“That was quite the scare, wasn’t it?”

I gave my uncle a flat look. “You’re the one that fired me.”

He gave me a sheepish look. “There was nothing I could do Harley.”

“I thought you weren’t allowed to fire teachers?”

“You’re not part of the union.”

“What about severance?”

“I was going to give you that,” my uncle informed me. “But not right away because I was trying to figure out another way you could work here.”

I blinked at him. “You were?”

He rolled his eyes, giving me a half-smile. “Harley, you’re my only family member. You’re my niece who is doing everything she can so that her and her brother can live together. I wasn’t just going to put you on the street.”

“Well technically I’d only be jobless…”

“You know what I mean.”

I laughed, nodding my head. “I know. Thank you for caring.”

“You should thank Arden too.”

“Arden?” I echoed, furrowing my eyebrows. “Why Arden?”

My uncle cocked his head to the side, mimicking my expression. “He didn’t tell you?”

“Ah… We’re not, um…” I hesitated, a hollow feeling appeared in my stomach. Of course Arden didn’t tell me anything. He probably still hated me. After a few moments I cleared my throat and continued. “We’re not exactly friends at the moment.”

“Really? But he’s the one who convinced his grandma to allow you to work as an assistant. In fact, he’s the one who urged his grandma to take this job. And the last time I knew of anything, Arden and his grandma weren’t on good terms.”

My mind blanked at this new information. I knew Arden wasn’t close to his family, so him and his grandma not getting along didn’t come as a surprise. But Arden didn’t seem to be the type of person who would just suddenly force himself to get along with his family… And yet he had to have been nice to his grandma at least the little bit. Especially if he convinced her to let me help her.

My stomach clenched uncomfortably and I shifted in my seat, suddenly anxious. Maybe Arden didn’t hate me. If he did, why would he try to help me? Did he just feel bad… or was he really just trying to help me? I needed to talk to him.

“Harley?”

“Huh?”

My uncle chuckled. “You just spaced out suddenly. But as I was saying, you should probably head to your classroom. The students will be arriving soon…”

“Oh, sure,” I responded, quickly pushing myself up from my desk. If there was one thing I didn’t want to do, it was deal with students I didn’t know. They had to know about me now. And I didn’t want to know what they might say to me.

“Barbara will be coming in second period because she lives quite a way away, so you’ll have to man the fort by yourself first period,” my uncle notified me. “If I remember correctly, it’s a prep period, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

I nodded, slowly backing away towards the door. “Right-o.”

“And Harley?”

I paused, giving my uncle a questioning look. “Yeah?”

“Keep you and Oliver on the DL.”

My uncle smirked as my face flamed. How did he know? I hadn’t told anyone about Oliver, and there was no way Oliver said anything either. “How did you know?” I finally asked.

“Will,” he responded simply.

 I frowned, miffed. Now the question was how did he know. As far as I knew, he hadn’t been home whenever Oliver was over the past few days. In fact, I had been purposefully sneaking Oliver over without him knowing so I could avoid the teasing, or scolding, or whatever else Will would do.

“I don’t plan on telling anyone,” I told my uncle, avoiding his gaze.

“Good. Although I’m surprised, I figured you liked Arden.”

I glanced at my uncle, thrown off guard. “What?”

He shook his head. “Never mind. Go, otherwise you’ll be caught in the stampede.”

Without further ado, I left his office, still curious about his comment. Why would he think Arden and me? What even gave him that idea? I shook my head. Whatever. Arden and I were just friends— or at least, I hope we could be friends. I would do whatever I had to for that.

When I entered the hallway that led to my classroom, a feeling of nostalgia washed over me. It had only been about a week since I had last been here, but it was refreshing to be back. As soon as I made it to the door, I burst through it eagerly, excited to see my desk again— even though now it wasn’t technically my desk.

“I’m back!” I sang, stepping into the room.

“Welcome back.”

My heart jumped into my throat and my head snapped to my desk, where a very familiar boy was sitting. Taking a deep breath and letting it slowly, I shook my head at him in exasperation. “Oliver, what are you doing?”

“Sitting.”

“I meant why are you here? You scared me half to death.”

He smiled in amusement. “I noticed.”

Walking over to the desk, I stood about a foot away from him, frowning. “Really though. Why are you here so early?”

He shrugged, pushing himself off of the desk chair. “I figured you were coming in early, so I did too.”

“Why though?”

“Why are you asking so many questions?”

I squared my shoulders at him. “I’m just curious. You don’t seem like the type of person who’d come in just because I was coming in early.”

“Apparently you don’t know me that well,” Oliver responded, cocking an eyebrow.

Furrowing my eyebrows, I watched him carefully. There had to be some reason he wanted to come in early… I blinked in realization of what it could be. “Oliver, did you come in early just in case a student like Tyler might come and harass me about coming back?”

Oliver tensed his shoulders, turning his head away. “No.”

