I don't know if I liked being in the cafeteria for lunch anymore. I was tired of people having something to say under their breaths when they passed me. They only whispered because they knew if Val heard, she would do something about it.

And when I went back to the lunch line because I forgot some plastic wear, Axel caught me before I could make it back to my table.

"Hey, Briar," He said with a sneaky lift of his thin lips.

"Hi, Axel. Excuse me." I tried to make my way around him, but he only stepped in my way.

"You know I've been wanting to talk to you for a while. Do you have time right now?"

"Um, I don't- my friends are waiting for me to get back actually, I should-"

"You don't have those, remember?" He was outright smiling now, nothing sneaky about it.

"Besides, I wasn't really asking, Briar," he continued. "I was just thinking about what happened the last time I saw you this summer. Do you think about that too?" He brought his thumb up and dragged it against my bottom lip. I pulled away and tried not to show how much I was cringing on the inside.

"If this is what you wanted to talk about, I'm really not comfortable having this conversation with you, Axel."

His smirk twitched again and he took a short moment to reply. "Nah, we don't have to talk about that now if you don't want to. I just wanted to say good luck. I saw that you were trying out for the cheerleading squad."

I nodded my head. It was all my nerves allowed me to do. I saw movement from ahead of us and caught Naomi watching our interaction. She narrowed her eyes at me when she noticed I was looking. Slut, she mouthed slowly.

"I hope you make the team," Axel said and he brought my attention back to him once again.

"Thanks," I basically mumbled. I flashed a small smile to him as well, but it felt completely unemotional and I was only hoping it would shut him up faster and he would let me pass.

To my relief, he stepped out of my way then. I began to walk off, but he stuck his arm out to block my way again. He leaned down low so that his mouth was now at my ear. "If you don't think about that night, I can remind you of it soon. We got alll year long, Sunshine."

I didn't say anything back to him as he winked and dropped his arm from the wall beside me. I walk back all the way to my table without being bothered again.

As soon as I make it, Val is talking with some girls from the squad who had come over to chat with her. Then I feel bad because it reminds me that I'm keeping Valentina away from her other friends, all because she wanted to take care of me. It wasn't fair to her.

Her other friends weren't mean to me, they were just awkward around me like they didn't know what to say. They probably didn't mean to, but it made me feel out of place. Like I didn't belong.

I didn't feel comfortable here anymore. Not with all these people and especially not with Axel around. So, when I made it back to the table I was packing my things up and grabbing my lunch. Val noticed right away and pulled her attention away from her other friends.

"Where are you going? Are you okay?" She asks.

"Yes, I'm fine," I smile to reassure her. "I just remembered I have some reading to catch up on for my history class. I'm going to go finish my lunch in the library."

"Okay, I can come with you," she says, already getting up to pack her things.

"No, no. It's okay, Val. You stay here with your friends, I'm just going to be reading the whole time. It'll be super boring for you and you know you would just try to distract me anyway," I say teasingly.

She slumps back down. "Oh. Yeah, I guess you're right. Are you sure though?"

I finish gathering the rest of my things. "Yeah, I'm sure. I'll see you after school for tryouts, okay?"

"Okay, text me if you need me!" She calls after me.

>><<>><<>><<>><<

I felt better as soon as I had some alone time in the library. I did read through my history textbook at first like I told Val I would, but I got so bored with all the information I already knew.

So instead, I found comfort in my novel Anne of Green Gables. I knew all the information about this story too, but compared to the conflicts of old politics, the adventures of Anne Shirley were anything but boring.

Later in the day, I noticed Myles and Roman were talking to each other today on the other side of the gym at tryouts. Roman didn't look happy to be talking to him, which gave me a little bit of comfort because that meant it wasn't just me. But I'm glad Myles was bothering him because everyone needs a friend.

I couldn't wait to get home and shower. When I dressed again and was ready for bed, I heard a knock at my door.

My Aunt Gina cleared her throat as her introduction. "How's school?" She asks me. It was the first time she's asked me all week.

"School's fine. There was something I wanted to run by you actually."

She raises her brows to hear me out. "I was- well actually I did, try out for cheerleading again this year."

"You said you didn't want to do that." I don't know what it was about her response that had my pulse hitch. I was suddenly worried I had angered her somehow.

"Um, I didn't think I did. My friends convinced me since I enjoyed it so much last year."

She says nothing for a while. The silence makes me nervous. "If you're worried about my grades, it won't be a problem. I managed fine last year. And you won't have to worry about paying for the uniform or any of the fees, I still have my job at the coffee shop." My hours were cut since I'm back at school now, but I could still manage my money fine.

This seems to ease her mind. She shrugs her shoulders. "As long as you can manage it on your own. I'm spending the night with Cooper tonight."

Cooper was my Aunt's boyfriend. They have an off-again-on-again relationship. Things must have been going well if my Aunt had been spending most of her nights there.

"Okay," I responded quietly. I don't think I can ever say it out loud to her, but I hated when she left me here alone. Especially at night.

"Oh, I almost forgot," she says and then walks out of my room. I'm confused as I sit there and wait for her to come back. She pushes my door open again, a pair of slightly worn black converse in her hands.

"I threw out your other ones, they were falling apart. These were mine a few years back. You can use them until you can afford a new pair."

She tosses them my way and they land a few inches from my bed. I stare at them as I feel my stomach drop. I do my best to ignore the feeling and put a smile on my face.

"Thank you," I say and I try to sound sincere, even if she didn't ask to toss out my other shoes.

When my Aunt does something like this, I always try to be grateful. She was somewhere in her mid-thirties, still enjoying life as an unmarried and childless woman when she found out about me.

She's my aunt from my dads side. They hadn't spoken since they were teenagers. That's why it took so long for my aunt to get word that my dad passed away. Nearly ten years. But that's about all the details I knew.

Despite all of that, she still took me in. So that's why I kept my mouth shut about the shoes. I thanked her and said goodnight. Only then did I let my shoulders slump and drop my smile.

They were a good and sturdy pair of shoes. I just didn't have it in me to tell her that I never learned how to tie my laces.

✎ A/N: So who's going to tell miss gurl that YouTube tutorials exist? 😗