First off, I cannot thank you enough to those who have reviewed! It means a lot to me.

Also, I listened to My Love by Sia while writing the imprinting scene. Not that I'm trying to advertise or something, but it really fits the mood of the last part of the chapter (at least I think).

This was so much fun to write. Enjoy!

"Bailey?"

"Ian? Ian! What're you-"

"Where are you?"

"Where am I? I'm at school! Ian, what's going on?"

"Bailey, listen-"

He cut off then for a couple of seconds. I could only hear my own breathing through the receiver, and for a horrible moment I thought he had hung up.

"I… I'm sorry, Bail."

"Ian? Wha-"

I was shaking, my spine pressing into the door of the bathroom stall. What the heck was going on?

"I can't… I'll tell you when you get home, okay?"

…he would tell me when I got home? Are you kidding me? I had basically just stamped a huge sign on my forehead that would forever read "That Freak Who Bolted Out of Class For No Reason," not to mention how much trouble I would be in with the teacher. What could be this important? What was happening?

"You don't have any idea how much trouble I'm in, Ian."

"Oh, God, Bail, I'm sorry, I didn't even think about that you would be in class…"

"And you're not?" I said, almost joking. Where else would he be?

Wait.

"You are at school, right Ian?"

"Bailey… I can't tell you right now. When you get home, okay?"

"Bu-"

"I'm so sorry. I have to go."

"No! You can't just-"

"I left my bike at the school, okay? I know you usually walk home, but can you please take my bike home?"

I didn't say anything. I was angry at him, angry at what he wasn't telling me, and it was probably raining. No way in heck I was going to take his stupid bike home.

"Bailey? You still there? Take my bike. Please."

…

I could hear the crackle of his sigh over the receiver, and then the click as he hung up. I flipped the phone closed, and briefly thought about just dropping it in the toilet.

My mind was running around in circles with the millions of things that could be happening, all of the things that could have gone wrong… I couldn't for the life of me conjure up something rational. Nobody but my mom had ever called me on my cell phone, let alone Ian, who wouldn't be caught dead talking to his weird older sister in front of his friends.

I could hear the muffled ring of the bell, marking the end of the school. I wanted to just curl up in a hole and cry.

But I couldn't. Because, a) that would probably give the janitor a bit of a scare, and he was like 80 years old and I didn't want him to die of a heart attack or something, and b) I had to get home, where I would pound the answer out of Ian.

Now, how I was going to do that was a question… my face was still burning from the embarrassment of what had happened in class, not to mention the absolute last thing I wanted to do right now was answer questions.

Twenty minutes later, the parking lot was mostly cleared out. It was also pouring, sheets of rain hitting the ground like bullets, which just put the icing on the cake that this wonderful day had been.

I sighed, eyeing Ian's bike across the lot.

Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm taking the bike. But I had gained some rationality in the eighteen minutes I had just spent sitting on the floor of the girl's bathroom, and I figured, why not? It would get me home quicker, and I could use it as a bribe if Ian wouldn't tell me what was going on.

I looked around, feeling like an idiot, for any stragglers still at school. Chill, Bailey. People never really noticed you before, why would they now?

I could feel the misty spray of the rain off of the top of the ledge I was standing under. I put up my hood, ready to sprint, but then put it back down. I was biking home; no matter what I did I was going to get soaked. Might as well enjoy it.

Head down, I walked over to the bike, which was leaning against the bike rack, which was currently about two inches deep in water. Great.

I yanked at the thing, but it wouldn't come loose. Bike lock. Of course. Since when did Ian use a bike lock?

It was down low, so I had to kneel in the water to reach it, thoroughly soaking my pants. Wet jeans. Ew.

It was then that I heard the voices behind me. How, I don't know. The rain was pounding. Deep, raucous... a group of guys. Crap.

I turned around to look behind me, already expecting what I would see. Because every girl wants her crush to see her looking like a wet cat, kneeling on the ground, pitifully struggling with a bike lock. Yup, it was Seth. Him and about three of his friends, walking and talking to each other underneath the ledge. They looked kind of blurry because the rain, stinging on my back even through my shirt, was so hard. The sky thundered, and I jumped, hearing myself splash.

Please don't look at me. Please don't look at me. If there is a God, Seth will not look over here at me.

Stupid freaking bike lock!

All of a sudden, I could hear their muffled sounding voices stop. It was dead quiet.

The water was dripping down off of my hairline in icy little rivers, soaking into my eyes and making it impossible to do anything. I looked up and blinked, desperate to clear my vision so I could go home.

And they were standing there. And I don't know about the other two, but Seth was looking at me.

Staring at me.

It was raining.

The metal of the bike was cold.

And Seth was staring at me.

I was shivering.

I was frozen.

And that boy was staring at me.

I could finally breathe.

I could feel my heart beat shake my chest.

And all of a sudden, I was floating.

He was there. Right there. And there was a string in my heart, in my chest, pulling me towards him.

My feet were in too many places. My brain was a muggy mess of colors. Something was overflowing in my chest, and I hated my mom.

But it was okay. Because he would sweep it all away, and bring me back down so I could touch earth again, and give me wings, and I would belong with him.

Oh God. I belonged.

And in that parking lot, on that day, something was happening that was bigger than anything I would ever know. I was scared.

I belonged. And it scared me. It terrified me.

More than anything ever had.

Three steps, and he was halfway to me. I could almost see his eyes.

Three more steps, and I could be free. Free with him.

I yanked away the bike lock, let it drop, and let the rain fall back into my eyes.

I hurtled myself onto the bike, and in the opposite direction as fast as I could.

I didn't look back.

The string broke. My chest overflowed.

I peddled away.