Chapter 24

I'm getting ready for work when my aunt enters my room. She takes a seat on my bed as I fix my hair in the mirror. I flash her a quick smile in the reflection and she returns it. "Hey," she greets.

"Hey."

"I talked to your mom yesterday," she starts to explain her reasoning for being here. "She told me about how you want to stay in Harrington for your senior year."

"What did you say?" I ask her curiously. I hope she lets me stay. I've been on my best behavior here.

"I don't think it's a problem at all. You're a wonderful girl and I love you," my aunt trails slowly and I sense something else.

"But?" I prompt her with a raised brow.

She looks hesitant to speak but when she finally manages to utter the words, they aren't as bad as I had anticipated. "You have to make sure you're staying in Harrington for you, not for your friends," she manages to sputter.

I turn around from the mirror and stare at her. "I am, aunt Gen. I like it here in Harrington. I have a job; I'm doing okay in school; I have friends. But that's not only it. Back home, I'm pressured into being someone I'm not. If I were to go back, I'd probably fall back into my old patterns, honestly. And if I didn't, I would have to find an entirely new group of friends. I'd have to find a new job. I'd have to start all over again, and it was hard enough the first time."

"I see where you're coming from. Besides, I don't think I'd be able to say 'goodbye.' You're too good of a cook," my aunt teases me with a small smile. I roll my eyes at my her but smile nonetheless. "Where'd you get this?" I notice her eyes fall to my pink bag. I put the rose in a vase with water on my bedside table and pray she doesn't notice that. I can lie about buying myself chocolates but it'd seem weird if I bought myself a rose, too. I'm not that lucky, though, because her eyes settle on the red petals and she raises a single brow. "You got a rose, too?"

"Yeah, uh, a friend gave it to me," I shrug weakly as I grab my coat off my chair.

"A friend?" she presses with furrowed eyebrows. I nod my head vigorously in hopes that she doesn't push it. "This seems a little romantic to be a gift from a friend," she notes as she twirls the rose in her fingers.

"I just have very kind friends," I blurt before turning around to face my dresser again. I absentmindedly fiddle with the handles as I wait for her to leave.

"How funny," my aunt chuckles knowingly. "You'll never guess who I saw driving down our street yesterday."

"Who did you see?" I wonder as I close my eyes and pray that it isn't who I think it is.

"Maddox," she states, which makes my shoulders slump a bit. Busted. "And he looked fairly happy. He even waved to me as we were passing each other."

"Did he? How nice. He probably was just passing through the neighborhood," I attempt to save myself.

"Yeah, he even stopped me and asked me to give you this," my aunt continues and I slowly turn around and find my lip balm in her grip.

"I must've left that in there when he gave me a ride home from school," I dismiss vaguely as I go to retrieve it. She closes her hand around the tube and gives me a pointed look.

"Tell the truth," she insists with narrowed eyes. I stare at her and allow my shoulders to slump as I give in.

"We hung out at his house yesterday. We just watched a movie, I promise. I didn't want to tell you because you would've told my mom and she would've told my dad and he would've been disappointed in me because he doesn't approve of Maddox," I rant before taking a large breath. "Maddox isn't a bad person, but my father thinks he is because of the way he dresses. If I could just show my father that Maddox isn't a bad guy, then he would approve of Maddox and I wouldn't have to lie about spending Valentine's Day with him."

My aunt watches as I walk around my room nervously. She wears a concerned look on her face before popping the long awaited question. "Are you and Maddox dating?"

"No, I mean, I like him. And I think he likes me back," I respond as I continue to pace back and forth. "Vivica thinks he does, too. But I don't know. He hasn't said anything but I think so."

"Why do you think so?" my aunt wonders curiously.

I nervously shrug as I risk a glance at her. "I don't know...he's nice," I lie very blatantly. Maddox is far from nice, but there's no way I'm telling her about how he kissed me. I had a hard enough time telling Vivica last night.

"Come on, we have to get going. We'll talk about this in the car," my aunt insists with a pointed finger.

+ + +

I swing behind the counter with a horrified look on my face. "What happened to you?" Abel wonders once he assesses my face.

"My aunt just gave me the talk," I whisper as I stare at the cash register. Abel wrinkles his nose when he catches on to what conversation I'm hinting at.

