* One week later *

I hadn't spoken to Austin for a while because I was really busy with my project since that stupid jerk refused to help me out. HE'S A TOTAL IDIOT.I just hope we don't get detention. Oh ya Allah help me.

Anyway, we had Physics with Miss Grace this morning. She gave us assigned seats and said that Austin and I were always quarreling, and our project was a total mess, so we had to sit together for the rest of the year in order to 'get along'. LIKE WHAT THE HECK.

I got out of the classroom as soon as the bell rang, but Miss Grace called me back as Austin was there too.

"Both of you will be on detention after school, is that clear?", she spoke in her pitched voice,as she looked down at papers in her hands.

"Yes ma'am", I replied politely and immediately left and Austin followed me.

I pulled out a lollipop from my pocket and put it in my mouth, trying to forget that I was on detention for the first time in my entire life with Austin walking alongside with me.

"Umaira, I'm sorry I got you into trouble.", he said rubbing the back of his neck.

He looked kinda...adorable.

No!!! Snap out of it, he's not adorable at all and I know that.

"It's okay, I even wanted to apologize for what happened the other time, but even though I think you kinda deserved it", I said as he chuckled.

The truth is I only apologized because my bro asked me to, he really seemed upset about the way I acted.

"Why are you laughing?" I asked with confusion.

"Because you sound cute with the lollipop in your mouth. It sounds silly but cute." He said still smiling.

My cheeks turned pink and I almost choked at the sudden of that.

"What flavor is it?" He then said casually.

"What???" I asked confused again.

"I said what flavor is the lollipop?" He spoke again.

"Um it's strawberry" I stated.

He then swiftly pulled out the lollipop from my mouth and put it in his.

My eyes grew wide and I was filled with embarrassment and shock.

"Watcha do that for?" I said yelling.

"What do you mean, this flavor's my favorite." He said calmly.

Before I could say anything, he looked at his phone and back at me with a grin, "Bye, thanks for the lollipop and by the way princess we just kissed indirectly." He said laughing while walking down the hallway, as I stood there in complete shock before yelling" AUSTIN, I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS!!!".

"I'll be waiting", was the only thing he said and waved bye with that stupid grin on his face.

Umaira stood there shocked at what I'd done, I just couldn't help but laugh at her reaction. To be honest, I don't really know why I took the lollipop from her. She looked just cute so I couldn't help myself.

I hung out with Umair in art class, when he said," Hey, I'm sorry about what Umaira said this morning".

I smiled before replying," No worries dude, she was telling the truth. Daddy issues huh? It's interesting how it really got to me. I kinda like her attitude". I said with an amused smile.

He then chuckled before shaking his head and said, "You've really lost it".

I just grinned back as a response. I placed my headphones in my ears as I couldn't wait for detention, with Umaira.

I walked down to my locker and dumped my books in it. As I was walking to the exit, I ran into Miss Grace. I greeted her politely. When she walked past me, I heard her stop to call my name.

"Umaira, can I ask you something?"

I nodded.

"I want you to tutor Austin, you're a very good student, so I want him to improve his grades, don't let him do all the work. Do you understand what I mean?", she said and walked away immediately.

I nodded glancing down at my hand,"Yes ma'am". I understood perfectly. Austin really needed some academic help, and since my brains outweighed his, it was reasonable that we work together. However, hard it was going to be, Austin needed me to tutor him.

I searched the whole school but I couldn't find him. Where is that jerk? Maybe he's outside with his friends, but instead what I saw was his group of jerks. I'm gonna ask them anyway.

I cleared my throat and three faces turned at me, it seems Umair had already gone home.

"Ummm, have you guys seen Austin?"

One of them who seemed to be nice responded,"Yeah, I think I saw him by the..."

"Hey, hey c'mon Evans, you don't give answers without asking questions", another guy interrupted brutally.

"So why do you wanna know where he is?" He asked.

"I need to talk to him, so do you know where he is or not?" I also said brutally.

"Owwwww, I think missy here has a crush on Austin", they all started laughing and I felt my cheeks turn red.

