I ended up falling asleep that night on a chair in Calvin's room. He begged me to stay so I did, I guess. I couldn't help but wonder if he'd remember his make-out session with Hilary or when he called me tough— or pretty.

He confused me— and not just the way he'd go from one minute being nice and complimenting me to the next, where he'd bicker with me until he went blue in the face. But also because I didn't know how to feel normal around him anymore.

My heart would beat violently in my chest if I caught him looking at me, or I'd blush when he'd compliment me. I couldn't like Calvin— could I?

My mind was throbbing with an ample of new thoughts that were just being fired out every half a second and before I could think of my next one, I was woken up by a tap on my forehead.

"Hmm." I groaned as my eyes wearily opened to Calvin's lit room. It was early in the morning and I hadn't realized his curtains were left open last night so the sun was practically burning my eyes.

"You know, you really sound like a gremlin in the morning.. And you snore way too loud." Calvin laughed.

I opened one eye and gave him a death stare before then opening the other. "Looks who's talking. I swear you woke yourself up from how loud you were."

"Nah, I think I was just hearing you." He smirked.

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes. "Oh, and, you can thank me whenever from saving you from Hilary last night." I shuddered just thinking about the witch.

"What happened?" He asked hesitantly.

"You made out with her, I tried to tell her you were drunk but she wasn't having it— and she was sober also! What a wench, she was just trying to take advantage of you like-" I rambled before Calvin stopped me.

"Aw, was the little princess protecting me?" He smirked.

"No, don't take it too personal. I was just helping because I don't like Hilary, and it gave me an excuse to slap her." I shrugged.

"You slapped her?" He asked in disbelief.

"No, but now I'm wishing I did.. I had the perfect opportunity too.. Shoot." I sighed, looking at Calvin as he laughed in his white sheets.

"You are such a dork," He shook his head with a grin. "You better go, your brothers are probably gonna kick me when they find out you stayed the night." He chuckled.

"Nah, I already told them I was here last night so they already know. Don't worry, your butt will be perfectly fine."

He raised an eyebrow at me suggestively which resulted in me groaning and throwing a pillow at him which he dodged gracefully, "I didn't mean it like that you jerk!"

But he only continued laughing, "Sure thing, princess." He teased.

//

"Oh Lyla!" Mere's sing-song voice screamed excitement to me as she ran over to me at my locker.

"Hey Mere, what's got you so excited?" I laughed, pulling a textbook from my locker.

"Well, two things actually! They're about our little camping trip we are taking next month.. First, your brothers and Calvin agreed to come! They thought it would be fun so when I asked them, they were all for it! And second, I found us some really nice hotels to stay in in New York City that are pretty cheap." She explained.

"Wow, so uh, Calvin's going to be coming too?" I asked nervously, while swallowing.

I should've expected he would be coming seeing as Amanda and Mere seemed so excited to invite them, and plus, I also know how much they like Calvin and I together. But, knowing it for sure had me nervous and a bout of butterflies flying around in my stomach.

"Yes he will! But, isn't this exciting news? We are going to have such a blast on this trip! I can't wait. I already told Amanda everything and she's stoked too!" Mere gushed, not paying attention to my sudden change in voice.

"I am too! Yeah, this is gonna be so fun." I smiled, trying to get on her level excitement but I was cut off when a certain hot brunette made their way past my locker.

Calvin turned to face me and gave me a smirk all the while winking at me. Man, I don't think he realized just how much he's been effecting me lately. But, me being me, I shrugged at him and rolled my eyes while having my own smirk playing at my lips.

When he turned away, Mere looked at me with a weird look. "You two were totally making eyes at each other!" She shrieked.

"Um what? Did you not notice my eye roll?" I asked, my palms suddenly going clammy as I shut my locker door and began walking with Mere to homeroom.

Now it was her time to roll her eyes, "He totally likes you Ly. Even if you can't see it for yourself.." She said in a 'matter of factly' tone. "But how did Saturday go? Did he finally confess his love for you?"

"No, he teased me as per usual when I told him I was actually trying to help him." I chuckled.

"Hmm.. Hard to get maybe?"

"Oh trust me, I'm not trying to get anything." I laughed.

I'm telling the truth... Right?

//

The next month passed by fairly quickly. The excruciating pain and stress of finals had also passed and I was more excited than ever to finally start summer.

Plus, my growing feelings for Calvin were feeling more prominent than ever. Curse my lack of ability to just get over this, ugh. Why do I even like Calvin anyways? He's a jerk and a player! He's the definition of bad news. But, me being me, will continue to ignore that fact and continue on. Great.

