Avoiding Axel for the remaining couple of days was easier said than done. Using work as an excuse could only go so far since he would keep offering to drive me, luckily Lillian was still home so she took me. The times I wasn't working, I'd use my parents as an excuse and would tell him they wanted me to run errands for them.

Lying to him didn't make me feel any better, in fact, it made me feel much worse. The day I dreaded was finally upon me, the day we'd resume school. Axel was my ride to school so there was no way I'd be able to ignore him.

I glanced at my phone's clock; the time was getting closer. I grabbed my duffel bag for dance practice and headed downstairs, so I'd be ready. The nerves that overtook me made me wake up earlier than my alarm. Since I had a few minutes to spare, breakfast wasn't a bad idea.

There was chatter coming from the kitchen which could only mean one thing; my parents were home. I set my things down at the entrance and walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning," I said as I walked over to the pantry.

My mom was sipping her coffee as she read something on her iPad while my dad looked intently at some paperwork he had in front of him.

"Good morning mija, want me to make you breakfast before school?" my mom asked.

I grabbed a few granola bars and a banana, breakfast no longer seemed appetizing.

"No thank you, I have dance practice, so I better head out," I said.

My dad didn't look up but spoke up, "Your new car should be warmed up. I made sure to turn it on earlier." He looked up from his paperwork and made eye contact. There was something about my dad that always made me nervous. "We did agree you'd stop asking the boy next door for rides since you are capable of driving yourself."

I forced a smile and tried to not show him I was freaking out. I was not ready to drive yet. Especially since the weather was supposed to turn worse later and by worse, I meant that it was predicted to start snowing halfway through the day.

"Yes, of course," I responded. "I'll see you after school." Or maybe I wouldn't since they're never there.

"Have a good day at school mija!" My mom called out as I walked back to grab my things.

I mentally prepared myself; there was no way I'd get out of this. Driving myself was a good thing and a bad thing. The good thing was I wouldn't need to worry about talking to Axel until later and the bad thing was, I had to drive. Something I hadn't done in a while.

I slipped on my coat and shoes and walked out into the cold morning. The sun was barely rising so it was still dark. My parents got me a Jeep just like Lillian's except it was the color white. The Jeep scared me, I was more used to driving my SUV.

I tried not to think too much about the drive. I shoved everything in the trunk and glanced at Axel's house and then back to mine. Something told me my dad was watching making sure I did drive.

I got in and took deep breaths. I made sure to put music so I'd in some sense be comforted. I backed out of the driveway and off I went to school.

I drove cautiously and kept telling myself I needed to overcome my fear. My dad's voice kept ringing in my head, I didn't want to disappoint him, and I also didn't want the new car he bought me to go to waste.

Everett and I planned to meet so we could walk to dance practice together, he wanted me to take him to Loretta so he could somehow convince her to let him join midseason. I had a feeling there was no way he'd be let in but it was worth a try and I did agree to help him speak to her.

Pulling into the parking lot and parking near the front, I finally let out a sigh of relief since I made it in one piece. It wasn't as dark anymore, so I could see more clearly. I got out and collected my stuff. Being deep in thought, I didn't hear Everett approach me.

"I don't know how you all like this freezing weather," Everett said as he pulled his blazer tighter.

I glanced at him, he looked fresh and ready for the day. Unlike me, he was neatly dressed in his uniform while I was dressed more comfortably for dance practice.

"You know you can wear a coat; you just need to take it off inside the classrooms." I paused and looked around. "Where's Miles?"

Everett leaned against my car and crossed his arms. "He's around here somewhere. The moment I put the car in park he got out and left, he's probably just looking around. Our old school wasn't as big as this."

"Let's just hope he doesn't get lost."

"He won't, at least I hope he doesn't. While you finish up here, I'm going to quickly go grab my coat."

"Sounds good."

I closed the trunk and did a quick scan of the parking lot. It was empty except for a few cars. This was my last semester and I'd probably never come back. It was bittersweet but I was ready to leave this school.

