I’m Only Human

Chapter 1

Quinn

My parents had always told me there was only one good reason to kill. And very few people kill for that reason.

My parents certainly didn't kill for the right reasons. They did whatever they could to keep themselves alive. It was all for greed, for selfishness.

Since I was little, I had always wanted to show them I could be the one to choose the right reason. But I had failed. Multiple times.

My whole family was evil to the core and, as I grew older, I noticed that even more.

________

"Now, Quinn. Be good today." My Mom says nervously as she leans around to face me in the back seat.

"When have I not been?" I ask innocently and toss my hair.

"That's such a funny joke." My Dad says dryly.

I stick out my tongue and both of my parents laugh.

"Have a good day!" Mom says with a smile.

I open the car door and step outside, turning back around to wave to my parents. "Bye!"

I start to walk towards the door of my high school as my Parents drive away.

I push my way through the crowds of students talking, none of which I could care any less about.

I had barely finished opening my locker when an angry voice in my ear causes me to jump. "West."

I stand up and smile. "Hello to you too, Kingston."

Kayson rolls his eyes and I wink. "Stop that, Quinn. It's annoying."

"What? Me pretending I like you when all I really want to do is blow your brains out?" I kneel back down and start to slowly unpack my backpack. "Yeah. It's annoying."

"At least you admit that you hate me," Kayson says dryly as he leans against the locker next to mine.

"I didn't know it was a secret. Pretty much everyone knows." I pick up my large stack of binders and books and tip my head towards the hallway. "Ready?"

"Sure." He says nonchalantly and we both start to walk. "Wait," He says after a few steps. "Why am I walking with you?"

"Because I'm charming and perfect and you wish you could date me, right?" I wink at him and he sighs. "The answer's no if you ask me out, by the way."

"I would never ask you out, even if my life depended on it." Kayson glares.

"You're so grumpy, Kingston. Be happy! Smile!" I loop my arm inside his.

"Let go of me, Quinn." He says, annoyed.

I do and smile. "I told you, Kayson. Be positive!"

"I'm positive I hate you."

"Love you too, buddy!"

Don't get me wrong. I completely hate Kayson. But this annoys him more than me ignoring him. My hatred is warranted, though.

We walk in front of the classroom door right as the bell rings. "Dang it," I mutter under my breath.

"Since when do you care about going to class?" Kayson asks as he leans on the wall. The other side of the door from where I was, by the way.

"Since my Mom will kill me if I don't."'

"It's weird to hear you return to Adrianna West as Mom." Kayson shrugs nonchalantly.

"I guess. But I find it weird that you call Lilith Kingston your Mom." I lean against the other wall and Kayson shakes his head.

"My Mom's a sweetheart. You'd like her."

Kayson seems almost as startled by his statement as I was. "Let's just go in," I say awkwardly.

Kayson shakes his head and walks to the door, holding it open for me.

"Mr. Kingston? Ms. West? You're almost two minutes late." Kayson closes the door behind him as Ms. Roadsworth stares down her upturned nose at both of us.

"I think I can read a clock, Ms," I say sarcastically and I swear I can hear one of the kids in my class gasp. I wink towards the class and another kid giggles.

"Ms. West? Stop influencing the other students negatively." She scowls and raises one eyebrow.

"Nice!" I say, faking excitement. "I can't only raise one eyebrow!"

Kayson laughs behind her and she snaps her glare to him. "Sit down, you two."

I roll my eyes but turn to my normal seat. "You're sitting with Mr. Kingston today."

I stop dead in my tracks and turn slowly. "I am not sitting with him."

"Yes, you are." Ms. Roadworth warns. "Sit or I'm calling your parents."

I glare once more at her before stomping over to Kayson's normal table. He chuckles as he slides into the seat next to me.

"Now that our little problem was solved, we can start today's lesson." Ms. Roadsworth turns to the board and I narrow my eyes at her.

"Little problem? Is that what she thinks of me?" I whisper to Kayson.

"You called me a him." Kayson angrily whispers back.

"Well, I'll call others that."

"It was in a suggesting way."

I turn away from him and face Ms. Roadsworth. I do my best to focus on her. If I fail another class, my family will have my head.

________

The bell rings and I sit up quickly. Has it really been that long?

"Quinn. Let's go." Kayson says impatiently and I roll my eyes but reluctantly grab my stuff.

"Why do you wait for me?" I ask as we shove our way through the crowd of people hanging by the classroom door. "I thought you hated me."

"Your parents hate my Mom and vice versa. I just dislike you. A lot." Kayson rolls his eyes as we fight our way through the crowded hallway to our second period.

"Well, Kayson, I dislike you a lot, too." I bite my lip to keep from laughing as we finally stand in front of the door to our class.

"Why do I have to have every single class with you." He says as we walk in but his tone wasn't as severe as before.

"Wow," A voice whispers as I slide into my chair. "Since when does Quinn Adrian West talk to Kayson Kingston?"

"Good question," I whisper back to Anabell as I sit down next to her.

"I ship it," She jokes.

I turn and stick my tongue out at her right as the bell rings.

"Hello, class." Mr. Rynner monotones as he hobbles to the whiteboard. "How are you doing today?"

"I swear he sounds exactly like the textbook voice or something," Anabell whispers under her breath and I chuckle.

"Ms. Winters? Do you need anything?"

"No, sir," Anabell quickly corrects.

"My voice may be bad but my hearing isn't, Ms. Winters."

"Of course, Mr. Rynner," She leans over the desk to hide the blush on her cheeks and I struggle to keep from laughing.

"That goes for you too, West."

Kayson taps my shoulder from where he's sitting behind me as Mr. Rynner turns back to the board.

I quickly look over my shoulder and he smirks.

I glare back.

________

I'm almost sprinting for the parking lot after the last bell rings. I even beat Anabell to her car for once.

"Do you know why your parents offered to drive you this morning?" She asks as she fiddles with the key in her old truck's doors.

"No idea. They didn't say anything. We were mostly silent the entire time." I open the door and hoist myself up to the door, sitting inches above the ground. "Your truck is too tall, by the way, Anabell."

"Is Quinn too short?" She mocks and gets up to her seat without hesitation. I roll my eyes as she puts her keys in the ignition and slowly starts to drive. "I think you and Kayson would be a cute couple."

"I really think that I'm tempted to kill you right now." I stare straight ahead, doing my best to ignore my best friend.

She flips her long, brown hair and smirks. "Remember, Quinn. There's no Kayson in prison."

I breathe in and quickly turn my head to scowl at Anabell, before turning back to face the small road cutting through the rolling hills.

"At least you didn't deny it." Anabell smiles and I keep my gaze determinedly focused on the smaller cars in front of us.

And there, putting down the road, was Anabell's clunker.

Anabell reaches to turn on the radio and we drive in silence the rest of the way, the only interruption Anabell's overplayed country music.

"Here we are," She says as we finally pull into my driveway.

"See you tomorrow, Bell," I say with a smile as I open the car door and land hard on the asphalt.

"See you, shortie."

I wave as she reaches over to close my door before backing out of the driveway.

________

The second I step into the living room, I know something's wrong.

Both my Mom and my Dad were sitting in the living room, perching on the edge of the couch.

