Strange Terrain

"Ugh, stupid sun. Go away," I groaned groggily as the sun blazed through my bedroom window onto my face, disturbing my sleep.

As I rolled over onto my other side, I found my nose hitting something hard, making me groan in pain. As my eyes fluttered open to see what I had collided with, I was astonished to find that I wasn't the only person in my bed. Lying beside me was Brian Haner Jr, soundly asleep, lightly snoring, and still wearing his costume from last night. His arm was lazily draped over my waist as he used his other arm as a pillow for his head. Waking up to find that Brian's face was only inches away from my own was shocking to say the least, especially since I couldn't remember how we got back home or how he winded up in my bed next to me.

I let out a shriek of astonishment, quickly pushing him away from me, which resulted in him falling out of the bed and onto my floor with a loud thud as his body came into contact with the floor. He started groaning in pain, now awake and unhappy about his violent awakening while I sat up in bed, trying to get a hold of myself. I knew I was blushing like a madman, since my face was hot with embarrassment, yet I wasn't sure why I was blushing this much. After living with Brian for the past few months, I was used to being touched, especially since his friends were rather affectionate towards me, but for some reason, in this moment, it felt like I had crossed a boundary I shouldn't have crossed.

"Fuck, that hurt," I heard him grumble lowly from the floor. "Where am I?" he asked in confusion as he sat up, holding the back of his head.

His sleepy brown eyes met with mine and went wide with shock when he discovered that I was hugging my knees to my chest on the bed. He looked away for a moment, as if he were thinking something over to himself before he looked back at me. I was biting my bottom lip and looking down at my bare feet, trying my best to get my racing heart to slow down. I wanted to ask him why he was sleeping in my bed this morning but didn't want to hear that it wasn't a big deal. For some reason, I found myself wanting to believe that he wanted to be there rather than having it be just a stupid mistake, which I couldn't really understand.

"G-good morning," I said apprehensively, still looking down at my feet as I spoke.

"Morning," he replied quietly with little emotion. "Um, how're you feeling?"

"I'm ok I guess," I shrugged. "Some things are a little hazy but for the most part, I'm ok."

"Oh, well that's normal I guess. You were pretty out of it last night," he said, looking between me and his hands which were folded neatly in front of him. "Do you remember the party?"

I blushed again, recalling the things I had said and did at the party as I rested my head on my knees, "Yeah, I remember most of that. I can't believe how out of control I was. I feel so stupid now."

"Well, it's not like you were able to stop yourself. It's Jimmy's fault for giving you that Ecstasy in the first place. If you need someone to blame, he'd make the perfect candidate," Brian replied, sounding slightly bitter when he mentioned Jimmy's name.

"Can I ask how we got home?" I asked quietly, chewing on my lower lip.

"Oh, well," he began, running a hand through his messy brown hair, "I figured it would be better to get you home to sleep instead of staying at Casadee's since she was pretty out of it herself and would most likely end up with Zacky at the end of the night so I called us a cab to get back to the truck and drove us home," he explained, briefly glancing at me as he spoke.

"But weren't you drinking?" I asked, remembering seeing him with red cups of beer all night.

"Yeah but I didn't have enough to get completely trashed," he said. "I was sober enough to get us back here without much fuss."

"Oh," I said quietly, nodding as I started processing the information. I suddenly began to remember bits and pieces of what I had said or how I had acted before I fell asleep and felt mortified with my behavior. "Oh my God, I can't believe you saw me like that. I'm so embarrassed," I said, my voice slightly muffled by burying my face into my knees to hide my red cheeks.

He chuckled a bit, "You were rather funny at times but don't worry. I know that most of what you said or did was because of the drugs in your system. I won't hold it against you."

I looked up at him, noticing the genuine smile that he had on his face and suddenly felt the butterflies flapping wildly in my stomach again. It seemed that no matter what, I couldn't shake these feelings of attraction to him away. I knew it was impossible for anything between us to happen but I couldn't help my attraction towards him. For years I had harbored a crush on him and it was difficult to just cast aside those feelings for him, especially after spending more time with him and getting to know him as more than just one of the popular boys in school. Brian was a good guy, even though he didn't like to show it most of the time.

