I'd like to thank my beta/ best friend/ neighbor for getting me sick :P THANKS A LOT, D!


BOCD High

Under the Bleachers

Friday, October 4th

8:43 P.M.

Claire kicked a can of Diet Coke that had fallen from above as she paced back and forth. After she had changed out of her dress and back into her uniform, she had texted Cam to meet her under the bleachers ten minutes after the pom team performed for halftime. But he hasn't come.

She was desperate. She had to get Cam to explain to Cayden that they had only been talking about being friends in the picture that Mikayla and Massie had shown Cayden. She didn't know if he would believe just her. She needed the other party to give her back up… even if the other side wanted her and Cayden to break up. If she could convince Cam to help her then maybe Cayden would understand.

"Claire!" Someone whispered from behind a large pole supporting the bleachers. But the voice wasn't as deep as Cam's, it was male but it sounded younger, one that she would never forget no matter who was considered family or not.

"Todd?"

Stepping out from where he was hiding his face came into view, and what she saw made her heart fall to the cold hard concrete ground. He looked as if he was in pain and the sorrow that was shining in his normally bright, smiling eyes was like a punch in the gut. It killed to see him so… broken.

She ran to him, bringing him into a bone crushing hug. But she felt hot tears run down her cold rosy cheeks when he held on to her just as tight.

"I missed you." He mumbled the three words she had previously thought she'd never hear him say to her. But those words made Claire's silent tears turn into sobs. A realization had finally slapped her in the face; she had completely forgotten about Todd. Ever since the news broke that she wasn't the Lyons' daughter, she was more concerned with her own life's mess and how hard it was to be going through such a shocking and unexpected transition that she had completely ignored the thought of how hard it must be for him. His parents were in jail and the person he had called his sister was gone, it was just as hard for him as it was for her… if not more, his family was gone. And the worst part was that she hadn't even tried to reach out to him. She had thought about him from time to time but every time she did her thoughts were short lived. How could she have been so cold? How could she have been so heartless and selfish?

"Are you okay?" She finally managed to choke out.

He pulled away, looked into her eyes and she knew the answer: no.

"I'm being forced to move to Oregon to live with grandma… it's either that or a foster home." He said barely above a whisper, "Claire, I don't want to leave Westchester. I like it here, all of my friends live here, and… so are you…"

Oh my god… Claire thought, the thought of her brother- blood or not- being on the other side of the country, tearing him away from the only things he had left made the blood drain from her face.

"I can't do it Claire; Westchester is the only thing familiar anymore." He said, his eyes becoming glassy with tears threatening to spill over. "But I don't know what to do."

Claire honestly didn't know what to say, although she desperately wanted to comfort him. The only problem was that she had no idea what had to happen legally and if she could do anything to change it. There wasn't much she could say.

"I just wanted to at least say goodbye." He continued, "The lawyers told me not to speak to you and I don't think I'll get another chance to say it."

Now her heart was truly breaking. He was there to say goodbye…

"Todd…" She was genuinely at a loss of words for the first time in her life. How could she tell him anything after she had been so wrapped up in her own problems that she hadn't even bothered to seriously think about him?

"Even if I'm not technically related to you, you'll always be my sister-nothing will change that." He said sounding more mature than she had ever heard him in her entire life.

She choked back a sob and wiped her eyes. There was no way she was going to let them take him away, she wasn't going to let them take the one person that was truly familiar after all that's happened. Jay and Judi may not have been her parents but Todd was still her brother, and after neglecting her sisterly duties for so long, she was determined to be by his side.

"No, you're not leaving." She said sternly.

"But the court will order it." He insisted sadly.

"Todd, if we talk to Mr. Rivera then he may be able to do something about letting you stay here! He's one of the best lawyers in the country!" She said quickly.

"But where will I stay? I can't live at a friend's house until I go to college!"

"You can live with us!"

"With your family?" She felt a sting when he said "your". It was just so weird to not be connected in the same way they had been, "Won't Addison and Alex mind? I'm not their kid; I'm not their problem to deal with!"

"Todd, you're not a problem! And they're not going to mind! In fact, I know that if you told them what you told me then they'll do everything in their power to make sure you can stay!"

He looked at her for a few moments before hugging her again. "Thank you."

"I love you." She whispered and pulled back.

"Now, was that so hard?" He asked, smirking. At least one thing hadn't changed, Todd being his usual self and trying to lighten the mood.

She lightly punched him in the shoulder before he told her that he had to leave because Tiny Nathan was waiting with their bikes by the flag pole in front of the school.