"Ew, gross," he mutters with a small shiver.

"Yeah I know, I tried to tell her I already got the talk but it was no avail," I respond as I give a slow shake of my head. Abel only continues to shiver in disgust.

After a long three hours of helping customers, I'm finally able to take my break, and so is Abel. He decides to run to McDonald's for his usual happy meal and I go with him. As we're walking back to Burger King, he turns to me with a smug grin. "I bet you're happy."

"Why do you say that?" I ask curiously as I glance up at him.

"You guys kissed last night," Abel replies casually and my face immediately reddens.

"Does Maddox just barge into your room and tell you this stuff?" I bite sassily.

"Actually, yes," Abel assures me. I turn to him in surprise and he offers me a weak shrug. "He had jogged up the stairs and basically kicked open my door. Lucky for him, I already changed my clothes."

"What did he say?" I ask, hoping to get some information out of him.

"I can't tell—," he starts to explain but I snap my head in his direction.

"Abel," I growl. "Tell me what he said."

Abel stares me with wide eyes as he bows his head. "Don't hurt me."

"I won't have to if you just tell me," I respond as he holds open the door for me.

"He just said that he kissed you," Abel shrugs as he takes a seat in our usual booth. Shoving a chicken nugget into his mouth, he starts speaking in a muffled voice. "And some other things."

"What other things?" I prompt him. When Abel refuses to look at me, I give him a hard glare. "What other things, Abel?"

"It wouldn't be fair if I told you!" Abel responds once he swallows his food.

"He knows that I like him! But I don't know anything about how his feelings for me! It's so—so—so frustrating!" I retort in exasperation. He stares nervously at my clenched fists, which are sitting on the table a few inches from his food.

"Calm down, little sheep," Abel practically whispers. "Your time will come."

"Why are you trying to sound like some wise sensei?" I harass with a pointed glower. "You know how he feels about me, don't you?"

"No," Abel answers sheepishly, which earns a glare from me. "Yes, but, I mean, I can't tell you."

"Abel!" I whine with my head tilted back.

"If you're so curious, why don't you just ask him?" Abel wonders with a weak shrug. I stare at him in shock that he'd even suggest such a thing. "What? It's not that hard."

"Let me give you a scenario in which you'd understand. Who is your dream celebrity?" I propose the situation to him.

"Zac Efron," he replies without skipping a beat. "Unless you mean romantically," he blurts when he sees my slightly confused look. "Then...hmm...Lauren London."

"Okay," I nod slowly. "Let's say that you like Lauren London and you think she likes you—."

"But what about Caroline?" he asks with a small frown. I let out a small sigh of frustration as I blink at him.

"Just pretend you haven't met Caroline yet," I dismiss his concerns. He goes to cut me off but I shake my head. "Just pretend."

"Okay," he confirms quickly.

"So, you like Lauren, and you think she might like you. You're not fully certain yet. She's naturally a flirty person, so kissing occasionally might not be as big of a deal for her as it is for you. You don't want to embarrass yourself by asking and making the assumption that you're something more than what she sees you as. And you also don't want to embarrass them, or make the friendship awkward," I explain and he listens with a concerned look on his face.

"Firstly, I'd like to say that if Lauren London ever kissed me, I'd probably fall into a coma. Don't tell Caroline," he starts and I want to roll my eyes. His hand falls to his cheek as he blinks up at the ceiling longingly. "Secondly, where did I meet her?"

I sigh noisily. "You're missing the point, Abel."

"Why are you comparing my brother to Lauren?" he wonders with a wrinkled nose.

"Isn't it obvious?" I groan.

"My brother is nowhere near as good looking as her...," Abel starts but slowly trails off once he notices my glare. "Listen, Liv, I know my brother, and I know you. I also know that if you bring it up to him, he won't kick you in the face. But he will kick me in the face if I tell you anything he's said to me, but I haven't, and I won't."

"But—," I start to plead and he gives me a quick shake of his head.

"You're thinking too hard about it," Abel insists casually.

"But what if he decides that he doesn't like me?" I ask him exasperatedly. I try to read his facial expression but he surprises me by staying neutral.

"Try your luck and bring it up," Abel suggests as he continues to munch away at his lunch.

