05 | confused

"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if only one remembers to turn on the light."

a l i x

"That was a drag," I yawned and stretched as we were dismissed. My first group therapy wasn't so bad as I thought. It did help to make me some friends as Cara – Mrs. Reynolds said.

"I could use some pizza now," Chase stated, showing that he was starving from all that grumbling in his stomach.

"Quit grumbling!" I complained, annoyed by the sound his stomach kept on playing like a broken record.

"Shut up," he grumbled. "I can't control it."

"Logan, you tagging along?" Ryan asked while Logan was busy having his head buried in a book. Logan is a extremely shy guy and a book worm. He always had a book with him.

"Oh, yeah, sure, let me just finish this paragraph," he said as he looked up from his book, then continued back to his reading.

"Typical Logan," Ryan scoffed. We were already walking out the room, side by side.

"I'm done!" I heard Logan slamming the book together. "Wait up!" He tried catching up by running behind us.

"W-what took you so long?" I questioned.

"Oh, I-I started reading another chapter." He blushed, looking down on the ground as if he was embarrassed.

"Anyway couple of the year, I'm starving!" Ryan grinned. I've heard that before.

As we walked by the front desk, I looked at Miss Scarlett who worked at the desk and waved at her, saying, "Bye Miss Scarlett!"

"Goodbye dear!" She looked up from her work with a wave and friendly smile. She's an old friend of Cara, or so I heard.

"Huh, that's weird, she's usually an old miserable hag," Chase murmured. My head snapped up at him for saying such a thing about a nice lady. But you don't expect much less from him.

"That was rude!" Logan surprisingly said something I didn't expect from him.

"Do something about it, freak," Chase looked angrily at him, scaring him. Logan's head was once again facing the ground, his hair falling over his face.

"It's alright buddy," Ryan rubbed his back, trying to cheer him up. "You know how he is already, nothing new."

"Whatever." Logan mumbled. With that, Chase snickered.

"You're disgusting, Chase." I grumbled angrily, not having a care what I said to him. Why would you call someone that that didn't even bother you?

"What? Say that again?" Chase cupped his hand over his ear and leaned in.

I felt pissed at him for saying that to a friend. I was ready to launch at him and attack but before I had a chance, I felt someone holding my upper arm. It was Ryan's hand and he looked at me, shaking his head "It isn't worth it."

"I thought so," Chase snickered.

"Don't start Chase," Ryan hissed, sending a death glare to Chase as we went through the front door. Ryan was just as pissed as I was and he held me back. I guess what he was trying to say that a few smacks wouldn't solve anything. I'd gladly do it either way if I was held back or not.

I spotted my aunt parked in the middle of the parking lot. "Alix!" She smiled with a wave.

"Um.. I'll be right back guys." I jogged away from them to my aunt. What made her so happy today? Huh.

"So I see you made some friends!" She seemed very excited that did because I wasn't that kind of person who socialized very well. But I'll make a few exceptions.

"Yeah, they're nice," I gave a smug smile. "We're going out for pizza, so could I go or..?"

"Sure! Just make sure no messing around though," Jane displayed a serious look on her face. Immediately I was scared for a split second and I promised I wasn't going to.

"Be back by eight! Have fun!" She yelled happily out the window as she drove off. I sucked in a breath and felt thankful that she gave me permission to go out for some pizza. Finally I could be a normal teenage girl for once.

"You have a very eccentric mother." I heard Ryan say. I turned my head immediately to look at him for saying that.

"My mother," I mumbled.

"Oh shit, I forgot. Go-od, I'm sorry, I hope I didn't upset you Ali-" He stopped right there and took a look at my face. I didn't reply to his rambling. I just kept quiet.

"Are you coming Alix?" Ryan asked awkwardly as one foot was already in the front seat. I nodded and ran fast enough to arrive before anyone else could at the passengers seat.

"Oh, y-yeah, right!" I tried to sound as happy as I could.

I caught a glance of Logan looking at me worriedly, sliding into the backseat.

"Idiot." I heard Chase mumble underneath his breath. Buckling in, Ryan roared his pick-up truck alive.

A few minutes later, we were almost to the place where they had the pizza. I had not a clue where it was or how it tasted. But how Ryan described it should be.

"I think I'm going to he sick." I looked at the back seat to see Chase's head on Logan's lap with his hand clenching his stomach.