"Um," I said, gaining his attention as I looked down at my knees again, not wanting him to see my expression, "I'm sorry for causing you so much hassle last night. I know I did some things that were a little inappropriate so I'm sorry you had to deal with that," I said sheepishly, thinking back to our entire journey from the party to the house.

"Yeah, that was something else," he said, scratching the back of his head.

"Can I ask question?" I asked, biting my lower lip and briefly looking at him.

"Well, I assume you're capable of it since you just asked a question," he replied with a small smile.

I shyly smiled, nervously twiddling my thumbs and taking a deep breath before speaking, "Ok, um, why were you sleeping in my bed last night?"

Brian cleared his throat, looking away from me as he spoke, "Oh, well, uh, I-uh, you asked me to stay with you last night until you fell asleep and I guess I also fell asleep while I waited for you to sleep," he replied, stumbling over his words a bit as he spoke. "Besides, you wouldn't let go of my hand so I could leave. I was pretty much stuck where I was," he added quickly, mumbling a bit.

"Oh," I replied, blushing once again as I mentally scolded myself for acting so boldly. "Sorry," I said quietly.

"It's fine. No harm done," he said, pushing himself to his feet and stretching his arms overhead. His costume was wrinkled from sleeping in it and his hair slightly matted. I tried my best to keep my eyes off him but it was like there was this magnetic force that made it impossible to look away from him for too long. "Well, I'll just be heading back to my room now. Um, you're ok, right? No hang over or anything?" he asked, sounding slightly uncomfortable as he spoke.

"No, I'm ok," I said quietly, shaking my head a bit as I spoke.

"Alright, well, I'll be across the hall if you need me or something," he said, pointing towards the door as he spoke.

I nodded in understanding, watching him as he quickly walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him as he went. After he left, I found myself letting out a large, audible breath I didn't know I had been holding as I tried to sort through my muddled thoughts. Running a hand through my tangled, messy hair, I started thinking about the previous night's events that I could remember clearly, including my bold request for Brian to stay with me.

I could feel myself blushing in embarrassment just thinking about our fingers interlocking with one another, wondering why he had even obliged my request in the first place. Normally he would just say something sarcastic and walk away but this time, he seemed a little more willing to comply with my request for whatever reason and with no argument. I couldn't seem to shake the feeling that Brian's attitude towards me was changing and I couldn't tell if it was a good thing or not. I didn't want to get too ahead of myself but I wanted to say Brian and I seemed to form some kind of friendship through our months of cohabitation.

Instead if continuing my pondering of what Brian and I seemed to have or not have, I decided I should get up and shower since I still smelled of smoke and swear from last night's activities. I stood up, steadying my slightly wobbly stance and gathered some essential clothing to change into. I poked my head out in to the hall, noticing that the coast was clear and that Brian's bedroom door was shut, and made a quick beeline for the bathroom.

I grabbed my toothbrush and started brushing my teeth as I waited for the water in the shower to warm up. I was thinking about what I should do with my free day today, since it was Sunday and I had already finished my school assignments on Friday. I wondered if I was going to be in the house with Brian all day, making me feel a little nervous for some irrational reason. I thought about getting out of the house but I couldn't go to Casadee's, in case she was still spending time with Zacky, which meant I would probably walk into see something I didn't need to see or in case she started asking questions about my disappearance last night. Naoki was still out of town until tonight so that was out of the question and I didn't really want to go into the restaurant since I was still a little uncomfortable spending time around Malcolm and Anika now that they were a couple.

Rinsing my mouth of the toothpaste, I quickly and carefully unzipped my costume, shimming out of it as best as I could before hopping into the shower. I could feel how gooey my eyes were from sleeping in my contacts last night and decided that I needed to just throw them away after the shower, since they were making it difficult to see due to the irritation. As I stepped into the shower, I sighed contently as the hot water enveloped my body, thoroughly enjoying washing last night off my body. There really was nothing like a warm shower to make a person feel anew again.

Loud pounding at the door startled me a bit, causing me to jump at the sound as my eyes immediately darted towards the closed door, paranoid about someone entering the bathroom whilst I was in the shower. Poking my head out from behind the curtain to look at the shut door through the incredible amount of steam that had built up, I figured that it had to be Brian trying to gain my attention for whatever reason, making me curious as to what he wanted while I was in the shower.

"Yeah?" I asked loudly so he would hear me over the running water and through the thick wooden door.

