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AJ's POV

I squinted my eyes at him. Questions swirled inside my head.

What does he know?

"I don't see a sign that says 'No AJ Allowed.'" I grumbled. Why can't people mind their own business for like one day?

"Okay," he casually replied with that stupid grin on his face.

"Okay what?"

"Whatever you say sailorman." He waved me off. He was a little loud so two other guys turned to look at us.

"Stop calling me that!" I gritted and quickly walked out of there.

~~~~~~~~

"I saw Eli today. He didn't look so good." Cora said as we ate our chicken sandwiches at the cafe. I instantly moved forward. What did she mean by he didn't look good? Was the note too intense?

"When? When did you see him?" I demanded.

"Earlier this morning. Calm down love bird." She smiled at me.

I let out a breath of relief. At least it was before I sent the cupcake.

"What's going on AJ? You're super tense right now. I'm worried." Should I tell her? I didn't want to keep anything from my best friend.

"I sort of wrote down how I felt." I shut my eyes closed, afraid to look at her reaction.

"In the note? In the cupcake?!" I took a peek just in time to see her eyes widened. She was full of excitement at that moment.

"Yeap," I muttered shyly.

"That's great!!!"

"Sssshhhhh."

"But that's not enough AJ. You need to tell him. Face. To. Face." She emphasized each word.

"I know, I know. I'll do it soon." I was already planning and visualizing romantic scenes of how I would confess my love to Eli. I had to stop believing that it would be just like in the movies or some novel. What if I sneezed on him while I poured my heart out? What if I farted really loudly?!

Eeerrgghh.

"Stop thinking crap! You're going to hurt yourself just by over thinking." Cora could sense my wild imagination. I blew my hair out of my face and stared at her.

"This is a huge step for you though. You're so brave to do this and you should give yourself a pat on the back. I am proud of you babe." I grinned at her. I was brave today wasn't I?

"I hope Eli's okay. Maybe Lizzie tormented him too." I absentmindedly muttered. The moment I mentioned Lizzie's name, my best friend's eyes glazed over. She was quiet and withdrawn for a short moment.

"Hey are you okay?" I asked slightly irritated. Maybe because I damn well knew that Lizzie did something to Cora. She probably hurt her and that made my blood boil. I was even more frustrated due to the fact that my best friend didn't want me involved.

"Y...yeah. I'm fine. What were you saying?" She quickly collected herself and interlaced her fingers on the table.

"Maybe Lizzie bothered Eli?" She shook her head and focused on me.

"Yeah maybe. You said she always messed with him right?"

"Yeah, about the alpha queen bee who is secretly with Gabrielle."

Whoops. That came out of nowhere.

"What?!!"

"Sssshhhhh." I glared at her. Cora's eyes gleamed with excitement and curiosity.

"You mean Rylen? The tall, famous, handsome, badass, hottie?" I stiffly nodded. That's all on the outside ladies and gentlemen.

"And Gabby as in Lizzie's best friend?" I nodded again.

"Together?" And one last nod.

"I wasn't supposed to tell anyone about that." I awkwardly mumbled.

"You're not one of them so you're guilty of nothing." Cora crossed her arms.

"But seriously don't tell anyone. If Gabrielle finds out, she's gonna come at me with her fangs and claws. I just cannot deal with the drama." Cora laughed and agreed with me.

"I don't think they're together though." I informed Cora, recalling the incidents which too place earlier.

"Of course they're not. People like Gabby and Rylen switch from one person to another every hour." I nodded and told her about whatever happened today. Cora was bumped because she wanted them to be together until Lizzie caught them red handed.

As we were talking a group of familiar guys passed by out table. I knew they all took the same course as Cora so they shared most of their classes with her. Instead of greeting her like any normal course mate would, they pointed at her face and laughed out loud. What the heck?

My best friend instantly looked down and blushed in embarrassment. She couldn't even look at them. Her breathing started to become heavier by the second and she looked as if she was going run away. They laughed louder at her discomfort.

I moved my chair back with a loud screech. "Grow up and get the hell out of our sight." I gritted and stared at the guys. They remained unfazed.

"Ahhh, AJ to the damn rescue. Did she come crying to you?"

"She did not but continue to talk shit to us and you'll go crying to your mama with broken bones. What's this about?"

"AJ it's fine. Let them go." Came a timid voice nearby. Cora was so uncomfortable with the whole situation, I could see her fingers start to tremble.

"What's the matter? Did you forget to send the pictures to your friend?" One of the guys snickered at Cora. I stared at him with venom in my eyes.

"What pictures?"