My Mom jumps up as soon as she sees me and I set my bag down awkwardly. "Hi, Quinn." She says nervously.

"I'll tell her," My Dad says quickly before taking a deep breath and smiling wryly at me. "We're proposing a peace treaty with the Haunted Shadows. This gang violence is getting very extensive."

"The Kingstons' gang?!"

Mom shrugs nervously and I shake my head. "They're coming over tonight. Both Lili and Kayson."

I shake my head quickly. "I thought you hated Lili."

"We used to be friends and I'm hoping that helps with the treaty." Mom sits back down and I shrug.

"Okay. I'm going to go up and get ready." I shrug and turn toward the stairs, only taking a few steps before my Mom talks again.

"You're not complaining about Kayson?" She asks, slightly shocked. When I turn back around, my Dad has a similar expression to Mom's tone.

"Yeah. We're kind of cool." I turn on my heel and walk away before I could ask another question.

________

I end up choosing a silver dress with sequins and flats. The color was a relatively good contrast to my black hair if I do say so myself.

"Hey," Someone says behind me and I squeak. He laughs at my noise. "You're so tough."

I turn around to glare at Kayson. "Why are you in my room?"

"Your parents sent me up here."

"Of course they did," I mumble under my breath. "Let's just..."

I throw my hand over my mouth to keep from screaming as a loud bang, echoes from the house.

"Was that a gunshot?" Kayson whispers nervously.

"Here. There's a window in my bathroom. We can go in there, climb out, and see if anyone's here or if anything out of the ordinary happens. If not, we come back and admit how stupid we were."

Kayson nods quickly and I gesture to my bathroom door. "Let's go,"

I've barely locked the door when a humming makes me freeze. "East, east, east, and West. Your time is short, you don't have much left."

I freeze and press myself as small as I can against the wall "Quickly. I don't think we're just hearing things."

Chapter 2

Quinn

We were both pressed against the wall of my bathroom, our breaths held. Outside, the floor creaked and I wince.

Suddenly, the creaking stopped and I release the breath.

But it was too early, and the door swings open. A man stands in the doorway, a smiling baby doll mask on as he tilts his head to the side. "Ms. West. Mr. Kingston. Pleasure,"

"Who are you?" Kayson asks, stepping off of the wall to stand face to face with him. He gestures quickly, and I duck behind him. I just needed time and I'd be able to get us out of here.

"I know who you are but you have no idea who I am. Isn't that precious?"

He reaches for something in his waistband, as I peer over Kayson's shoulder. A gun.

"East, East, East, and West. How would you like to die?"

I freeze and Kayson tenses. "Don't touch her," He warns.

"Or what?" He snickers, his gaze firmly fixed on mine. "You'll kill me for your little girlfriend?" He scoffs and fingers the trigger.

And fires. I gasp, unable to move. I feel as if I could see the small, silver bullet flying through the air.

And driving straight through my shoulder.

It didn't hurt, at least I didn't think it did. But I was screaming and Kayson was yelling and the man was falling to the floor, a bloody knife in Kayson's hand.

"Quinn!" He bends down - down? Why was I on the floor? - and wraps his arms around me, gently cradling me to his chest as he starts a slow walk, working hard to avoid hurting me.

By now, the dull ache was here, each motion seeming to jar my aching shoulder. "My parents," I whisper. "Where are my parents?"

"I don't know, Quinn. Just hold on."

He spins as we reach the bottom of the steps, and I bite my lip. "What are you hiding, Kayson?" My voice was weaker than before, and I couldn't bring myself to turn.

"It's your Dad, Quinn. Don't look. I'm getting you out of here,"

"My Mom?" He was opening the front door, stepping out into the bright afternoon sun.

"I don't know, Quinn."

He opens the passenger door and gently lowers me down. I whimper, and he winces. "Hold on, Quinn. My Mom is trained in this kind of stuff. You'll be okay,"

"Your mom? Where are we going?" I still could barely feel the pain in my shoulder. I had been shot before and it had hurt, but it was just in my hand.

Kayson climbs in the driver's seat. "Just about twenty minutes away. One of our houses. The closest,"

"Isn't Lilith here?"

Kayson shakes his head as he starts the car and the car goes speeding down the street. "No. She wanted to see how it went before coming here herself,"

We both lapse into silence and I feel my visions start to blur and blacken. "Kayson? Can you talk to me?"

"Talk?" He asks as we talk a sharp turn that makes me flinch.

"Please?"

"So, what do you want to talk about?"

"Are we friends now?" My brain didn't seem to be connected to my mouth anymore and I inwardly kick myself.

"You're telling me we weren't friends before?" He says, his voice overdramatic as he tries his best to play it cool.

"I think you claiming you dislike me a lot is a clear sign,"

"Then sure, Quinn. We're friends now,"

The car stops way before the twenty-minute mark and Kayson opens his door before jogging over to the passenger's seat and doing his best to lift me out.

I barely notice just how large the house was, but I did see the walls surrounding the gardens.

I couldn't even bring myself to care I was with one of my... enemies?

The front door swings open as Kayson barges into the large entry hall.

A petite woman who seemed to be in her late thirties runs into the room, her brown hair in a tight bun.

"Kayson?" The woman asks. "Is that Quinn West?"

"Yes, Mom. It's Quinn. There was an intruder,"

The woman must have been Lilith Kingston as Kayson calls her his mom.

"Come with me, Kayson. I'm out of anesthesia but I'll see what I can do,"

Ms. Kingston leads both of us into a small room at the side of the hallway.

It was polished white and Kayson lays me down on one of the many beds against the walls of the room.

"I'm going to have to take the bullet our, Quinn," She says after she had crouched over and examined my shoulder. "How about you talk to Kayson while I get it ready?"

"So, Quinn," Kayson says nervously after he pulls a chair over to the bed. "What's your favorite... ice cream flavor?"

I try to smile at his randomness but my shoulder was already throbbing. "Cookie dough,"

I see Ms. Kingston nod out of the corner of my eye.

Kayson leans forward and grips my hand. "Just breathe, Quinn. It'll be over as quick as it can be,"

I don't tear my eyes away Kayson's sorrowful green eyes, even as my shoulder feels as if it was on fire.

I knew for sure that, if anyone else was in the house, they'd hear my screams.

It's over as quickly as it started and I'm able to breathe freely as Ms. Kingston wraps something tight around my shoulder.

"Get some rest," She says with a half smile. "Kayson will let me know what happened,"

She stands and leaves with a last smile over her shoulder.

Kayson moves to stand but I grip his hand even tighter. "Please stay. At least a while,"

Kayson looks almost hesitant he sits back down. "What is it?"

"You saw something as we were leaving. What was it?"

"Your dad," Kayson sucks in a deep breath as he looks down at the floor. He's unable to meet my eyes as he continues. "He was dead,"

The second Kayson had turned me away, I knew something was wrong. But even though I wasn't religious, I had begged and prayed for him to be safe.

I've never been one to cry and today wasn't any different. But I felt as if someone was tugging on my heartstrings and it burned.

"And my mom?" I dread the answer even as Kayson looks back up.

