I'm back early with the next chapter I cant wait to see the comments for this chapter.

I hope you guys like this chapter

"You are such an ass!"

"Oh I'm an ass, that's rich coming from you!"

"You have got to be the most idiotic person I have ever met!"

"Ah come on I made one mistake!"

"Evan its common gamer logic, you always put disc with the shiny part down!"

It's been two months since Halloween and we were two weeks away from Christmas. The last week of school ended early at 11:45. It was barely lunch time, so Evan and I decided to take a trip to central park. Do something, on this perfect day.

After what I learned on Halloween, I wasn't the same around Tyson anymore. Andre and Maria noticed immediately, though Tyson may has well have been on another planet. When news spread around after the party that he and Sydney were together, they became the new 'Thing' at school. They were the couple all the others couples strived to be.

Slowly things became strained between him and me. We used to watch movies at his house every Friday, though those soon became his and Sydney's date night. I didn't help out at the store anymore because they were always sucking face in the back storage room.

School was worse. Since I didn't have classes with Tyson to begin with, I only saw him during break and lunch. Though now, break was consisted of a morning make out session, followed by another session during lunch.

Looking back on it, I don't think he noticed when we all stopped showing up at the table. He was busy with Sydney and her friends. I'm not going to deny it, I was jealous. She had everything I dreamed off, the looks, the body, the personality, everything. She was also everything Ty deserved.

Turns out another couple came into the limelight on Halloween, Andre and Maria hooked up secretly. Maria spilled the details when I slept over a few days later. I knew it would happen eventually, though they made the oddest couple. Maria, the rule follower, straight A student, vice president for the senior class, and Andre, the skater, possible stoner, delinquent. It was unheard of! But the two just seemed perfect for each other.

Of course they always tried to include me into their activities, going to the movies, going out for lunch, and other small things, though I always felt like a third wheel. Slowly I distanced myself from them too; I would have been all by myself if Evan didn't come along.

He was the rock that I needed during the hurricane that had taken over my life. He was always there when I need him, ready to lend an ear or a hand. I don't want to know what would have happened had he not been there. He became a common visitor at my house, Dad really liked him, "Kid's smart, smart enough to keep you out of trouble."

Soon I completely forgot about Tyson, Evan seemed to have taken his spot in my mind. He made me smile till my face felt stiff, and laugh till my sides got sore. He was just there, that's all I needed and wanted at that time of my life.

"Well sorry, I don't really play video games," Evan rolled his eyes. As I mentioned earlier we were taking a day trip to central park, taking Moose out for a much needed walk, he was getting fat with his age. The whole area was covered in fresh white snow; the trees were empty skeletons reaching for the crisp blue sky. Small tiers of smoke could be seen over the tops of the trees, indicating a roasted chestnut cart, some of which we snacked on at that moment.

"That's so weird," I laughed, "a teenage boy who doesn't play video games."

"Yeah well my 'rents didn't have much when I was growing up," Evan shrugged with a smirk. He looked great in his thick black pants and puffy red winter jacket and gloves. In these past few cold months I learned this guy was a natural heater! Like he radiated warmth, unlike me who needed three shirts, a hoodie, parka, fur lined boots, a hat and gloves to make sure I didn't freeze. .

"I swear, I don't know how we're still friends," I laughed lightly pushing him. There were lots of people around, all enjoying the winter wonderland. We blended in with the crowd easily, just two teens walking around. This was one of the more normal days I cherished now. One of the few days that life seemed to be normal.

After walking and joking around Evan and I found a small bench to sit at as Moose jumped through the snow playing with a fallen branch. "So, any plans for tomorrow night?" Evan asked after a peaceful silence between us.

"Uh no, it's just any normal Friday," I shrugged with a laugh, though subconsciously I was thinking about how Tyson and I used to watch old Christmas movies around this time of year.

"You're not going to the dance on Friday?" Evan asked like he was surprised and alarmed.

"Oh yeah I'm going," I smiled at him.

"Really who are you going with?" He asked curiously, probably because he was one of the only guys I hanged out with.

"My TV," I laughed at my own joke. "And guess what I'm wearing? My couch." I busted up laughing at my sense of humor, while Evan was snickering.

"Seriously though," he wiped his eyes still laughing lightly. "Are you going?" Moose had finally come back and sat himself next to me, enjoying his ear scratch.