My New York City trip with the girls, my brothers and Calvin was already tomorrow. Everyone in my house was in a frenzy as we continued to pack an endless amount of things— or at least that's what I was doing..

Calvin had come over for a bit to help us load bags into our van to save ourselves from doing it last minute tomorrow. He eventually went home to get some sleep and the girls came over to stay the night.

I sighed happily as I flopped down on my bed with my arms resting on my stomach. "I can't believe we're going to New York tomorrow."

"I know right, I'm so excited!" Amanda cheered as she flopped down beside me on my bed.

"Me too." Meredith smiled as she flopped down on the other side of me.

"Can you believe we'll be juniors next year? Dyl will be graduating and we'll be on our way soon after that." I said.

Amanda hummed in agreement, "But you know who else will be graduating too, right?" She said, looking over at me as she propped herself up on her left elbow.

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, well, I-" I trailed off not really wanting to think of that.

"Do your brothers know you like him yet?" She asked.

"No, nor will they ever," I laughed. "If they found out— goodbye Calvin."

Mere chuckled, "Well, you never know. Your brothers are friends with Calvin so they might—"

"That makes it even worse!" I chuckled, covering my face with my hands tiredly. "Best friend dates other best friends' sister? They'd hate him."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Amanda laughed as I shook my head with a smirk on my face.

"True." Mere laughed along with us.

I sighed and looked over at the digital clock on my bedside table. "It's twelve am. We should probably go to bed seeing as we have to leave so early tomorrow."

"Ugh, mornings." Mere groaned at the thought of not being able to sleep in. Amanda and I laughed at her comment.

"Goodnight loves." Amanda yawned as she got under my covers.

"Goodnight." Mere repeated, following her actions with me following.

"Goodnight." I whispered as we all fell asleep to the sound of nothing and the excitement for the next two weeks to come.

//

"Morning sleepyheads." Dylan laughed from my kitchen as the girls and I met my obnoxious brothers making some cups of coffee.

"Hey Dyl. Where's Lucas?" I asked, thanking him when he passed me a fresh cup.

The girls sat down at our kitchen island beside me as they sipped on their newly made cups of coffee.

"Oh, he's getting ready. We're leaving in about an hour so you guys better go get ready and get anything else you need." He answered while preparing some sandwiches.

"Roger that. Let's go, ladies." I saluted before standing up and going to get ready with Amanda and Mere.

"So, Amanda.. You going to finally talk to Lucas on this trip?" I asked her with a mischievous smirk as I continued to curl my hair in the mirror.

She shrugged, "I don't know.." She blushed.

"Girl, it's totally obvious he likes you. He gets all shy around you and stuff. Is adorable." Mere said as she was applying some mascara on her eyelashes.

"Yeah, trust me. I know Lucas all too well and I can tell when he has a crush," I spoke up. "And lemme tell you, he's got it bad."

She laughed, "I don't know.. We'll see if he says anything."

"He'd be stupid not to." I said, finishing up my hair before unplugging my wand.

"Thanks Ly." She smiled, shrugging on a light grey crop-top hoodie.

"Of course." I replied. Before I could say anything else, Lucas called for us from downstairs.

"Guys, come down! We're leaving now!" He called.

"You guys got everything?" I asked and they both nodded. "Okay good. Let's go then." I said, leaving my room with them.

"Well hello there." Calvin smirked at me as I walked over to the van where my brothers and Amanda and Mere already were.

"Calvin." I greeted, putting my aviators on.

"You ready princess?" He asked.

I nodded, "Yeah, let's go." I answered with a small smile as the two of us got into the back row of seats in the van.

//

"Are we there yet?" Lucas asked for the fifth time that hour.

Everyone groaned as I threw a pillow at him. "You already asked that." Dylan exasperated.

"Hey!" Lucas shrieked after I threw the pillow at him. "I'm sorry but I'm bored."

I threw another pillow at him, "Then sleep! That's what we're doing— hey, look at Calvin." I paused, stifling a laugh.

"Would you stop throwing pillows at me?!" Lucas asked, throwing one back.

I just ignored Lucas before grabbing my phone out and snapping a pic of a sleepy Calvin. He had his mouth wide open with some drool coming out.

He looked adorable yet hot at the same time. How was that possible?

"Oh my gosh! I didn't know Calvin drooled in his sleep!" Mere laughed from the bench in front of Calvin and I.

"Me either." I laughed while looking him over. He had his head against a pillow and he was kind of in an awkward position that didn't look too comfortable. A couple moments went by as Calvin slowly began to wake up.

"Why are you guys staring at me?" He groaned in confusion as he opened his eyes fully.

"We're not staring at you, we're staring at the big puddle of drool you left on your pillow." I answered with a smirk as he just glowered at me.

