  &quot;Hey.&quot; Orion exhaled, standing at my doorstep.
      &quot;Hi.&quot; I sighed, stepping out and closing the door behind me.
      &quot;Your house is really nice.&quot; He complimented as we started walking down the driveway to his car. &quot;And uh... you look nice.&quot;
      I smiled, &quot;Thank you, my moms, big on the interior and exterior designing. And thank you again, I... I don't know, it's a party and if I show up in sweats I won't hear the end of it from Preslie.&quot; I was a little flattered because I wasn't wearing anything special. I was in a casual but cute outfit. I was just glad it was too cold out for girls to be dressed in bras and booty shorts. These were the many reasons I hated parties.
      Orion chuckled, &quot;She is very persistent.&quot;
      &quot;Very.&quot; I chuckled lightly as Orion opened the car door for me and waited for me to get in be

  I woke up the next morning with a headache starting to form as soon as I became conscious. I licked my chapped lips as I slowly opened my eyes, taking my time to let them adjust to the sunlight.
      &quot;Hell,&quot; I muttered, loudly groaning. &quot;Dallas! Get off me!&quot; I screeched as I threw his arm off of my body. I sat up and realized that I must've fallen asleep in Dallas's room last night.
      Dallas stirred a bit, a faint incomprehensible mumble coming from him but he didn't wake up.
      I groaned extra loudly once again and then started annoyingly pushing Dallas's shoulder.
      &quot;Stop,&quot; he mumbled, turning so his face was no longer shoved in his pillow. He unconsciously licked his lips. His features were soft, his lips agape the slightest bit, his chest was heaving up and down and his hair was a mess.
      &quot;Are you done checking me out?&quot; Dallas

  &quot;Where do you think you're going?&quot;
      I was stopped in the middle of the hallway by none other than River and I wasn't surprised.
      &quot;To class,&quot; I said flatly, my face straight.
      &quot;Nuh-uh.&quot; She shook her head, a wicked smirk laying on her lips. &quot;We need to have a little chit-chat.&quot; Who the hell says chit-chat?
      Before I could tell her to screw off, she yanked my arm and dragged me into an empty classroom.
      &quot;What the hell, River?&quot; I snapped as she shut the door behind us.
      She turned to face me. Slowly, she narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.
      &quot;What do you want?&quot; I pressed, talking slowly. &quot;And where are your minions?&quot;
      &quot;They aren't minions,&quot; she rolled her eyes. She stood in front of the door as if she were guarding it because she probably assumed I'd make a run for it. I would have, too. &quot;Tell Dallas you won't go to the ball with him.&quot;
      I scoffed and looked at her in disbelief, &quot;Why would I do that?&quot;
      &quot;Because he only asked you out of obligation.&quot; She muttered bitterly, a sour look on her face. &quot;It's not like he actually wants to go with you. Who would?&quot;
      I smirked. She was jealous, of me, for once I could actually see it. River wasn't the type of person who would get jealous of others because she expected everyone to be jealous of her.
      &quot;If I can recall correctly, he asked me meaning he does indeed want to go with me.&quot; I exaggerated certain words to basically rub her face in the dirt and boy, it sure worked. I may seem like a bitch right now but that was the least of my concerns considering how badly she treated every single person around her.
      River scoffed, &quot;As if.&quot;
      &quot;Sorry to break it to you, Riv, but you really don't have any threat here.&quot; Now I was the one to cross my arms over my chest and I solely did it to be more dramatic.
      &quot;It's not like you want to go with him.&quot; She retorted, her defence falling.
      My eyes widened and a smirk grew, &quot;What is this I see? The River Vincent whining? Begging? Me? Man, hell must be freezing over.&quot;
      River shot me the most deadly glare I have ever seen. She was fuming. &quot;You're a bitch.&quot;
      &quot;And you're pathetic.&quot; I laughed, this was ridiculous.
      &quot;He doesn't like you.&quot; She continued to argue with me like this was actually important.
