The next week passes in a blur.

The team won the semi finals round and we advanced to finals. We play our rivals, the Steinborn Steelers, this Friday. Then, win or lose, we get a week of freedom for Thanksgiving break.

I hope we win or else it will be a very unpleasant break in my house.

I sit in history, mindlessly copying my notes when something hits my head.

I shake it off as an annoying bug and go back to writing. A few moments later I get hit again. And again. After shaking my head angrily a crumpled piece of paper falls out of my hair.

Without having to question it, I turn to scowl at Ashton three rows behind me, this is the only shared class we don't sit next to each other in. I didn't ask him about the party again or the one that was held last Friday. He went to the last one for a solid five minutes before leaving, even though he begged me to come again.

What? I mouth to him.

Hi. He winks before turning back to his notes.

The teacher moves on before I can finish copying the notes. Great. After class Ashton meets me in the hall to walk to the gym for practice. To say I'm annoyed at his little communication stunt would be an understatement. I punch him in the stomach as hello.

He grunts, "What the hell was that for?"

I give him my nicest smile, "That was for making me miss the notes."

He recovers and throws his arm around my shoulder, a now standard position for us to be in. I've learned to deal with it without completely cringing each time. I'm not a physical touch person.

"But I missed you." He whines, pulling me closer to him.

I huff in annoyance, deciding I'm no longer angry after smelling him. "We have five classes together, Ashton. You couldn't go 45 minutes without talking to me?"

He gives me a very serious look, "No, I could not."

I chuckle, leaving him to go get changed for cheer. What a drama queen.

*****

Heading out to the field, I hear hushed voices from the stairwell. Being the curious person I am, I choose to investigate. The voices sound familiar, a guy and a girl, arguing over something.

"You have to stay with me, please. Just until you win state." The girl begs, I swear she sounds familiar.

"No, Avery, I don't want to be in a relationship with you."

It's James and Avery. Holy shit! James and Avery are fighting.

My cousin is currently begging her boyfriend to stay with her. I step closer to hear better.

"Why, so you can go be with that half bred bitch?" She snaps.

It takes me a moment to realize she's talking about Stella. Rarely people comment about the fact she's biracial, considering the features are on the subtle side. I flex my fist, considering the consequences of just butting into the conversation to punch her.

It would probably lead to an awkward conversation about eavesdropping. Thankfully James beats me to it with a response.

"Stella is an amazing person, Avery. I'm ending this because you aren't. You treat everyone like trash, including your own family."

She doesn't say anything so he continues, clearly he's getting some things off his chest. After dating Avery for over three years I can imagine there's a lot.

"Your own cousins lost their parents, your aunt and uncle, and you could care less. You torment Scarlett. Trash talk Sage. Have Conner try to bully the twins. And you terrify Saffron, a seven year old. I can't be with someone so heartless."

I'm not sure what I was expecting but it certainly wasn't that. No one's ever stood up for us besides Ella and Stella. No one's ever told Avery just how shitty she is to us. James King is an amazing person.

I hope he dates Stella.

"Please! No one can know you left me before the game James." Avery sniffles, she's crying for her threatened popularity.

James ends a three year long relationship and all she cares about is where she stands on the social scale. Why didn't he breakup with her sooner?

"Goodbye, Avery. I'll be by your place later to get my things." James informs her before walking away.

Oh snap. He's headed this way.

I panic trying to find a place to hide, with no other option I dart outside. Sprinting to gain some distance, I shift into a casual walk. Hopefully I pass as an innocent bystander.

"Hey, Scarlett, wait up!" James calls after me, busted.

I stop, a smile forming on my face. Maybe he'll remember all the things he said in my defense and be nice. "Hi, James, how are you?"

Weird. He doesn't look angry. He's smiling.

"I'm great actually. Do you know if Stella's seeing anyone right now?"

My polite smile becomes real. "My Stella?" I pretend to think, I can't make her look too available. "No, I think she's single at the moment."

Not like there was any competition. Stella may be boy crazed but she's never had a real boyfriend. James has been her only actual crush.

"Great!"

I do a little happy dance in my head as we walk down to the field together. They are going to be so cute.

Feeling brave, I decide to mention Avery. "So I take it you won't be at Thanksgiving dinner this year." I mean for it to be a question but it comes out more like a statement.

"Nope." He looks up to the sky, as if trying to decide something. "Look, Scarlett, I'm really sorry for never trying to stop Avery. She was and still is terrible to you and your family and I wanted you to know that was part of the reason I ended things."

Now I really feel bad for eavesdropping, I wasn't expecting a full blown apology. Guilt eats away at his casual expression.

"You can't change Avery, she'll always be like that. I appreciate your apology though, I just hope you're happy." Somehow, even after three years with the evil queen, he's managed to keep his heart.

The guilt is replaced with a wide smile. He gives me an unexpected hug, lifting me off my feet. Surprisingly, I feel a pang of disappointment that he's not Ashton. He puts me down and begins to jog away with a new found joy in his step.

"Hey, James!" I call after him and he stops, "You hurt Stella and I'll kick your ass."

He gives me a very serious look, "Trust me, I know."

I finish my walk to the field with a smile on my face. I see Ashton waiting for me in our usual spot but he's not very happy. The glare on his face causes my smile to falter. 

Before I could even say anything he brushes by me, not even bothering to apologize. "Ashton, where are you going?"

"Away from you." He calls back, not bothering to turn around.

What the hell?

Stella and Ella make their way over to me, I'm to confused over Ashton to say hello or even move. I didn't do anything wrong. Unless he's suddenly mad that I was annoyed with him earlier, which is unlikely since I'm always annoyed with him. That's how we work.

