"Let me get this straight, Xavier basically kidnaps you, takes you to an art studio, confesses to you and you just ran away?" Nina asked. Disbelief evident in her voice.

"Yep"

"So where are you?"

"At a gas station," I answered, giving her direction.

So I ran out on Xave after he kissed me. I wasn't ready for the conversation that was going to follow. And since the guy practically kidnaped me, I left my bag with my phone and purse with Nina. Hence here I am on a payphone with the only person I can call for help without getting into trouble. I would appreciate the serene after rain weather and the earthy smell if I wasn't having a battle with my mind and heart.

Nina got to me in like twenty minutes. She got out of the car with a jacket in hand she hands to me, which I was grateful for. It was a bit chilly.

"My place or yours?" She asked when we were seated in the backseat of the car.

"Mine. It's still a school night. My mum won't allow a sleepover."

She tells the driver and grabs my purse and hands it to me. I take out my phone to see numerous missed calls. Mostly from Xave, some from my Aiden and my dad. For my dad, I'm mad at him so I've been ignoring his call for some days now. He promised to be here last week and he didn't come so I refuse to listen to his excuses. Even my mum couldn't convince me to pick his call. The boys have tried too.

"Ready to talk now?" Nina asked. She was obviously done with waiting for me to bring up the conversation.

"No" I looked at her with sad eyes to make her drop it. She doesn't keep her dislike for Xave a secret and I need a neutral person to talk to. Like Aiden.

"I mean I can't say I'm surprised by this development. He made his interest in you pretty obvious. I'm just not sure if his intentions are pure."

"I don't think he has any bad intention towards me," I defended softly.

"For your sake, I hope that's true. Now to the important question, how do you feel about him?" She looked genuinely interested. No judgment whatsoever.

"He makes me comfortable and I can be myself around him too. I just don't know if I like him romantically."

"So what happened when he kissed you? You pushed him away?" I shook my head. "Slapped him?" I shook my head. " Oh gosh, you kissed him back didn't you? You totally like him." she said gleefully. I groaned. This whole thing is driving me crazy. 

Nina dropped me off at home and after convincing her I was okay and she didn't have to stay over, she left.

After spending a whole lot of hours thinking about my situation with Zave. I came to the conclusion to avoid him so I have more time to think about what I was going to do. So this means not showing up at the cafe. 

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I was the last one down for breakfast the next day. Which was surprising, considering the fact that I barely slept the night before. My senses was attacked by aroma from the waffles still toasting. I was expecting Aiden to be one preparing breakfast but surprisingly it was our mother.

"Hey mum. No work today?" I drop my bag beside me as I take a seat at the dining table. My mum should be asleep now on normal days. She had on her sweats and her hair tied in a ponytail.

"Hey princess," She smiled at me and put a plate of waffles in front of me. "I have a month off from work starting today."

"Nice. I miss having you at home all the time." I dig into my breakfast, The others were done with theirs apart from Elliot. He looked busy with his phone instead of eating. He lifts his head to look at me in acknowledgement of my presence.

"Why do you look like you didn't sleep at all?" Elliot inquired and I just shrugged. I was in no mood to deal with his immature antics which I knew this conversation would have led to. I took a bite of my waffles and a taste buds are attacked by the syrup goodness.

"Your hair is blonde again." My mum points out with a smile. I washed out the last of the dye the previous night.

I knew where this was conversation was heading. "Maybe this time it will stay that way." She added. This woman never disappoints.

"Remember our deal, mother. I keep my hair long and you leave me to do anything I want with it." I reminded her.

"Fine," she resigned. "Just keep your natural color till the weekend is over. I really don't want to have to deal with your grandfather on the topic of your hair color again." I almost forgot. Our grandfather's birthday is this Sunday, meaning a family reunion of a sort. We all come together to celebrate with him.

"Deal." 

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At lunch,  in an effort to avoid Nina I hid at the rooftop. A spot belonging to the botany club. I thought I was safe but the girl still found me.  The place is almost always locked, but since Kyle was the president of the club he had a key which he gave me a copy of so we could spend time there. I never thought I would ever come back here after the breakup. She burst through the door when I was watering the flowers and strutted towards me with angry strides.

"You are avoiding me," she stated and sat beside me on the bench and brought out her lunch bag.

"Me? No?" I denied weakly.

"My guess is, you've decided to avoid this whole mess by avoiding that Xavier guy instead of facing your feeling. And you know as your big mouthed bestie, I would call you out on it hence you're here." She throws her hand about to indicate our surroundings. My phone rings at that moment and Xavier's name flashes on the screen. I watched the screen till it stopped ringing. I looked up at Nina and she had a smug smile on her face. Seeing that I just proved her point I can't blame her.

"Since I caught you. Can we go back now?" Nina asked.

"Yeah."

"Okay then. I have a pick a book from the library for Mrs. Anderson for our next class. Si let's go." We pack up and head back inside. 

I hear voices as we make our way to the library.

