Effy wasn't really sure how that argument with Jake had started she was pretty certain that she had started it and had over reacted over something but that it didn't mean that she was going to find Jake and apologize. She was still annoyed over what had happened although she was feeling marginally better by the end of the school day and even more so after cheerleading practice as she walked with Peyton and Brooke out of the gym well technically Effy was only walking with Peyton as she was giving Brooke a piggy back. It felt nice for Effy to be hanging out with her friends as she hadn't spent some real quality time with them as Brooke was always off doing something, Peyton was dating Nathan which meant the only time Effy would see her was when she wasn't with Nathan and then Effy herself was all over the place doing whatever she wanted to do. Despite the fact Brooke had been bossing them around most of the afternoon, Effy somehow had a great time as any form of exercise tended to put her in a very good mood. Although she knew her seemingly good mood would disappear the moment she stepped into the house but as she reminded herself, Dan and Nathan no longer mattered to her.

"I am loving the dye job Skater girl!" Brook stated referring to Effy by one of the many nicknames she had for her, that particular nickname was because of Effy's fondness for pretty much skateboarding everywhere she went. It often surprised Effy how she, the skateboarder and tennis player was somehow a cheerleader and close friends with the all round popular Brooke Davis. Effy could see why her and Peyton were friends as they weren't the most conventional cheerleaders. But Effy loved them dearly.

"Thanks BD." Effy replied as she had thought that Brooke would hit the roof when she had seen what Effy had done to her hair. But that hadn't happened as Brooke had reacted way differently to what Effy had been expecting and had spent most of the day admiring Effy's hair and playing with it. The only disapproving Brooke had said was that Effy should have dyed the parts of her hair blue instead of purple in order to match their cheerleading uniforms.

"You feel like coming with me to the mall? My wardrobe is in a serious need of an update." Brooke questioned.

"Apparently I'm grounded, as in I can't step one foot outside the door unless I'm going to school." Effy explained as Dan had gone full parental unit after her little tirade at him, it actually made Effy laughed as it was all pointless. Dan may have taken the spark plugs out of her car but Effy didn't need it to get around town most of the time. Despite his best efforts to prevent Effy from sneaking out by putting a lock on her window, she had found a way to bypass the lock not to mention she could sneak out of any part of the house. It was just more convenient for her to sneak out of her bedroom, however she hadn't felt the need to sneak out for a late night trip in a couple of days.

"Like that would stop you." Peyton added and Effy couldn't help but snort in amusement as Peyton did have her there, it was going to take a lot more from Dan to stop Effy from sneaking out the house.

"Doesn't mean Dan's not attempting to." Effy grimly noted just as Jake walked towards the three of them much to Effy's dismay. It had been a rather long day and Effy just wanted to go home and get started on the long to do list that she had waiting for her. Whilst managing to avoid most of the men in her life.

"Hey… Can we talk?" Jake asked.

"I have to get home, I'm grounded and Dan will freak out if I show up late and since he's taken away my car, I'm sort of in a rush." Effy lied as even though she was indeed grounded, Effy was just going to turn up at home when she felt like coming home she didn't respect him as a person nor she did acknowledge his authority over her. Hence why she was not abiding by the conditions of her grounding.

"Then can I give you a ride?"

"Peyton said she'd give me a ride." Effy stated noting the odd look that Peyton was giving her, as Effy had just made all that stuff up as she was content in skating home. She only said that Peyton was giving her a ride as Effy just wanted to Jake to leave so she could go home, she didn't want to talk to him and get into what had happened with the two of them earlier.

"Oh right… Well I'll give you a call later then Eff." Jake wearily said, giving Effy a small smile before talking away and Effy tried to ignore the look that Peyton was giving her, clearly she was picking up in the weird vibe going on between Effy and Jake.

"What was that about?"

"We had a fight. I don't really want to talk about it." Effy said as she resumed walking again, pausing momentarily to shift Brooke higher up on her back.

"Why would you get into a fight with something like that? Jake Jagelski is looking seriously hot today." Brooke stated in a cool tone of voice.

"Brooke… What have I told you about that kind of stuff?" Effy questioned as this was typical Brooke behaviour, she was sort of boy crazy and a good looking boy never seemed to get by without Brooke noticing. Normally Effy was fine with it and she encouraged it a lot of the time and some days her and Brooke went to the mall under the pretense of going shopping to actually go and check out boys instead. But Jake wasn't most boys, he was different and as such Effy treated him differently and she wasn't too fond of Brooke and any of the other cheerleaders making comments about how good looking he was. Effy had made it clear to all of them that there was a line when it came to Jake and they were not allowed to cross it.

"So I can't point out that your bestie is looking particularly fine today?" Brooke asked and Effy sighed in exasperation, she found this stuff weird to talk about because Jake was her best friend and she wasn't supposed to look at him in that kind of way. But even Effy was blind or stupid, she was very much aware that her best friend was very handsome but that was as far as it was going to get.

"I told you he's off limits." Effy stated.

Why?" Brooke questioned and Effy didn't really have an answer for it as she had always told the girls that Jake was off limits just because she could. There was no actual reason that Effy could give as to why she was so adamant that none of the cheerleaders could date Jake. Effy could see that Peyton was waiting for an answer and she could practically feel Brooke burning a hole into the back of her head in anticipation of an answer.

"Because I said so, that's why." Effy feebly replied in a rather adamant tone, so it wasn't the greatest of answer. But it really didn't matter as long as Effy stated that Jake was off limits, none of the other girls would try anything with him. It was one of those girl code things and no one broke those rules, well they tried not to.

"Why are you so defensive about Jake?" Peyton asked in a teasing tone of voice.

"I am not!" Effy retorted and then she realized that she had just proven Peyton's point but that response. Effy just couldn't help herself as there was something about Jake that brought out this side of her, he was her best friend. Probably the one person who knew Effy as best as anyone could. He had seen her smile, seen her cry and was the person that Effy cared about most in the world. Effy's relationship with her family was quite strenuous to say the least and she wasn't that fond of them to begin with but Jake? He was different and Effy always found that he seemed to bring out the best side in her and Effy knew that Jake was pretty much the only normal thing she had in her rather insane life which made Effy realize that she was going to have to apologize.

"Yes you are Effy and I can see why you'd want to keep him all to yourself." Brooke squeaked. "He's just a boy and you're just a girl…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Effy questioned.

"It means all work and no play is going to make Lizzy Scott a very boring girl and you might want to consider having some with Jake, if you know what I mean." Brooke stated and Effy just rolled her eyes at her friend's insinuation

"I know exactly what you mean Brooke and you can just forget about it as Jake and I are just friends and that's it. Nothing more and nothing less, end of story." Effy stated, this wasn't the first time that had someone had asked her about what was going on with her and Jake. A lot of people were convinced that was more to the two of them that met the eye and Effy was used to denying as such. For some reason people found it hard to believe that a boy and a girl could be such close friends like Effy and Jake without anything else going on.

"Are you really telling us that you've not even thought about going there with Jake?" Peyton skeptically questioned.

"I'm not blind, trust me when I say I am well aware of how good looking Jake is and how much of a good person he is. Jake is the most warm hearted person I know and he is everything to me and more. I know he'd make a very good boyfriend and the idea has flittered through my mind occasionally, I think more often back when I was fourteen but it's not something that will ever happen. I don't want to risk what the two of us have." Effy replied, she knew how much of a great guy Jake was and the idea of them together was a nice thought but it was never going to happen as boys like Jake did not date girls like here who were complete wrecks with inferiority complexes and major daddy issues.