I felt Nathan fuming at me. I sighed and sat next to him prepared for his lecture.

"I can't believe you went to him over me. I'm your best friend! I thought that you would have had the brains to steer clear from him!"

I opened my mouth shocked and angered by him.

I spoke up tightly.

"Nathan, I value you so much! I love that you care so much for me... but you need to trust me and hear out all sides to a story. Not doing that blows things out of proportion."

"Melissa he was in a freaking jail."

I was appreciative at how he managed to keep that part of our conversation quiet unlike the last time.

"People get put in falsely sometimes."

"Well from what I heard he chose to not speak up without a lawyer. That equals to suspicion."

"Mr. McHugh and Ms. Wu unless your discussion is related to our topic I'd suggest you stop talking... unless you want detention."

I looked up apologetically and stammered.

"No sir. Sorry sir."

I looked over darkly to Nathan and noticed his stubbornness.

Dejected, I looked back at the black board and thought of Jackson.

Jackson's POV:

"To be or not to be..." I rolled my eyes and stared at the clock, which seemed like it was never moving.

Shakespeare makes zero sense to me. The only reason why I was able to pass the diagnostic test was from common sense.

"Jackson are you still with us?"

I looked over at Ms. Stevens and noticed some girls giggle.

I inwardly rolled my eyes at the girls attempt at being cute. I looked straight at spoke up deadpanned.

"Thy student is still with you."

I watched her scowl at my mocking tone and go on with the lesson.

Can two o'clock come any quicker, free period and being able to leave this place earlier is always a blessing.

Ms. Stevens stopped talking when there was a knock on the door. To my relief, it was Ms. Smith looking shocked at the fact I was in class.

"Jackson, Ms. Smith would like you to go to guidance with her."

I grabbed my stuff and walked over to the councilor standing next to the English teacher.

"Well Jackson, I hope you continue coming to English."

I fought to stop myself from rolling my eyes at her tone.

"I guess you'll have to see."

I followed Ms. Smith out the door and noticed her pensive stare.

"So are you going to play more mind games with me?"

I noticed her face remain neutral even with my cold tone.

"Jackson, I'm assigned make sure you're coping with the move and change of lifestyle."

"Yeah well, I'm a lost cause. I could careless about this place."

Mandy Smith's POV:

Being a guidance councilor is never easy. The people you meet can vary and be polar opposites to any of your past cases.

Cody Jackson has definitely been a harder nut to crack. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that he was attending his English class. I didn't want to take him out of the class, but I needed to cover his reasons and take notes of any new things that have happened.

Hearing him put himself down was something I didn't hear him do much. It's always been him downgrading Hartwell. I decided to continue the conversation inside my office.

I unlocked my door and motioned for him to come inside.

I sat down on my chair and watched him sit there with a cold expression on his face.

"So Jackson, is there new you want to talk about?"

"No."

Typical answer. Short and to the point.

"Well what made you decide to go to English?"

"Just... felt like going."

I looked over at him confused at why he was suddenly so wary.

"Come on Jackson, you and I both know that's bullshit."

I smirked when I noticed his head rise up and my tone and choice of words. Kids always seemed to act so shocked when teachers would curse.

"I had a change of heart, but if I knew I would have to go through all of this, I would have never went."

'A change of heart' that is new. "Well what caused the change of heart?"

I noticed his cheeks go rosy. I held back a grin.

"Should I ask who?" I spoke teasingly.

"It's none of your business."

"Was it a friend?"

"No Ms. Smith it was a mass murderer." He spoke sarcastically.

I took a candy from my desk and threw it at his head.

"Watch the cynicism mister!"

I smiled when I saw a small childish expression on his face. It's hard to believe how much he's gone through.

Jackson's POV:

This was the first time I've ever grinned inside this office. It was nice to be treated normally and forget everything.

I thought of Josh and wondered if she knew about it.

"Did you get the info about the stabbing?"

I noticed her smile go down and watched her nod.

"What were you doing there? You know not to be there."

I shrugged and looked out the window.

"I just thought they cared, if I had known what I know now I would have never gone there in the first place."

"Jackson those people are dangerous - "

I stood up irritated and shoved the chair angrily.

"I was one of those people! I am one of those people! Did you see what happened because of me?!"

I heard the bell ring and sighed.

"Jackson, you were never one of them. You are a good guy who was lost."

I walked towards the door and grabbed my bag. Just as I was about to open it I heard her stop me.

