I hear footsteps rushing down the hallway and into my room. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" Luke and Michael ask before they notice why I was screaming.

I slowly turn around, doing everything I can to keep my composure. "Where is Mason. I need to go kill him for doing this."

"Your hair is--is--" Luke starts, but it takes him a second to finish the second. "It's almost pink."

"Actually it's more a purple. They must have used hot pink or bright red, but since your hair was already blue it just came out as a florescent purple." Michael continues.

"I know, Michael. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go kill the other team for this." I say marching out of the room. "Mason, you and the others better watch out because the gloves are officially off."

The prank war only escalates from there, and over the course of the next week a multitude of pranks are pulled. Some of the best ones were a ketchup bottle practically exploding all over Calum and Ashton (no thanks to my secret alliance with Bianca), my team getting stuck in a real house of horrors while Dad was away, and even a fake "sabotage" of our stuff. It all just kept building up, and the whole time we were waiting for the other side to give in.

Unfortunately, it was still in full force when I had to go out with the creep from the coffee shop. "Okay, so I know we're in the middle of the prank war, but I really need my big brother right about now." I tell Mason as I twirl my car keys in my hand. "Please, I don't want to have to even go out with this guy, so I could really use a escape hatch."

"Why are you even going out with this guy in the first place?" Mason asks completely baffled as he shakes his head.

"Long story short when I had to make a coffee run every twenty minutes for all the executives--who just couldn't use the high quality machines they have. He offered to save me some time and text him the order so I could pick it up and leave right away, but the loophole was that he would charge extra to the order or I could hang out with him--once. This is that one time, and I can't back out because he knows where I work. I just can't take the chance of someone getting another excuse to punish me."

Mason just leans back in his chair and sighing as he nods his head in understanding. "Fine. I'll keep my distance and give you an emergency call to get you out when you text me."

"Thank you so much, Mase. We should probably get going, he told me to meet him at some random coffee shop and indie club fusion? I don't really know what it is, and I don't think I'll be there long enough to find out." I pause, standing up and spinning my keys again as I say. "Let's go."

When I get there, coffee shop-guy is waiting outside, bouncing on his feet, likely from too much caffeine. "I was worried you wouldn't make it!" He tells me as he greets me with a gimmicky bow, and it takes every part of my will to not cringe. "Let's head inside, and get this date started."

"This isn't a date. This is just two people hanging out." I tell him, and he just pretends like I never said anything in the first place. I do my best to just push past it, and try to make the best of this dismal situation. "So what exactly is this place?" I ask as we go inside, and I'm met with a very LA-hipster atmosphere. The smell of coffee, and the sounds of machines brewing fills the air. Everyone here, quietly chatters and sips their coffee as they listen to the acoustic music. There are even a few people standing up and seeing along to the music.

"It's a coffee bar." Nathan, coffee dude, replies as though it was plainly obvious. "One of my friends helped come up with the concept. It's a coffee only bar, meets club with live indie music. Luckily for you, we came on one of the special nights where some of the guests are chosen to sing." I start screaming inside my head, knowing what he's about to say. "I had my friend put our names down on a list in advance, since he owed me a favor."

"Oh, that's nice, but I really don't like singing that much." I tell him, lying through my teeth.

He just laughs for a moment, shrugging it off. "Well, either way it makes for a pretty fun date."

I just sigh, keeping myself from hitting my head on the table as we sit down. It's completely pointless to try to explain to him that this isn't a date. We awkwardly talk as we sip on the odd coffee fusions we ordered. "So, what brought you to LA?" Nathan eventually decides to ask after a long span of silence.

"Well, it's sort of a long story, but I got a job out here over the summer. So I flew out here for to work, and when I'm done, I'll be heading back home." I tell him casually, hoping that he doesn't try to push any farther.

Luckily for me, we're interrupted by someone coming over to the table, and a part of me feels like I know him. "Nathan, glad to see you after all this time, and who might this be?" He asks as he looks over to me.

"I'm Andy." I introduce myself before Nathan could say anything.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Andy." He greets me with a smile as he shakes my hand. "Oh, Nathan, you're up next on stage, and don't worry, I'll give your friend some ear plugs and conversation while you're gone."

