"Holly, como estas?"

I glanced at my Spanish teacher for a moment, trying to comprehend what she asked. After a second, I realized she was asking how I was. "Ah, bien..."

"Estabas enferma?"

"Si," I responded, stopping by her desk so she could interrogate me.

Casey stared me down from the back of the classroom, a frown on her face. I returned her look with a questioning one.

"Lo siento," Ms. Elliot started again. "Bienvenida de vuelta."

"Gracias."

"Tienes la tarea de viernes?"

A small sigh escaped my lips. Of course the one homework I didn't do was the one homework she wanted to see. "No, lo siento."

"Tráemela mañana," she told me with a smile.

"Claro," I responded, returning her smile. Before she could say any more, I hurried towards my seat.

"Where have you been?" Casey started in an accusing tone.

"Sick," I responded honestly. "Didn't you hear my conversation with the teacher?"

Casey snorted. "As if I understood that."

I chuckled, shaking my head. "How do you manage to pass this class again?"

"Don't change the subject. Something's up."

I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Mr. Heywood has been out for three days now, and two of those days you are out as well?" she started, narrowing her eyes. "Don't tell me you two were skipping together."

"What? No!" I responded, my eyes widening slightly. "I really was sick. Mr. Heywood-"

"Is sick too?"

I nodded. "When I left his house on Sunday he still had a fever... I haven't talked to him since because after I went home I ended up getting sick too. He spread his disease..." I trailed off when I noticed Casey was grinning at me like an idiot. "What?"

"When you left his house on Sunday?" she repeated. "What is that supposed to mean?"

With a quick glance around the room to see if anyone was listening, I beckoned Casey close to me. She leaned in, her eyes wide with excitement. I almost laughed at her.

"My mom asked Mr. Heywood to take care of me for the weekend while she was gone," I informed Casey. "It ended up being the other way around though, haha."

"Really? You stayed the whole weekend at his place?"

"Yep."

"Did anything happen with... you know?"

My heart skipped a beat and I stared at Casey in shock. "W-what do you mean?"

"Between you and Mr. Heywood," she said slowly, furrowing her eyebrows. "What do you think I meant?"

"Um, nothing," I responded, looking away. There was no way Casey could know about the gangs. What was I getting so paranoid about?

"Oh, Holly, you can't lie to me. Tell me!"

"Dime."

Casey jumped in shock and my eyes shot up to see Ms. Elliot hovering behind her. Casey grinned sheepishly. "Sorry..."

"Lo siento," Ms. Elliot corrected again.

"Right," Casey muttered under he breath as Ms. Elliot went back to the front of the room.

The rest of class was spent learning new vocabulary, which was easy. Five minutes before the bell rang, Ms. Elliot let us chat together quietly. Casey turned back to me, pursing her lips.

"Are you going to visit Lance today?"

I nodded. "Yeah, since I haven't been able to since I've been sick."

"Who's bringing you?"

"Umm, Jeremy, why?"

Casey looked at me pleadingly. "The guy I've talked to on the phone before? I want to go visit Lance too, so can you ask him if I could have a ride too?"

"I don't think Jeremy will care," I told her. "But we're leaving right after school-"

"That's fine!" Casey said quickly. "I'm ready to go now. Are you sure he won't care?"

I shook my head, grinning. "No, Jeremy's pretty cool."

"Awesome."

When the bell finally rang, I stood up and hitched my bag over my shoulder, heading out of the classroom with Casey in tow. Together we made our way to the back exit where Jeremy was supposed to be waiting. Casey glanced at me nervously as we left the building.

"Are you sure he won't care?"

"Positive," I told her, rolling my eyes. "Now we just need to find him..."

As if on cue, Jeremy's black car came rolling up to us, music blasting from the inside. Casey shot a look at me and I rolled my eyes, opening the passenger door. I leaned in and, to my surprise, came face-to-face with Mr. Heywood. Immediately I pulled away, feeling my face heat up.

"M-Mr. Heywood," I stammered, looking at him in surprise.

"Hi Mr. Heywood!" Casey chirped from behind me.

"Hi, Casey, Holly," Mr. Heywood responded, giving Casey one of his polite smiles.

"Ready to go?" Jeremy asked, leaning over Mr. Heywood to look at me.

Mr. Heywood turned to glare at Jeremy for a moment before turning his gaze onto me. I stared back for a moment before switching my focus onto Jeremy. I gestured Casey to step forwards and Jeremy's eyes flicked to her for a minute before he looked back at me.

"Can we also give Casey a ride?" I asked him, giving him my best puppy dog look.

"No," Jeremy responded without hesitation.

