The next morning I find Derek waiting for me at my locker. He goes in for a kiss but I turn so he ends up kissing my cheek. I catch his confusion and he quickly tries again but this time, I put my hand up.

"Sorry, but I think I'm catching a cold or something. I don't want to get you sick." It's football season, so I know he'll avoid me like the plague if it meant possibly catching something.

"Oh...well we better not hold hands then either," he says as he stuffs his hands in his letter jacket pockets, "I stopped by your house last night and your mom said you were at a friend's." He doesn't say it like a question but I know he expects an explanation.

"Yeah... I uh, was at Liam's. We had to memorize that sonnet for English that's due today, so we had to get together." I shut my locker and see his sky blue eyes glaring at me. I start walking to Biology trying to ignore his stares.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He demands.

"I knew you'd freak out and it was for homework so there was nothing I could do," I answer truthfully but he's still pissed. I walk into the science hall and see Ian standing by the classroom door talking to three other people. Two boys I have only seen in passing and a girl that's in my French class. They are laughing at something the girl is saying and huddled close together. Could these be the other people helping Ian? I don't get a chance to investigate because Derek is still here yapping my ear off.

"Have you heard anything I just said?" He snaps and I stand there puzzled. He shakes his head and irritably goes into class. I hear Harper calling my name behind me. I turn and see her coming up the hall with Liam toting alongside her. He waves and the flutter of butterflies return. I want to run over and snatch him away from Harper, but I stand with my feet firmly planted to the floor. I wish I could kiss you right now. He smiles and slightly blushes as I wave to Harper. Derek knows I was at your house last night so best to stay away from him. Liam nods inconspicuously and we all take our seats.

My new spot is next to Ian and Derek always sits beside me regardless of his current feelings toward me. Harper and Liam still sit across the room from us. We have a pop quiz in class today, so Derek unknowingly feeds me all the answers. The quiz is over reproduction and genes and I blush thinking of last night. I feel better knowing Liam still has his virginity too so I don't have to be jealous of the girl that took it, or worry that he'd pressure me into anything. I'm only distracted for a second when I hear Ian.

I still need to get the bullets. That is going to be tricky but we need enough for three. I snap my gaze over to him and he feels me stare at him. I quickly look away when our eyes meet but I still feel his gaze on me. He finally goes back to his quiz and I want to turn to Liam to see if he heard it too. I stay focused on my quiz as I wonder how Ian can think of these things while taking a quiz?

I realize I missed Derek's answer to the last three questions so I take a peek at his paper. I'm about to jot down my answers when Mrs. Hagar calls me out.

"Ellie, I'm going to need you to hand in your paper," she tells me sternly. I sit with my mouth slightly open, looking at her confused. Using her hand she summons me to her desk and I turn in my half-finished quiz.

"You're dismissed Ellie," she says without even looking at me. Stunned, I walk over and grab my book bag, purposely avoiding Derek's wide-eyed gaze. I strut out the door humiliated and find a seat in the commons. I can't believe Mrs. Hagar caught me cheating and called me out in front of the class! I put my head in my folded arms and lie on the table trying to hide my embarrassment. It isn't long before the bell rings and students fill the vacant space. Derek finds me in a matter of seconds.

"Were you cheating?" He asks me completely baffled. I find no reason to continue lying to him so I answer, "Yep. I didn't know the answer so I looked at your paper." He throws his hands in the air being completely overdramatic.

"What were you thinking? You could have gotten me in trouble. I better not find you cheating again or I'm not going to sit by you anymore." His sad attempt to threaten me makes me release a light laugh. He stalks off before I can say anything else. Well, soon he won't want to sit by me anyway since we'll be broken up and I'll be with Liam. Just as I think of Liam, I see him with Harper walking towards me. He just shakes his head at me and smiles. It's Harper that has something to say.

"Oh my gosh! That was so embarrassing. What even happened?" I see Lily walk up and I wait to answer until she's next to me so I don't have to retell my humiliating story twice.

"I didn't know the answer, I looked at Derek's paper and Mrs. Hagar saw me. She made me turn in my quiz and leave." I shrug as I try and act nonchalant. I know they'll both be shocked to hear of me cheating since I've never admitted to it before.

"You aren't normally a cheater, right?" Harper asks me with a smirk, half-serious half-joking.

