"Long time, no see." Levi grinned as I approached him. He'd had to meet with a teacher which took up most of our biology class, leaving me on my own, but in the time he was there, we decided on a plan for after school. I'd only gotten a very brief response from mum, which honestly made it even easier for me to quickly get changed and then leave again.

"Hi Vanilla." I smiled, patting his dog. I'd never met her before, but she was adorable and very playful.

"She gets a hello before me every time." He jokingly rolled his eyes. "I can't believe you remembered her name."

"How could I not, it's so cute!" She moved around, cautious of Teddy, but soon enough they appeared to be friendly. "I want to meet Evie too."

"She'd love you. Although, I should warn you she is very unlikely to follow to rules of a service dog, unless there was some kind of physical restraint."

"I take it she loves Vanilla then." I laughed.

"The only reason I could actually bring her was because Evie is at a gymnastics class." Levi had a look on his face that so clearly showed the adoration he had for his little sister. "Ice cream?"

We'd met at the oval I usually go to, which apparently is exactly halfway between our houses. After being picked up from my birthday party he said he'd discovered it really wasn't that far at all.

"Your parents didn't mind?"

"Nope, I think they're pretty busy today. My dad works in optometry, and he has to run all these big events all the time." I explained.

"That's pretty cool."
"Your dad didn't mind?"

"He's working too. And my step mum is with Evie at her lesson."

"Do you like your step mum?" I asked, after a while. I thought about the circumstances with Chris, but then also with my biological dad's wife, too.

"I do. She's a good mum to Evie, and she's nice." He smiled. "It can be a bit awkward at the surf tournaments, though, since my actual mum comes too."

The conversation continued like that all the way to the ice cream store, which was actually a bit further than I was anticipating. Having only had ice cream from a store once, I was overwhelmed by the number of flavours I could choose from.

"You can get two, you know." Levi flashed that signature grin at me. After way too much deliberation, I settled on the Stracciatella, which apparently was a vanilla-type ice cream with chocolate shavings, and the triple-choc brownie, in a cone since I had to keep hold of Teddy. Levi got the honeycomb and the white chocolate, since those were his favourites. Around the back of the store was a courtyard which was perfect for us to sit and chat.

The conversation flowed so easily as we talked about school, surfing, track, the dogs, our friends, and just about anything else. I told him all about Morgan, and my upcoming visit to her, and everything I'd planned for the trip to Singapore. He told me all about where he lived before moving, his surfing, and a heap of other things that I didn't know about him. The conversation helped me from absolutely devouring my ice cream in a matter of minutes, it was just that good. I even tasted a bit of Levi's white chocolate, which was surprisingly good, but I still thought my extra chocolatey one was the best.

"Should we head back to the park slowly?" He suggested, so we stood up to leave. Levi opened the door, back into the shop, and standing right there were Jonah and Scarlett, with a few other people I recognised from school.

"Ash?" Jonah looked at me confused.

"We were just leaving." I walked through the doorway, not wanting to talk.

"What were you two doing?" Jonah stepped in front of me, blocking my path.

"Don't act interested, mate." Levi sighed.

"Excuse me?"

"Levi, let's go, please." I grabbed his arm.

"You should be going home." Jonah glared at the two of us, meanwhile Scarlett stood beside him, looking both disgusted and pleased at the same time.

"I am. Goodbye." With that, I hurried straight out of the store, not letting go of Levi the entire time. When we were back on the street, I released my grip, only for him to replace it with his hand.

"I can see why you and he don't really get along. It seems all he wants to do is get you in trouble." Levi huffed.

"Do you think I should tell my parents I think it was her?"
"The maths test?" He questioned. I nodded. "Of course. She's pretty much getting away with all this, meanwhile you're the one who has to suffer. And to think it's not even the first time she's done something horrible," he squeezed my hand. Whilst I enjoyed the contact, I had to let go when my phone started ringing. It was Austin, unsurprising since I'd ignored 5 texts from him in the past hour. I put the phone back in my pocket.

"Why aren't you answering?"

"I don't want to speak to him right now." I shook my head. I knew he'd have heard from Jonah and that was the only reason he was calling. "Do you have a surf tournament this weekend?"

"Nope, I've got this week off. Have you got track?"

"Saturday morning, at school." I nodded.

"Maybe I should come watch." He grinned.

"You can if you want to." I flushed. "I'm a bit slower than the other girls, since I haven't trained so much. And I missed training last week."

"I've heard you're pretty good."

"Says who?" I eyed him.

"People." He shrugged, smirking.

"Have you been asking about me, Levi?" I fake gasped.

"Couldn't help myself. I'll walk you home." He kept walking, instead of turning to the direction of his own house. I really enjoyed his company.