Avery

  By the time seventh hour Sports and Fitness runs around, I was serious about ready to sock someone in the face.

 Senior year was so not turning out how I thought it would be.

I had no idea what the hell possessed me to take all AP classes, because now I had a shit-ton of homework all due tomorrow. I barely knew anybody in any of the classes I had, and if I did, it was freaking Nick, who wouldn't shut up about the picture Marshall drew of me.

 Right.

Not only did Marshall extremely well, he had to draw a picture of me that made me look better than I actually did. If that hadn't been shocking enough to find, Marshall turned as red as a tomato, started stuttering like an idiot, and then promptly ran out of the cafeteria as soon as the bell rang.

That was nice.

"You look like you're about ready to punch someone in the face, Avery."

I glanced over at Alec with a scowl as we fell into the line of people heading out to start jogging the track. "Do I?"

Alec's face remained impassive, like normal, even when I'd used the most sarcastic tone I could manage. That was one of the nice things about Alec. He was so good at hiding what he was thinking that I probably could've told him I was pregnant and he wouldn't have batted an eyelash.

 That would be why Alec was my main confidant when it came to my pathetic dealings with Alec.

"God, Alec, did you see that drawing?" I groaned, my hands flying to my face.

"Yeah, I saw it," Alec said with a slight grin. "It was nice."

"Nice? Nice? Alec, it was downright beautiful! I had no idea he could draw like that," I said, waving my hands around as we walked. "Did you know he's the second coming of Michaelangelo?"

Alec shrugged a shoulder as we started jogging the track. "Yeah, I knew."

I forced my legs to keep moving and not stop in my tracks. "You knew? You knew and you didn't say anything?"

"It wasn't in my place to tell," Alec said sagely. "It's Marshall's thing. Not mine."

"Yeah, but - "

"Do you think I tell anybody what you say about Marshall?"

"No, but - "

"Then I don't say anything about what he says about you."

That time I really did stop walking. My jaw dropped and I choked on air a little. It felt like a handful of butterflies had just erupted in my tummy.

Marshall said things about me? Like, what things?

What?

Alec stopped jogging and turned back when he noticed I wasn't beside him. He frowned in confusion, staring at me. "What?"

"What?" I repeated dumbly. "How can you just say something like that and ask me what?"

"I didn't say anything. Stop being weird."

Yeah, that was Alec Hastings for you.

"Whatever," I grumbled, starting to jog again. "You're so annoying, Alec."

"Probably." Alec shrugged again. "But that's not my problem. Who else are you going to confide in about your pathetic crush on Marshall?"

"Hey!" I yelped. "You said it wasn't pathetic?"

"I lied."

Clearly, I thought with an eye roll.

If this was just a little preview of how senior year was going to go, so far concerning everything to do with Marshall, than I had no idea how I was going to handle it all.

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"Hey, chica. Lookin' fine."

I slammed my locker door shut, shifting my books in my arms while I stared at the cocky guy strutting around in front of me.

Carlos Velasquez, the guy currently acting like an idiot, waggling his eyebrows at me, was a thorn in my side and annoyed me more often than not. I only put up with him because our parents were good friends and we were forced to be civil with each other.

 This, however, would not be one of those times.

"Knock it off, Carlos," I said, rolling my eyes. "Don't you have better things to do than annoy the shit out of me?"

"Not right now I don't," Carlos replied, dragging his eyes up and down me in a way that made shudder on the inside. "I always have time for you, mi chava."

"Well, I, unlike you, have better things to do than stand around talking to you. Get out of my way."

"Ooh, so harsh," Carlos gasped dramatically, clutching at his heart. "That one cut real deep, babe."

I wasn't kidding. I really did have better things to do. Like, meeting up with the guys for a ride home, for one.

"When are you gonna ditch those gringos and join us, Avery?" he asked, taking a step closer to me. "You never talk to me or Juan or Marco anymore. We miss you. There aren't any bonita Mexicanas around here like you, babe."

Sometimes I think Carlos is joking around, the way he's so flirty with me. Right now, I couldn't be too sure what was going on. I hadn't seen Carlos since the end of last year. He seemed...different, and I couldn't figure out if it was for the better or not.

 "She doesn't hang out with you because she doesn't care for idiot potheads. You'd figure that out sometime if you let her get a word in edge wise."

I let out a sigh of relief, thankful for the distraction when Marshall stood behind me, arms crossed, a no nonsense look on his face.

"Oh, look, it's Marshall," Carlos said excitedly, throwing his hands in the air. "How are you doin', big guy?"

"I'm not interested. Leave Avery alone."

"Avery's not objecting, is she?" Carlos said, looking at me pointedly. "Are you, babe?"

"I'm - " 

"Problem, gentlemen?"

Oh, great. Now Nick was in on the whole confrontation in the hallway.

He stood beside Marshall, looking just as intimidating as him, even if he was four inches shorter.

"Look, babe," Carlos said to me, ignoring the other two. "You decide you want a little spice back in your life, come find me. You know where I am."

He gave a wink and a smirk in my direction before sauntering off, arrogant as ever.

The second he was out of ear-shot, I rounded on Marshall and Nick with narrowed eyes.

"I could've handled that myself, you know," I snapped, annoyed.

"I don't care," Marshall replied bluntly. "The guy's a creep. I don't like him."

"I don't, either," Nick agreed. "That guy spells out trouble."

"Oh, and you don't?" I snorted. "Just forget it, okay? You don't always need to protect me."

"Yeah, I do. Deal with it, Avery."

Marshall gave me one last look, a look I didn't even know how to describe, before he walked off in the opposite direction.

Both Nick and I watched him go with baffled looks, not even sure what just happened.

"Uh..." I looked ove at Nick in confusion. "Any idea what just happened there?"

 Nick sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Bad day. Let's just go with that one."

There wasn't any teasing tone in Nick's voice and he wasn't kidding. When Nick was being serious, Nick was being serious.

What could have happened to Marshall, though?

"I wouldn't worry about it," Nick said, giving me a nudge. "Come on. Let's go. We're getting Burger King and heading to Justin's place."

Good. I liked Burger King. And I could ask Marshall what the hell happened. Maybe get homework done, too. The rest of the day was full of possibilities, wasn't it?

"Fine," I said, shifting my bag on my shoulder. "Let's go."

When we reached the parking lot, Justin, Alec, and Marshall were already in Justin's truck, ready to get out of here. Couldn't blame them for that one, I supposed.

I crawled into the front seat in between Nick and Justin and hunkered down, tucking my bag up against my chest.

Senior year had only just started and already weird things were starting to happen. I could only wonder with dread what was going to happen next.

That thought made me think of Marshall, sadly, and then I realized, not for the first time, that I needed a life.

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  So it only took me ages to actually add a chapter to to this, har har har. I was looking through all of the stuff I've been writing and thought, hey, why not and try to write a chapter? It was easier than I thought, so maybe I'll be taking it off the haitus. So, what do you guys think? :D