Sarah's P.O.V.

"Hey, Sarah." I look up from my paper and smile up at Keagen, my mood instantly lifting.

"Hey, what's up?" He pulls out a chair from beside me and plops down, sliding his tray out in front of him.

"Just finished a test in chemistry, damn that stuff sucks." He grins over at me quickly then turns to his food, picking up his sandwich and eyeing it up hungrily.

I open my mouth to respond but am cut off by the sound of another tray slamming down onto the table beside me. I jump in fright and look over, instantly relaxing when I see a moody Zander plopping down beside me. Soon after, Gina sits down across from me too. Her eyes scanning Zander cautiously. She looks over and we exchange questioning looks.

She looks back over at him then turns back towards me, clearing her throat loud enough for him to hear then nods for me to speak. My eyes widen and I quickly shake my head no, shoving fries into my mouth to prove my point further. No way am I poking the angry bear!

She rolls her eyes and straightens her back, turning towards him with a plastered on smile. "Hey, Zander. How's your food?"

He doesn't even look up at her, just glares down at his food. "Fine." He stabs his fork into his noodles, causing Gina and I to jump in surprise.

"Dude, what crawled up your ass and died?" Keagen laughs from beside me, leaning forward to raise an eyebrow at Zander.

Gina and I look at each other terrified, immediately trying to avoid Zander's reaction.

He slowly stops his movements, completely stilling in his seat. Keagen doesn't seem to notice the tension in the air, a huge grin spread across his face. Zander slowly looks up, glaring straight forward then slowly turns to look towards Keagen.

Keagen raises his eyebrows in surprise, but his grin doesn't falter. "What? PMS'ing it?" Keagen smirks smugly, causing Zander to be pissed off even more.

Zander goes to open his mouth, his shoulders stiff in rage. I gently touch the small of his back, staring at him worriedly. This seems to stop him, for his eyes switch over to me and soften slightly. He turns his attention back towards Keagen, then shakes his head and goes back to stabbing his food with his fork.

"Ah, not one for talking?" Keagen laughs and leans back in his seat, shoving more fries into his mouth carelessly.

Zander balls his hands into fists, squeezing his fork so hard the thin plastic snaps in half. He gets up quickly and grabs his bag, storming out of the cafeteria quickly.

"Whoa, he needs to chill. I was only joking, geez." Keagen stares at the cafeteria doors and laughs, turning to look towards me.

I look over at Gina and she's staring over at Keagen incredulously. I look over at him, giving him my deadliest glare.

His eyes widen and he immediately stops laughing, "What?"

I glare even harder, "You shouldn't have edged him on like that."

He throws his arms up in surrender, muttering a low 'sorry' under his breath. Yeah, right. I roll my eyes and grab my stuff, moving to go after him. I feel a hand on my arm, stopping me from slinging my bag over my shoulder.

"C'mon Sarah, just stay here. He'll be fine, he just needs to cool off or something."

I yank my arm away, standing up quickly and glaring down at him. "As if you'd know what he does and doesn't need." I turn away from his shocked expression, catching a glance at Gina's amused one as I stomp away. I push open the doors and step out, the hallway empty of students giving me a clear view down it.

"Okay, if I was Zander, where would I go." I mutter to myself quietly, making my way down the hallway and checking the classrooms.

The stairwell!

I immediately start towards the little nook under the steps, seeing it after a few minutes of slow jogging. The light shines from under the door, letting me know someone is in there. I rush to the door and fling it open, almost falling over in shock from the sight in front of me. I quickly cover my eyes and squeak out a low 'sorry' before shutting the door on the two teens getting it on in there.

Okay, he's definitely not in there.

My cheeks burn scarlet red as I quickly walk away from the closet, my heart racing in my chest from embarrassment.

Where oh where, are you Zander?

I check the library, the classroom we went into when he left for a while, even checked our next class together but nothing. I huff in defeat and lean against the wall, catching my breath from running all around the school. I check the clock, only ten minutes left for lunch. I huff out a sigh and look outside, my heart jumping in my chest when I spot him leaning against his bike. Bingo! I push off the wall and walk outside, walking slowly as not to piss him off more from seeing me.

I hesitantly stop a few feet away from him, watching as he stares at the ground, kicking small pebbles with his shoes.

"You can come closer, you know." He doesn't look up, but instead continues to look down at the stones. I draw closer slowly, the cold biting into my skin causing me to shiver slightly. He finally looks up when I'm only a few inches away, reaching his arm out to pull me into his chest. I gasp softly and my eyes widen in shock when his hands wrap firmly around my waist, his face burying in the crook of my neck.

"Are you alright?" I softly whisper, the shock wearing off as worry sets back in. I gently cradle the back of his head, softly rubbing circles across his back with my other hand.

"No." He mumbles the words into my neck, tightening his hold on me when I start running my fingers through his hair.

"Want to talk about it?" I ask quietly, his soft breaths tickling my neck and warming it up.

"Not really, this is good." He sighs softly, moving his head back to look into my eyes. I smile up at him and move my hand from his hair to his cheek, frowning when I finally notice the dark circles under his eyes. Not to mention the blackened bruise along his jaw line.

