As more proof of Olivia being the note harasser, they'd stopped after that Monday morning. For the rest of the week, I'd received no threatening notes, or insulting letters. There was still a profusion of snide looks and comments from her though, and a few other choice students from my piano class, but other than that, everything was back to normal.

Well, if one considered how often I'd been making unnecessary stops into Mr. Tucker's classroom normal.

And Paul's less innocent and more flirty comments to and about Olivia.

Not that I cared. It wasn't like she'd harassed me or anything.

"So make sure to be at the diner for four... Hey, are you listening to me?"

Peeling my gaze off of Olivia, who was obviously flirting with Paul, again, tossing her hair over her shoulder every five seconds, and batting her eyelashes, I turned to Elliot, forcing a smile. "Sorry, what?"

After giving me what I assumed to be his best bitch face, he repeated the information to me. "And you said you'd stay until close, right?" he double-checked.

I nodded. "Yeah, anything to stay out of the house."

Elliot's eye twitched, the way it usually did when he felt he had to ask about my personal life. "Something wrong?"

"Paul is just... I don't know," I admitted, sighing lightly. "I shouldn't even be annoyed with him, but I am."

"That doesn't explain anything."

"Yeah, I know."

Elliot scowled at me for a moment, crossing his arms. "Whatever. I don't care."

"Will you ever play the piano for me?" I questioned randomly, resting my chin on my hand and staring at him imploringly. "I want to hear you."

"No."

I winced. "Ouch. Not even a second of deliberation?"

He purposefully scrunched his face up into a look of concentration before letting it fall back into its normal, expressionless way. "No."

"Boo, you suck."

"Whatever."

Sighing again, I glanced at the clock. There was still ten minutes until class was over. Open mic had been short today. I'd opted not to play— Paul hadn't haggled me about it. In fact, he'd let Olivia play two songs for the class. He had to be doing it on purpose. There was no way he liked Olivia.

Or rather, I really didn't want to believe he actually liked her. There was just nothing to like about her, aside from her pretty face.

"Oh, guys! I have one quick announcement before the end of class!" Paul spoke suddenly, gaining everyone's attention. "The annual, statewide Winter Wonder music competition is coming up. Auditions begin next week on Thursday." An excited murmur rose throughout the classroom and Paul had to speak louder to be heard over it. "So Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I'll be helping you guys prepare. Hopefully you've also chosen your pieces by now..."

I frowned. Paul hadn't mentioned anything about a competition to me. Maybe because he'd been too busy being a grumpy child. "What music competition?" I asked, turning to Elliot.

"You don't know?"

"Obviously not. That's why I'm asking."

"Don't need to be a bitch about it," he grumbled in response.

Reaching out, I patted him on his head. "Aww, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

Scowling, he slapped my hand away from him. "You didn't! The competition is some state thing the students can choose to participate in. It's stupid really."

"Is there a prize?" I asked curiously.

"Five grand and the entrance to the national level of the competition. But only the best make it, obviously."

The only words my mind registered was the five grand bit. That, plus my own savings, would definitely be able to buy me a usable used car. My hands shot out to gather Elliot's hands in them. "Elliot, join with me!"

Yanking his hands back, he gave me a crazy look. "Why the hell would I do that?"

"I want to enter, but I don't want to do it alone," I pouted at him. "Please?"

"No."

"Come on! Pretty please?"

"No."

"I swear to God that if you don't agree to join the competition with me I will follow you around everywhere singing Batman's theme song," I promised him solemnly.

After glaring at me for a brief moment, he finally resigned. "Alright, whatever. But you owe me."

"Yay! Thank you!" I cried excitedly, throwing my arms around him. "You're the best!"

"Get off me!" he ordered, struggling to push me away. "You're so touchy!"

Grinning happily, I let him go, sitting back on the desktop. From the corner of my eye, I could feel Paul's gaze on me. Flipping my hair over my shoulder in a very girly fashion, I winked at him. Which totally threw him off guard. "Now we have to find songs to play..."

