*  *  *

It is the first day of the spring semester and I am more excited than I was last semester. Carter and I are happier than we’ve ever been. For a little while, it was hard after what happened on New Year’s, especially since the police have no idea who I was with that night.

I have been having nightmares about that night, and what would have happened if Jason hadn’t come to get me. It is so scary having a piece of your memory missing and not being able to do anything to get it back. At this point, though, I am going to do what I did best, suck it up and move on.

I have five classes this semester and Carter is in two of them. Chris is in one. I am dreading that class more than anything else.

My first three classes of the day are easy and when I walked out of the third one, Carter is there waiting for me. “Ready to go to lunch, Mrs. James?”

I laugh. Carter has been calling me that every once in a while since the hospital. I told him how, eventually, I wouldn’t mind becoming Mrs. James and, ever since, he’s gotten a kick out of calling me it. “Yes I am, Mr. James.”

We meet Shawn and Jason for lunch. Nicole is supposed to come, but she isn’t feeling that great. When I mention it, Jason has a relieved look. Apparently, he and Nicole hooked up on New Year’s. He said they were both upset about what happened with me. I know that it meant more to Nicole, though, and I have a feeling it meant more to Jason too.

I’ve never had a family before, but I feel like this is what it would be like. I’d do anything for these three boys and I know they feel the same. Carter is rubbing my back up and down the way he does when he wants to calm me down. I look over at him, confused because I am perfectly fine right now.

He leans down to whisper in my ear. “I know you’re worried about our next class.”

I smile because he is always so attentive. “Right now, I’m not worried about anything. You make everything else disappear. I love hanging out with you and the guys.”

He leans in and kisses me. I hear a loud groan as I pull back. Jason is laughing at us. “Do you guys really need to do that? I just ate.”

Carter throws a napkin at him. “Don’t worry. Your lunch is safe. We need to get to class anyway.” He throws out our trash and puts the trays away, while I give out hugs and say goodbye to the guys. As we walk to class, I start to get more anxious. Carter seems to sense it, too, because he gives my hand a reassuring squeeze.

When we get to class, it is pretty empty. Carter and I sit next to each other in the middle of the room. We are talking about how happy we are that we can just share the book because of how damn expensive it was.

I look up and my stomach drops. Chris is standing there, just looking at me. Carter tenses but, thankfully, doesn’t make a move...although I know he wants to. All I can think is please don’t sit next to me. Thank God, Chris decides to sit a couple of rows over, but I can feel his eyes on me all throughout class.

I breathe a sigh of relief as we are walking to the next class. Doing that three times a week is going to kill me. When I walk into my last class of the day, I stop dead in my tracks. Are you fucking kidding me?!

The bitch whore, Alyssa, is sitting there with a fake smile on her face. I look up at Carter, and he looks just as shocked as I do. We go to sit down and he makes sure we aren’t near her. That doesn’t stop her from talking over people just to get to him, though.

I think the universe hates me, and I now hate both of my afternoon classes.

Carter

Classes have been crazy, especially with the pain in the ass afternoon Maddy and I have. We are getting through it, though.

Alyssa has been relentless between sitting near to me, constantly texting me and showing up at Rebellion. It has been irritating Maddy, and we’ve been fighting over little things because of it.

It also doesn’t help that Chris is in our literature class and just stares at her the whole time. I’ve had enough of him these last few months, though. Today, Shawn, Jason, and I are going to ‘talk’ to him.

Jason turns to Shawn as we drive over. “I don’t know why you wanted to come today, kid. What are you going to do? Hit him with your anatomy book?” Jason is cracking up, but I can see it is really starting to get to Shawn.

J and I were always more athletic, and he likes to rag on Shawn about it. “Anyway…” I need to diffuse the situation between them. “What are you guys planning on doing for the summer? Maddy and I are gonna spend most of it here, but I think we’ll go home for about a month.”

Shawn looks confused. “Why are you staying here instead of at your dad’s?”

“Because the Maddy refuses to have sex in my dad’s house. While I appreciate that she respects him, I’m not going to spend the whole summer celibate. I think we’ll go home for July and when we come back, Holly and her friend, Christen, are gonna be coming with us.”

We pull up to Chris’ house and go up to his door. Jason bangs on the door so loud I think it might buckle. When Chris answers it, he smirks at us.

“If it isn’t the fucking cavalry. What do you want?”

I haven’t even been here a minute and I am ready to pound his face in. Shawn and Jason don’t look like they are doing much better. I know Jason won’t hesitate to throw a punch but, lately, Shawn seems extra confrontational too. “I want you to stay away from Maddy. You’re done trying to run into her, staring at her in class, and being a crazy asshole in general.”

He laughs as if this is all a big game which, truthfully, to him it probably is. “Aw, what’s wrong, Carter? She bored already? I warned you before, you know. You can’t turn a hoe into a housewife.”

That is it. I pull back and bury my fist into his face. I hear a crack and he goes down. The boys grab me to hold me back, even though I know that they are fighting the urge to go after him too. This is why they are here, though...to make sure I don’t kill him. “You’ll stay away from her, motherfucker, or I’ll be back.”

“Okay, I’ll stay away. Just know, eventually, she’ll come back to me. She’s mine and always will be. After all, I was her first.”

I start to charge toward him again, but Jason pulls me back toward the car. “Carter, he isn’t worth it. He wants this. He wants you to lose control. Don’t let him win.”

As we are walking back to the car, I see Shawn walking back to Chris. He bends down and, after a minute, starts walking back to the car. “What did you say to him?”

“I told him his daddy can’t save him if he can’t find him.” We all start laughing as I pull away.

***

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and I need to set things up. I want Maddy to always remember tomorrow.

When she comes home, I am drowning in math homework. I swear one of the evil gods created math as a way to punish humans. This is like Latin to me, and I’ve been sitting in the class for two months now.

“Well, you look like you’re having fun, babe.” Maddy comes over and sits down next to me. I throw myself against the back of the couch and wrap my arms around her. “You want some help?”

“If by help you mean that you’ll dress up as me and take this test tomorrow, then yes, I do.” She looks at me and we both start laughing.

“C’mon, Einstein, let’s get this done.” After about two hours, I downgraded my hatred of algebra to a strong dislike. We go to bed and I smile to myself, thinking about what is going to happen tomorrow.

Madison

I wake up to the smell of something that makes my stomach growl in appreciation. I start to make the bed, when I notice a heart shaped lollipop on Carter’s pillow. It is a big pink heart with the words ‘I love you’ in white. I smiled to myself. He is so cute.