"I gotta go out and take care of something. If you see Suzy, tell her I'll be back later," Brian said, his voice slightly muffled from the door.

"Ok," I called back to him, knitting my eyebrows together in confusion.

From the sound of his voice, he seemed like he didn't really want to go out and do whatever it was that he was going to do, making me wonder what it was that forced him to leave the house in the first place. Feeling a bit more relaxed now that I knew Brian was leaving the house; I decided to finish the rest of my shower before deciding what I should do with the rest of my day. I didn't want to stay cooped up in the house by myself like I normally did on weekends but then again, I also had nowhere to go nor did I have a car to drive me any place interesting. Limited to walking, I tried to think of different things to do around the neighborhood, which left walked to the beach or going to the park, both of which held little interest for me.

I quickly washed my hair, laughing to myself as I pushed my long, soapy hair up into a beehive hairstyle from the 50s. I got great amusement from playing with my soapy hair, even as a young child in the bathtub. I knew it was rather childish but given my state of boredom, I couldn't help but giggle at my own ridiculousness. I rinsed my hair of the shampoo and quickly washed my body with some vanilla body wash before hopping out of the shower five minutes later, reaching for my clean towel and wrapping it around my dripping wet body. I grabbed another towel from the cabinet under the sink, wrapping my hair up so it would dry faster.

Drying myself off, I pulled on the pair of tattered ripped jeans and black Sex Pistols shirt I brought with me into the bathroom. I wiped some of the steam from the mirror so I could see my blurred reflection, allowing me to take out the contacts. Once they were out of my eyes and discarded in the trash, my vision blurred tenfold, making it damn near impossible to see anything more than three feet in front of me. With my glasses back in my bedroom, I put my hands out straight in front of me and walked towards my bedroom, feeling my way through the empty hallway so I wouldn't bump into anything or make a wrong turn.

Finally, I managed to make it back to my room safely and retrieved my glasses from the nightstand, quickly putting them on and regaining a clear view of my bedroom. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I pulled my damp hair up into a messy bun, not really caring about how it looked, and looked around my near empty room for something to preoccupy my Sunday afternoon.

The pile of library books I had laying by my desk were already read and ready to go back in exchange for some new material so reading was out of the question. I had already finished my research paper for English class as well as the oral report for Spanish so school work was out. With a heavy sigh, I was nearly ready to give up when I spotted one of my older drawing books sitting on the corner of my desk, making me smile with delight.

I walked over to my desk and started flipping through the older drawings I did when I was in the seventh grade, shaking my head at some of the silly cartoons I had created. It wasn't until I got to the middle of the book that I actually stopped and felt a gaping hole in the pit of my stomach. On the page was the drawing I copied of Malcolm and my mother, sitting in our living room with humungous smiles on their faces. I reached out, gently caressing the pencil outline of my mother's face and smiled sadly to myself. Just looking at this drawing made me miss her more than usual, especially with the hectic turn of events Malcolm and I seemed to experience over the last few months.

Looking around for the picture I used to sketch the drawing, I realized that it must be back at the ruined house somewhere. I wondered what it looked like at this point, since a few months had passed since the horrific flood. With nothing better to do and innate curiosity sparking my interest, I decided that I would walk to the old house to see how things were coming along. Part of me hoped that when I got there, I would see the old house restored to what it used to be before the flood destroyed it all. Part of me hoped that these past few months with the Haners was nothing more than a dream.

I headed down the stairs, pulling on a pair of my ratty Converse sneakers on as well as grabbing a red hoodie, before leaving the house, locking the door behind me. Though autumn in Southern California wasn't very cold, today seemed a little chillier than normal, making me wrap my arms tighter around myself to keep warm. I headed down the driveway and up the street in the direction of my old house, hoping to kill some time by going through the clutter of stuff I had in my playhouse in the backyard.

*Brian's Point of View
I walked out of Alex's room and right across the hall to mine, leaning with my back against the shut door behind me and taking a deep breath, shutting my eyes. I was trying to figure out the real reason I had stayed in her room through the night in the first place, coming up short with some kind of plausible explanation. I was lucky that she seemed to buy my flimsy excuse but I wasn't. I couldn't seem to make sense of my actions last night or the feelings of irritation I felt towards my friends who were only being kind to Alex. Why did it matter so much to me whether or not she was ok? Why did I allow myself to bring her home when she was perfectly fine where she was? Why did I have the urge to want to touch her last night when I wanted nothing to do with her most of the time?