"What? Why?" I asked in surprise. "But we're going to the same place-"

Jeremy laughed. "I'm kidding. Look at you two! Your expressions are priceless!"

Immediately I felt my face heat up and I glared at Jeremy for a second before glancing at Casey, who didn't seem fazed. In fact, she was smiling a little. When she noticed I was watching her, she smirked.

"Your expression was pretty funny..."

"Casey! Are you-?"

"Get in or I'm leaving without you," Jeremy interrupted me in a singsong voice.

Sighing, I climbed into the backseat with Casey. Mr. Heywood looked at me through the rearview mirror, a grumpy expression on his face. I tilted my head questioningly.

"Chris is unhappy because I'm taking him to the doctors," Jeremy informed me, catching me staring.

"I don't need to go," Mr. Heywood protested. "It's just a cold."

"You sound awful," Casey interjected, leaning over so she could look at him. "So you really have been sick these past few days? I guess that means you're the one that got Holly sick."

"Casey," I hissed, sending her a warning glare.

Mr. Heywood turned around, giving Casey a curious look. "Holly was sick?"

"No I was-"

"For two days," Casey said, cutting my protest off. "She hasn't been in school."

Mr. Heywood frowned, turning his attention back to me. "Holly, why didn't you tell me I got you sick?"

"Ooh, what did you two do when I left?" Jeremy said teasingly, making me blush.

"We didn't do anything!"

"Secret make-out session?" Casey guessed, a small grin spreading onto her face.

"Casey!"

Jeremy laughed, nodding his head. "I bet that's exactly it."

"No we didn't! Mr. Heywood! Aren't you going to say something?" I asked, turning to him for help.

"Chris is giving me the silent treatment," Jeremy told me when Mr. Heywood didn't respond. "He's so immature."

Mr. Heywood suddenly jammed his elbow into Jeremy's side, making Jeremy swerve to the left. A gasp of surprise left my mouth and I quickly leaned over and pulled Mr. Heywood's arm away from Jeremy.

"You going to cause an accident!" I accused. Casey started laughing and I turned to frown at her. "What?"

"You guys," she told me, shaking her head. "A comedic trio."

"We could probably make a lot of money," Jeremy agreed. "I'm Jeremy by the way."

"I'm Casey," Casey responded, giving Jeremy a grin. "We've talked before."

Mr. Heywood suddenly began to cough violently, causing my heart to skip a beat in surprise. Jeremy looked over at him with a worried expression, which mimicked my own. Casey even gave him a concerned look. When the fit passed, Mr. Heywood acted like nothing had happened.

"Um, are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm fine," Mr. Heywood snapped. "I don't need to go to the doctor's!"

"Oh yes you do," Jeremy responded, wagging his finger. "Your violent attack just now proves it."

"I'm fine!"

"Mr. Heywood, I think you should see one too," I interjected. "What if it's something more serious than the flu...?"

"Yeah, like pneumonia," Casey added.

I bit my lip, looking at the ground. Why was I so immature? If I hadn't over-reacted then Mr. Heywood wouldn't be sick...

"Holly."

"You can't possibly know I was feeling guilty again!" I cried in exasperation. "Mr. Heywood, are you mind reader, or something? Do you have this unnatural ability to know what people are feeling? It's crazy! Half the time I'm not even showing the slightest signs of lying or feeling guilty, and yet you..." I trailed off when I noticed Casey was staring at me with wide eyes.

I silently cursed myself. Casey was with us! I couldn't act like I normally did otherwise she would get suspicious! But then again, she knew I loved Mr. Heywood... but she still didn't know about how close our relationship actually was. And she couldn't know either. As much as I loved her, and though she was my best friend, this wasn't something I could tell anyone... especially if it turned into something more.

Mr. Heywood chuckled, breaking the awkward silence that had settled in. "I was actually just going to ask if I could have Lance's number before I forgot..."

"Huh? Why?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Lance..."

Wait... Lance didn't even have his phone; it was with Shawn. Did Mr. Heywood want the number so he could talk to Shawn? Threaten Shawn? Without thinking I looked away from Mr. Heywood, a frown coming onto my face. If I gave Mr. Heywood Lance's number he might do something stupid.

"I don't have it."

"Don't lie."

"You can't have it," I told him.

Mr. Heywood raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"You just can't!"

"Holly, I need it."

"No," I responded, biting my lip.

Mr. Heywood sighed. "Holly, I'm not going to do anything that will put myself in danger, if that's what you're worried about."

