"Well, hell" I muttered as I opened my locker.

Lying inside was yet another photo from Friday at the football game.

It shouldn't have surprised me; I had received crap about the picture all day.

"Hey Finnly! How was that slushie?"

I ignored whoever it was and put some of my books back into my locker.

A couple more people tossed comments my way as they passed me, and I was literally burning in anger by the time I had finished with my locker.

How could Becca have done that? I knew it was her, no one else would care enough to post something like that on the school website.

I had found the picture on the student photo board last night. 

I was standing near the football field; right after Becca had dumped the slushie on me. My hair and clothes were blue and the picture had been taken at the exact moment I was scrunching my face together in anger.  Needless to say, I looked like shit.

The caption under it read: Welcome back Finnly Cage! (We know this isn't the most photogenic picture of her, but it was the best one we could find- kisses, Student Council)

My ass Student Council put that up. It was obviously Becca.

Didn't she realize that she had absolutely no competition with me whatsoever? Not for Homecoming Queen, not for Prom Queen, not for Class President, and definitely not with Colton.

So what was her problem?

I pushed my way past some people until I reached the lunch room.

I just kept telling myself that my hardest classes were over and there was one more class after lunch I had to go to before I could just go home.

Hopefully this whole thing would blow over in a day or two, but in a school with only 100 kids per grade, it was very unlikely.

"Finn! Over here!" Anna called from a table in the corner.

I smiled in relief and walked over to the table, setting my stuff down on the floor.

"Hi Mia! Hi Evan" I said as I pulled out my lunch.

Evan just gave me a small wave and went back to the homework he was doing. To be honest I didn't even know why he was sitting with us. Sure, it didn't bother me. He was nice and maybe part of it was because he was doing the stupid Romeo and Juliet project with Mia, but he never said anything.

"Hey Finn!" Mia said, "How are you doing?" she asked.

I shrugged, "Fine" I said.

Mia raised an eyebrow, "Really? You don't look to good" she said , "It's totally understandable if you're upset or anything..."

Of course she was talking about the photo.

"Of course I'm upset!" I blurted out, "That good for nothing bit-"

"Woah! Calm down! I have something that can make you feel better" Anna suggested, wiggling her eyebrows.

I looked over at her , "If this has anything to do with him, I'm not interested" I said.

I had gotten pretty use to Anna bringing up 'operation Folton' almost every day, but right now I couldn't even bare to hear his name. If I did I think I might just throw myself out the window.

Anna's smile wavered for a second before she leaned across the table in excitement , "But this is good news" she said.

"No" I said plainly, taking a bite out of my sandwich.

"Yeah, please don't tell her. She'd probably go on a killing spree" Mia said, shaking her head feverishly at Anna.

Anna sat back down in her seat "Fine then. You'll just find out about it later" she said, sounding kind of disappointed.

"Oh you mean about your family going with Colton's to the lake house this thanksgiving?" Evan asked, looking up from his work, his brown hair flopping into his face.

My eyes widen and I snapped my head toward him, "The hell did you say?" I asked, my sandwich falling out of my hands.

Mia smacked her forehead, "Seriously?!The one thing you say and you royally screw up? How's that even possible?" she asked, a slight edge to her voice.

Evan glanced at me before looking at Mia  , "Sorry" he mumbled before standing up and leaving the lunch table hurriedly.

"You hurt his feelings" Anna said to Mia, a small frown on her lips.

Mia took a second to think about it before responding, "Well it wasn't his right to say anything" she said.

"Well it wasn't your right to snap at him" Anna said, her voice rising slightly.

"Guys, I'm glad he told me, ok? I would've found out eventually" I said, calming down. "It's not his fault this is happening, he doesn't even know the whole story about Colton and I".

Anna just crossed her arms slightly, "I'm sorry; I don't know why I got so upset. I guess I just don't understand why it's such a big deal that he told her or not" She said to Mia.

Mia shrugged, not meeting her eyes, "I just don't like Evan" she stated plainly.

I looked at her questionably. What was there not to like? It's not like he was drop dead gorgeous but there most certainly wasn't anything wrong with how he acted or what he looked like.

"You really haven't noticed?" she asked surprised, "He likes me! That's why he always sits here. And it wouldn't bother me if I didn't have a boyfriend".

"But you still shouldn't be mean to him" Anna said curtly.