Opening my eyes, I pushed myself away from the door and decided to change my clothes, since I was still wearing last night's costume. I pulled out an old pair of black mesh PE shorts and an old Motorhead shirt I stole front Brent before he went off to college, deciding that I didn't really need to get dressed to go anywhere today. I threw the dirty clothes onto the floor, quickly changing into the new clothes and flopping down onto my bed, unsure of what else to do to pass the time on this lazy Sunday.

I grabbed the remote from my bedside table and flipped on the television, settling with some random Jim Carrey movie that was on. Making myself comfortable on the bed, I folded my arms behind my head, leaning against the headboard as my thoughts drifted back to last night. For some reason, I just couldn't seem to shake the irritation I felt when Matt and Johnny mentioned Alex being perfect girlfriend material or seeing Jimmy's hands all over her body as they danced together. I couldn't understand why I was so annoyed with them, especially since it had nothing to do with me but for whatever reason, I didn't like the thought of Alex in a relationship with one of my friends. She didn't fit well with any of them and knowing how they were, I didn't want them to take advantage of her naivety since she lacked experience in dating.

Groaning in frustration, I smacked myself in the forehead, shaking my head and scolding myself for thinking about Alex again. It was already bad enough that she was living with my family just across the hall from me but the fact that she was slowly taking over my thoughts irritated me to the core. We weren't friends so why should I care about what she does or doesn't do? Why wasn't it as easy to ignore her presence the way it was before she was living with me? I hated that whenever she wasn't around, I found myself wondering what she was up to or who she was with. What made a dork like her so special that she was constantly on my mind all the time?

My cell phone ringing broke me from my thoughts, causing me to look for its location. Realizing that it must have still been in my pants' pocket when I took them off, I got off the bed and headed toward the pile of last night's dirty clothes, reaching into the front pocket and pulling out my phone. Checking the Caller ID, I saw that it was a blocked number, making me curious as to who would be calling me from a blocked number in the first place. I hit the green 'talk' button and pressed the phone to my ear.

"Hello?" I answered, dropping my pants back into the pile on the floor.

"Hello Brian," Madison's voice said sweetly on the other line, instantly causing another wave of irritation to run through me.

"What the hell do you want?" I asked bluntly, unenthused by the sound of her voice as I flopping back down on my bed.

"I want you to come over," she replied seductively as if we were still together.

I laughed in disbelief at her attempt to entice me into agreeing to her request, "We broke up when school began, in case you forgot, so why would you think I would drop everything I'm doing to see my ex-girlfriend?"

"Oh, I think you'll find that I've got plenty of reason for you to come over to see me," she said knowingly, "especially when I say that there’s a certain something concerning Alexandria Elliot."

I could feel the color drain from my face at the mentioning of Alex's name. Panic struck my nerves, making it impossible for me to move as Madison's laugh reached my ears, taunting me as if she knew something she wasn't supposed to know.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I replied, failing at feigning ignorance to her statement.

"You'll find out about it tomorrow at school unless you come and see me so we can fix it. I'm just trying to spare you the shock of going to school tomorrow and finding out for yourself," she said nonchalantly. "The choice if up to you."

Sighing, I ran a worried hand through my messy bedhead hair, feeling completely defenseless against her. I knew Madison was holding information over my head but I hated giving into her manipulations. Given there was no other choice in finding out what others knew or didn't know, I realized that I had to see Madison, even though I wanted nothing to do with her.

"I'll be there in ten minutes" I said emotionlessly.

"Looking forward to it," she said, her voice dripping in triumph before the click of the phone hanging up could be heard.

Hanging up the phone, I quickly pulled on a pair of jeans I had lying around and grabbed my keys and wallet from last night's pants, not really caring what I looked like for Madison. As I headed out of my bedroom, I heard the shower running down the hall, signaling that Alex was in there since no one else was on. I don't know why but I found myself walked toward the bathroom door, knocking against the wood loud enough for her to hear me over the running water.

"Yeah?" I heard her call from the inside of the bathroom, sounding a little confused.