"I didn't see her. Not that I was really looking," He pauses and shakes his head. "I should probably go. You need to rest,"

I take a deep breath before nodding. "Okay, Kayson. Goodnight,"

He tries his best to smile as I finally drop his hand.

As he leaves, I almost immediately feel the emptiness. My hand felt cold where he had just been holding it.

But I couldn't dwell on that, or on my parents, or even on the gaping hole in my shoulder that Ms. Kingston had bandaged up.

The only thing I could do now was close my eyes and try to sleep.

________

The next morning I wake to Ms. Kingston leaning over me, quietly whispering my name.

As soon as she sees me blink, she wraps her arms around me, doing her best to keep from bumping my shoulder. "Kayson told me what happened, darling," She whispers into my ear. "I'm so sorry,"

I do my best to not seem awkward as I hug her back. "Thank you, Ms. Kingston,"

She leans back and does her best to attempt a smile. "You can call me Lili, Quinn,"

I nod and try to smile back.

"I'm going to make sure you're safe. Kayson can watch you while you're at school. And I understand you're friends with Anabell? She's with me and she can watch you, too,"

"Wait, hold up. I thought Anabell didn't know anything about us,"

"She does but she's friend with you because she wants to be. She didn't want your difference in gangs to fracture your friendship,"

Well, joy. Isn't this week full of surprises?

"I'm really glad you're here, Quinn. I'll have Kayson show you to an extra room in about an hour. But for now? Just rest. I'll send someone in with breakfast soon,"

________

That someone turned out to be Kayson and the soon turned out to be only ten minutes.

"Morning," He says as he comes in, holding a tray.

"Hey,"

He sits down in his chair that he had last night. He bends down and presses a button on the bed, which causes a tray to come over in which he sets my plate on.

"That looks delicious!" Eggs, bacon, and even breakfast pastries occupied the plate with a steaming cup of hot chocolate on the side.

"I was hoping you'd enjoy it,"

"Thank you," I smile and he smiles back.

Oh, how the world can change in less than twenty-four hours.

"Of course,"

"Lili said you had to be my bodyguard at school,"

"Oh, I do?" He was smirking and I bite my lip to keep myself from laughing at his ridiculous expression.

"Do you want to?"

"Is it bad if I say I do?"

Dang it. This isn't right. My heart shouldn't be pounding as loudly as it was. I could swear even Kayson could hear it.

We're not even technically supposed to like each other.

Oh darn. This is bad.

Kayson clears his throat and tries a half smile. "I guess I better go. I'm supposed to go to school,"

"Seriously?"

"You'd rather me stay here and watch a movie with you so you're not bored without my presence?"

Even with my eye roll, I find myself saying the one thing I'd never thought I'd say.

"Sure, Kayson. We can hang out,"

________

Kayson stays with me until around lunchtime, in which he helps me into a wheelchair and rolls me through the large mansion.

"Dang," I whistle. "I thought my house was big,"

Kayson chuckles. "We don't even use half of the rooms,"

"I believe that," I sigh and roll my eyes, even though I knew that Kayson couldn't see my face from where he had been pushing my wheelchair. "Why do I even have to go in this thing?"

"You hurt yourself," Kayson says matter of factly as if he didn't get a single one of my complaints.

"I hurt my shoulder, not either one of my legs. I'm technically fine to walk,"

He falters but is saved from responding when he spins my chair into a large room.

"You're kidding me, right?" I ask as I stare, open-mouthed, around the room. A large window looked out onto the beach, which was covered with even larger sheer, white curtains. The blue and white colors of the room contrasted perfectly with the view and I find myself staring.

"Why are you staring at the room when you could be looking at me?"

I barely can stop myself from turning around and glaring at Kayson at his sarcastic comment. So, instead, I look right into the large body mirror and stick my tongue out.

Kayson's reflection's eyes widen as I start to laugh. "That was slightly childish," he says with a smirk.

"Okay, so does your childish self want to watch a horror movie?"

Kayson rolls his eyes before smiling. "Just so you can cling to me the entire movie.

You best believe, during the width of the entire movie, I didn't even flinch.

________

I hand Kayson back the half-empty popcorn bucket he had gotten up to get, during the movie. I half suspected that it was because the movie was at a particularly scary part.

"That was so scary," I monotone as Kayson shoves a handful of popcorn into his mouth. 

He seems to almost spit out his popcorn when he laughs, but he catches himself, chews, and swallows, before talking. "I'm slightly surprised it didn't scare you at all," he says with a shrug.

"When you've seen as much as we've seen, Kayson, you know that horror like that doesn't happen," I gesture to the room around me, staring almost completely blankly at Kayson. "Now, this? All of this around us? That's the real horror, and we both know that,"

Kayson nods, all trace of laughter gone as he stares at me with a tilted head. And then he shrugs. "I don't know, Quinn. I think Jason's a little creepy,"

And, just like that, Kayson and I were laughing again, our words from the day before almost completely forgotten.

________

It took me a while but I was finally able to convince Lili to let me go to school with Kayson the following day. Dinner that night had certainly been interesting.

"Mind telling me why your school called me today and said you weren't there?" Lili asks, turning her gaze pointedly on her son.

Kayson just rolls his eyes. "Because I wasn't,"

"And where were you, then?" She asks, unwavering in her determination to get answers.

"At home. Quinn and I were watching movies," he shrugs again and this time it was Lili's turn to roll her eyes.

"Kayson and I were talking and he offered to stay," I say quickly, before Lili can get another word out to scold Kayson. "We watched a few movies,"

Lili tilts her head but finally shrugs. "Well, you're going to school tomorrow, Kayson," she says. The way her eyes were narrowed, I could tell Kayson didn't have even a fighting chance in arguing with his mother.

"I'd like to go," I say. Both Lili's and Kayson's mouths seemed to be almost on the tile floor. "It would be even worse to just stay here all day,"

"But your shoulder," Lili starts to protest.

I cut her off. "I'll be fine. A small jacket or long shirt should cover up the wound,"

Lili continues to keep trying to talk me out of it but I don't waver. She finally sighs and gives in, as long as Kayson could give me a ride. At least I wouldn't have to be cooped up in the house, focused on the grotesque image my brain liked to conjure up every time I closed my eyes.

My dad's body was curled up on the floor, a single gunshot wound right through his chest. He didn't look at all as if he was sleeping.

And I was right there next to me, dead as well.

________

"Oh my god, Quinn," Anabell says as soon as I walk into the hallway and she catches up with me, pulling me away from Kayson by my uninjured arm.

She hugs me tightly before leaning forward and whispering in my ear. "Don't look behind you but he just followed you over here,"

I step back and gently smack Anabell, before talking loudly, fully aware that Kayson could hear me. "Do you know that Kayson guessed that I'd jump and he was the one freaking out when we were watching a horror movie yesterday?"

She arches her eyebrows and leans against one of the lockers. "I didn't know you guys were together yesterday,"

"Not like that," Kayson finally speaks up, moving beside me. "She's just staying with me for a while,"

The expression on Anabell's face was short lived but I could almost swear I saw her smirk. "That's cool," she shrugs, her face totally impassive. "I should probably get to class. You two are lucky your class is so close to your locker,"

"That we are," I say with a smile. 

Anabell waves and turns around, taking back off down the hall.

