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Aiden made me drop Sassy off at home before we went anywhere. I kind of wanted my dog with me, but Aiden would not let me.

We were now walking down the sidewalk in the opposite direction of our houses. It was about sunset which made me a bit nervous. I didn't want to stay out too long especially on a school night. And I had those stupid pictures to do for the wedding tomorrow too.

"You seem worried." Aiden said, sounding amused.

I wrung my hands together. "I'm not worried. Why would I be worried? I'm just walking here with you, when it's almost dark. And not to mention you can be scary. And I'm here alone with you. No I'm not worried at all. I'm not even worried that a killer could come out and murder us. Or that we could get kidnapped at any given moment-"

Aiden's hand shot out and covered my mouth suddenly. I looked over at him with wide eyes. He sighed. "Do I have to do this every time I'm with you?" I shook my head. "Okay good. I'm going to remove my hand and you are not going to continue talking nervously, okay?" I nodded. He removed his hand from my mouth and I took a deep breath.

He looked at me with a questioning look. "What is wrong with you?"

"Did you not hear me rambling two minutes ago?" I asked. "I'm nervous, Aiden."

"Because you think I'm scary and you could be murdered at any moment." He rolled his eyes. "Yes I was listening Riley. But seriously, you shouldn't be worried."

"Maybe I should just go back home. It's already dark out and we have school tomorrow-"

Aiden covered my mouth again and sighed with frustration. "I thought I wasn't going to do this again." He said. "Now listen to me. I'll have you home no later than nine thirty. That gives us about two hours to do something fun, on my terms."

Nine thirty? That was about the time I went to bed... "Fine." I said. "It can't be anything dangerous or life-threatening though."

"Really? Because I was going to take you to juggle guns and stuff but I guess that's out of the question." He said sarcastically.

"You know, your sarcasm is not appreciated." I snapped at him.

Aiden rubbed his face with his hands. "Maybe this wasn't a good idea. You're already pissing me off."

"Let's just turn around. This isn't going to work." I said. Aiden was annoying me now and I just want to go home. I twisted around and started to walk away.

My eyes widened when two arms wrapped around me and lifted me up in the air. Aiden had thrown me over his shoulder and continued to walk.

"Aiden!" I shrieked. "Put me down now!" I yelled as I hit his back.

Two people walked past us and gave us weird looks.

"Sorry. She's not all there right now." Aiden said to them.

I smacked him again. "You are mean, and careless, and rude, and...and mean!"

"You said that twice Riley."

"I don't care. Put me back down this instant."

I heard him sigh. He set me down carefully and chuckled when I crossed my arms over my chest. I was not happy with him right now and I wasn't going to take this.

"You aren't scary when you're mad you know." Aiden continued to laugh at me.

"Aiden, I'm going home." I said to him.

Aiden pursed his lips. "Okay, okay just calm down." He said. "Maybe we can do this another time. You're obviously not going to cooperate with me right now, so let's go back."

I started walking ahead of him with my arms still crossed. I heard him chuckle behind me. "Are you mad at me Riley?"

"You aren't my favorite person right now." I huffed.

"You aren't my favorite person either, if that makes you feel any better."

I frowned and turned towards him. "How is that supposed to make me feel better?" I asked him. "Don't answer that. I don't care if I'm your favorite person." I noticed my house came into view and I sighed in relief.

"Well, I'm going to show you my idea of fun one way or another Led Zeppelin girl." He smiled.

"It'll have to be another day." I said as we walked. We ended up at the end of my driveway and I faced him. "Well, this was an interesting attempt at having fun."

Aiden grinned. "Just wait for the real fun."

"Can't wait." I said sarcastically. I started walking backwards.

"Hey before you go," Aiden started to say. "You're going to that photo shoot crap tomorrow for the wedding, right?"

I really wish we didn't have to. I'm not like these other girls who are photogenic. I tend to look awkward in every picture I'm in. Especially school pictures, which were the worst. "Yes I am. Why?"

Aiden looked down and kicked a rock that was by his foot. "My dad said I could go if I wanted to. I told him no though..."

"And your point it?" I asked, not seeing where he was going with this. He shouldn't just trail off like that and assume I know what he's talking about.

"I'll be there if you're there." He finally said.

"Oh." I said, sounding surprised. "Okay."

