Layla texted him.

It was just a short "hey"

But to her it was as if the whole world had just ended and we were about to die.

Honestly, I was kind of against the idea. Mainly because I knew how Ben would react, and in the end he would unknowingly break her heart. Maybe I should've stopped the catastrophe before it happened, but I let her text him anyways.

He didn't answer.

Ben didn't text me at all, my phone notifications were silent as were everyone else's. The night was drawing to a close, and eventually when It reached 12:30 I decided to head home. Layla was upset, but Jenna decided to stay the night just for that purpose.

A big part of me felt bad, but I didn't want to let it get to me. Either way, I headed inside and collapsed on my bed, completely exhausted from the long day.

           •*•*•*•*•*•*•*

The next morning was a Sunday, and like every morning, Colton and Ben had both texted me.  Except this morning resulted in a harder decision then what I normally have to deal with.

Colton wants to go on a date, while Ben wants to hang out and do crazy stuff like we seem to always do. In days before, when I wasn't dating Colton, I would've jumped at Ben's offer. But now, I suddenly found myself dreaming of Colton's and I's date that wasn't even official yet.  I called Ben.

     "Hey, I can't hang out much today" I said, trying to make myself sound calm.  His end was silent for a moment before answering.

      "Okay, I'll just hang out with Brayden or something." He said, almost in a tone that made it sound like he didn't care. I clenched my teeth and tried to see through his act, because I wanted to know if he really did care.

I couldn't sense anything except silence.

"Have fun with Colton" Ben said, no anger in his tone. Only a tad bit of frustration.

"How did you -" I began to ask, but he cut me off.

"I'm not an idiot" He Plainly stated before hanging up. A small smile formed on my lips, and I'm not even sure why. It just did. Maybe it was because I wanted so badly to believe he was joking. But at the same time, I knew he was being serious.

I texted Colton back, trying desperately to be happy. But the tone of Ben's voice kept replaying over and over in my head, constantly reminding me of guilt. Even though I had no reason to feel guilty, right?

*•*•*•*•£•£

I sat in Colton's car later that evening, wearing a casual outfit that wasn't super fancy, but it wasn't a total bum either. They were jeans and white t-shirt with a gray cardigan and a necklace.  I always liked the outfit, especially since I could look cute while being comfy at the same time.

Colton looked super attractive like always while sitting in the drivers side, he was looking at me, a bright smile on his face that reminded me of sunshine and rainbows, like there were no worries in the world. Honestly, that smile made my day - it made me believe that I could live every hour without a piece of stress of worry. I was happy, full of smiles and butterflies when I looked in his eyes. His brown hair was freshly washed and fresh, slightly spiked at the top and neatly combed. His jawline looked really sharp from this angle.

"Jeez girl, you're looking smoking" Colton said, although that type of language sounded foreign coming from his mouth. Either way, I blushed insanely and looked the other direction to hide my tomato face.

Colton chuckled.

"Your blush is so cute, damn it how'd I get so lucky" Colton said, chuckling and starting to drive down the road towards an unknown destination.

"If anything, I'm the lucky one" I said, throwing back an equally cheesy line. But I knew my words were correct, no where near being wrong. I didn't own anything special, or have any good looks like California girls do - I was just, a normal girl that try's so hard to fit into everyday life.

Everyone was like that.

But Colton, he seemed to fit in anywhere, no pretending. He was perfect, like a molded version of a male model, and every aspect of him made me wonder why he choice me.

If anything, I was the lucky one.

"Where are we going anyways?" I asked, trying to change the conversation to something more relaxing for me.

"We're having dinner at my house, I figured you should probably meet my parents sooner than later" Colton said.

My mind started to spin.

*•*•*•*•*

We sat at his family dinner table, silverware and a napkin beside my plate. I sat at the long dinner table, which looked rather empty with only a total of four people. His mom had thin brown hair, with gray roots and tired eyes. I could tell she made an effort to make herself presentable with the application of makeup and nice clothes. Colton's dad had a feeling of power, he gave off the vibe of authority- and that may or may not be because he was my principal.

Truth was, I've probably only seen my principal a total of 4 times in my high school career, since he mainly stuck close to his office and the front desk. So the chances of the student body seeing him was very unlikely, sometimes we even forgot that Colton was related to the principal - let alone his dad.

Either way, the dinner let off a vibe of uncertainty and possibly worry, like there could be better things to do than sit and have dinner with their sons potential girlfriend - or however you want to say it. I tried to look past it, to try and find the bright side of their forced smiles and fake show that they were playing by script.

Although, the food - lasagna - was very satisfying and good. So that was one plus of the evening.

"So Elizabeth, tell me - what are your plans for college?" Colton's dad asked while setting his fork politely on the table and reaching for his napkin. The question didn't really surprise me, since he did seem to care about education and being prepared for the future.