"Abel!" I snap once my fists clench again. "You already know! Why can't you just give me a hint?"

"Okay, here's a hint," Abel responds as he leans in just a bit. "If it was me, and there was even a 5% chance that Lauren London—."

"Shut up about Lauren, Abel!" I retort as I slam my hands down on the table.

"I'm just saying—," he starts but I cut him off again.

"I'm telling Caroline," I threaten him as I stand up and prepare to clock back in.

"No, please don't!" Abel insists as he slides out of the booth, getting stuck towards the end and falling onto the floor. "Please don't! I love her! I don't want Caroline to think that I like Lauren more than her!"

"I'm going to call her right now!" I threaten as I grab my phone from my pocket. A few customers are watching, probably because of how Abel is dragging himself across the floor in a desperate attempt to stop me.

"No!" he pleads.

I laugh and jokingly narrowing my eyes at him. "Then tell me how Maddox feels!"

"Yes!" Abel responds as he struggles to get off of the floor. "He does!"

"Does what?" I ask in slight surprise.

"He likes you," Abel assures me. "Just don't tell Caroline- I don't want her to think I like other girls because she'd probably ignore me for weeks on end and I don't think I can handle—."

"I wasn't going to tell Caroline," I tell Abel quietly as we stare at each other.

Abel's eyes widen as he watches me in shock. "What?" he asks with guilt written across his face.

"I was joking," I confess in a whisper.

"What? Psh, me too," he replies as he tries to play it off. When he sees me staring at him with furrowed eyebrows, he sighs sadly. "Don't say anything to him about it."

"Yeah, I won't," I mutter. An awkward silence consumes us and I look over at him. "So, you love Caroline, yeah?"

"Did I say that?" Abel mumbles, growing even redder in the face than me. I nod slowly and his eyes widen a bit. "I don't—I, uh, I don't know."

"Well, it seems as if we both have problems to figure out."

+ + +

Once Abel drops me off at home, I run up to my room and start shrieking happily. Vivica immediately kicks open the door with a plastic bat in her hands. "What's going on?" she asks as she searches for an intruder.

"He likes me!" I respond as I continue to dance around. It takes her a moment to realize what I'm talking about but when she does, she drops the bat.

"Maddox?" she clues herself in. I nod my head vigorously. "He told you?"

"No, but Abel told me!" I explain with a smirk on my lips. She starts to jump around with me. I want to open my window and shriek out that Maddox actually likes me back. Once we finish our dancing fit, I turn to her. "I mean, I thought he did, but thinking and knowing are two completely different things."

"Well, are you going to ask him out?" she wonders with an expectant smile.

My eyes widen as I gape at her. I immediately start shaking my head, which earns a frown in response. "Psh- ask him out? He doesn't even know I know!"

"Well, let him know that you know," she encourages as if that's the obvious next step.

"No, because then Abel will get in trouble," I remind her with a pointed finger.

"So? I'm pretty sure he'll be grateful for Abel!" Vivica insists with a roll of hereyes.

"Yeah, but I mean, I want to hear him confess. I want to hear him say the words," I mutter with a quiet and slightly dreamy sigh.

"Hopefully he does it soon because I'm sick of waiting," Vivica retorts as she places a hand on her hip.

"You and me both," I conclude.

About a half hour later, I'm sitting in my bed doing my homework when I receive a text. And then I receive another one. I look at the first one, seeing as it's from Maddox. It's a simple greeting. I then click on Abel's and let out a laugh as I read it.

It took him ten minutes to decide on what to say. I read Abel's message once, and then twice, and then again, smiling wider and wider before I decide to actually respond. I then reply to Maddox's greeting with a large smile on my face.

+ + +

The following morning, when Maddox picks me up, I decide to ask a daring question. I hand him a granola bar and an apple and figure that it's now or never. We probably won't be in a private setting for a while. I need to ask when we're closer to school though, because if I don't get the answer I want, I'll have to sit beside him for an awkward twenty minutes.

"Why'd you kiss me?" I blurt towards the end of the ride. My face is already red and it suddenly occurs to me that I could've worded my sentence better. I should've beat around the bush to give him time to prepare an answer. I guess I have what one would call the Winona Syndrome.