Claire sighed, and wiped her tears once more while Todd walked away. At least she had parents, even though she was still trying to get used to calling them that, but Todd had been practically abandoned because she had failed to do anything. She could hardly believe that she had completely neglected him. The thoughts bouncing around in her head were piercingly loud as they screamed how terrible she was…

BOCD High

Football Stadium, Women's Locker Room

Friday, October 4th

8:50 P.M.

Alicia's head was spinning as she crouched down behind a water cooler with her iPhone peeking out, filming the two figures standing before her. This was exactly what they needed for evidence to prove that Tiffany, Worthy, and the rest of them were out to get everyone.

"Would you calm down?" Worthy asked Tiffany, who was currently throwing a temper tantrum- throwing a trophy on the ground, breaking it into pieces upon contact.

"Why should I?!" She snapped with tears flowing down her cheeks… a sight Alicia had never thought she would see coming from Tiffany. "They ruined everything….AGAIN!"

"Relax; you'll get your revenge!" Worthy placed a both hands on either side of her shoulders, "Before halftime it seems Massie had felt guilty and tried to lock Mikayla in here after she let it slip she was going to break up Claire and the football player, fortunately I found Mikayla and she followed through with her plans."

WHAT?! Alicia's mouth fell open. Massie was trying to help? Why would she suddenly feel bad after everything that has happened? She had thought that Massie completely and utterly hated Claire, not to mention everyone else.

"But my plans are ruined!" Tiffany screeched, "Monica won, just as she always does! At least you still have a chance of letting Barrington Academy win at nationals! You got your wish, WE SUCK!"

"You let Mikayla out?!" Someone gasped from the door leading outside. Alicia couldn't see but it sure sounded like Massie.

"Yeah." Worthy answered, "It was for your own good. You have to ignore these weak thoughts! You're the one that wanted to be back on top with Claire out of the picture, and you're finally getting your wish!"

Massie came into view with red puffy eyes and her fists clenched at her sides. She looked more furious than Alicia had ever seen… and that was really saying something. "I didn't want that to happen though! She really loves Cayden! I never wanted to literally destroy her; I just wanted my alpha spot back!"

Massie took a deep breath and shook her head like she couldn't believe what she was about to say, "And thanks to you, I now realize that I don't want it back, all it's done is turn me into her." Massie pointed to Tiffany, "All I REALLY want are my best friends back."

It took all of Alicia's strength to bite her tongue and force herself not to gasp at Massie's confession. She almost thought that she was in the middle of a dream. She was going to have to replay the video on her phone a hundred times before she believed that everything had truly happened.

"And you know what else?" Massie hissed through her teeth, "I quit the team! It was what I should have done a long time ago!"

Massie then turned on her heal and walked out the door, slamming it behind her. Alicia jumped and prayed that Tiffany or Worthy hadn't noticed.

"Now what?!" Tiffany yelled at the top of her lungs, "I just lost one of my most powerful allies! Now I'm stuck with Mikayla and the two dumb blondes!"

"You'll think of something." Worthy said, shrugging before calmly walking out the door.

"Ugh!" Tiffany kicked a piece of the broken trophy before walking over to her gym locker. She riffled through a bag, pulling out a piece of paper- maybe a picture. She tore it in half and swore under her breath before throwing the two pieces into the trash and walking out the same door Worthy had exited.

Alicia stopped filming and quickly texted the video to Claire, Monica, Dylan, Britta, Annie, and Kristen. She stood up and walked over to the trashcan, carefully picking out whatever Tiffany had ripped apart, but Alicia was shocked to find that it was a picture… only it was a picture no one would have expected from Tiffany; a picture of Tiffany and Monica doing over exaggerated model possess together by the side of a pool, actually looking happy… and like best friends.

What the fuck?

BOCD High

A-Lot

Friday, October 4th

9:02 P.M.

Grabbing his car keys out of his pocket, Nolan scanned the packed parking lot in front of the football stadium for his car. He had to get out of here and fast. Monica had run out after Liam just after Nolan had let her know he still had feelings for her. She had chosen Liam over him, after everything he had done… she still loved him more.

He swallowed hard and tried to stand a little straighter, but his shoulders stayed slumped- still carrying the weight of his anguish. But it was the feeling in his chest that carried the most grief. His heart felt so emotionally drained and his lungs could hardly take in air, almost as if he had bricks lying on top of him.

He spotted his Jeep and made his way towards it but the sound of someone cursing made him stop. He looked over to a black BMW and noticed Liam struggling to open the driver's side door of the car.

"Fuck!" He slammed his fist against the glass of the window, dropped his keys and took a swing of something from a glass bottle.

"Please tell me that's not alcohol." Nolan sighed, causing Liam to turn to him surprised, but his expression quickly turned to anger.

"W-why?" He slurred, glaring at him, "So you can steal this from me too?"

