Chapter 8

Jon Snow Stark POV

I'm leaving rock climbing practice on Thursday when Ygritte calls out to me. "Hey," she says, walking up to me. "Can I ask you for a favor?"

"Sure," I respond. "What's up?"

"Can I drive your car to my place? Tormund is trying to talk to Coach Tarth again, and I want to practice driving home more. I haven't driven in a while." I think about it for a second. Her place isn't that far from school.

"Yeah, sure," I say. "I'm not that protective of my car, but my parents will kill me if you wreck it so please try to be careful."

"I will," she responds, laughing. We get to my car and she gets into the driver's seat. I'm a little nervous to let her drive it, but she has a license so it should be fine.

"So how's your girlfriend?" She asks me as she's driving. I'm a little nervous to talk about Dany with Ygritte, but that might be an important step to becoming friends.

"She's good," I respond. "We don't see each other as much as I would like us to with our schedules, but she seems happy."

There's an awkward pause. Ygritte's actually driving pretty well, better than I expected. "Are you talking to anyone?" I ask her. I don't know why I brought that up, but I said it before I could think about it.

"Like, romantically? No," she says. "Why?"

"Just curious. I don't know, never mind."

"I don't think we should talk about stuff like that," Ygritte says. "Given our history and all."

"You asked me about Dany," I respond. "Sorry for continuing the conversation."

"Whatever," she says. "I'm almost to my house."

"You're doing well with driving," I say. "I can tell you're careful with it."

"Thanks." She sounds snappy in her response. I don't know what I did, but she randomly gets like this. I like Ygritte, but I feel like I don't understand her. Even after dating her, I don't think I understand her better than when we first met. We pull up to her house.

"Bye," I say. "See you soon." She just gets out and walks into the house without saying a word.

Later that night, I get a text from her. It reads, *I'm sorry about today, I guess I just need to get used to us being friends.*

*I get that. It's okay, I'm glad we can at least have a civil conversation.*

Ding. *Me too. Can you give me another chance?*

*Of course. See you tomorrow. :)*

Ding. *:)*

I feel like it'll take some work, but I'm glad we're willing to be in each other's lives again. Maybe we can hang out as friends again soon in a group. I don't want things to be tense between us, but it seems like that's unavoidable. Maybe with more time, things will get better.

Sansa Stark POV

School hasn't gotten much better since I heard about the rumors. People still stare at me, and Myranda and her friends still call me names. I'm dreading going to school more and more. I feel like at this point, the only thing I can control is what I eat (or don't eat). I felt like that last year, but it feels worse right now.

"We missed you at the Homecoming dance," Margaery says as she's driving home from school. "Why didn't you come?"

"I didn't feel like I could show my face," I respond. "Not with all the rumors being spread about me."

"Do you actually think anyone believes those?"

"Well, I've noticed people staring at me and whispering sometimes. And honestly, I was panicking at the thought of seeing Myranda and Ramsay."

"Are you still not over him?" Margaery asks. "He was a jerk, I hope you don't want him back."

"I definitely don't," I respond. "But seeing him stresses me out with everything he did to me."

"I think you're overreacting," Margaery says nonchalantly. "We've all been pressured into sex, you just need to move on." I don't think she understands what I mean. My heart starts pounding when I see Ramsay in the hallway, I dread seeing him every day. I'm terrified he'll corner me one day and make me do something or hurt me in some way, I lay awake at night worrying about that. That isn't something you just get over.

When I get home, my dad is watching TV on the couch. "Hey Sansa," he says to me. "How was cheer?"

"It was good," I say. "Can I sit next to you?" I feel like being near my dad will help me feel safe right now, as embarassing as that is.

"Of course. I feel like we don't talk anymore." I sit next to my dad. Sometimes I want to ask him for advice about boys, but I'm too embarassed. I also feel like he isn't the person to ask since he cheated on my mom. Maybe one day I'll ask him why guys do that, and he can explain it to me.

"How's school?" He asks me.

"Pretty good," I say, lying. "I just wish I was doing more with my friends. I feel like we did a lot more last year."

"It's nice having you home more," my dad says. "I feel like we barely saw you last year. Let me know if you aren't doing okay." I don't know why he would say that, but it makes me uncomfortable.

"I should probably get started on homework," I say after a pause. I begin to walk upstairs.

"Sansa," my dad says. I stop and look over at him. "Do you want to practice driving this weekend?"

"Sure," I say. "That sounds great." I walk up to my room. I started lessons over the summer, but I need to continue them in a couple months. I stopped because I needed more practice. It'll be fun to drive with my dad, I could really use the practice.

Tyrion Lannister POV

I'm finally a senior now, and this is the first time in my life that I feel like it could actually go somewhere. I'm in love with Shae, and we both applied to Cersei and Jaime's school. I was nervous to go to school with them, sometimes I think I'd love nothing more than to disappear from Winterfell and never look back. I want to be close to Jaime, though. I really don't want to break apart from him, and if that means I have to deal with Cersei then I can live with that.

My dad has started letting Shae sleep over at the house now that Jaime and Cersei are gone. They get along really well, she helps him clean a lot which is very helpful. We decided not to go to the Homecoming dance, the comments about our relationship get old and it's not really that fun.

"Do you want to live together when we get to college?" Shae suddenly asks me when we're watching TV at home one night.

"Really?" I ask.

"Yeah," she replies. "I'm serious."

"Of course I do. I love you."

"I love you more." She kisses me. I've told Shae that I love her before, but I really mean it. I haven't had much luck with actual relationships, and only some luck with sex. I really feel like Shae is the one for me.

"I can't wait until we can get out of here and live our life together," Shae continues. "I know they say high school relationships don't last, but I know ours will."

"I feel like father likes me more since I started dating you," I say. "It makes me feel like I'm doing something right, finally."

"I've never cared what anyone has to say about my past, or about the way you look. It's just about us, no one else."

That comment makes me want to cry. She's the first person besides Jaime to accept me for who I am. "Definitely," I say. "Only us."

After Shae leaves, I give Jaime a call. "Hello?" I hear him say on the other end.

"Jaime," I say. "Shae just left, and I have to tell you about the conversation we had."

"What happened?"

"She wants to move in together after college."

"Really?" Jaime sounds shocked.

"Yeah," I respond. "You know we applied to your school, but she just today said we should live together."

"Wow," Jaime says. "So it seems like you guys are really serious."

"That's the idea," I respond. "I really feel like she's the one for me Jaime. Father loves her, and he's on my case less when she's around."

"I'm happy for you, little brother. I have to go, but call me later."

"Bye, Jaime." I used to think my life would never go anywhere, but I'm feeling less and less like that now. I really hope we both get into the school we applied to, that's the last piece I need to feel like I can actually do something with my life.