Maddox has the granola bar in his mouth and both of his hands on the wheel. He glances at me so I reach over and snag the food hanging from his mouth. "What?" he asks after a second or two.

"On Saturday, you kissed me- why?" I inquire in a much calmer voice.

"Why do you think I kissed you?" he answers me with yet another question. I furrow my eyebrows as I try to think about what he'd want me to say. Because you like me. I refrain from grinning at the thought, and instead, I simply glance at him.

"If I had a theory, would I have bothered asking?" I reply sassily. We slowly pull into the school parking lot and I turn to him and watch as he stutters for a response.

"I'll let you sit on your question for the rest of the day. When you come up with a theory, run it by me. I'll prove or disprove it," he encourages as he undoes his seatbelt. "Sound fair?"

"I wanted a straight answer," I tell him when he leans over and snatches the rest of his granola bar back.

"Well, Olive, today seems to be your unlucky day," he grunts.

"What are you talking about?" I ask with furrowed eyebrows. I notice that my granola bar is now being taken away and shoved into Maddox's mouth. "What are you doing?"

He grins through the mouthful of food. "Getting you angry."

"Why?" I ask as I purposefully slam the car door. He cringes slightly as he struggles to swallow an entire half of my granola bar in one go.

"Because you're cute when you're mad," he responds shortly after choking down his food. I feel my face heat up as strolls by me. When he doesn't hear my footsteps, he turns around with that familiar smirk. "Are you coming? Because I don't have all day to stand around and wait—."

"You still didn't answer my question," I blurt, remembering what I asked in the car. When he hears this, he sighs and shoves his hands in his uniform pants pockets. I watch as he walks faster towards the school. "I want a straight answer, Finnegan!"

"Don't call me by my last name, Ortega," he replies over his shoulder.

"That's Coach Ortega to you, mister," I retort as I follow behind him.

+ + +

For the remainder of the day, Maddox tries to avoid me. Normally, I'd have dropped the question like a hot tamale, but after the strong evidence I received from Abel, I think it's cute how he's dodging the question. Whenever we make eye contact in class, I raise one of my eyebrows and, after explaining to him briefly over text what it means, he soon grows frustrated at my little motion. When lunch comes around, I trail him down to the cafeteria and don't even try to keep my distance.

"So my straight answer," I propose as I fell in step beside him in the lunch line.

"So my theory," Maddox responds with a short glance at me from the corner of his eye. He watches me choose tuna salad for lunch. "That's going to give you bad breath."

"What? It's not like anyone's going to be kissing me, am I right?" I respond with a pointed glance. He groans when he realizes that he walked into that one. I casually place the tuna salad back down and decide on a grilled cheese. "I mean, and if they did, they'd have to explain why they kissed me- am I right?"

"No, Olive, you're not right," he retorts as we walk to the table together.

As I take my usual seat, I pose a question and open the floor. "I have a quick question."

"What is it?" Winona inquires curiously with narrowed eyes at Maddox.

"If someone that you're not in a relationship with kisses you, do they owe you an explanation?" I ask as I open my juice.

"Well, who wants the explanation?" Nicholas wonders, sensing the fact that it isn't a hypothetical question.

"Me," I answer.

"Yes," Nicholas immediately confirms with an evil grin in Maddox's direction. Jackson nods through a large bite of pizza.

"Yes," Winona and Cass confirm simultaneously.

"So, Maddie, I think you owe me an explanation," I reply as I urn to him.

"You've been hanging out with Abel too much," Maddox scowls at the nickname, completely disregarding the rest of my statement.

"Oh, yes, I have," I answer as I tilt my head sideways. It takes Maddox a moment to comprehend my statement and I watch the wheels turn in his head as it does. His teeth are still sunken into his sandwich when his eyes widen once my words dawn on him. He quickly starts chewing again and I decide to provoke him some more. "And he said a few interesting things."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Maddox blurts immediately.

"Oh, you don't?" I wonder before offering a slow nod. "Because I can call him and have him refresh your memory."

"Well, I have to run. It looks like I have somewhere to be," Maddox announces immediately as he stands up, grabs his drink and partially eaten sandwich, and moves to leave.