I walked over to Everett and met him halfway.

"Ready?"

I nodded and we started walking side by side toward the athletics building. "Everett, just want to give you a heads up that Loretta is kind of something else. It's tough getting through to her."

He waved me off. "Nothing I've never dealt with before. I'm a Young, we don't give up so easily."

"Right." I readjusted my bag and picked up the pace. It felt like everyone was way taller and I always had to speed walk in order to catch up. "How long do you think our parents have known each other?"

Everett shrugged. "I've asked myself that."

"Mariposa!"

We stopped in our tracks and turned to look at Axel who seemed pissed. I mentally slapped myself for forgetting to text him I wouldn't be needing his ride. More importantly, I wasn't ready to talk to him alone.

He picked up his pace and stopped once he was directly in front of me. He eyed Everett and gave me a look. I didn't want him to get the wrong idea so I spoke up first.

"Axel I'm so sorry. My dad was home and he made me drive because he got me a car as a stupid Christmas gift," I rambled. "Sorry this is Everett, he's a family friend. Everett this is Axel, the friend I told you that was on the swim team."

Axel looked proud for a split second before he was back to being irritated.

"Everett, a pleasure to meet you." Everett held out his hand.

"Wish I could say the same," Axel muttered and reluctantly shook his hand.

I cleared my throat. "Axel, I'm really sorry. I should have let you know."

"Can we talk?" he looked at Everett. "Alone."

I ran a hand through my hair, I was starting to get nervous. "Let's talk later. Everett needs to go talk to Loretta."

"Later it is." Axel walked in between me and Everett. "Where are you from? Doesn't seem you're from around here?"

"It's the accent, right? My brother and I just transferred here from Australia to finish our senior year," Everett answered.

"Weird you're transferring mid-year."

"Guess we wanted to be closer to home."

We entered the athletic building, there was quite some time until practice started so Loretta would more than likely be in her office.

"Meet you here after practice?" Axel looked hopeful.

I knew I needed to talk to him, I'd been avoiding him. I just was clueless about what to say to him.

"Dining hall instead? We'll probably be let out early. We can all get our schedules together after that."

He was reluctant. "Works for me. See you in an hour or so."

I watched him walk away before I sighed with relief.

"Your friend is something else."

I looked up at Everett. "He's not normally like this. I've just been avoiding him recently."

"Enlighten me." We started walking towards Loretta's office.

"Just boy problems, nothing interesting."

"Maybe I can help."

I stopped in my tracks when we were in front of her door. "I'll tell you later but this is her."

He gave me an encouraging smile and motioned for me to knock.

I knocked twice.

"Come in."

I turned the knob and gave him one last look before we walked in.

Loretta was busy typing on her computer and didn't even look up.

"To what do I owe the pleasure, Miss Romero?"

I picked at my nails and tried to keep a steady voice. "Sorry to bother you but I just have a student I'd like to introduce you to. He's a transfer student and I think he'd be a big asset to the team."

Loretta shook her head. "No can do. You know the rules, Miss Romero."

Everett took a step forward, he looked far more confident than I was feeling right now.

"Mariposa, can you please let me talk to her alone for a minute?" Everett asked.

I didn't think twice and I walked out. Everett closed the door, and only their muffled conversation could be heard.

After a few minutes, they both came out, I couldn't tell by their expression if things had gone right or bad.

"I'll see you Wednesday morning at this time. Don't be late," Loretta said sternly. She went back into her office and closed the door.

Everett smirked. "Let's go get some breakfast. We'll need the energy since we'll be dancing in that waltz competition."

I looked at him confused. "What do you mean?"

Everett rolled his eyes. "Loretta agreed that if we show her by Wednesday morning the whole number then we'll be added to the group performance. I'm willing to bet you have it all down and so you need to show me. I'm a fast learner, don't underestimate me."

I was impressed he somehow got to her since the last incident she became sterner. "What did you tell her?"

"Don't worry about it, let's just worry about learning that number."

