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Selena's POV:
"Where were you all weekend?" Renee asked. She slipped beside me as we hurried as to not be late for class. I bit my lip. How am I supposed to tell her I was at Justin's all weekend? "Yeah, you weren't answering your phone." Marie added. Great, now I'm surrounded. They're my best friends.. I can't lie to them. I sighed. "I was at-" I started off but Mr Trent didn't give me time to finish. "Miss Gomez! I suggest you hurry up if you don't want to be late for class." He gave me an irritated scowl. Let's just say, Mr Trent hasn't been the nicest guy since Justin.. you know. It's been kind of awkward with Miss Silvia too. I mean, she didn't know about what Justin said but I've been feeling uncomfortable. I mean, wouldn't you? You find out one of your teachers did.. it, with another teacher. It makes things weird. "Of course, sir." I gave Mr Trent an apologetic glance before turning to my friends. "I'll tell you later." they nodded uncertainly and I quickly rushed inside the classroom and pulled my textbook out. This is going to be one long lesson. - "So you never did get to tell us where you were.." Marie hinted. Well, that didn't take long. "ImayormaynothavebeenatJustin'shouse." I said in a rush. They gave me confused looks. "I'm sorry, I don't speak Martian." Renee said sarcastically. She gave me a stern look as to say; if-you-don't-tell-me-I'm-going-to-kill-you. I swallowed harshly. "I said, I may or may not have been at Justin's house." I looked between my two best friends cautiously and for a moment, there was silence. Then a loud shriek ran through the air. "Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!" Renee squealed. "That is so just, like.. woah! You get what I mean?" I glanced at Marie, who although was inwardly freaking out, knew how to control her excitement. Then we both turned to Renee and simultaneously shook her heads. Renee rolled her eyes. "I mean," she explained. "that you were out with Justin Bieber; the school's bad boy. Do you get how freaking huge that is?" she exclaimed. "Actually, no." I shook my head. "We're friends right? I hang out with you guys at your houses all the time." I told them. "Yeah but he's a guy! And a hot one too." Renee wiggled her eyebrows. "So? I've been to a guy's house before. I used to go to Ja-" Okay, so I may have forgotten to tell my best friends a tiny weeny little detail about my middle school life. Like Julie's and James. They'll get it right? "Finish your sentence." Marie demanded, her eyes narrowing. I kept my eyes down. "I don't know what you're talking about." I lied. "Selena Gomez! Don't you dare lie to me!" she exclaimed. "Okay, I may have left out a tiny detail when I was telling you about what happened before." They understood immediately what I meant. "I thought you told us everything! How could you?" Renee looked hurt and upset and to be honest I can't blame her. "I'm sorry! I never thought I'd go again!" They looked at me expectantly and I spilled everything from Nick first taking me to Julie's to me meeting James, to our friendship forming, karaoke nights, finding out he was gay, me leaving him and finally Justin following me and the introduction. When I finished, they gaped at me open-mouthed. "I can't believe you never told us." Marie glanced at the ground, the hurt evident in her voice. "I'm sorry," I apologised. "I never meant to hurt you. I just.. I don't know. Forgive me?" They gave me scrutinising looks and my heart dropped. I'd never forgive myself if they decided they had enough of me. "It's okay," Renee said after a while. "I forgive you but you'd better not keep us in the dark again." she warned. "On one condition though," Marie added. "You have to take us there; to Julie's." a huge weight rolled off my shoulders and I nodded eagerly, glad that they weren't mad at me. "Great," Renee clapped her hands together. "Now that that's over and done with, tell us about your weekend with that hot badass." I rolled my eyes and explained what happened. Meeting Brandon and Sophie, making the volcano in the store, covering Melissa's car in posters, chess, hide 'n' seek and meeting his dad. "You so like him!" Marie accused. "I do." I admitted. They both looked taken aback by my sudden confession and then a slow grin spread across Marie's face and Renee just looked sour, reaching into her pocket. "Pay up, Ren!" Marie said, gleefully. Renee's wallet was in her hand and she pulled out a tenner. Wait a minute! Tenner? Oh no. I thought they were my friends? First my parents and now- "You bet on this?!" I shrieked. I threw my hands up in the air. "First my parents and now you?" I exclaimed. "Your parents?" Marie asked, confused. I ignored her question. "You actually bet on whether I liked him or not?" I say, unbelievably. "Course not." Renee answered. "We bet on how long it would took you to realise it. I said around a week and Marie said three, she was closer so she won." she said. "Your parents?" Marie repeated. "Well, Mum said that she thought I had a crush on someone but Dad said he didn't think so and they bet on it and Mum won." I explained. My best friends burst out laughing. "Your parents are awesome." Renee remarked, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Speaking of bands.." Marie interrupted. "We weren't speaking of-" Marie glared at me and I shut up immediately. "Me and Dylan-" she started. "Dylan and I." I corrected. "Shut up." Marie snapped. I grinned, it's fun pissing her off. Hey, don't blame me! It's the way our friendship works. "We booked the band room and we