"Where're you going?" Nicholas asks when he looks up to find his friend leaving. When Maddox exits the cafeteria, I turn my attention back to the table and find four confused expressions.

"What was that all about?" Jackson asks with a quirked eyebrow.

I shrug as I bite back a smirk. "Ask Maddox. Maybe he'll give you your much deserved explanation."

+ + +

I'm heading to my class after lunch when I hear Nicholas call out to me. "Olivia!"

I turn around to find him jogging towards me. "Hey," I smile at him.

"Hey," he replies as he comes to an abrupt stop. "I have to ask you something."

I notice his nervous behavior. He shifts from one foot to the other and nibbles his lip anxiously. "Ask away," I encourage, wondering where this could possibly be going.

"I can trust you right?" he wonders. I slowly nod and he nervously fidgets with his hands. "So, if I ask you a question, will you answer me honestly?"

I bob my head up and down again. "Is everything okay, Nick?" I ask when he hesitates.

"Yeah, it's just..." he trails awkwardly. "Who does Cass like?"

"Nicholas..." I slowly begin. "You know I can't just tell you."

"I know, but it's important," he responds as he rubs his palm against his inner elbow.

"Why should I tell you?" I question him.

"Because..." he slowly starts before stopping his sentence there.

"That's not a good enough reason, Nick," I smile sadly.

"I like her, okay?" he sighs as he runs his hand down his face. "I like her, and I want to know who she likes."

"Nick..." I quietly trail as I allow my lips to turn downward.

"It's Jackson, isn't it?" Nicholas mumbles as he acknowledges my facial expression.

"Yeah," I mutter. "But crushes don't last forever, Nicholas, I'm sure she'll get over him. You have a good chance—."

"I don't care about any of that," Nick sighs with a wave of his hand. "I just want to make sure that she's in good hands." The bell rings and Nicholas exhales once again. "Well, I better get to class. You should, too."

"Yeah," I agree with a nod. "I should."

"Don't tell anyone, Olivia. Not even Maddox," Nicholas insists and I tilt my head.

"What makes you think I'd tell Maddox?" I wonder and he gives me a flat look, which gets a weak shrug from me. "Okay, never mind. But answer one question for me."

"Alright," he agrees.

"Why me?" I wonder. "I mean, why would you tell me?"

He looks at me and blinks in thought. "Well, Winona would tell Cass in a heartbeat; Jackson would tease me about it; and Maddox would tell me to just tell her how I feel."

"Would he?" I wonder curiously.

"Yeah," Nicholas agrees as he tries his best to avoid getting shoved by passing people. "But remember, Olivia, don't tell anyone. I trust you."

"I won't, I won't," I laugh before slowly backing away and turning to go to class.

+ + +

I make it to Psychology, my last period class, four minutes late. I was on the first floor when I talked to Nicholas and I had to make it up to the fourth in less than 2 minutes. You guessed it- the elevator took a while to come downstairs. As I awkwardly duck into class, Mrs. Reanna doesn't bother asking for a pass, seeing as she's already deep in a lecture.  Winona and Cassidy sit in the front with absorbed looks on their faces.

I walk around the edge of the classroom but before I can make it to my usual seat in the back, Maddox leans over the empty chair beside his and yanks my arm. I turn to him with a slightly surprised look on my face. His empty notebook is the only thing on the table and he appears nervous for some odd reason.

"What?" I hiss. He pats the seat beside him and I hesitate a bit. I look up at Mrs. Reanna to see that she isn't even sparing me a glance. I drop down beside Maddox and offer him a small smile. "What?"

"Where were you?" he wonders in a hushed voice.

I quirk an eyebrow, wondering when it became commonplace for him to ask about my whereabouts. "With Nicholas."

His eyebrows tug together quickly as he assesses my face. "What'd he want?"

"Nothing," I respond casually. "What are we learning?" I reach for my bag in the space between us.

"I don't know and I don't care," Maddox responds quietly as he reaches out and snatches my backpack. I watch as he puts it on the other side of his chair, far out of my reach.

"What's your problem?" I hiss with a lost look on my face.

"What did you mean in lunch?" he queries with a flustered expression written on his features.

A small smirk falls onto my lips as I chuckle and shake my head. "Nothing."