"Jackson, you didn't stab him."

It was a statement, which I haven't confirmed to the authorities. I gave her one hard look and spoke painfully.

"The cops don't believe that."

With that I walked out of the office and closed the door.

I heard a shoe squeak and looked to my left and saw Melissa at her locker grabbing a textbook that fell.

I smirked at the feeling of déja vu.

I saw her cheeks go beet red and smile at me bashfully.

I walked up to her and picked up her textbook.

"You know I can't help but feel like we've done this one too many times."

I watched her grin and close her locker.

"How was English?" She asked me cheerfully.

I looked down at the guidance office and kept my mouth closed.

"Um, I noticed you leaving 's office… everything alright?"

I looked into her deep brown almond shaped eyes and nodded.

"Yeah, she was just shocked I was attending class."

"Oh, well if that's all it is…" She voice dropped in the end and I decided to try to steer the conversation clear.

"Yeah. That's it. So you wanna head home?"

She smiled and nodded. I appreciated her not continuing to pry and we turned in the direction of the exit. We walked out quietly aware there were still some classes running.

Melissa's POV:

We left Hartwell High and I couldn't help but fear as to what to say. It was obvious something happened during English to have him reroute to guidance and leave him upset. I didn't want to annoy him or say something stupid so I kept my mouth shut.

I peered over with corner of my eye and saw a deep in thought look on his face. We stopped at the intersection and waited for the lights to change.

My stupid mouth couldn't be sealed for long though. "I can't wait to drive."

I braced myself and looked over at Jackson's face. He looked amused. So I continued.

"I mean it seems a lot more… freeing."

We noticed the light change and began walking. If I could have just hit myself really hard I would.

"I gotta agree with you there. Just being able to drive and not know where you will end up… just enjoying the ride is something I want to do."

I smiled at his semi philosophical moment.

"So when you get your license you just want to drive and not know where your destination is?"

"Pretty much. It may sound odd – "

"No it doesn't! … I mean I think that's a pretty cool way of looking at it.

I felt my breath hitch at the look he was giving me. His head was slightly tilted and his eyes were a piercing blue. He had a small smile on his face.

Not knowing what to do I smile lightly and we continued walking.

I just realized something, which made me smile. Jackson seemed to notice and poked my side gently.

Butterflies ran in my stomach and I grinned at his questioned look.

"It may not be a big deal to you, but it's Friday!"

"You know, that bit actually didn't sink in at all today. Hearing that is a big relief!"

I was caught off guard that we were nearing my home. The walk didn't feel long at all.

I felt guilty that Jackson would have to walk back so I stopped.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't your home the one down there?"

I smiled and nodded taking in the fact he still remembered.

"Yeah, but you are gonna have a long walk back, so I figured you might as well keep it a bit shorter."

"You trying to get rid of me, Melissa?"

I would have shaken my head no furiously if it weren't for the teasing tone in voice.

Jackson's POV:

I was completely puzzled as to why she stopped in the middle of the empty path. As always she was trying to be considerate and selfless.

I noticed her grin at my teasing and cautiously hit my arm.

Baby steps. I like.

"After all of my pursuits do you really think I'd try that?"

"My, my, Melissa never pegged you as a sarcastic type."

"You have a lot to learn." I grinned momentarily at her innocent tone.

"Well, you are right about my long walk, but I don't mind."

"Well I do! So will I be seeing you on Monday?"

I thought for a moment on my answer. "You could, but do you wanna see me earlier than Monday?"

I noticed her tilt her head to the side confused.

"I sorta wanna be a bit more… confident in English. Would you mind tutoring me?"

I noticed her shake her head eagerly. "I don't mind at all."

"Cool, would it be possible to have it at my place?"

With everything going on I didn't want to screw anything up with the cops and stuff.

"Yeah sure that's not a problem!"

"Cool, how about I pick you up and we'll go to my place together?"

"Yeah, sure, that's cool."

"Cool. By the way, I'm sorry for acting like a douche. Ms. Smith was just questioning me about Rick and…"

"Jackson, it's okay. You can talk to me if anything bothers you a lot. I won't judge you. But just tell me at your own pace."

I smiled at her sweetness.

"Well then, I'll swing by your place around 3, is that alright?"

"That's perfect."

"Great, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Alrighty, travel safe!"

With that and an awkward hand wave we parted ways.

As much as I want to believe things are going to be better, I can't help but feel like that's asking for too much…