Rydel jerked her head and stared at Riker with wide eyes. He understood her fear immediately and stood up, "I'll get it."

"If it's Ellington, tell him I'm not here."

Riker looked at her for a moment, doubting that Ratliff would ever believe that, but he agreed. Then, he jogged down the stairs just as Rocky was pulling the front door open. "Wait," Riker blurted out, but he was too late.

To his surprise, it wasn't Ellington at the door.

"Maia," Rocky said, his lip curled with disgust. "What are you doing here?" He didn't offer to let her in.

Riker scooted closer to Rocky to catch a glimpse of Maia. He shuddered.

Maia pushed herself forward, but the brothers refused to move. She raised her eyebrows and stared at them in disbelief, "I'm here to see Ross."

Riker crossed his arms over his chest, "Well, he isn't here."

"Yeah!" Rocky added, immediately wishing he hadn't.

She scowled, "I know you guys are lying. Just let me in." She tried to squirm past them, but they still didn't budge.

"Why do you hate me so much?" she exclaimed, her voice filled with exasperation.

Riker and Rocky looked at each other and then back at her. At the same time they blurted out, "'Cause you're a whore."

Maia narrowed her eyes and pulled out her cell phone, sending Ross a text. "There. Now he'll come to my res-"

Before she could finish her sentence, the brothers slammed the door shut in her face and locked it. Riker turned to Rocky and they both started cracking up, proud of their actions.

"She totally deserved that," Rocky chuckled, leaning over and peeking out the window at her.

Riker laughed and agreed, "Yeah, what is Ross thinking? She's a heartless b-" Riker stopped what he was saying just as Ross turned the corner with his phone in his hands. He was staring at them with emotionless eyes.

"Beauty!" Riker continued, scratching the back of his head with his hand. He forced a smile.

Rocky glanced at Ross and then back at Riker, "He knows you don't mean that."

"You guys hate her." Ross's voice was dead, completely monotone.

Riker and Rocky exchanged looks again before turning back to Ross. "Then, why do you date her?"

"I'm not dating her." He reached for the doorknob and slipped out of the house before another word could be said. Riker and Rocky, utterly confused, just stared after him.

After a moment, Riker spoke, "Something's going on with him."

Rocky shook his head and patted Riker on the back as he walked away, "You think?"


"He ruined Ratliff's birthday," Laura repeated, throwing her homework and textbooks into her book bag.

Raini watched her, a concerned expression growing on her face, "I know. I was there."

Laura stopped abruptly, turning to Raini, her eyebrows furrowed, "Why is he doing this?"

"Maybe this is just who he is," Raini shrugged.

Shaking her head, Laura returned to what she was doing. "I couldn't sleep last night. I was thinking about it too much."

Raini smiled slightly, "Laura, people change. You have to let it go. He'll always be a part of our lives, but obviously not a very big part."

Laura pouted and fell backwards onto her bed. Raini moved towards her and rested her hand on her shoulder, comforting her. After a moment, she asked, "Hey, what is Noah up to these days?"

Laura shot her a glare, "We're not going there, Raini."

"What? You guys would make a great couple," she smiled innocently.

Laura just stood up, ignoring the suggestion, and grabbed her bag. "Are we going to see what's up with Rydel or what?" she questioned, looking impatiently at Raini.

"Okay, okay!" The girls quickly headed out, determined to help their best friend.


Ross gripped the steering wheel tightly, his focus on the road ahead of him. He and Maia sat in the front seats of the Lynch family van, driving aimlessly around the neighborhood. He clenched his jaw, refusing to even glance in her direction.

"So, where are we gonna park," she smirked, turning to look at the side of his face.

"We're not," he replied, keeping his eyes forward.

Maia frowned, sitting up straighter. "What do you mean?" She stared at him.

He finally looked in her direction, noticing the confused expression on her face. His own face remained emotionless. "We're not doing that again."

She watched as he turned his attention back to the road and furrowed her eyebrows. She wasn't going to let this go. "But you agreed to take me out."

"I am."

Rolling her eyes, she snapped back exasperatedly, "I thought you knew what I meant by that."

"I thought you knew what I meant when I agreed," Ross said, his voice never faltering. Before Maia could argue, he turned the car into a recognizable parking lot, filled with dozens of customers. McDonalds. The largest, and most popular, fast food restaurant chain in the world.

Maia curled her lip in disgust when she viewed her surroundings. She turned to Ross, "What is this?"

"McDonalds," he said, bluntly, parking the car and turning off the engine.

"I know," she huffed, "But what are we doing here?"

Ross unbuckled his seatbelt and looked at her, "This is where I'm taking you for our date."

She stared at him in disbelief.

"We're gonna eat and then I'm gonna take you back to my house."

She slowly smiled, his words showing a glimmer of hope.

"So you can get in your car and leave," he continued, opening the car door.

"Ross!" she exclaimed, reaching over and grabbing his arm. "Why are you doing this?"

He cocked his eyebrow and glanced at her hand, "I'm not doing that again. I did it once and now you owe me."

She jerked her head back, slightly surprised, "I owe you?" Her voice held some attitude and annoyance.

Ross pulled his arm away from her and nodded, "Yeah. I did something for you and now you do something for me."

Maia bit her lip, her eyebrows knitted together. She looked at him in wonderment, shocked that his perspective had changed drastically. Just the other day he was putty in her hands. "I didn't know that's how our relationship worked..." she said slowly.

"Don't act all innocent," he blurted out harshly. "I knew what you were after from the start. You got what you wanted and now you owe me."

She raised an eyebrow, not expecting him to catch on so quickly. Was she really that bad at acting? She decided to chance it one last time, "I thought you wanted it, too."

Ross narrowed his eyes, "Did you?" He stared at her for a moment longer before swinging his legs out of the car and slamming the door shut. He made his way towards the entrance of the fast food restaurant, not even bothering to wait for Maia. He knew that she didn't really care about him. He figured her all out. She was playing him this whole time. Subconsciously, he always knew that. But it wasn't until yesterday until it became extremely obvious to him. Now, he decided, he would make it clear to her that he was using her as well.


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