"Liking someone does not make you weak." ~ Sarah Mlynowski

                             • • •

As it's the last day of term, I decide to try and dress nicely to remind everyone that I'm not an absolute slob. Ugh, who am I kidding? It's obviously because Abel and I have grown... closer.

I actually despise girls who dress for guys. Like seriously, wearing the tightest tops that make your boobs look like they're gonna fall out isn't the way sister.

Yet here I am, doing one of the things I never saw myself doing. What has this world come to?

Sighing dramatically, I pull on the navy blue jumper dress with red writing on it and tie a belt around my waist. I pair it with black tights and black boots before looking at myself in my full length mirror. Not feeling satisfied, I accessorise with some small silver hoop earrings and a white silver necklace my grandma gave to me.

Once I feel happy with my appearance, I quickly make my way downstairs already running a little late since I took so long.

"Hurry up Keziah." Says Marcel, "You take forever to get ready now."

"Actually Marce, Abel is taking me to  school."

"Again? No wonder you're dressed presentably today."

I roll my eyes. "Abel is already here, so I no longer have to listen to you spout rubbish in my ear."  Ha that rhymed.

I walk away before Marcel has a chance to respond otherwise we'd be there all day arguing.

Even though it was unseasonably warm last week, the weather has done a flip turn making it feel like 10 degrees.

England weather is so unpredictable and quite frankly, annoying. One minute I'm freezing with my teeth chattering away while the next, I feel like stripping into my undies from the boiling sun. It really does make dressing up appropriately really hard. That's why today, I'm wearing a warm jumper dress instead of my usual leggings and short sleeved shirt.

As I walk towards Abel's car, he winds his window down and whistles at me.

"Dressing nice for me Brown Eyes?" He says smugly.

I open the car door and punch him in the arm. "No! I am an independent woman Abel. I dress for no one except me." I say with a little bit of attitude.

I mean, he's not wrong but he doesn't have to know that.

"I'm kidding! You look nice everyday but this dress give you that extra oomph."

I roll my eyes and try not to swoon at his compliment.

Abel places his hand on my thigh and rubs it slightly with his thumb causing my breath to hitch.

"But really Keziah, you look gorgeous today. You're so beautiful." He says smoothly.

"Abel. You really need to stop with the compliments all the time."

"I'm gonna keep doing it until you no longer get shy from the things I say. And even then, I won't stop because you need to know what I think of you and how I see you."

He really is the cutest.

"Thank you Abe." I whisper shyly.

"It's my pleasure Brown Eyes." He pauses for  second. "But do you really have to be so violent all the time? I have multiple bruises from your attacks."

"Stop being so dramatic, I barely touched you. Next time, I'll do it harder and then you'll be moaning about it."

Abel quickly smirks at me before facing the road. "Sounds kinky."

"Abel!"I say before huffing at him.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry!" He responds while laughing obviously meaning he's not truly sorry. "But you have to admit, you made it so easy for me to say that. I just couldn't help myself."

"Of course you couldn't ." I mutter back.

We both stay quiet for a minute before I remember something.

"Oh by the way, were you singing to me last night? Because I think I heard you but I was falling asleep so I'm not completely sure." I say whilst giving him a questioning look.

Abel's eyes widen a fraction for a second before he scratches the back of his head. "Err no. You were probably dreaming."

He is terrible at lying. And I thought I was bad.

"Abel."

He lets out a deep breath before sparing me a quick glance. "I didn't think you heard that." He mumbles quietly.

"Abel, you have a beautiful voice. Why wouldn't I want to hear it?"

"It's not something I like to advertise. Singing is more of a private hobby I suppose."

"Well I'm glad that you shared it with me. You should sing to me more often, I like it."

"Oh really? Well I can't deny a request from you now can I?" He says with a smile.

"Absolutely not. I'm way too irresistible." I respond back while flicking my hair sassily.

Abel chuckles at me and grabs my hand to hold once again.

I really do like this boy. He's the first person that has made me feel a certain type of way. And I know some people may say it has happened quick, but sometimes you just know.

                              • • •

When we arrive at school, Abel walks me to my form room despite my continuous protests. He claims that it extends our time together which is important for our relationship. Although, I'm not sure what relationship he's exactly talking about. He hasn't made anything clear or official yet and I'm not sure if that was his subtle way of suggesting something? Or maybe I'm just looking into it too much. I don't really know at this point but it really is getting hard to not act as if he's already my boyfriend. Like with all the hand holding and hugging and more kissing. Although, we do most of that already...