As Nathan walks toward the stage his friend takes his place, "Brace yourself, he doesn't sing very well."

"So why do you let customers get up their and sing?" I ask him, with a small smile creeping on my face.

"It's what makes life interesting. People love getting to do something out of the box every once in a while, and that's kind of what this place has become known for." He replies with a casual shrug. "Oh, no. Brace yourself, he's getting on stage." I have to cover my mouth to keep from chuckling as I realize that he is indeed right. "Don't worry, he always does short songs, and then it will be your turn."

"Oh, I'd really rather not sing in front of everyone right now."

"Nonsense, I'm sure you have a great voice. All it takes is a couple drops of courage to get you going." He tells me with a charming smile, and I lean back in my chair. I keep wondering where I've heard that phrase before, but I don't get a chance to figure it out before I'm being called up to the stage.

I awkwardly stand there, and ask the guitar player if he could play the only indie style song I can think of at the moment-- Ace of Hearts by Zella Day. I take a deep breath, and start singing the words. I watch as the whole cafe seems to quiet down or in my mind it does. I don't pay much attention to the people in this place, instead, I focus on the song.

When I finish, I walk back over to the table ignoring the polite applause of the people in the coffee shop. "Wow, that was amazing, Alex--" Nathan's friend said before quickly trying to cover it up by saying, "I mean, Andy. Sorry, you just remind me of an old friend."

I stop for a moment, and I realize that he never told me his name. "Thank you." I tell him with a cordial smile, and decide to ask him something to confirm a hunch I have. "I'm sorry, I don't think I caught your name before."

He just tries to look away from me as he says, "I'm Peter." The moment he says it, all the pieces fall into place, and I can feel my chest begin to tighten up.

"Nice to meet you, Peter." I barely manage to say. "Excuse me for a minute." I tell the two of them as I rush away. I run into the bathroom, barely able to pull my phone out of my pocket. I don't even pay attention to the number I call.

"Hey, Andy. What's up?" The voice says from the other side, but I quickly realize it's not Mason.

"Could you do me a favor? I need to get out of here, but I don't know where Mason is. Can you tell him to bring the car and meet me outside, I really need to get out of here as soon as I can."

"Yeah, of course. Do you want me to stay on with you?"

"Yeah, I'd appreciate it if you could."

"Sure thing, Andy. I just text Mason for you and he'll be there in a minute." Luke tells me as I walk back out to the table. "Are you okay? It sounds like your crying."

"I'm f-fine." I stutter, but the silence tells me that he doesn't believe me. "I'll be okay when I get out of here, and I can explain it all later." I quickly tell him, stopping at the table and giving them a quick excuse before I rush out the door with my jacket and purse.

I wait on the corner for a minute before Mason pulls up next to the sidewalk. "What's going on? Are you all right?" He asks looking at me with worry. "You know I was planning on calling a cab and leaving you as a prank, but when I got Luke's text I knew I had to come back. I would never have left if I knew something was wrong."

"Yes, I know that. Don't worry, I'm fine. I just needed to get out of there. Can we go now, please?" I tell him a little to angrily, but I just turn away and face out the window. We drive back to the house in silence, and I march into the house before Mason can say a word.

"Hey, Andy--Andy." I hear someone call behind me. I turn around fully prepared to yell at whoever it is, but I find that it's Luke. "Andy, I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

I try to say something--anything, but I my tongue just won't work for me. Instead, I shake my head and continue up the stairs, but Luke follows me. "If you want me to leave you alone, that's fine. I just needed to make sure you were okay, especially after how you sounded on the phone earlier."

"No." I barely manage to say. "I really don't want to be alone right now, and I probably could use someone to talk about this with."

"I can go get Mason if you need--"

"No! I don't want to talk to Mason about all of this." I tell him, and continue to walk. We enter in the recording studio, and I sit down on the floor with my guitar in my lap. "Sorry, playing always helps me calm down." I tell him as I play a slow tune.

"I understand. I'm the same exact way." He tells me, but doesn't push me to explain myself.

