REBECCA'S POV
           
Ryan sweetly woke me up with a peck on the cheek so I attempted to snuggle in closer to him.

"It's time to get up Becs," he whispered softly before chuckling at my disgruntled groans.

"I don't want to."

"Come on beautiful. It's only Tuesday... you can't already be sick of school for the week." He nudges me gently until I reluctantly drag my butt to the shower.

There were many reasons I didn't want to wake up today, but the biggest was that I was having an amazing dream about the man who slept beside me. It's been a long time since I dreamt about happy things and I didn't want to leave it. Although things have been going well lately, I can't help but feel like that's all coming to an end and something bad will happen. My long talk with Landon yesterday gave me a new appreciation for what my life has become – I mean I obviously knew it was so much better than before but this was a nice reminder of where I've been and what I've survived.

Hopping out of the shower and finally clearing my head of these heavy thoughts, I rush out and slam into a rock wall better known as Ryan. Thankfully he reaches out and clutches me to him before I make a fool of myself by landing on the ground ungracefully in my towel.

"Careful," he mutters and it kind of ticks me off.

"Ryan, it was an accident. I wouldn't have run into you if you weren't standing right in front of the friggen door!"

"Hey," his hands find my shoulders and then move down my arms until he's holding my hands. "I didn't mean anything by it Becs."

I sigh. "I know. Sorry," I mumble and go trudging off to my room for some clothes.

Our morning routine is a little off schedule today since I was unbelievably slow at showering and getting ready which also made Ryan fall behind; however, we managed to get out the door just in time.

---

Most of my morning went by the same way; with Ryan being sweet during Chemistry and Bentley and Kate talking their heads off in art. I'm really glad they're getting along.

"So, tell me more about Mel and Izzy," Bentley says right in front of Kate. My face must show my uneasiness because my blonde friend chuckles a bit.

"Becca, I'm not really friends with Izzy and Mel has been crossing the line far too often. You guys can gossip about them all you want!"

"Kate," I start to explain awkwardly, "we weren't gossiping. I just told Bentley that she should maybe avoid getting on their bad side..." She nods and goes back to painting the current masterpiece she's been working on. The girl has so much talent! Bentley seems to understand my discomfort about the topic and drops it for now. I can tell she hasn't taken a liking to either of the two but we can talk more later.

As art neared a close, I was kind of excited to see Landon in history class and surprisingly we had a substitute teacher so we just had group work.

"You're my partner," Landon stated and scooted his desk next to mine. Mason shot me a dejected look like I threw him under a bus or something but it was soon replaced with joy when Kate chose him over Mel. Of course, that got Mel glaring at me. "Ignore her," Landon reminded me.

We worked on the history assignment and finished with almost twenty minutes of class to spare!

"Are we doing more training soon?" I ask.

"Ryan told me I need to wait for the okay from Matt."

"Oh geez, then what's the plan for this afternoon?" He thought for a little bit and looked sort of uncomfortable. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Landon answers with a slight shake of his head.

"Landon. Tell me. Come on remember the conversation we had yesterday?" I lean in closer and whisper the next part so we don't get any judgey looks from the classmates sitting near us. "Landon I'm going to be here for you no matter what okay? You're my brother."

He cracks a small smile. "Thanks Becca. It's nothing. I was just nervous because of what we talked about yesterday. I don't want you to change your opinion of me."

"That's ridiculous!"

"I know, I know," he defended and held his hands up in mock surrender. "Anyways, I was just thinking we could chill at your place. Maybe I can help make dinner?"

"That'd be nice," I admit. There's a few seconds of silence before I simply can't help myself anymore. "What do you think of Bentley?" I blurt out.

Landon blushes a bit. "Uh, she seems nice. Like you said yesterday, I haven't really talked to her much."

"That's okay. You can today at lunch!" I'm not sure if he just knows me so well that he can read between my excitement because he quickly starts a little speech.

"Listen Becca, I will be polite and talk to her at lunch but only because she's your friend. I admit that she is very beautiful, but the last thing I need right now is a girlfriend. My life is just too messy and it's not fair to drag somebody else into my misery as well." I can't even argue with him because the bell rings, signaling the end of class and he shoots me a tiny smirk. "I'll see you at lunch."