Abel says goodbye with a quick peck on my cheek before walking off. I'm not ashamed to say that I watch him walk away. That boy carries himself with such confidence and it shows; his hand in his pockets, his long strides, his head held high. It's a really attractive quality I must say. Plus, his butt looks so good in those blue jeans. Today, he's paired his blue ripped jeans with a well fitted black  long sleeve top and white trainers. And let me tell you, he wears it so well.

After ogling him for an extremely long time, I enter my form room which is located on the east side of the school. I head straight to my usual seat to find both Rani and Ana already talking in what looks like an intense conversation.

"What's up guys?" I ask as I look between the both of them.

"Rani's having problems with her parents. Again." Ana replies solemnly.

"Oh? What are they doing this time?" I ask.

Rani sighs heavily. "My parents are suddenly blaming me for my brothers current increase in attitude. I mean, Bodhi's 14 years old. He's gonna start to change and possibly act out so how is that my fault? They're saying my behaviour is influencing his and that I should be taking better care of him. They're the adults here not me. Sure, I should be a good role model but they can't automatically say that I'm the one who should mainly care for him. Every single time something happens, it's always my fault. So now, my curfew is apparently 8pm and my car is being confiscated as well as my phone. Let them try. They can't decide to play the role of a parent when they want to. It doesn't work like that." Rani rants angrily.

She removes her hair from the high ponytail that she has and starts braiding it to the side like she does when she's angry or upset.

Ana gives her a hug and a smile of encouragement. "Don't worry Rani, things will always get better no matter what."

I nod my head enthusiastically and scoot my chair closer towards them. "Yeah. Regression to the mean. It means no matter how bad things get or even how good, it will always come back to the middle. So while this may be a bad time for you, it will always return back to a time or place you're satisfied with."

I've met Ranis parents and trust me when I say they are two very scary people. Her father always has an emotionless face and rarely speaks adding to his already intimidating stature. Contrastingly, her mother does nothing but speak and not in a positive way. She constantly finds flaws in people and does her best to make you feel inferior. How Rani and Bodhi cope with them is a miracle.

"Thanks guys but you don't understand. My life is practically controlled by them. That is why I do my best to go against everything they say. I want them to notice and realise I'm not exactly who they want me to be. I'm my own person."

Rani groans loudly and bangs her head against the table.

Ana and I share a concerned look before patting her on the back in a soothing way.

I sigh at the frustrating situation, "You're always welcome at my house Ran."

While Rani sulks at her negative home life, Ana starts questioning me about Abel. I knew it would only be a matter of time.

"So I heard you left school with Abel yesterday." She smirks at me.

I roll my eyes at her. "Yes Ana we did. And we had a normal conversation like normal people do."

"Uh huh. I bet there wasn't much talking involved."

I scoff incredulously. "Actually Ana, Abel was telling me the reason he was basically ignoring me all week. You wouldn't believe what it was-"

Ana interrupts me before I can finish my sentence.  There is literally no respect in this friendship.

"He was jealous of all the attention you were giving Noah, we know."

I gape at her in shock. "You knew and you didn't tell me!?"

"I honestly thought you would have figured it out by now. You're really slow sometimes Kez but this was surprising."

Rani finally rises from her comatose like state and joins in the conversation.

"Everyone knew about it Keziah. It's hard not to when it's so clear how much that boy likes you. I'm jealous."

The thing with Rani is that she never sticks with one guy long enough for it to have meaning. I think she gets bored of them too quickly for it to last.

"You don't even believe in love Rani." Ana replies.

"But when you have a guy like Abel, it's hard not to start thinking about it."

Despite the fact that I know Rani isn't interested in Abel, I bristle at the idea that he is what she wants in a guy. Abel is mine. Well kind of. I really need to tone down this possessiveness, it's getting out of hand.

"Yeah, he's smitten," I roll my eyes at this knowing it isn't true. "But anyway, what else happened, where did you even go?"

"He actually took me to this cliff that literally overlooks the whole town. In all of my time here I have never seen it before and it is beautiful. But that's beside the point. After he told me he was jealous, I actually confessed that I liked him.."

"Oh my gosh!"

"No way!" They both shout in unison.

"Finally! it's been a long time coming." Rani states.

The bell rings signalling the beginning of first lesson. All three of us head to our prospective lessons; mine being Psychology with Abel. Hehe.

While we're walking down the hallway, Rani stops to talk to a guy in our year. I think his name is Jaden but I've never spoken to him before.

Rani shoves Ana and I away, letting us know that she'll us later.