Elliot grunted his noncommittal response.

The final bell finally rang and I hopped off the desk, snatching my bag off the floor. Without saying goodbye, I scurried off to Mr. Tucker's classroom. When I entered, he was sitting at his desk, focused on a piece of paper. I assumed it was one of the essays about Othello he'd assigned us on Monday. Holding back a smile, I snuck to his desk, placing my hands on his shoulders.

Under my hands, he jumped, looking up and opening his mouth. Once his gaze met mine, it abruptly shut. "Hi," I greeted happily.

"Hi yourself," he responded with a smile. "How was piano?"

"Okay. Pa... Mr. Russet failed to mention to me that there was a music competition coming up."

"Winter Wonder?" Mr. Tucker guessed, rolling his eyes. "The name is just so lame."

I laughed, nodding my head. "Yeah, it is. I think I'm going to enter it though."

"Yeah? Sounds fun. I'll come root for you."

"There's auditions first though," I pointed out.

His expression didn't change. "I'm sure you'll make it through that though."

"But I'm so far behind everybody else," I sighed, my shoulders sagging. "I'm pretty sure Paul purposefully didn't tell me. The auditions are Thursday."

"Paul?" Mr. Tucker echoed.

Realizing my mistake, I froze, trying to come up with an acceptable excuse. Telling him that Paul was a family friend didn't sound like the best idea. "Ah, Mr. Russet. Sorry. I'm so used to him being famous, his teacher name hasn't rubbed off on me yet."

He chuckled. "That's only natural. You seem to have a tough time referring to someone with a new name after getting comfortable with a different one."

"Yeah... sorry." I grinned sheepishly at him.

"It's fine. It's just, you know, a little strange since we're... getting to know each other better."

Automatically my gaze shifted away from him. That was the understatement of the century. Over the past week, I'd literally learned everything about him. From his parents' names— Karen and Ted— to his memory of his prom night four years ago when his date had ditched him for the popular guy. It felt like there was nothing else of him to know.

"Hey, what are you doing tonight?"

Mr. Tucker's voice broke me out of my thoughts and I found him staring at me again, a hesitant look in his eyes. "Umm, I have work..."

His face fell a little. "Oh, that's too bad."

"Why?"

"Dunno," he responded, shrugging. "I just thought maybe we could hang out. Go to a movie or something."

My stomach did the flip-floppy thing. A movie sounded a lot like a date. A part of me was excited at the prospect of a date with him, but another part was terrified of it. Why would he want to go on a date with a student? With me? Still, I was flattered. "Can I take a rain check?"

"Of course you can," he responded with a handsome smile. "I know what it's like to be busy. In fact, right now, I have to head to a dentist appointment."

I wrinkled up my nose. "Ew."

"Someone's gotta make sure my teeth are all shiny and healthy," he told me, flashing me a teeth-baring grin.

To me, he looked as if he had perfect teeth already. "I take it you need to leave then?"

"Mm-hmm," he responded, standing from his chair. "I'll text you later."

"Okay."

"Bye, Allie."

"Bye, Mr. Tucker." My hand reached for the doorknob, but before I could touch it, the door swung open, nearly smacking me in my face. I stumbled back, my eyes rising to face the intruder.

Paul frowned down at me. "Allie? What are you doing in here?"

"Just leaving," I said coolly, glancing over my shoulder at Mr. Tucker. "Goodbye, Kyle."

"See ya, Allie Cat."

My heart skipped a beat at my nickname. It felt weird when it wasn't coming out of my father or Paul's mouth. Paul's eyes narrowed, but before he could say anything I slipped past him and hurried down the corridor.

~ * ~

"Wait, you what?"

I raised my eyes to Elliot's green orbs, which were clouded with disbelief. "I don't know. I might have a crush on him."

"On Mr. Tucker?" he repeated disdainfully. "You're sick."

"Hey!"

"He's an old man."

"He's only three years older than me!"

"He's a teacher."

