"𝕀 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕓𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣 𝕡𝕚𝕔𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕓𝕖𝕒𝕦𝕥𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕝𝕖𝕗𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕕𝕚𝕖. 𝕀 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕓𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕕, 𝕕𝕚𝕗𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕦𝕝𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕚𝕞𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕥."

-𝔼𝕣𝕚𝕟 𝕍𝕒𝕟 𝕍𝕦𝕣𝕖𝕟

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♬ ᴵ ᵏⁿᵉʷ ʸᵒᵘ ʷᵉʳᵉ ᵗʳᵒᵘᵇˡᵉ ⁻ ᵂᵉ ᶜᵃᵐᵉ ᴬˢ ᴿᵒᵐᵃⁿˢ ♬

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Ｍａｓｏｎ

I hadn't seen Alex since he kissed me. I wasn't even attempting to avoid him either, though I think he was avoiding me. I couldn't be too sure but it sure as hell seemed like he was, especially after yesterday. I mean, I could be wrong, but usually, when someone runs away from you, it means they don't want to be near you.

Okay, so maybe I was being a bit dramatic. He more so fast walked out of the kitchen, making sure to take the long way to avoid me as soon as I rounded the corner. Of course, Miles noticed and gave me a sad smile. I didn't really know what to make of the whole situation anyway, so maybe it was better that he was making it a point to avoid me. Though, I'm not quite sure why, seeing as he was the one who had initiated the entire thing in the first place. I swear the boy was giving me whiplash with his indecisiveness.

"Why the long face buttercup?"

I jumped, slightly turning to see Nico sitting beside me. I shake my head, "It's nothing."

"Is it because Alex kissed you and if now avoiding you."

My jaw nearly hit the floor. "What? How did you-"

He shrugged, popping a chip into his mouth. "Miles told me."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "Of course he did."

"It's not like it's a big deal, we were all betting on when it would happen."

"You're not serious, right?"

He nodded, chewing aggressively. "No, I am. I lost too, so thanks a lot for that."

I scoffed. "Oh yeah, I'm totally sorry about that."

"You should be. Now I'm out a hundred bucks and I was planning on buying Guinea pig with all my money."

"How many of you were in on it?"

"Uh, it was me, Miles, Beau, Parker, Oliver, Milo, Sutton, Kai, Sebastian, and Henry."

"Sebastian and Henry?" I asked in disbelief. "They're eight and ten."

"Mhm."

"How much did the winner get?"

"Well, we each put in one hundred. So..." He held up his hands and began counting. "

"One thousand." I deadpanned.

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

I literally wanted to facepalm. No joke, I love Nico and all but I swear, that boy makes me wonder about him sometime. "Wait, a thousand dollars for a Guinea pig? Nico, you do realize Guinea pigs are like thirty dollars, right?"

"Not the one I want." Okay. then. "Anyway, let's go do something."

"Like what?"

"I'm hungry, we could go get some food."

"You literally just finished eating."

"I'm a growing boy. I need lots of food. You in?"

I shrugged. "Sure." I popped up, adjusting my joggers that had uncomfortably ridden up my butt the moment I stood up. "But don't expect me to change."

"No problem. I wasn't planning on changing either."

I looked at him, furrowing my eyebrows. "You're not wearing any pants."

"I'm wearing boxers, they look like shorts."

"You're wearing boxer briefs. So unless you want everyone thinking you're wearing spandex shorts, I'd put some pants on."

"I'm fine with people thinking that."

"Okay, but what if your dick pops out. I mean, there's no zipper to keep the opening on your underwear shut and it could just pop out at any time."

"True. Okay, give me a second." I laughed as he ran away, making sure to cover the front of his underwear. A few minutes later he was back in front of me, now with a pair of black joggers as well.

"You ready?"

"Yeah, C'mon." He lead the way to his car. "You're cool with the diner, right?"

I nodded, pulling the seat belt over my chest. "Where is everyone anyway?" I asked, noticing the lack of cars in the usually full driveway.