My eyes shot open and I gaped at Mr. Heywood. He returned my gaze, looking slightly bewildered. After a minute his eyes darted to Casey, and then widened in realization. I also stole a glance at Casey, who was narrowing her eyes at me suspiciously. Mr. Heywood cleared his throat, gaining Casey's attention.

"It's not like I'm going to harass him with text messages to do his homework," Mr. Heywood continued, pausing only to cough into his arm once. "I don't want to be beaten up..."

"Yeah," I agreed with a laugh. "That's what you meant by dangerous, huh..."

"It is."

"Mr. Heywood, Holly hasn't mentioned it yet, but Lance actually lost the phone when he was mugged," Casey pitched in now, all looks of suspicion gone.

"I agree with Holly and Casey. You don't need it Chris," Jeremy added, glancing at him quickly.

I sent Jeremy a grateful look. If there was someone that could really go against Mr. Heywood, it was Jeremy. Mr. Heywood scowled at Jeremy, before turning his scowl to me. Immediately I looked away from him before he could guilt me into giving him Lance's number. I felt bad, but I felt more afraid that he'd do something stupid.

The rest of the ride was silent. Casey stared out the window; Jeremy was focused on the road; Mr. Heywood was sulking; and I was fiddling with my fingers, thinking about what I was going to do when I got to the hospital. Lance was my first priority, but my second was a little more daunting.

I was going to visit Holly.

Jeremy pulled up to the hospital's front doors, and stopped to let us out. Casey and I unbuckled and stepped out of the car together.

"Thank you for the ride, Jeremy," Casey called, sticking her head in the door. "Bye, Mr. Heywood! I hope you feel better!"

"Anytime," Jeremy responded.

"Thanks," Mr. Heywood said grumpily.

I chuckled, rolling my eyes. "See you later Jeremy, Mr. Heywood."

"Bye, Holly," Jeremy said, grinning at me. "Have fun."

I shut the door and made my way to the other side of the car where Casey was waiting. As we turned to go inside, Jeremy honked the car horn. I turned around and saw Mr. Heywood gesturing for me to go to him. With a quick glance at Casey, I started back to the car, bending down slightly to see Mr. Heywood better.

"What?"

"If I'm still sick and don't get to see you tomorrow," he started slowly, a smirk now slipping onto his face, "happy birthday."

Mr. Heywood immediately rolled up the window as I stood still, staring at him speechlessly. Birthday? Tomorrow was my birthday? A blush made it's way to my face, and I glared as I saw Mr. Heywood start to laugh inside the car. I twisted on my heel and marched back to Casey. She raised an eyebrow.

"What'd he say?"

I ignored her. "Is tomorrow my birthday?"

Casey raised an eyebrow. "You don't even know when your own birthday is?"

"No, I do," I assured her, "but I just didn't realize it was so soon..."

"Probably because you've been sick," she told me, heading towards the entrance again. "It's okay though because we aren't celebrating until Friday with Lance. What are you doing tomorrow for it?"

"I honestly don't know. My mom hasn't said she wants to do anything with me yet," I responded, welcoming the warmth of the hospital.

"Sounds boring."

"Last year I watched re-runs of Teen Mom... I think even if this year wanted to try, it wouldn't be as boring," I told her with a laugh. "My mom's going to be home, anyway. That's a little entertainment."

We made our way up to Lance's room, but before we entered, an elderly looking nurse stopped us. "Today visiting hours end at four," she said.

"What? Why?" Casey asked, looking surprised.

"Hospital inspection," she responded. "It's an annual thing."

Casey looked at me and shrugged. "Well at least we have an hour..."

I bit my lip. "Casey... visit Lance for me."

She raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Tell him I said hi and that I hope he feels better," I told her, fiddling with my fingers again. "Since there's only an hour, I have to go visit someone else first."

"Who?"

"My mom's friend," I made up, hoping she'd believe it.

"Oh, okay," Casey responded, smiling at me. "Try to make it back! I'm sure he wants to see you."

"I'll try," I said before going back down the hallway we'd just came up.

After a few minutes of searching I finally made it to the hallway with Holly Pierce's room. As I grew closer to the door, I became more nervous. It took me a full three minutes to even bring my hand up to knock. When I finally did, as soon as my fist made contact with the door once, I yanked it back, my heartbeat spiking.

"Come on," I heard a muffled voice say.

Taking a deep breath, I put my hand on the doorknob and pushed it open. Holly's eyes widened slightly when she saw me. I had to admit even I was still surprised looking at her. We really did look a lot alike. I entered the room and shut the door behind me, rubbing my sweaty palms off on my jeans. Why was I so nervous around this woman?

"It's Holly, right?" Holly asked, now smiling at me.

After a second I smiled back. "Yeah."