"Why didn't you say you had motion sickness?" I asked.

"It's none of your business." Chase managed to say from the sickness he had from his stomach.

"Don't get your guts on my jeans!" By the looks of Logan's face, he was surely scared because he didn't know when Chase was going to let it all out in him. "They're new and I paid for them!"

"I can if I want," Chase gagged. As Chase said that, they started arguing and bickering at each other. It was like hearing two girls fighting over a boy they liked.

"I thought you had motion sickness!" Ryan spoke up, his eyes still on the road. He was annoyed, just like I was. "Shut up, both of you!"

It was quiet soon afterwards. "I'm tired of your arguing. You're not going to get anywhere with this so shut the hell up and shove a dick in your goddamn holes."

They both looked bewildered that Ryan had said that and I wasn't going to stop him from continuing. But he didn't continue. He stopped right there and it was too quiet. The silence was almost deafening.

"I'm sorry," Logan apologized. Chase looked like some demon that was summoned from hell itself. He was beyond pissed.

"Sorry for this," And right after that, he let it all out on the car's floor. Logan managed to move fast enough to the get to the end of the car seat so that he could avoid Chase.

"You almost got my shoes!" Logan cried out like a 4 year old.

I glanced at Ryan to see him tightening his grip on the steering wheel. "You got your vomit on my car mat?" Ryan asked casually.

"Uh," Chase stammered. Chase was scared of someone and that was Ryan without a doubt.

"I'm fine. I'm just fine," Ryan took a look at me with a smirk on his face. What was he up to? "Right after I kill this goddamned fucker!"

He took his hands off the wheel and unbuckled his seatbelt without hesitation and launched at Chase. "Are you crazy Ryan! The wheel!" Chase choked out as Ryan collared him.

I unbuckled my seatbelt and stretched over to the drivers seat to take the wheel. My heart was pounding out of my chest at this moment. There was nothing to worry about Alix, you took lessons for these kind of situations.

"You're going to clean up this right after I'm done with you!" Ryan raged at the back, still giving Chase a few punches.

"We're all gonna die," Logan trembled in the corner of the car door.

"No we are not!" I said with determination and steered the car as you heard the screeching from the wheels. It was very out of character for me to act this way actually. Luckily, there weren't a lot of cars to avoid. The car spun as I spotted the pizza place we were going to, I assumed.

I parked with ease in the middle of the parking lot, hoping to not draw any attention to anyone. Especially the cops.

"You little-" I stopped Ryan as he was about to give Chase another punch by placing just a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to look at me with an angry expression on his face. But that didn't stop me.

"Stop." I practically begged. Chase's eyes were tightened and closed due to the fact he was being beaten to death by some tall muscular guy. He was nothing compared to Ryan.

"This isn't the end," Ryan scowled, climbing back to the front seat.

"This isn't the end," Chase mocked Ryan. That wasn't a smart move, was it?

"What did you say?" Ryan asked Chase and he heard it for sure.

"I said you're the best guy in the world!" Chase nervously said with a laugh.

"Stuck up," Logan laughed.

"What did you say?" Chase turned to Logan with a strained furious look worn on his face.

"I said you're a great guy," I could tell Logan's heart was beating speedily, due to the fact he was fragile and he couldn't fight back. But he had some fight in him.

"Sorry about that," Ryan apologized to me.

"Hey! Why didn't you apologize to me?" Chase groaned. "I'm the one that you choked!"

"I couldn't care less," Ryan grumbled.

"It's whatever." I shrugged with a unhappy smile. Although we almost died, we just brushed it off like it never happened.

"I'm gonna go get cleaned up," Chase walked off with his hands in his pockets. "I'll meet up with you guys later."

I sighed, hearing my stomach grumble. "Let's go and eat before we straight up cannibalize each other."

"Sounds good to me," Logan grinned as we approached to the restaurant. The scent of the grease from the pizza hit my face, making me even more hungrier than before. We walked over to an empty table together, seated in comfortable leather seats.

"So, Alix," Ryan started, seated on the seat in front of me along with Logan beside him, "you've never been here before, huh?"

"That's right," I wonder how I've never been anywhere near here. All I been doing was to stay locked up in my room instead of going out in the outside world, studying my arse off while listening to music.

