SHE HAD ESCAPED HIM quite easily, though that wasn't surprising. Mateo always stood out in every crowd and he was stopped multiple times when he ran after her, his muscular, tall frame not helping him in stealthily getting through the crowd. She reached the first floor then and grabbed a new cup of the table, before running towards the small corridor on her right and practically jumping in the girl's bathroom. The door closed behind her and she filled her cup with water, the nausea washing through her in waves.

Puking right now was definitely not an option, because she could feel already that she was going to feel so much worse after. Still, she was happy she had at least pushed it back enough for it not to happen on Mateo, because she then would've died.

She drank the water quickly, before filling the cup again and holding it against her forehead. The cool drops were pleasant against her hot skin and when she looked in the mirror, she wondered what the hell she should do. Okay, so she had flirted with him, but it had felt so freeing to not think and just act for once. Though she had expected something to happen when she had started, she sure as hell hadn't expected his love declaration.

He loved her. To death even, he had said.

But did she feel the same?

She placed a hand against the mirror, her normally clear eyes misted with confusion now. Of course she loved him, that much she knew. He had been her neighbour and best friend ever since she could remember anything. But was it the same love as his?

When she had flirted with him it had been more casual. She had just wanted to see where it would go, let their feelings develop into more together perhaps, if they would develop at all. Mateo had said he had loved her ever since they were twelve though, that he had been waiting for this moment since forever.

Her mind was a mess as she placed the cup down, her reflection in the ripples her movement had caused as troubled as she was. He was serious about her. So no, she couldn't go and reply anything to his confession, not while she didn't know if she had the same feelings yet. That wouldn't be fair to him. It wasn't just a simple flirtation, not to Mateo, so she had to find out whatever the hell it was she was feeling quickly.

She didn't want to break his heart.

"God," she sighed, her thoughts sobering her up a bit.

The door slammed open then as two girls stumbled in, giggling, and Gabriela took that as her cue to leave. The crowd had become louder, shouting as they were gathered around something, and she frowned as she made her way through it. Probably a fight again.

"Where are you going, pretty lady?"

She raised an eyebrow at the unknown voice, the source of it on her right. The guy it had come from was smirking at her over his cup, surrounded by three friends, dark-haired and dressed in black. His face was a new one, a bit young even, so she guessed him to be one of the transfers.

"I don't see how that's any of your business," she stated coolly, before turning around again.

He grabbed her wrist then, the feeling of his hand completely different to Mateo's. Where Mateo had set her skin on fire, this just made ice run through her veins instead. Her eyes were so cold when she looked at him, she could see him keep himself from flinching.

"Come on now," he said," don't be such a tease."

"Get your hands off me," she said.

Not a question, an order.

He frowned, tugging harder at her wrist, though she didn't lose her balance like he had intended.

"I just want to get to know you better," he said," you're being so difficult."

"I'm going to say this one more time," she said slowly, her every word dripping with authority," get your hands off me."

He raised an eyebrow. "Or?"

When she leaned in closer, he had an almost imperceptible intake of air.

"Or I'll break your fucking arm," she said.

His eyes widened and his friends got closer to him, all of them silent. Then, a moment later laughter burst out, all of them practically howling.

"Man," he chuckled," I knew St Joseph was rumored to be filled with feisty girls, but you sure are something else." He turned to one of his friends. "Did you hear that? She said she's going to break my arm."

"Oh no," his friend mocked," whatever will you do?"

She stayed quiet and he looked at her then, mirth still sparkling in his eyes.

"What?" he said," are you going to cry?"

The first time Gabriela had fought had been when she was younger and someone had joked about her father's accent, melodic when he spoke Spanish, thicker with English. So she had punched him in the face as a reply. Mateo had jumped in when they were scrambling all over the floor, but the fury of not having been able to handle it herself had been searing in her veins. So she had quit ballet and started doing MMA, Mateo joining her gym soon after.

The flexibility she had gotten from years of ballet had come in handy and it was a certain grace she carried with her, even while fighting. Still, it wasn't often she started any fight at all. Though her temper was short when it concerned her family and close friends, she didn't care much about other things.

So normally she would have said a few sharp words and then left, turning around to find Penelope and get the hell out of here.

But tonight she wasn't feeling normal at all.

"You really caught me at a bad time," she sighed.

He blinked, a bit taken aback. "What?"

When she moved it was so fast he couldn't react, her hands on his shoulder and elbow one second and her knee going up against his arm the next, the force behind it hard enough for a cracking sound to fill the room. He screamed and she let him go, voice unamused.

"What?" she said," are you going to cry?"

She looked around then, back to searching for Penelope. Behind her he was still yelping, his face a mixture of pain and anger as he grasped his arm. When one of his friends grabbed her wrist, she lifted her gaze boredly.

"You all sure can't listen, can you?"

Her fists were already clenched for a punch to the nose when she heard Mateo's voice behind her.

"I said stop."

She turned around and when the guy started talking, she shushed him with a wave of her hand.

"Shut up," she said.

His voice had come from the center of the crowd, the people surrounding him too many for her to see him. A frown creased her face. He had sounded mad. Mateo actually had sounded mad.

"Where are you going?" the guy shouted when she pulled her wrist loose and walked away.

Her eyes were nature in winter when she looked back, frost-covered earth and endless nights. He shivered, stepping back automatically.

That was enough of a reply, so she continued on, making her way through the crowd easily. Every time she pushed through people looked up, offended, before their expressions changed when they saw who it was.

"Fuck, is that Gabriela Ruíz?"

"What's she doing here?"

"What else? Mateo is starting shit again -"

That sentence made her hurry even more and when she reached the center, her eyes widened slightly. Mateo was standing between Chase and Jay, his face the usual picture of casual boredom, though Gabriela could see in his eyes that something was wrong. Right at the moment she reached them Sahar walked away, shaking Jay's hand off when he tried to grab her wrist.

Gabriela wondered if she should walk away as well. She didn't have an answer yet to the Mateo problem and she didn't want to lead him on if she wasn't sure herself. It all wasn't fair to him.

Before she could walk away though, Mateo locked eyes with her, freezing in the middle of his conversation with Jay. He stayed silent for a moment and the whole world seemed to disappear, nothing there except him and her.

When he spoke next, it almost sounded like a prayer.

"Gabriela."