He took a few steps towards me and I took a few steps back. But he was faster than me so I almost tripped on his foot. His hand flew out and grasped my waist. He started leaning towards me and my breath caught in my throat. His eyes sparkled when he glanced at me. He leaned closer and my eyes involuntarily shut. I felt his cheek touch mine as he spoke into my ear. "Goodnight Riley. And watch where you step."

It was suddenly cold as he pulled away from me with an evident smirk on his face. He gave me a small wave and started to walk down the sidewalk.

Dammit, he did it again!

I told myself not to let that happen again. That incident in the kitchen had left me feeling weak and powerless and I hated the feeling. And here I was in the same position, letting the same thing happen.

Damn Aiden.

I turned and trudged towards my front door. I pulled out my house key and unlocked the door. I felt on edge again so I slammed the door as I walked inside.

"Who was that?"

My mother's voice nearly made me jump out of my skin. I whirled around and saw her smiling at me.

"Jeez mom." I put my hand over my heart. "Way to give me a heart attack."

She rolled her eyes. "You're such a drama queen Riley, I swear."

"Well, don't scare me like that." I said, walking around her. I headed off to the kitchen to get a water bottle. My throat was dry and I needed something cold.

"I was just asking who that was with you outside." I heard her behind me.

I opened the fridge and grabbed a water bottle. "Aiden Callaway." I answered. I took a big drink from the water bottle.

"Callaway?" She frowned. "As in, Anna's fiancé's son?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"I haven't heard many good things about that boy." She continued to frown.

"Mom," I rolled my eyes. "Haven't you always told me not to judge someone until you actually know them?"

She shrugged. "Yeah. But I don't know about you hanging around him."

"He's just going through a hard time." I said. Whoa, was I defending Aiden Callaway? "This wedding isn't settling well with him."

"Why? He should be happy."

"That's what I told him." I muttered. "It's not exactly my place to tell you his personal stuff, but it's been rough for him."

She walked towards the fridge and grabbed herself a water bottle also. She unscrewed the cap and took a long drink. She closed it again and looked at me. "I just don't want you being with the wrong crowd Riley."

"Oh please," I rolled my eyes at her again. "When have I ever hung with the wrong crowd? When have I ever even hung out with a crowd? If I knew he was someone I shouldn't be friends with, then I wouldn't be talking to him." I snapped.

She looked slightly taken aback at my outburst. I was stunned also. I don't think I've ever snapped like that at my mom and it was clear that she was a bit hurt over it.

I sighed. "I'm sorry. Today was just a long day and I'm tired and I'm ready to go to bed now."

She nodded. "I'll see you in the morning."

I took that opportunity to run up the stairs to my room. I shut my door behind me and squeezed my eyes shut.

Why was I acting like this?

I quickly changed into my pajamas and got into bed. But I was having trouble falling asleep. My heart was pounding in my chest and it wasn't stopping. I sat up in bed and rubbed my face.

It was that whole thing with Aiden. I hated that I felt weak when he came close to me. I hated that he had that effect on me.

I hated not knowing why I was acting like this.

***

I have to say, sometimes sitting in the library during lunch gets boring after a while. Of course I can help our librarian but she never wants to put me to work. So here I was sitting at a table by myself, with absolutely nothing to do. And obviously I had no one else to hang out with.

Maybe I should start socializing more.

Ha! Like that would ever happen. I hate everyone at this school.

I put my head on the table and sighed. There was about twenty minutes left of lunch and I knew I wasn't going to last. I heard someone sit themselves in front of me and I looked up immediately.

Ryan smiled at me. "Hello."

"Hi." I said, sitting up. I looked around then looked back at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I can't visit with my best friend?" He asked me.

I rolled my eyes. "I know that's not the reason you're here."

"You are right about that." He pointed at me. "You're leaving with me today."

When was this decided? "Can I ask why?"

"We're doing that photo shoot remember?" He said. "Anyways, we're going to have to miss our last class so we can get ready and take the pictures. Don't worry, you're mom already knows."

"Okay then." I said. As much as I didn't want to take these stupid pictures, it was all for Anna and the wedding. I had to repeat that to myself because I could be selfish sometimes.

He stared at me for a moment. "You don't want to be in the wedding, do you?"

Where had that question come from? "What makes you assume that?" I asked him.

"You never look happy when someone mentions the wedding." He told me. "Like right now when I mentioned the pictures."

I shrugged. "That doesn't mean I don't want to be in the wedding. I'll admit that I didn't want to do it in the first place, but then I met all of you guys..." I trailed off.