"So since you're a vegetarian, what're you gonna order?" Ryan asked, tapping his foot under the table.

"I want a burger.."

"A plain burger? Not a veggie burger?" Logan asked confusingly. "I thought you were a vegetarian, well as you said."

"I don't know.. I'm just craving for meat at the moment," I shrugged.

They all exchanged looks before speaking up. "Well that's not weird at all," Ryan chuckled.

"Sorry if I weirded you out." I mentally face palmed myself, getting quickly flustered.

"Did I miss anything?" Chase popped up and slid on the seat to me.

"Did you have to sit beside me?" I mumbled, sighing.

"Aw princess, cheer up," he wrapped his arm around me, pulling me in.

"Your cologne is burning my nose," I choked out. I stared down on the seat with tinted pink cheeks, hoping to hide them but his grasp was a different story.

"Mhm, take it all in." I heard him inhale. His grasp got tighter as I tried to pull away from him.

"Would you let go of her?" Ryan glowered.

"Nope." He wrapped his arms around me. If I wanted anything right now it was to be released by this person.

"Please..." I struggled to free from his grasp. Just what is he trying to pull?

"Why won't you let her go?" Logan demanded. I couldn't see anyone because my face was buried in his chest.

"Because," Chase chuckled, "she's my date now."

"I don't follow," Logan confessed.

"There's a reason for this," Chase snapped. "Now shut it."

I decided to just give up because I was very curious on what he was up to. "That's right, now keep still."

"Good evening young ones." I heard a lady greet. Naturally, I wanted to see but my head was still not visible. "Um...sir, I think you're suffocating your girlfriend."

As Chase heard that, he loosened his grip and I was now able to fix the position of myself to see properly. "H-he's not my boyfriend!" I exclaimed, blushing.

"Don't fight it," Chase smirked, slowly pulling my body in closer.

"Anyway, could we order now?" Ryan asked impatiently. I felt very uncomfortable with Chase's grasp around me because I was very stiff. After we all finally ordered, I caught the sight of Logan laying his head on the table.

"Is there something wrong Logan?" I examined the expression on his face.

"I'm just hungry," Logan shrugged, twisting his hair with his finger.

"Well, we're gonna get our orders soon," I tried by saying that to at least lighten the mood. By the looks of him, there was surely something else other than being hungry.

"There's nothing wrong with him," Chase snapped. "You could pay attention to your boyfriend instead."

"B-boyfriend?" I exclaimed, glancing up at him. "Just what makes you think I'll be your girlfriend?"

"I know you'd love to," Chase smirked.

A girl approached the table and I assumed it would be the waitress. As I was about to thank for the food, there wasn't any, her attire was nothing close to the uniform. She didn't work here.

"Chase!" The girl happily said. "I never thought I'd bump into you here!"

"I could say the same," Chase lowly mocked her. The water was a murky color but now it was crystal clear. I could see everything now; what was his goal, his plan.

Even thought it was clear to me, I was confused. I thought his girlfriend died in a car crash which made him unable to speak. Maybe it was one of his previous girlfriends?

"I hate this.." I grumbled quietly to him. He looked down at me with a blank expression on his face, showing that he heard me.

"Uh." She laughed nervously, looking at me with an awkward expression "who's this?"

"This is Alix," Chase introduced me, rubbing my hair, "that's Layla."

I wanted to slap his hand, to tell him to stop, tell him to go away but I couldn't.

"Mind introducing us?" Ryan folded his arms.

"Aw, these little boy friends of yours are cute," Layla giggled.

"Alix is cuter than them combined anyway," Chase shrugged, making me have the urge to make his nose bleed.

"Are you calling me ugly?" Ryan blinked.

"C-can you let go of me?" I finally spoke up.

"She speaks," Layla said with an irritating tone, tugging on her skirt.

"Why don't you sit down?" Ryan offered with a friendly smile. Layla facepalmed herself and plopped down on the seat beside Ryan and Logan. I could tell Chase was getting jealous while Ryan and Layla were going rounds of flirting with each other. His hands were clenching and his grasp around me started to tense.

"Your hair does compliment your last name," Ryan examined her scarlet hair. "It's pretty too."

"Ironic huh?" She blushed. The food was right there on the table, waiting to be consumed. I wasn't able to eat because my hands were at my sides with Chase's arms around them.