This is probably gonna be her next boyfriend? No, fling? Hook up? Partner? I don't even know anymore.

The thing with Rani is that when she's feeling extra upset, like she was earlier on, she tends to hide her emotions by jumping into more meaningless relationships and partying harder than usual. We've tried to tell her that's probably not the best solution but as you know, she's pretty stubborn.

At the end of the hallway, Ana and I go in opposite directions to get to our classroom.

I head inside and find both Rolo and Abel already seated with a gap in between them.

Our tables are in desks of four meaning I can sit next to both of them; Rolo being on my left with Abe on my right.

"Hello boys." I greet them both and take my seat before pulling out the necessary books for this lesson.

"Hey Kez." Rolo Says.

"Brown Eyes." Adds Abel.

I smile fondly at Abel before Rolo elbows me hard.

"Rolo! What was that for?"

"You were giving Abel googly eyes and I don't want to see that."

"I was not!" I quickly glance at Abel to find him smirking smugly at Rolo's statement.

"You didn't need to hit me for that wow."

"I did otherwise it would have gone on all lesson. Bleh." He makes vomiting motions in an extremely dramatic way to emphasise his point.

The lesson begun five minutes ago yet there's still no sign of our teacher. We can actually leave when it's been 15 minutes. Yay, free period.

"So how've you been Rolo? What's been going on in your life?"

"Oh Nothing interesting. Just the usual; football, school work, my job and my annoying siblings."

Since our parents have been friends literally for forever, they decided to have kids at the exact same time so we all could be best friends. It was just by chance that they both got married at similar times. This means that Rolo has a brother called Temi who is 6 like Nolan, a brother called Lamar who is 14 like Omari but a sister called Tenaya who is 18 like Marcel. Luckily, we all get on so well we're like an extended family. It's both a blessing and a curse; I basically have 4 extra siblings. As if the current 3 aren't enough. But I've got to be grateful, not everyone is as lucky.

"Oh yeah? How's the family? I haven't seen them in a while."

"I'm pretty sure Temi and Tenaya are missing you the most. Tenaya feels outnumbered by boys."

"I can completely relate to her. I'll come over soon, I haven't just hung out with you In a while."

"Sounds good." He clears his throat, "I hear you confessed your feelings to Abel." He states.

I feel my eyes widen in surprise, "I was going to tell you today actually."

"Whenever something happens, you normally call me straight away." Rolo frowns at me slightly and gives a kind of hurt look.

"You're still my number 1 Rolo. It was just late when I got home last night."

And with just that simple statement, Rolo is alright again. "No way! Did mama Callayo whoop you?" He asks with a strange amount of excitement. What kind of best friend is like that?

"Um no actually, they both just gave me warnings." Rolos excitement decreases slightly making me roll my eyes.

"You're lucky then. Anyway, this morning in form, Abel was telling everyone about how amazing you are and all that rubbish. As if I want to sit there and listen to that. Get him to stop would you?"

I don't respond straight away, instead I ponder over the fact that Abel talks about me in such a way. I sneak a glance at him to find him playing a game on his phone.  He is so adorable.

Rolo waves his hand in front of my face, "Earth to Keziah."

Before I can respond, my teacher finally arrives ten minutes after the bell has gone. Her names Mrs Yang and she's a very petite Asian woman. And coming from me that says a lot since I'm only 5 ft 2. Her black wavy hair is almost always in a messy bun on top of her head and she always seems to be in a constant rush.

When she's doing something, it's normally kind of unorganised, like she's always unsure. It's quite entertaining to watch actually. Despite this, she's one of the nicest people I've ever met. Her voice is soft and angelic contrasting her chaotic exterior and she's so supportive as well as funny. If I had any problems in school, she's definitely the one I'd go to.

"Sorry everyone! I got held up at home! My dog Fifi thought it would be funny to take a dump on our sofa! It took endless scrubbing to remove the stain and the smell. No help from my husband of course, that man is useless sometimes."

Rolo and I share a look and keep from bursting into laughter. "It's really like he's my child and it honestly just decreases my desire to bare his children. Another of him? No thanks. I do adore him though-"

Rolo and I can no longer hold it in causing us to erupt into loud laughter.

Rolo thumps his hand against his desk in amusement while I have tears streaming down my face. I look towards Abel and find him staring endearingly at me. That stops my laughter and turns it into a small smile.

He leans in towards me, "You're so beautiful when you laugh."

I playfully shove him away while he chuckles gently, obviously used to my incapability to accept his compliments easily.