"Nothing?" Maddox presses as he balances between relief and even more stress.

"Nothing you don't already know," I reply slyly as I stretch out in my seat. Maddox visibly tenses, which gets a kick out of me.

"Olive—," Maddox starts but is abruptly cut off.

"Late and disruptive is not a good look on you, Ms. Ortega," Mrs. Reanna blurts from the front of the class. "Go back to your assigned seat."

I bow my head in embarrassment as I stand up, walk behind Maddox, and snatch my bag off the floor.

+ + +

After last period, I rush out of the classroom being trailed by Winona, Cassidy, and Maddox. I immediately slip into the bathroom, where I'm followed by the two girls. "What did you mean at lunch?" Winona asks the moment the large door closes. I shrug as I lean on the sink and watch Cassidy fix her makeup.

An underclassman dries her hands and scurries from the bathroom. "Nothing," I reply dismissively. I guess I finally learned my lesson when it comes to secret telling.

"I know it's something," Cassidy responds as she brushes mascara through her lashes.

"Where are you going?" I change the topic of conversation.

"She's hanging out with Jackson after school," Winona blurts teasingly as she grins at Cass.

"That explains this," I nod at her makeup bag.

"Yeah, but what's not being explained is why Maddox is standing out there, annoyed and upset, and why you're so smug as of lately," Winona brings us back.

"Oh, speaking of Maddox, it's rude to make him wait. I'm sure he wants to get back to his house," I respond as I kick off of the sink. Winona, who is standing in the path separating me from the door, immediately stretches out her arms and cuts off my path.

"You're not leaving until you tell us what's going on," she threatens me and I sigh.

"I'll tell you guys some other time, I promise," I lie to them. Winona examines my face before slowly dropping her arms.

"Okay, on Thursday," she encourages bluntly. "I'm trying to get everyone together to hang out."

"I'll be there," I nod with a short salute.

"Yeah, I know you will," she announces as she lets me pass. I open the bathroom door and glance back in.

"Have fun, Cassidy," I call to her quietly.

Maddox and I walk down the hall towards the stairs. It's awkward and tense I can't help but feel as if Maddox has some sort of anger directed towards me. It isn't until we're in the stairwell that the green eyed boy actually speaks. "What did you mean at lunch?"

"Nothing, Abel just—," I start to explain but he cuts me off.

"He has a girlfriend, you know," Maddox blurts as if I wasn't apart of the whole scheme to get them together. Instead of making a sassy remark, I furrow my eyes at him.

"Yeah, I know, her name is Caroline and we're friends," I explain slowly. "As I was saying—."

"I'm pretty sure she wouldn't like it if she found out that you had a crush on her boyfriend, and that you guys spent so much time together, most of which is spent exchanging secrets," Maddox trails, stopping at the second floor landing.

"First of all, I've never had a crush on Abel," I start out before shooting a glare at Maddox, "and I'm pretty sure Caroline knows that because she thinks that you and I are a couple."

"What do you think she'd say if she found out it was all a lie?" Maddox wonders in a slightly threatening tone. My eyebrows are now high on my forehead as I stare at him in disbelief.

"You'd just ruin it for Abel?" I snap back in annoyance.

"You'd like that, though," Maddox mumbles. "Then, Abel would be single again."

"I don't like Abel," I repeat for the thousandth time. It's honestly become a catchphrase of mine. "And If I did, I don't know why it matters so much to you."

"It doesn't!" he grunts.

"You always say that!" I retort before motioning to his face. "Yet you're obviously angry!"

"I'm not angry!" he yells. I stare at him with crossed arms, waiting for him to realize how stupid he sounds. Why is he so mad? I always talk to Abel; he knows we're friends. He also knows for a fact that I don't like his older brother. Immediately, I'm slapped across the face with a potential reason behind this seemingly bottled up anger.

"Are you jealous?" I wonder with a tilted head. His cheeks start to turn pink and immediately, a smirk falls onto my mouth.

"No," he dismisses the accusation without a second thought.

"Are you sure?" I wonder as I keep my eyes locked on him. His green eyes look wild as he narrows them at me. His jaw is clenched as he tries his best to fight off the blush, which only gets worse the more we stare at each other. His chest rises and falls heavily as he buries his hands deeper and deeper into his sweater pockets. Now I understand why people say that jealousy can be cute.

