DANA WAS AT MY HOUSE AT FIVE.

      "I'm going to become your Mini-Me," she said as we walked down my driveway. When we got in, I didn't expect her not to be driving. "I can't wait to upgrade my closet."

      "You already have loads of clothes," the guy in the driver seat said.

      Dana rolled her eyes. "Val, you remember my brother, Zac," she said.

      I tried not to show how much his name affected me. When I met him the first time at Dana's house during Thanksgiving, Calum, luckily, got me out of there before I started to hyperventilate. His name brought back too many memories of them, along with the suffocating guilt that swallowed me whole. Mandy's words from that one morning echoed in my head.

      They were found dead last night in their room with a gun in each other's hands.

      I closed my eyes and let my head bump against the window, allowing myself to get sucked into my memories. I didn't even notice the car stopped until the window no longer supported my head.

      "Val, what are you doing? Taking a nap?" Dana said, leaning in my door frame now. We were at the mall now. "Come on. Everyone's waiting."

      "Oh, sorry," I said. "I guess I spaced out."

      Everyone was at the food court, and I could feel the edginess from the entrance. My eyes fell to Ashton, who sat, uninterested, away from where Brian was. I didn't like seeing Ashton like this. I wanted him to smile.

      "Hey," Dana said, announcing our arrival. "Sorry we're late. There was an accident."

      Brian smiled at me. "Well, as long you're here now, right?"

      Ignoring him, I said, "Well, I'm ready to start walking around. I just got paid, and I'm ready to spend all of it."

      "Yay, shopping!" Dana cheered. "Valentine and I are going to go ahead, and we'll meet the rest of you guys in an hour or so. We can browse again together. Kay?"

      Dana didn't even give anyone a chance to answer because she was already pulling us away. I sighed, thinking about Ashton. Hopefully, Brian would still be alive by the time we came back.

      As we bounced from store to store, I started to pick up on Dana's style. It was said that your fashion taste ricocheted off your personality. While I wore clothes that accentuated me in a sexy-but-trendy manner with not too many bright colors, Dana was full-blown razzle-dazzle, and it suited her loud character.

      "Sexy" wasn't how I would describe my personality, necessarily, but I liked looking good for myself. Showing some skin and wearing tight clothes made me feel good at times—and confident.

      Surprisingly, having confidence was something I struggled with before Mandy and I became friends. We were close, like real best friends. She treated me like a sister and helped both of us through our awkward "becoming teenager" phase. Middle school would've been hell if I hadn't met her, and I wondered if I would still hate myself if we hadn't met. I also wondered how things would be if we were still friends. Some days, I wished we were, even after all the crap she put me through up until now.

      "The past is in the past," people would say, but that didn't mean I forgot about it. It didn't mean that if someone gave me the chance to go back in time, I wouldn't change it because I would. In a heartbeat. But then I thought about the future. Would changing my past change my future? Would I ever have the chance to meet Calum, the first person who showed me what it meant to love and be loved? Would I know Dana, or Randy, or Ashton—my second chance to start over again?

      Was my past worth sacrificing my future?

      Dana's voice sliced through my thoughts, bringing me back to the present. "Okay, which one? The blue or the yellow?" she asked, holding up two shirts.

      The yellow top was accumulated in ruffles and would fall to her hips. Only if matched with dark jeans would serve justice to it. The blue, though, was a cold-shoulder bohemian-type top and would look good with the white shorts she was already wearing.

      "Ditch the yellow if you don't want to look like you got into a fight with Big Bird," I said, and she laughed.

      After we finished clothes shopping, we met back up with the guys and went around some more. We almost spent an entire hour in Spencer's because I said I never been inside. Randy and Luke insisted on it. And now, I was scarred for life, but they did have some rude keychains I ended up buying.

      Back at the food court, we all flopped down, our feet aching. It was going on eight o'clock now. I sat next to Ashton, who's hardly said a word since we came here. If him not speaking helped for him not to murder Brian, then it was for the best.