"Mom and Dad are at the mall with Henry and Sebastian. Miles, Milo, Sutton, and Kai are at the gym. Oliver's with his girlfriend and I don't know as for the rest of my brothers are."

Okay, so maybe I was a bit disappointed that Alex's name wasn't mentioned. Albeit, I didn't really have a reason to be. Like I had said before, he was clearly avoiding me for whatever reason. It bothered me more than I'd ever like to admit. I mean, okay, who even does that? Who kisses someone out of nowhere right after they get back from a date with a completely different person and then avoid them for the following week. It was Thursday and since getting home from school, I'd been wallowing in my own self-pity and running through last weeks events over and over. I'm surprised my brain isn't mush by now.

"Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want!" My head snapped to Nico who was practically screaming. "So tell me what you want, what you really, really want! I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want. So tell me what you want, what you really, really want. I wanna, (ha) I wanna, (ha) I wanna, ha. I wanna, ha, wanna really, really, really wanna zigazig ah!" The car was shaking as he bounced around, attempting to dance whilst driving. "Come on Mase, sing with me."

I shook my head. "I don't know the words."

"Bullshit, everyone knows the words."

I couldn't help but smile. "I don't even know what song this is."

"You're such a crap liar. Sing!"

"Oh, what do you think about that? Now you know how I feel." I mumbled, bored.

"Don't be so lame."

"Yo, I'll tell you what I want! What I really, really want!" I shout, causing a smile to erupt on his face.

"So, tell me what you want, what you really, really want!" he sang back making me laugh. By the time we pulled in the parking lot, we were both singing obnoxiously loud. A few people were looking at us as they got into their car. As soon as the song finished, we climbed out of the car.

"I think I pulled a muscle in my throat from singing so loud." I chucked, rubbing my throat.

"I wouldn't call what you did singing." Nico snickered.

I gasped mockingly, swatting his bicep "You weren't much better."

"I beg your pardon." His hand flew to his chest. I shook my head, smiling as we slid across my each other on a booth, a waitress coming over almost immediately. "I have to go to the bathroom, I'll be right back." I nodded, glancing around the diner. It was actually quite full for a Thursday. There was an adorable old couple, sat in the center the entire diner at a table just for two. They were smiling at one another, looking as in love as ever. "Mase, why are you creeping on those old people?"

I smiled, looking away from them and to Nico, "I wasn't creeping. I was admiring how absolutely sweet they looked together."

He looked over, grimacing slightly. "I don't know. Old people give e the heebie-jeebies."

I snorted. "They what?"

"They creep me out."

"Old people creep you out?"

"Yes." He said defensively. "It's a real phobia."

Resting my chin in my hand, I glanced back at them one last time. "I think they're sweet."

"Yeah until they come at you with their shaky voices, trying to kill you."

"Why would they try to kill you?"

"I don't know!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "You just never know, okay?"

"Um, okay."

"So you agree, they look like they want to kill me?"

"What? No! I was just saying okay."

"Oh."

I shake my head, grabbing my Sprite. My stomach growls just as our waitress approaches the table with our orders in hand. I mumbled, a quick thank you before shoving fries in my mouth like I'm starved. To be clear, I'm not, I just really like fries and food in general.

"Shit."

"What?" I ask, my mouth full of half-chewed food.

Nico looks back to be immediately and shakes his head. "Nothing."

"Uh, okay," I mumble confused but not too worried seeing as there was currently a massive bacon cheeseburger directly in front of my face. However, ten minutes later and Nico is still glancing nervously over my head, finally has me curious enough to turn around to see what has his attention.

I wish I hadn't.

At the other end of the diner were Alex and a beautiful girl, with shoulder length hair and the most stunning blue eyes. She didn't seem to be wearing a lot of make, though it was clear she didn't need any. She was wearing a tight black turtleneck along with plaid shorts that almost looked like a shirt and a set of black, thigh-high boots that left just enough skin to show off her flawless legs. I'd seen her around school a few times, I'm pretty sure her name was Iris.

"Mason, I didn't,"

I shook my head, stopping him. "Don't worry about it, Nico. He's allowed to hang out with whoever he wants."