---

True to his word, Landon is very polite when Bentley cautiously takes the seat next to his once again. Ryan pulls me into his side (he's awfully touchy today) and smiles at me when he notices the two looking at each other.

Landon awkwardly clears his throat and actually sets his beloved pizza down on the lunch tray to give Bentley his full attention. "I apologize for being so rude yesterday Bentley."

She looks so surprised that she can't even mask it. "Uh, um, th-that's okay." Since when does she stutter? She's becoming more and more outspoken and might even give Kate a run for her money in that department.

"How are you liking Rochester High?" Landon asks, continuing the conversation.

Ryan wiggles me a little so my attention snaps to him. "Don't stare Becs, it's not polite," he teases and I roll my eyes.

"How were your morning classes?" I ask him, genuinely interested. I was never one to 'toot my own horn' but I thought I was smart; until I met Ryan. He was like an Albert Einstein level genius. All of his classes were advanced and some were even taught through the community college! The school actually had to add to their curriculum so he wouldn't transfer to a neighboring one with better opportunities. They didn't want him to transfer because he also excels in football and baseball which helps the school rake in sponsors.

"They were okay. The video conferencing for one of the college courses wasn't working so I did the chem homework that was assigned today." He shot me a knowing look and I blush; I would definitely be copying that later. "What does the syllabus say we're doing in biology today?"

"I think we're just discussing the dissection lab we have coming up," I explain in a boring, monotone voice.

Ryan rolls his eyes and mumbles: "fun."

---

Just like I thought, Mrs. Pollens drones on about our upcoming lab after handing out a packet that already has step-by-step instructions. If the students in this accelerated class can't read the directions on their own then they shouldn't be in here! There's really no reason she has to sit and explain what's already been given to us. It's so boring that I'm pretty sure I nod off a few times since I wake up with Ryan lightly tugging on my hair more than once.

Finally, bio is over and Ryan kisses me on the cheek before I head to gym. Lately he's been trying to wait until the last minute to run to his next class so I don't end up in the locker-room too early, he knows that's when Mel's been saying vile things to me. Today it worked and I quickly get changed with Kate and the rest of my classmates then head out to meet Landon. We did Zumba today because our teacher was a bit lazy I think but it made the hour go by quick!

Some of the class gets dismissed a little early and the teacher holds back the football players and cheerleaders to talk to them about an upcoming game. I'm the only girl in the class who isn't a cheerleader since most of the hour is filled with guys so it's a little strange walking into the locker-room alone. Nevertheless, I smile to myself when re-entering the locker-room, happy that I'm having such a good day.

"I was wondering how long your fatass could survive in gym class. I'm actually quite impressed."

Quickly turning around in just my bra and shorts – I was in the middle of changing – I see one of my least favorite people, Melissa Zacharias.

"What do you want?" My voice is shaky even though I pressed so hard for it to come out strong.

"Why do you ask stupid questions? You know exactly what I want and I think I've given you fair warning."

She moved closer to me and I backed up into the lockers; feeling the cold, protruding locks start to dig into my uncovered back. Now I normally wouldn't be intimidated by another girl because of their size, but Mel was around five foot eight and was more muscular than me.

"Stay..." she lifted her arms and walked closer. "Away..." I flinched back and felt some of the locks pierce into my skin. "From Ryan." She just glared at me and crouched down to meet my level, looking into my eyes with her similar blue ones. "Got it bitch?"

I froze. I couldn't do anything, I couldn't say anything; I didn't know what this girl wanted from me! At least with Kirk I knew how he wanted me to react but Mel was very different than that.

She suddenly reached out and grasped my long, black hair tightly in its ponytail.

"Did you hear me?" I was still panicking and literally couldn't get any words to leave my mouth. I closed my eyes and waited for the worst of it.

"God you're so stupid!" Mel took my hair forcefully and used it to pull my head towards her and then shove it in the lockers behind me. I instantly felt dizzy and slumped to the ground when she let me go. Shocked, she ran from the room and I faintly remember hearing Kate's voice but all I saw was darkness.