      As I sat, I felt a breeze fly up between my legs, and I sighed quietly. The only downside about jean skirts was that they weren't flowy and couldn't flatten to cover your legs' middle part. Upon trying to fix it, Ashton took off his jacket and laid it over me, solving my problem.

      I glanced up at him, and he gave me a small smile. "Better?" he whispered, and I nodded graciously. "Good." He took my hand and intertwined our fingers before looking away.

      I could only hope my face wasn't flushed.

      "I just deflowered my bank account," Dana said and sighed dramatically. "Why is men's stuff so expensive?"

      Michael gasped happily at his girlfriend. "You got me something?"

      "Don't get all excited. It's a pen," Dana said after leaning into him.

      "Wow, thanks," he said sarcastically.

      "I'm just kidding. It's a strap-on." Dana began to laugh after Michael pushed her away. "No, come back and love me."

      "Not with a strap-on," he scoffed. "You can go fuck yourself, literally."

      "I'm sorry," she said, still laughing. "But in all seriousness, I did get you the new Final Fantasy game."

      "All forgiven."

      I shook my head in amusement. They were going to be the strangest parents.

      "So, Valentine, I got you something," Brian said. He rummaged through one of his bags and pulled out a candle.

      Now was the time to knock him off his high horse, but someone else beat me to the punch before I could say anything.

      "Why are you trying so hard?" Randy asked, awkwardness now filling the air. My skin prickled.

      Brian just laughed and looked at him. "I just thought to get something nice for her," he said. "Is that so wrong?"

      "Oh, now I get it," Randy said after a moment of silence, looking at Brian. "I was wondering why you were here because I normally don't see you hanging around with these guys. Now I know that the only reason why we're here is to satisfy Valentine because you like her, right?"

      My entire being flamed as I glanced between Randy and Brian. This was the most embarrassed I'd ever been, but my mouth was glued shut.

      Brian rolled his eyes, seeming unaffected. "Why do you care?" he asked.

      "Because I think it's weird that you're trying to take someone else's girl," Randy said in an obvious tone like Brian should've known that.

      "Last time I checked, she was single," Brian said.

      Randy laughed. "Dude, they're literally holding hands right now."

      I was pretty sure I was the color of a rose by now. I expected Ashton to let go of my hand, but he only squeezed it tighter. I peered up at him, but he was still staring off into the distance.

      "You know," Calum said, speaking up, "I think you should leave, Brian. Val was kind enough to let you be here, even though I knew she didn't want you here. Why hasn't it clicked in your head yet? I don't know. But the fact that Ashton won't even talk is a sign that you're not welcomed around us."

      "And you wanna know what I think?" Brian said, getting defensive. "I think it's tragic that you obviously are in love with Valentine, but you have to watch your best friend like her instead. That's pretty sad, don't you think?"

      While my body began to freeze from the inside, Calum wasn't affected at all, or he didn't show it if he was. "Believe what you want. I don't have to prove anything to you," he said.

      "Brian, you should go," I said, finally finding my voice. "You've offended me by being rude to my friends. I don't tolerate people like you, and you don't want to piss me off."

      "Oh, you hear that, Ashton?" Brian said with a cocky chuckle. "I've offended her. I do recall you saying that I'll regret it if I offend her. Or are you just all talk?"

      Was this what he was trying to do all along? Provoke Ashton?

      Provoking people on purpose got underneath my skin because it happened to me. Until high school, kids used to do things they knew would upset me to get me sent to the office. I was known as a bad student because Mom refused to tell my teachers I had a mental condition.

      But as I grew older, my episode worsened, and I missed school days. I took it upon myself and told Mr. Lovette what was going on. Mr. Lovette was kind and said that he wouldn't give me any repercussions as long as schoolwork wasn't a problem. So, I did work hard and ended up as a high-ranking student.

