choked and his eyes widened like an owl. He clutched his heart frantically and wheezed out. Oh my gosh! I quickly rushed towards him and awkwardly patted on his back. The frail man shuddered and removed himself from my hands. "N-No we are not. Please just sit in your seat."

He gaped. Then he turned around shaking his head. I was now really confused.

Soon more students piled up in class. I sat in the middle of the class close to the window. The window overlooked one of the basketball courts. I curiously watched a lanky guy dribble the ball and shoot. I giggled as he missed four times. That poor soul.

"Hey Annie." I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to face one of my classmates Jack.

"Hi Jack, how are you today?" I gleefully said as I watched him sit in his seat which was behind mine.

"I'm good, yeah. What about you?" Jack rubbed his light moustache and grinned at me. He began to take his exercise book out.

"I'm amazing. I feel amazing." I beamed at him and he laughed lightly eyeing me.

"Oh good. So I'm in the environment committee, and we're like 1 person short. So would you be interested in joining?"

"Oh my god yes! I love the environment silly. You should have asked me a while ago. When are meetings?"

Jack gleamed at me, "Well there is a meeting today after school and Wednesday. It's about 30 mins."

I gave him the brightest smile I could. I loved helping out with the environment. I couldn't wait to tell mom and everyone.

Mr Pierce clapped his hands softly and attracted the classes attention. "Okay. Today we're going to look at some classic poems and close view them."

* * * *

"Guys guess who signed up for the environment committee!" I giggled as I sat down next to Cam. Cam gave me a side hug and greeted me.

"Um Adrian?" Reece smirks as he waved at me. He picked at his sloppy mince salad thing.

"No. Oh my gosh imagine that." I giggled as the thought came into mind. "But no silly Billy, I did."

Reece smiled at me, "Thats so good Anne."

Bethany gave me a smile and drank her hot chocolate. I gave her one back. Betsy and Cam were having their own conversation.

"Yeah I know right? I already told mom about it." I grinned at Reece who sat across me. He nodded and took a forkful of his sloppy food.

"Hey Annie, have you seen Jasper?" Bethany sipped her hot chocolate making a slurping noise. She ran a hand through her hair.

Although she was speaking about Jasper, I couldn't help but think of Mr Grumpy. My face flushed as I thought about our little adventure last night. I didn't see him the whole day though.

"No sorry, I think he's away today," I said taking out a red velvet cupcake out of my bag.

"Oh." She sagged her shoulders down.

I furrowed my brows, "But I can text him if you want?"

Her head almost snapped in half with the way she turned to me. She raised her brow and began to mechanically tap her nails.

Reece looked at Bethany's nails to my face.

"You have his number?" Beth questions me. I nodded.

"Yeah. Well he got my number and just texted me." I looked a bit confused about why she had asked me this.

"Oh."

For some reason Reece looked ticked off, which wasn't very Reece. He was always the peaceful one in our little a squad. His jaw and fists were clenched as he stared at his slop of mince.

I was confused. What just happened?

"Reece? Are you alright?" My voice was soft through the loud voices of the teens in the cafeteria.

"Yes." He gritted out and continued on staring at his mince. Why would you even look at that slop? Yucky.

Bethany just stared at the people around us. She avoided eye contact with both Reece and I.

"Okay.." I drew out. "You guys are acting weird. We should have a movie night on Saturday. Are you up for it?"

The groups ears perked up to my suggestion. Betsy and Cam both looked at us nodding.

"Yeah that sounds great actually, where?" Cam said eating his fries. I watched as he dipped his fries into Reece's vanilla ice cream. Reece gave him a glare.

"What about my house guys? I have like a mini theatre room." Betsy added and we all thought about it. That actually would be kind of cool.

"Oh my marshmallows yes! We could bring popcorn, candy, drinks, pizzas?" I grinned biting into my second cupcake.

"Yeah. I'll order the pizza." Betsy grinned and Cam blushed lightly at her.

"Okay that's sorted. Does anyone have a bunny hat?" That was from Cam.

* * * *

"Welcome to the environment committee Annie, these are the crew." Jack grinned and fixed his green glasses.

I shyly grinned at the people in front of me. Most of them said hi to me. I shyly hid behind Jack as I stared at them. They all looked very familiar actually.

"Hello Annie." Issa got up and pulled me out from behind Jack. She then tugged me into a hug. Issa had a rich dark skin colour, a beautiful brown curly afro and warm brown eyes.

Issa was from my maths class, I knew that she was very environmental. She was the leader of this club.

"Yo." A green haired boy flashed me a peace sign. He had an eccentric bright coloured shirt with rainbows all over it. "I'm Conner."

I nodded at Conner, Issa grabbed a chair for me to sit down on. I gratefully looked at her and sat down.

"Hey Annie." I heard a soft meek voice. Ju Hui was one of the most prettiest Chinese girls I had ever seen. She had pretty blue-green eyes and long silky pin straight hair that went all the way to her marshmallows. She was the most mousy person too. She was soft, dainty and also the nicest person ever.

"Hey Ju." I smiled.

"Alright crew, today's meeting will just be about our schools gardens. I was walking around the east wing gardens and I saw a lot of weeds by the flowers." Issa became serious as she babbled on about how we needed to take action.

