A/n. Hi guys, I hope you are enjoying the story so far. Just for clarification, the name Kruz is supposed to be pronounced like the word 'cruise' as in kr-oo-z. I thought that maybe some of you may be confused as to how his name is pronounced. Anyways, that's all for now. Enjoy😊

The sound of the doorbell ringing brought me out of my reverie.

I jolted up in alert and immediately regretted it as a sharp pain appeared in my back.
My whole body felt numb. That was expected seeing as I was on the ground the whole night.

I looked at the time from my clock on the nightstand. It was 5:23 in the evening.

Who could possibly be at the door at this time in the evening?

It wasn't Caroline or James. They went out pretty early this morning and came to my room only to tell me that they wouldn't be back till tomorrow then they left without another word. And even if it was them, why would they ring the doorbell?

Maybe they forgot their keys?

I got up, regrettably, and made my way down the steps. When I reached halfway down, I halted in my steps as a sudden thought came to my mind.

What if it's him? What if he's found me?

My hand started to shake voilently​ as I made my way downstairs.

I ran into the backdoor and took up a golf club that James had always left there. If it was him, I had to be prepared, even though a golf club wouldn't serve as much as a weapon of defense.

I took cautious steps towards the door and then let out a shaky breath as I stood in front of it. My heart was beating ten times faster than it usually did.

I put forward a trembling hand and turned the door knob and opened the door.

What I saw made my eyes widen. I was pretty sure that I gave off that 'dear-caught-in-headlights' look.

"Do-" he didn't get to finish because I slammed the door in his face and ran up the stairs to my room.

I immediately locked to door of my room and went into my bathroom and took a quick bath.

As soon as I came out, I raided my closet for descent clothes to wear and finally settled on a black sweatpants and a green sweater.

I quickly made my way down the stairs and halted at the door. I mentally face palmed myself.

There was no way he would still be here after I just slammed the door in his face.

Despite my thoughts, I opened the front door and was surprised to still see him standing there with three others behind him.

"Well it took you long enough" Kruz said as soon as he caught sight of the new, fresh me. "You looked like a wild boar when you opened the door"

"Shut the hell up man" Dennis said slapping his friend at the back of his head. His gaze flickered over to me. "What he meant to say was that you looked...umm...less beautiful than you...umm..than you normally do..."he said with a sheepish look as he scratched the back of his neck.

I let out a soft chuckle at his statement. It was cute that he was trying not to hurt my feelings and I appreciated it but he didn't have to lie.

"It's fine Dennis. You don't have to cover up for Kruz. I did look like a wild animal who escaped from the zoo" I gave him a small smile which he returned.

"Why weren't you at school today?" Ryder asked, his thick British accent instantly catching my attention. My gaze went over to him. His hands were stuffed into the pocket of his black jeans, making the muscles of his arms bulge out from underneath his white shirt.

He leaned against the railing on the left side of the steps that led to my porch.

His brows were furrowed as he stared at me with his blue calculating eyes.

"I-I-I was s-sick" I lied in response to his question. I couldn't reveal to them that the real reason why I was absent from school was because of I was afraid that my mentally unstable, disgusting excuse of a father would come looking for me and would find me at my school.

If they knew that someone was hell bent on killing me, they wouldn't want to be my friends any more knowing that things might not end well for me or them if they get caught in the crossfire between me and that sick monster.

"Sick?" Ryder asked while cooking his head slightly to the side, his eyes calculating my every move. "You were sick?" His eyes narrowed and the look in those icy pools of blue told me that he didn't buy my pathetic lie. But still, that did not prevent me from lying.

"Y-yea" I swallowed a huge lump that had formed in my throat and tried faking a cough to make my statement more believable. "It was terrible" Cough. "I almost died" Cough. "I had a fever too" Cough. "But it's gone now. It's just the cough that's left" Cough. Cough. "So what's up?" Cough. Cough. Cough.

The boys all looked at me with amusement. They obviously didn't believe me. But they didn't push it and decided to just drop it.

"So may we come inside?" Micah asked.

I didn't even realize that we were still standing outside and I mentally face palmed myself for not inviting them in sooner.

"Yeah sure" I replied then opened the door wider for them to pass through.

Kruz and Dennis were the first ones in, followed by Micah then Ryder who gave me a long look as he passed me.

It was almost as if he was searching me and trying to figure me out. He always seemed to be doing that. He was very observant and I'm pretty sure that he has already gathered that I have something that I'm hiding from them.

After he went inside, I took one last look outside just for clarification that my father wasn't out there watching me, then I stepped inside and closed the door behind me.

I turned around to see Kruz and Dennis on the couch, Micah was sitting on the chair arm with his huge, muscular arms folded over his chest and Ryder was standing beside him with his hands stuffed in his pocket.

They all looked at me with intense stares and I suddenly began to feel awkward and fidgety under their gazes.

I cleared my throat and attempted to break the awkward silence. "So....umm... what's up? Why'd you guys come over?"

"We came to check on you" Ryder answered. "We were worried that something might have happened to you"

My heart melted at his words.

They were worried about me.

They were worried about me!

They were worried about me?

I furrowed my eyebrows. No one has ever worried about me before. I could bet my left big toe that no one, other them, even noticed that I was absent from school. Well, maybe Mason noticed, seeing as he didn't have anyone to beat up and torment.

But the point is, no one should ever worry about me. I was no one.

Ryder, being the observant person he is, seemed to notice the change in my mood.

"Are you ok Dori?" He asked, his voice as well as his eyes softening as he spoke.

"Yea-yea I'm fine" I shook my head and forced a smile. He stared at me for a moment before putting on a small smile of his own.

"Ok, now that you guys had your little moment, lets get down to business" Dennis said.

"Right" Kruz agreed. "Dori we're going to a party and you're coming with us"