Nolan clenched his fists, trying to control his anger, you stole her from me! But he refused to argue with a drunk.

Liam quickly fetched the keys from the ground and tried to open his door. The moron was so drunk he didn't even realize there was a button that could unlock it for him.

"Give me your keys." He demanded, holding out his palm. As much as he wanted to punch Liam in the face, he didn't want him to die.

"No!" He clutched the keys to his chest.

"Liam, if you get into an accident, and get or hurt or even die… it will kill Monica." He said with full honesty. Monica would be broken if something unimaginably terrible happened to him.

"Don't you mean if you get hurt?" He accused, looking at him with pure hatred, "She won't care what happens to me! She loves you, not me!"

"That's not true!" Nolan hissed. The fact that he was telling Monica's ex-fiancé that she loves Liam more than him hurt. "I was the one that kissed her. She and I aren't together, she never cheated on you. I love her but it's pretty damn obvious that she loves you."

"Liam!" Monica's voice rang out.

Shit, he thought as Monica quickly made her way towards them.

She quickly noticed the whisky bottle in his hand and car keys in the other.

"Liam, give me the keys." She said sounding angry and disappointed but very demanding.

As if she had him in some hypnotic trance, he handed over the keys and warily watched her.

"And the bottle." She said just as sternly. He slowly handed her the bottle and looked down to the ground.

Monica set the bottle on the hood of his car and dropped the keys into the top of her dress. She took a breath before she slapped him across the cheek. Nolan bit his lip, trying not to smile at the fact that she just hit him.

Liam starred at her with shock as he held his hand to his cheek with a stupidly shocked face.

"You idiot!" She yelled and pushed him against his car, "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"I-I-" He tried to speak but gave up and looked back to the ground with his brows furrowed.

Nolan watched and wondered what she was going to do but looked away when he saw Monica hold him close, running a hand through his hair and whispering something in his ear that was visibly relaxing and comforting him as he wrapped his arms around her. Did she entirely forget that he was standing right there watching them?!

He rolled his eyes. No matter what, Monica was going to keep running back to Liam. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't blame her; he was her first love… the one love you never forget. She was his first love, and he would never forget her. Or stop loving her.

Walking to his car, he unlocked his car and was about to get in when he felt someone grab his arm.

"Nolan, I think we should talk." Monica said quietly.

"You said everything you needed to without even saying it." Nolan sighed, looking down at her as he desperately tried to cover up the pain in his voice. "Where's Liam?"

"Waiting in his car, I'm going to have to drive him home." She answered. She looked down at her hands before looking back into his eyes with those big brown eyes he had saw countless times when he closed his eyes. "I know you think I'm choosing him over you, but I'm not."

"Monica, I know you're just saying all of this to make me feel better." He said bitterly, but it came out sounding harsher than he had meant which caused her to take a small step back, "You might as well save me time by just saying that you love him more!"

"I love him, but I also love you." She whispered with tears starting to roll down her cheeks making him feel like a jackass. He hated it when she cried, but it felt terrible to know that he was a reason as to why she was crying. "Last year I loved both of you, but I chose him and I stayed friends with you because I thought I was going to lose you but now I know that I subconsciously wanted you around because I still had feelings for you… just as I do now."

"So what're you going to do?" He asked, dreading her answer. It was either going to be "I don't know" or "Get back together with Liam". Either way Nolan was at a loss.

"Well, after I ran out on you in the field house, I started thinking…"

Oh crap… she's choosing him…

"And I was hoping that we could maybe try and date, see where it goes."

Wait, what?

"I need to sort out my feelings for you two and there's no way I can do that unless I give us a try."

Before she could say anything else, Nolan pressed his lips against hers before whispering "I'll pick you up tomorrow at eight."


One more chapter :) And good news! It's all written and checked over by my beta so it's ready to be posted. AND, if you thought this chapter was short, you'll be happy when you see the length of the next (and last) one *sob*

And I won't require reviews for me to post it, all I ask for is feedback :D

On one last note, I'm giving everyone an early warning about the threequel! It might be rated M or rated T and later changed to M. There's not going to be sex scenes (well, some but I would still consider those scenes rated T) but there will be more mature content. I know some readers on here are young and I get a lot of complaints about the cussing, drinking, and sex. But welcome to getting older… those things are bound to be done by someone you know. And I'm not saying go out and do them. GOD NO! I'm trying to show what can actually happen in high school and beyond because the next story is going to be much more realistic with more realistic characters (haha, MASSIE!). Don't say I didn't warn you if you have a problem with those things ;)

Oh, and I posted pictures of what Cayden, Hayden, Liam, and Nolan look like on my profile under the character's looks section. I'm leaving Cam, Josh, and Derrington up to you guys! So send me pictures of what you invasion of them :)