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The house seemed quiet. Too quiet. I'd been laying in bed, wide awake, for what has felt like the past thirty minutes and I've not heard one noise from outside my bedroom door.

I couldn't bring myself to move. I felt tired beyond belief and I still felt saddened by dad's departure at the early hours of the morning; my mind constantly wondering to what he could be up to this very moment.

I finally worked up the strength to roll over onto my side and reach out for my phone that was laying on my bedside table. I blinked my eyes into focus a couple of times as the screen lit up in-front of me. It was three o'clock in the afternoon?! I sure as hell needed that sleep, even if I do still feel tired after it.

I hadn't looked at my phone much over the last couple of days, having been so distracted by everything that went on with Melissa and dad leaving; so I was greeted with messages from Victoria, Eva and an unknown number.

Victoria: Hey Ro, I hope you're doing okay! Let me know how the meeting went with Melissa and her dad!

Victoria: There's a rumour going around that yours and Melissa's dads have sent you both off to a boarding school lmfaooo I put an end to it.

Victoria: Dallas is asking about you..

I rolled my eyes as I imagined Victoria smirking whilst sending that last text. I clicked off her message, deciding to just FaceTime her later on, and I moved onto Eva's.

Eva: Hi Rowan! Just checking in to see how everything's going? Mrs.Winters has set another essay for us to do which needs to be done before the end of next week and she asked me to pass it on to you. Could I stop by after school?

I sent a quick reply back.

Rowan: Hi Eva! I'm doing okay, Thankyou. And yeah that's fine, stop by any time, I'll be home.

I then moved onto the unknown number's message.

Unknown: Hi! Hope it's okay but Victoria gave me your number.

Unknown: It's Dallas by the way.

I felt my heart beat pick up at seeing Dallas' name. He text me. He had asked Victoria for my number? I quickly saved the number under his name and went back to the messages.

Dallas: I'm not too sure what's been going on, Victoria mentioned something between you and Melissa? But I hope you're okay.

Dallas: also, do you still want to meet at the basketball court tonight? shall we say 4pm?

Damn, I forgot about that. I forgot to ask dad if I could go; which means I'm going to have to ask Aaron or Finn.

Rowan: Hi Dallas, I'm doing okay. And yeah I'm up for meeting at the court, I'll ask my brother just now.

I quickly locked my phone and placed it over my chest as soon as I saw that my message to Dallas had been delivered. God, I'd been speaking to him for a couple days now and doing work with him in English class, yet I still get so nervous around him or at the thought of him.

A couple light knocks on my door brought me out of my thoughts on Dallas and I watched as it slowly opened to reveal Aaron. Comet ran in from behind him and leapt onto my bed next to me, demanding a fuss.

"I was beginning to think you weren't ever going to wake up, it's way past lunch time. You want anything to eat?"

I shook my head at him as I ran my fingers through the husky's thick fur.

"You feeling okay?" His expression immediately turned to one of worry.

"I'm fine, just tired still." I pulled myself up and leant back against the headboard of my bed.

"Okay, well can you get up in a minute and atleast have something small to eat?"

"Yeah whatever."

"I think there might still be some of Maddox's home-made Christmas cookies if you're lucky." Now that is one thing I would eat, no questions asked. I'd be lucky enough to even get half a cookie as long as Asher and Hunter haven't already snatched them up.

"Oh wait, Aaron!" I called out to him as he was about to leave and shut the door.

"Yeah?" His head poked back around the door frame.

"Could..uh.." I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. "Could I go to the basketball court tonight? With a friend?"

"Who's the friend?"

"Just a friend from school." I shrugged.

"Do they have a name?"

"Yeah." I scrunched my toes up, feeling awkward under Aaron's intense stare.

"Well what is it?" I could see the corners of his lips twitch, knowing that I was beating around the bush for an obvious reason; a reason he no doubt already knew.

"It's Dallas."

I caught the amused glint in my brother's eyes as a smirk played on his lips.

"You know you're allowed to have friends that are boys right?" He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned his shoulder up against the doorframe.

"Yeah?"

"Then you don't need to act all awkward about it." He chuckled.