"Leave her alone," another guy came forward and scanned my best friend. "Maybe her life long dream was to be a cheap call girl. To bad fat girls are not that high in demand right now Cora boo." He ruffled her hair rather aggressively, causing her body to be pushed backwards.

He did not just do that.

In one swift motion, I took a step towards him and punched him square in the face. He staggered back, tripped and fell on the ground. Cora screamed and told me to stop but I ignored her.

There were not many people in the cafe and whoever was there did not pay much attention to what was going on. They knew who started it.

The first guy took a step back from me while his other two friends helped the guy on the floor.

"You have two seconds to explain what happened. Or I swear you will pay a very heavy price for what you may or may not have done." I spoke coldly.

"Whoa calm down girl-"

"I won't ask you again."

"Hey, if you hit me, I'll hit you back weirdo. Don't fuck with me."

"If I throw the first hit, you'll have zero chances of hitting me back. Now start talking." He wanted to say something else but controlled himself.

"It wasn't our fault okay! She's the one who had an account on that sex website!" He cried out.

"What?" I asked in shock.

"Yeah why don't you ask her?! Everyone has access to it and a lot of people know this. Turns out Cora is secretly a call girl. We don't mind it of course. As long as she comes when we call." He gave her a smile which looked disgusting.

"Who told you?" I gritted out. "Who told you about the website?"

"What do you mean? We're guys. We know." Pathetic liar.

"Who. Told. You. Someone showed it to you." I stepped closer to him. We were all quiet for a moment and as the seconds ticked by so did the hard look in his eyes.

I could hear sniffing. Cora eyes were tearing up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was right. Lizzie was behind the whole thing. She made a fake profile of Cora on a famous sex website called Sirens. Lizzie also put sexual, nude, inappropriate pictures of Cora on it. The description of her was downgrading and disgusting. She went overboard with making Cora look like a cheap whore. The body wasn't Cora's of course but no one on the website would know that. Elizabeth Pierce crossed the fucking line. I so badly wanted to use her as a punching bag.

Without wasting time, I took the matter to the dean that very day. Before we marched over there to see the Dean, Cora tried to stop me. Instead of giving in, I said it was time for her to open up and that's when we firmly made the choice to complain.

I knew I couldn't say much without Cora's consent and so I didn't let out any details. Instead, I had a long talk with Cora and somehow convinced her to explain everything. 

While we were waiting outside the Dean's office, I realize my knuckles were bleeding. The pain settled in a while later. Of course it hurt. I've never really punched a guy before. Plus, I used so much force. I lost it earlier today and I didn't want to lose it. I was trying to have self-control but I lost it. He shouldn't have touched Cora like that.

Thankfully, I managed to calm myself later on once the adrenaline wore off. With Cora's help of course. Moments later we were called in by one of the office clerks.

Surprisingly, alpha queen bee walked out. Apparently, he wasn't in a good mood. He slammed the Dean's door and fisted his hands by his sides. Cora jumped a little next to me. He looked intimidating, I wasn't going to lie about that fact.

Rylen then closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again. No doubt to collect himself. Turning to his right, he abruptly stopped. He wasn't expecting us to be sitting there, just staring at him. He didn't pay attention to Cora but instead he glared at me as if I was the source of his daily problems.

I raised a brow at him in a questioning manner. He then simply looked at me, anger slowly diminishing. Truth be told, it was really awkward. We were having a staring contest when Cora and I needed to be talking to the dean.

Very slowly his eyes trailed down my face and landed on my right hand. His eyebrows furrowed for a tiny second, then he looked at me again. I squinted my eyes at him curiously. He wanted to say something but instead he held his tongue and quickly walked out.

Only after he was gone did I realize that my bloodied knuckles had caught his attention. Cora gave me a second before pulling us inside the office.

She informed everything to the Dean in a very basic manner.

A few days later, Lizzie and those involved received a warning letter from the University. Ever since then, there were no more news about Cora getting hurt by any of those losers. Especially Lizzie.

I could only hope Cora wasn't hiding anything.

~~~~~~~~

A week later.

Noah's POV

"AJ she isn't hiding anything from you. Just stop."

"I'll stop, I promise. Sorry, I just worry too much when it comes to her." She mumbled. We were sitting on the bleachers hazily watching the track runners practice. We couldn't concentrate as my small passive-aggressive friend kept getting lost in her thoughts.