Kayson leans to whisper into my ear. "Are you okay?"

I clench my fist away before whispering a quick yes.

"You ready?" He backs away and holds out his hands. "I can't make the poor crippled girl carry her books,"

I roll my eyes and stick my tongue out at him, but I was not going to pass up an opportunity to have to carry all of my stuff.

Kayson sags under the weight of my books and binders and his eyebrows raise in shock. "What do you have with you?"

I just laugh and strut off to class, leaving Kayson to rush to keep up. "See? Nothing's wrong with my legs,"

"I can see that," he calls after me.

________

The bell rings right as Kayson and I make it into our first-period class. If Ms. Roadsworth was surprised to see us walk in together yesterday, her eyes were so wide that it looked almost as if she had just witnessed the apocalypse when she saw Kayson come in carrying my stuff.

"You can go back to your normal seat," Ms. Roadsworth says numbly, her eyes darting between Kayson and me.

Kayson shrugs. "It's okay. She can sit with me."

Ms. Roadsworth turns to me and I nod. She shakes her head quickly before waving us off.

Kayson leans over and whispers to me, "She's so confused."

"I would be too," I whisper back.

Ms. Roadsworth shoots a glare at the two of us before turning back to the board. "Mr. Kingston? Ms. West? If you'd please stay with me,"

I think that I stop myself from rolling my eyes but at Kayson's laugh, I realize I might not have been entirely successful.

Ms. Roadsworth turns back to us, glaring again, and Kayson and I stop laughing, as she turns back to the board.

It's hard, but I'm able to pay attention to the lesson. The less everyone knows about my father, the better. And that means I had to be as normal as possible.

And that's why, when Ms. Roadsworth left the classroom and assigned us personal work, I immediately turn to talk to Kayson as I stare at the paper in confusion. "Answers?"

He just laughs before he smirks. "No,"

"Thanks, Kayson. It just looked so easy on the board," I complain and lean forward, throwing my head onto the desk.

"It's not that bad. I can help you,"

I nod and he leans over to point out the passages where it explained what to do. However, we're not able to get too far into the paper when a voice whispers in my ear. "Quinn? Kayson?"

"Oh. Hey, Reina," I turn around and she smiles.

"I didn't know you and Kayson were friends?"

I turn to Kayson, letting him respond. He just shrugs. "We didn't use to be. But you'd be surprised how quickly things can change,"

Reina shrugs. "I noticed you both weren't at school yesterday. Why's that?" Kayson and I turn to each other, and Reina must catch something in our split-second gaze. "Were you together?"

"I'm staying with Kayson for a while. It turns out he's a scaredy cat,"

"I honestly wasn't that scared!" he protests in response. "You already told that to Anabell and it's not true,"

"And I've told you that you left right before the biggest jump scare to get popcorn. Suspicious?"

He looked down at his lap as I start to laugh. When he looks back up, he's laughing with me. 

Reina just looks slightly awkward before turning back to her work. Kayson gives me a sideways look, which just makes me laugh even harder.

The bell rings before Ms. Roadsworth can come back in and I quickly try to grab my stuff. But before I can, Kayson is leaving the room, my books in his hands.

"Kayson! Come back!" I chase after him and he stops to wait in the hallway, but when I try to go for my stuff, he just raises it above his head. 

"I don't want you to get hurt," he says with a smile.

"I'm not going to,"

He just looks at me skeptically so I reluctantly give in and follow him down the hallway.

________

The rest of the day passes quickly and soon, I'm following Kayson to his car instead of Anabell. I had tried to convince Lili to let me ride with my best friend but she wouldn't budge. So I was stuck with Kayson.

It wasn't like it really bothered me, though. 

Kayson's black Mercedes was the almost complete opposite of Anabell's truck. As I walked up to it after school, I knew it was the same car I had ridden in after I had been shot.

But now that I wasn't hanging onto life, I could admire the car. It's gleaming and the top of the convertible was down. "Hop in!" Kayson says from the driver's seat.

I open the door and slide in next to him. "I could have died," I say to Kayson, my eyes wide, as he backs out of the parking lot and onto the street.

"Why's that?" he asks without looking up.

"I had to walk from my locker to the car. Alone," I then look around me, my heart pounding as I realized I was forgetting something. "Kayson! My backpack! I have homework"

"It's in the back," he says with a shrug. "I grabbed it while you were talking to Reina and Anabell,"

I sigh, my heart already slowing to its normal pace. "You scared me,"

"That's fun, Quinn,"

Kayson doesn't seem to be in the mood to talk, so I press the button for the radio. Smooth pop rolls through the speakers and it shows an even bigger difference with Anabell's car.

We drive the rest of the way in silence, the only sound the music. 

When we get back to Kayson's house, I try to grab my backpack but he beats me to it. "No way. I'll let you carry it next week,"

"Next week?" I complain as I follow Kayson into the entry of his house. "But that's so long from now!" 

"Exactly," he smirks as he sats our bags down on the living room floor. Then he turns back to me with a smile. "It's really pretty. Do you want to go for a walk?"

Why not? "I'd love to,"

He smiles and I follow him out of the back door and onto the large outdoor property. It was no lie that Kayson's house was massive, and his backyard was even bigger.

He was right that the day was beautiful. The sun was warm, but the slight breeze kept it from burning. Even the sky was cloudless.

"What's wrong?" he asks me after a minute.

"It's nothing," But, by the way I avoid his eyes and look up at the sky, I could almost swear he didn't believe me.

His next word's proved my theory correct. "Liar. What's really bothering you?"

"I just keep picturing him, Kayson. And not only is my dad dead, but I am too,"

He frowns and reaches out his hand, taking mine. We continue to walk like that, in the silence, for a minute before he turns to me. "Whatever happened, it's fine here. My mom will take care of you,"

I don't know if they were really his unspoken words, but they seemed to hover in the air above me. I'll take care of you too.

"Thank you, Kayson. Honestly,"

"And we'll find your mom," he adds. "I promise,"

I wanted to find her, sure, but I almost didn't. If she had met the same fate as my dad, I wasn't sure I wanted to know. "We can try, Kayson. We can try,"

Chapter 3

Quinn

A voice from the house brings me back to the field where Kayson and I were sitting, staring off into the sky. "Kayson? Quinn? Where are you?"

I stand and turn to see a slightly panicked Lili standing only a few feet from us. As she spots us, she seems to release an exaggerated sigh of relief. "Oh my gosh. I was so worried," She runs forward and wraps her arms around Kayson, who had just stood up, and me in a tight hug.

If I had gone back in time and told myself that today I'd be hugging Lilith, or Lili, Kingston, I would have smacked myself upside the head for lying. And yet here I was.

Lili steps back after an awkward pause. She stares for a second before beaming. "Can you clean up your room, Kayson?" Her tone was mischievous and I was guessing she had ulterior motives other than just wanting a clean house. "It's looking very messy,"

Kayson frowns. "My room looks fine, Mom. I cleaned it last weekend." After a pause, Kayson adds. "And I'm an almost an adult!"

"Teen boys are messy," Lili says with a shrug and a smirk. "And for the adult part? You can call yourself that when you get out from under my roof." Kayson goes to protest but Lili shoots him a paralyzing glare and it suddenly made sense where she got her reputation from. "Now go,"

Kayson sighs but walks away, leaving me alone with Lili. "What's up? He gave me a tour and I thought his room looked fine."