"I gotta go out and take care of something. If you see Suzy, tell her I'll be back later," I told her loudly, unhappy about having to see Madison.

"Ok," she called back as I wandered towards the stairs.

I rushed down the stairs, slipping on my shoes as I headed out of the door, thinking about what Madison had said about finding out about it at school tomorrow. Thinking about it, I wondered if my behavior at last night's party hadn't gone unnoticed by others, prompting rumors of Alex and me being together as a couple. Looking back on my behavior last night, I realized that I should have exercised as little more caution so others wouldn't get the wrong idea but I thought that everyone would be too bombed to notice. The more I speculated about what Madison knew, the worse the scenarios became, driving me insane at the possibilities.

I finally reached my truck and climbed inside, starting the engine and cranking up the volume of the radio to drown out my thoughts, hoping that the noise would distract me from trying to figure out what Madison knew or didn't know. As I drove through the quiet, empty streets of our neighborhood, I wondered why Madison bothered to call me at all when she had the opportunity to manipulate whatever rumor that was circulating already. Normally, she would just add fuel to the fire since she loved ruining other people's lives with her venomous words and since we didn't get along very well, I could only assume that she had some kind of hidden agenda with her "kindness" to inform me of what was going on.

Turning the corner on Bluecrest Avenue, I pulled up in front of a large white two-story house with blue shutters, taking note that no one else was home since there were no other cars in the driveway but Madison's silver Mercedes. I had to admit, being in this part of the neighborhood was a little intimidating, since many of the richer people of Huntington lived here but I couldn't let my nerves get the best of me now. I had bigger things to worry about.

I pushed the doorbell on the side of the door, impatiently rocking back and forth on the balls of my feet as I waited for Madison to open the door. I sighed with dread of what was to come, since I thought I had come to this house for the last time during the summer before we broke up. I was just glad we were alone since her dad always gave me grief about my tattoos on my arms and her mom fawned all over me with lavish affection, trying her best to convince me that she was still an attractive woman even though she was Madison's mom. The people in this house were toxic in their own way and I didn't like being around them, even when Madison and I were together.

Madison finally opened the door, smiling sweetly at me as she gestured for me to come in. I walked into the house, trying my best to not look at her scantily clad body in a pair of short shorts and a white tank top that hugged her upper body, leaving little to the imagination. I heard the door shut behind me as she walked past me towards the stairs, leading me to her room, presumably, without a word between us. I didn't really expect her to say anything until we reached her comfort zone. She was predictable that way. She would try and distract me with lying suggestively on her bed as she spoke to me because it made it easier to lie and twist her words into suggestions I would follow.

A wave of nostalgia hit me as soon as we entered her yellow room, decorated with posters for popular music groups as well as a few old flyers from our old shows in the corner near her window. All her furniture was pearl white and well-organized with no clothes traipsed across the floor. I could remember the times when she would leave the window to her room open enough so I could sneak in at night. I remembered our bodies entangled in the crisp, white sheets of her queen size bed, whispering quiet words of lust into each other's ears. I spent a lot of time in this room and made some good memories because it was the only place where Madison felt comfortable enough to be herself. The reason I loved her once before was because of who she used to be when we were alone together in her bedroom at night, not the girl she became when we were at school together.

I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard Madison's laughter, noticing that she was sitting on the edge of her bed with her hands folded neatly in her lap. She gently brushed her long blonde hair out of her face, tucking it behind her delicate ears as she looked up at me with her crystal blue eyes. I found myself drawn to her for some reason, taking a seat next to her as she looked down at her hands.

"So, what about Alex Elliot made you think I would want to come here and see you?" I asked bluntly, trying to get straight down to the point.

She smiled at me, looking up with her bright blue sparkling eyes as she spoke, "Well, you remember how I told you last night that we would see each other later on?" I nodded, waiting for her to continue since I wasn't sure where she was going with this story. "Well, I heard from a few of the other girls at the party that they had seen you carrying Alex out of the party, making me wonder why you would do such a thing for a girl like that. Some people were talking about how you were maybe thinking about taking her back to your place for the night but I thought nothing of it. I know you have better standards than that," she said.

