Becca

I blocked out Mrs. Copper's voice as I slouched down in my seat, doodling spirals into the back of my notepad. To my left I could hear Brett breathing loudly, his face resting on his knuckles. I glanced at him to make sure he wasn't sleeping and he looked up from his desk, rolling his eyes as I tried to suppress my laughter.

The lights shut off as Mrs. Copper set up the television for the movie screening. A hush fell over the classroom.

"I should have brought you candy," Brett teased. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder as he leaned back in his chair.

Brett's apartment was full of three of my favourite things: candy, cotton candy ice cream and him. I had the dangerous feeling that I would be spending a lot of time there.

I silently thanked the darkness covering the classroom when heat rose to my cheeks as I remembered how we spent most of the weekend laying lazily in bed.

Once his mother sold their house and Brett is living alone permanently, that apartment would be his new home. But until then, it reminded me of the pillow forts I used to build as a kid: a cozy hideout to block out the rest of the world.

The static hum of the television bought me back to reality. I smiled triumphantly at Brett as I pulled a pack of sour watermelons out of my bag, waving them in front of his face as his eyes lit up.

"I came prepared," I bragged, opening the bag and popping one of the candies into my mouth. I winced as the sourness made my cheeks burn.

The students in front of us turned around quickly at the sound of the candy bag being teared open. I covered my mouth to hide my laughter as Brett's hand shot out quickly and grabbed the bag, hiding it on his lap from the student's view. When they turned around, he placed it back on my desk.

"I don't like to share." He said simply, tossing a piece of candy into the air and catching it in his open mouth. Show off.

"No kidding," I replied sarcastically, turning my attention back to the television.

We had finished studying Hamlet and Mrs. Copper was making us watch the film, insisting that Shakespeare couldn't be fully appreciated simply through text.

"What's that?" Brett asked. I shifted my head to the left to look at him and saw him pointing towards my notepad. On the front cover, there were dozens of numbers I had scribbled down. "What do all these numbers mean?"

I ran my finger along the notebook as my thoughts took me back to a different time.

"It was a countdown until graduation," I told Brett, smiling to myself as I opened the notebook to the first page and showed him the rest of the numbers scribbled into the cover.

I watched as his eyes roamed over the scribblings, his lips pursed in thought. His hair had started to grow longer, falling over his forehead as his head titled downwards. I reached out and brushed it back quickly.

"One-hundred-sixty-five," he said after a moment, his finger resting on the very last number I had recorded. "You stopped keeping track after that. Why?"

Why did I stop keeping track? I couldn't even remember the day I decided to stop filling my notebook with numbers counting down to the end of high school -- counting down to freedom. I had just ... stopped. Perhaps it was because the days began to blur together and I simply forgot. Or maybe I stopped counting down because I had something better to look forward to.

"Because of you," I answered finally. Brett's eyebrows rose as a smile spread across his lips.

"You stopped your countdown because of me?"

"I ..." My voice trailed off as I struggled to find the right words. I turned to Brett and whispered, not wanting the rest of the class to overhear. "Graduation was the only thing I've been looking forward to this entire year. I used to keep track of the days to help myself get through school everyday."

Brett played with a strand of my hair absentmindedly as he asked, "So what changed?"

"You gave me something else to look forward to." I told him shyly as I watched his eyes brighten. "You made me forget the days."

Brett simply smiled at me and pulled me against his chest. I nestled my head into the crook of his shoulder as the movie began to play. It seemed like forever ago when we sat in these same desks, discussing Romeo and Juliet when Mrs. Copper caught me staring at Brett and Jenny's hand raised into the air to embarrass me. Everything in this classroom was exactly the same as it had been that day aside from the people sitting in it.

I ignored the movie and watched as Brett's hand began to flip through my notebook, opening it up and inspecting random pages.

"What are you doing?" I whispered.

"Trying to see if you scribbled Becca Wells on any of these pages." He said completely serious as he continued to roam through the notebook.

"Brett!" I laughed, slapping his hand away. Mrs. Copper immediately glared at the two of us and I sunk further down into my seat as Brett chuckled beside me, unfazed.