I stopped and looked at him cautiously. "You didn't threaten her, right?"

He looked a bit offended. "Of course not."

"I'm going to go change into my uniform really quick. Wait for me by the front entrance," I told him.

I made a beeline toward the men's locker room. There was something bothering me that I had to just get over with.

It was early so there'd be no one from the swim team except Axel. I opened the door and peeked my head in. Thankfully Axel was alone. He was deep in thought as he threw everything into his locker.

"Axel!" I whisper shouted. I was still going to be cautious just in case.

He snapped out of it and turned to look at me. He was confused.

"Can we talk?" I asked.

He motioned for me to come over. "Don't worry it's just me in here."

I sat my bags down and awkwardly walked over to him.

"Axel I really am sorry about this morning," I started off. "My dad was home, and you know how he is. He wants me to stop asking you for rides."

Axel pulled me in for a hug, I reluctantly hugged him back. This felt wrong in a way.

"Don't worry, he was probably only seeing you off today. We can go back to me driving you tomorrow, just let me know if he does this again."

I pulled back and put some distance between us. He looked confused.

"Axel, I think we need to temporarily stop doing what we're doing behind our friends back."

He looked irritated. "Why do you care so much about what they think?"

I laughed nervously. "I don't it's just Bella is getting suspicious and you know Bella has a big mouth Axel," I lied.

Luckily, he believed me. "I guess that makes sense. When Bella finds out everyone will find out."

"Let's just go back to being the best friends we were, just temporarily of course."

"Bella getting suspicious is the only reason right?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" I looked at him confused.

"You're not having second thoughts. I know we aren't official or anything, but I thought we were getting there."

I ran a hand through my hair. "Don't worry Axel, that's the only reason." It certainly wasn't because I kissed Niko and was confused about why.

"So Everett isn't a part of the reason either?"

I laughed. "God no, I barely met him. Strangely he's like a male version of Bella minus the passive aggressiveness. Be nicer to him, he's not that bad."

"Gotcha."

I stood there awkwardly. "I'm going to go change into my uniform and get breakfast so I'll see in later in front of the dining hall."

He leaned against the lockers. "You're not going to dance practice?"

"Funny thing actually, Everett somehow convinced Loretta to let us try out so we can be added to the number."

Axel smiled softly. "That's good, I guess. Well, I'll leave you to it."

I walked over to grab my bags.

"It's nice being able to see you, Mari. I missed you."

I forced a smile and didn't say anything. I pushed the doors and took a few deep breaths. Now that that was over, I had to deal with Niko. Luckily, we texted and he agreed to keep the kiss a secret. The problem was he said he wasn't going to stop until I moved on from Axel. Little did he know, I already had mixed feelings about how I felt since that night. This, in my opinion, made me feel like a terrible person.

The choice should be clear, it was supposed to be Axel, but it wasn't. Niko suddenly kissing me made it confusing.

I shoved everything into my locker and quickly got changed. I already wasted enough time talking to Axel, I didn't want to make Everett wait more.

I quickly brushed my hair and put on some light makeup. Once ready, I slipped into my shoes. The girls were getting ready for dance practice so I made sure to slip out quietly.

I walked over to Everett who was sitting on one of the chairs.

"Ready?"

He got up and dusted his pants. "I thought that you'd get ready in less than ten minutes."

I chuckled. "Sorry."

We walked out of the building. Somehow it felt colder than it did earlier.

"I hate this weather," he muttered.

"Are you just joining dance or are you going to join baseball too?" I asked hoping the small talk would distract me from the cold nipping away at my face.

"Yeah, I already talked to the coach. Practice doesn't start for another month, so I'll need to keep myself busy until then."

"I don't think our school is bad at baseball but then again I've never watched a game because it doesn't interest me."

He chuckled. "Understandable."

"This is the dining hall. Quite a walk but you'll get used to it."

We went in and got in line to grab some waffles. I handed him a tray while he was busy looking around.

"Pretty cool right?"

