*NOT EDITED*

Chapter 45

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"Bex."

"In the flesh," she said with a wink.

"Why are you guys here?" Ryder asked through gritted teeth, "I'm trying to fix everything."

"We're here to help, Little Rhyno," Chloe said with fake innocent eyes, making Ryder flinch at the nickname, "come on, let's go to the VIP room upstairs."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," I said in a finalizing tone.

I turned back to my seat, giving them my back. I met the bartender's eyes for a fleeting second before we both looked away. He had been watching the whole thing.

Ryder touched my hand and I couldn't help but recoil my hand. A hurt expression flashed across his eyes, making me regret what I did.

"Ash, please. You have to let me explain," he said pleadingly.

"Don't you want answers? You'll only get them if you come with us," Bex said in a tone that suggested something else. I looked at her face and was confused to see an unfamiliar cunning look on her makeup-caked face.

"Can you please tell the girls what's going on? I'll be back in less than 15 minutes," I said to the bartender.

He nodded. "I got you covered."

I stood up to follow them, but stopped and turned around. "I never got your name."

"It's Blake," he said with a smile.

I nodded. "Thanks, Blake."

I turned back around before I lost them as they maneuvered their way through the crowd and up a set of stairs. They led me through a dark hallway with burgundy painted walls lit by a dim light. Chloe opened the door to one of the many rooms in the hallway, except this one seemed to be the biggest.

The room was nearly empty save the few people here that needed a quiet place. There was low jazz music playing in the background and another bar here as well. Several tables with chairs, couches, or booths were in the VIP room.

We walked to an empty place to sit - two couches and a table in the middle. I took the solitary couch while Bex and Chloe took the couch opposite to me, and Ryder pulled a chair to sit in between us.

"Before we get into anything, what did you do, Bex?"

"What do you mean, what did I do, Ashie?" She smirked.

"I mean, what's up with the new fake Barbie look?" I snapped, sick and tired of her annoying stuck-up act. This was not the Bex I was accompanied to, and I hated it.

"Aww, are you mad that you're no longer the pretty one out of us?" she asked with pouted lips, "get over yourself."

My jaw dropped to the floor and my eyes widened.

"Stop it, Bex," Ryder said warningly.

A look of hurt flashed across her eyes before she looked down at her hands and muttered a sorry.

"I want answers. Why'd you get a new look?" I asked again firmly.

Any hint of timidness washed away when I spoke. She looked back at me and crossed her arms. "I decided to step out of your shadow. My sister helped."

"Sister?" I asked.

"That would be me," Chloe said.

A wave of shock hit me hard, disarranging my thoughts.

"You never told me you have a sister," I said weakly.

"There's a lot you don't know about me," she replied, her eyes stone cold.

"So, as I told you, Chloe and I dated until Senior Year. We broke up and she went to Clarkson High-"

"A breakup seems like an inadequate reason to leave the school, isn't it?" I turned to her.

"That's because it isn't," she scoffed and turned to Bex, "my dear sister and Ryder were going at it on my birthday."

I looked at Bex and Ryder in disgust. One of the two closest people to me ended up being scheming, ugly people from the inside. As much as I hated Chloe, we were very much alike. They were also the two closest people to her.

Ryder was withering under my disgusted glare.

Bex glared back and snapped, "Don't act like you're so innocent. Weren't you the one who was planning on breaking his heart at the beginning of the year?"

"Yeah, for obvious reasons, but what was yours, Bex?" I asked, "Jealousy really is an ugly, repulsive, ill-intentioned monster . . . just like you."

She stood up with anger shining in her eyes, but Chloe pulled her back down with a tug on her arm and whispered something in her ear that seemed to calm her down.

I took a deep breath, running a hand through my hair. "I don't get it, after what she did to you, why did you help her in getting this new look?"

"We're getting there," she said.

"After she found out what happened, she did something to Bex that got her expelled," Ryder said after a long while of being silent.

"I was stripped naked in front of the whole school," Bex said, her eyes distant and a hint of vulnerability playing on her face, "I couldn't find any of my clothes in the locker room, not even a towel. I thought maybe I can sneak out to the bathroom since it was in the same hallway, but Chloe had the whole school in that very hallway."

"You guys are lunatics," I said with a shake of my head, "how can you do that to each other?"

They ignored my question and kept silent.

"What does any of this have to do with me?" I asked.

"Be patient," Bex snapped.

I ground my jaw and leaned back on the couch with crossed arms, waiting for them to finish their story.

"I had always liked Ryder when Chloe was dating him, but I never dared to even touch him. That day, on her birthday, we were both very drunk and it finally happened. When Chloe left that summer, before senior year, Ryder and I got closer than ever. We secretly started dating at the beginning of senior year."

"That's when you came into the story," Ryder said, "Bex told me about your plan to break my heart and so we had a plan of our own."

