"Why'd you lie? You could've taken that opportunity to talk to Jesse. A serious talk" Chloe tells me, shaking my shoulders vigorously.

I lay back on my bed and stare at the ceiling, feeling like giving up.

"I don't know, Chloe. Maybe I should just call it quits. He's not going to homecoming for a reason and that reason is Lyla!" I explain.

"Oh, you don't know that!" Chloe answers back, shaking her head at me.

"It's true. It has to be true. Anyway, what was I expecting? They were practically together for years, it's only right that he's still messed up about it" I said, hoping she would just drop it instead of pushing more of my buttons.

After a couple of minutes in silence, Chloe clears her books off my bed then lays down beside me. A sad expression on her face.

"What's the matter?" I huff in annoyance upon seeing her expression.

"It's nothing. I just..want you to be happy" she says in a low voice.

Not this again.

"Chloe, I am happy! I never said I wasn't happy, not even once. So why are you looking so sad? It's beginning to freak me out"

"I'm sorry" Chloe laughs, shaking her head. "It's just, you and Jesse are perfect for each other and it sucks that you're not getting together."

You didn't have to remind me.

"Yeah, well, I'll get over it like I did before. It's not a big deal. I'm kinda used to it now" I tell her, thinking back to middle school all those years ago.

Chloe suddenly sits up, her face lighting up as she grabs both of my hands in hers.

"Um, what?" I ask, looking weirdly at her.

"What if you tell Jesse it was you who put that note in his locker" she suggested.

My eyes grew wide in shock and I sat up immediately.

"Are you insane?!" I yelled, looking at her. "He can never know it was me. Okay?"

"Okay" Chloe nodded, not meeting my eyes. She picked up her bag and slipped her shoes on.

"I have to go. I still have heaps of laundry to do. Zed's laundry" she uttered in disgust.

"Wait!" I exclaim, suddenly remembering I had to speak to her about him. She was too busy to even talk to me at school. "I wanted to talk about Zed."

Chloe sits back down on my bed and looks at me with a raised brow. Her foot tapping impatiently on the floor.

"He's being kinda weird to me lately. He called me cute once and I tried to tell you today bu -"

"Hold the phone!" Chloe interjects, her eyes wide with shock. "He called you cute?"

I nod slowly, looking at her weirdly. Why is she reacting like this?

"That's odd. Do you think he's into you or something?"

"Oh my god! No! I don't think that's the case here."

Chloe pauses for a brief moment before replying.

"Don't worry though, I'll get to the bottom of this" she tells me, standing up to leave.

"Just don't mention any of this, okay?"

"Not a word!" She exclaims, walking out the door with a smile.

I exhale and lay back down, thinking about whether I should text Zed myself.

"See you tomorrow. Love you" Chloe shouts, heading down the stairs.

"Love you too" I muttered, staring at the ceiling once again.

《×》

After dinner I sat aimlessly on the couch, looking for something good to watch on TV. Mom sat opposite me with a book and a glass of wine. I could tell she was getting annoyed with my indecisiveness. I was switching channels every ten seconds.

"Okay, that's enough! If there's nothing good on TV then turn the damn thing off and look for something else to do" she growled, on the verge of throwing her thick book at me.

"Jeez, woman! Okay, okay" I reply, putting the remote down gently on the coffee table. I back up abit incase she does throw that book.

"How 'bout you go over to Jesse's or Chloe's? Your mom and I want to spend some time together. Alone" dad said, coming towards us.

"Fine" I sighed, zipping my hoodie up and heading for the door. "Be back by ten"

I sent Chloe a quick text as I made my way out of our yard, heading to her place. As I passed Jesse's house, I kept my head down, walking a tad bit faster.

"Hey! Hey, Rosalie" Jesse calls out from his porch.

"Jesse" I respond nervously. "Didn't see you there."

He makes his way towards me, putting his shirt on with one swift motion. Wow, wonder why it was off in the first place.

"Where you going?" He asks, eyebrows knotted and hands casually on his hips.

I pointed down the street before answering.

"Chloe's."

He looks down the street then back at me, a shy smile playing across his lips.

"Can I walk you?" He asks casually.

"Uhh. .." I begin, my mind going blank as usual. I'm supposed to be staying away from him. How do I say no? Look at him.

"Yeah, sure. Okay" I blurt out after thinking about it for a moment. Well, more like half a second.

"Great" He smiles, laughing lightly. "I was beginning to think you were avoiding me."

We continued down the street, strolling. I wasn't in a rush to get to Chloe's anyway.

"Me, avoiding you? Now what kind of friend would I be if I were doing that?" I chuckled, my eyes glued to the sidewalk. Anywhere but at him.

"So we're friends? That's...cool" Jesse says in a low voice, shrugging.

He's confusing.

"Um, yeah. Friends. Or what do you wanna be?" I reply, slowly fixing my gaze on his face which was pretty hard to read under this lighting. Shit.

He muttered something before turning the other way. And of course I didn't hear it. Dammit! I stayed quiet though, not wanting to ask him to repeat it. We were now turning into Chloe's street.

"Weren't you with Chloe this afternoon?" Jesse suddenly asks as we neared Chloe's house.

"I got kicked out because my parents wanted to be alone. This was the only place I thought of coming to" I responded.

We were now standing just outside her house.

"I see" He simply replies, giving me a nod.

"Well, I better get inside. Thanks for walking me" I tell him, giving him an awkward wave. He looks at me for a bit, as if he wanted to say something. Then he shook his head and chuckled to himself as he began walking backwards.

"See ya, Rose."