"Look sugarplum, I don't know where he is..., but there's one thing I know for sure is he's taken...I don't really think he'd be interested in a terrorist like you", he said taking a step forward. I felt tears stinging the back of my eye, until I heard a voice out of nowhere.

"Hey Liam, WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?!" The voice shouted.

It was Austin. He's ...I ...

He stood in front of me, pushed Liam and punched him in the face. He then turned to face me.

"Hey, you okay? Did he hurt you?" He asked.

"N-n-nooo" I stammered and felt tears rolling down my cheeks.

I turned and ran back into the building. I ran into the women's restroom and wasn't planning on coming out anytime soon. It was at this moment I wanted to disappear. Could people be this cruel?

I looked at Umaira while she was running back into the school.

"Hey bro, I was just messing around", Liam said.

I turned back to Liam, and never have I been this mad.

The other guys tried to calm me down but I pushed them away.

I was standing in front of Liam, trying my hard not to punch him.

"You were nothing when you first came to the school. I gave you a reputation and I can take it away", I sneered.

Liam transferred a year after I did. He'd probably be a nobody if it wasn't for me.

I wanted to find Umaira and make sure she was alright. It was almost 5p.m. and the school was pretty empty.

I couldn't find her anywhere, so I decided to ask a girl who seemed to be passing by.

"Hello" I called out to her.

"Did you see anyone wearing a pink headscarf running around here?" I asked.

"Yes, I saw her walking into the women's restroom", she said.

"Okay, thank you".

So she was in the restroom, but I couldn't just walk in there. I decided to wait for her. She can't stay in there forever and I need to make sure she's okay.

* 15 minutes later *

I promised myself I wouldn't cry over what a jerk said, but that promise didn't last long. It had always been Umair who stood up for me, I've never done anything to defend myself. I feel so useless.

Thank God I had tissues in my bag. I cleaned my eyes and looked at myself in the wondering why someone would call me a terrorist when I haven't even hurt a single soul.

I looked at myself one last time and opened the door, it was time for me to go home.

Austin jumped up as soon as I opened the door. Did he actually wait for me this whole time?

The door opened revealing Umaira and I immediately stood up.

Her showed that she had been crying.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked carefully.

She nodded and we were both quiet for a few seconds.

"Umm, t-thank you for defending me, I really appreciate it."

"It's no big deal, besides, you can call me your knight in shining armor".

"I guess". She smiled. Wow, she actually smiled at me?

"Your friends are jerks", she said.

"Liam's definitely not my friend anymore, and I can promise you that" I responded.

And with that we walked to the detention room together.

minutes later...

Oh my God!!! I'm so exhausted. I now know how detention feels like.

As I started walking home, I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see Austin.

Oh please, please not what I'm thinking, not what I'm thinking!!! I said to myself.

"Umm...can I give you a lift?", he offered.

"Yep, that was exactly what I was thinking to myself". I mumbled.

"Thank you, that's so generous of you, but I can't" I said in the coldest fakest tone ever.

"Today was a long school day and you look really tired, please let me have this privilege", he said.

I've gotta admit he was right, I'm really worn out. So I gave in.

"Austin, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, of course!" He said with a smile plastered on his face.

"Why did you come so that we could do the project?"

"I wanted to but you wouldn't let me"

"Yeah, that sounds like me", I chuckled.

"Well, I wanted to tell you I was sorry for the days I bullied you, I was trying to fit in" I noticed how serious, he's been doing all this without actually having any interest in it.

"It's okay, I forgive you. You've totally proven you're not a jerk after all", I said and his face lightened up.

"Yes! That's what I was trying to accomplish". He smirked.

"But you're still annoying, you know that right?" I said while looking at him.

"Fair enough", he said with a smile.

We arrived at my house and I thanked him for dropping me off.

"Hey, so when are we gonna to meet up for the project because you don't seem to do anything, sugarplum?" He teased.

"I'll get back to you, jerk", I said and closed the door of the car.

We waved each other goodbye and he drove off.