I know she has every right to look out for Cora. They've been best friends since they were six and AJ always had her back. She also took pride in being responsible for Cora's well-being. It was as if she liked taking care of Cora. I don't really know why. Maybe because AJ was an only child. Maybe she sees Cora as family. I'm not sure.

I was aware that I was close to her but I didn't know much about AJ's family and her upbringing. She rarely talks about her parents let alone her relatives. I didn't even know her parents' names.

Despite all that, I always saw AJ's protective side as a good thing. At least until quite recently. She cannot continue to think that she was responsible for every aspect of Cora's life. She just can't. AJ is the best friend and she needs to be just that. She thinks it's her job to constantly check up on Cora and to make sure she's okay. Cora needs to learn how to defend herself and it's good for AJ to teach her that but not to do it for her all the time.

"Teach her AJ. Teach her how to fight back." I voiced my thoughts.

"Cora would never do that. I've tried. Time and time again. It's just.....she keeps saying that it's not her. I mean I don't tell her to be like me, I just want her to talk back and be strong for herself."

"How has that worked out?"

"She has done it, if that's what you're asking."

"Okay."

"The effect doesn't last though. But like you said, everything is alright now. She's safe and that's all that matters to me. She's safe."

"Even some mothers don't sound like you," I teased her. She lightly bumped my shoulder and chuckled.

"I hate these bullies Noah." She suddenly mumbled.

"Nobody likes a bully. The one important thing we should all do and one of the few things we can do, is to show them that they cannot overpower us."

"It's not that easy for most." I nodded at her. Man, why do we gotta be so tough for them assholes. Can't we just go about being ourselves?!

"She'll be okay. Everything's gonna turn out right." I assured my friend. Thinking about Cora made me smile. She's bubbly with a whole lot of light in her. I just wish she could see the strength she possesses.

"Why are you smiling like that?"

"Recalling a cartoon I watched recently." I shrugged. AJ just wiggled her eyebrows at me. I scoffed at her.

"Don't you have work today? Thought you needed to bake another cupcake for cupcake boy." Her cheeks instantly turned pinkish. AJ was no longer an impenetrable rock. I could easily get to her and I loved it.

Eli you have no idea what you're doing to this girl!!

AJ suddenly looked away from me. I could almost feel her drooping spirits. "What's wrong now? C'mon tell me. Talk to daddy."

"That sounded so-"

"Sexy?"

"Disturbing." She chuckled.

"So what's up?"

"Eli. He doesn't look so happy lately. I can't help but feel something bad is going to happen. I might sound like I'm overreacting but his mood is getting to me. Why do you think he's like that?"

"Did you talk to him?"

"Nope. He only comes for the lectures. That's it. I saw him yesterday and we chatted for a bit. He wasn't himself." She said worriedly.

"Talk to him AJ. Ask him straight up. You be the boss and how about you give that cupcake to him directly for a change?" Her whole demeanor changed.

"Isn't it too soon for that? So drastic I mean." I gave her an incredulous look.

"You wanna die first and tell him in spirit?!! 'Is it too soon?' Seriously AJ?!" I stared at her shocked face. She didn't move and stared at me with wide eyes.

"What?" I demanded.

"I don't know. You've never yelled at me before. I'm....not used to it I guess?" She dramatically placed her hand over her heart. "Wow that was new." She whispered. "I don't like it. At all." She looked at me as though I stole her candy. Damn this girl can be weird as hell. Maybe that's why we became friends almost instantly.

Instead of saying anything I flicked her ear and stared back. "That's what you get for wasting your time! How many more cupcakes does the guy gotta eat?! He's probably getting shit stressed from all the mystery." I continued to scold her. Partly because she needed it and mostly because it was fun. Plus, I rarely get to yell at this girl.

"Do you think I did that? Do you think he's become unhappy and depressed because of my cupcakes and all the n-" She immediately stopped herself. I bet there was more and I knew she wasn't giving me complete details. That's AJ for you.

However, I let this one slide. I know how weird it is for her to actually like someone. She's not used to it and she proves it by the way she reacts to her feelings. I mean who does what she's doing?

"All the what?"

"Cupcakes and the whole mystery package thing." She barely covered up. Romance was driving her insane. I felt bad for the tough girl. She's turned into a mush for that oblivious boy

"Hey, hey look at me." She slowly lifted her eyes and stared back at me. "It's not your fault. Eli is a lot like you. He's most probably depressed because he got a 99% on his quiz...."