"What was the plan?" I asked, trying my best to keep my voice firm and my head high.

"We . . . we teamed up with Celeste," Ryder said, looking away.

I inhaled sharply and gripped my seat, feeling my throat tighten. My hands involuntarily started shaking.

"Y-you were with Celeste? All the things she did to me . . . you were behind them," I said as my voice cracked. I gripped the seat harder, my knuckles turning white, "I was almost raped."

"We didn't think she'd go to that extent. That wasn't the plan," Ryder said quickly with what I thought were tears in his eyes. But then he blinked and it was all a gone - it was a trick of the light.

I gulped and leaned back on the couch, putting a hand on my warm forehead.

It felt like my whole world was flipping upside down. Everything I knew or thought I knew was a lie. I may as well have been meeting the people in front of me for the first time.

"Can I please have a cold cup of water?" I asked the bartender to which he nodded.

After a couple seconds, he walked to me with the cup and I thanked him appreciatively. I felt their eyes on me as I placed my lips on the cold, refreshing cup and took a long gulp. It calmed me down, and I was able to continue.

I exhaled heavily. "What happened, then?"

"I started falling for you slowly by slowly, every second that I spent with you made me fall deeper and deeper," Ryder said, his eyes boring into mine.

"But then you left and I had to snap him out of what you did. You almost ruined everything for me," Bex said with a cunning smile.

"Ruined what?"

"Everything that Bex did was a plan to get rid of me and to get Ryder to fall for her," Chloe said, "but we soon found that out."

"And so the pictures on that account were to break Bex's heart," Ryder finished.

"And the new look? I blackmailed Chloe. If she didn't go through with it, I'd tell our parents," Bex said proudly.

"And what about your parents, were they really getting a divorce? When I took you in and gave you a shoulder to cry on, was that fake as well?"

Bex looked away and for the second time this night, her strong facade slightly faded away. "No, that wasn't fake."

I looked between all of them.

The heartless player.

And the sick, twisted sisters who took the word 'twisted' to a whole new level.

"Ash, please say something," Ryder pleaded.

I placed my head between my hands, resting them on my legs.

"Why did I have to be included in all of this? Why did I meet you sick people?"

"Oh honey, you were just an obstacle between us. It was too bad that you were affected by our tangled up relationship," Chloe said.

I lifted my head from my hands and looked at her. She had a hint of pity on her face.

I turned my head to Ryder. As much as I hated him, I loved him.

I hated him so much.

I hated him for bringing me in all this.

I hated him for doing everything.

I hated him for being a player. I pitied him for being a player.

I hated that he made me hate him so so much,

but love him just as much.

He stood up and walked over to me before sitting on his knees and taking my hands in his. "Say something, please."

"I have to go," I said, standing up and pulling my hands from his', "Cameron and Emma are probably going insane, right now."

I turned around before he could say anything else and left the room. It took me little struggle to get to the stairs and as I took the first step, I realized that Ryder had been following me.

"Eight . . . seven," the crowd had started counting down from ten to the new year.

I turned my head to Ryder and met his eyes that were saying so many things.

"Five . . . four . . ."

" . . . found her, ASH!"

I turned my head to see Emma and Cameron calling my name frantically. I felt a pang of guilt for making them worry about me.

I'm about to take a step downwards when Ryder pulls my hand and I stumble closer to him, our chests touching and our lungs breathing the same air. The familiar scent of his aftershave and old wood made me melt into his arms.

But I snapped out of it.

"What are you-"

"One!"

He crashed his lips into mine making me blink in surprise. Before I could process anything else, he moved his lips against mine, trying to engage a response from me.

My betraying body didn't hesitate as I leaned closer to him, wrapping my hands around his neck and tugging at the bottom of his hair. His arms snaked around my waist, pulling me even closer in our hungry kiss. Everything fell away - the cheering of the crowd, the loud music, the chastising from Cameron.

I had to pull away to get some oxygen in my lungs, still in the hazy state from the kiss.

I breathed heavily, my chest rising up and down. "You-"

"I love you," he interrupted.

I closed my eyes and shook my head. "That's not fair. You can't do that."

"Do what?"

"Tell me that my whole life is a lie and that you've been lying to me all that time, kiss me in a way that makes me not think straight, declare your love to me, and expect me to answer back," I said hotly.

"I'm not telling you to answer back, I'm not telling you that you have to love me back after all that I've done to you, but I needed you to know my feelings."

I sighed and heard Emma call my name again, reminding me that she was still there. "I have to go."

I turned around and walked the stairs to meet Cam and Emma. They both opened their mouths to say something, but I held my hand up to stop them.

"I'll explain everything later."

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Author's Note:

Hey, guys!

I'm so proud of myself; I've been updating on time and gave you two extra updates on Thursday.

Tell me what you think of the chapter. Let it all out, my lovely readers.

By the way, I'm imagining Chloe Gigi Hadid.

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