I eye it up, slowly brushing my fingers across it. He winces, reaching up to grab my wrist and draw it away from the bruise. I look up at him questioningly, worry seeping through my pores.

"What happened, Zander?" He sighs and looks down at our hands, letting go of my wrist to slide down to hold my hand in his. I stare up at him, searching his eyes for the answers to calm my worried self.

He smiles weakly, "Nothing important. Now c'mon, it's cold out here yeah?" He let's go of my hand and goes to unzip his jacket. I blush and step back, looking down to fiddle with my locket. I feel something warm being draped over my shoulders, instantly warming me up. I look up and meet his eyes, full of emotions I can't seem to read.

"Thank you, but won't you be cold?" I smile up at him, tightly wrapping my fingers around the warm fabric.

"Nah, I'll be alright." He grins and moves to help me put my arms through it, then zips it up in the front. It's entirely too large for me, making me look even smaller than I am. I giggle and flap the extra arm sleeves, pushing my hands through.

"Thank you." I get on my tip-toes, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. He grins down at me and grabs my hand, quickly pulling us towards the school as the bell starts ringing. As we run I take notice to the huge bruise running up the side of his arm, then disappearing under his black tee-shirt sleeve. He doesn't seem to care as he stares ahead and drags me along behind him.

We push the doors open and run down the halls, weaving in and out of the students. Soon we're in class, listening to the teacher drone on and on. The rest of the day consists of the same thing, Zander pulling us to the next class then both of us basically having to hit the other to stay awake. Soon enough, the last bell rings for the day and I'm stood at my locker shoving my books in while Gina stands beside me and talks about the guy she likes.

"Then he smiled at me, Sarah! He smiled at me!" She squeals in glee, lightly hitting my arm in excitement.

I laugh and pat her shoulder, shutting my locker and being sure it's secure. "That's great! Now you just need to talk to him." I smile over at her knowingly.

"Pfft, yeah okay you're funny." She snorts, but then starts giggling again.

"It's not that ba - Oopff!" I stubble back and hold onto my forehead, refocusing to see who I bumped into. Keagen smiles down at me sheepishly, his arms extended slightly as if he were to catch me.

"Sorry, are you okay?" He drops his hands and shoves them into his pockets, awkwardly glancing at me then to his shoes.

I sigh, "Yeah, I'm fine."

He bites his lip, "Look, I'm really sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to upset you." He shyly looks up at me, his eyes looking completely innocent.

I internally groan, curse those puppy eyes! "It's okay, don't worry about it." I smile up at him and pat his shoulder. We all continue walking outside, the cold air immediately piercing through our clothes. I wrap my hands around my body, my fingers gripping at the soft fabric of the jacket.

The jacket! I almost forgot!

"Hey, Gina I'll meet you in the car in a minute!" She looks up from digging in her bag, nodding at me in acknowledgment then continues searching for her keys. "Bye, Keagen." I smile and wave at him, getting a small smile and wave in return.

I turn around and walk down the steps, scanning the parking lot for the brown haired boy to whom is without a jacket. I spot him sitting on his bike, just about to strap his helmet on. I quickly start running, just barely making it across the parking lot before he starts his engine.

"Wait!" I put my hand up in the air to wave him down, hoping he sees me. Thankfully, he does and flips the visor up on his helmet, a small smirk able to be seen underneath it.

"It seems to me that you enjoy running more than you let on." He laughs at his own joke, causing me to roll my eyes and smile.

"Whatever, I just wanted to give you your jacket back before you die if frostbite. On second thought, maybe I won't." I tap my chin thoughtfully, busting up laughing when I see his expression of terror.

"Well then, I see how it is." He pouts and crosses his arms. I giggle and unzip the jacket, sliding it off slowly. The feeling of warmth leaving me soon after, but I continue to hand the jacket over to him.

"Just take it, don't be silly." I giggle and force him to take the jacket, then immediately wrap my arms around my thin sweater covered arms.

"Alright, alright, geez!" He shrugs it back on and zips it up. "Now hurry your pretty self to Gina's car before you get frost bite." He grins up at me. I roll my eyes playfully and turn to walk away. He catcalls when I turn, causing my cheeks to heat up enough to warm my whole body. I turn around and stick my tongue out at him childishly. He laughs and waves, blowing a fake kiss my way then revs his engine and takes off. I giggle and run over to Gina's car, jumping in and turning the heat up.

"That was so cute!!" Gina giggles and pulls out of the parking lot, the school slowly fading out of sight.

I smile and sigh happily, "Yeah, it was."

~•~

Chapter 20, wow. I didn't realize how many chapters I had till now! It sounds like so little yet so many! Thank you to everyone who has been voting and adding my book to their reading lists, it means a lot to me ❤. Also, thank you to those who have been commenting! I love seeing your comments so much! Thank you to all the people who are reading this now, I wouldn't be here without you! ❤❤

I love you all!

Cute picture added is kinda how I visioned the hug between Zander and Sarah. ❤❤❤

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Stay positive (even when it seems impossible)!

~Molly