"Stop," I hissed, grabbing the notebook out of his fingers and quickly shoving it into my bag. The last thing I needed was for him to flip through the pages and see his name doodled dozens of times with hearts.

Or for him to flip to the back cover and find out that his suspicion was absolutely correct.

I intertwined his fingers with mine before he could grab the notebook out of my bag and tease me about the for the next few months.  His shoulders shook beneath me as he chuckled to himself, kissing the top of my head.

Becca Wells.

I smiled to myself as the opening scene began to play.

* * *

The hallway was crammed with students as I reached my locker, quickly entering the combination. Brett yawned loudly beside me as I rearranged my books inside.

"I can't believe you actually fell asleep during the movie," I mumbled, shooting him a quick glare. He chuckled as he propped his hip against the locker next to mine and crossed his arms.

"There were no guns, zombies or violence, Becca. Did you really expect me to stay awake?" I laughed at the disgust in his voice as I slung my bag over my shoulder.

"Yes, considering we have a test on it next week." I shut my locker and turned to Brett, crossing my arms as I watched him with raised eyebrows.

He leaned in quickly and kissed my cheek. "Then it's a good thing I happen to be dating the smartest girl in class." I tried to hide my smile as Brett winked.

"I didn't know you were dating Margaret," I joked, referring to the actual smartest girl in our class whose hand was raised in the air non-stop, answering every question Mrs. Copper asked.

Brett rolled his eyes at my joke. "Very funny," he said without a trace of humour in his voice. "You know," he began, placing his hands on my waist and slowly pulling me closer to him. My eyes darted around the hallway and the mass of students lingering nearby. Brett's voice was dangerously low as he spoke. "I have been missing our study dates lately."

I laughed as I placed my palms flat on his chest and craned my neck upwards to stare at him. "You weren't even sleeping in class. Were you?" I asked suspiciously as the idea came to me.

"You really think I would pretend to fall asleep in class just to get you to tutor me again?" Brett asked innocently, blinking down at me.

"Yes," I replied with no hesitation.

Brett chuckled as he lowered his head and pressed his lips against mine softly. "Then you are incredibly wrong, my love." I narrowed my eyes as I tried to study his face to determine whether or not he was telling the truth.

"I don't need to make up excuses anymore to spend time with you. I was sleeping," Brett said after a moment, his hands sliding across my waist and resting on my lower back. "In fact," his breath tickled my ear and I could feel my face heat up as he whispered, "I was dreaming about our last study date. But you were wearing a little red --"

"Brett!" I yelled, pushing him off of me as he threw his head back in laughter. I coughed awkwardly as the students passing by stopped to stare at us. Brett winked at them and they began to slowly walk away in a daze.

"You need to get rid of that fantasy. It's not happening," I told him seriously as he pouted, shoulders slumping.

"What fantasy?" I turned my head at the sound of Jeff's voice just as he walked up behind me. I rolled my eyes as Brett gave his best friend one of those strange slaps that turned into a hug.

"Soon to be reality," Brett corrected his friend, winking at me slyly from the side.

"Do I even want to know what kind of fucked up fantasy fills your head?" Jeff asked wearily, glancing between the both of us.

"No," Brett and I replied quickly at the same time. I smiled as he leaned down and kissed me quickly, ignoring Jeff's protesting grunts. "See you at lunch?" He asked gently after his lips left mine.

I nodded and waved as the two of them walked away together to their next class. With my calculus book in hand, I turned in the opposite direction and began to walk down the hallway.

The halls were less crammed with students now as everyone began to file into class. I glanced down at my phone and was struck with horror when I saw that there was only one minute before the bell rang and my class was on the other side of the building.

I grabbed my bag strap with one hand and pressed my calculus book to my chest as I began to run down the hallway. I rounded the corner and stopped abruptly when I saw Jenny standing at her locker, blond ponytail swinging behind her as she bent down to grab her purse off the floor.

I took a deep breath and walked over to her, ignoring the sound of the bell ringing and my heart pounding.

