"It's so cold," I shivered and zipped up my sweater. "Are you sure we should even go to this thing?"

"We already drove all this way. Just zip up your hoodie," Romano casually drawled.

I stared at him through slits. "I just did."

"I didn't see," he stated.

"Of course you couldn't, through this giant sunglasses of your's," I teased. "What are you doing wearing shades at night, anyways?"

"Fashion, baby," he replied with a grin.

From beside us, Lily chuckled. Suddenly, Romano latched onto our wrists and tugged us along in the direction of the bonfire. Romano wasn't at all lying when he'd said there weren't going to be many people. In fact, I'd spoken to most of these people before. They all went to my school.

Some were playing volleyball, others surrounded the bonfire with drinks in hand. A few were even clad in swimsuits and splashed about in the water. Though, I couldn't fathom going for a night swim in this weather. As Romano dragged us through the beach, I planted my feet in the sand and came to an abrupt stop.

"Why are you stopping?" Romano asked. Lily looked confused as well.

"Wait." I squinted my eyes and suddenly gasped, giving Romano a traitorous look. "You didn't tell me Benny was going to be here!"

He nervously giggled. "Well if I told you, you wouldn't come."

I gave him an indignant look. "The whole point of this trip is to forget about him. How can I do that if he's here?"

"Relax, Ro. He won't do anything," Romano reassured me.

I cautiously glanced in Benny's direction. He wore a backwards hat and baggy clothing. A lazy expression adorned his face as he smoked with... was that Antonio beside him? With his tousled hair and loose clothing, he too had an apathetic look to him.

"Alright, I'll stay," I said.

Lily and Romano cheered. As we approached the bonfire, a number of people greeted us, especially Romano. He was quite popular in this town, though with that personality, I wasn't exactly surprised.

"Hey Romano, Rose," a douchey jock jerked his head at us. "Lily."

Lily almost melted, clutching onto my arm. "He called me Lily!" She whispered frantically.

"So what?" I asked in confusion.

"That's Marcus Jones, captain of the Burnsley High football team. He's the one who gave me the nickname Lonely Lily."

"Oh," I wrinkled my nose in distaste. "What a jerk."

"Who cares? He called me Lily!" She squealed.

I laughed at her excitement. After seeing Lily become friends with Romano and me, the other kids in town were realizing that she was actually... normal. It was certainly a good thing, although it made me sad to think that she'd ever been mistreated in the first place.

As more people greeted us, I peeked in Antonio's direction. He and his group of friends hovered near the bonfire. The smokers, troublemakers, and overall bad boys. Half of them wore leather or jean jackets—not him though. No, he simply wore a black tee that paraded his tanned, muscular arms, almost as if to say, I'm too cool for a jacket.

When I glanced at him, I realized that he was already looking at me. A subtle smirk danced across his lips as we exchanged secret glances. We hadn't spoken to each other since the night he'd shown me the spot.

"Hey, Ro," I nudged his shoulder as a realization hit me. "I think I left my phone in your car. Can I have your keys?"

"Here." He offhandedly tossed me his car keys, before resuming his conversation with Lily and two other kids from school.

I left the scene and ran the distance to the parking lot. The chatter of my peers faded as I walked further away, until eventually, all was silent. I quickly located Romano's gleaming Porsche in the empty parking lot. Oddly enough, I felt like I was being watched. The vacantness of the lot and the coldness of the night air certainly didn't help, and I felt goosebumps prick at my skin. Nonetheless, I went about my business and grabbed my phone from the car.

While I closed the car door, I shrieked at the feeling of a hand on my shoulder. My heart raced as I turned to face the culprit. Buzz.

"Hello there, Rose." An unpleasant grin accompanied his bumpy face. Faint bruises still remained from the night Antonio had beat him up for me.

My stomach churned at the feeling of Buzz's weighty hand on my shoulder, and I got a flashback of the party. The same party he'd harassed me at. What was he even doing here? Romano being the exception, I thought students from Downsview Academy were not coming to the bonfire.

"Move out of my way, Buzz," I stiffly commanded.

Instead, he moved his arms up to lean against the car and trap me in his hold.

"Why should I?" He said. His hot breath fanned my face. "You know, we never got to finish what we started that other night..."

I gulped and moved out of his hold, but another guy suddenly swerved in front of me.

"So this is Antonio's girl," the unfamiliar boy said.