"Ugh, whatever. Can someone just tell me when we're going to be there?" He asked in a husky voice that almost made me melt before I realized what he just asked.

Everyone groaned again, "C'mon man!" Dyl yelled from the drivers' seat in annoyance.

"Finally someone gets my pain!" Lucas said as everyone just rolled their eyes.

//

"Okay so, how are we going to do rooms?" Calvin asked as we stood in the hallway of the hotel we were staying in for the next two weeks.

"Well, I'm guessing it would be girls with the girls and the guys with the guys.." I said in a matter of factly tone.

Dylan and Lucas nodded as they walked into one of them, claiming it.

"Hmm, what a shame. I guess we won't be in the same room, huh?" Calvin whispered into my ear as he smirked at me and then walked in behind my brothers into their room.

Gladly Amanda and Mere didn't just see that as they were already in our room. I really didn't want to explain to them what he had just said as I stood there blushing like crazy.

"So, what were we thinking of starting off doing?" I asked Amanda and Meredith as we finished bringing the last of our things into our room.

"Well, I was thinking.. How about we go clubbing tonight?" Amanda suggested.

"That's crazy. We won't even be able to get in—" I stopped talking immediately when she pulled six fake IDs out of her pocket.

"Oh my gosh Amanda! Fake IDs? We will get in so much trouble if someone finds out!" I shrieked at her.

She rolled her eyes, "Don't worry Ly, we won't. Live a little, girl!"

I looked over at Mere knowing she would have my back but as I was about to say something I noticed her face. She looked like she wanted to do it.

"Mere? Oh— please don't tell me you're not actually thinking of it!" I said in shock.

"Well, she does have a point Ly. We're only young once." She shrugged.

"And are you hoping that the boys come?" I asked.

"Well, yeah—" Amanda said.

I laughed, "And you think that they will be all over the idea of all of us going clubbing? Maybe Calvin, but not my brothers."

She stayed silent.

"They're all over the idea of clubbing, aren't they?" I asked.

"Yeah.." She said, looking at me as if she was trying to study me to guess what I'll say before I say it.

"This is just great," I sighed. "Guess we're going clubbing then.."

Amanda and Mere looked at each other with big smiles on their faces as they screamed and began to jump up and down in excitement.

What had I just gotten myself into?

//

I groaned as I pulled my short dress down in annoyance. Mere lent me one of her tight black dresses to wear for tonight and it was way too short. She had on a maroon dress the flared out a little near her mid thigh and Amanda wore a tight dress like mine, but only it had sequins on it and it was a navy blue.

We all held up our IDs to the guards as they checked them and let us go in. The boys' were right in after us as we were all met with loud, booming music and people dancing huddled together.

I have never been a big fan of the 'party scene.' I've never loved going to them and I'll do anything to get out of them.. But, this is kinda different. I mean, it's summer break now and I'm in New York City with my best friends. I have to make the most out of it, right?

We walked up to the counter and took a seat in the stools as a bartender made his way toward us. He looked to be in his early twenties and he was really hot.

We all noticed his chiseled jaw and huge, muscular biceps. The boys looked grossed out at our ogling but didn't say anything as he was coming right up to us.

"Hey, what can I get you ladies to drink?" He asked, yelling over the music as he flashed us a pearly white smile. His jet black hair was styled messily.

"Amanda and I will get two margaritas and, what do you want Ly?" Meredith asked me.

"I'll just get a coke, thanks." I yelled over the music and the bartender nodded.

Calvin smirked at my drink choice before the bartender spoke up again, "And what about you guys?"

"Uh three Coors Light's, please." Dylan said.

I looked over at Calvin beside me in confusion as I noticed he was giving me a look. "What?" I asked him.

"Nothing," He shrugged. "I just find it funny how we're at a club and you order a pop."

"I don't like to drink very much." I explained.

He nodded, "And I respect that." He replied as the bartender handed us all our drinks and Calvin popped the top of his off and took a big swig.

"You guys wanna go dance?" Amanda asked everyone in excitement.

"Oh yeah!" Dylan yelled with Lucas agreeing.

"Yeah, let's do it!" Calvin smirked. "Lyla?"

I decided for a moment in hesitation, "Okay.. Fine. Let's go dance!" I laughed as Mere pulled me to the dance floor excitedly.

A few hours had passed by, it was already one thirty in the morning and I had lost everyone. I tried texting Amanda and Mere but they hadn't answered.

I was worried, but I figured they were fine and just having fun with my brothers and Calvin off somewhere in the club. The building was huge so it was easy to get lost, especially with us being new here in the city.