Holly laughed. "Wow. It's like I'm looking at a younger replica of myself. This is crazy."

"I feel the same way," I agreed. "Except you're older."

She smiled. "Are you saying I look old?"

"No! Not at all! I meant... you know."

"I do know."

Holly gestured for me to take a seat in the chair near her bedside, and after a split second of hesitation, I did so. To my surprise, she actually seemed like a nice person. Even though I felt like I should dislike her, I couldn't help liking her.

"So what are you here for?" Holly asked. "Chris isn't here..."

I shook my head quickly, feeling my face heat up. "No, I'm not here looking for him."

Holly chuckled. "Aw, you're blushing."

"I'm not," I denied, keeping my head down.

"You don't have to hide anything from me. I know you two have an intimate relationship."

"What?"

"The other night, you guys had a lover spat, right?" Holly asked, raising an eyebrow. "After Chris chased after you he came back pretty out of it. He told me about you."

"What did he say?"

"Nothing bad," she assured me. "I'm not going to tell you exactly what he said though in case he doesn't want me to."

I frowned slightly. Now I was really curious. I sighed. "Okay... But Mr. Heywood and I don't have an intimate relation-"

"You still call him Mr. Heywood?" Holly cut me off, her eyes widening. "That's so cute! Oh boy, I would love to see his reaction if you called him by his first name. Or you do it when it's just you two by yourselves? I could understand that."

I stared at Holly incredulously. This girl really liked to talk. "It's kind of a habit, so I call him Mr. Heywood all the time... even though I know I should stop."

Holly laughed. "No, don't! Keep calling him Mr. Heywood. I bet he secretly enjoys it. You could use calling him Chris to your advantage. I know how he is. I bet you could convince him to do anything. He talks so highly about you."

I couldn't help but to smile at that. "I didn't realize you guys talked about me so much."

"Are you kidding? He never shuts up about you."

"Really?"

"It gets kind of annoying actually."

"Sorry," I apologized with a laugh.

"Don't be," Holly responded. "I just know things that I shouldn't since I don't really know you."

"Like what?"

"Like your favorite color is blue, your favorite food is steak, you love animals, you blush easily, you're clumsy and honest, you are gullible, and you suck at eye contact. Oh, and you're birthday is tomorrow."

I stared at her for a second, surprised. "Did Mr. Heywood tell you all that?"

"That's not even a sixth of it."

My face grew hot again, and I turned my attention back to the floor. Mr. Heywood knew my favorite color and food? He talked about my birthday? But the last time he had seen Holly we hadn't had the confession talk yet... Did that mean something? Or was I just over thinking?

"Anyway, enough of me blabbing away," Holly started again, breaking me from my thoughts. "It just is so boring in this hospital room."

"It's fine," I told her. "When do you get out?"

"Saturday," she told me, making a face. "My fiancée will be here by then. I need someone to drive since I broke my ankle."

"Oh, right, because you were mugged..."

"Um, right..."

Holly looked away from me, a solemn expression slipping onto her face. My palms were beginning to get sweaty again as I tried to think of a way to ask what I came here in the first place to ask. When Holly's eyes finally met mine again, I clenched my fist.

"You were attacked by Shawn, weren't you?"

Holly's eyes widened considerably. "W-what? No! Shawn is..."

"Shawn told me," I confessed. "He told me he had got the wrong Holly, or something like that. I didn't tell Mr. Heywood. You can tell me the truth, and I promise I won't tell him."

Holly stayed silent for a moment, her eyes downcast once again. I kept my silence as well, waiting for her to speak. Was I right? Or was I wrong? Or maybe she was just going to deny it? Maybe Shawn was lying?

Holly sighed, looking at me once more. "You can't tell Chris..."

"I won't," I promised, my eyes widening slightly. "So was I right... Did Shawn...?"

Holly nodded. "I wasn't mugged. Shawn attacked me."

_______________________________________

First, before I forget, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO CHARLOTTE ERIKSEN! Welcome to the teenage life! ;D Happy 13th!

Sorry this is late! But I've been busy... watching Pretty Little Liars (AWESOME. AMAZING. INCREDIBLE) and doing a lot of homework, and hanging out with friends. You know, having a life ;D But here you go! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and it made you excited for future ones ;) Facebook group in external link :D

Translations for the non-spanish speakers who aren't great detectives:

Como estas : How are you?

Estabas enferma : Were you sick?

Lo siento : I'm sorry.

Bienvenida de vuelta : Welcome back.

Tienes la tarea de viernes? : Do you have the homework from Friday?

Tráemela mañana : Bring me it tomorrow.

Claro : Of course.

Dime : Tell me.