On the ride home, Kasen was sitting next to me again. He smiled at me and put his arm around me. I pulled away from him. He gave me a confused look.

"What are you doing, babe?" He wondered.

"Don't call me babe," I warned, "and I have a boyfriend. You've seemed to be too close for comfort all night," I told him, sounding almost disgusted with him.

"I'm sorry, babe," he whispered seductively in my ear, nipping at my ear, "but your boyfriend isn't here right now, is he?" Kasen smirked. I rolled my eyes, annoyed. I looked away from him, and I ignored him.

"Babe, answer me," he smirked, nudging me a little.

"Shut up," I growled. Why wouldn't he stop?

"You boyfriend, I bet, is halfway across the world. Come on, I bet I'll be better to you than he ever is. I wouldn't leave you for months at a time," he kissed my neck once before I slapped him in the face. Everyone in the van including Maria who was driving looked back at us. She pulled off to the side of the road for a minute.

"What was that for!?" Kasen exclaimed, as if I had done it for no reason.

"Do not touch me. Do not talk to me. Do not say anything about my Lukey ever again," I warned, beginning to cry. I wanted out of the van that seemed to be closing in on me. It felt like Kasen was pushing closer against me and the walls of the van were jumping towards me to attack me even more than I was being attacked.

"Peyton, what happened?" Maria asked, concerned.

"Livi, can I switch you seats, please?" I begged, the walls coming in closer as tears raced down my cheek. More and more tears kept entering the race. I couldn't do this. Kasen made me so upset. I couldn't sit right next to him anymore. Livi was riding shotgun, and I wanted to sit next to Maria and not Kasen.

"Sure, yeah, definitely," Livi told me, nodding and unbuckling quickly. I unbuckled and began to step out of the van. On my way out of the van, Kasen squeezed my butt.

"Nice ass," he muttered before I placed my feet on the gravel that was on the side of the road where we were currently sitting.

"Don't touch me. Don't say a word to me ever again. Luke is a way better person than you, you asshole," I spat and got into the passenger's seat after thanking Livi.

I sat beside Maria and told her what had happened. She rolled her eyes, but she held in her anger.

"I'll take you right to your house, okay? I was going to take everyone home, but I'll take you home first."

"Thank you so much, Maria," I smiled a little. He hadn't only insulted Luke with what he said. He insulted me, too, in a way. I didn't like it.

Soon, when we arrived at my house, I got out of the van and said goodbye to everyone but Kasen. Out of the three I had just met that night, Xavier and Eli were really nice, but Kasen was an asshole. That's probably why he's single.

I walked into my house and made a beeline for my room. I didn't say hello to my mum or Paisley. I went straight to my room and grabbed my laptop off of my bed.

I hopped into my bed and slammed my laptop down onto my lap. I opened it up and logged onto it with my password. Skype was already open from Luke's and my earlier conversation. I clicked on Luke's name and waited for him to accept the call.

I waited a minute or two for him to answer, but he didn't. I just sat in my bed and cried for minutes straight.

I heard a knock on my door a few minutes later. It was my mum. She wanted to come into my room to see what had happened and to see if she could help.

"Peyton, may I come in?" She wondered, knocking three times in a row before saying that.

"Sure," I sighed, sniffling.

The door opened and she walked over to my bed. She sat on my large bed right next to me and put her hand right on my leg.

"Are you okay? What happened tonight?" She asked in a sympathetic tone.

I explained to her everything that had happened. She got mad because Kasen was trying to take advantage of me. She also told me she understood my frustration at him, especially because he said "I bet I'll be better to you than he ever is. I wouldn't leave you for months at a time". That is one thing that really pissed me off. He was so disrespectful to me, too. I really didn't appreciate that.

"Why did he do those things?" She wondered, concerned.

"He's a boy, mum. He likes me. I have a boyfriend. Those things don't go together," I told her.

"Sweetie, I'm sorry about what happened," she laid her hand on my thigh.

"He was nice at first. He told me he understood that I had a boyfriend. At the mall, though, he seemed to be too close to me or staring at me the whole time we were there. Then, during the ride home, he was rude and.. and.. ugh," I couldn't explain how I was feeling.

"Are you okay now, though?" She asked.

"Yeah, mum. Thank you," I smiled at her as she stood up from my bed and walked out of the door, closing it behind her.

I got my laptop out again, trying to get onto Skype one more time. I clicked on Luke's name, and it began to ring. There was only a fraction of a ring before Luke's face popped up on my screen. As soon as he saw me, he knew I had been crying earlier that night.

"Peyt, what's wrong? Are you okay? Why were you crying? Did something happen to someone? Or you?" He shot questions at me, but I knew he was just worried about me.

"I'm fine, right now. I went to the mall with Maria, Grayson, Livi, and Daylynn, but they brought three new people I didn't know. Eli is dating Maria, and he came along. Xavier is dating Daylynn, and he came along. Kasen is single, and he came along. Grayson and Livi are also dating."

"Let me guess.. Kasen."

"Yeah. He started to hit on my on the way to the mall, but I told him I had a boyfriend. He said he understood, but at the mall, he was really close to me. On the ride home, he kept whispering things in my ear, and when he whispered, 'Come on, I bet I'll be better to you than he ever is. I wouldn't leave you for months at a time,' I lost it. I slapped him and told him not to touch me, talk to me, or talk about you ever again. Maria pulled over to the side of the road and I switched seats. I got so mad at him. He was such an asshole," I began to cry again, quietly.

"Peyton, don't cry.. Please, don't cry," he pouted. I smiled at him and sniffled, trying not to cry. He continued, "don't worry about guys like that. I'm always here, even if I'm halfway across the world and gone for months, I'll always be here for you. And you understand why I have to be gone for months, right? You've told me you do."

"I do, Luke. I don't mind. You're doing what you love. I'm not going to stop you. I love you, Luke Robert Hemmings," I grinned and blew a kiss at him.

"I love you too, Peyton Claire Gray," he blew a kiss back, and we ended the Skype call.