My eyes narrowed at him, and he returned my glare. It was a good thing the diner was empty; otherwise we'd be drawing a lot of attention to ourselves. Usually it'd be packed on a Friday night, but I was guessing the rain that'd started four hours earlier had turned most customers off. Now it was just about close, and no customers were around, and none were coming.

Finally, I relented, shifting my gaze to the closed sign, and huffed out a sigh. "So everyone else can have a crush on him, but me?"

"Yes, since they're not trying to date him."

"You know, for someone who doesn't claim to be my friend, you sure speak like you know what's best for me."

After shooting me another glare, he rolled his eyes. "I am your friend—"

"I'm touched—"

"—and that's why I'm telling you you're stupid," he finished in a gruff voice. "You'll end up getting hurt."

My eyebrows rose and an impressed smile came onto my face. "And for someone who's usually a jerk, you sure can be pretty deep."

Unsurprisingly, an embarrassed glower set onto his face. "Shut up and go wipe the tables."

"I wonder if your personality takes more after your mom or dad, because it sure as hell isn't after Harley," I commented, thinking of his older sister, aka the friendly home ec teacher.

"My parents are dead."

His words caught me off guard and I froze, sucking in a quick breath. My eyes returned to his form, but now he had his back to me. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It was a long time ago. I hardly remember them, anyway."

"How old were you when they..." I trailed off, my mouth suddenly feeling very dry. "Wait, you don't have to answer—"

"Four."

My eyes widened. Four? He was only four when his parents died? He'd lived his whole life with no mother or father? Who'd taken care of him? His grandfather?

"Harley took care of me after they died," Elliot continued in a detached voice, as if reading my thoughts. "Dropped out of high school to do so. My uncle helped out too, but her and I lived by ourselves from then until she married. If I've gotten my personality from anyone, it's my brother-in-law, Oliver."

"Oliver's your brother-in-law?" I asked in surprise.

Turning to face me again, he gave me a flat look. "Not the Oliver in our class. As in Harley's husband. They have the same name."

"Oh, I knew that," I responded, blinking. "But, um... wow. I guess there's a lot more to you than meets the eye."

Snorting, he tossed a rag at me. "That goes for everyone. Even Mr. Tucker. I don't like that guy."

"Well, what do you know?" I muttered defensively. The only people that didn't like Mr. Tucker were guys, and it was pretty obvious why: All the girls liked him.

"More than you, apparently."

"Shut up, Elliot."

Silence settled in and I snatched up a bottle of cleaner and sprayed it onto the rag, beginning to clean the booth tops. There wasn't really much need to though; no one had eaten at them. Still, it was busy work. And busy work was better than standing around with Elliot, who rarely ever said more than three words in response to me whenever I tried to start a conversation. On occasion he would say a sentence or two though.

"What about you?"

Frowning, I paused mid-swipe and turned my head toward him. "What about me?"

"Your family. You've never talked about them."

Shrugging, I returned my attention to the table. "I have, just not to you. My family is normal. Both my parents are alive. My dad's a teacher and my mom's a nurse. We're average."

"You don't have any siblings?"

I shook my head. "Nope."

"You're boring."

"Hey!" I protested, twisting my head to scowl at him, but my expression changed when I saw he was smiling. Confused, I furrowed my eyebrows. "What?"

Quickly rearranging his face, he put is back toward me. "Boring is good. It means you've had a good life."

"Um, yeah, I guess I have."

"You can go home now. I'll close up.

Sighing, I dropped my rag on the table. Sometimes Elliot really made me wonder. Not that I was going to complain though; it was already ten and I was beat. "You sure?" I questioned, already knowing the answer.

A brief nod. "Be in tomorrow morning at nine."

"I'll be here," I promised, hastening to the back room to grab my jacket and electronics. "Will you be working?"

"Yes."

"Okay, see you tomorrow then," I said, throwing a quick smile to him.

He shot me a meaningful look. "I meant what I said about Mr. Tucker. That guy is bad news."