Stella snaps her finger in front of my face, finally snapping my eyes from Ashton's retreating figure. "What?"

"Mom wants you guys to come over for dinner tonight."

A smile fills my face at the thought of Kim's cooking. We try to go over once every couple weeks to each of the girls houses. Their parents like to check in on us and I like to not cook.

It's a win win.

"Good, we can talk then." I tell them and boy do we need to talk.

*****

Two hours later the five of us are seated at the Hollens dining room table, the only one big enough to fit everyone. I honestly have no idea why a family of four bought a table that could seat twelve comfortably but it's helpful.

She made lasagna and as I bite into it I'm so happy I could cry. There's a constant chatter of the usual questions. How's school? How's life?

"Saffron, is that little boy still messing with you?" Jacob, Stella's dad, asks.

She huffs out a yes and we all laugh at her. I'm content just eating as I listen to those around me talk, trying to make sense of Ashton's abrupt behavior.

"Scarlett, when are we going to meet your boyfriend?" Kim asks, shoveling seconds onto Ella's still full plate. She's insistent that Ella needs to eat more.

I wince, glancing at her and Jacob. I can see that they think we're an item and are hurt I didn't tell them myself. I would never do that, they're ike my second set of parents, along with Ella's. I tell them everything important. Not that I live a very eventful life.

"Oh, no, he's definitely not my boyfriend." I inform them bluntly, my politeness falling short.

Ella and Stella both give me a confused look. Thankfully, Stella saves me from further conversation. "See, Momma, I told you she was still single."

Kim looks at us teenagers with a very determined glint in her eye. "You children need to get out there. At this rate I will have no grandchildren. It's bad enough Sage and Ella continue to play their game." Sage chokes on his drink and Ella turns bright red. "You need to live. I know it's difficult but I saw that boy. If you're not dating then he wants to be."

After her very embarrassing speech she continues to eat. The one thing I love most about her was that she always told the truth. I only wish she was right.Once we're chased from the kitchen with a towel for trying to help cleanup, us four girls wind up in Stella's room. They boys all off in the basement playing Madden.

Before I can even sit on the bed I'm bombarded with questions.

"What's wrong with you?" Stella demands, slamming her door.

"Why do you seem angry?" Ella questions, taking a gentler approach to my attitude.

I lay down on her black bedspread and let out a long overdue sigh. I really hate life sometimes.

"Avery and James broke up, well more specifically he broke up with her." I go over the details from what I heard, leaving out the comment. Somethings your friends just don't need to know.

After they process the information Ella gives me a confused look. "Why is that a bad thing?"

"It's not, I just wanted to start with some good news. Miss Stella Grace will have a boyfriend by the end of this week." They both let out a squeal. It was great news, even though Thanksgiving dinner this year will probably be extra torturous. I'm willing to handle that if it means Stella will be happy.

"Ok, so get to the bad part." Ella commands, Stella too lost in dreamland to say anything.

"Ashton, for some unknown reason, got all rude with me and now isn't talking to me." I snapchatted and texted him, momentarily forgetting my pride. He didn't respond.

"Oh, he's probably upset James hugged you." Ella says like it's the most obvious solution.

I stare at her like she's an idiot. "Why would he care? We aren't dating and he gets to hug me whenever he wants." That's a rare honor, he has no reason to pitch a fit.

This snaps Stella from her daze since Ashton and I are her new favorite topic.

She picks up a pillow from her bed and starts hitting me, "You're so dense, Scarlett Rain. That boy likes you!" It would hurt a lot worse if Stella had any muscle, luckily she doesn't. Maybe she really does need Sage's workout routine.

I fling a pillow back at her, missing and hitting one of her many rows of vinyl records. Whoops.

One thing I should mention is that Stella is a music fanatic. She has everyone from the Beatles to Halsey to Drake on record. On command she can tell you when and where the song was recorded, who wrote it, and where it topped on the charts. It's scary. She also has three guitars and a keyboard in her room.

Her mother wanted her children to be musically inclined. Stella, being the rebellious child she is, chose the electric guitar over the violin. I remember the day Kim found out, she cried.

She shoots me a warning glare as she fixes the records. She's also a neat freak. If it's not clean she won't stop until it's fixed. She hates coming to my house, I love it. I always get a clean house in the end.

We bicker some more and Saffron listens quietly, eventually she goes over and starts to play a tune on the piano. Our dad was a drummer in the good old days and mom wanted us to experience all forms of art so we play.

We stop bickering to watch her. Ella whipping out her phone to start recording. Stella and I go over and pick up guitars, recognizing the tune as something I wrote a little over a year ago.

Sage is the real composer but this is a lullaby I created for Saffron. After we moved back into our house she was having difficulty adjusting, so one night around midnight I sat her down and began to play. She fell asleep instantly and has loved the melody ever since.

We play for a few minutes. I never added words to the song, instead I just hummed along. After we finish we all give Saffron a round of applause. She giggles and bows for us. Clearly enjoying the attention.

"Can I play that for the showcase?" Stella asks, putting her guitars back on the wall.

I blink, not sure I heard her correctly. Stellas mom eventually got her into a piano class and every year she has a big recital. This year she's planning on getting noticed by one of the big music schools for a scholarship.

"You want to play my song?" I ask incredulously, making sure I heard her right.

"Yup. I mean I would want you to add words but it's beautiful."

I purse my lips, "I don't know... I'll think about it."

Thankfully she doesn't push the subject, instead she gives me a small smile, "I understand."

The song is twisted in a way, I wrote it starting in a dark place. I was listing all the pain and sorrow we were feeling, all the emptiness. At the end it gets better but there's still an uncertainty in the tone. I was so sad when I wrote it, not knowing when we would get better.

It's personal.

*****

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