      &quot;And Mammoths are dead.&quot; I retorted though it didn't make sense. I was just messing with her head.
      &quot;What?&quot; See, it worked.
      &quot;Let it go, River. He asked me, not you.&quot; I said bluntly and emotionlessly. It wasn't that hard to comprehend.
      River finally moved - she took a few steps towards me and she did it slowly. She came right up to my face and narrowed her eyes,
      &quot;You're worthless and ugly. Nobody will ever love you and Dallas is simply using you. You're his amusement for the month. You don't mean anything to him nor will you ever. He doesn't care about you, he doesn't care about what you have to say, he doesn't care if you leave and never come back. The most he'd want from you is sex and even if he got that, he'd leave right after. You're not important to him. You're not anyone to him. After the ball, he is going to forget all about you and come back to me because guys like Dallas don't fall for girls like you. Understand? So maybe you should just leave and never come back.&quot;
      For the first time, River shut me up. I had no words at all. I just stood there with an emotionless face and watched as she smirked, flipped her hair over her shoulder and then turned around and strutted out of the room.
      I knew she was just trying to get to me. She wanted to make me feel bad by insulting me because she wanted to feel better about herself. However, very unlike me but I suddenly felt small and pathetic. It worked, her words got to me.
      Guys like Dallas don't fall for girls like me.
      &quot;Hey.&quot;
      &quot;What?&quot; I snapped, looking up abruptly. Orion gave me a concerned and confused look, clearly taken aback by my harsh response.
      I sighed and shook my head, &quot;Sorry, I was zoned out. What's up?&quot; I asked tiredly.
      &quot;Are you okay?&quot; He asked softly, placing his tray down and taking the seat beside me in the cafeteria. I was sitting by myself with a textbook open but wasn't actually working. The textbook was more of an excuse to not talk to people.
      I sighed, &quot;Yeah, I'm just having a weird day.&quot;
      &quot;Everything okay?&quot; He asked, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. He looked concerned. &quot;Do you want to talk about it?&quot;
      I gave him a half-hearted smile. &quot;No, I'm okay. What's up?&quot;
      &quot;Saw you sitting here alone so I came to say hello.&quot; He smiled and man did he look cute. &quot;Want to eat anything?&quot; He asked, nodding towards his tray that had a few options.
      I shrugged in response and grabbed a fry, popping it into my mouth. &quot;Why thank you.&quot;
      &quot;Can't let a girl starve, now can I?&quot; He grinned cheekily.
      &quot;That wouldn't be too chivalrous.&quot; I shrugged nonchalantly, a small grin making its way onto my face.
      He shook his head, &quot;No it wouldn't and mama raised a chivalrous man.&quot;
      &quot;I would have never guessed.&quot;
      &quot;Nobody everyone does,&quot; he continued joking around. &quot;They always assume I'm just another player.&quot; He shook his head in feigned disappointment.
      &quot;Ouch,&quot; I fake winced. &quot;We must prove them wrong. Can't be like every other guy in this school, right?&quot;
      &quot;Right.&quot; He nodded. &quot;We're too much better.&quot;
      &quot;Way better.&quot; I scoffed.
      We both looked at each other before we started laughing. &quot;What is wrong with us?&quot; Orion mustered between laughs.
      &quot;Well, this table seems to be in a fit of laughs.&quot;
      I stopped laughing and looked up where Dallas stood, slightly grinning.
      Orion cleared his throat and sat up straighter. Things went from relaxed to really weird real fast. &quot;Hey, Dallas, what's up?&quot;
      &quot;Nothing much. What's going on here?&quot; Like usual, he had a carefree and relaxed expression sitting on his face.
      &quot;We're theorizing why Superman wears his briefs on the outside of his tights.&quot; I answered bluntly, sending him a forced smile.
      Dallas is simply using you.
      I mean, I'm using him too so I don't know why it's annoying me. Maybe it's because he's always showing up around me when he doesn't have to and that doesn't make sense to me.