Annoyed, I shot him a glare. "Your opinion, Elliot." Waving once, I strode out of the diner. Unraveling my headphones, I slipped the buds into my ears and turned on my music, all the while fighting the tightening of my chest. Due to two things: One, how Elliot was trying to make Mr. Tucker seem like a bad guy, and two, because the night walk home was always nerve wracking. Mainly due to my silent stalker. She or he had been following me home the past two work nights. It didn't seem like they were trying to cover up the fact they were stalking me either, always allowing me to hear their footfalls. Still, although it was an unnerving ordeal to go through with, he or she had never tried anything. So I wasn't too worried. Maybe they were just playing some kind of joke, nothing serious.

Or so I liked to hope. Since I wasn't as brave as I'd like to have been, my music was still on the lowest volume so I could hear everything around me. I treaded quietly, my eyes alert and scanning. For the first five minutes, there was no sign of life. Just a few cars passing by now and again.

On the sixth minute though, just as my iPod was changing songs, I heard the crunch of gravel directly behind me. The closest I'd ever heard it.

Sucking in a gasp of breath, I twisted on my heel, preparing to fight for my life. My gaze met nothing. "What the hell?" I whispered, my heart beating a mile a minute. The crunch sounded like it'd came from maybe an inch behind me.

Ghost, a crazy, irrational, foolish part of my mind whispered. Which I banished immediately. Aliens were more believable than ghosts. I set my jaw, my mood dampening even further. It wasn't a night I felt like dealing with my stalker on.

Now with the thought of aliens following me, I quickened my pace. Stalkers and ghosts I could handle. Aliens... Let's just say my mom's fear of them had leaked into me. It was a stupid fear and I hated it, but it was there. Glowering at nothing in particular, I yanked my earbuds out of my ears, and immediately picked up the sound of footsteps behind me.

Well, at least that meant it wasn't aliens.

"Hey!" I called angrily, whirling around with a scowl. Yet again, no one, or thing, met my eyes. "Show yourself!"

Not that I expected that to work.

"Stop following me!" I all but shouted. "I'm so not in the mood!" With my fists clenched at my sides, I continued on, stomping loudly.

Still, I could hear the footsteps following me. I didn't stop again. My pulse was racing, and my hands were shaking, but I put on a brave front. As soon as Paul's house came into view, I relaxed a little. Whomever it was following me wouldn't dare try anything, if anything, so close to the house.

Or so I thought.

Without warning, the hood of my sweatshirt was yanked backwards, the collar efficiently choking me. The phrase close encounter flew through my head, amusing me for the briefest second, but the situation shoved that thought aside, and I struggled to get in enough breath to scream.

Then suddenly, my hood was released. Air rushed into my lungs, and left as a shrill, sharp scream. One hand flew up to my neck, while the other swung out in a fist as I twirled around to face my attacker. My fist flew through air, hitting nothing. No one was behind me. My eyes scanned the area, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a figure in black running toward a back alley. I jolted forward, prepared to run after them, but stopped myself, realizing it'd be a bad idea.

Realizing I'd stopped breathing, I let out a long whoosh of air, keeping my eyes glued to the alley the figure had disappeared into. My heart thumped furiously in my chest and the skin of my throat smarted, but for the most part I felt calm.

That is, until, a hand touched my shoulder. "Allie?"

Startled, I jumped, ripping myself away from the person. It took me a few moments to note it was only Paul. A relieved chuckle fell from my lips. "Oh, it's only you."

"What do you mean... what happened to your neck?" His eyes narrowed at my throat.

Glancing down, I noticed under the light of the streetlamp, the skin was tinged with red. "Ah, scratch," I lied quickly.

"Is that why you screamed?" he asked, his eyes skeptical.

"No... yes..."

Crossing his arms, he pursed his lips at me. "Where are you coming from?"

"Elliot's."

"You walked from his house?"

"Yep," I answered, squirming a little under his penetrating gaze. "It's kind of cold, can we go inside?"