"Hey Annie," Issa called me out after the 30 minute meeting, " Is it okay if you can take our photos please? So that they can be shown in local newspapers and school ones?"

Immediately I showed her a grin. I loved taking photos especially on beautiful flowers and greenery. "Oh my gosh yes, that would be amazing. Thank you Issa."

"Great." The room was now empty besides Issa and I. She eyed me up and down for a moment or two. "So Annie. You know Adrian Miles and Jasper Hendricks right?"

My brows furrowed in confusion as to why she suddenly brought this up. "Yeah, why?"

She moved back a little to sit on one of the tables. She tilted her head upwards a bit. Her stunning afro shook a little at the movement. "Oh. I see that you and your little squad has been spending an awful amount of time together. I just find it interesting. "

"Interesting?" With that word on my tongue my eyebrows raised. What did she mean by that?

She gave me a sweet smile as she softly tapped her long nails on the table. "Oh sweetie I just mean that I find your squad a little interesting. There's Reece Billington who's the football captain, Bethany Sanders who's one of the prettiest girls in our school, Cameron Vlackson who is the hottest mixed guy I have ever met. Then you have Jasper Hendricks who in fact is a Soccer captain, then Adrian Miles who is supposedly the towns hot mysterious bad boy, and then there's you."

I flinched at her words and my smile slowly dropped. And then there's you. What on earth did she mean by that? I hoped she didn't mean it in a bad way, I mean she was smiling still.

"Me?" I meekly said and played with my camera in my hand.

"Yeah Annie. You." She softly chuckled, she gazed into my eyes and sighed. "I don't think you belong with them."

My eyes widened and they began to tear up.

"Sorry?" I managed to stammer. She smirked and flipped out her phone. She kicked her bag in front of her and shuffled more onto the table.

"Oh honey I'm not being mean or anything, I just think you need to be with people on your rank. I'm just trying to help you out." She teared her gum wrapped off and popped the cherry coloured gum into her mouth.

I didn't know what to say. She told me she wasn't being mean but how come I felt hurt by what she said?

* * * *

"I'm so proud of you joining the environment committee club, would you like some potatoes?" Mom asked as she dished out some for my dad. Dad grinned and rubbed his hands together as he stared at his over packed plate.

"No thank you." My voice was like a mouse who was skittish. I slowly forked the roast beef in front of me.

Mom frowned and sat back into her chair. She poured more of the burgundy wine that stood at the edge of the table.

"Is something wrong honey? You've been really quiet since you came home. " She egged on and twirled her shinny glass, dad stopped eating to listen to what I had to say.

You don't belong with them.

I mustered up a smile, "I'm just very tired mom."

"Are you sure honey?" Mom asked again and she gave me a warm smile.

I nodded again.

Mom dropped the subject and they both resumed their eating. She slowly sipped her wine elegantly.

Dad finally nodded back at me and said, "Okay pumpkin."

•

Pumpkin. Pumpkins were everywhere. Ranging from small to large to pretty to ugly.

So pretty. They were bright orange pumpkins. So pretty.

"Mommy? Can we get that pumpkin?" I giggled pointing at one of the pumpkins which had a pretty smile and a tiara on it.

Mommy squatted down towards my height. She was the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world. She was even more prettier than my disney princesses. Way prettier. She was like the princess of the princesses.

"Of course my baby." She fawned over me and bought the pretty pumpkin. It was Hallowe'en tomorrow and we needed a pretty pumpkin. Mommy said that I could go as the cutest witch.

We walked to the exit of the pumpkin shop and stopped when mommy stopped. "Mommy whats wrong?"

Mommy gave me a princess smile and straightened my pink flower head band. "Nothing you need to worry about, stay here while mommy goes and gets her card."

I gave her a thumbs up and she kissed my head which made me feel tingly. I love mommy's kisses. The best of kisses.

I clutched my princess bag in my hand and stood still until mommy came back.

I couldn't wait to show Bethany my pretty witch outfit, she was going as a pink fairy. All the other girls wanted to be pink fairies, princesses or elves.

"Hey pumpkin." I heard a deep voice and smiled once I saw who it was.

"Hi my prince." My prince squatted down to my height and tickled my sides lightly. I let out a loud giggle and gave him a quick hug.

"Where's mommy gone?"

"Oh she's getting a card. When are we going home?" His smile faltered a bit and stared at me.

"Home pumpkin?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Yes Prince, I want you and mommy to make me that Apple pie." I grinned and shyly smiled at him. I loved the prince and princess apple pie! It was the tastiest and juiciest.

His face suddenly hardened and I gulped. His fingers came towards my little waist and they dug into my sundress. I flinched as he squeezed me harder than he should of.

"P-Prince?" I pouted as tears pooled in my eyes. What's wrong?

"What did we say about manners pumpkin?" He came closer and I let out a yelp when he pinched my sides harder. His face darkened.

I whimpered. "W-W must always remember our m-manners."

I dropped my pretty bag when I felt my tears running down my cheeks. I let out a hiccup.

"Good pumpkin." He smirked at me. He didn't release me. "Now let's ask again about that pie hey?"

My lips quivered trying to form words. "Prince, c-can you and mommy please make me an apple pie?"

My words were sluggish.