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"I'M STILL TIRED AS HELL," Bella stifled a yawn, burying her face in her palms. For us things remained fairly exhausting. We had gotten back from the beach late in the night, and I had immediately fallen asleep whilst Bella had kept herself busy with her phone till God knows when.

Saying I had a lot of fun with Valen at the beach would be an understatement, and it seemed that the more I talked with him, the more comfortable I felt with him-but no one can ever know a person's true intentions, and my heart wasn't ready to be harmed.

"Maybe if you'd sleep early, you won't look like a mad woman in the morning," I muttered under my breath, and then rolled my eyes.

She flung a pillow at my head before I could even react. I huffed, while she just smiled-at least I was in a good mood. "I never asked you to stay awake all night."

"I couldn't get some sleep because it had already passed my bedtime," she defended.

I could only roll my eyes at her failed attempt to lie. "You were the one who asked us to stay a bit longer."

"Like you weren't on a swim with Valen," she retorted-feeling very much proud of herself that she was able to leave me speechless.

"And how did that affect you not sleeping?"

"If we had left early, you wouldn't have enjoyed your romantic swim with Valen."

I had grimaced when she said, romantic, because I was literally forced on that swim. "I was forced on that swim," I said it, running a brush through my hair.

"Forced?" her tone was clearly drenched in doubt. "It seemed like you enjoyed it."

My cheeks heated up slightly but, there was no way in hell was I telling her I had fun, because it would only endanger me, and get me stuck in her world of teasing. "If you could see clearly, we were having our daily dose of bickering as a communication."

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes and hopped out of bed to get ready; since I was already ready.

And whilst she got ready, I did my hair in a lace braid-and with the roaring winds that blew past, we left our dorm, got ourselves coffee, and headed straight to psychology.

In the middle of the lecture hall, Valen was already seated-all in his glory of enthralling tornado, and it seemed to me that if I stared too much at his features, I could loose a huge amount of my sanity.

I made my way towards him, and took a seat by him, Bella in front. "What's up?"

He passed me his signature boyish grin, a hand messing his hair. "I'm feeling fantastic, thanks for asking," he paused. "I didn't expect to get to class before you frosty."

"Bella didn't get any sleep last night," I said, giving the latter a light slap on her shoulder, "maybe because she was busy chatting with Walter."

Her head whipped backwards, cheeks a bright shade of red. "What? No."

"Wow, you're doing a great job denying it," I sarcastically retorted, and she shot me a glare-all before I diverted my attention back to Valen. "And you, how come you are so early?"

He shrugged. "Nothing really, just woke up on the right side of the bed."

"So, you always wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"

He hummed, swiftly sitting upright, and our elbows brushed for a few second-all before he ran that hand through his hair. "Not really, my mood today seemed better than other days, maybe."

"And why's that?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"Maybe," he jutted his jaw in my direction, bringing his face closer to mine, and for a moment I was stunned by the action. "It's because you agreed on a swim with me yesterday."

Even though my eyes were still widened at the action, I spoke without missing a beat. "You cannot be serious."

Then, he had the audacity to grin-the usual reckless boyishness sitting on his blessed features. "I am."

I only roll my eyes before he spoke again, "Finals are coming up."

"I know right, I can't wait to go home."

"Me too," he smiled, voice velvet. "Tell me about your younger self, friends and family back in Arizona."

It took me as a shock, in form of racing heart and crumbling worlds- when he asked me to tell him about life back in Arizona-all before I ran away with Mom.

And when I decided to stay quiet, he decided to voice out again, the question even pricking my skin the more. "Did you have no friends then?"

I gritted. "I did."

"But I'm guessing you don't have their contacts."

I scowled at him. "You went through my phone that day at your house, didn't you." My voice was edged like a sword, cutting through his boyishness, and making his face fall.

He held my gaze. "I didn't frosty."

I scoffed. "Then how did you know that?"

"So," he continued, eyes falling to the table. "My guessing was right, you don't have their numbers."

I dropped my gaze, and fumed in fury because I was messing up. With him around, it seemed like I could never cover anything up because, one way on the other, he had a tiny detail about my past. I wanted the professor to come immediately, so that his voice would overcome the awkwardness hanging around.

It shouldn't really matter what I say-because the things of the past ought to always remain in the past.