For some reason, I found myself irritated with the way she assumed that Alex wasn't my type. She was right, of course; Alex really wasn't the type of girl I normally went after but lately, I took offense to other people putting her down or making fun of her. I knew it made no sense, since I was usually the main offender in that category but I was justified in my attitude towards her since she barged into my life. Other people didn't have to live with her nor did they know her that well so they had no right to say such things to her. I was the only one allowed to make fun of her, even if sometimes I took it a little too far.

"Anyway, I went to your house after I left the party, hoping to continue where we had left off from before," she said, catching my attention as she lightly ran her finger down my chest, "but to my surprise, you weren't in your room when I snuck in through your window, you know, the way I used to do when we were dating before. I was a little disappointed that you weren't there so I decided to wait for you in your bed, you know, as a surprise," she said as I could feel a sense of dread filling in the pit of my stomach. "Imagine my surprise when I heard you carrying Alex to your brother's old room and hearing her thank you for bringing her home when she was at your house."

"She was out of it on Ecstasy. She had no idea where she was when she said that. Besides, our parents are friends so I was asked to keep a look out for her that night as a favor to her dad. That's all it was," I tried to explain, though most of what I was saying sounded like an obvious lie to get out of this situation.

"Well that's one explanation for it," she said, as if she were convinced by my lie. "But it doesn't explain why when I went into Brent's room I found girl's clothing in the dresser drawers as well as pictures of Alex with Casadee and that tall guy they spend so much time with as well as the two of you sleeping soundly next to one another in bed," she added, looking at me as if she figured me out completely. "Given what happened to her house earlier in the semester, it wasn't hard for me to figure out what she was doing there in your house, especially after finding her things in that room."

"So what? You know that she's living with me so what the hell does that have to do with these rumors that you wanted to speak to me about?" I asked in annoyance, not happy with the fact that Madison knew about my living arrangement with Alex.

"Well, I might have accidentally let it slip to Chelsea Hoffman that Alex was living with you, since it was just such a shock to discover," she said, though she sounded in no way remorseful about her actions.

"You what?!" I yelled, pushing myself up from her bed and pacing in front of her. "Of all people, you just had to go and tell the school gossip queen that I'm living with Alex?"

"I told you, I was shocked and she was a willing listener," she replied trying to justify her reasons. "Unfortunately, people have found out that you two are living together and it hasn't gone over that well," she added.

"Of course people found out. Chelsea can't keep her fucking mouth shut when it comes to other people's business," I replied sarcastically, running my hands through my hair as the stress built up. "So what are people saying?" I asked, heaving a sigh to prepare myself for the news.

"Well, people are saying that you two are a couple, which has some of the guys suggesting that you're whipped since Alex is such a goody little two-shoes. Your image of being one of the tough playboys has been broken because of this news because everyone thinks you're in love with her," Madison said.

"In love with her?" I asked incredulously. I scoffed, shaking my head in disbelief, "as if I could ever be in love with a nerd like her. I wanted nothing to do with her in the first place! She's only living with me cuz my parents convinced her step-dad to live with us until their house is repaired! She's just mooching off our family cuz her step-dad is too broke to afford a motel so I'm forced to see her every day! She barged into my fucking life and ruined everything so why the hell would I lower myself to getting involved with someone that makes me physically sick?" I yelled, suddenly filled with anger at the thought of how Alex's emergence into my life changed everything.

"Hey now, calm down," she said softly, gently rubbing her hands against my upper arms as a gesture of comfort. "We can fix this. It's not like it's the most horrible thing that could happen," she said reassuringly.

"Oh yeah and how do we convince people that I'm living with someone like Alex without raising suspicion of some kind of relationship between us?" I asked, angered by the stress of the whole situation.

"Well, I've got an idea that'll help change everyone's perception of the situation so that you're not that affected by these rumors, that is, if you want my help," she said innocently, running her hands over my chest slowly, sending a shiver through my body.

"And why the hell are you so willing to help me out?" I asked with slight skepticism of her "kind" behavior.

"What? I can't offer my services to someone I used to care about, who I still cared about very much?" she asked innocently, slowly leaning in closer to me.

I don't know whether it was the anger I felt towards the situation with Alex or if it was the nostalgia of what we used to have as a couple but I found myself also leaning toward her, locking her lips with mine in a passionate, rough kiss. She wrapped her arms tightly around my neck, pressing her body close against mine as my hands freely roamed her lower back down to her backside, slightly moaning at the familiar sensation of kissing Madison. Our lips wrestled one another's desperately and fervently, leaving us with little time in between to breathe as she jumped, locking her legs securely around my waist. I held her up as I steered us towards her nicely made bed, throwing her down playfully as she laughed.