Lili's glare was gone by now and she was yet again smirking. "It does, but I need to talk to you about something."

"Sure?" It even sounded like a question to me, and I was the one answering. "What is it?"

Lili turns and starts to walk further into the yard, gesturing me to keep up, which I do. As we walk, she starts to talk. "I noticed how close you and Kayson have grown over just the space of a few hours." I nod, but before I can get any words out, she's continuing on. "What changed? I thought you two absolutely despised each other."

"Don't tell him this, Lili," I say slowly. "But I don't think we've ever hated each other as much as you may think. Sure, we definitely not each other's biggest fan. But I only wanted to beat him up once a week."

Lili chuckles. "I think Kayson has a similar view with you. Even when he was supposedly mad at you, it was Quinn this, Quinn that. I'd start a conversation with him about his grades in a class and he'd go on to say how he got a better grade than you,"

"I'm sorry to be blatantly disrespectful, but that is a complete and utter lie."

Lili smirks. "Don't worry, Quinn, but I didn't believe him for a second." We were both laughing as we come to a stop. "Kayson may be a complete idiot, but he's a good boy. I advise you to tread carefully."

"What do you mean?" Tread carefully? Nothing's going on, so why should I have to do that?

"If you hurt my son, you're as good as dead. And that's if you're not actually dead because I strangled you to death." Both her carefree smile and devious smirk were gone. Instead, she was glaring. And I didn't doubt a word she was saying. Then she's beaming again, and her murderous stare from only seconds ago was gone. "But you're a good girl, Quinn. I don't believe we'll have any problems. I just want to keep my son safe."

"Of course, Lili." She turns to walk back to the house but I quickly call her back. "Lili?" When she turns, I smile. "Thank you for welcoming me here."

"Of course. It's honestly a pleasure to have you here." Then her smile is gone and her smirk is gone. "If you come back now, I'll make dinner,"

You better believe I high tailed it back to the Kingston's elaborate mansion.

_______

Lili made personal pizzas from scratch and they were absolutely delicious.

During the entire meal, Kayson keeps sending small glares to Lili. She seems oblivious until Kayson finally blurts out, "My room was fine, Mom." 

Lili laughs. "I know. I just wanted to talk to Quinn and I had no other idea of how to get you away from her." Lili smirks as she picks up her fork and points to the other side of the table where Kayson and I were sitting next to each other. "You two are pretty much joined at the hip and it's hard to talk to only one of you at a time."

I look down at my pizza and I can almost swear my cheeks were as dark as the sauce. We had just been talking over the past few days. We certainly weren't attached at the hip, as Lili had said.

"You could have just asked," Kayson half-heartedly mumbles. "I would have gone away."

Lili smiles. "Would you have?" She then shoves a bite of her pizza into her mouth before we could ask another question. 

One simple thing I've learned over my few days here is that if Lili wants to avoid a topic, Lili will find any way to avoid it.

Kayson sighs and finishes the rest of the meal in silence. 

________

Twenty minutes later, I'm sitting in front of a roaring fireplace in a cozy living room, one much smaller than their original. Lili had gone up to pick out a movie and Kayson had been up in his room since after dinner, so I was alone, reading a book that Lili had let me borrow.

"Boo," a voice whispers in my ear. I jump and swing my elbow backwards. A grunt shows I hit right on target. "Jesus, Quinn," he sits down next to me on the couch, rubbing his forehead. "I didn't know that you were that strong."

I laugh. "You scared me so it was pretty much your fault." 

Kayson chuckles humorlessly. "I'm just so glad it's Friday. That means that we can sleep in tomorrow." 

"Yeah," I smile at him and he smiles back. "I'm sorry for elbowing you in the face, by the way,"

Before he can respond, Lili walks back into the room, a bowl of popcorn balanced on her hip. "What happened?" she asks as she sets down the bowl on the table and kneels down to put the movie disc in the player.

"Kayson scared me and I accidentally elbowed him the face," I shrug.

"I swear she broke my nose, Mom," Kayson whines. "I was just trying to say hello."

I turn to him and stick my tongue out, and then we're both laughing.

Lili presses the play button and sits down in a large armchair. "Suck it up, you two. It's a really good movie and you better not ruin it with your flirting."

Kayson and I both turn to her with a glare and she laughs. "It's called Broken Treasure. It was one of my favorites to watch with one of my best friends." She frowns as she says this but brushes it off quickly. "Forget about that. Just watch the movie."

Kayson shrugs but something inside me tells me I should ask her about who she watched it with. But right when I was about to open my mouth, Lili shushes again as the movie begins.

________

It certainly wasn't a bad movie. But the time when Kayson and I had to sit in chairs beside each other when watching horror movies was probably better than sharing the couch. In less than thirty minutes, I find myself tucked in the crook of his arm and drowsy.

Just as I'm about to fall asleep, an explosion from the movie wakes me right up. I'm about to bolt up when I feel Kayson's arm wrapping around my shoulder and gently easing me back to the couch. "It's okay. It's just the movie, Quinn." Almost as an afterthought, he adds, "My mom is also sleeping,"

Still too tired to care, I found myself leaning even closer to him. But even after I lay back down, he doesn't move his arm from around me. Instead, he just pulls me closer and I start to fall back asleep.

My last thought before I was all the way out, was that with the three other chairs in the room, why was Kyason next to me?

And then I was asleep and I couldn't find myself caring anymore.

________

When I awoke the next morning, I expected to find myself alone on the couch, in the same spot but without Kayson.

However, when I slowly opened my eyes, I realized Kayson was in the same spot he had fallen asleep in as well. And instead of having a terrible crick in my neck from sleeping through the night on a couch, I felt as if I had instead slept on clouds.

I don't dare move for fear of waking Kayson. Instead, I snuggle back into him and stare at the now blank TV.

"You guys sure slept in," Lili says cheerfully, coming into the living room with a wide smile. "I'm not very surprised, though. You both looked, or should I say look, rather comfortable,"

I jump away to the other end of the couch. Lili chuckles as Kayson rubs his eyes, still half delirious from sleep. "Did we fall asleep here?"

"Yes," Lili says with a half smile. "Do you need me to bring your breakfast in bed?"

"No," I say with a half shrug. "We can get it our selves."

Lili scoffs. "Nonsense. You two just get comfortable and I'll bring it to you." I try to get up to help her but she shakes her head. "Stay," she orders.

I sink back into the sofa as Lili leaves the room.

"Your mom is way too sweet," I tell Kayson with a half smile. He laughs before he suddenly turns to picks at a piece of cotton from the couch. "What is it?"

Kayson suddenly looks back up at me but this time, he was smirking. He then leans forward and swings an arm around my shoulders, bringing me into his chest.

"Kayson," I start. "What are you doing?" My cheeks were beet red and I wanted to pull away. I really did. Just a few days ago, this boy was my sworn enemy. But I couldn't. I just find myself adjusting to get closer to him, and I inwardly curse myself.

"My mom said to get comfortable. So I'm getting comfortable." He smirks down at me and I clench my fist to try to resist the back flips my heart was doing in my chest.