I released my knees and quickly looked away, looking for a distraction in Comet as I felt a heated blush rise on my cheeks.

"You like this boy, don't you?"

My eyes darted back towards him at his words. "Aaron stop."'

"I was only asking." He held his hands up in surrender at my defensive tone. "But that's fine, you can go. Just make sure you're back in time for dinner at six."

"Thanks." I dismissed him, wanting to escape from the slight embarrassment I felt.

He shut the door behind him, leaving Comet and I alone. I released the breath that I didn't realise I was holding before looking down at my phone that had buzzed next to me on the bed. Eva had replied.

Eva: That's Great! My mum and I will drop by around 3:30.

I need to get ready. I have about twenty minutes until Eva arrives and fifty until I need to meet Dallas.

I dropped another quick message to Dallas, to say that I'd see him at four o'clock, then I scrambled off the bed and headed straight towards my wardrobe. It's going to be cold out with the snow not letting up anytime soon, so I decided on a pair of black jeans, a long sleeve T-shirt and my dark green hoodie.

Before getting changed into the clothes that I had picked out, I freshened myself up in the bathroom; brushing my teeth, covering up my tired looking face with a bit of makeup and making sure I smelled nice.

I felt so nervous about meeting Dallas. What if I come across really annoying? Or boring? What if all his other friends are there? What if I embarrass myself with being shit at basketball?

"Rowan?!" My thoughts were interrupted by my name being called from downstairs; sounded much like Hunter.

"What?!" I shouted back.

"Your friend is here!"

"One second!" I checked myself once over in the mirror, last minute deciding to slip a black beanie over my head; that's better.

I grabbed my phone from my bed, slipped it into my jeans pocket and then swiftly left the room with Comet next to my side.

"You sure you guys don't want to come in? Rowan always says one second and that usually turns into ten minutes." I heard Hunter say.

"N-no it's okay we really need to head off once Eva's given something to Rowan." I got to the top of the stairs to find Eva and her mom stood on the front porch, with Hunter leaning against the door-frame, his arms crossed over his chest.

"You were here the other night, weren't you?" Hunter conversed with my friend as I made my way down towards them.

"That's right." Eva replied. "You threw your plate at the wall."

"Yeah sorry about that."

I stood next to my brother who was smirking at the memory of his angry outburst and then I looked to Eva's mom, who didn't look too amused at what her daughter had mentioned.

"Hi." I cut the slight tension with my presence.

"Hey Rowan." Eva smiled back at me.

"About time.." Hunter muttered. He grabbed onto Comet's collar as he tried to escape out the front door. "Kitchen." He commanded the husky, who obliged straightaway, walking off through the ajar door.

"So what's the science thing?" I turned back to my friend and her mother.

"Oh right, yeah.." Eva rummaged around in her backpack, pulling out a science textbook and a sheet of paper before looking back up at me.

"We have to do another boring science essay. But this time it's about photosynthesis."

I groaned. "Why does she make us do this a week before Christmas. These essays do nothing for me."

"Well.." Hunter shrugged. "It's that or you both get a detention again for not doing it." He laughed.

"Detention? What do you mean, again?" Liza, Eva's mom, frowned down at her daughter. Oh shit, Eva didn't tell her about the lunchtime detention we had?

"Uh.." Eva turned her head up to her mom with a sheepish look on her face.

"Can you piss off?" I shoved Hunter with my elbow.

"Sure." He turned to leave, but not before pulling my beanie off from my head and proceeding to leave with it, heading towards the kitchen.

"Hunter!" I stormed after him and grabbed his arm before he could escape into the other room. "Stop being so annoying."

All he did was laugh back at me as I easily pulled the hat from his hand. "You're so easy to wind up."

I huffed and put the beanie back on to cover the mess that was my hair. "Just fuck off now please."
He's so irritating sometimes.

"Tone down the language, Rowan." Aaron appeared in the hallway, walking towards us from the direction of Dad's office.

I ignored him and walked back towards the door where Eva was in the midst of explaining her detention to her mom. "It's fine mom, I got the essay finished in the detention. It won't happen again, I promise."

"I'll cut you some slack, seeing as it's almost Christmas.." Liza sighed with a slight amused smile at the corner of her lips.

