"Bye Finn!" Anna said, before running over to our house and away from where I was standing outside Colton's car.

I felt like calling her back and telling her to do the project for me with him, but decided that that would show Colton that I actually cared, so I reluctantly watched her go inside.

"You ready?" Colton asked, slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

"Yup" I said, putting on a smile.

On the inside I was literally dying of anxiety.

He walked inside and I followed, dragging my feet.

Why? Of all the names? Seriously, I was literally questioning the heavens right now how that could've happened. It was a one in thirty chance!

"Mom! I'm home!" Colton shouted once we were inside.

Carol, Colton's mom, hurried out of the kitchen

"I was just baking some pie! How- Oh Finnly! Dear, I haven't seen you in forever!" She said, wiping her hands on her apron before bringing me into a tight hug.

I smiled and hugged her back , it was like I got a piece of my old life back ; Carol had always seemed like a second mom to me. She was even around more often than my mom was and in some ways, I had been closer with Carol than my mother.

"I missed you, Carol" I said, meaning every word.

She brought me out to arm's length and examined me, "Look at how tall you've grown! And you're hair! It's beautiful! When did it get so long? And w-"

"Mom" Colton said, "Can you do your meet and greet later? We have to do a project" he said, leaning against the wall lazily.

"Oh please Col, it's not like you care about doing your homework any other day" she said, laughter in her voice.

I laughed a little, he could deal with it, Carol was one of the few people in this town I was actually happy to see again.

Colton just rolled his eyes, "Mom, please?" he said.

Carol mimicked Colton by rolling her eyes, and turned back to me, "I'll talk to you later, sweetheart, ok?" She said, smiling, "I guess if my son actually wants to get started on homework, we shouldn't stand in his way, he'd probably run us over like he does in those football games" she said, winking.

I hadn't actually seen Colton play football, other than the few times I had waited for him for a ride home and seen him doing some drills. But this Friday was the first game of the season, and Mia had begged me to come with her so she could hang out with her boyfriend and not look like a complete loser. Yay. So excited...

I laughed, "Yeah, he probably wouldn't hesitate either" I added. I actually caught myself off guard by my statement. Yes- I can be sassy.

Colton beside me stiffened in surprise.

Yeah. I just did.

Carol laughed and ushered us toward the kitchen, handing me a piece of pie.

"Now make sure to actually get some work done" she said, "And keep the bedroom door open" she continued, before hurrying back over to the oven where the pie sat.

I wanted to reassure her that nothing was going on between us expect awkward tension, but decided to keep my mouth shut.

I didn't think she needed to worry about anything happening in the bedroom. At this rate Colton and I probably wouldn't sit within five feet of one another.

Colton led me upstairs and to his room.

"Sit down wherever" he said, before unpacking his stuff on his desk.

I bit my lip and looked around his room. Did he mean like sit down wherever there was a chair? Because there was only one... or did he mean sit down on the floor? Or sit down on the bed?

I chose the chair in the corner and unpacked my stuff.

I silently checked him out while his back was still facing me. His dark brown hair was tousled, a look that made most boys look like hobos, but made Colton drool worthy and I still couldn't believe how good he looked in sweatpants. Some guys couldn't pull it off...at all, but if Colton decided to wear them for the rest of his life, I would probably cheer.

Puberty really did do him well.

I quickly looked down at my Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" book when Colton turned around and sat on his bed, hoping he hadn't caught me looking at him.

There was a brief awkward silence, during which I pretended like I was flipping through my book looking for something.

To be completely honest, I was surprised when Colton started talking, "Listen, Finnly" he said, actually making eye contact with me.

Wow, so he does know my name.

"I don't want to do this, and I know you don't either"

Where the hell did that come from? What does he mean that 'I know you don't either'? How does he know what I do or don't want? I don't even know what I do or don't want, so how does he know?

"So let's just get it done as quickly as possible" he said.

