Alex and I walked into English together, taking the same two seats near the back as yesterday.

"You could have told me your mom and my aunt are friends," I said looking over at Alex. His eyebrows bunched together, not understanding my statement. "Your mom told my aunt about walking in on us yesterday," I explained.

Alex smiled his lopsided grin at me as if to say 'whoops.' I laughed as I turned my attention to the teacher who had just entered the room.

After the bell Alex grabbed my hand as he walked me to my next class. I couldn't help but notice the looks other students were giving us. I didn't understand them. The boys were looking at Alex like he had done something… triumphant, while the girls were looking at me like… like they did back home. I gasped at my realization.

Alex stopped when he heard my intake of breath. "You okay?" he asked, turning to look at me.

I nodded slightly, intending to keep myself together. I couldn't let my old emotions rise to the surface. I couldn't let the memories take over.

He squeezed my hand, giving me a look that said he knew I was lying. Thankfully he let it go, shrugging his shoulders as we continued walking down the hall.

When we stood in front of room A25 Alex leaned in. He whispered in my ear before kissing my cheek like yesterday and walking off towards his next class.

I walked into my History class, taking an open seat by the window. I didn't hear a word the teacher said. The only words I could hear were the ones in my head. Alex had said, 'I know your lying. Whatever it is, I'm here for you, you know that.'

But did I? Could I trust him with my secrets, with my story? Aunt Shannon had said she thought he was the person she thought could help me the most. How could he help me? I didn't understand it.

As I exited second period, turning to make my way to third I felt someone fall into step beside me. I glanced over to see a girl I recognized from second period.

"Your Addison, the new girl, right?" she asked although I could tell she already knew the answer.

"Uh, yeah."

"So… you and Alex, huh? You don't waste time do you?" she asked.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what you mean. Alex and my cousin, Rian, are friends. And I guess Alex and I are too," I answered.

"Sure." That was it. She walked away. Her strut saying she was too cool for everyone around her.

I sighed. I guess kids here were just like the kids at home. The only difference being that I grew up with the kids at home. I used to be friends with everyone. Then I became known as the class slut, and no one wanted to be my friend. I still don't understand how people can turn on you like that. By the looks I had received earlier, not to mention that girl's questions, I was already being labeled. I didn't know what that label was yet, but I'm sure it wasn't good.

Fourth period went by in a blur. I now found myself in the cafeteria with Rian sitting at a table by the window. I was still receiving odd looks, but I tuned them out. I had learned to do that pretty damn well over last year. I guess you could say I perfected it. The only thing I had yet to perfect was making myself invisible. I always attracted more attention than I wanted to.

"Hey, Addison," Rian greeted absentmindedly. I could tell he was still kind of upset about the day before.

"Hey, Ri," I responded lightly.

The silence that surrounded us was almost deafening. Neither of us made a move to speak, we just sat silently disagreeing with each other's position on the situation.

I used this moment to loose myself in my thoughts. Usually I avoided any opportunity to delve into my overworking mind, but too much had changed in the past few weeks that I needed to reassess and reorganize my thoughts and feelings.

I hadn't wanted to come here in the first place but now I was beginning to think it was a move for the better than for the worst. I didn't feel like a total outcast here. I had made at least one friend, even if I had pushed my only ally, Rian, away. So what if half of the school already thought I was a slut that had already weaseled her way around. I could ignore everyone's stares and gossip; I had become a pro at home. I was used to having to defend my actions, and even things that I hadn't done. Here though, I wasn't going to defend myself. I decided right then that I would just tune them out. I knew who I was, what I did, everyone else didn't need to know the truth. Well, maybe one person deserved to know.

When I got home I went straight to my room, deciding to get the few homework assignments I had out of the way before joining the boys down in the basement for band practice.

I knew something was off the second I sat down on the dingy coach. Alex was watching me as he sang with a curious look in his eye. He, no doubt, wanted to know why I had spaced out on him earlier at school. While I was thinking about how I would approach the topic with Alex, I noticed a change in the music.

Something was missing. I looked up, realizing what was missing. Drums. Rian had stopped playing. Followed shortly by everyone else when they noticed. All heads turned to Rian, who was glaring at Alex.

Understanding what was happening I stood up. "Um. Rian? Can I talk to you for a second?"

He turned his attention to me with a skeptical look before nodding and making his way towards the stairs. Once upstairs, we took a seat on the coach in the living room.

Rian was silent. He wouldn't even look at me. I fished around for the right words. I needed to save my relationship with him. He was my cousin after all. We were blood.

"I thought you wanted to talk?" he asked after a long silence, finally turning to look at me.

"Yes, I do." I hesitated before finding the right order for the words mingling around in my head. "I wanted to talk to you about last night." He opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to push you away. And I by no means want to come between you and Alex. But, Alex was right. I can make my own decisions. You warned me about Alex. I get that your looking out for me. But in all honesty, I fooled around with Alex because of what you told me. I'm not looking for a relationship, Rian. I just wanted to have some fun. I haven't had fun in a long time."

When I finished, Rian cleared his throat. I could tell he was expecting me to say what I did.

"Um. Okay. I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have tried to tell you what to do. I just, I know something happened to you. Even if you don't want to tell me about it, I want to be there for you. Okay? Just promise you'll come to me if you need to."

I nodded. That I could promise. And soon, I think I could even confide in him. We were back on the right track. Thank God.

"Come on, the guys are probably wondering what's up."

I followed Rian back down the basement stairs. Alex's gaze tracked me as I made my way back to the coach I had been occupying earlier. I watched the rest of practice while Alex kept sending me questioning glances. Silently asking me what happened between Rian and I.

A/N: sorry it took so long.. but present - Addison and Rian are all good!

comment are always nice, hint hint;)

until next time, love