“You did, didn’t you?”

“I said no.”

A smirk crept onto my face and I tried to look around Oliver to see his face. “Yes you did.

He stubbornly kept his face away from me, shaking his head. “No.”

“You don’t need to be embarrassed about it,” I told him with a small laugh. “Really. It means a lot to me.”

Oliver turned to me now, an embarrassed look on his face. “I don’t want you to be ganged up on, or something.”

I frowned at him now. “Wouldn’t people have gotten over it by now?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. But just in case.”

I smiled again, stepping forward to embrace Oliver. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me.”

“I just did.”

He lightly hit me on my head. “Don’t go smart Alec on me, Harley.”

I turned my head up to grin at Oliver. He returned my gaze with an amused one. After a moment he slowly brought his head closer to mine. My breathing caught and I froze, knowing what was coming. Oliver’s breath smelled like mint. I wondered briefly if he did that on purpose, but all thoughts were cut off when he placed his lips against mine. Unlike a few days before, I didn’t stand there like a statue. This time I brought my arms around him, pushing myself up onto my tiptoes in order to kiss him back.

After a moment he pushed me away, once again looking amused. I cocked my head at him, wondering why he pulled away. He laughed through his nose. “You’re a really bad kisser, Harley.”

It took a minute for his words to sink in. When they did, my face caught on fire. I stared at him in shock, opening my mouth to defend myself, but nothing came out. He laughed at my expression, turning his head down, and trying to cover it as a cough.

“Sorry,” I apologized finally, my face still burning. “I haven’t kissed anyone since a spin-the-bottle party in eight grade.”

Oliver shook his head, still smirking. “Don’t apologize. We’ll just have to practice.”

“But—”

Oliver cut me off by bringing his head back to mine, kissing me again. This time I focused really hard on trying to match his lips to mine. I had to learn to kiss better fast. I turned my head slightly, causing our noses to smash together. Oliver snorted while I scowled, trying to pull away. Oliver held my head fast.

“Don’t move,” he ordered. “I’ll show you.”

I stood stock still, pursing my lips. Once again, Oliver laughed. “What?” I snapped.

“Don’t purse your lips. You look stupid.”

“What do I do then?” I demanded, feeling a little irritated. “I thought I was doing fine before.”

Oliver rolled his eyes. “Okay, we’ll do it that way until you get the hang of it.”

Angrily, this time I was the one to kiss him first. He took a step back in surprise, but I grabbed his shirt, not allowing him to move any further. His hands went to my waist, holding me in place. Once more I focused solely on my technique— guess and hope I was doing it right.

“Whoa.”

My eyes flew open as a new voice filled the room. Immediately, I backed away from Oliver, wiping my lips quickly. Oliver turned away from the door, hiding his face. After a moment I decided to see who had entered. When my eyes fell upon the man, my stomach did a flip.

“Am I, er, interrupting something?” Arden asked, looking a little embarrassed.

I stared at him, taken by surprise. “Arden?”

He grinned sheepishly. “Hey, Harley…”

It took me about five seconds to cross the classroom and nearly tackle Arden down in a hug. I wrapped my arms around him as tightly as I could, squeezing him with all my strength. He gasped in surprise, staggering back a step, but I just held him harder.

“Arden, I’m so sorry for lying to you,” I apologized, pressing my cheek to his chest. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m sorry.”

“Harley—”

“I can understand if you won’t forgive me, but I still want you to. Please. You can’t imagine how sorry I am. I broke our promise and—”

“Harley,” Arden said firmly, pushing me away from him. “Be quiet for a minute.”

I stared at him, feeling somewhat hurt. He heaved a heavy sigh, running a hand through his shaggy, umber hair. After a few moments of silence, he finally spoke.

“You shouldn’t be the one apologizing,” he told me, his gaze dropping to the floor. “You have nothing to apologize for. You had to lie to me about your age. I know that now. It’s not your fault.”

“But I should have just told you!”

Arden shook his head. “No you shouldn’t have. You weren’t supposed to let anyone know.”

I frowned. “But—”

“Let me finish. I feel like a total… jerk for what I did.”

“Don’t you think jerk is an understatement?” Oliver demanded, coming up to us now.

“Oliver,” I warned.

Arden laughed a little, nodding his head. “It’s a huge understatement, but I know Harley doesn’t like it when I swear.”

I looked back at Arden, a little dumbfounded. He remembered that? A small smile made its way onto my face as Arden made eye contact with me. He immediately dropped his, making me frown.

“So, I’m here to apologize to you, Harley. I’m sorry for making you lose your job and I’m sorry for saying everything I said to you. I really didn’t mean it. I was hurt, and angry, and—”

“A complete ignorant jerk?” Oliver suggested.

Arden made a face. “That too. I was stupid. And immature.”

“And—”

“That’s enough,” I interjected, throwing Oliver an amused look. He shrugged back at me. “Arden, it’s fine.”