Before I can say anything else in protest, Lili comes back in, holding a tray in her hands, a smirk on her lips.

She sets the tray down on the table and pulls it closer, so we could reach without Kayson having to move his arm. I try to plead with Lili through my eyes as she passes, but all she does is smile as she leaves the room.

"So, Quinn?" Kayson turns back to me with a devilish smirk on his face. "Do you like bacon?"

"Of course I do. What sane, logical, and rational human being wouldn't?" 

"Close your eyes, will you?" I glare at him but he just winks so I slowly close my eyes. "And no peeking."

And before I could open my eyes again, a sliver of bacon was poking out of my open mouth. "Kayson!" I cry, sitting up and shoving him away. "That was mean!"

He was laughing now, a wide smile on his face. "You're so red," he says between episodes of cracking up. 

I gently smack him over the head. "I promise you, Kayson. That was evil."

He smirks. "Do you want to try some eggs?"

I move as far as I could to the other end of the couch as I shake my head quickly. "Don't you dare, Kayson. I can feed myself."

He smiles again and goes for a spoon full of eggs. I hop off the side of the couch and back away quickly. "Kayson. I'm warning you. Don't you dare."

"Kayson. I'm warning you. Don't you dare," he mocks, his voice high pitched and squeaking as he stands up and walks towards me.

I back up quickly to avoid the spoonful of eggs, but I hit the wall and curse under my breath. "Please don't, Kayson. I'm honestly begging you."

He comes towards me and, with each step, my heart speeds up even faster until he places the hand not holding the spoon on the side of my head to hold it in place. "Open up, Quinn."

"If you try to put that even an inch closer to my mouth, it will be in your hair," I taunt.

"Will you?" he starts to direct the spoon towards my mouth, but a cough causes both of us to jump and for Kayson to drop the spoon, spilling the eggs on the carpet. Kayson steps away awkwardly to look at the person who had coughed and I breathe a sigh of relief at the space between us. I could finally clear my head.

"I thought you'd get comfortable," Lili says with a smirk. "But I didn't know it would be this comfortable."

"It wasn't that," Kayson protests quickly. "I was just trying to make her eat some eggs."

I turn towards him and stick my tongue out. "By force feeding me!"

Lili laughs. "How about you two just sit down and actually eat? Your flirting is making me lose my appetite."

I sigh and Kayson rolls his eyes. "We'll be good." Kayson slowly walks back towards the couch and sits down. I sit down next to him a moment later and take my plate from my tray and put it onto my lap.

Lili sits down in the chair across from us, the one she had fallen asleep in last night. "I need to supervise you two now." Then she tilts her head to the side and a sly smile crosses her face. "Or maybe I shouldn't. I'll go sit in the kitchen so you two can talk." She turns to look at us both for a long second before her smile increases. "Or maybe not just talk."

My mouth drops open before I shake my head quickly. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Kayson having a similar reaction. "No way," I say. "No way."

Lili shrugs. "Maybe not now. But soon?" And then she stands and almost skips out of the room.

Let's just say that I shoved my mouth full of food before Kayson even had the chance to talk to me.

________

Anabell ambushes me on Monday, as soon as Kayson had walked away to go to his locker. "Oh my gosh! I ship it so hard!"

"You sound like Lili," I complain as I kneel down to put my books away. 

"You mean even his mom thinks it would be cute? That's next level shipping." Anabell says with a smirk. "Honestly. I've been trying to get you together for years."

I stand up and roll my eyes. "All he was doing was trying to feed me eggs, and Lili thought it was something else. It wasn't the movie either."

Anabell's jaw almost drops straight to the floor. "I wasn't talking about that, Quinn! I only heard about the bacon!"

I sigh, realizing the hole I had just dug for myself. "It wasn't anything. I promise. I just fell asleep. And then he tried to pin me against the wall to feed me eggs since I tried to run away after the bacon."

If it was even possible, Anabell looked even more shocked. "It wasn't anything," she mocks. "Are you kidding me, Quinn? You almost kissed!"

"We didn't," I say quickly.

"You sure about that, West?" I jump as Kayson wraps his arms around my shoulders. "Because I'm pretty sure your cheeks were as dark as a tomato."

I spin and push him away. "My cheeks weren't red," I say but it was a blatant lie.

Anabell comes to my side and tries to inconspicuously tap me. But when Kayson laughs, I know she had failed.

"Let's just go to class," I say to Kayson, quickly walking away to him and Anabell laughing behind me.

After only a few steps though, Kayson catches up. "Can I carry your stuff, please?"

"You said I could carry it this week." I try to step away but he slings an arm over my shoulders, stopping me in my tracks. 

"I lied." And then he bends down, snatching it from me. I glare but he just smiles. But he doesn't take his arm off of my shoulders. Instead, he just puts my stuff with his in his other hand and pulls me closer to his chest.

My heart speeds up a considerable amount but I don't pull away. How could I?

When we walk into Ms. Roadsworth's class, her jaw drops straight to the floor. Kayson carrying my stuff confused her enough, but this? She looked as if her world had fallen out from under her.

"Ms. West? Mr. Kingston? Aree you two okay?" she asks.

"Of course we are," I say. "Why not?"

"Well," she splutters. "You're early for once."

I try for an angelic smile, but it probably comes out as more of a devilish smirk. Kayson laughs and tilts his head to the side. "We'll go sit down, Ms. Roadsworth."

We leave her, still shocked, as we walk to the other end of the classroom and sit down. Kayson doesn't let me go until we sit down.

"So? What were you and Anabell talking about?" he asks.

The bell saves me from having to answer, which I immediately sigh in relief about. He had probably guessed we were talking about him, but at least I didn't need to describe it to him.

Ms. Roadsworth starts three minutes later and I lean back in my chair. It almost scared me, the changes that had happened in the last few days. Kayson and I were friends now.

Friends? Why was that idea so nauseating to me? Was it because I didn't want to be friends with him? Or was it something else?

"Hey, Quinn. You okay? You look like you spaced out," Kayson asks. 

"I'm fine. Honestly."

Kayson frowns before leaning back and wrapping his arm behind my chair.

And just like that, the nausea in my stomach was gone.

I was so screwed.

Chapter 4

Quinn

Lili picks Kayson and me up at from school, claiming she had something to show us.

Even though Kayson's car was gorgeous, Lili's was out of this world. It had a gleaming white exterior and black leather seats. As we start to drive, Lili rolls down the roof. 

"Where are we going?" Kayson asks, grumpy from us both having to sit in the back since Lili's purse had a seat of its own. "This really only seems like it's leading us into the middle of nowhere."

Lili smiles into the mirror. "That's exactly where we're going, Kayson." 

She gives him a knowing look and his eyes widen. "No way, Mom. We can't take Quinn there."

I scoff at their obvious secrets. "Come on, Lili. Kayson. Can you just tell me where we're going?"

Lili seems about to say something but Kayson quickly cuts her off. "No way. And, to be honest, we should turn the car around and go back to the house. I don't want to get Quinn involved again."

Lili turns into a small clearing and stops the car. "That would be a good idea," she says cheerfully. "But we're already here. Wouldn't it be such a waste if we came all the way out here for nothing?"