"Jenny?" I called hesitantly. Her head slowly turned towards me and her eyes opened quickly in surprise before she composed herself.

"What do you want, Becca?" She asked, sounding exhausted as she slammed her locker shut and turned to me. Her icy eyes locked onto my own and I felt a shiver run down my spine.

"I just wanted to thank you," I said awkwardly, fidgeting with the textbook in my hand. Jenny's eyes widened at my words, her red lips tugging upwards into a smirk.

"For what? Trying to steal your boyfriend or making your life hell this year?" She said, sounding bored as she inspected her matching red nails.

I opened my mouth to respond then snapped it shut as I realized what she had just said. At least she was aware of her own faults.

Ignoring her comment, I took a shaky breath and continued. "For what you did at the football game Friday night." Her eyebrows rose upwards as she crossed her arms over her chest. "To Grayson," I clarified.

"I did that for my brother," she said simply, her gaze darting away from mine.

To my own surprise, I smiled. Jenny could try to hide her true intentions all she wanted, but I knew there was more to her slapping Grayson and nodding at me than just merely defending Parker.

"He's dating your friend," Jenny said suddenly, her narrow eyes locking on mine. "Cassandra?"

"Cassie," I corrected, hesitantly crossing my arms over my chest.

"He seems ... happy with her." Jenny said slowly after a moment.

"They're both happy," I assured her.

Since Brett's football game, they had continued to spend nearly every day together -- finally confirming their relationship last night when Parker asked her to be his girlfriend officially. I had stayed up nearly the entire night on the phone with Cassie as she gushed about him.

"You're not doing this to get back at me, are you? Using your best friend to manipulate my brother?" Jenny's voice had the familiar spite in it as she spoke and I felt myself flinch at her words.

"You really think I would do that?" I asked sadly.

Jenny simply shrugged and played with her ponytail. "I'd deserve it."

I sighed and hugged my calculus book to my chest. "Cassie isn't dating Parker to get back at you on my behalf. She likes him, Jenny. That's all there is to it."

Jenny's eyes narrowed as she analyzed my face. Seeming satisfied, her lips formed a tight smile as she smoothed her skirt. "Park is happy, too."

I nodded awkwardly at the silence that swelled between us. "Well ..." I waved at Jenny and turned around, beginning to walk away when she called my name from behind me. I turned around to face her as she chewed on her lip thoughtfully.

"Grayson cornering you like that ... It was wrong." Her eyes left the floor and when they met mine, I could see the sadness in her face. She took a deep breath before she spoke. "He did the same thing to me once at a party, Becca. No one was there to defend me."

I felt my knuckles clench in anger, my nails digging into the palm of my hand. I took a step towards her, searching for the right words to comfort her when she waved her hand in the air, dismissing the memory.

"Nothing happened," she informed me, "I took care of it myself." Jenny paused for a moment as she smoothed back her ponytail. "I slapped him for Parker." Her lips tugged upwards into a prideful smirk. "And maybe a little bit for you, too."

I returned Jenny's smile -- I had been right all along. Maybe, deep down, there really was more to her than the act she gave off. Maybe the same kindness that Parker had was also passed onto Jenny, it just took a little more to bring it out.

"Thank you," I said again, hoping that this time she took it seriously.

"You're welcome," was all Jenny said before she threw me a small wave and walked off in the opposite direction, her ponytail swinging behind her.

She hesitated for a moment and turned around to face me. "I'm sorry for acting like a total bitch to you. Brett ... he loves you. You're lucky, Becca. I'm sorry for trying to come between that."

Before I could accept her apology, she turned around and continued down the hallway. I watched her exit in a daze, having the strange feeling that this was all a crazy dream.

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Hey guys! First, hope you liked this chapter. Second, as you may have guessed, Rivals is coming to an end :( It makes me so sad but as I'm writing, I can feel the ending just around the corner. That is why the chapters are taking longer to write as I try to tie together some loose ends and finalize the book to the best of my ability. A few more chapters are left, no worries. Love you all ! Until next time x