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The next morning at the diner, Ida quizzed me on my outing with Wes, Belinda, and the boys. She wanted to know all about Belinda and her crappy food, the little tiff between Wes and Belinda, and that we went back to the field and fell asleep. But I didn't really want to talk about Wes and I, to Ida. Knowing her, she would find a way to twist our situations. All I wanted to talk about were the amazing creatures and beautiful sites I saw.

"There was a moose, Ida. A freaking moose!" I pulled my phone out my back pocket and began to scroll through my photo gallery. "Look!" I jumped to her side and started swiping through all of the pictures I took.

"I've seen a moose before, Valley," Ida laughed.

I frowned at her. "I'm sorry if the closest I've come to wildlife like that is a small deer and a flock of geese."

Ida laughed at me again. "Oh, that's a cool bird," she said, cutting herself off. "I've never seen one."

"I know!" I cheered, giddily. "This place is great."

"Okay, now tell me more about the hike and your interactions with Wes and about him and Belinda. Did you ask him why he is so mad at her?" Ida asked.

"He didn't say; I didn't ask."

"Why not?" She pouted.

"Because it's none of my business. If he wanted me to know he would have told me without me having to ask."

"Maybe he was waiting for you to ask," she said, clasping her hands.

I stared at her blankly as she sent me a reassuring smile. Ida's dream of me getting together with Wes was going to get old really soon.

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I was walking out of Jerry's when my phone started ringing. I reached inside my purse and saw the call was from my mom.

"Hey, mom," I answered.

"Hey, V! Are you at school? I thought this was about the time you are free but wasn't sure."

Is she tracking your schedule?

"No. What's up?"

"I was just at your cousins' and they have some old clothes they want to send you which reminded me, I found some of your father's things in storage the other day. I'm going to send it up to you because I don't want it. You'll get the box of stuff within the week. I also found that beautiful necklace Trevor bought for you, too." 

She was talking like this is all normal. Like I didn't leave her and everything behind for a reason. She was still acting like she wasn't pissed.

It would be nice but she had to mention your dad. And Trevor.

"I don't want it. Throw out the necklace."

"But it's such a darling thing."

"Then sell it for more than it's worth. Give it away. Keep it for all I care. But I don't want it."

"V," my mom sighed.

"Don't, mom," I warned, my lip trembled.

"Okay," my mom sighed disapprovingly. She always had her own backward ideas of Trevor and the way he treated me. "What about everything else?"

"Tell Sadie to take the stuff over to my house."

"You want Sadie to take everything over? The clothes too?"

"No, just my dad's stuff."

"Fine. I'll have her take the crap over there." 

I rolled my eyes. She couldn't even talk about my dad without bitter hatred.

"Speaking of Sadie," She started happily again. "Your sister said she is going to coordinate costumes with that Eric boy for Halloween. What are you doing for Halloween?"

"I don't have plans yet. It's, like, a month away, mom. That's nice, though. I'm sure they'll have fun," I said, pretending to be interested.

"I thought you might have made plans because Sadie has. If you go to any parties be sure not to drink too much and don't drive with anyone that's drunk. And be careful of all the sleazy boys."

"I'm sure there will be plenty of parties, but I probably won't go. I'll be too busy working on homework," I bit out.

Just like she always drilled into you.

"Oh, well, you'll have to figure it out, because Halloween is at the end of the month."

I sigh.

Yup, just like old times, a nagging mother telling you to make friends and be better.

You would think she'd be satisfied with meddling in your education. But, no, she has to concern herself with your social life too.

"Well, have you done anything since we last talked?"

I was about to respond when another call came in. I silently thanked whoever was calling because they just saved me from a longer conversation with my overbearing mom,

"Can I call you later? I'm getting another call."

"Oh, that's fine. Call me back later. I have some errands to run anyway."

"Bye."

"Bye, bye." 

"Hello?" I sighed, answering the phone.

"Hey, don't sound so happy to talk, Val," Wes' sarcastic voice came through the speaker.

"Hey," I smiled small. "What's up?"

"I was wondering if you want to go grab lunch. Aidan and Flynn ditched me."

"I'm the last resort?" I teased.

"Are you jealous of Aidan and Flynn, Valley? You're not going to turn out to be one of those girls, are you?"

"No," I laughed. "Not jealous. I'm not your girlfriend, Wes."

He laughed, "You wish. So, what do ya say? Lunch?"

"I actually just ate lunch. Jerry made me a sandwich after my shift ended." I knew he wanted to hang out but I needed to tell him 'no' once in awhile. I couldn't let him get too close, it could end badly for both of us. In all honesty, though, I was more concerned with myself and where I could wind up.

"Oh, I thought maybe we could go to the deli in town. The one you mentioned yesterday," he trailed off.

"I'm not hungry, but thanks."

"Oh, that's fine. Another time."

