In Aspen's mind, things couldn't get any worse than it already was, her spine was rock hard straight and ready to pounce in case need be.

The man behind her stopped and looked at the mac and cheese available. The silence dragged on around her. She wondered briefly if she should just cut her losses and run. Grab her back and get out of here before things took a sharp corner to fucked.

She couldn't move, however. Her eyes look over at the old man waiting for him to do something, she can't leave him here alone. The man behind her moves again. His shoes slapped against the ground closer and closer to her.

She stopped breathing, watching his movement.

CLAP.

One of the men by the counter moves and the sound echoes around the room. Aspen is almost afraid to move and look but she does.

The old man is standing still at the counter with a smile on his face as the leader holds his shoulder.

"You know what time it is man. Don't play me like that." His voice is manly, an undercurrent of pressure.

Aspen feels the life drain from her face when the man stands directly in front of her. She no longer watches the others her eyes are only on him.

"You a new student?" He asks and she nods her head quickly.

He smiles at her but her mouth simply wabbles in response. He leans down, closer to her.

"Well little girl," he waits for a breath.

The men at the counter both laugh. She feels like this might be the end.

"Welcome to Hedgeford," He shakes her hand just as the old man joins in.

"Alright but if it comes back to me that I sold these beers, then I had no idea your plans for them."

The tension in the room disappears in an instant.

The man still shaking her hand gives her a wink before letting go.

"Had you going there for a moment didn't I?" His smile lights up his face and Aspen completely loses the ability to lie. She nods her head and he gives a loud, proud laugh. "Names Kai, that's Presley and Harry. Don't worry we only bite when we're told to."

Again he winks and turns back to the others.

They have finished their transaction with the old man. Instead, they are watching the pair one of them glaring and rolling his eyes while the other looks at her with a strange look she can't place.

"Get out of here man." The glaring one says with a rude kick to the door open.

The others leave, Kai, taking the moment to wave before he closes the door.

She watches them out the window getting back into their car and speeding off. She lets herself breathe for the first time and doesn't notice Billy coming up beside her until he clears his throat.

She gives a slight jump but Billy is looking out the window and barely notices.

"They're good blocks those three but I wouldn't mess with them. They are into some pretty dangerous things and girls like you don't need to be brought down over some pretty faces."

Aspen shakes her head.

"I know what a pretty face can do." She gives a sad smile but looks up at him. "Thank you. For the warning and for letting me sit here a while."

Billy nods his head thoughtfully.

"Hope to see you around some more. And good luck with your studies." He shakes her hand and walks back to the counter.

Aspen has never shaken someone's hand before today and already it's one after the other.

She packs up her things, cleans the table and leaves after a small friendly wave to Billy.

She walks back to her dorm the same way she left, heads down and music low in her eyes. Watching, listening and waiting. But no one interrupts her. She can get back into her room without running into anyone, without having to speak with anyone.

Feeling a little more relaxed Aspen can get back to unpacking. She organises her clothes, her school supplies and most importantly she's able to organise the coffee machine she only just afforded before she moved here.

She has a lot of studying to do.

Hedgeford college doesn't have an array of programs and classes, even the ones here aren't prestigious or anything but this small-town university was precisely what she needed after everything that happened in high school.

She knew her parents wouldn't even dream of paying for her education so she needed a cheap school - something she could get student loans for without being buried under them for the rest of her life.

She found this school and knew it was perfect even better it offered an undergraduate law degree which is exactly what she wants to study. She had made her way here alone, she had let nothing stop her.

Deep tiredness takes over her body, Aspen grabs her night clothes, promising to have a shower in the morning, gets dressed and promptly falls into a deep sleep.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The next day flashes passed in a series of moving things around, unpacking, eating some random snack she packed and finishing with passing out on her bed with a movie playing in the background through the wall to someone else's dorm.

Unfortunately for Aspen she also forgets to set her alarm for the first day of classes and the eight am class she promised herself she could handle but waking up the next morning to the sun peeking through the curtain Aspen looks at her phone.

"Shit." She exclaims.

The time is 7:45 and the classroom she's expected to be in is 15 minutes away.

She doesn't bother being silent instead she rushes through her morning routine with an echo of loudness. She sprints to the showers thankfully empty and has the quickest shower known to man.

She wastes no time getting dressed and just barely remembers to brush her bird's nest before she's out of the dorm and rushing to her first class.

This was meant to be different she reminds herself, she wasn't meant to be late and one of those people that have to run to class. She shouldn't have given herself an 8 am start last year she was still in bed at 10 am thanks to the homeschooling her principal thought 'was best for everyone.'

She takes the corner faster than she thought humanly possible and crashes right into something substantial and very warm ... wait the thing isn't warm no it's the hot, scalding coffee she had splashed out of someone's hand and right onto the pair of them.

"Fuck." Her mouth sighs before she can stop it and she almost lets the self-pitying part of her brain pull her down.

She looks up at the man ready to apologise and all about begging for forgiveness but then she recognizes him and knows that any apologies will fall on deaf ears. Hadn't Billy warned her about him?

The leader of the three men glares down at her, the once white button that already clung to his body is now brown, soaking and giving a delicious window to the hard abs she had assumed were a wall when she ran into them.

Her mouth opens and shuts, and the only noise is little squeaks.

He raises an eyebrow at her and drops the now-empty coffee cup.

"I had hoped on drinking that but wearing it seems to have the same effect of waking me up." The words seem like a joke but the serious expression and the curt tone of voice tell her it's anything but.

"I'm sorry." She whispers her voice not strong enough to do more than that.

He shakes his head, before looking up to the sky for help. He turns his glare down at her.

"Right well. Run along before you make me spill anything else."

He rolls his eyes and she nods her head quickly rushing forward again but this time taking in her surroundings a lot more.

She's about to round another corner when he calls to her.

"By the way nice outfit." He gives a playboy smirk and turns away before she can ask him what he means.

She looks down and sees the coffee had splashed her a lot more and her white dress now matches his pale brown and is completely see-through. Unfortunately for her, she happened to forget a bra this morning in her rush.

Her face turns bright red and she takes off for the closest bathroom.

She has an emergency cardigan in her bag that she wraps tightly around her until she can get back to her dorm and change but she's late entering the class and everyone's eyes swivel around to her.

Her face bright red and glowing hot she puts her head down and finds the first seat she can. Right smack bang in the middle of the first row.

She keeps her eyes down, mainly to not have to make eye contact with anyone but also to keep an eye on her clothes and make sure she doesn't flash anyone.

She's pulling out of her seat and grabbing her notebook when she finally looks up.

The professor is watching her with an annoyed glare and a smirk.

And the same new brown shirt.

She misses the chair and ends up on her ass.

"Fuck." Her voice was barely louder than the babble starting around her.