My hazel eyes slightly bulged, and I wondered how I hadn't noticed his presence. He was a skinny blond with a head of perfectly gelled hair. The guy was only a few inches taller than me. I could probably take him. His curious eyes roamed over my figure, and I warily crossed my arms.

"You got that right, Lance," Buzz smirked at the blond boy.

"I'm not his girl," I said.

"Oh, please."

A third guy said. I looked around in disbelief.

"Now who are you?" I lightly scoffed. Where were all these boys coming from?

"The name's Finn, darling," the black-haired boy said in a British accent, grinning at me. Though, the smile wasn't pleasant at all–it was more taunting.

The two new guys weren't exactly bad-looking, that was for sure. I noticed they had a certain posh look to them. Given that they were friends with Buzz, I immediately assumed they attended Downsview Academy. Were they crashing the bonfire?

"Antonio wouldn't fight over just any girl," Finn continued, looking me up and down. "I can certainly see why he picked you."

His eyes lingered over my chest. Surprising even myself, I took a step forward.

"You perv," I snapped.

I was tired of guys like Buzz thinking it was okay to disrespect women, and if his friends were anything like him, I knew there was going to be a problem. A scowl graced my lips, though Finn was up to the challenge and playfully smirked at me.

We were just a foot apart, but our heated stare-off was suddenly interrupted.

"Hey," a loud voice barked.

All four of our heads swiftly turned in the direction of the culprit. It just so happened to be Benny, the very guy I'd been hoping to avoid tonight.

"Just great," I muttered under my breath.

I half expected him to join in on the other boys troubling me. However, he had a vicious glare set onto them. I practically shivered.

"What are you doing?" Benny demanded, clenching his jaw and stepping in front of Finn.

Despite being half a foot shorter than Benny, the British boy let out an unruly laugh, knowing that he had an advantage. After all, there were three of them and only two of us.

"I thought I asked you a question." Benny pushed his shoulder with one finger.

His physical action arose a certain hostility in the air that made me tense up. Immediately, the smiles slipped off the other boys' faces. It was clear Benny didn't come to play.

"Why? You screwing her too?" Lance, the blond one, asked with a smirk.

I gaped in outrage at the horrible accusation, while his friends boisterously laughed. Benny reacted so swiftly that even I jumped. He snatched onto the collar of Lance's ironed polo shirt. The boys fell silent, staring at Benny in shock. They hadn't expected him to try anything against three guys. Then again, Antonio was notorious for winning fist fights and this was his best friend.

"Mess with her again, you're dead," Benny scowled threateningly.

Lance audibly gulped.

"Okay, okay," he frantically wheezed, his face reddening. "We didn't mean any trouble, I swear!"

After a moment's contemplation, Benny decided to drop Lance. The skinny boy scrambled backwards into his friends, a terrified look on his face.

"Private school kids," Benny sneered, giving them all a cold look before turning around.

The other boys gawked at his departing figure. Meanwhile, Benny looked at me with an impatient look.

"You coming?"

I stared at him in surprise before coming to my senses and running to catch up with him. When I glanced back, the private school boys were leaving.

"Hey, Benny," I looked up at his tall figure in a mixture of awe and regret. We stopped walking in the middle of the parking lot. "I'm sorry for being rude to you the other day. You were a guest, and I had no right speaking to you like that. I'm sorry."

I nervously played with my fingers. This moment could go two ways, and odds were not in my favor.

"No need," Benny said, after spending a moment staring at me. "I was acting like a jerk. You're a good person."

There was a slightly awkward silence and I shoved my hands into my pockets. Meanwhile, he played with his baseball cap.

"Look, my dad's happy right now," he breathed. "Jo's good for him. I don't wanna jeopardize it."

"I don't wanna jeopardize it either," I hastily nodded. I stared at him hesitantly after a small moment. "Friends?"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," he shook his head and continued walking.

I wasn't all that surprised and chuckled, catching up to him.

"Thanks for having my back, Benny," I quietly said as we headed back to the others.

He said nothing and we split up. I ran off towards my friends surrounded by the bonfire. Benny's eyes remained trained on my back before he eventually stalked off towards his own set of friends. He and Antonio exchanged a bro-shake.

There was a small smile on my face. Maybe Benny wasn't so bad after all. Could this be the start of a new friendship?

Who knew what else the night had in store.

• • •

i'm so happy the spring break is here

QOTC: what country are u in
AOTC: canada🇨🇦

thank u for 2k reads, i love you all so much!!

luv, emmanuela<3