I slowly walked towards the front entrance to the school after Dad dropped me off. I was scanning the crowd for Collin. He told me always stood outside in the mornings before the bell rang.

It didn't take very long for me to find Collin and the rest of his friends. They towered over all of the other students. I supposed it was the werewolf genes.

Seeing me, Collin waved me over. I walked towards him and stopped once I was beside him. He took my hand and smiled warmly at me. I felt myself blush.

"Aww, how cute." Brady teased. I rolled my eyes at him, so he stuck his tongue out at me. "So, is this going to be a regular occurrence." He looked from Collin to me and back again.

"What?" Collin asked, quickly glancing at Brady before returning his eyes to me. "Her hanging out with us?" He looked at Brady again. "Yeah, if she wants."

"Goody goody gumdrops." Brady said, clapping his hands together. "This'll be oodles and oodles of fun."

"Brady." Seth warned trying to keep the peace. "Be nice. Just because you haven't imprinted yet-"

"Never gonna happen." Brady interjected. "I see the ways wolves with imprints get. No thank you. I will not bend over backwards just to make someone else happy." He smirked at a girl a few feet in front of us. She turned to her friends, squealing over the fact that Brady looked at her. "Besides, I can't be tied down."

"You may be singing a different tune." Seth replied. Brady simply ignored him. It seemed to me that this was an ongoing argument between Brady and, well, everyone else.

People began shoving through the doors so it looked like it was time for me to go. Collin gave me a big, loving hug and told me goodbye. I walked all the way to my locker alone.

The whole day people kept staring at me and whispering. I knew exactly what they were talking about. My apparent relationship with Collin was spreading through the school like wildfire.

By lunch time, I'd come to just ignore everyone. I was halfway through eating my lunch alone when Luna and Karma walked up to me.

"I knew there was something going on." Karma snapped at me without any sort of greeting. "And to think I thought you were a good person." She scowled at me.

This could't have anything to do with Collin could it? I asked myself. To make sure, I asked Karma, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, don't play innocent." Luna answered angrily. "You know exactly what you did, Scout Barlow." She sucked in a deep breath. "We've just come to inform you that we're no longer your friends." With that, the two of them sauntered off.

I didn't care too much. Luna and Karma had never been great friends with me. During the beginning of the fight with Harm I was currently going through, they didn't talk to me that much.

I glanced up for half a second and locked eyes with Harmony all the way on the other side of the cafeteria. At first, she looked surprised. However, her look of shock soon turned into a scowl.

What's her problem? I wondered, getting up and throwing away my Styrofoam tray. I walked off towards the direction of the nearest bathroom. I was tired of people staring at me and whispering about me. Couldn't they at least have the decency to not do it in front of me?

I entered the bathroom, angry at the whole world. I stood in front of the mirror and stared at myself for a moment. I looked the exact way I felt: awful. I wanted school to just end. I wanted to go somewhere. Anywhere.

Suddenly, one of the stall doors slammed open. I whipped around, coming face to face with Grace Berry. Wasn't she supposed to be in class? Oh, wait. She was probably skipping.

"So, Scout," she began, glaring at me. "I hear you're dating Collin." She crossed her arms. For someone so small, she sure looked scary.

"Uh... yeah." My voice sounded so small and high pitched. I was pretty scared. I didn't know what was going to happen.

"How cute." she said in a fake sweet voice. "You know, I used to date him."

"Yeah, I know." I answered. Where was she going with this?

"I know how he can be." she told me. "He's so sweet. For a while anyway. Then he breaks your heart and leaves you for someone else." Her icy glare told me I was the someone else.

"Oh?" I asked, not really quite sure how to respond to that since I knew better.

"Yeah." she said, frowning. "So, you better watch out. Wouldn't wanna see you get hurt." Her frown changed into a smirk.

"Are you threatening me?" I asked. Instead of getting an answer, I got shoved aside by Grace as she left the bathroom in an angry huff.

What in the heck was everyone's problem? Why should it matter to anyone if Collin was dating me? What was the big freaking deal?

I stared into the mirror and it hit me. Everyone had figured Collin had cheated on Grace. Now, I was dating him. They thought there was a connection.