Nodding, he half-smiled at me. "I bet it's kind of cold, since you've walked two towns to get here from Elliot's house."

I couldn't stop a grimace from crossing my face.

"Now, let me ask again, where are you coming from?" he repeated, a frown now settled on his face.

"Well, I was with Elliot, just not at his house." It was an honest enough answer.

"Do you lie to your parents like this, Allie?" he demanded. "I sure hope to God you don't."

"I'm not lying. I'm just not telling the whole truth."

A frustrated expression passed across his face. "Whatever. At least tell me what happened to your neck."

I hesitated for a moment. The last couple nights I hadn't even given thought to telling anyone about my stalker, but that was because he or she hadn't tried anything. But tonight... maybe it wasn't a smart idea to keep it to myself. "Ah, someone was following me. And, I don't know, grabbed me or something," I mumbled.

Paul's face darkened. "What?"

"It's no big deal—"

"No big deal?" he repeated, sounding angry. "Get inside. Now." Without waiting for me to respond, he grabbed my forearm and basically dragged me into his house, shutting and, to my surprise, locking the door. "Who was it?"

Shrugging him off, I frowned. "If I knew, I would confront them, wouldn't I?"

"Allie, this is serious—"

"Forget it," I said dismissively.

"No!"

I blanched, taken aback at his sudden raise of voice. He hadn't yelled at me before.

Running a hand through this shaggy hair, he let out a frustrated groan. "Sometimes I think you forget I'm your guardian and therefore am responsible for your safely."

"Oh, so you're worried because you're my guardian?" I snapped before I could stop myself.

"No, Allie, you know that's not it—"

"Well, I can handle it," I interjected, kicking off my shoes. "I'm tired. I'm going to bed."

"Wait," he ordered, grabbing my elbow and stopping me as I tried to walk by him. "At least let me check out your neck. See if it'll bruise."

Bruise? I highly doubted it was that serious. It was only a quick tug. Still, the thought of it bruising wasn't a pleasant one, so I agreed reluctantly. We headed over to the kitchen and Paul flipped on the light, patting the countertop for me to sit on. Obeying, I hopped onto it and upturned my head so he could see my throat. "Allie," he began, gently placing two cool fingers against my skin, "I'm serious when I say we have to do something about that stalker."

"I know," I sighed in defeat. "I'm working on it."

"We should call the cops—"

"No," I stated firmly. "That would involve my parents and they would pull me out of this school and house so fast you wouldn't even be able to blink."

"If that's what it takes..."

My heart skipped a beat. "What? No! I don't want to leave, Paul. This is... this is nothing. Maybe he or she, whatever, wasn't attacking me!"

"Then just stop walking home," he told me, pulling back so his eyes could meet mine. "Call me and I'll pick you up. You don't need to tell me what you're doing if you don't want to, as long as you promise it's not bad."

My gaze softened. "It's not... and thanks."

"It's no problem. And if I can't do it, have Mr. Tucker give you a ride home or something."

"I'm not hanging out with him," I responded, rolling my eyes.

After studying my face for a few moments, he nodded. "Good. That guy is bad luck."

"Why is everyone saying that?" I said wearily.

"Because it's true."

"Yeah, well I don't think so."

Paul pressed his lips into a thin line. "You're a student."

Bristling, I jumped off the counter, very aware that I was pushing Paul's personal space boundaries to the limit. "And you're a teacher. But that doesn't stop you from flirting with Olivia, so it won't stop me from flirting with Kyle." With that, I marched past him, heading toward my room.

__________________________________

Hey guys! Sorry about the extreme lateness of this post. I've been really busy. My dad's started chemo so someone has to stay with him all the time, and my mom just lost her job, so now I have two parents that aren't working, one sick, and two houses that need bills paid and I need to find another job to help out. It's just been stressful and shitty. But I won't vent to you guys too much, haha. I just want to let you know the reason behind my absence. I'll be fine!

Oh, and I slightly changed last chapter. Nothing too big though, so don't worry.