He shrugged. "It's alright."

"You must miss Australia."

He looked a bit down, it's understandable, I couldn't imagine leaving in the middle of the year and having to start over in a foreign country.

"I do but I'll be fine. I could always visit."

I put a waffle on my plate and grabbed some fruit. I waited for Everett before walking towards the usual spot. "This is where my friends and I usually sit if you and Miles want to join us during lunch."

"I'll keep that in mind." He looked at me with a curious look. "Are you going to tell me about those boy problems?"

For only knowing Everett for a short period of time, I knew I could trust him, so I decided to confide in him.

"Well," I started. "Axel, the one you met earlier, we're not dating but we've been acting as a couple behind my friends backs."

He looked confused. "So why don't you tell them?"

"The thing is my other friend, Niko, kissed me on New Year's and I may have kissed him back. Coincidently I had feelings for him growing up so now I'm a mess because I feel guilty but I shouldn't feel guilty since Axel and I weren't dating."

He took it all in. I waited for a reaction, but I never got one, he remained indifferent. "Which one do you have feelings for now?"

I groaned and leaned back. "I don't know. It's like whatever feelings I had for Niko are suddenly back."

"What about Axel?"

"I like him."

He nodded. "And Niko?"

"I don't know. Maybe I like him. I kissed him back Everett."

"I think you need space from the two. Clear your head and see which one you like more than the other."

"That's going to be hard. Axel is my neighbor and Niko is persistent."

He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "It sounds horrible but try them out both."

I looked at him horrified. "For sure something will go wrong. Those two don't get along already, that'll make it worse."

"This is why I told myself I'd never date in high school."

I looked at my almost empty plate. "I wish I told myself that, I wouldn't be in this mess."

He got up. "Don't worry Mariposa, you'll figure it out."

I got up and grabbed my tray. "Guess we should go meet Axel now."

We walked quietly to the entrance. There were a lot more students trickling in. Most were heading to the main building so they could get their schedules.

"Your friend needs to hurry up. It's freezing," Everett said. He had his hands shoved in his coat pockets and was still cold.

"Any idea where Miles is?" I asked.

I spotted Axel in the distance walking towards us.

"I texted him earlier to meet us, but he hasn't read it."

"You don't think he ditched on his first day?"

Everett narrowed his eyes. "He knows he shouldn't."

Once Axel caught up, we started walking towards the main building. "After we get our schedules, we can head to the auditorium to meet with the others."

Axel gave Everett a wary look so I walked a bit ahead of the two so they could get to know each other.

"Sorry about earlier," Axel apologized. "I was having a bad morning. I know that's no excuse but seriously."

"It's understandable. Axel right?"

"That's right. And you're Everett?"

"Correct. Mariposa has told me so much about you." Everett had a teasing tone. I wanted to turn around and smack Everett.

"Is that right?"

"Yes, she told me you're a swimmer. I'm also a swimmer, don't mean to brag but I was the best on my team back at my old school," Everett said smugly.

"Well maybe you should join the team, I'm sure the coach would like to have you on the team."

Everett chuckled. "I did ask but it's during the same time as dance. So they made me choose and well, I already promised Mariposa I'd be her dancing partner, I couldn't leave her."

"I'm glad you got her to dance. I'm sure you've already seen it but she's amazing," Axel said.

"I've heard."

"We're here," I cut them off.

Everett held the door open for us. I glared at him as I walked in.

"He's not as bad as I thought," Axel whispered to me.

I rolled my eyes and walked up to the receptionist.

She didn't look up. "Name and grade?"

"Mariposa Romero, 12."

She handed me my papers and then continued to help the other two. I looked over my schedule. It wasn't a bad schedule; I had a free period at the end of the day which meant I could always leave early.

The other two joined me and we all started walking toward the auditorium. Everett looked around and checked his phone again.

"I'm going to go look for my brother and make sure he's not doing anything he'll regret later."

He walked off and left Axel and me standing at the entrance of the auditorium.