"Yeah, and hey, they could just be hanging out as friends." He offered, though he didn't look too convinced himself. I didn't believe it either, but I nodded nevertheless and continued eating my food as if Alex was mere feet away from me on a possible date with an unquestionably stunning girl, one whom I'd never in a million years, be able to compete with. I mean, here she was dressed perfectly and beautiful beach waves in her hair; while I'm over here in a pair of joggers and a t-shirt which now has a ketchup stain on it because I eat more like a man than a woman; and my hair is thrown up haphazardly in a messy bun that I haven't fixed since I put it up this morning. Hell, even if I had tried, I would never look anywhere as beautiful as here. I ate my food as quickly as I could manage without choking, not wanting Alex to be aware of the fact that we were here.

Nico seemed to do the same, which I was thankful for. I stood up quickly, pulling money out of my wallet.

"Mase, I can pay."

I waved him off, the boys always insisted on paying whenever we went out. "I can pay sometimes too." He sighed but let me pay. I told myself that I wouldn't look at them again and I had managed not to for the rest of the time of us being there. But of course, I just couldn't help myself and I looked back just as Nico stepped out the door. Bile rose in my throat as soon as my eyes landed on the lip-locked pair. I don't know why I had hoped for anything different. It was clear to me that Alex wasn't the boyfriend type. Hell, it was clear to everyone. Regardless, I had told myself time and time again to not get my hopes up about the kiss, especially since he's been ignoring me.

A large warm, hand grasped mine forcing me to look away from the two. Nico was looking at me with a frown on his face. "He's not worth your tears, Mase."

I brought my hands up to my face. I hadn't even realized I was crying. I nodded, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth to keep me from full on balling as I allowed Nico to pull me towards his car. We both stayed quiet on the way home. As soon as the car was parked, I muttered a quick and quiet 'thank you.' to Nico and fast walked to the house. I didn't want to run into anyone and have to explain why I was crying.

Because the truth was, I shouldn't be. I shouldn't have ever let Alex kiss me and not just because of what happened today but because he didn't deserve it. All he's ever done since I've got here is treat me like crap and then randomly be nice to be one day and then the next day he's back to acting like I'm the dirt on the bottom of his shoe. I hated the fact that I was developing feelings for him. It didn't even make sense to me as to why I was. Because, if I'm being completely honest, he'd never really done anything to make him worthy of my feelings. I'm not saying he's a shit person or anything because I'm sure there's a reason he is the way he is but that still doesn't give him the right to treat others like absolute crap whenever he feels like it.

Of course, I'm not going to sit here and act like I don't have any faults because I do, everyone does but I at least do everything I can to treat everyone with the same kindness and respect that I'd like to be treated with.

Not to mention, his actions made absolutely no sense. Why even kiss me in the first place if you're just going to turn around and act as if it never happened and that I don't exist. I sure as hell didn't ask him to kiss me.

I sure as hell didn't stop him either and that's my fault. I'll take full and utter blame for that but it still baffling to me as to why he would kiss me in the first place. Did he think that I thought we were now going to be girlfriend and boyfriend simply because he kissed me? Did he think that I'm that easy to get because let me tell you, he sure as hell hasn't shown he's worthy of being my boyfriend, not that I'm sure I even want him as one. I won't lie and say that I don't find him attractive or say that I didn't enjoy our kiss, well, more or less, our makeout session. Either way, I didn't expect anything from him and I hope he knows that.

Regardless, my little girl crush feelings were still hurt by the fact that he had kissed me and is now on a date with another girl. It shouldn't hurt me because I should have expected just as much. 

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authors note, 

hello! 

I want to firstly apologize for not updating in forever. 

This is also more of a filler chapter, kind of, sort of. So sorry for that as well. 

Nevertheless, I still hope you enjoy it and I want to thank you all so much for comments and votes! It honestly means so much to me that you guys are enjoying my book. 

Once again, thank you. 

I love and appreciate each and every single one of you! 

M