"I want to teach elementary school kids, it's what I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember" I said, a equally forced smile on my face as it was on his. Colton's mom smiled and looked at at me sympathetically, her eyes were warm and tired and I could tell she liked my decision.

       "A teacher? You know, they don't get payed very well. " Colton's dad laughed, while looking around the table for someone to join along with him. I didn't find what he had to say very amusing. "Oh I'm just kidding, money ain't everything" but even when he said it, it sounded false coming from him. It sounded unreal.

       "You'll be lucky to have Colton though, he'll be supplying you with tons of money to go get your nails done and all that stuff you girls do. Right Josephine?" Colton's dad asked his wife, she nodded her head and smiled like she had been doing the whole time, and Colton only rolled his eyes. Not gonna lie - even myself was a bit offended.

       "Dad, Money isn't everything. I don't need money as long as I have Elizabeth" Colton said with a warm smile that caused happiness to course through my veins.  Josephine smiled at me, a hesitant smile that made her look venerable, and she quickly snapped out of it when Dan looked her way.

      "I think that's a very nice, I'm glad you two are happy" Josephine finally said. He voice was strained and shaky, but it sounds beautiful like she used to be a model.

         "So Elizabeth, any favorite activities?" Dan asked with a grin, I thought about it for a minute before answering.

    "Yeah, I like to play volleyball and sometimes My best friend - Ben and I go on little adventures. One time we went to the grand canyon over spring break, and -" I started.  Dan stopped    me.

       "Ben? I don't believe I know who that is?" He asked, which ultimately didn't surprise me.

     "Benedict Marshall is his first name, but I call him Ben" I finished, but almost as suddenly as I said his last name, the room grew cold. I felt as if I walked in the middle of war because Dan's face instantly darkened and Josephine instantly bowed her head, and for a moment I thought I saw a tear slid down her cheek.

   Colton looked at me, horror and realization on his face. In that moment I knew I had done something wrong, the only probably was - I didn't know what.  Dan stopped talking, his eyes darker than a black hole and his lips in a straight line. For a moment I thought the silence would never end, and when it finally did it wasn't how I expected it too.

      "She's friends with Ben? You better keep an eye on her Colton, you know how bad habits transfer" Dan said with a scowl before standing up and pushing his chair in. "Dinners dismissed, Josephine please clean this up" He said before storming out of the room.

To say I was baffled was an understatement, I was blown away. Did he seriously just tell Colton that he couldn't trust me just because I was friends with Ben? I didn't understand, and it seemed the only way for me to understand was to ask Colton. His expression was flat when we went up to his room, and it definitely looked like he didn't want to talk about it at all.

      "What was that about? Why did your dad say you can't trust me?" I asked, curiousity was circling around like a tidal wave and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

          "He just doesn't like Ben is all. You know all the trouble he gets into at school, My dads bound to know about it" Colton said, but even then I could tell there was more he was refusing to tell me. Obviously I still felt offended that Dan would think so low of me, like I wasn't  trustworthy.

       "Oh please. Ben barely gets into any trouble" I argued, annoyed and curious. I scowled and watched as Colton closed the door to his bedroom and sat down. He placed his head in his palms.

      "Elizabeth. My dad has his reasons, just like I have mine" Colton pleaded, but ultimately I still didn't understand. This was bull crap, but I didn't have the heart to tell him so. I guess he did have his reasons ,similar to my reasons for hating Reagan.  I was trying so hard to understand, but somehow it seemed so hard to see it from Dan's and Colton's point of view.

      "I just don't understand why you guys hate him so much. Please, I'm just asking that you explain"  I pleaded while sitting next to Colton on the bed. He gave me an apologetic look while looking me in the eyes.

      "Libs, I can't explain, it's just how it is" Colton said. I instantly frowned at the use of my nickname - given to me by Ben. He placed his hand on my thigh, pulling me closer in a form of comfort.

       "Don't call me Libs"  I said defensively while standing up from his touch. Colton himself looked offended before standing up with me and grabbing my wrist.

"Elizabeth, I'm sorry I - can we just have a good time tonight. You know... just you and me" Colton said while sitting back down on the bed and pulling me on top of him.

I honestly wanted to be mad, I wanted to scream and throw a fit and leave. But, I couldn't. Because for some reason he was pulling me towards him like gravity, or like I was getting sucked into a black hole that ultimately led to no escape. He looked so attractive and hot that for some reason I let everything I had been worrying about go, I let it all go away.

Colton kissed me and I let the warmth wash over me as I kissed him back, letting him push me back on the bed and running his fingers through my hair.

It all felt so nice, so wonderful and I couldn't stop. He was like a drug that kept me going and made me forget about life in general.

"Why can't you just tell me why?" I thought aloud while pulling away from his lips. Colton sighed as a frown made its way onto his mouth. He glanced at his feet, almost like he was refusing to meet my eyes.

"I just can't, okay? It's not something my family likes to talk about. That's just how it is and that's how it will remain" He said, which made me to believe that this was a whole lot bigger than what I originally thought