Kayson sighs. "Okay. Fine. But she stays with me." He rolls his eyes as he pushes open the door and gets out, quickly coming to my side before I can even try to get out by myself. "Stay close to me," he whispers when I step out. "The people here aren't necessarily the kindest."

"Where are we?" I try to ask again. As far as I saw, it was just a large grassy clearing, surrounded by trees. The only irregularity was the wooden shack in the middle. But this couldn't be what Kayson was talking about. He had said people and the building looked as if it could barely even fit one.

"You'll see." He frowns and gestures for me and Lili to follow him. Contradictory to my thoughts, he opens the rusty iron door to the shack, before turning back to us. "I'll go first, you can go second, Quinn, and you can go last, Mom."

Lili sighs before Kayson goes inside. About a minute later, Lili nudges me to follow him.

I do and walk into a tiny room. If I put my arms out, I'd be touching the walls. The only thing noticeable was a ladder leading straight down. So I bite my lip, steel myself, and climb down into the abyss.

________

Instead of just finding a tiny hole, as small as the shack, at the bottom, I climbed into a large room. It seemed to be almost bigger than the Kingston's entire mansion.

Kayson gestures to me from where he was standing with two girls, both which were talking animatedly.

I walk over and attempt a smile, but my mind was whirring and it probably came out as more of a grimace. Where even was I? I was just trying to go back to the mansion after school and do my homework, but I'm instead stuck in a room that appeared to be the size of a small state.

"Hey." One of the girls says with a half smile. She had thick dark hair with dark green eyes, hidden by thick-framed glasses. "I'm Juliet. And this here is my sister, Skyliee."

The other girl nods, her looks almost identical to Juliet's, except her eyes were blue, and she wasn't wearing glasses. "And you must be the girl here with Kayson and Juliet." 

I nod. "I'm Quinn." 

Both of their mouths seem to drop open at my word. Juliet's the first one to recover, though. "Quinn. Are you a West?"

Kayson, who had remained silent for most of the conversation steps closer to me, wrapping an arm around my waist. "It's okay," he leans down and whispers into my ear. "You don't have to tell them anything."

I shake my head but don't push him away. "It's okay, Kayson," I whisper. Then I smile and steel myself. "Yes, I am a West. And I also assume you've heard about my parents?"

Skyliee winces but Juliet just looks thoughtful, before she speaks. "I had assumed that you had died. I didn't think, however, that you'd be with Lili and Kayson." She looks past me for a moment, scanning the room. "By the way, Kayson, where is Lili?

Kayson shrugs. "She came with us, but she's probably talking with some of the others."

Juliet nods before her eyes dart down to where Kayson had pulled me into him. She elbows Skyliee as if she was trying to be discrete and failing miserably.

Kayson and I just laugh. "I know it would probably be good if you stuck with me, but I trust Juliet and Skyliee. So if they want, you can go with them. Plus I want to talk to my mom and some of the others."

I turn to Skyliee and Juliet. Juliet nods and I smile back. "Okay. I'll be fine here."

"See you," Kayson says with a wave and he walks across the room, leaving me alone with the other two girls.

"So," Skyliee says as soon as Kayson is out of earshot. "Are you two a thing?"

Juliet laughs at my stunned expression. "I just think it would be awesome," she says, agreeing with her sister. "Enemies turned lovers. It sounds like a book."

I roll my eyes as the sisters crack up. "Come on," Skyliee says after a minute, stepping forward to loop her arm through mine. Juliet mirrors her on my other side. "We can give you a tour." 

Before I can get a single word out, they're dragging me away.

________

The rooms blur together as we fly past them, Juliet chattering the entire time. Skyliee was quieter and she only made the occasional comment. But Juliet was talking enough for the both of them.

"Quinn!" I turn away from Juliet and Skyliee arguing about who the better twin was, to see Lili and Kayson. "We're about to go."

I nod and turn back to the twins. "I'll see you two soon."

Skyliee nods while Juliet steps forward, hugging me quickly before smiling. "I'll see you."

I wave and walk over to where Kayson and Lili are standing. We make our way through the hallways to the shack, neither of them saying a word.

After climbing the ladder that seemed to go on forever, we all get into the car, Lili's purse still occupying the passenger's seat. "So," she says as we pull away. "I thought you said you weren't going to leave Quinn's side."

Kayson shakes his head. "Juliet and Skyliee took good care her. Right?" he adds, almost as an afterthought.

"They're great. So," I turn to look at Kayson, before turning my gaze on Lili. "That's your gang, I suppose."

Lili nods. "Yeah. I'm the main boss." I see her toss her hair in the mirror, making both Kayson and me laugh. "Speaking of which, is your gang looking for you?"

I scoff. "Those foul smelling ducks? No way. If I wasn't Adrianna's daughter, they'd have filleted me."

"Adrianna was in charge? I thought it was mainly Ricardo," Kayson says with a shrug.

"My dad technically was, but we all knew that my mom was the one running everything." I smile. "Thanks for taking me. Skyliee and Juliet were both a joy."

Lili nods. "They're some of my sweetest members. They don't really seem like the gang type but you should see them when they really get into it." She smirks. "Plus. They ship you two as well, so they can't be that bad."

Kayson sighs and I barely force myself to not roll my eyes. "It's not going to happen, Mom," Kayson says quickly. "We hated each other less than a week ago."

"Time builds relationships," Lili says with a smile. 

Kayson and I turn towards each other, both of us cracking up the second we meet each other's gaze. 

Lili sighs. "Just you wait." Then her frown was gone and a sly smile had taken its place. "I have an idea. The fair's in town tonight and I can drive you two. It's not a very long trip."

"What's the catch?" Kayson looks at his mom suspiciously. I almost start laughing again at the severity of his expression.

"No catch. No buckle down, children. You have a bit of a ride."

________

When Lili said it wasn't a very long trip, she must have been thinking that short was fifteen minutes. Instead, we sat in the car for almost two hours. The sun was not even an hour from setting when Lili finally turned down a dirt road.

A bored looking attendant gestures to a parking space and Lili pulls in. "So? You ready?" Kayson asks.

"Actually, no." Lili hops out of the car, grabbing her purse as we join her. "I'm meeting up with a friend. You two can stick together. Just be done by eleven. You still have school tomorrow."

Kayson huffs and Lili skips away, leaving Kayson and me to follow. "I knew there was a catch," he grumbles.

I laugh, right before my breath catches as we step into the clearing with the fair. 

It certainly wasn't much. Just a handful of beat up rides, the centerpiece a small Ferris wheel. It wasn't like there was anything else, anyway. Just a handful of carnival games and tents set up with food that your doctor would balk at.

But it was amazing, and it was made even better that this was the first carnival I had gone to in almost eleven years. "I haven't been to one of these in forever."

"Really?" Kayson asks. "Your parents never took you?"

"I don't want to say anything in case they're both dead," I say quietly. "But they weren't the biggest fans of fun."

Kayson nods before a wide smile splits his face. "So that means you probably have never had deep fried Oreos?"

"I've heard of them." I shrug as Kayson places a hand on my shoulder and starts to guide me towards one of the small food trailers. "But they sound disgusting."

