"I'M TIRED AS HELL," Chloe yawned, putting her face in her hands. We were all sitting in the reception, and Evan had disappeared to get us our room keys. Nobody talked much after the beach, especially Evan and I-and the tiredness made me feel like my sanity was not a part of me anymore. The more I talked to him, the more at peace I became-but never knowing what anyone's true intentions were anymore, my heart wasn't ready to be scathed so soon.

I blamed my lack of interaction on the silver wave of exhaustion on my limbs. Everybody was barely conscious, and we did look like we had survived an apocalypse, so we chose to rest for the night and call it a day.

Evan came striding down to us, waving a bunch of keys. He threw two bunches of them to Raymond and Xavier respectively, and the key plopped off the former's body. Xavier caught it one hand and muttered the bare minimum, eyes glossed.

"Divide yourselves."

Nobody wanted to do the math.

The conclusions for potential roommates surfaced ten minutes too late, and nobody had it in them to fight when we bumbled up the staircases. Stella and I shared a room, and Chloe had one all to herself, right in front of ours. She had already promised us that she'd visit us in a while, before winking and strutting down the other side of the hallway.

Evan seemed all too happy, grinning when I apologized for bumping into him on accident.

"Call me if you need anything."

I had nodded, grabbing Stella's hand and entering our room. I had figured that I could get ready to sleep-even though it was nowhere near my bedtime at 7:30 P.M.-but the fatigue was toying with my senses, almost making me seem drunk. But before I could pull the duvet over my head and compensate for the numerous midnight endeavors in the past, Stella plopped herself right next to me.

She had different plans.

"It's not nighttime, girl," she grinned. "and you aren't sleeping."

I opened my mouth to retort back, but the door opening stole my attention away. Chloe had walked right in, too many snacks in her hands. "We also have to go get dinner, remember? Priorities, my love."

I rolled my eyes, shifting to make space for them. Chloe pushed the bag of chips in my face when Stella swatted her arm away, eyes deadly. "Laura, tell me: how has this school and city been to you?"

I rose an eyebrow. Funny enough, I had thought about this question every day my nightmares took a turn-and for the better. "Good! I didn't think I'd make any friends," I laughed, "but here we are, I guess."

"Damn right. And we-"

My phone started to ring. It was Evan.

I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes, since we had last met less than an hour ago. What could he possibly want now? "Hello?"

"Hey," he spoke, and it oddly felt as though he was smiling. "Sorry for calling, but I just wanted to tell you that we are going to play a game of billiards downstairs before dinner. You guys want to join?"

Billiards. I tugged at the hem of my sweatshirt, eyes darting between Stella and Chloe. They were staring at me exactly how children would stare at their parents if they refused to give them candy.

"Uh, well. . ." I was not an excellent billiards player, but seemed to be pretty decent. It was strung to my family's get-togethers, especially the ones on my mom's side-those folks never missed a chance to play billiards when given an opportunity. But something in me didn't want to play, so I distanced the phone from my ear and asked the girls in front of me.

They agreed.

"We'll join you guys," and then laughed softly. "For moral support."

"You don't feel like playing, or you don't want to play?" he paused, and then laughed. "Or, you don't know how to."

His little remark didn't go unnoticed. When I didn't reply, he continued with an undertone to his words. "I can teach you, if you want."

"I do know how to play," I glared at the table lamp to my right. "Why do you always have to challenge me to things?"

"I never challenged you," he said with an edge to his words, and I could picture the glint in his eyes every time he got on my nerves even slightly. "But I wouldn't mind a challenge."

There was something about the conversations I had with him which made me feel as though I was walking on bright embers. "I would mind, very much so."

He just laughed, a deep-sounding voice resonating far and beyond. "See you in ten, Edwards. Good luck."

▂

Good luck, that idiot had said-and for the right reasons. I really was against him, both in the game and morals. Who in hell made bets on winning a game of billiards?

I still didn't understand how I agreed to this chaos of a game, but the rules seemed clear-and downright bizarre. Whoever loses owes the other person something.

I checked the boundaries this ghastly bet was set on, and apparently, he wouldn't have suggested anything inappropriate even if his life depended on it. That had just made me roll my eyes, but if this was what it had come to, I wasn't losing.

We were almost halfway through the game, and Evan was terrifyingly competent-doing nothing to calm the billion nerves treating this situation as a fight-or-flight situation. I had first struck the solid ball, letting the striped one roll into his court. Currently, we were equal.

We had had four balls in the pockets respectively, and now there were six balls on the table-three for both of us. Stella met my eye for a split second, and managed muttering you got this before I fixated my attention onto him again. Evan adjusted his posture and the cue stick, aligning them like perfect constellations. Before playing, however, he looked up. And smiled.