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A couple of days later Wes and I were at the deli we talked about. I realized I shouldn't act like he might have feelings for me. He didn't and I wasn't about to have any for him so what's the point of pushing away a friend that could help me out of this rut I still felt I was in the clutches of. So I called him to see if he was free, figuring if he was able to call me and ask me out to lunch, then it wouldn't be weird if I did the same. It was but he did say yes.

I was having a bowl of chowder while he was having a potato salad. I loved it here in Rhode Island, all the new things I got to see, try, and experience, but Rhode Island style chowder had nothing on San Fransisco's chowder. Some things from my childhood couldn't be beaten.

The hot chowder was helping my sore throat, though. I seemed to be catching another cold. I'd had more head colds since I'd moved to Rhode Island than I'd had my whole life. Just as I would get over one, I'd come down with another.

Wes was telling me about how he played basketball in high school, and he was glad he did because it helped him with focusing on his classes. After all, he had to get good grades if he wanted to keep playing on his school's team.

"My sister used to play baseball."

"You mean softball," Wes corrected.

"She plays softball now on some fancy team but when she first started in elementary school, they put her with the boys because she was too much for the girls. It wouldn't be fair to her or the other teams for her to be playing with people who were inferior in talent," I grinned up at him proudly. "She's my baby sister but she's a badass."

"That's... impressive." Then he asked, "What about you? What was high school like for you?"

My smile faded and I sniffled, reaching for my food again. I was starting to regret this conversation. "Average," I said vaguely, stuffing my mouth with creamy soup to avoid saying more.

He smiled. "What does that mean? Did you party, did you study? Were you a-"

"I studied and did what I had to do to get here. Nothing special. I wasn't my sister. It was average." I pursed my lips, hoping that wasn't too harsh. 

"Oh," he blinked. "Edgy," he murmured.

"Would you stop saying that?"

"Would you prefer 'cold'?" 

I lifted my gaze to meet his, a snarky comment tipping off the edge of my tongue, but when I noticed the taunting smile and the raise of his brow, I bit it back. He was teasing me, but his grin was noticeably forced. I wasn't surprised that he recognized my tension, he'd have to be an idiot to not, but what surprised me was that he was still trying to lighten the mood. So I let it pass. 

I dropped my head, letting the scowl retreat from my features, a blushing smile replacing it. "It was high school, Wes. Nothing special. I'm happier here."

"Yeah," he gave me a boyish grin now, "me too." Wes poked me with his fork.

I didn't bother asking him where he came from nor did I ask him why was happier; I got the feeling he was only flirting. That only made me regret this lunch outing all together.

I crinkled my reddened nose for about the hundredth time before I sneezed into my elbow.

"Bless you," Wes said through a mouthful of potatoes.

"Thanks," I breathed.

"Do you want to try my salad?" Wes held up a forkful of potato salad before taking a bite.

I shook my head, "It's fine, my soup is keeping me warm even though my clothes are still a little damp." It wasn't raining when I left to meet Wes but once it did, it was too late. By the time I realized I forgot to put my emergency umbrella back in my car after the last surprise attack from the weather, I was already soaked.

"Oh, are you sure?" He asked, holding his fork out to me temptingly.

"No, I have a cold. I wouldn't want you to catch it too."

"Yeah," Wes scrunched up his face. "I noticed that so I got you your own fork." He picked up a clean plastic fork from the side of his tray and held it out to me proudly.

After a moment of thought, I took the fork from Wes. "Eh, why not?"

You came here to try new things, nothing is too small or insignificant.

I scooped a forkful of the chunky potatoes into my mouth, deciding the salt and seasoned, starchy plant wasn't bad. When I placed the fork off to the side, I saw Wes was looking at me expectantly.

"What?" I asked unsurely but Wes shook his head. "It was good." I wasn't sure what he was looking for. "Do I have something on my face?" I grabbed a napkin and whipped around my mouth then dabbed my raw nose.

His eyes scanned my face quickly before looking back at my eyes. "No, you're all good," he chuckled. As we sat there, finishing our lunch, he asked, "Hey, are you free later?"

"Yeah, probably."

"You should come over."

"Why?"

"Aidan's bringing beers and we're gonna watch a game."

"Offering alcohol to an underage girl, Artwood? Shame." I placed my dirty napkins on my tray, cleaning up my area for when I threw everything away later. "I don't know, I have work tomorrow-"

"No you don't," he snorted. "You don't work Thursdays or Saturdays."

I was surprised at how quickly he caught my lie and even a little surprised at how easily it slipped from my lips. "How-"

"Ida told me," he said smugly.

"I don't know, Artwood," I grumbled in embarrassment and a bit peeved I'd been caught in a lie meant to mask my disinterest in socializing. I wished Ida would keep her mouth shut once in a while.

"Come on. Someone responsible needs to be there before Aidan does something dip-shit again."

"Aidan or you?"

"Whatever," he waved off.

"Fine. I'll stop by."

"Great. I'll text you the address."

