The next few days at school, Ethan was unashamed about holding my hand in the hallway, even coming to sit with me at Danielle's table for lunch. He met me after school each day, walking me to my car so he could plant a kiss on my lips before we went our separate ways. I would be lying if I said I was impressed by his turnaround. He was quick to tell me what he was up to after school and more often than not it consisted of football practice and band rehearsals. But there were several people who were notably unimpressed by our hand-holding in the hallway.

Brett hadn't spoken to me all week, wordlessly devouring his breakfast every morning and shutting himself in his room whenever he was home. The one time I tried to ask him for a spare red pen for my essay editing, he didn't utter one word as he dug around his desk and handed one to me. I tried asking him what was wrong, but he simply shot me a look and said "nothing". Courtney hadn't dared approach me after Monday's chat at the Beanery, but instead would shoot me furtive, apologetic looks whenever Deanna wasn't looking.

The worst cold shoulder, however, was Tyler's. Mr. Grant had stayed true to his word, refusing to let Ethan and me switch lab partners. I knew I'd gotten the better end of the deal because Tyler was giving me the silent treatment, whereas Dakota would glare and hiss things at Ethan whenever she thought I wasn't paying attention. But every chemistry period, I was paying attention. I paid attention to the space Ethan put between them, how he moved away whenever Dakota reached across the lab table for something. I paid attention to the words they exchanged and how Ethan tried not to look at her. I even paid attention when Dakota would shoot annoyed looks over her shoulder in my direction. More often than not, I wondered how long it would take her to get over being jilted by Ethan.

"I hate that class," Ethan said, as he grabbed on to my hand on our way out of chemistry on Friday, "I'm going to Mr. Grant's office later to talk him around,"

"What, so you can get punted to Miss Watson's again?" I asked, "I don't think that's a good idea, not after Tuesday,"

"But you see what she puts me through," Ethan persisted, running a frustrated hand through his hair, "It's all I can do not to shout at her in the middle of class,"

"Maybe you should," I shrugged, "Maybe then she'd finally get the point,"

"Look out, loser alert!"

Ethan and I both turned around to watch Deanna saunter past, Katie and Tierra whispering behind her as they made their way to English class. I groaned.

"Want to skip last period with me?" I asked, as Ethan stopped outside the door to the English room, Deanna and company watching my every move from where they'd taken their seats. Ethan simply smiled, pushing my hair out of my face as he liked to do.

"No can do Buttercup," he said, "I'm grounded if I skip again. Mom reamed me over the phone about Tuesday, I don't want them to call her again,"

I made a face, which he leaned down to kiss away.

"Are we doing something later?" I asked, when the bell rang and interrupted us.

"I have to drive to the airport tonight, mom's flight gets in late," Ethan said, digging his hands into his pockets, "But I'm free all day tomorrow,"

"Okay," I pouted, to which Ethan laughed, giving me a squeeze and a kiss on the forehead.

"Oh please tell me you've made it official already!" Danielle joked as she came up behind me. I rolled my eyes at her, following her into the classroom.

"It's been like three days since I almost left him," I laughed.

"Then you'd better watch out, if he's as great a kisser as you say he is I might have to try him out," she teased.

"Don't be jealous," I laughed, taking the seat behind hers.

"Oh I'm not, but I know someone who is," Danielle said, wiggling her eyebrows at me, "Dakota's been a raging bitch all week about it. Well played, Maddie,"

"Thanks," I said, not sure if that was a compliment or not.

"As if anyone would be jealous of her," Deanna snorted from behind me. Danielle rolled her eyes and I bit back the snarky reply that was bubbling up to my lips, choosing not to poke the bear and get whatever verbal lashing Deanna was hoping to lay on me. She'd made it no secret all week that she was trying to get into it with me. Little jibes here and there were her way of seeing how far her victim could be pushed. Luckily for me, I knew that if I held out and ignored her long enough, she'd lose interest and move along to someone who would give her the reaction she was looking for.

"I have to run to help Ashley get ready for the party, but I'll see you there tonight, right?" Danielle continued, as if Deanna hadn't said anything.

"Of course. I'll text you," I said, as class was called to order. Danielle smiled before turning back around to face the front.

*********

I had my music blasting as I finished with my makeup in the bathroom, bopping along to the beat. I was humming along to the chorus when I looked back up to the mirror and nearly screamed from fright seeing Brett standing behind me, his arms crossed.

"Geez," I said, reaching for my phone to pause the song, "What's with the creeping?"

"Vicky's here," he said, glancing out into my room. I lifted my eyebrows.

"Okay...?" I said.

"We want to talk to you," Brett said, stalking out of the bathroom. I rolled my eyes with a groan.

"Guys, I have a party to get to," I said, coming to lean against the bathroom doorframe, my arms crossed in annoyance. Vicky was sitting on the couch, her flawless legs crossed as she scrolled through her phone.

"A party?" she asked, her perfect eyebrows lifting as her eyes stayed fixed on her phone, "Or a show?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked, shooting Brett a look. But he was mirroring me, leaning against my bedroom door with his arms crossed as if to stop me from leaving before I heard them out.

"I'm talking about your boyfriend's little show," Vicky said, finally looking up at me. I felt my insides freeze. She was lying. She had to be lying.

"Ethan's driving to the airport tonight," I said, and my stomach dropped as Vicky laughed.

"Oh sweetie, I thought you were smarter than that," she said, turning her phone around to hand it over to me, "I really did think you listened when I tried to warn you on Monday,"

I glared over at Brett, annoyed that he'd let her talk to me like this, but he was avoiding my gaze, his jaw set. With a sigh, I reached for Vicky's phone. Displayed on the screen was a Facebook event page, dated for tonight. I felt nauseous when I recognized the cover photo.

It was Ethan and his band, sitting on a piece of driftwood at the beach.

As I scrolled down the page, my dread intensified. Sure enough, the band was slated to play that night at a venue over in Huntington. Apparently it was some sort of battle of the bands, urging fans to come out and support them. My brain rebelled, reasoning that maybe for some reason Ethan wasn't going because he had to pick up his mom. But right when I was about to logic my way out of it, I scrolled down to the comments.

Gonna be a big night! Invite your friends, it'll be awesome!

Ethan had been the most recent commenter, posting that afternoon at 4:08 pm.

When I looked up at Vicky, the smug look on her face was gone.

"So you really didn't know," she said, shooting a look over at Brett. My brother looked like he wanted to punch down a wall.

"How did you find this?" I asked, trying to keep my hands from shaking as I passed the phone back to her.

"That doesn't matter. What does matter is what you're going to do about it," Vicky said, stowing her phone. When I continued to stare at her, a shaky-handed mess at a loss for words, the smug smile returned to her face.

"Well it's a good thing you have us," she said, standing up and reaching for my hand, "Get dressed. We're going to Huntington."

**********

And the drama continues! I've decided to split this story into a second book since this one has already gotten so long, so the next few chapters will probably be shorter (but I promise they'll be action packed!). Why do you think Ethan didn't tell Maddie about the show? Is it that he's just a shady guy or is there something else going on here? 

I hope you enjoyed this one and, as always, please don't forget to vote and comment! :)