I matched his gaze, wanting to show no sign of weakness. You can't get all emotional and demand freaking answers from him about 'what the hell happened when I left' and 'why are you acting like a jerk right now?' I told myself.

"Sounds good" I said, my voice dull and unwavering, my eyes matching his dark green ones evenly.

He kept his eyes locked with mine for only a second longer before opening his book, "Good" he said.

Before now I had just been really confused with our relationship or whatever you could call what Colton and I had...but now I was just angry. And more than anything, I wanted answers...but it had to be the right time. I couldn't just ask him whenever or he would completely shut me out.

"So I was thinking earlier during class" I said, deciding to just get to it, "that maybe a scene with the nurse and Romeo would be the best for us to perform"

I looked up to him, "What do you think?" I asked.

Colton shrugged, "It's up to you. I don't mind playing any of the male characters" he said.

"Good. The nurse and Romeo it'll be then" I said, starting to write down notes.

I felt his eyes on me and my face started heating up. I was incredibly thankful that my curtain of hair was shielding my face at the moment as I hurried to write down more stuff.

"Costumes?" I asked, starting to translate the play into a more modern rendition.

"Because it's more modern or whatever, I can just wear jeans and a shirt" Colton suggested.

I immediately stopped writing and looked up at him, "This is the day of the wedding with Romeo and Juliet... and you're going to wear jeans?" I asked, a small laugh erupting from my lips.

He smiled slightly , "Fine, I guess I'll wear khakis" he said.

I rolled my eyes, laughing softly, "Perfect, a suit it is" I said.

"Do I have too?" He asked, whining slightly, "It's just a school project" he said, his eyes pleading.

I raised an eyebrow at him, "The nurse and Romeo have one big scene, and it's the day of the wedding. Unless you'd rather do another scene, you're wearing a suit" I said, my voice edged with laughter.

"How about we do a scene at the beginning when Romeo is talking to Mercutio about Rosaline" He said.

"You want me to play a guy?" I asked, drawling out every word.

Colton rolled his eyes, "Then why don't we just do the scene with Romeo and Juliet at the very beginning when they meet at the party?" he asked, impatiently.

"Do I really need to tell you why that's a bad idea?" I asked. There was a reason why I had suggested the nurse and Romeo first.

"Why is it a bad idea?" he asked, leaning back in his desk chair and putting his hands behind his head.

Because of Becca? Because she might kill me alive if I do anything remotely related to romance with you. Seriously, did he not know how Becca feels about all of this? It was pretty obvious by her outburst in class.

I shook my head, "Whatever" I said, "Whatever you want to do" I continued, scratching through my previous notes and writing the new scene.

I didn't bother letting him know about her. If it was such a big problem for her, she can take it up with him herself. I had done her dirty work in 8th grade, I was done with it.

Colton leaned forward in his chair, "If you don't want to do the scene it's fine, I just thought playing the two main characters would make more sense, and neither of us would have to dress up much" he said shrugging.

"It's fine" I said, "you're right, playing the main characters is probably the easiest to do and the party scene wouldn't be hard to rewrite in modern terms" I said, continuing to translate the old script from the play book to a new version.

He nodded, "Yeah, and best thing is, we can get it done really quickly" he said.

Is that really all he cared about? Just whatever got me out of here the fastest?

Whatever happened to genuinely wanting to do a good job?

What was so wrong with me that he couldn't stand to be with me any longer?

I closed my book and put my stuff in my backpack, standing up, "Ok, well not that that's done, I'll finish translating the first half of the scene at home. You do the second half" I said, "And then we'll just wing the performance" I said, already half way out the door.

"Wait- we can't just wing the per-"

I didn't wait to hear him finish, before I hurriedly walked down the stairs.

Yeah...I guess you could say that when it came to him, 'genuinely wanting to do a good job' went completely out the door.

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Aye! Here it be! A whole chapter just with Colton and Finnly :) How'd you like it? Opinions on Colton?

Song of the chap: Never Be Alone by Shawn Mendes

Kisses- A