What had gotten in to her? Anna was never upset. Never.

Mia whipped her head around to face Anna, "Well it's my life, my decisions" she said.

I didn't even fully understand what had happened until Mia had picked up her stuff and had sat down next to Kyle at a nearby table.

"Are you ok?" I asked Anna, concerned.

Anna shrugged, staring thoughtfully at the surface of the table.

I frowned slightly, "Do you like Evan?" I asked slowly

Anna's head jolted upright, "oh no!" she said, "No, I don't" she said again, "It's really nothing".

Before I could open my mouth to say anything else to her, she was already started talking, back in her happy go lucky self.

"Are you that upset about the Thanksgiving Day trip?" she asked, "I thought maybe it would be fun!" she said.

To be honest, I didn't know what to think. I was surprised my Dad and Kim had planned this, and even more surprised that Carol had said yes. Her and my mom had been better friends than my Dad and her. And I was nervous to find out what Colton's reaction was. Would he make up some excuse not to come? Would he really come? If he did, it would just be Him, Anna, and I. It's not like my brother was here anymore to go hang out with him.

It would be one awkward weekend. That was for sure.

I shrugged, "Curious, maybe" I said, "To see how everything plays out".

Yeah, that was it. I seriously just didn't want to wait to see how everything would play out. I wish I had some magic crystal ball I could use to go into the future and then decided if I needed an excuse not to go.

Anna nodded, "hey, don't worry about it! And it's a perfect time for Folton to happen" she said.

I rolled my eyes, "How many times do I have to tell you that it will never happen?" I asked a small laugh on my lips.

Anna laughed, "Not enough, because I'm still hard core shipping it" she said.

I didn't want to admit it to her, but somewhere deep, deep DEEP DEEP DEEEP DOWN, there was part of me shipping it too.

~*~*~*~

"What do you mean you're staying after school?" I hissed into my phone, trying to keep my voice down.

"I told you already, I have a last minute project for Spanish I need to film" Anna said casually on the opposite side of the phone.

Colton was supposed to be ready any minute to drive us home...which I suppose was just me at the moment, thanks to Anna's horrible planning.

"Fine, whatever, I'll talk to you later" I said, before tapping the end button.

I could just walk home, but I wasn't feeling like it today. It was that time of the month, and I would rather suffer through a humiliating awkward car ride with the insensitive alien being called Colton Pane than walk home.

Just no.

I tucked a strand of my blonde hair behind my ear and inspected my blouse for wrinkles. Good, there were none.

The last thing I needed was a wardrobe crisis.

Colton pulled up next to the side walk I was standing on, not even turning his face to look at me.

I quickly got into the car, not wanting to waste his time.

"Anna isn't coming" I said, before buckling my seatbelt.

You would think that coming right from football practice he would be gross and smelly, but something about the messy disheveled hair and fresh cologne made me almost gush in admiration.

He nodded before pulling out of the school parking lot.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, before I decided to speak up.

"So...not that I don't appreciate these rides or anything, because I do, but why do you drive Anna and I ever day?" I asked. It's not like you actually like me.

Colton briefly looked over at me, and I actually received a little eye contact for one of the first times in forever.

"My mom" he said, before looking back at the road.

"Oh" I said simply, clasping my hands together and letting them rest in my lap awkwardly.

I decided to go back to looking out the window.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

I turned to face him again, "W-what?" I stammered, taken back by his sudden interest.

"The picture" he said, his eyes still at the road.

"Oh...that" I said, letting my eyes move away from him, "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" I said calmly.

I felt his eyes on me and it took all my strength not to break down.

Call it pathetic if you want, but I wasn't ok and all I wanted more than anything was some good news.

"Ok" he said softly, his voice barely above a whisper.

The rest of the car ride was spent in silence. I didn't even try to engage in conversation, and neither did he.

When he pulled into his driveway I bit my lip, "Thanks" I mumbled, before sliding my bag over my shoulder.

He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it a quickly as it had come.

I opened the door and quickly shut it, rushing over to my house.

I was tired of waiting for him to come around.

Sooner or later I was going to ask him what the hell happened.

At the very least I deserved to know.

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Sorry for the super short chapter ... some stuff has been going on so I'm sorry for the late update too :(

please make sure to comment your favorite part and vote if you liked it !

song of the chap: Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran

-A