I sighed as the ball rolled into the pocket.

The game continued until only the queen remained on the table, waiting for me to take my turn. I exhaled and chalked my cue stick, eyes faltering between the board and the guys. The girls were standing still, but from what it seemed Stella was aching to play table tennis the second this got over. Sean and Leo had wandered off to the arcade section, but Raymond and Xavier's eyes remained glued on us.

This had no right being this dramatic.

I breathed, regained my composure, and met Evan's stare. He was simply staring with the slightest bit of disinterest, messing his curls just the same.

If anything, he knew damn well how to get on my nerves.

Something felt off when I took position, so I tried readjusting. I lined up the cue ball and the blackball, and something still felt off. It wasn't lining up, at least in my head-and it was beyond frustrating how he was trying to help me after letting me get wound up in this.

"You aren't focusing."

I lifted my eyes to see Evan, examining me with no expressions. He came nearer, and just lifted my hand from where it was to a spot adjacent to it. "Don't lift it, and focus."

A bead of sweat rolled down my spine as I pushed the cue stick forward, time almost freezing.

The ball didn't even near the goal.

There was a unified sigh from the people standing across the table, making me drop my stare to the floor. Evan walked over to me, nudged me only slightly, before whispering, "Where's your focus when you need it?"

"Congratulations, Evan," I gave him a glare, and then walked haughtily on my heels to Stella and Chloe. Xavier bobbed his head and gave me a little thumbs up, while Raymond started looking through his phone. Fools or not, at least everyone was rooting for me.

As we started walking towards the exist, though, footsteps on the marble interrupted us all-and then the unknown voice that followed.

"Good game, really."

I had never seen this guy. His blonde hair was messed all over his forehead, eyes fixated on Evan, hands still on his sides. I didn't know him at all, yet something about him spoke differently.

"How've you been doing, Evan Parker?"

It was almost as if his name was venom on his tongue. I observed the tenseness sitting on Evan's shoulders, attention unnerving. "What are you doing here?"

The guy now smiled at him, which almost looked like mockery. "Oh, you know. Enjoying the weekend and all that. Nice resort your father has got in here, Parker."

Evan was indifferent, it was evident, yet the air was thick and tense with something I couldn't pin-point. The guy stood there for a while, analyzing everybody in the room before looking at me. It was strange how my mind wanted to conjure up things about him-he seemed oddly as someone close to Evan, making me expect nothing but tomfoolery and sarcasm out of this meeting.

I waited for them to burst out laughing, but it never happened. Maybe they weren't on good terms, after all, and I wasn't in a place to be jumping to conclusions.

"How have you been?"

I was thrown off the edge, because I had never seen him, nor did I know him. And Evan was aware of how uncomfortable I had grown, because he interjected the conversation before it could take place. "What do you want, Jayden?"

Jayden. The name made no bells ring in my head.

"Sorry," he muttered quickly, eyes gluing on me. "I might've mistaken you for someone else."

"I'm just leaving," he began, a smile stretching on his lips. "Enjoy your stay, Parker."

He did leave, and all that remained was a wave of awkwardness behind. I tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear, catching up to Evan who had started to wrap up the game by putting the things at their place. "Who was that?"

"Jayden."

No shit, I was about to reply sharply, but held my tongue when Xavier motioned for me to stop. Evan proceeded to arrange things how they were, before turning around and smiling at me. "But hey, guess what?"

"What?"

He twisted the ring on his index finger, smile potent. "Looks like you owe me a little something."

And I didn't like that one bit.

▂

On Monday, things remained fairly exhausting. We had reached home by the late afternoon of Sunday, and I had immediately fallen asleep, ruining the already screwed sleep schedule I had made for myself. Monday was also the day I was supposed to be at practice, and the exhaustion of the trip catching up exactly at that moment did more harm than good.

And when I dropped my sports bag on the bleachers, my predictions of how bad this was going to be came into life.

"Laura, six laps around the court!"

Evan had shouted my way. There was no point in negotiating, so I started sprinting after passing him a very defeated look. My thighs were burning because obviously-running did that, but especially to me. It was the biggest downfall I had, something which could lead to my doom-playing basketball and being an absolute shit-show at running.

I finished my laps with non-existent strength and wobbly legs, immediately collapsing on the benches in front. When I had only begun to think I was doing well, someone had walked up with other plans.

"Hey, hey, two more laps, okay?"

It was Ciara.

"I'm in the team, believe it or not," she said, eyes crinkling. "Sorry, but the practices have to be harsh, you know."