Someone had to be the first to suggest that. I thought to myself, clutching the sides of the sink. They knew it would spread through the school like wild fire. That's what they wanted. But who-? Harm.

It had to be her. It all made perfect sense. When school ended, I ditched Collin so I could confront Harmony. I caught her before she could make it up the porch.

"Harm!" I yelled, running into her yard. At the sound of my voice she turned around and I was able to grab hold of her arm.

"Let go!" she yelled, trying to jerk free. I kept a tight hold. I wasn't giving up that easily. "Seriously, Scout!"

"I know it's you that's been talking about me at school." I told her. She continued to struggle and I continued to hold on.

"Why the hell would I do that?" she yelled. Thank goodness Karen wasn't home. She would've been outside in a heart beat, trying to figure out what was going on.

"You hate that I'm dating Collin." I reminded her. "You'd do anything to get us apart."

"I could care less about you and Collin!"

"That's a load of crap!"

"All right!" she yelled at me. "I hate Collin."

"For no apparent reason." I added, keeping hold of her arm.

"Oh, I have a reason."

"What is it then? Enlighten me, Harm." I let go and she turned around. She didn't bolt. She simply stared at me for a moment.

"He picked on you relentlessly for years and you still liked him." she began. "You've always liked him no matter what he did to you."

"And?"

"And?" she shouted back at me. She gave a hollow laugh. "I can't believe you don't get it. It's been staring you in the face for years."

"What has?"

Harmony looked at me. I could've sworn she was trembling. "I like girls." she said in barely a whisper. "Not just any girl though. No. It's you, Scout."

"What?" I asked, confused. I never thought Harm acted that way. Never in a million years would I have guessed.

"I didn't even know why I cared so much that day at the beach. It seemed so stupid to get worked up over that." she continued, not looking at me. "I didn't figure it out until we were twelve. I know you don't feel that way though. I know you've always liked him. I guess that's why I hate him. He was mean to you, but you picked him anyway."

"Oh, Harm." I said, reaching out to her. She drew away from me. "Harm?"

"No." she said firmly. "Don't even pretend to understand. You can't possibly."

"Then help me understand." I begged her. "We're best friends, Harmony. Please?"

She shook her head. "No, we aren't. We can't be. Not anymore." She turned on her heels, ran inside her house, and slammed the door.

I walked back towards my house, confused and upset. I couldn't believe Harm wasn't going to talk to me. Surely if she knew that I liked guys then she also knew that one day I'd have a boyfriend. If I'd been dating anyone but Collin, would she be acting this way?

I can't recall sitting down on my porch steps. I can't even recall making it across the street. I just was somehow. I was staring across the street not at all sure that what just happened made any remote sense.

"There you are." I heard a while later as Collin sat down next to me. "How did you manage to get away from me?"

I didn't answer. I just stared straight ahead of me. I was trying to think. "Scout?" Collin asked, squeezing my knee. "Is something wrong?"

I sighed. "I ran into Grace at school. She basically threatened me. The whole school's talking about me. Harmony, my best friend, won't even speak to me."

Collin was quiet for a moment. "Don't listen to them." he finally said. "Listen to yourself. What does Scout say, huh? What does Scout want? Scout's all that matters. Even I don't matter."

I turned to him. "Scout..." I took a breath. "Scout realizes she's liked you since she was little. Had you been nice back then, she would have known that earlier." I took another breath. "Scout also wishes Harmony would be her friend again. She isn't too worried though because she knows Harm will come around someday."

Collin smiled at me. "Collin's glad to hear that. He's liked Scout for a long time too. He was just worried about what everyone else would say. Now, he doesn't care. Only took turning into a wolf and imprinting to figure that out." He chuckled.

"Scout thinks she and Collin should stop talking in third person." I laughed.

"Collin agrees." he also laughed. "So, are you going to be okay?" he asked me.

I nodded. "Yeah, I think I'll be fine."

"Good." he said, giving me a hug. In that moment, I didn't care about anyone or anything. It was just me and Collin. I wouldn't have traded that for anything in the whole world.