      "Are you seriously that contemptuous that you have to try and aggravate one of the kindest people I know?" I said to Brian. "What makes you think I would ever settle for a guy like that? Like you? I thought I made it clear before, but I guess I have to do more." I took a deep breath. "I don't like you, Brian, you got that? I think you're a total asshole, and the only reason I danced with you at Homecoming was to get you off my back. I told you that I liked Ashton, and I meant it. You utterly repulse me, do you finally understand that?"

      The air was silent and tense, but I was so relieved to get that off my chest. Being brutally honest wasn't my style, but sometimes, people needed to hear the truth. I could've told him all of this without an audience, but his ego needed some fixing.

      "And I oop," Luke said.

      Then, Brian stood. "Whatever," he said and walked away.

      As soon as he was out of sight, I sighed tiredly. I felt a little bad for doing that, but then, everyone else burst out into fits of laughter. Even Ashton was laughing, and I was sitting here, clueless as ever.

      "Oh my gosh!" Dana said. "That was so priceless."

      "I just know he's in his car crying," Luke said. "Imagine someone saying they're utterly repulsed by you in front of everyone. Honestly, I think I would cry."

      "That's how I'm going to insult people from now on," Ashton said, joining in.

      I raised my eyebrow. "Oh, so you're talking now?"

      "Why? Is it utterly repulsing?" he said, and I slapped his arm.

      "You guys make me sick," I said, playfully huffing. "I'm going to get some food."

      "And I'm joining you," Ashton said.

      "We're going to wait for you guys out front," Dana said, and we nodded.

      A silence fell between us after we ordered our food. I was glad that Ashton was feeling better because I did miss his smile. Hopefully, Brian wouldn't be a problem anymore.

      "So, you like me, huh?" Ashton said.

      My face warmed. I did admit that out loud, in front of everyone. As if I wasn't embarrassed enough.

      I slapped my hands over my cheeks and laughed awkwardly. "I mean, I like everyone, you know?" I said, knowing that I was about to fall into an uncontrollable rambling session. "You guys are my friends, and even though sometimes me and you seem like more than friends, that doesn't mean I don't like you. Well, liking some means that you think they're an okay person, and you tolerate them, and that's different from a crush, right? And I didn't say that you have to like me too, you know? It was just the first thing that came to my mind. Maybe, you don't like me, and that's okay. I'm not saying that you—"

      Ashton cupped my face, cutting me off, and kissed me. On the lips. In public.

      My toes became cinnamon rolls.

      When he pulled away, I was surprised that my feet were still on the ground. Ashton's eyes stared into mine, and my stomach suddenly became a skilled gymnast as it started to do somersaults.

      "I like you, too, Valentine," Ashton said, and the smile he gave me was so sincere and alluring. I wanted him to kiss me again. Even though we'd kissed before, this one made me feel like I was flying. "Did you really think I didn't like you?" he asked.

      All of my confidence flew from my body. "Well, I, uh...I j-just thought—" I shut my mouth, hating how unintelligent I sounded. Ashton really made me stutter stupid. "I don't know," I finally said.

      He grasped my hand. "Well, now, you know."

      "So, what now?" I asked once my body temperature and toes were normal again. "Are we, like, together together?"

      He shrugged and grinned. "I don't know. Do you want to be together together?" he asked.

      "No fair, I asked you first," I said.

      He laughed. "Then, let me ask you this: Valentine, will you be my girlfriend?"

      I pretended to think about it before a broad smile took over my face, and I nodded excitedly. "Without a doubt," I said, and he kissed me again.

      And then I realized we forgot about our food and the people waiting for us outside. After picking up our now mildly warm food, we headed out to meet with the others. Brian's vehicle was gone, and I didn't feel so bad about what I said anymore.

      "Hey, Ashton?" I said, and he turned to me. "Did you really threaten to do something to Brian if he offended me?"

      "No," he said, looking out to the world. "I promised him."

      The next day, Brian walked into homeroom with a black eye.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Yoooooooo! Yeah, I split up the chapters. What are you gonna do about it? Cry? What a raccoon.

Heehee.

Anyways, BRIAN GOT SERVED! 

That's it. That's the tweet.

Goodnight everybody!