"Did I just see Brandon drop you off?" Belle asks me as I walk into the living room.

"Yes, you did." I plop down next to her on the sofa.

"And is he the reason you're smiling like a maniac?" Creed questions me as leans towards me from his chair, the running TV long forgotten.

"Nope. I'm smiling like a maniac because I just got promoted." I say it nonchalantly, bracing myself for the screeching that will follow.

Belle and Creed jump off of their seats and envelope me in a huge hug. They're screaming and shouting and I can't help myself from cheering with them.

"That is amazing!" Belle says after we detach from each other.

"Now you'll finally stop whining. There is a God, after all." Creed teases and I put my tongue out at him.

"Where are the guys?" I ask Belle, noticing that the house seemed rather silent. I mean, we had made so much of noise that the guys were sure to come and ask what's going on.

"You mean where's Cayden?" Creed shoots back and Belle shoots me a knowing look.

"No!" I deny with force, "I asked where the guys and not Cayden are. That is behind me now."

"They went to the school to play some football but why are you so touchy about Cayden?" Creed shifts his chair closer to me.

I hadn't filled Creed in on anything that had happened between us like I had with Belle. I wasn't sure that Creed would take it seriously. He would probably just think that I was over reacting which maybe I was but I do not need someone telling me that.

Belle gives me a slight nod as to coax me into telling Creed everything.

"So, what happened is that-"So I tell Creed everything. I tell him about how Cayden tried to set me up with Jack and about how disgusted he looked at the prospect of kissing me. I tell him about his terrible attempt at an apology and the subsequent fall out.

"Wow. That's messed up but I do feel like you're blowing things out of proportion." Creed comments after I finish telling my story.

"See! This is why I didn't want to tell him." I throw Belle my I-told-you-so look and she rolls her eyes in response.

"Come on, Creed. You cannot seriously think that Cayden is in the right here." Belle defends me and I cross my arms across my chest and stare at Creed, waiting for his reply.

"Okay, just imagine things from his perspective. He recently met a girl who berated him for not working hard at some group project. They fight a lot but finally resolve their issue and become friends. Once their friends, Cayden tries to set up his friend with a guy that he thinks will be good for her but the girl completely flips and demands why he doesn't kiss her. And finally when he apologizes for something he didn't actually do wrong, the girl bursts at him again for not showing the same feelings she has for him. Do you see who comes across as crazy and inconsiderate here?"

Creed's words are met with a stunned silence. Now that Creed has put it in those words, I can't help but feel horrible. I was so mean to Cayden and only because he didn't reciprocate my feelings. I couldn't really blame him for that, could I? I mean, sure, it hurts that he doesn't want to kiss me or doesn't see me in a romantic way but he can't control his feelings for me just like I can't control my feelings for him.

"Damn." I hear Belle whisper.

"I guess I owe someone an apology." I mutter and shoot Creed an appreciative smile, "You can be really smart when you want to be."

Creed shrugs, grabs the remote from Shae and continues watching the television.

--------

"Hey. I'm so sorry that I've been such a huge moron. I don't know what came over me. It was really inappropriate the way I acted with you. Maybe I was just stressed about work. There's really no excuse for it. I hope we can move on and just continue on as friends. I really don't want to lose our friendship." I rehearse in front of the mirror for the millionth time and Belle gives me a thumbs-up.

"Can we stop going through your apology now? You aren't giving some presidential speech." Belle complains as she's plopped on my bed flipping through some magazine.

We've been holed up in my room for hours now while Creed monopolizes the TV.

"Where are they anyway?" I ask Belle who usually knows exactly what Jason is doing and whom he's doing it with.

"I don't know." Belle shrugs her shoulder and turn around to face her.

"You don't know what Jason is doing?" I raise my eyebrow at her and she groans in response.

"I already told you! Things are rough between us." Belle's shoulders deflate and my heart tugs at the sight. I hate seeing Belle so dejected.

"Do you want me to talk to him?"

"Thanks, mom." Belle scoffs at me. I walk over to the bed, snatch the magazine from her and smack her head with it.

"Idiot." I mutter but before she could retort, we hear noises from the lower floor.

Noises that can only be produced when three guys make their grand entry.

My heart immediately picks up pace and Belle's eyes widen in surprise.

"It's show time. Remember everything we rehearsed and please don't stutter." Belle instructs me as she jumps out of the bed and guides me towards the mirror.

"And please don't tell that stupid joke about the penguin." She begs at my reflection.

"Are you a sure? I have a feeling that it will be a very nice ice breaker." I argue, smoothening my hair with my hands. Belle knees my back and I yelp in pain.

"Fine! No jokes," I hold my hands out in surrender and turn to face her, "Do I look like a girl who has spent the last two hours practicing an apology?"

"Nope." Belle replies and pushes me out of the room.

We reach the living room and hear Creed telling them about my promotion.

"That is great news! Now we don't have to deal with you crying all the time." Filip says as he tries to envelop me in a hug.

"Do you and Creed come together and discuss all of your insults?" I ask him as I tactfully dodge his hug. As much as I love the guy, he was sweating like a pig and I had just taken a bath.

"Congrats, Shae. I told you to stay strong." Jason beams at me and I smile in response.

All of us then turn to look at Cayden, expectantly, waiting for him to say something. But all we're met with is silence.

"Okay." Creed says, extending the syllables, "We have to go out and celebrate tonight. Let's all get dressed and then head over to Shalom."

Everyone mutters their approval and start going towards their rooms. Before Shae leaves, she shoots me an urgent look and gestures towards Cayden.

"Hey, Cayden." I call out after him after everyone disperses, leaving me alone with Cayden in the living room.

"What?" He mutters coldly.

Taken aback but not ready to back down, I continue, "Gosh, I just feel so bad about yesterday and everything. It was so weird what happened and I mean, what was that? It was so weird!"

"I'm really in a hurry." Cayden says in a clipped tone. I stop my rambling to really look at him. His black hair is ruffled and wet. His entire body is glistening with sweat and his impatient eyes are boring into mine. If I had known better, I could have guessed that he was angry.

But unfortunately, I know nothing.

"Which penguin is the king of them all?" The words tumble out of me and I mentally smack myself.

"What?" Cayden confusedly asks.

"Emperor penguin!" I blurt out and I'm met with silence. If my life were a sitcom, there would be a soundtrack of chirping crickets in the background.

"Is there a point in here somewhere?" Creed asks impatiently.

"Of course. I just want to apologize about the way I acted earlier. Or rather, over reacted. It was stupid and immature and I hope you can forgive me."

"You're right. It was stupid and immature." He agrees with me which I didn't expect. I was expecting something a little more along the lines of 'It's okay!'

"So, again, I'm really sorry. I don't want to lose our friendship because of thi-"

"But did we really have a friendship, though?" Cayden asks me and I stare at him, unsure of how to respond.

"Um, I thought it was a friendship," I start getting defensive now, "Anyway, I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me." I stress the last part.

"No, I don't accept your apology." Cayden crosses his arms and shoots me a challenging look.

"Why not?" I demand.

"Because when I apologized to you, you were a complete dick."

"Are you serious? You're not accepting my apology because I didn't accept yours? I like to think that we're mature adults that can-"I'm cut off by Cayden's humourless laughter.

"Mature adults don't act the way you do, Shae."

"I. am. apologizing. Accept it and move on." I grit my teeth at him.

"Nope, deal with it." With those final words, Cayden walks out of the room, leaving me seething with anger.