Let me breathe for a second, I thought. God, this is awful.

It was so awful that it made me feel alive, and that's why I couldn't give up.

"I took the six he told me to," I said, panting. "Two. . .more?"

"Everybody here takes ten. Before and after the workout. I think you can do eight."

I couldn't hide my surprise, getting up from my seat again. Before I could point to where Evan was in the crowd, he was already walking towards us with steely gaze.

His eyes slightly wavered between me and Ciara before they landed completely on her. "Looks like you two already know each other," he breathed and looked my way, "you can take two more laps, too."

I didn't speak up, but gave him a look he understood all-too well.

"Ciara here doesn't go about telling people to take laps. She is made to," he said, a glint of satire in his voice. "You need to listen to her."

"Oh, I will," I said, smiling politely. The tilt of his lips made me furious, yet I waited for him to change the outcome.

He didn't.

"Don't make me repeat myself, Edwards."

I didn't spare him a single glance after finishing up with my laps.

The practices were tedious and consuming before they even began. The test matches happened after everybody had drained at least seventy percent of their energy, and yet they managed to play shockingly well. When I finally got free, people were dispersing out of the court for their respective classes. Not only did this take a lot of time, but also exhausted me for the rest of the day so bad, that now I just wanted to sleep. Maybe this made me feel more dead than alive-

"You'll get used to it," it was Ciara who had interjected my thoughts, "Coach tends to do hardcore training, almost, and it gets altered way too much. Don't let your body get used to it."

She smiled. I didn't know her well enough, but I appreciated this. "Thank you, Ciara."

"Don't worry about it," she waved at me once, and then she was gone.

After the practice, the whole day was an attempt to not fall asleep. When the last period rolled, I saw Evan standing by my locker. It almost made me laugh, since the last time I had seen him there was the first time we had ever met-and I knew how that went down.

"How's your day going?"

I diverted my attention for him for a splitting second, before rolling my eyes. "Amazing."

His eyes peeked from above the locker door. "Tone down those sarcastic remarks a little, Edwards. I knew you'd be mad at me. What a shame, honestly, I'm starting to understand how your mind works."

"Leave me alone."

"Cristo," he tapped my shoulder. "Laura? So mad, just because I made you come to practice?"

"I'm not mad," I began, and then sighed. He noticed how I wasn't going to continue, because I had no idea what to say anymore.

"Hey, you don't need to come to the next one, okay? I understand how it can be a little too much at times-Coach has no chill."

He was laughing. And whenever he did laugh, it took everything in me to not completely sidetrack from the conversation. It was distinctly boyish, cute, and wholehearted. I couldn't help but crack a smile.

"I think I hate the concept of running more than I hate you, so you should be fine."

He shook his head and grinned, closing the locker door for me. "Mhm, I guess I'll take that."

▂

"You never told me about your trip."

Liam was munching away on an apple, leaning on the kitchen slab as I walked right in the house. He wasn't supposed to be at home from what I knew, but here he was.

"Dude, do you ever go to college?"

"One day isn't a harm," he replied lazily, eyes dropping to his phone before rising back up. "So, the trip?"

"It was amazing," I said honestly, before sighing as I sat on the sofa. "Have you forgotten you're the mature one in this house?"

"That's a very descriptive way to put it, dummy, and I am the mature one. I didn't have classes today. Chill."

I hummed, grabbing a bag of chips from one of the drawers. He proceeded to walk out of the kitchen, in his hands a plate with two toasts. "Anyway, mom was saying she's coming this week. She didn't specify the day, though."

"Finally," I breathed, a huge smile overtaking my lips. "I'll get to have dad's amazingly cooked meals."

Liam was, indeed, offended-hazel eyes sharp and jaw taut. "I cook way better than he ever can."

I mimicked him, trying to get my voice as deep as possible. "I cook way better-he would've been offended to a point of disowning you."

"That still doesn't beat the incident when he once burnt-"

The doorbell ringing slashed right through his words, making both of us equally alarmed. Unless we had dumped the garbage on the neighbor's door, people refrained from visiting us. It was bizarre for the bell to ring in peak afternoon, with sun out and about.

Liam scrunched his face, a form of inquiring if my friends had decided to show up. I shook my head exasperatedly, and then gave him a stupid glare.

There was another ring.

I shot up from where I was sitting, crept slowly to the doorstep, and then whispered to Liam only half-jokingly, "Grab the pepper spray."

He nodded. And when I let the door fly open, the immediate regret filled my lungs like a noxious substance.

"I feel so welcomed, kids."

• • •

author's note :

hey! i hope you liked this one. i love you guys, you're golden <3