"You're a joke, Laila. Everyone knows it, and this place would be a lot better if you never existed," she finishes before pushing me backward. I stumble but regain my footing when my back hits someone who grabs my shoulders.

"Don't do it," a voice I don't recognize warns me. I whip my head around to see a tall girl with jet-black hair and striking blue eyes looking at me. "She's not worth it."

I turn back to see Candace's face going pale as she stares at my newest ally. I nod my head and walk away, despite the jeers and applauding for Candace, who really didn't do anything. When I walk back to the table, Haden rubs my back and kisses my cheek, checking to see that I'm okay.

"She's not worth it." I repeat the words aloud, trying to convince myself of their truth. "But it would feel d.a.m.n good to shut her up for once."

"Who was that?" Bailey asks.

"I've never seen her before," Braxton says before questioning the rest of us. None of us seem to know who she is, and apparently no one has seen her before. New people usually stick out, but this is really the first I've seen of her.

"Yeah, and where did she go?" I ask, trying to find the girl, but she's nowhere to be seen.

The 'fight' has been the talk of the day, and it's laughable since it was barely anything at all. Of course, the story has been spun to make Candace the heroine and me the joke, but I don't care. It's the last day of school before Christmas break and it can't end soon enough.

The last period of the day is English Lit and it's full of my fan club. I usually wait until the last minute to show up so I don't have to deal with the comments and looks. My locker is across the building, so Braxton lets me keep my stuff in his to make it easier, but I have been standing here longer than necessary.

"Hey, killer." A voice startles me and causes me to turn clumsily. The girl from the cafeteria is behind me, a smile on her face.

"Hey," I manage to say before recovering. "Laila. The name is Laila."

"I'm Perrin," she shoves her hand out in greeting, "but back home people called me Ree."

"So you are new here," I state the obvious for her.

"Yeah. Sucks, too. Move from one school where Christmas break already started. I mean, who insists their kid go to the one day of school left in the new school? I'm not happy with him right now," she says in a rush.

"Ree?" I furrow my brow in question. "I'd love to talk and all, but I have to get to cla.s.s." I point to the door next to the lockers and she nods.

"Cool, see you in there," she says as she starts to walk away.

"There she is." Braxton smiles, coming to stand next to me. "I just wanted to check that you're okay."

"Oh yeah, I'm great," I feign excitement. Ree is still standing nearby and I remember my manners: "Brax, this is Ree-the girl who stopped me from making a fool of myself at lunch. Ree, this is Braxton."

"Nice to meet you." He smiles and turns to me. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good. You're taking me home, right?"

"Of course." He winks before kissing my hair and jogging off to his cla.s.s.

Ree is standing at the entrance waiting for me, so I follow her to the back of the cla.s.sroom and take a seat. I have to admire a girl who comes in the very last day and shows up to cla.s.s empty-handed. She doesn't seem to care at all, and I doubt that Mrs. Lancaster will cover much anyway.

"Hey," Ree whispers over to me. "Your guy is seriously hot."

I stifle my laughter and shake my head. "So not my guy. Just one of my best friends," I admit.

Her eyes widen and she nods her head as she relaxes into her seat but she leans forward again. "Is he seeing anyone?"

I can't stop the grin that spreads across my face, because I think she'd be perfect for Braxton: thin build, exotic face-and obviously she can make herself comfortable wherever she goes.

"Not that I know of. Are you going to be around for the entire break?"

She purses her lips and shakes her head. "I'm going skiing with my dad in Colorado."

"That works out great. Here's my number, call me when you get back and we'll talk." I scribble my phone number on a ripped out piece of paper and hand it to her.

She rips off a small corner and writes hers down and gives it back. "Seriously, how are you not dating that?"

"Dating who?" Haden asks when he takes the empty seat next to me.

"Haden, this is Ree." I point to the girl on my right. "And she wants to know why I'm not dating Braxton."

He leans over, resting his arm on the back of my chair, and looks at Ree. "Nice to meet you, Ree. I'm Haden, Laila's boyfriend." He smiles genuinely before extending his hand to her.

"Oh," is all she manages to say. "All right, point taken."

"So where did you move from?" Haden asks.

"Charleston," she says with an overly done southern drawl. "My dad was transferred here."

"She's going skiing with her dad, but when she gets back I'm going to try to set her up with Braxton."

Haden shakes his head and sits back when the teacher shuts the door to start cla.s.s.

"Good luck with that," he mutters.

Chapter 19 ~ Finding Braxton.

"Merry Christmas," I gush, giving Braxton a hug as soon as he answers the door in his basketball shorts and no shirt. Most girls would love to be in my shoes and have the chance to ogle this guy in a state of semi-undress. That dark hair and his brown eyes-there's a reason certain girls have been after him for so long.

"C'mon, let's go."

"Lai, it's Friday, and Christmas isn't for another week. What are you doing here so early?"