I quickly pulled my shirt off as well as slid my pants down before pouncing on top of her once again, desperate to feel anything or do anything that didn't remind me of Alex. I was so angry with the entire situation that I didn't care what happened to her. I was more than willing to do whatever it took to shove her out of my life completely. The reason I've been so confused about my feelings around her had to be because she was always around, slowly working her way into my life. I knew that she held a crush on me but I never thought she would go this far to try to brainwash me into liking her.

As Madison and I writhed together, fighting for dominance, I decided that I would just leave the situation in her hands. Whatever Madison had planned for tomorrow, I just hoped it would send the message that Alex was not welcome nor will ever be welcome to traipse all over my life. I didn't care what it took. I just wanted my old life back where Alex realized that we were in separate class systems with no chance of anything, friendship or otherwise, between us.
*End of Brian's Point of View*

As I sat in the tiny purple playhouse in the backyard of what used to be my home, I looked in wonder through the different pictures I had collected over the years. Most of them were from when I was little and with Malcolm, either by employees at the restaurant or by Malcolm whenever he got the chance. There were very few pictures of the two of us and Mom but I managed to find a few, reveling in how beautiful she used to be. Part of me wondered if she would be disappointed to find out that I wasn't as beautiful or popular as she used to be but rather just a geeky art nerd who had only two people I could consider my friends. Part of me wondered if my life would've been different if she were still around to teach me all the girly stuff I missed out on being raised by Malcolm.

Flipping through the different albums of photos I kept hidden out here in the cupboard, I came across the one I had started when I entered high school, smiling at the few pictures Casadee had taken of us in class. I could tell these were pictures from our Freshman year because Casadee's hair was longer and had bright electric purple streaks. Naoki was still rather tall but not as muscular as he was now, mainly due to all the hours he spend rehearsing and taking weight training. Casadee always managed to get pictures of us when we were in Biology class, though I wasn't sure how she got away with the flash going off in the middle of lab assignments.

I laughed at a few of the ones that I managed to snap of her and Zacky sharing "private couple moments", finding it cute that they were still able to be so lovey-dovey with one another after such a long time together. Part of me wondered if they would last after high school as two of those lucky people that managed to find their soul mates in high school. Another part of me envied the way Casadee was able to find such an amazing boy to be in a relationship with since I had always longed for something similar. Though Zacky and I only recently started to get along, I always liked him for Casadee so I was glad to know that he didn't seem to mind me as much as he used to.

A majority of the pictures I had were of Naoki and me, since Casadee was the one that was usually behind the camera. He would always wrap his arm around me or rest his arm on top of my head, using me as an armrest since he way taller than me. Some of the pictures we had together were just silly, with us either making weird facial expressions to the camera, or giving cheesy smiles with the classic Asian peace sign pose. It was interesting to see Naoki looking so silly in some of the pictures since he was usually so quiet and expressionless most of the time. He never did strike me as the type of guy that could be silly but when we were together, he was quite capable of letting his guard down and being just as funny as Jimmy or Johnny.

Flipping the page, I found myself blushing at the picture of Brian I managed to take sneakily in our Sophomore year. He was sitting outside on the front steps to the entrance, laughing at something that one of the other guys had said before school one day. Remembering how giddy I felt after managing to take that picture made me feel rather ridiculous now, especially since I wasn't really aware of his personality then. Now that we lived together, I got to know him better and he wasn't this perfect prince-like character I imagined him to be. Though he had a few undesirable qualities, I liked him better because I knew there was more to him than just what people saw of him at school. Even though his appearance and social standing mattered, the two of us seemed to get a little closer over time because we shared a few commonalties to hold a regular conversation. I liked him as a person rather than the fantasy I had lusted after for years.

Snapping myself out of my thoughts, I glanced at the little alarm clock on top of the faux kitchen stove in the right hand corner of the house, realizing I had wasted more than three hours in here reminiscing and looking for the sketch books I wanted. Deciding I should head back to the house, I gathered the sketchbooks I wanted and walked out of the house, careful not to hit my head on the tiny doorframe on the way out. I shut the door behind me, smiling softly at the fond memories that were held and created within that purple playhouse before heading for the back gate.