"Naw," I laugh slightly. "I didn't get asked and everyone else has a date," It's true, everyone at school always attended the winter formal, it's was bigger than prom at Midtown High. The school completely decked out the gym and hired the cities' best DJ. Though it seemed everyone I knew had a date, of course I was invited to go with the groups of couples, though I was tired of being a third wheel. "I was just planning on hanging out on my couch; Dad has some meeting in the city that day, so I got the whole house to myself."

"I would have thought an awesome girl like you would have had a date," Evan laughed, his cheeks were red from what I guessed was the cold. "You know I'm not going either," he shrugged.

"Oh great, now we can be loners together!" I grinned enthusiastically. "We can watch movies all night-"

"Alexa."

"-of course I'm going to have to ask my dad. Sure he likes you but he doesn't like me staying alone with guys-"

"Alexa!" Evan finally stopped my rambling. His cheeks were a burning red as he fidgeted in his seat. "I meant do you want to go to the dance with me?"

I was shocked into silence, which doesn't happen often. I could feel my cheeks burning as bright as Evan's.

"Oh," I quietly responded. "But why would you want to go with a girl like me?" Evan had half of the girls at school pining for his affection; it would be some girl's dream come true if he asked one of them out. He was smart, charming, funny, and a jack-of-all-trades.

While, I'm me; short, klutzy, and a plain Jane. I easily blend in with crowds, nothing sticks out about me. So why would Evan even ask me to the dance?

"Well why not?" he answered like he was surprised I asked. "You're cute, funny, an optimistic, granted your stubborn, thick skulled, and bullheaded-"

"Watch it," I laughed, feigning annoyance.

"Though you're everything I could ever want you to be," he smiled gently, taking my gloved hands in his. "You are perfect just the way you are. I know it's hard to see, but I can see it," he gently brought my hands to face and kissed the top of my fingers lightly.

I was as red as a beefsteak tomato at that point. I was surprised the snow falling around me didn't melt from the heat that was radiating from my cheeks.

"So what do you say Ally?" That was a nickname he gave me when we started hanging out more often. "Will you go to formal with me?"

"Yes."

"I'm so glad you're going to the dance," Maria smiled from behind her avocado mask. It was the night of formal, and both Maria and I were getting makeovers. It wasn't really my thing, but Maria's mother and four older sisters insisted. Maria's mom, Esperanza, is your stereotypical Hispanic mother; from the accent, to her joyful view on life.

"Si mija," Esperanza chimed putting on the last coat of polish on my finger nails. "From what Maria tells me, your man is quite the looker," she winked playfully.

"Ew!" Maria and all her sisters gagged, Esperanza merely rolled her eyes with a smile.

"He's not really My Man," I replied with a light blush.

"Yeah your man is Tyson," Maria's oldest sister Elizabeth said with a growl. "Oh, if I still went to your school I would go right up to that idiot and smack him right up his-"

"Liz!" Everyone shouted at once. She was known as the most violent of the family. With five girls and four boys, Elizabeth was the oldest and had to learn to be tough. I think she was the reason I got my 'fight now, talk later' policy.

"What?" She smiled innocently while everyone else rolled their eyes. I loved coming here, the Ramirez family had a two story house, though outside it was falling apart in some places, it only added to the subtle charm. The salmon colored paint was peeling in some areas, there were barred windows, and the porch was in desperate need of repairs. Though, I didn't care. This was still like a second home to me, third if you counted Tyson's.

I have fond memories of past summers, spent on the old porch. Drinking lemonade and watching Maria's Dad, Leo, fix his old truck, while her brothers played soccer in the yard. The smells that wafted from inside, promising tacos or some other delicious creation from Esperanza; better yet, the summers that were spent helping Maria's grandmother make fresh tortillas, tamales, or fresh burritos were definitely the best.

"There all done," Amanda, the third oldest, beamed proudly when she finished my hair. "I have to say girls today we performed a miracle."

"Oh she's beautiful," Esperanza sighed with a smile when she looked over from helping Maria into her dress. Rosa and Theresa; the fourth and fifth oldest, hurried over and hovered above me. Each squealing at how good Amanda had done.

"Come on I can't look that good," I mumbled lightly, fidgeting with the bow on my waist.

"Stop messing with my masterpiece. If you don't believe me, look for yourself," Amanda swatted my hand while also pushing me in front of a full body mirror on the back of the door.

Maria had dragged me to Manhattan to pick out a last minute dress for me. After five hours of painstaking walking, eleven stores, and two hundred fifty dollars later, we finally found the dress.

"The color looks so well on you," Rosa squealed. The dress was indeed beautiful. The top half was white lace and sleeveless and smooth neckline. The waist had a large bow on my left side in a beautiful shade of baby blue, while the length of the dress fell just below my knees.