Ryan smiled. "And then you fell in love with all of us."

I laughed. "I wouldn't say I fell in love. I guess you guys kind of grew on me."

He laughed also. "Oh please. You did fall in love." He leaned forward in his chair. "You love Aiden."

My smile dropped as soon as he said that. "Excuse me?" I asked him. If I had heard him correctly, I think he said I love Aiden.

"Don't deny it Riley." He said as he grinned.

"I am going to deny it!" I exclaimed. "Aiden and I are barely friends. How could I possibly love him?"

"Fine." He said as he leaned back in his chair. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Then he loves you."

I laughed at that. "You're either delusional or just plain stupid. Why are you even suggesting these things?"

He chuckled. "I'm a very observant person and I've noticed that you've been spending some time with Aiden lately."

"So?"

"So, what I'm saying is that he doesn't hang with a lot of people and he told me himself he doesn't go around hanging out with girls like you-" He stopped suddenly.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Go ahead and say it Ryan." I snapped, feeling angry. "Guys like you and Aiden don't 'hang out' with nerds like me. Guys like you and Aiden only make us nerds feel invisible and use us to do your homework." I stood up and grabbed my bag. "Which is fine with me. I don't need friends like you. I've been fine on my own." I walked away from him.

"Riley! Come back!" I heard Ryan call out. I ignored him though. I don't know why I was so upset. I knew I was a nerd.

You know why you're mad. Ryan just said that Aiden said he especially doesn't hang with nerds like you.

I walked out of the library, shoved my hands into my pockets, and started down the hallway. I needed to move as quickly as possible or Ryan would catch up with me. I decided to head towards my locker, since lunch was almost over anyways. I looked down at the floor as I walked. A few people gave me weird looks as I passed by them, but I just continued to look at the ground.

I rounded a corner and ran right into someone. "Sorry." I muttered, not bothering to look up.

"Led Zeppelin girl?"

It was then that I glanced up and saw Aiden standing in front of me.

"Hey." He smiled. "Do you always run into people in the hall?"

I disregarded his comment and started to saunter around him. But he grabbed my arm and pulled me back in front of him.

"Is everything okay?" He asked slowly.

I squinted at him. "Oh yeah. Everything is just great. Don't worry about a nerd like me. Sorry for running into you, next time I'll just make myself invisible." I said as I walked around him.

"Riley!" I heard Ryan behind me. He approached me and Aiden. "I didn't mean what I said back there, I swear."

"What did you do?" Aiden asked Ryan.

I stepped back away from them. "You know what? Just stop pretending to care about me. I'm nobody compared to you guys. I'm fine with no friends, I always have been."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Aiden asked incredulously. He reached out to touch my arm but I flinched away.

"Just leave me alone." I snapped at him. I turned and made a run for the girls' restroom. Once I was in, I walked into a cubicle and started to cry.

I feel so angry right now and I couldn't keep it bottled in any longer. So many emotions ran through me before I finally calmed down. I took a deep breath and wiped my eyes with the backs of my hands.

I opened the door to the stall and walked towards the sink. I looked at myself in the mirror and sighed. I look like I just got hit by a train. The restroom door opened and I saw Nicole and one of her blonde friends walk in.

Nicole smirked when she saw me. "Aren't you the one who's in Anna's wedding?" I didn't respond to her. "You are, aren't you?" She walked closer to me. "You know, because of this stupid wedding, I haven't had much time with Ryan."

And that's my problem how?

"I should have been in the wedding." Nicole stated. "Not a pathetic loser like you. I mean, look at yourself." Her blonde friend snickered. "And I bet you've been spending a lot of time with Ryan, haven't you?"

Don't let her get to you Riley.

She now stood next to me and looked down at me. She was a few inches taller than me in those heels she was wearing. "You better stay away from him, bitch. He's my boyfriend not yours."

"Why would he go for her anyways Nicole?" The blonde asked. "Like you said, she's a pathetic loser."

They both chuckled and I sighed.

Nicole raised her eyebrows. "No comments? Not so confident now that Ryan isn't here, are we?"

Say something dammit. Don't let them talk like this to you.

"Let's go to the other restrooms." Nicole told her friend. "I don't want to be in here with this waste of space."

And with that, they left.

Now I really have an excuse to stay away from Ryan and Aiden. Before I talked to any of them, I had been fine. Nicole never acknowledged me, I didn't feel so on edge, and people left me alone. Which was exactly how I liked it.

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