I sat at the bar with my coke as I sighed. I was getting super bored and I really didn't feel like getting drunk and having a painful hangover the next day so I stuck with pop.

"Now what's a beautiful lady sitting here all alone, huh?" A voice asked me from my left as I turned my head to look at the mysterious man in confusion.

"I'm Sebastian." The guy introduced himself as he took the empty stool beside me. I straightened up a little in my seat, starting to feel a bit uncomfortable as I attempted a smile at the guy.

He had messy blonde hair and a chiseled jaw. He had tattoos running up his right arm and he reeked of alcohol. Although he was attractive, he gave me this weird gut feeling and I knew to trust my instincts rather than an attractive stranger.

"Hi." I said somewhat awkwardly as I took a swig of my coke.

"—And what is your name, pretty girl?" He smirked at me.

"Uhm, Lyla." I answered hesitantly.

"Lyla," He repeated, itching closer to me. "What a beautiful name."

"Uh, thanks." I said, scratching my neck awkwardly. I didn't know what to do or what to say to the guy but I needed to get away from him. That I knew for sure.

"Would you like some company?" He asked, taking a swig of his beer lazily. And that's when I realized he was probably very tipsy and on the verge of being drunk.

"My friends will be back any minute, so I should probably just get going—" I began to stand up before he pushed me back down and put his hand on my thigh.

"Please, just leave me alone." I said, my heart beat quickening as I prayed silently one of my brothers would come and help me.

"Oh c'mon baby, don't be like that.. Don't leave." He smirked.

"I'm not your 'baby,'" I spat in disgust and shoved his hand off of me. "And don't touch me."

His facial expression turned sour as he glowered at me, "Don't tell me what to do, bi—"

"Well she just did," Another voice interjected. "Now I suggest you leave her alone. Now."

"And what are you going to do about it, huh?" Sebastian spat at Calvin.

"This." He answered and punched Sebastian in the jaw making him fall to the ground from the hard impact.

I looked behind my shoulder to see Calvin and before I could say anything, he threw his arm around my waist and walked me out of the club. "Come on, let's get you back to the hotel. Your brothers and Amanda and Meredith are in the van already." He said and all I could do in that moment was nod as we left Sebastian lying on the ground, groaning.

"Hey, you guys go on without us. Okay? Lyla and I will take a cab back to the hotel. Don't worry, she'll be safe. I won't let her leave my side." Calvin said, leaning on the passenger side door as he talked to Dylan. Dylan had only one beer and was completely sober by the time we were leaving so he drove the rest of the gang home, besides Calvin and I.

I stood behind Calvin and nodded at Dyl. "I'm all good Dylan. We'll meet you guys there." I reassured and even sent him a small smile.

He sighed, "Okay, but let me know when you guys get back safely."

"For sure," I said. "Bye big brother. I love you."

"I love you too, Ly." He smiled softly before he drove off in the direction of the hotel.

"Are you okay?" Calvin turned around and asked me once Dylan was gone.

"Yeah, I-I'm okay, I guess." I answered as Calvin shrugged his leather jacket off and placed it over my shoulders.

"I'm so sorry Lyla. That guy was drunk, not all of us are like him. Some of us are pretty decent actually." He said sadly.

I swallowed, just staring back at him. "As you just proved." I replied.

He then smiled. "I'm glad." He said before whistling for a taxi to stop.

Once one did, we both ran up to it and Calvin opened the door for me so I could step in before he ran around to the other side and hopped in.

As we drove home in silence, I couldn't shake the feeling of that guy; the way he spoke and the way he thought he could have his way with me..

My stomach churned at the thought of 'what if Calvin hadn't been there?' What would have happened? Would I have still gotten away? Would Sebastian have gotten what he wanted?

And with that last thought, my hand clasped over Calvin's that laid on the seat between us. He looked down at our hands in confusion and then up at me.

I looked over at him and whispered, "Thank you." Tears clouded my vision as I spoke.

"You're welcome." He whispered back as he then adjusted his hand so that our fingers were intertwined, and he moved closer to me so that I could lay my head on his shoulder.

I gladly cuddled up to him as tears began to flow freely from my eyes, but he just sat there and held me. He didn't say anything. No stupid remark, or dumb pet name, or sarcastic comment left his lips.

All he did was hold me and not say a word.

—

Hey guys! Wow, It's been almost a freaking year since I last updated this book. Oh my gosh I'M JWJDKFN—

I'm so sorry, you guys don't deserve this!!

I know I recently posted an update that said I would most likely not continue writing this book but I recently just got some inspo so I had to just continue nonetheless!

By the way, I just wanted to thank you guys for 20k reads!! I'm so beyond excited and glad you're all enjoying this novel. :)

— Taylor