"All credit for her accessories and hair goes to me," Amanda boasted once more. I had decided to grow my hair out this year, so it now reached just below my shoulders. Amanda had styled it so the left side of my hair was braided to meet the hair on my right that fell into soft curls. A crown of pearls was weaved into the braid as well.

"You look great Al," Maria jumped for joy. Her dress was a rich red maxi dress, and the chest of the gown was studded with faux diamonds. Her hair was pinned into a bun with holly berry branches weaved in.

"I look weird," I muttered walking away from the mirror.

"There's always a critic," Amanda sobbed dramatically along with her sisters.

"Mija, you look gorgeous" Esperanza assured me with a warm embrace. "Your boyfriend will fall to his knees when he sees you."

"He's not my boyfriend," I muttered again with a deep blush.

"Don't mumble sweetie," Esperanza pinched my cheek with a disapproving gaze. "You're too pretty to mumble."

Knock. Knock.

Maria's older brother Leo Jr. or Junior for short stood at the doorway with a bored look and DS in hand.

"Your boyfriends are downstairs," he merely said before walking away, going back to his games.

"Showtime ladies," Esperanza clapped her hands while the others squealed in excitement. They all hurried out the door leaving me and Maria alone. I had the sudden urge to throw up, and my hands were sweaty.

I didn't think I could go through with this.

"Don't worry Alexa," Maria squeezed my shoulders with a warm smile. "Tonight is going to be great just you wait." I smiled back at her weakly; she patted my shoulders once more and went out the door first. After taking a few deep breaths, I slowly followed after her.

"...I don't want no funny business, you here?" Maria's father sound twice as intimidating as he usually did.

"They get it Papa," Maria rolled her eyes as we both walked into the living room. Andre looked nice in his suit and his dreads combed back for once. Evan looked even cuter than usual his suit fitted nicely in all the right places.

The two looked over at us as we walked in. Maria standing tall and proud, while I stood shyly behind her; both of their jaws dropped when they saw us. At the sight of the two boys, Maria's mom and sisters giggled madly.

"You look beautiful," I jumped when Evan was suddenly next to me, beaming.

"Y-you look beautiful too- i mean not beautiful but, uh really hot- I mean you look good," I stuttered madly, tripping over my words. His smile was enough to make me smile back.

"Come on or we're going to be late," Maria spoke up from the doorway. Andre was grinning as he held Maria close by her waist.

"Hands above the equator bub," Junior snapped from his perch on the staircase. The whole family laughed while Andre jumped a good foot away from Maria, who rolled eyes at her family.

"She's right though let's get going," Evan laughed as he placed his arm around my shoulders. I guess he could sense my nervousness because he gave me a reassuring squeeze as we all walked out to his car. "Don't worry," he whispered. "Tonight's going to be a night that will go down in history."

Turns out, my fears were for nothing. I don't know what I was afraid of. When we got to the dance at the school gym, the four of us were laughing and having a great time. All of my previous anxiety had long since dissipated, replaced with joy and eagerness.

The whole gym was decked out with white and blue fairy lights and paper snowflakes. Beautiful frosted Pine trees stood like tall sentinels in the corner of the rooms. The gym was so toasty compared to outside, which had started to snow again.

"I hope it's a white Christmas again this year," Maria sighed, leaning against Andre's shoulder. He nodded in agreement and kissed her forehead.

"Only five days away," Evan laughed leaning back in his chair. After saying hi to all of our other friends we decided to sit down for a while, enjoying the music. "Anything you're wishing for?" he grinned.

"There's this new board I've had my eye on since Thanksgiving," Andre shrugged with a smirk.

"Oh and there's new pair of shoes I saw in Macy's last week," Maria gushed thinking of the footwear I saw her eyeing while we were shopping.

"What about you Ally?" he smiled at me.

"Well, uh, I'm not really sure," I answered honestly. "Dad's been short on money recently, so when he asks I just tell him I will tell him later."

"That's right," Andre thought out loud. "Your old man has been acting strange lately."

"Yeah he's hardly ever home, at least when I go visit, " Maria added.

"Dad's just been picking up extra hours is all," I assured them. "Just trying to squirrel away some savings," they took my explanation, though inside I was worried. Dad wasn't himself as of late, he always had some meeting to attend, and he was jumpier than usual. Now he watched the news every day; which was weird because he finds the news depressing and never liked to watch it. He was keeping up with the school bombing and shootings. The last one had been five weeks ago in Philadelphia, five kids died and another seven were injured.

