I was exhausted after barely catching any sleep last night. And the very first class I had was literature where Blake and the others would be.

I was surprised to find Liam waiting for me at the entrance. He looked so pleased to see me. Could one fake that? I smiled at him, but it felt like I was the one faking it this time.

"Rough night?" He asked and I just nodded. "Would a kiss help?"

"Maybe," I replied. I loved our natural playfulness with each other. This is not something I ever had with Jake. His smile warmed up my heart again. I needed more than just a comment from Justin to destroy what we had now. Things might not be easy, but I was willing to fight for Liam and me. We were good for each other.

I was infatuated with him. As simple as that. And he had been nothing but good with me. I felt like we were building something really beautiful together. And I wanted more of this. I wanted more of him. Of us. I decided I was gonna wait for the right moment to ask him. Surely there must be a good explanation for it.

"What are you doing here? I didn't think you were in this class."

"Now I am. I won't leave you alone with them." We both knew who he was talking about.

Liam gave me his hand and we walked into the classroom together and I immediately stopped in my tracks. Someone had written "Hope = slut" on the board. Just then Blake, Josh, and Frank came in.

It hurt seeing those words. I gave Blake an accusing look, and there was more pain in it than I cared to admit. I wanted to be strong and pretend like this doesn't get to me, but it did. I was grateful to Liam when he simply walked up to the board and wiped the hurtful words away.

Ignoring everyone as much as I could, I headed for my seat in the back. Liam followed me and took a seat beside me.

She'd almost fooled me when she looked at me with those huge eyes of hers filled with pain. I almost took pity on her. But then she snapped back to her "I couldn't care less" and the pity party was over.

She was really good. I took my seat behind my desk and turned to face Josh.

"I assume that was your idea."

"Maybe..." he replied.

"And putting a confetti bomb in her locker yesterday as well?"

He looked at his fingernails as if he had nothing to do with that.

"You know, I usually don't like getting my hands dirty. A few girls offered to help, so I let them."

Of course. Leave it to the women to call the other "slut'".

"Mr. Jackfield," Liam said as soon as the teacher arrived. "I'd like to be paired up with Hope." A shimmer of hope spread around my heart.

But Mr. Jackfield's reply destroyed it right away.

"I'm sure you would, Liam," Mr. Jackfield said eyeing the two of us. "But I don't like animosities in my class. I'd prefer Blake and Hope to work out their differences. I think we all would benefit from that."

"But..." I began looking from Mr. Jackfield to Blake. Blake looked like he didn't care one way or another.

"No "buts". Liam, glad you are joining our class too. We have a group of three. Choose someone to work with." Mr Jackfield gave the class an evaluating look. "Listen up everyone, you have been paired up, now go find your partners and from now on you will always be sitting together."

Jeez. Sitting next to Blake every Wednesday for the rest of the semester. Everything inside of me hated the idea!

"Just so you know, I'm betting on you," Liam said with a smile and went to find a partner.

I looked over to Blake. The seat next to him was free now and so was the one next to me. I was waiting for him to come to me and he was waiting for me.

"Today, Blake," Mr. Jackfield said. I was impressed by Mr. Jackfield once more. He seemed to be the only one around who didn't bow to anyone.

Annoyed, Blake stood up and grabbed his bag. He sat on the chair beside me and suddenly I felt like I was suffocating. I was squeezed into the corner and there was only one way of escaping - jumping out the window.

I should have gone to him. Now I could see that it would have been way better.

"Am I making you nervous?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"As if," I replied.

"Quiet," called Mr. Jackfield. "Now that everyone found their partner, the real work begins. There is a thin line between love and hate. Do you know what that is?"

I was surprised it was Blake who answered.

"It is broken trust that turns love into hate."

"That's correct, Blake."

"And what turns hate into love?"

"Forgiveness," he replied.

"Turns out you are not as stupid as you look. I was wondering who read all those books in your room," I whispered to Blake when no one wasn't looking.

"If you wanna drop by and tumble again, you know where my room is."

"I'd rather die!" I replied to that.

"Don't worry. You are not my type," he added.

"What makes you think you are mine?"

"You all come chasing after me. It is just a matter of time."

"The only time you will see me chase after you is when I wanna punch you in the face," I replied.

Meanwhile, Mr. Jackfield continued.

"Yes, forgiveness. Forgiveness and trust. I want you to explore these polarities of love and hate, forgiveness and resentments, trust, and betrayal. I want you to imagine a different reality - what if in "Wuthering Highs" lovers hated and haters loved? What if the trust had been replaced with betrayals and betrayal with the truth? What would Brontë's story be like then? And to do that, I want you to explore your realities. Where do you hate when you should love? Where do you keep grudges where you should be forgiving? Where are you keeping secrets where you should be truthful?"

"That's too private, Mr. Jackfield," said the girl that was sitting beside Liam now, curling her long locks around her finger.

"As if there is anything we don't know about you yet, Rose," said one of the Riley twins, and everyone laughed.

"It's up to you how far you want to go," replied Mr. Jackfield to that.

Working with Blake on this assignment will be the worst. But then, it might help me find out who he loves. For whatever reason that question kept bugging me.

Mr. Jackfield handed us the instructions for the paper that we were to write and talked us through all the details.

Sometime throughout the class, I noticed one of the Riley twins sitting closest to us try to get Blake's attention. When Blake looked over, he threw a piece of paper. It rolled over the desk and landed in front of me. Blake grabbed it and gave it a quick glance. He then looked at the Rileys and gave them a nod.

It piqued my curiosity. What could the Rileys and the Shields possibly be talking about?

As soon as the class finished, Blake got up and headed for the door.

"Hey, where do you think you are going?" I called rushing after him. "We need to agree on the times we will meet to work on the assignment."

He turned to face me.

"It looks like you are more desperate than I am for good grades. You do it and don't forget to put my name on it."

And with that, he was gone. I wanted to throw another book after him. I began picking up my things but then a piece of paper on the floor caught my attention. I picked it up and had a look. "Tonight. 9 pm. Old Windmill Park," it said.

"What's with that face?" Liam asked appearing by my side. I stuffed the paper into my pocket.

"He wants me to do the assignment alone and put his name on it. This class is important to me. I need to convince him somehow to pull his weight," I told Liam as we headed out.

"Maybe try catching him at the library during lunch break," he suggested.

"What makes you think he's gonna be there?"

"He said he was gonna meet someone. Might be worth a shot," he said with a shrug.

What did I have to lose? I had to get this guy to work with me on this project for real.