"No, I'm not jealous," he concludes once again. He starts walking down the stairs again and I follow behind him in an amused state.

"Well, you seem jealous," I tease as I hop down the steps behind him. "I say one thing about Abel and—."

"You're always talking about Abel," Maddox corrects me.

"You're just making this worse for yourself," I concur as I grin widely. "Like I was saying—I say one thing about Abel and you start assuming that I like him, when I told you myself that I don't."

"I'm not jealous," Maddox responds with a sigh once we reached the bottom floor. "You can like whoever you want."

"We both know who I like," I mutter as I fall into step beside him. "And it's not Abel- close, but not Abel."

Maddox's phone starts to ring in his pocket and I watch as he grabs it and skims the screen. With a disgusted grunt, he tosses his phone at me. "It's for you."

I quickly answer the phone and fall back a few steps. "You called?" Abel's familiar voice enters the phone.

"I did?" I inquire with a raised brow. Maddox called him? Was it about what I said during lunch?

"Did I dial the right number?" Abel asks curiously after a few seconds.

"Yeah," I confirm as I stare at his younger brother. "Maddox called you?"  

Maddox whips around at the sound of his name. "Yeah, four times, and he texted me six times. Tell him that I was in class. What was so important anyway?"

"He called you four times? And texted you six times?" I ask as I slowly back away from Maddox, who is now advancing towards me.

"Give me the phone," Maddox demands bluntly as he holds out his hand for his device.

"You said it was for me," I retort with a shrug. "Abel wants to know what's so important that you blew up his phone."

"Hang up the phone," Maddox insists as he continues to approach me. I glance back a few times to ensure that I won't bump into any of the few cars scattered around the lot.

"No," I deny with a little grin. "Abel, you should've been here."

"What happened?" Abel inquires interestedly.

"Maddox thinks I like you and wants to tell Caroline that I'm trying to come between you two," I explain loud enough for the boy about 15 feet away from me to hear.

"He's jealous," Abel laughs loudly and I join in.

"That's what I said!" I concur with a teasing smile. I stare at Maddox, who is now red in the face. "Hey, Maddox, Abel thinks you're jealous, too!"

"Olive!" Maddox growls as he starts to pick up speed towards me. "Give me the phone!"

I laugh loudly as I turn and sprint away from him. "Are you running away from him?" Abel asks a and I'm guessing he hears my footsteps.

"Yeah," I reply into the phone as I stifle a laugh. I hear Maddox's much faster footfalls behind me. I glance back and find that he's gaining on me.

"That's stupid," Abel informs me. "He's faster than you."

"Psh, who says?" I reply, already growing a little breathless.

"All of his baseball awards shoved in a box down in the basement," Abel responds casually.

"He used to play?" I wonder as I glance back again.

"He still does. In fact, he's helping the coach with try-outs on Wednesday," Abel answers. I swear under my breath as I start to grow tired.

"I think I better let you go," I muttered quietly before hanging up.

I decide to give up on the running, mainly because my lungs feel as if they're closing and my legs are burning, I stop moving altogether. I turn around and hold out Maddox's phone. It takes me half a second to realize that he's only about five feet away and still jogging. I immediately retract my hands and cover my face, preparing for the impact. He manages to stop himself from ramming into me and I slowly open one of my eyes. He snatches his phone from my hands and turns the opposite direction.

"I take it you're still mad?" I call after him as I follow him to his car. I don't get a response. "Yes?" Still no response. I get into the passenger seat and buckle my seatbelt. I wait until we're out of the lot to start a conversation. I mainly want to see if he's seriously angry at me. "You didn't tell me you played baseball." He doesn't reply. "I don't know why you gave me the phone if you were jealous of me spending so much time with Abel. Your solution to me talking about him a lot is to put me on the phone with him?"

Instead of replying, Maddox reaches over and turns on the radio. His plan backfires when the song that plays is 'Jealous' by Nick Jonas. I glance at Maddox, who immediately turns off the radio once he recognizes the lyrics. I sigh in slight amusement. "Great song, isn't it?" I ask.

Maddox only glares at the road ahead and I finally give up, deciding that maybe I should just stop talking.