"Hey guys!" That voice nearly threw off my good mood. "What's up?" Tyson and Sydney walked over to our table. I wasn't the only person whose mood was ruined. Andre and Maria grew bored and took an interest in the band on stage. Evan looked damn ready to rip into Tyson. I probably looked like a kicked puppy.

"Hey Ty," Maria casually threw out hoping that Tyson would walk away soon.

"Man, doesn't this place look great?" he didn't notice her bitterness, his usual goofy grin in place. "You did a great job babe," he praised Sydney who kissed him on the cheek.

"You mean the student body did," Evan snapped. "If I recall you, your girlfriend, and her friends were tossing a football around the science lab."

"Enough Evan," I hushed him. Tyson just barely seemed to see me then. His eyes got wide when he looked down, his gaze made me fidget.

"W-wow Al y-you look great," he stuttered.

"Yeah thanks," I mumbled though I blushed slightly.

The silence was eating away at all of us and Tyson's smile fell, "How come all you don't talk to me anymore?" he asked like it was the most confusing thing in the world. "I mean I don't see any of you anymore. Andre you don't log on to the Xbox, Maria I don't see you at the student council meetings. Alexa why haven't you stopped by? Mom has been asking about you-"

"What do you mean we don't talk to you anymore," Maria barked, she looked feral now, causing Andre to back a few inches away. "You replaced us with your little floozy's friend," she pointed an accusing finger at Sydney who looked like she could care less.

"You're the one who stopped signing in on Xbox," Andre admitted.

"You're the one who stopped showing up to the council meetings," Maria rolled her eyes like it was obvious.

"I haven't been to your house since before Halloween Tyson," I whispered though they all heard me. "It took you this long to notice?"

Tyson looked so confused with this info. He just kept stuttering nonsense. Evan rolled his eyes and pushed away from the table.

"Come on guys, I think we broke him," Andre and Maria stood up as well. I followed shortly after casting one glance back at Tyson before following.

"What an idiot," Maria growled once we were on the other side of the gym. "Honestly how thick can you get?"

We dropped the subject of Tyson and tried to make the best of things, the night was ours and we weren't going to let one little thing ruin it.

Soon we were all on the dance floor, with half of the school around us, laughing, smiling and having the time of our lives. Soon I slipped out of the crowd to go to the bathroom. There wasn't anyone in there, the cold winter air that was seeping through the glass window felt great on my hot sweaty skin.

'It's good to see you having fun again,' I jumped at the male voice, looking frantically around the bathroom for the owner of the voice. 'Don't worry it's just me,' after a few seconds I realized it was only Alfred. It had been so long since I had heard him I almost forgot what he sounded like.

'Back in action huh?' I laughed at him.

'Well as much as I can be just being a voice and all,' he sounded depressed, so much so I swore I could feel it myself.

'Want to talk about it?' If a disembodied voice could smile, I was pretty sure he could.

'Not much to talk about,' he admitted. 'You try wrapping your head around the news that everyone you know thinks you're dead.'

'Well you are aren't you?' I asked.

'I don't now I don't feel dead. I mean I'm talking to you, right? Anyway that's not what I wanted to talk to you about,' his voice sounded panicked. 'I want you to leave now.'

'What why?' I mentally shrieked.

BOOM!

The whole building shook, chunks of the ceiling and dust fell with the force of the shock. Screams echoed from down the hall from where the gym was. Gun shots cracked in the air as well, followed by more screams.

'That's why! RUN!' Alfred shouted as my legs acted on their own, sprinting to where I knew the front doors would be. I could feel my heart pounding in my ears, the ground shook again as another explosion rocked the school, more screams followed. My feet slapped against the tile, my shoes were long since lost in the hall.

Gunshots echoed down the hall in front of me; my legs acted on their own once again, this time ducking into the nearest classroom. When the footsteps were right outside the door, I quickly scrambled into the cabinet down the center aisle of the class.

Pulling my knees into my chest and squeezed in, just as the door opened. A large figure walked in, he was the biggest man I had ever seen. Standing taller than Tyson and buffer than any bodybuilder I had ever seen. He was dressed in black military gear; the insignia of the Philosophers was right on his chest.

He scanned the room, thankfully looking right over my hiding place. He turned to look over his shoulder. "Bring them in, this is a good a place as any," he walked further into the room.

"LET GO OF ME YOU BASTARDS!" my heart was beating so loud I almost thought the men would hear. Behind the first man walked four other men... dragging Tyson, Maria, Andre, and Evan in with them.