Mrs Yang starts to finally discuss what we're doing this lesson. "Since it's the last day of term, I'll allow you to plan the essay I'm about to give you," Everyone groans collectively at the sudden mention of homework. "Stop whining, you have a week to do it. The question is on Schizophrenia. I'll tell you more later. So-"

I begin to zone out from her constant yapping. Unknowingly, my gaze lands on Abel and his intense concentration on what Mrs Yang is saying. Right now, he's even taking notes and biting the lid of his pen when he's thinking about something. His eyebrows furrow in concentration and his head even tilts to the side slightly when writing causing his hair to fall in his eyes. Each time this happens, he pushes it back only for the same thing to occur.

I'm getting more used to his mannerisms and noticing the little things that he does.

For the next few minutes, my mind focuses only on Abel. I think about those deep sapphire blue eyes that display such intense emotion and seem to be able to read me like a book. I think about his curly black hair that is constantly falling into his eyes; the hair that he's always running his hands through exposing his taut muscles. I think about the way he smiles at me like I'm the only person he sees. I think about how when I'm with him, it feels like he's all around me; his scent, his touch, his words.

All of a sudden, I hear my name being called. "Keziah!" My head whips towards the direction of the sound to find that it was Mrs Yang. Uh oh.

"Miss Callayo I've called your name three times already. Rather than blatantly ogling Mr Dellasandro, pay attention to my lesson." Mrs Yang puts her glasses on which barely conceals the obvious smirk she has on her face. She clearly knows what she's done.

I groan in embarrassment and bang my head against the table attempting to block out the laughs of my fellow classmates.

Sometimes, I really think everyone likes to make me the source of their amusement in any way they can.

Rolo pats my back as a form of support. "There there, young Keziah. If it's any consolation, Arnold in the back didn't laugh."

I lift my head up and give Rolo the dirtiest look I can muster. "Oh gee Rolo, that's just great. I'm happy the only person who doesn't have a sense of humour didn't laugh."

You know Jared from teen wolf? The guy that's constantly throwing up? Yeah, imagine him and that's what Arnold practically looks like. They could pass as twins, I promise you.

Rolo just puts his hands up in defence.

I take a deep breathe and pluck up the courage to face Abel and find him already staring at me. I give him an awkward smile and actually raise my hand to wave. I'm such a loser sometimes, it's literally shameful.

"You are so adorable Keziah." Abel has a twinkle in his eye as he says this, almost as if knowing I was staring, gave him a certain amount of satisfaction.

Not saying anything else, Abel simply turns back to his work as if that one statement was all he needed to say.

While he continues writing like nothing else matters, I ponder over the fact that he thinks I'm adorable. Do girls want to be adorable? Isn't that something you say to your 5 year old cousin who decides to randomly hug you and cover your face in kisses? I think sexy or hot is the term someone my age prefers, right? Or am I just overthinking? Again. Ugh, I hate that I do this. Just one simple comment and I turn it into an argument between myself. It's rather worrying if I'm being honest. I could argue with no one except me all night and not even blink an eye. This is beside the point. What I'm trying to figure out is whether or not being called adorable is an insult or a compliment.

Throughout my thinking, I've been unknowingly tapping my own against the table creating a small noise. Abel turns to face me and mouths 'are you okay?'

Instead of responding like a regular person, I put both my thumbs up. Wow, I am on a roll today. And it's only ten am.

Abel chuckles at me and shakes his head at the same time. He's probably realising I'm not the most sane person alive.

After Psychology ends with the reminder that our essay is due the lesson back, Abel walks me to my Biology class which I share with Noah. Just as I'm about to walk in, Abel grabs my arm and gently spins me round back to him. "I'll see you in a bit Brown Eyes." He whispers this to me making sure his lips brush against my ears fanning his hot breath on my neck. Involuntarily, I shiver from the affect he has on me. Unable to respond, I mumble some incoherent sound causing him to laugh at me.

Abel turns around and places his hands in his pockets before walking away with his usual confidence.

I spin back around to enter the room and find Noah staring at me with a blank expression. Oh great, Abel was staking his claim. Just what I need on a Friday morning.

"Hey Noah.."

"Hi."

"Um, so Abel and I decided to talk things out and kind of see where things go I guess? So I just wanted to thank you for pushing me to listen to what he has to say."

"Listen Keziah, I'm glad things worked out for you but we really need to finish this assignment."

Wow, blunt much.

"Okay then.."

For the rest of the lesson, Noah and I don't talk much and I have to admit, I actually miss his lame pick up lines and corny jokes.

I wonder what has upset him so much.

                                • • •

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