"Alright, you ready to go?" I asked, looking out of the window at the rain pounding down outside.

"Yeah, come on."

I grabbed both of our trays and threw them away in the trash before I met Wes at the door. He already had his umbrella open to keep him dry. I pulled the hood of my cardigan up, over my head as Wes held the door open for me. He held the umbrella over my head even as we stood under the eave of the roof.

"I'll walk you to the car so you don't get soaked," he shouted over the sound of the rain striking the pavement.

I shot him a look of appreciation but shook my head, declining his offer. "It's fine, I'll be okay. A little rain never hurt anyone."

"We don't need you catching pneumonia," he smiled.

"Your umbrella only fits one person," I said small, looking up at the shelter he was providing me with, even though I didn't need it as we stood under the eave of the deli.

I watched Wes roll his eyes as he switched the umbrella to his other hand and pulled me into his side tightly. Immediately, I stiffened. I was sure he noticed my tense stance because he moved his hand to squeeze my arm reassuringly, but never did he make any mention of it.

"Ready?" He beamed down at me.

Pull away. You're better off catching pneumonia than letting him hold you.

That's mean.

Since when do you care about being mean? Or cold? Or edgy?

Fight.

I nodded my head silently and turned back to the blur in front of us.

"Okay," Wes said quietly as we stepped into the parking lot together. The wind was blowing the rain into us, splattering the bottom of my pants. My shoulder didn't fit under the umbrella so I was sure Wes was being pelted by the cold too. The umbrella was small, made for one person, that didn't stop Wes from pulling me closer, though. 

When we got to my car, Wes didn't let me go as I dug through my pockets for my keys to open my door. I focused on feeling around for the cool metal in my pocket and not the weight of his arm around me. I opened my car door quickly after I pulled the keys from my back pocket, allowing Wes to step away.

"I'll see you later," he smiled and closed my door for me and turned to walking off to his car. But before he walked off, he looked over his shoulder at me with a dazzling smile. I smiled back sheepishly but when he turned around again, I could see the entire left side of him was soaked from the shoulder down, while I- thanks to his umbrella- couldn't even feel the water through my cardigan.

What are you doing? What is he doing? What are you doing with him?

I dropped my forehead to the steering wheel, trying to calm my beating heart.

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"So are you still talking to that boy who likes you," Ivy asked, excitedly.

"No," I said, adamantly.

"What? Why not?"

"Because there isn't a boy who likes me. Never was," I mumbled.

"Hey, I honestly think Trevor liked you for a while. He did say he loved you."

He said 'I love you'! You would hope he at least liked you a little to be able to say the words.

"That doesn't make me feel better," but I laughed anyway.  

"It wasn't meant to but whatever," Ivy chuckled.

"He didn't even like me, he liked what I gave him."

"You make it sound like you were blowing him."

"Better, I was passing all of his classes for him. Got him into college."

"You got that boy into UC Davis, V. But shut up. We're not talking about that dumbass right now. We're talking about the boy who you're not talking to because he likes you," she whined, disappointed.

I sighed in frustration. "Ugh! No, I'm still talking to him, but he doesn't like me like that."

"From what I've heard, he does," she gloated. "And he's cute."

"How do you know he's cute?" I scoffed, scrunching up my face in confusion.

"So you agree with me?" She asked, hopefully.

"How do you know what Wes looks like, Ivy?"

"I may have found him on Instagram," she said casually.

"Why would you do that?" I laughed. "That's creepy. I haven't even looked him up."

"So I assume you don't know he has a picture of you on his profile?" she asked, nonchalantly.

"What?" I breathed, cutting off my laugh.

"It's not only of you. One of his posts was a bunch of pictures of everyone on that hike. He had like five pictures in the collage, most were of him and the guys, I looked them up too," she added like it wasn't stalkerish at all. "But in the corner of the collage was a single picture of you on the beach."

Look what you got yourself into, Vienna, all because you wanted to try some new things and step out of your shell. Now you've got boy problems.

You don't have boy problems. Let's be real. No one likes you like that.

If you could throat punch yourself, you would.

You can.

Do it, then.

Shut up!

"It's probably Belinda you saw in the picture," I countered.

"Yeah, he'd put a picture of Belinda, the girl he seems to hate, on his insta." I could imagine her rolling her eyes at me.

"Well-"

"So she has brown hair like yours, not red?"

"Auburn."

"And Belinda most definitely has your dad's camping hat?"

"You're the one who suggested Wes may be trying to make her jealous," I reasoned.

"Well, I changed my mind. Stop trying to get out of it, Valley. It's not a bad thing."

I stayed quiet because I didn't have any argument left in me. That didn't mean I wasn't going to keep denying it. 

"She is pretty, though."

"You found her too?" I laughed.

"On Aidan's insta," she said, clearly proud of her investigative skills.

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a/n

what do y'all think? Another agonizing call with her mother, we now know a little but more about Trevor, and Vienna seems to be a little bit conflicted.....

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