"Hey I'm not-"

"Yes you are and you know it." I firmly said.

"Tell him how you feel alright. Don't prolong it. You'll feel a lot better after that, trust me." She looked at me for a long time before nodding her head. I guess she finally understold how it's supposed to work. Good for her.

"I have to go to the bakery." She mumbled and packed her bag.

"Go make one hell of a cupcake. Something he won't ever forget." She gave me one of her extremely rare sweet smiles  and left.

Good luck, girl.

~~~~~~~~~

AJ's POV

Rich chocolate it is. I added the cocoa powder and a bit of espresso powder into the batter. Adding a little espresso powder was highly recommended on one of the online recipes I was scrolling through some time ago. I thought it was time I tried it.

Once the batter was nicely done, I didn't regret adding the espresso powder. The smell alone tingled my taste buds.

It took a while before the cupcake was fully baked. While waiting, I made the frosting. Also rich chocolate. I took my time with this cupcake. Even with the decorating.

This was the cupcake that I was going to give him directly. He was going to know the truth.

I put the simple note inside. It only had two sentences. A string of words that would change my life. For better or for worse, I didn't know. The pressure of simply not knowing, bit my insides. The feeling of not knowing whether you're going to be accepted or not was overbearing. I knew that I've already written how I felt. However, I didn't feel this nervous back then because I knew my identity was hidden. That was not going to be the case this time.

The worst part of this whole situation was me not knowing why I was taking this so seriously. My mind and heart was filled with so many emotions. It was almost too heavy.

I was already sad the moment I closed the cupcake and put the frosting. I shouldn't be this down. Wasn't excitement supposed to be the main emotion? Girls are either excited or nervous to share their feelings with their crush.

So why did sadness take over me?

You're definitely not normal. Everyone has said it. Even the birth giver and the sperm donor.

I made the cupcake anyway and placed it in the silver box. The minute I was done, I heard the small bell.

"Sailor man!"

Arghhhh not now!!

I quickly placed the silver box under the large table. Jaxon was simply annoying. Lately he's been staring at me like he knows my every weakness. He just looks at me with his famous all knowing smirk that I want to punch out of his face.

"What do you want?" I asked in a bored tone. I was too tired due to my overwhelming thoughts that day and my mood just wasn't right.

"One special, with a vanilla milkshake." He strode over to the stool and took his seat at the counter. I took down his order and gave it to Ms.Winnie.

"So sailor man, any plans tomorrow?"

"Yeah, plenty." I replied while I cleaned the oven.

"Like what?"

"Why do you want to know, Jax?" I was a little curious. Jaxon has been coming here quite frequent lately. And he's paying too much attention to me. He's not usually the chatty type and most certainly not to me. We acknowledge each other from time to time but never like this.

"Just cuz. Can't I have a nice conversation with my favourite childhood friend?" I rolled my eyes at him and almost puked.

"No, you may not. Oh look! Your order's ready." I beamed as Ms.Winnie waltzed in with Jaxon's treat. He gave me an irritated look but covered it. What does he want?

"AJ listen, you remember how bad I was at English?" I almost groaned. He's definitely up to something.

"Yeah Jax, it's not something one can easily forget. I also remember that story you wrote in second grade." Jaxon glared at me and cursed under his breath, making me chuckle.

"Never mention that again. Personally, I didn't see anything wrong with it."

"You didn't see anything wrong with the pirate who had two eye patches? One for each eye?! You didn't see anything wrong with that same pirate who ate-"

"Enough already! I allowed my imagination to flow and so should you!" I raised both my hands up in surrender.

"Okay, Jax. Go on, now that you know how much I remember." He look a long sip of his milkshake before continuing.

"So yeah, I'm like failing my literature course. I mean I just can't seem to excel in those classes."

"You need help...?" I hesitantly asked. Jaxon never asked for help. He would rather wear a bright pink ballerina outfit than admit to something like that. It would bruise his ginormous ego. I crossed my arms and tilted my head.

"I needed help."

"So now you have help?" He nodded, popping the last bit of cupcake in his mouth.

"Good for you...?" Why was he telling me this. He then smiled at me and gulped down all his milkshake.

"You'll never guess who's my new tutor. He's really committed to helping me get my grades up and he's such a gift. Such an understanding, lifeless, nerd that boy." Jaxon grinned. I wanted to scream and run away but instead, I stood my ground and gave nothing away.

His smile only widened. This time it wasn't pleasant. This time, it was mischievous.

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