"I bet Derek was pissed!" Lily cuts in while covering her mouth with her hand to suppress a laugh. She always finds it so hilarious when Derek acts dramatic- I don't blame her.

"He came out here and caused a scene. Whatever, Mrs. Hager didn't blame him," I say and Lily starts imitating Derek freaking out. I'm glad Harper let her question hang in the air unanswered.

"Ellie, no one makes Derek Atwater look bad! He's king of the SATs. Did you know he's going to Stanford?" She mocks and we all start laughing as we walk down the hallway. I can't believe I never noticed how self-involved Derek is. Or maybe I did, I just chose to ignore it due to his good looks- which is even worse.

Liam manages to secretly squeeze my hand before sauntering off to his math class. Harper and Lily are luckily still mocking Derek so neither of them noticed the small gesture. All through gym, I count down the minutes until English class where I get to have Liam to myself for an hour.

I quickly walk into the English hall after ditching Harper and Lily in the locker room and see him waiting for me outside the door. His hair is more polished than messy today and he has on black jeans paired with his usual graphic tee. He's going through his phone when he spots me from the corner of his eye. I purposely wore my white sundress and tan wedge sandals that show off my long legs today and I even applied a little extra bronzer, but not enough to look like a traffic cone.

Looking gorgeous as always, El. I wish so badly I could walk over and hug him but there are eyes everywhere. Although, anyone with eyes can probably tell I have a massive crush on Liam Greysor just by the way my cheeks burn every time I see him look at me like that.

"Ready to perform our sonnet?" I ask as he leads me into class.

"Just as long as you don't cheat or I won't sit by you anymore," he mocks and we both can't help but laugh while taking our seats. I pull out our sonnet along with my notes as I wait patiently while other groups perform their sonnets. Half of what is spoken goes over my head and I feel like I still don't grasp the meaning of any of these.

We are the sixth pair to go and when it's our turn, I walk up to the front of the classroom nervously. I have no problem cheering in front of the student body, or giving class president speeches at assemblies, but having to say these words to Liam in front of my classmates has my palms sweating.

You got this Ellie, just as we rehearsed. He smiles to help boost my confidence and I want to just melt into a puddle.

"Okay, so we decided to do sonnet 116. So...okay...here it goes," I tell the class awkwardly before I begin. I take a deep breath and Liam turns to face me.

Go ahead...

"Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments. Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds."

"Or bends with the remover to remove: O no! It is an ever-fixèd mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken."

"It is the star to every wand'ring bark, whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken."

"Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks within his bending sickle's compass come."

"Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, but bears it out even to the edge of doom."

"If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved." We finish and the entire time we never broke eye contact. I blink as I come back to reality. The class claps, as they do with every group and we turn to face Mrs. Nelson.

"Great job you two. I really feel like you understand what the assignment was. Well done," she says proudly. "Liam, you should think about joining our drama club. You have a great stage presence." He nods without answering her as we walk back to our seats. I feel like I am floating back to mine.

Liam wasn't just reading lines, he was convincing me that he was the right choice. He's the one that I should focus on. We can go anywhere together and do whatever we want and nothing would come between us. He could help me shape my talents. We'd have no secrets. I think we were meant to find each other, and like the sonnet, we could have true everlasting love. I know we are only teenagers with our whole lives ahead of us and I am getting so far ahead of myself, but we can figure out our talents together. I'm actually excited to share mine with someone. I may have finally found someone who understands me.

While listening to the next pair go, I find his hand under our desk.

I want this Liam. Neither one of us has to hide anything anymore. We can fully be ourselves! I never thought I'd find anyone with the same talent but now that I have, it could really be amazing. We would have no secrets. His face quickly falls as his playful mood has vanished and it makes my stomach turn. He lets go of my hand and puts his back on the desk. Maybe I just went too hard too fast. I thought that was what he wanted to hear and he's not letting me into his head to say otherwise.

Let's get through homecoming and then we'll talk, he replies silently. I'm appalled. Why is he suddenly being this way? I'm now infuriated and slightly embarrassed. Did I just come on way too strong? Am I acting like Harper?

I sit back in my chair and cross my arms. Once again, being childish. The class goes on forever and I do not understand any other sonnets so I mentally check out. I refuse to say anything else to Liam and this time, I'm the one who bolts when the bell rings to rush off to French class.