can go practice in free period." she says. "Awesome!" I exclaimed. "Good thing too." Renee added. "We really do need to practice and pick out the songs." I nodded in agreement. "Yeah," I agreed. "and fast too. The competition is sooner than it seems." I say. "We'll win." Marie stated, confidently. "I know we will." I certainly hope so. - "Bang bang by Jessie J, Nicki and Ariana?" Jason suggest with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows. The other guys snicker from beside him. I will my allow eyes to burn holes through his pea-sized brain. I love you too, Mother Nature. "No." Marie disagrees. Jason pouts. "Why not?" He whines like a three year old. "Renee, get your boyfriend to quit acting like a child." I order. "He's not my boyfriend!" Renee protested. "Yet." Jason adds, smirking confidently. "I knew you liked her!" Justin and I blurt out in unison. Jason turns to us with raised eyebrows and I smirk. "You are such a chicken." I snicker. "She's liked you for ages. Just ask her out already." I said. "Selena!" Renee thunders. She looks positively murderous. If looks could kill, I'd be six feet under. "Whoops?" I try to calm her down. "Dude, what'd you do to her? She's so bold now." I heard Dylan tell Justin. I turn to Justin, eyebrow raised and he smirked. "She's no goody-two-shoes but she's not completely badass yet." he winked at me. "But I can take her, all the way." A suggestive wiggle of eyebrows makes my face catch on fire. "So much sexual tension." Renee swooned. I snap my attention back to her. "Yeah, Jason." I smirk at him. "Just ask her out." Renee glares at me but Jason doesn't seem fazed. Actually, he looks kind of pleased. "Renee, go out with me?" He asks. Renee's eyes widen and she cocks her head to the side. "No joke?" She asks. "No joke." Jason confirms. "Then sure." Renee shrugs, making me grin. She is so excited, I can see it. Damn, she owes me. "Great," Jason grins. "Pick you up at seven." She nods and Marie shakes her head from beside me. "That is by far, the most unromantic thing I have ever seen." She mutters in disapproval. Dylan's ears perk up. "Did lover boy ask you out more romantically?" He sneers. Marie looks pissed off. "Yeah, Noah, was really romantic." she snaps. Dylan's face filled with so much loathing I didn't think it was possible. "What that douche? I'm surprised he knows what his name is!" He fires. "He happens to be one of the smartest people in our year!" Marie retorts. I hastily put an end to their argument. "So what do we sing?" - "Jesus, that was exhausting." I remark as Justin and I walk out of the band room. "Tell me about it." he grins. "There's so much sexual tension, I'm surprised the roof didn't blow up." Justin said. "Well, at least Jason asked Renee out." I pointed out. He looks thoughtful for a moment. "Yeah.. he seems to like her. Like genuinely like her." I frown in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean?" I ask. "Jason usually doesn't take interest in girls. Sure he's fucked them but not actually like, liked them." I shudder. "If he uses her, I will castrate him." I warn. "Violent much?" he said. "She's my best friend." I say. "True." He muses. "Why do you guys do that anyway?" I wonder aloud. "Do what?" he asked. "You know, just use girls." I say. "A guy needs to get laid." he smirked at me and I rolled my eyes. "So? Why would you do that to an innocent girl?" I ask. "Not all girls are innocent." he corrected. "That's not what I meant." I say. "I know." he says. "Then answer the question properly." I tell him. "No." he says. "Why not?" I ask. "Because I don't want to." I raise my brows. "Why don't you want to?" I ask. "Because I don't." I roll my eyes. "That's not an answer." I say. "Yes it is." he retaliates. "No it isn't." I sigh. "Yeah, it is." The school announcement cut through our argument. I almost groaned. I really want to know the answer to that question. I have a theory, yes, for Justin's case anyway. Stupid announcements. I was surprised though, at what followed through. "Selena Gomez, report to the principal's office." I glanced at Justin briefly before walking down the halls. What did I do? I reached the principal's office only to find Melissa there and smirking her head off. Shit, whatever is going to go down is so not going to be good. Hold on a second! They couldn't have found about- "Miss Gomez, sit down please." Principal Hoffman gave me a stern look and I sat down immediately. "Is something wrong sir?" I ask. "On the contrary, something is wrong. Something is very wrong." I put my poker face on, knowing that I might need it. "Yes, sir." Mr Hoffman glanced at Melissa who now was faking an upset expression. And that is not the hate talking, I can really tell when she's faking, I know her well enough. "Miss Jones has come to me claiming that you destroyed personal property." Mr Hoffman surveyed me but I kept my face blank. "With all due respect, sir, there is no proof." I stated. Mr Hoffman rummaged in his desk for a moment and pulled out a file. "I'm afraid, Miss Gomez, that there is in fact proof." He responded and shoved the file in my direction. I opened it and there were pictures. Yes, pictures, of me with the posters. The pictures of me were clear but there were only shadows and outlines of Justin's and Brandon's figures. How the hell did she get these? "Sir, may I ask a question?" I asked as sweetly and politely as I possibly could. Mr Hoffman pushed himself back further on his chair and raised an eyebrow. "Proceed." He agreed. I nodded and flashed him a smile. "If Melissa took these pictures, why not catch me