"Oh, Quinn. If you've never had a single deep-fried Oreo, you've never lived." He smirks at my laugh. "And you better best believe we're getting in line. And if I have to force feed you like the eggs and bacon, I will."

So we wait and let's just say that I've never had something that was so disgusting.

And somehow, it was perfect.

________

"I won," I say as Kayson and I walk away from the balloon and dart game.

"You did not. I won that one and I had the majority," he protests.

"Funny enough, but I won the bull one. Didn't we agree that one was double points? That means that I had more than you and, therefore, I won."

"He went easy on you," he says, rolling his eyes. "Your logic is completely flawed."

I gently him away and he turns back to glare, but I could still see his smile. "Since I won," I say, ignoring him. "You have to give me the polar bear."

"What?" Kayson says, clutching the soft, white bear he had won at the water gun game to his chest. "You can't take my baby away."

I snicker and hold my hands out. "Hand it over."

"I'll make you a deal," he says, placing the bear behind his back. "We can share him. I'll have him one week, I'll have him the other."

"I have a custody. You just have visiting rights," I say, darting behind him to snatch the bear. He glares as I cuddle the polar bear and I bite my lip to keep from laughing. "He's mine now."

With the oversized bear in my hands, I could barely see where I'm going, which causes me to collide into someone.

Luckily, the woman I see when I lower the bear is Lili, chatting to a teen girl, probably around my age. "Wow," Lili says with a smile and a bark of a laugh. "You really need to watch where you're going." She then shrugs, a smirk playing on her lips. "But I do think it's very sweet that your boyfriend won you a bear."

I roll my eyes. "He didn't willingly give it to me, Lili. I beat him at the games and this was my prize."

"That is such a lie," Kayson complains before we both burst out laughing.

Then Lili turns and smiles at the girl with her. "Quinn. This is Kitty, the friend I was meeting up with." And then Lili turns back to us, gesturing. "And this is my son, Kayson, and his girlfriend, Quinn."

"We're not dating!" Kayson rolls his eyes as Lili just shrugs.

"Hey," Kitty says with an awkward half smile. "It's nice to meet you. And Kayson? It's nice to see you."

Looking at her now, I almost recognized her emerald eyes and her chocolate brown hair. It was if I was looking at a younger version of Lili. But when Kitty sees me looking, she half turns herself away, and the resemblance was gone. "It's nice to meet you too," I say.

Lili smiles. "Well, I'm going to talk to Kitty some more. Just give me about thirty minutes and we can go." She shrugs. "Have you two done the Ferris Wheel? It looks like the only decent thing here."

The four of us laugh before Kayson shrugs. "You know, Quinn, we should give it a try. It looks like it would be fun."

I nod. "Okay, as long as you buy me a cookie."

"Oatmeal raisin?"

"Oatmeal raisin."

Kitty's mouth just about drops open. "I honestly thought I was the only one who likes those? My friends trash talk them all the time. Like, no honey. Those are the best cookies in existence."

"You know, Lili, I like this girl already." We both laugh before I grab my phone out of my coat pocket. "Put your number in there. We can text."

Kitty nods and takes my phone, and I try to ignore Lili's look of utter shock as her eyes dart between us. And then its gone as Kitty hands me back my phone.

"I'll see you later, Kitty. Nice to meet you."

She nods, before Kayson and I both wave and head towards the Ferris wheel. As we walk, I turn to Kayson. "How do you know her?"

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure. Lili sees her every once in a while and I've met her. I think you two would get along very well."

I nod. "I hope." Kayson and I stop at the line to the Ferris Wheel, and an attendant takes our tickets less than a minute later.

"Oh my god," I say, almost as soon as we take our seats. "We're going to die."

Kayson laughs just as the car starts to move, lifting us into the air. I wince. It was high up and it wasn't like this was the safest park in the state, or even less in this town. 

He reaches across and places his hand on my shoulder. "Hey, Quinn. It'll be fine." And then he smirks. "I'd move over there but I don't want to tip the car."

We're almost at the top by now and I throw myself away from Kayson's arm and against the back of the car. "Oh god, Kayson. Please don't."

Kayson laughs as we slowly start our descent back towards the bottom. "Just breathe, Quinn. They'll probably let us out here."

I exhale right before the ride keeps going and slowly climbs back up. "You jinxed it," I complain.

The small Ferris Wheel is just about to reach the top when it stops. It just stops. "Oh my god, Kayson. You so jinxed it."

Kayson smiles. "Just look out at the window. You can see the forest. It's pretty."

"Yeah. I'm in love with trees and cheap fair food tents." But even with my sarcasm, I lean slightly to the side and peak out the window. And Kayson was right.

It was absolutely stunning.

It wasn't as if looking down was beautiful but up was a different story. You could almost perfectly see the moon from our angle, and there wasn't a single stretch of the sky without a star. "Okay. Fine," I relent. "It's pretty."

But when I turn back to Kayson, he wasn't looking outside. Instead, he had his head tilted as his eyes locked on mine. "Kayson?" I ask hesitantly.

He closes his eyes as if trying to distract himself. "Dang it, Quinn. Dang it."

"Kayson?" I ask again. "What is it?"

"I absolutely hate when she's right," he mutters under his breath.

"When who's right?" 

"Skyliee. Juliet. Anabell. My mom." He shakes his head, still staring at the bottom of the car. "They're right and I hate when they're right."

"Right about what, Kayson?" I try to ask. There's not one thing they had in common, was there?

Oh. Oh god. They all talked about one thing constantly. But if I was wrong, I'd be absolutely dead.

"You know what? It doesn't matter. Forget I said anything." 

I scoff. "First you freak out. And then you won't even look at me while you mumble about them being right. And worst of all, you just blow me off."

"I'm not blowing you off," he whispers.

"Not blowing me off? And you're still not looking at me."

"I've gone through almost eight years of hating you," he says, still not even turning to look at me. "And now, in the space of less than a week, I'm sitting on a Ferris Wheel with you, when we're practically on top of each other, the seats are so close." He shakes his head. "And the worst part? I don't care. I should be mad and I should have left you to fend for yourself that very first day. But I didn't and I wouldn't and I most certainly couldn't. But even after that, I should have pushed you off with Anabell or something." He laughs, a bitter laugh. "But I didn't because I still couldn't. Because those past few years have felt like something much more complex than hate."

My heart was pounding after Kayson's speech. Was he really talking about what I thought he was? Could he have been? 

But the scary thing was that he was right. He could have left me and he didn't. And the worst part? I agreed with him. It's never completely felt like hate with Kayson. Instead of curiosity killed the cat, it should be complexity killed the cat.

Because right now, I felt like the dang cat.

"Even after all of that, you still won't look up at me," I whisper. 

At the sadness in my tone, he quickly looks up. His eyes looked sad, but there was something else, something I couldn't necessarily pinpoint. "We should just forget about this entire conversation."

"I'm not leaving here until you tell me or do whatever you're stressing about."

I know. It was stupid. I'm stupid. But right now, I just really needed to hear him say something.

But he didn't say something. Instead, he tilts his head to look at me.

And just as the Ferris Wheel suddenly starts to spin again, slowly turning towards the bottom, he leans in and kisses me.

And of course, since I was the dang cat, I kissed him back.