"Go get dressed," I order, shooing him inside so I can close the door behind us. "We're going to get some coffee and hang out."

"Fine, I'm sure Mom can make some coffee and we can hang out here. Just come back after one, I'm tired," he says, rubbing his eyes.

"Nope. We're going now. Let's go."

"I hate chipper Laila," he grunts, taking the stairs two at a time.

"Good morning, Mrs. Jameson," I call down, following him up the steps.

His room is a mess, as usual, but I find a spot on his bed to sit down. When he walks out of the bathroom, he grabs a shirt from his drawer and pulls it over his head. Years ago, being in this room and seeing a shirtless Braxton would have made me tongue-tied. But so much has changed and he's almost like a big brother, even though he's only a couple of months older than me.

"Glad football season is finally over?" I ask, glancing around the room.

"Yeah, I guess. Maybe I'll actually get to have a life." He grins.

"You really do need one of those. It's kinda sad," I tease.

"All right, let's get out of here and you can tell me what I need to do about this life I need."

He grabs my hand and pulls me to his chest, and gives me a hug that I reward in kind. His body is warm and he seems hesitant to let me go as his heart starts to beat faster. Braxton finally releases me and looks down at me with a sad smile. He kisses my forehead before taking my hand in his and dragging me down the stairs.

The coffee shop is around the corner, but we drive anyway because I'm a wuss when it comes to the cold weather-or 'not so hot'-as the guys like to say. The cute redheaded barista checks out Brax when she hands us our coffees and m.u.f.fins, and we take a seat so we can talk.

"Looks like someone's into you." I smile over the rim of my cup.

He looks around to see who I'm talking about, and laughs when he a.s.sumes that I'm referring to the redhead. The coffee shop is relatively empty and I suppose it's because people have taken off for the holiday. There are a few people sitting inside with their laptops and books, but Braxton wanted to sit outside. Why did I listen to him? It's cold and this coffee cup is doing little to warm my fingers.

"Who ya talking about?" he finally asks.

"Candace really pushed all the wrong b.u.t.tons the other day," I say, seemingly changing the subject.

"Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen you actually react to anything people have said to you," he admits.

"I really don't know what came over me."

"I'm glad you said something."

"I'm glad Ree was there to hold me back." I smile and wait for his eyes to meet mine.

"Good thing," he agrees. But when I don't say anything else, it finally hits him. "Nope. No way. Sorry, Lai, but you're not setting me up."

"Why not?" I whine. "You haven't dated for a while-it's time to get back on the horse!"

"I've dated and I do just fine on my own," he protests. But his argument doesn't hold water; he hasn't dated.

"Name one." I raise a brow at him and wait.

"Jennifer," he says.

"That was two years ago, Brax, and you haven't been with anyone since. Isn't there someone you're interested in?"

"Not here," he groans, breathing in his coffee, and mutters again, "please not now."

"Fine." I stand up with my coffee in hand. "Where to? Quarry?"

"No." He shakes his head with a serious look. "Your house?"

"Eh, Luka's home and running through every room to find her presents. Park?"

"Yeah, that works," he concedes and stands up so we can go.

We drive with only the sound of the radio and his heater on full blast, but of course my mind is running the gamut of ideas of who he could be talking about. He pulls into a spot at the park, but doesn't turn off the car.

"Could we just stay in here?" he asks.

"Thank you," I drag out and laugh. "It's way too cold out there."

"Wimp." He winks at me and I return it with a smirk.

I hand him a piece of paper and smile. "This is Ree's number-she wants you to call her."

He takes the paper from me, looks at it, and then hands it back. "Not interested."

"But she's cute," I argue.

He turns in his seat and leans against his door to face me, so I do the same.

"Don't get me wrong, she's pretty, but she's not really my type," he says.

I close my eyes and lean my head against the window, fighting a groan.

"All right, then tell me your type," I demand. "And do I need a piece of paper for this?"

He laughs and shakes his head, but looks nervous to say any more. His face turns serious, and my stomach begins to roll as my curiosity wants to retreat and take my body with it.

"My type..." He closes his eyes and looks up. "Someone who is strong and funny. Definitely someone that's independent, but doesn't mind asking for help when needed. They'd have to be smart and athletic and get along with my friends-oh, and hopefully they get along with my parents."

"Braxton," I interrupt, but he stops me.

"Look, Laila, you're my best friend and you know how much I love you," he says. "I can't keep this-"

"I love you, too, but not like that," I answer. "Jeez, this is going to ruin everything isn't it? I mean, I'm with Haden, and you never said anything like this before. Why now?"

"Whoa, easy there, Lai." He reaches over and lays his hand on my arm. "I love you, but not like that."

"Wait, then what was all that about?"

He starts laughing so hard he can barely breathe and I'm turning redder by the second, I can feel it.

I slap at his arm and glare at him. "What's so d.a.m.n funny?"

"You are," he laughs again and does his best to stop. "I've never seen you like this."