in the act before damage was done?" Mr Hoffman considered this for a moment and turned to Melissa who seemed to be lost in thought. "Miss Jones? Can you answer the question?" Melissa seemed to struggle for a moment before plastering a smile on her face. "You see, Mr Hoffman, I didn't take the pictures but our home security system." She replied. I knew for a fact that this was a lie since there were no cameras in her house, Brandon checked. Not only that, but wouldn't an alarm have gone off when we stepped in? I opened my mouth to say as much but Mr Hoffman held up a hand to stop me from saying any further. "Miss Gomez, I think we have established that you have indeed destroyed property, so spare me the explanation." He intervened and my mouth dropped open. Wasn't I entitled to having a chance to explain myself? "If you can tell us who your accomplices were then you will get off with detention but if you can't.. I'm afraid I'll have to suspend you." Suspend me? Crap, crap, crap, crap. What do I do? I shot a glare in Melissa's direction, she knows that I won't tell Principal Hoffman. "I'm afraid I can't name them." I said, quietly, staring at the floor. ''Can't?" Mr Hoffman asked. "Or won't?" he added. "Both." I say. "Then I'm afraid I'll have to suspend you." Mr Hoffman sighed. "As you are a model student and this is your first serious offence, I'll give you three days suspension. You may go home now." Tongue-tied, I nodded and stood up. "Goodbye, Sir." I managed and left, not wanting to see the smug look that I knew was on Melissa's face. I walked to my locker and grabbed my bag just as the bell rang. "Hey," Justin appeared. "What happened? Do you have tutor some idiot?" he asked. "No." I replied softly. His grin faded. "I'm suspended -three days." I say. "Why?" he frowned. "What'd you do?" he asked. "Melissa." I sighed. "She told Hoffman." He instantly knew what I was talking about, realisation saturating his expression. "She had pictures, proof. He had to believe her." His mouth opened to ask the question I knew was coming. "He asked me to name my accomplices, I said no." I say. "Why?" he asked. Seemed like the only word he could get out. I smiled softly. "Because I made the list," I explained. "We wouldn't have done it otherwise. Plus, I don't want Brandon getting into trouble and you.. you'd probably get off worse than me." Words seemed to disappear from his mind as he gaped at me like a goldfish and then he enveloped me in a hug. "Thank you," he murmured into my hair. "I know it isn't enough, but thank you." I wrapped my arms around him in return. "You're welcome." Pulling out of our embrace, he threw his arm around my shoulders. "I would ditch with you but I'm on my best behaviour for the next couple of days." His brows pulled together as his expression went dark. "My dad is still here and I have to stay at home for quality time." he spat. I shook my head. "Shouldn't you be glad he's finally starting to care?" I pointed out. "That's something right?" Justin snorted. "He should've been there from the start." I was going to say something else when someone came rushing down the hallway. "Why would you do that?" Ryan asked, looking rather hurt. "That doesn't sound like you at all. I thought you and Melissa were friends?" I stood there confused. "What?" I asked in disbelief. Justin's muscles on my side had immediately tensed. "You plastered her car in posters!" Ryan exclaimed. "Why would you do that?" he said. "Who told you?" I demanded. "Melissa," he answered simply. "But that's beside the point." That bitch; she gets me suspended and now she's trying to ruin my friendship with Ryan? "I can't believe you would do something like that!" he shouted. "Back off," Justin defended. "It isn't her fault." I shot him a grateful glance, thank God he was here. "To hell it's not her fault." Ryan sneered. "Melissa was right, she's just pathetic." That hit home; days from the past where Melissa and her crew came after me, calling me names. Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic. The word kept repeating itself over and over and I felt the pain rise to the surface again. "How fucking dare you!" Justin snarled, his fists clenched. I quickly put my hand on his shoulder which seemed to have a calming effect on him. "Hey, let's just go, okay?" I whispered. "I just need go home." He looked down at me, his face softening instantly and nodded. Then he looked back at Ryan and his jaw tightened again. "If you ever-" Justin's voice seemed to raise. "-call her that again, I will not hesitate to beat the living shit out of you. Got that?" He didn't wait to see Ryan's reaction, just turned us around and walked us out of the school building. "I'm taking you home." He said to me. I stopped walking. "Go back to class," I said softly. "You have to be on your best behaviour remember? I'll take a cab home, don't worry." I say. "But-" He started to protest but I cut him off. "Go," I ordered. "I'll be fine." He gave an uncertain nod and I managed a weak smile. Then he did something that surprised me, he pressed his lips softly against my forehead then stepped back, grinning. "A kiss for a kiss, fair, don't you think?" He threw me a wink and a smile made its way to my face. He sure knew how to make me feel better. He walked back inside and I did what I told him I'd do. I went and got a cab and went home. When I reached the step of my house I rang the doorbell, expecting to see a very angry Mum but I got this instead; "Selly!" His sandy blonde hair slid over his eyes as he held out his arms which I threw myself into. "Nicky!" I squeaked.