"Sorry about that." I cut in. "He's a typical annoying brother."

"It's fine." Eva shook her head with a smile. "Here.." she handed me the textbook and paper that was still in her hands. "All information for the essay is on that sheet, there. We've got a one thousand five hundred word count too."

"Is that a joke?" I frowned, looking down at the paper to look for that particular piece of information. Oh god, she wasn't joking.

"I hate this class so much.." I muttered more to myself.

"What class is it?" I jumped slightly at Aaron's voice from over my shoulder. Not realising he had been standing right behind me.

"Science." I handed him the sheet of paper to look at.

"Why don't you two work together on it over the weekend?" He gestured between Eva and I.

"Yeah?" I looked to Eva with a shrug.

"I don't have any plans, right mom?" She looked up towards Liza.

"Uh..no, I don't think so?" Liza seemed unsure and a little more tense with Aaron in our presence. What is with her? Is Eva noticing this too?

"You girls could have a sleepover here tomorrow night?" Aaron suggested.

"Here?" Liza questioned, her eyes seemingly wider than before as they looked up at our house and then roamed around the front corridor that surrounded Aaron and I.

"Yeah I don't see why not. They could get their essay written up." Aaron placed his hand on the top of my head and lightly shook it as he aimed the next part towards me. "And I'm sure if you ask nicely, Finn will cook you guys dinner."

"Yeah that sounds good! We could watch some Christmas movies too?" I smiled at Eva, hoping she would be down for it.

I could do with some fun company this weekend; even if it did mean having to write up a boring science essay together.

"How about it mom?" Eva looked up expectantly at her mother.

"I guess you could, yeah." Liza didn't seem too enthusiastic about it, but at-least she said yes.

"Awesome!" Eva held her fist out towards me and I bumped it with my own.

"Our dad is currently away on business, so both Finn and I are staying here for the time being." Aaron said to Liza. "But you'll have nothing to worry about and I'll make sure they get their essay's done too."

"Okay." Lisa's smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "I'll drop her off late morning tomorrow?"

"Perfect." Aaron nodded. "You'll have to make sure you're up tomorrow morning, Ro." He nudged me.

"Yeah yeah." I elbowed him back. "I'll see you tomorrow Eva." I waved to her as she and her mom walked back towards their car at the top of the drive; their feet crunching in the snow beneath them.

I shut the front door and put the science text book on the stairs.

"When are you heading to meet Dallas?" Aaron asked, handing me the sheet of paper which he still had a hold of.

"Um..." I felt a soft blush heat up my cheeks at the mention of Dallas and I took my phone out of my pocket to check the time. It was quarter to four. "Now? I guess?" I put the paper with the text book and slipped my phone back in my jeans.

"You want me to give you a lift there?"

"No!" My voice came out harsher than I thought. I don't want any of my brother's dropping me off at the court. I don't trust that they wouldn't do something to embarrass me in front of Dallas.

"Okay, I was only asking." Aaron laughed. "Can you take Comet with you then, if you're walking alone?"

I nodded. "Sure." I stepped around him and grabbed Comet's Harness and lead from the side table. Comet appeared infront of me in a flash at the sound of me gathering his walking necessities.

"And what time did I say you have to be back again?"

"Before dinner?" I answered whilst getting Comet set up for the walk.

"Yeah, six o'clock. You got that?"

"Yup!" I smiled up at my older brother after clipping Comet's lead to the harness.

"Good. Put an extra coat on, it's freezing out there."
Aaron grabbed my black coat from the hook and held it out to me, to which I quickly slipped it on.

"Have fun yeah?" Aaron followed me to the front door and stood in the doorway as I left. "Call me if you want a lift home, it'll be getting dark soon."

"Okay!" I waved back at him and then set off towards the basketball court.

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The winter sun was slowly setting, creating an icy blue and burnt orange tint through the misty clouds in the sky. The light dusting of snow fell softly upon the already snow-piled ground and rooftops, with the cold air nipping harshly at my cheeks and the tip of my nose; causing a shiver to run down my spine.

It's only about a five minute walk to the field and basketball court. But I took it slow; one, so I wouldn't slip on the ice and break a leg and two, the nervous feeling I had about meeting Dallas was making me hold back a little.