As I walked back toward the direction of the Haners' house, I flipped open the sketchbook on top, laughing at the beginning volume of the manga I began when I started high school, shaking my head at my initial drawings of Casadee and Naoki's characters. It was a rough outline as opposed to what I was drawing now, since I wasn't really aware of their personalities yet. Now that I knew them better, I was able to incorporate their personality quirks into my drawings of them. I knew that this was all just in silliness, since I didn't have the courage to submit any of my artwork to publishers. I almost didn't send a few of my pieces to some of the art schools I was interested in attending next year after graduation. I just didn't think I had a talent to make a career out of my art.

It seemed as if hardly any time had passed when I turned the corner to the street where the Haners' house was located, a familiar pickup truck barreling down the street towards me at a fast pace. I watched as Brian got out of the truck, looking quite disheveled and annoyed as he slammed the driver's side door shut. I quickened my pace, hoping to catch him before he went into the house, just in case Suzy was home. I hadn't seen him look quite as annoyed in a while, since before our trip to Disneyland so I wondered what happened to change his mood so suddenly.

"Brian!" I called out, hoping to gain his attention.

He stopped in his tracks, his head snapping in my direction as his eyes narrowed at the sight of me. I could tell he wasn't really in a good mood but for some reason, I was hoping that there was something I could do to make him feel a little better. He started marching down the driveway to meet me, grabbing my wrist and pulling me harshly away from the house a bit. I winced in pain, feeling his fingers pinching the sensitive skin of my wrist but said nothing, knowing it would only worsen his mood to say something.

When we were a few houses down, he quickly let go of my arm and spun around, glaring at me with the same facial expression he had when I first arrived at the house. Biting my lower lip and lowering my gaze to my ratty shoes, I tried to think of something to break the ice, even though I was completely intimidated by his enraged expression. I got the feeling that he wasn't going to be speaking first so I decided to start with a simple question to get the ball rolling.

"What's wrong?" I asked apprehensively, quickly glancing up at him for a split second before lowering my gaze back to the ground.

He chuckled bitterly, running a hand through his hair, "You want to know what's wrong?" he asked, almost as if he were in disbelief. "You really want to know what's wrong?"

"Well, yeah," I answered quietly, chewing on my bottom lip.

"You," he said coldly. "You're what's wrong."

"I don't understand," I said with confusion, noticing his expression harden and turn completely emotionless.

"You just had to fucking come into my life and ruin everything! Did you know that things were shaping up to be perfect for my last year of high school? Huh?! I was just one of the popular guys on the baseball team who spent time playing music with my friends without a care in the world and then what happens? You. You just have to show up and slowly take over everything that used to be mine! You've taken over my family, my friends, and now, you're trying to confuse me into liking you, even though I told you that I wanted nothing to do with you! I've had enough! You've ruined things enough for me so why don't you just fuck off and leave me alone already!" he yelled, hitting my sketchbooks to the ground before turning back towards the house.

I stood in shock, unsure of what half his rant meant but decided that I shouldn't bother him anymore. I slowly bent down and gathered my sketches that had fallen once I regained my senses, wondering what had happened to set him off in the first place. I knew that I was a burden to him and that I caused him a great deal of stress by living with him but I never really knew how much I bothered him. Part of me felt hurt by some of the things he said, thinking that I had grown a little closer to him over the past few months but I guess all I was doing was making his life worse.

I heard the front door slam loudly, making me flinch from the sound as I slowly trudged toward the house, unable to lift my gaze from the pavement beneath me. I hugged my sketchbooks tighter to my chest, trying to provide some comfort to the hurtful words Brian had screamed at me only moments ago. I tried my best not to let his words get the best of me, holding back the tears that were threatening to fall as I stopped at the edge of the driveway of the Haner house, looking at it with dread and sense of desire that it would magically transform into the house that Malcolm and I used to share. I knew that what awaited me inside, for whatever reason, was full of rage and frustration that was directed at me, which meant that I was in for a long night.

I was scared that I might not make it out alive to go to school the next day, even though I was unclear of the reason why Brian seemed so angry with me. I got the feeling that nothing good was going to come of the next few days if Brian remained as angry as he was.