And if my whole childhood-especially with the people I called friends-was a thing of the past, why did it keep hurting my senses like flames burning a house down-instead, it was burning my soul.

"Why do you keep trying to figure me out, Valen?" I fumed.

"Why wouldn't I?" he held my gaze again. "When I know you are keeping things bottled up-"

"Just stop," I cut him off, hands clenched on my thighs. "Stop whatever you're doing."

His eyes solidified into mine, until I was able to drop the gaze. He had somehow managed to take my mask away but, I had to take it back before he set it ablaze because had the habit of toying with boundaries, and breaking down walls to unravel one's angels as well as one's demons.

Valen stopped my further trail of thoughts, his hand calmly and gently squeezing mine. "I'm sorry I was being so intrusive. I swear I won't bother you anymore, but just know I would be here for you. Always."

I sighed, hands intertwined on the desk. "Thanks." The professor walked into the class, and class resumed with it's chatter and mumbles floating in the air. "I'm just here to start afresh and live the best life."

"And, I'm glad that's going well."

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"PIZZA ISN'T A PLACE FOR A PINEAPPLE!" Jaxon shouted, explaining his point to Austin, and the latter only rolled his eyes in equal amount. How the whole thing had rolled from, you guys are the best friends ever to pineapple being on pizza remained a mystery-everyone seemed to be engaged in that particular debate topic.

"You don't say dude, maybe it's because of your lack of familiarity with the fruit that you're so bitter," Austin smirked.

With pursed lips, Jaxon shot a glare his way. "So. . . using me to back up your points, huh?"

I seriously couldn't put up with the two anymore. I mean who cares?-I really didn't mind if it was on pizza or not; as long as it could satisfy my hunger. And even with the pointless arguments and banter that filled the environment almost all the time-it felt strange that I was able to feel so at peace.

"It doesn't matter alright," Walter intervened, and unintentionally saving them from getting punched in the face by me. "Let's just enjoy our lunch in peace."

And whilst the two boys kept their arguments to themselves, we began eating, and I could occasionally feel Valen's eyes on me which was doing nothing but getting me annoyed.

"Can I please eat in peace?"

He never responded because Bella's voice had consumed the silence. "Stop stealing my fries!"

Everyone's head to whipped to her direction as she yelled at Walter whose fingers were holding a fry-mid-air. The latter wasn't at all bothered about Bella's shooting glare, instead, he ate the fry so nonchalantly.

"You owe me ten fries," Bella told him firmly, and Walter replied almost immediately, slightly bewildered. "You've been counting?"

And with the look on Walter's face, I couldn't help but let a boisterous laugh slip past my lips. "Dude, you should stop stealing food off her plate."

"He's been doing it?!"

"Yes, and you're so oblivious to it," I smirked at her mischievously, and the latter only groaned.

"Oh my God," Austin groaned, hands running through his hair. "I've got this stupid Economics exam tomorrow."

With a mouth filled with food, Walter had the audacity to speak. "So what? Study."

"I don't seem to understand. Jax we're in the same class, help a brother out."

Jaxon was too preoccupied with his food that he almost didn't hear Austin. "Fine."

From besides me, Valen was too preoccupied to care about the discussion at hand as he typed away on his phone, elbows resting on the way ceramic table. There really wasn't any term I could use to explain the pleasantness of the mere sight of him-arched eyebrows, silky dark brown hair, and devilish cheekbones.

I don't think I could ever be tired of listing out his features.

A few girls from college came to him, all giggly and excited. The reason was obviously clear, and even when I didn't want to care-I found myself bothered. I had averted my attention back to the two boys in front of me, Austin doing a great job in humouring Jaxon, and the latter just rolled his eyes whilst eating his food.

And when I had turned back to my burger, I took notice of something unusual-someone other than me had taken a bite out of it. My suspicions were high on Walter and Valen who were seated on both sides of me.

"Who took a bite out of my burger?"

Walter seemed purely innocent, and when I turned to look at Valen, his lips were stained with cheese-how odd; because he had ordered fries.

And then; he winked.

And I wanted to punch him.

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Hey loves! Tysm for the support you all gave to this book and for the 2k reads, it means a lot to me.
Do let me know your thought on this chapter?

Stay beautiful <3

Jessie ❤️