The court soon came into my view though. I was quite enjoying this alone-time walk with Comet; Getting out of the house and into the fresh air always made me feel better and refreshed. But the anxiety soon creeped back up on me as I spotted Dallas with two other boys messing around with a basketball. Another group of four friends were stood off to the side, having nothing to do with the boy that I was here to meet with. 

I hesitantly made my way closer to them, hoping the curly headed boy, that I had a crush on, would turn around and notice me before I had to announce my presence myself. I recognised Bradley, who was one of the other boys with him, but the third friend I wasn't too familiar with; I'd seen him around school with Dallas, but I couldn't tell you his name.

I decided to let Comet off the lead, thinking he would run around the field or roll in the snow, but to my surprise he darted excitedly towards the three boys on the court.

"Heyy it's Comet!" Bradley noticed him first.

At his friend's words, Dallas spun around, his eyes searching the field until they landed on me; a smile stretched across his face as he waved his two hands in the air. "Hey Rowan!" I noticed the other group of friends turn to look at who Dallas was shouting at, all eyes were on me.

I felt my cheeks heat up quickly and I couldn't help the smile on my face as I shyly waved back at him. I could just about hear the crunch of the thick snow beneath my feet through the loud beating of my heart, which felt like it was getting quicker the closer I got to the three boys.

Comet bounded back towards me once I was only a few meters from them; That dog could sense my anxiety a whole mile away, I swear. He shook his whole body, the flakes of snow that had settled on the tips of his fur dispersed around him and I ran my fingers through the damp hair on the back of his neck, then he trotted back to the boys where he jumped his two front paws up against Dallas' chest.

The husky's tongue flopped out the side of his mouth, a big smile on his wolfy face as Dallas fussed him; My smile returned upon watching the two together.

"Rowan, your dog is the best!" Bradley came to stand by my side as I finally made it to the opening of the court.

"I'm assuming you've met him before then?"

"Yeah, Asher brings him here every now and then."

I nodded. Of course he does.

"Dallas wouldn't shut up about you the past two days, you know." Bradley changed the subject, causing my whole face to blush at his words.

"Fuck off!" Dallas laughed, making his way towards us.

"Rowan hasn't text me back yet. Do you think she'll come to the court tonight? English class was crap without Rowan there." Bradley mimicked the few things that were supposedly said.

Dallas was quick to grab his friend in a headlock and I watched on as Comet jumped around them.

"Hey." Another voice caused me to tear my eyes away from the two boys wrestling and up to their other friend. "I'm Luke."

"Hi, I'm-."

"Rowan, yeah I know." He smiled at me.

I nodded and shot him a tight-lipped smile before looking back to the other two boys. Dallas shoved Bradley away, both of them laughing at the playful spat.

"Wanna shoot some hoops?" Dallas picked up the basketball and spun it around on his index finger.

"Luke and I are actually gonna get going." Bradley patted the back of Dallas' shoulder. "We've got an English essay that needs to be handed in on Monday morning."

"You can't do it tomorrow?" Dallas frowned at him whilst bouncing the ball on the floor and catching it.

"We're going sledding tomorrow aren't we? And Sunday I'm out with the fam." Bradley shrugged. "There isn't another time for us to do the essay."

"Since when did you care about getting your essay in on time?" Dallas questioned his two friends.

"Take the hint Dallas." Luke laughed.

A look of realisation crossed Dallas' features. I looked between the three boys; am I missing something?

"Right. Well I'll see you tomorrow then." Dallas bounced the ball off of Luke's head.

"Dickhead." Luke laughed and tackled Dallas for the ball.

"I'll see you Monday, Rowan." Bradley lightly patted the back of my shoulder as he left the court.

"See you Monday." I waved him off with a smile.

Luke managed to get a hold of the ball and then flung it towards the basketball hoop, in which it fell smoothly through the net. "Have fun you two!" He ran off to catch up with Bradley.

"Sorry about those two." Dallas apologised with an embarrassed smile on his face as he bent down to pick the basketball up.

"It's fine, they seem cool." I shrugged.

"Wanna show me what you got?" He chucked the ball towards me and I