"You mean to tell me that you told the Liam Coleman that you don't want to be friends with him?" Lisa questioned.

Steph and I were filling her in on everything that happened in the days she was sick.

"I don't want to get dragged into bad stuff." I explained.

Lisa looked at me like I was crazy as she took a bite of her sandwich.

"You should've seen how angry he was after she had the talk with him yesterday." Steph spoke up.

I rolled my eyes, "He was only mad because he thought everyone liked him, and now he knows that's not true."

Steph shook her head, "He looked hurt, and have you noticed how different he's been acting since the talk?"

"Yeah I was wondering why he's wearing a leather jacket and hanging out with that blonde girl. He's really embracing his image as the bad boy." Lisa added.

I sighed, "I asked him about that this morning, he basically just said that since he's the bad boy he might as well act like it."

After that we went back to eating and just chatting about random things. That is until Leo showed up.

"Wanna hang out this weekend?" He asked, taking a seat beside me.

No hello, just straight to the point.

"Me?" I asked, pointing to myself, "Why?"

"I have a thing for redheads, remember?" He explained, twirling a piece of my hair around his finger.

"I don't know." I hesitated.

Should I hang out with him? I don't want to be a hypocrite since I just told Liam that I didn't want to be his friend, but Leo isn't into all that bad stuff.

"C'mon Emma. Please." Leo begged, giving me an adorable puppy dog look.

I opened my mouth to gently say no but Lisa spoke before I could.

"She'd love to."

I gave her a look that said 'I'm going to kill you.'

"Perfect, I'll pick you up at noon on Saturday." Leo told me before getting up and walking off to Liam's table.

Once he was out of hearing range I turned my attention to Lisa.

"Why would you do that?"

"He's cute, Lisa did you a favour." Steph commented.

"You guys suck." I grumbled, crossing my arms stubbornly like a child.

"Hey Lisa, you excited for your date tomorrow?" Steph asked, thankfully changing the subject.

Lisa nodded, a wide smile forming on her lips.  She's so excited.

If Devin Cook hurts her I'll slip some kind of drug into his water bottle every day until there's a random drug test, just so he gets kicked off the football team.

He hurts someone I love, I'll take away something he loves.

The bell ringing broke me out of my devious thoughts and I got all my stuff together and said a quick "Bye." to the girls before hurrying to class.

Just as I was about to walk through the door, someone pulled me back and turned me around to face them.

Liam was glaring down on me and spoke before I could, "Stay the hell away from Leo."

My eyes widened in shock at how angry he looked.

"Did you hear me?" He demanded when I didn't say anything, his anger growing.

I quickly nodded my head, my words stuck in my throat, and Liam's mouth formed a smug smile. He thought he won.

My shock and fear turned into anger at the look on his face and I finally found my voice again.

"Listen here Liam, I will hang out with whoever I want, and there's nothing you can do about it. So just back off."

I internally gave myself a pat on the back when he took a step back, not expecting my outburst. I bet people don't talk back to him very often.

He quickly found his composure and took a threatening step towards me, "Stay away from my friends. I don't care who you talk to, as long as it isn't one of my friends."

I rolled my eyes, he thinks he can scare me into staying away from Leo.

"I'm not scared of you. What are you going to do if I don't stay away from Leo? You have nothing on me, and you can't hurt me. There's nothing you can do about it." I pointed out, my voice confident and unwavering.

His jaw clenched and he closed his eyes to compose himself before he really lost his cool. Angry Liam is scary, but realizing that there's nothing he can do to me takes all the intimidation away.

Liam opened his eyes, giving me a good view of the anger that swirled in his golden orbs, and began to say something when the bell rang, giving me the chance to get away from him.

I rushed into class and took a seat at the first available desk I saw, and waited for Liam to walk in, but he never did.

I let out a relieved breath when I realized that I didn't have to deal with him anymore.

• • • • • • •

After the stressful day at school, I decided to go to the coffee shop with the girls. A cup of tea was just what I needed right now.

"How is it that Lisa has a date with a hot football player, and two guys are trying to get Emma's attention, and I'm completely alone? Life isn't fair." Stephanie complained, poking at a marshmallow in her hot chocolate.

I rolled my eyes at her dramatics, "I'd rather live a drama free life than have to deal with Liam."

Steph glared at me, "He's like the hottest guy in school, how could you say that?"

"He's bad news!" I exclaimed. Doesn't anyone understand that I just want to make it through high school with a clean record and good grades? Is that so unheard of?

"I understand what you're saying Emma. Not everyone has a need for a boyfriend." Lisa chimed in, coming to my defence.

"Thank you." I said, giving her a grateful smile.

Just then the bell on the coffee shop's door rang and we all turned to look at who was entering.

My mood dropped when I saw Leo and Garrett step into the shop. Why does this always happen to me?

Garrett stepped up to order while Leo looked around, finding me a moment later. When his eyes landed on me his lips stretched into a smile and he began walking over.

"Would you look at that, one of the two boys you have to pick from." Steph grumbled just before Leo reached the table.

"Well if it isn't my favourite redhead." Was his way of saying hello.

"Hi." I greeted back, catching his infectious smile.

"Can I?" He asked, looking down at the empty space beside me.

I nodded and he sat down, turning his smile to my friends. "Hello ladies."

They both greeted him back just as Garrett got to the table carrying three cups of coffee.

"C'mon dude, Liam's waiting for us and he's in a pissy mood. I'd rather not make it worse." Garrett said, completely ignoring everyone except for Leo.

"He's always in a bad mood lately." Leo complained as he got up, taking one of the coffees from Garrett. Then he turned to me, "See you later Emma."

"Bye." I muttered.

When they were gone the girls and I were all quiet.

"Do you think Liam's in a bad mood because of a certain red haired girl?" Lisa was the first to speak.

I scowled at her as Steph nodded in agreement.

"You guys suck." I pouted, then took the final sip of my tea.

I'm going to need a refill if I want to make it through the rest of the day.

—————

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