"It's too bad for the West high team. They're losing a star player," came one of the voices.

West High? That's Zave's school. 

"Apparently, his parents are sending him back to boarding school." The voices continued.

Boarding school?  They can't be talking about Xavier, right? There's no way he would leave without saying anything to me.

"Are you okay?" Nina asked. "You look kinda pale."

"It's nothing. I'm fine." Which is a lie cause I'm totally not fine.

Even though I was dying to know if Xavier was actually leaving, I still didn't answer his calls or messages. None of his messages hinted that he was leaving.

I caved and actually went to the cafe after school. I knew he would come here if he really wasn't leaving. I had to find a way of avoiding him without actually avoiding him. Hence here I am. I was later than usual because I was trying to convince myself to actually go. 

"Hey Lils, what's up?" I greeted Lily when I saw her in the changing room. It looked like she was preparing to leave, meaning she took the morning shift. We've been missing each other because of differences in our shift times nowadays.

"Evie! It's been long." She said with a bright smile. Her normally long hair has been trimmed to a shoulder length. She looked to have lost weight too.

"Yeah. I've missed you." I move towards her and give her a side hug. She pats my head and giggled. I pulled away and proceeded to put my bag in my locker.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Your friend was here a few minutes ago."

"Xavier?"

"Yeah him. He waited for you for some time but he said had to leave. Something about him going to the airport."

Airport? Is he really leaving?

An unsettling feeling started to swell up inside me. I imagined not having Xavier around. Not having him be there for me and just not being around. I couldn't. It hit him how important he was to me and my feeling became kinda clear.

My heart started pounding at an increasingly rapid pace. I checked my watch. If he really was leaving, I didn't even know if I would catch him on time. I rushed out of the locker room and out of the cafe. Ignoring the shouts of  Kim as I passed by him. I got into my car and sped toward the airport. To stop him? Maybe. I knew I just needed to see him.

I parked my car when I got to the airport. I rushed in. I can't even count the number of people I bumped into. After throwing a few 'sorrys' about I came to a stop and started to look around for any sign of him. I could hear my heart pounding loudly in my ears.

Then I spotted him. Standing a few feet away from me. His yellow flannel shirt and his beanie making him easy to spot. Then again I'd recognize him anywhere in a crowd. He was staring intently at his phone and tapping his left foot. He had a suitcase beside him.

His name was out of my lips before I realized and he turned and met my eyes. His shock was evident on his face.  I heaved a sigh. Grateful he had not left yet. I ran to him and hugged him.

"Don't go," I said meekly. The relief I felt before gradually turned into anger. I pulled away.

"How can you just leave without saying goodbye to me," I accused. "And after confessing to me. I know I've been avoiding you but that's no excuse."

Xave just looked at me with shock and confusion.

"What I'm trying to say is I really really like you too. So please don't leave," I added quietly and hugged him again. Saying those words out loud made me realise how true they were. I really liked him. More than I care to admit.

The sound of throat clearing jolted me from our embrace and  made me pull away. I turned to see a boy looking at us shyly.

"Am I interrupting something? I need to board now," he said to Xavier.

"Oh great. Got your ticket now?" Xave asked him and he nodded.

What's going on here?

"Ryan meet Evie." he gestured to him then to me."And Evie meet Ryan. He was a player on my team. He's moving to England to stay with his mother. "

"Nice to meet you." We both said. It was all becoming clear what was going on. Xavier was staring at me with amusement. He seemed to have grasped what was going on and I just wanted the floor to open and swallow me. He hands the suitcase that he was holding to the boy.

"Call me when you land." Xave pats the boy on the back and the boy nods.

"Ok. Thanks for seeing me off." Ryan said with a smile and hurried to get his bag checked in.

"So you really really like me huh?" I heard Xave said, clearly amused. After a few seconds of trying to think of a way to avoid this embarrassing moment. I got the answer. I ran. Really fast. Like I've never ran before. If Max saw me he'd be proud.

It didn't take long before I felt Xave behind. The dude was chasing me. Seriously?

I ignored the stares we were getting. I considered leaving my car and hailing a taxi but then what excuse would I give my family? 

I got to my car and reach to open it but Xave slams it shut before it can open completely. Boy he's fast. He cages me between the car and him. I tried to struggle free but he just held me tight to keep me still.

"Why are you running away?"

For someone who just ran just as much as I did, he didn't look out of breath and I was breathing like a fish out of water. Not fair.

"Do you need to ask. Gosh this is embarrassing ." I cover my face with my palms.

"Why? I did confess first."

"Technically you didn't . You just said and I quote,'maybe my mum is right and I'm falling for you'. Not really a confession if you ask me."

He chuckles loudly and I wanted to smack him.

"In my defense, I did kiss you after." I really really want to smack him.

"Evelina Denver, I really really like you too." He said seriously.

He smiled and then kissed me.

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A/N: Thanks for 1k reads, the comments and votes. 😎