I stop playing and set the guitar aside. "Okay, so it's time for me to explain myself. When I was at the coffee place with that guy, I ran into someone I used to know." I take a deep breath as I continue. "Well, I guess you could say he's my ex." I look up at Luke's face to see him trying to cover up his discomfort and shock. "Although, we never really had that kind of relationship, I called him my boyfriend back then, which was a huge mistake. His name was Peter Lance, and we met in middle school and started 'dating' right when we entered high school.

"It was the worst relationship of my whole life. At first, he seemed so nice, but I quickly realized that we didn't get a long very well. Our relationship was--destructive-- to say the least. I still can't believe how stupid I was back then." I say shaking my head, as I continue on. "To sum up our story, he was a complete jerk. As it turns out, the whole 'relationship' we had was one gigantic joke on me. The worst part is, back then I was fooled into thinking he cared. I was the dorky kid that no one liked. I mean, my parents were divorced, my mom worked as hard as she could to keep me there, and I was obsessed with my music. I was practically tormented there, but I would always keep a brave face to keep my mother from finding out.

"When he transferred, I assumed that he would just be another person to ignore me, but one day he walked up to me and asked me out. I was enchanted by the idea that someone could like me for who I am. Until I found out the truth, and it all came crashing down on me. I heard some of the popular girls talking about how 'hilarious it was to watch me with him when it's all fake.' I ran out of there crying and had my mom let me go home early. I texted him later that day telling him I knew everything and it was all over. I hated myself for the longest time because I believed him." I stare at my lap in silence for a moment, and look up to see Luke trying to hide his mixture of shock and I'm not sure what else. "My mom found me crying when she got home, and I told her everything. She ended up letting me transfer schools, and I only saw Peter once after that. He found me at my favorite coffee shop right before he was going to move away. He told me how 'sorry he was for doing all that to me' and 'hurting me like that.' The worst part was he told me 'we could be together for real this time. All it would take is a few drops of courage and forgiveness. The worst part is, he called me by the name I used to go by and now hate, and he even said I 'reminded him of an old friend.' We were never friends, especially after what happened."

"That's despicable. How could someone ever do that to another person? Especially to you?" He says, obviously upset and looks at me like he can still see me hurting.

"So, obviously, when I realize it was him I ran into tonight. It reminded me of everything I went through. Gosh, I can't believe I still feel this weak after all this time."

"You're not weak, Andy." Luke tells me as he rests his hand on mine. "Don't let anyone make you feel like that. You are so much more stronger than you think, and no one should have the power to make you feel like you're anything less."

I awkwardly look up at him and give him a real smile. "Thank you, Luke. Oddly enough, that's probably exactly what I needed to hear. You know, you actually kind of sound like my friend Luke back home." I tell him with a smile, "That's the kind of thing he always tries to tell me."

"He sounds like a nice guy." Luke says with a bit of a forced smile. "Are you two?"

"What?" I ask, unsure of what he means for a moment. "Dating? No, I'm not dating anyone. To tell the truth, I've really never dated anyone before."

"Really?" He asks leaning back. "You've never dated anyone before?"

"Nope. I've never really found someone I thought I could see myself with. Not that I've had anyone really interested. I guess I always decided I would wait for the right guy. You know, one I could actually see the relationship going somewhere with." I tell him with a casual shrug.

"That's actually really cool. Most girls I've know just wanted to be in a relationship, or to have someone go with their every whim."

"Well, as you can tell, I'm definitely not 'most girls,' as cliche it is to say that." I tell him laughing, and he soon laughs along with me. He continues the conversation and I keep smiling, realizing that I no longer felt the anxiety and pain that I had earlier. I notice that I'm actually happy, and for once, feeling like myself.

//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\

Author's note:

Well, here's the next update. I hope you all enjoyed getting another glimpse into Andy's past! So it seems there's much more to her story than anyone realized. The big question is, how long can she hide what's in the past?

Anyways, thank you so much for reading my story! As always feel free to comment your thoughts! I hope to get another update coming to you soon! Until then, stay awesome.