"So confused.." Logan complained, eating what he ordered. Watching him eat was torture.

"Chase." His head snapped up, "I want to eat."

"I'm going to kiss you now," he whispered in my ear. "I promise I'll pay you later."

"What're you-" I looked at him confusingly. He placed his palm on the side of my face, leaning forward to my face. His lips were about to be placed on mine. I was shocked by his action, my eyes widened with surprise. I did not want him to be my first kiss. I lashed out and covered his mouth with my palm.

"Oh.." I heard Layla say with sadness. "I'm gonna go now.." Hearing her footsteps speedily walking away, I knew I needed to go to her.

"That didn't go as planned," Chase pulled away and played off his expression of physical pain with a grin on his face.

"You hurt her feelings, you idiot!" I stomped on his foot. "Don't ever use me like that again and I don't want your money!"

"Don't tell me that would've been your first kiss," Chase stared at me. "God, I'm sorry. I thought that since you're so - "

"It's fine!" I crawled over him, hoping to catch up with Layla. I jogged my way to and through the door. Almost tripping over due to how fast she was walking, I got close enough for her to hear my voice. "Layla wait!"

"Chase?" She asked with relief. "Oh, it's you."

"Look," I folded my arms, "I didn't come here to get your attitude."

"What do you want then?" Layla rolled her eyes.

"I'm just here to tell you that I'm not his girlfriend..." The thought of it made me want to pass out. "Now goodbye."

"What do you mean?" She asked quizzically as I walked off. "Wait!"

"It's not rocket science," I sighed, shaking my head.

Entering through the door once again, I spotted the seat where we was seated. I slammed the money I had to pay for the burger. "Aren't you gonna eat it?" Ryan coughed.

"I'm not hungry," I wiped my eyes from how tired I felt. "Could you bring me home now?"

"Yeah, I can drop you off," Ryan smiled, stretching his arms. Taking a glance at Chase, his head was down with his hair curtaining his face. "Let me at least pay."

"No, it's alright, I'll pay my part," I yawned, ruffling my hair.

"Nah, here," He handed my money and I just didn't bother to oppose him.

After we paid for our food, we were on my journey to our house. I was seated in the back seat this time with Chase and it was odd how his motion sickness didn't occur. No one was talking. It was dead silence. Twas' a very awkward ride beside Chase, despite the fact he used me as some doll to get someone jealous. This wasn't Chase though. He was very quiet along the ride.

"Oh.. you used her to get Layla jealous!" Logan said aloud. "Oops, I wasn't supposed to say that out loud."

"Get on with the program Logan," Ryan sighed. "You're slow for an intelligent person."

I had a strong urge to wonder what was wrong with him but it wasn't my concern anyway. I don't think I should get involved, even if I'm unsure that it is anything to get involved in.

"What the-" Ryan exclaimed, immediately using the brakes. We all heard as if someone stepped over the hood of the car. My curiosity got the best of me; I held the shoulders of the seat and had a short second to see a figure that was familiar. He immediately began to run into the forest that surrounded us.

"Get back in here Alix," Ryan demanded as I opened the door. Before I could reach outside, I felt Chase's grasp around my wrist.

"Let go of me Chase," I insisted, needing him to release me. He tightened his jaw and released my hand before I jerked my hand away from him. I stepped fully out the car and slammed the door shut. Seeing the black figure that stood closely to the opening of the forest, I stood still and examined him.

"Nate?" I glanced, shivering from the cold we experienced everyday. I know it was him. It had to be him. He turned his face, only showing the side of it with his eyes fixated on me. Not just any eyes. They were a glowing icy color.

"Is there something wrong?" I wide-eyed, due to the fact he was out here wandering around in the middle of the night and his eyes.

I stepped closer, feeling someone else's grasp around my hand, almost making me have a heart attack. "Why are you out here Alix? You should be home."

"I'm not a little girl Nicholas," I retorted. How does he always have a way to find me? "Why are you out here anyway since it's so late at night?"

"Never mind that, you need to bring your aunt with you to the pack house." He gave direct instructions.

"I.. I don't think she'll come if I tell her some guys want her at a house," I laughed softly at the thought.

"Fine, I'll get someone to get her." He wiped his face, looking like he's stressed out.

"Why do you reek of cologne?" I heard a