Arden shook his head. “No, it’s not. What I did can’t be so easily forgiven, Harley. I could have ruined everything.”

“But you didn’t.”

“I told Tyler.”

“You didn’t know it was a secret.”

Arden scoffed. “But I should have. How obvious is it that you were keeping a secret? I was just too angry to think rationally, and by the time I had calmed down it was too late because I already told Tyler.”

“Well maybe if you had let me explain when you found out instead of reaming me out…” Arden gave me a guilty look, and I immediately regretted my words. “I’m sorry, Arden—”

Arden quickly reached out, covering my mouth. “Harley. Stop apologizing already! You don’t have any reason to be sorry. I messed up. I caused this. You should hate me.”

A lump suddenly gathered in my throat, and I had to swallow it a few times in order to go away. I pulled Arden’s hand away from my mouth, but didn’t let it go. “I don’t hate you, Arden. You’re my best friend. I don’t care about what happened. I have another job now. Sure, it might not be the same, but I’m still at the school and it’s thanks to you I have it.”

Arden dropped his gaze again. “It really wasn’t me—”

“My uncle told me.”

“I couldn’t leave you jobless,” he responded, shaking his head. “And my grandma wasn’t doing anything with her life anyway.”

I smiled at him. “Thank you, Arden.”

“Don’t thank me,” he muttered, turning his head away in embarrassment.

“And I forgive you too.” With that I stepped back to him, wrapping my arms around his body again. “I missed you.”

He hugged me back, squeezing me tightly. “I missed you too, Harley.”

Oliver snorted from behind us. “She only forgave you so easily because she’s blinded by her feelings.”

“Feelings?” Arden echoed.

I pulled away from him, glaring at Oliver. “Oliver, don’t.”

Oliver smirked. “Yeah. Didn’t you realize that, Arden? Harley loves you.”

“She does?”

“No, Oliver!  I mean, yes, I love you, Arden, but in a friend way—”

“Or a romantic way,” Oliver insisted.

Arden looked confused. “But you guys were definitely making out when I walked in here.”

Oliver looked smug. “That’s because she chose me.”

“I didn’t choose anyone!”

“Really?” Arden responded, furrowing his eyebrows. “You chose him already, Harley?”

I looked at Arden, my face dropping. “Arden—”

“Well, that doesn’t mean I can’t try to steal you away,” Arden commented in a thoughtful tone.

Oliver narrowed his eyes at him. “Good luck with that, Ardy.”

Arden laughed, and before I realized what was happening, he had his arms around me again, planting a quick kiss on my lips. I froze, staring up at him in shock while he grinned down at me. A warm blush spread across my face as I struggled out of his arms.

“I won’t need luck, Oli,” Arden stated confidently.

“You…” Oliver growled, taking a step closer to Arden.

I quickly put myself between them, putting my hands on Oliver’s chest. “Wait, wait. Don’t do anything, Oliver.”

“But he kissed you!”

I nodded my head in agreement. “Yeah, but it was the type of kiss that Will would give me and Elliot.”

“Will kisses you?”

“As in fatherly kisses, Oliver,” I clarified, rolling my eyes.

“You thought that was a fatherly kiss?” Arden responded in a surprised voice. “I can redo it—”

“No!” Oliver and I responded at the same time.

Arden looked taken aback for a moment, but then he smirked. “Just you wait, Harley. You’ll love me.”

Oliver put a possessive hand on my shoulder. “It’s too late, Arden.”

Arden didn’t look phased. His smirk just grew bigger. “We’ll see.”

Oliver scowled at him, tightening his grasp on my shoulder. I made a face, feeling helpless. Whatever I had gotten myself into was not going to be fun. 

_______________________________________

Dear beloved readers whom are planning on messaging me in the future,

I mean no offense when I say please stop telling me not to end my story and e-mailing me/ messaging me telling me if I end it now, it makes my story suck. No, it does not make it suck since I only wrote this for this contest. I'm sorry you don't want it to end-- heck, I don't particularly want it to end either, but it was for the contest. You're just making me upset. What I am planning on doing is adding more after the contest because I know what my story is lacking, tyvm, so if you guys can be patient, there ya go.

Love,

The not-so-patient Jordan.

To my other, more understanding readers. One more chapter! Swoop-de-doop! This is ending quick, but it's just how it has to be. When I add more, there is soooo going to be more Arden drama, and Oliver/Harley, Arden/Harley moments. Trust me, it'll be much more epic. So please don't tell me what I'm missing because I know, and it just makes me really aggravated and depressed :D

LAST CHANCE TO SEND ME YOUR BANNERS. Quickly. You have twenty-four hours since I posted this to send them in, so don't forget if you have one! 

Facebook in external link! :D

[Today's Song: Guardian Angel by Abandon All Ships!] It's a pretty amazing song.