      Dallas opened his mouth to respond but then shut it. He sat down across from Orion and me, &quot;Interesting,&quot; was all he managed to say.
      He just looked at me. He sat across from me with an amused smirk and his eyes gleaming with some sort of contentment, he rested his chin on the palm of his hand and his elbow propped up on the table - and he looked at me. Like I was some sort of rare mystic creature or something. It was weird.
      &quot;What do you want?&quot; I finally asked, exasperated and wanting him to leave.
      &quot;I want you to come to Seller's party tonight with me.&quot; He answered, his expression not changing and his eyes not leaving me.
      I narrowed my eyes, &quot;Why would I do that?&quot;
      &quot;It's a Friday night, what's stopping you?&quot; He retorted smugly.
      &quot;The possibility of getting alcohol poisoning,&quot; I replied firmly. Unlike him, my face was straight like usual when he was around.
      &quot;Don't drink.&quot;
      &quot;My eardrums are too sensitive for the music.&quot; I shrugged, waiting for him to find an argument to that.
      &quot;I'll bring you earplugs.&quot; He smirked, raising his eyebrows.
      &quot;My cars tire popped,&quot; I said tiredly. Orion chuckled lightly from beside me.
      &quot;I'll give you a ride.&quot; He gave me a look that told me he was ready for me to continue because he would keep going.
      &quot;I might get kidnapped.&quot; My voice was clearly showing that I was irritated but knowing Dallas, I don't think he cared.
      &quot;Aw come on now,&quot; he tilted his head a bit. &quot;I'll protect you - hold your hand even.&quot; He smiled cheekily like a little child.
      After the ball, he is going to forget all about you.
      I licked my lips and paused for a moment. All day, every time I would see Dallas down the hall or every time Ocean would bring him up, River's words would start to play in my head. It was like a broken record. It didn't bother me because I didn't want to lose Dallas, it bothered me because I'm continuing to let him into my life and I'm afraid I won't be able to stop. I was starting to trust him but soon enough, he would once again become irrelevant in my life.
      &quot;What? No more sassy replies?&quot; Dallas said when I hadn't said anything. He fake frowned. &quot;I wasn't expecting defeat!&quot; He exaggerated his words to be more dramatic. Clearly, he found this funny and playful but for the first time, I really wasn't finding bickering with Dallas amusing.
      I blinked.
      Do I continue to bicker sarcastically with him or do I stop since there was no point in this conversation with him?
      He doesn't care about what you have to say.
      I shut my textbook and stood up. I grabbed the textbook, looked at Dallas and then turned away from him and looked at Orion.
      &quot;So you'll pick me up at 9 to go to Seller's?&quot;
      Orion gave me a confused look but slowly nodded anyways. He must've caught on and got the memo that he was supposed to pick me up tonight.
      &quot;Uh, right.&quot; He muttered awkwardly, not sure what the right thing to say was.
      I gave him a forced smile before leaving the table and not looking at Dallas again.

&quot;Hey.&quot; Orion exhaled, standing at my doorstep.
      &quot;Hi.&quot; I sighed, stepping out and closing the door behind me.
      &quot;Your house is really nice.&quot; He complimented as we started walking down the driveway to his car. &quot;And uh... you look nice.&quot;
      I smiled, &quot;Thank you, my moms, big on the interior and exterior designing. And thank you again, I... I don't know, it's a party and if I show up in sweats I won't hear the end of it from Preslie.&quot; I was a little flattered because I wasn't wearing anything special. I was in a casual but cute outfit. I was just glad it was too cold out for girls to be dressed in bras and booty shorts. These were the many reasons I hated parties.
      Orion chuckled, &quot;She is very persistent.&quot;
      &quot;Very.&quot; I chuckled lightly as Orion opened the car door for me and waited for me to get in before closing the door and walking around the car.
      &quot;I don't usually see you at these p

Chapter 10