DECEPTION; Bradley Simpson

44.

I turn off my alarm and go right inside the bathroom as quietly as possible, trying not to wake Maggie. I get ready for the day and walk into the parking lot, heading for my car. I drive towards the school's building and walk inside, spotting the boys standing at their usual spots.

"Hey guys," I greet them, hugging Brad from behind. He turns around with a smile on his face, leaning down and kissing me.

"Hi Eve," Lucy and Kirstie greet me.

I stand next to Brad and Connor, listening to their conversation. My brain goes back to last night's events, making me zone out completely.

"What's so funny?" Brad whispers in my ear, making me snap out of my thoughts. I realize I have a stupid grin on my face, so I shake my head and look at James with a more serious expression. This makes the curly haired boy chuckle and he kisses the top of my head.

"I saw your car in a restaurant's parking lot. Did you take Evelyn on a first date?" Kirstie smirks at Brad, making everyone burst out laughing.

"We were dining with my parents," Brad answers, a smile on his face. "And for your information, I took her on plenty dates before."

"If eating McDonald's in a park counts, then he's right," I say with a grin, making everybody laugh again. For the first time in a while, I see Tris laughing at Brad and my banter and not glare at his friend.

The bell interrupts us, so everyone goes their separate ways. Brad kisses my cheek one last time before following Connor and Lucy towards their class. I wait for Tris to finish talking with James, then we had to our literature class.

"So..." I start.

"So?" he kinks an eyebrow, looking down at me expectantly.

"You seem really happy today," I smirk.

"Oh, yeah?" he smirks back and I elbow him.

"Come on, tell me. Is there a new girl I don't know about?" I ask.

"Actually, there is. I took a girl from our literature class on a date last night," he blushes, looking down.

"Oh. I wanna know all the details," I stop in front of our class.

"You sure?" he raises an eyebrow, looking at me playfully.

"Okay, maybe not all of them," I say, making the blonde haired boy laugh. "Tell me later," I open the door to literature and enter, Tris walking behind me. He sits down on the seat next to me and smiles at a brown haired girl. She smiles back shyly, playing with her hair. I suddenly feel like I went back to high school or something.

-

"Her name is Chloé," Tris tells us as we all walk out of the school's building. Everyone was interested in Tris' date last night, so he started telling us everything. "We talked a few times before I had the courage to ask her out," he admits.

"At least you're not after my girl, finally," Brad teases him, making us laugh. It's so good to see them getting along so well again. I really was scared that I ruined their friendship.

"Yeah," Tris chuckles. "I took her back to my apartment and she spent the night there," he says, making Lucy and Kirstie smirk.

"You finally found a girl again. I'm happy for you, mate," James pats him in the back, saying goodbye to us and taking his girlfriend's hand, leading her to his car.

"See you tomorrow, guys!" Maggie waves at everyone. I do the same, kissing Brad's cheek before following my roommate to my car. She sits in the passenger seat and I sit in the driver's, pulling out of the parking lot and driving towards the dorms.

-

"Never thought I'd see this moment again. The group getting along for the first time after Evelyn arrived," Ashley shoots me a fake smile. I glare at her, taking a sip from my coke.

"I told you a million times before to leave my girlfriend alone," Brad glares at her.

"My bad," the dyed haired girl puts her hands in the air in a definsive manner. I roll my eyes, ignoring her for the rest of the night.

I eat in silence, listening to the others talk about everything that comes to their mind. I look over at Brad, seeing him laugh with Connor. I can't help the smile that appears on my face as I see his happy expression. After everything with his parents and Tris, it's good to finally see him so carefree and happy.

"Aw, look at them!" Maggie exclaims, but only I hear her. I look over at her with furrowed eyebrows.

"What?" I stuff my mouth with a bite of hamburger.

"You looked at him like he's the most precious thing in the world," she smiles.

"Well, he is. To me," I say, a shy smile appearing on my face as I look down at the table. I feel Brad squeezing my hand, letting me know he heard what I said.

"You two are giving me a headache," Ashley says, looking at me and Brad back and forth.

"Shut up," I roll my eyes at her.

Ashley holds up her middle finger for me, but I ignore her and turn my head away. I don't know what her problem is. As far as I know, she has a boyfriend now, so it's not like I'm still blocking her from getting what she wants, like in the beggining.

Everyone finishes their food and we pay, walking into the diner's parking lot. I stop next to Brad as his arm snakes around my waist, smiling at the others as we finish our conversations. We say goodbye to each other and I sit in Brad's car, along with Maggie.

"Brad, can you take me somewhere else?" Maggie asks.

"Yeah. I'll just drop Eve off," the curly haired boy answers.

I look out of the window for the whole ride to the dorms, humming a song that's been playing in my mind all day.

When Brad finally pulls up in the dorms' parking lot, I peck his lips and wave at Maggie, climbing out of the vehicle. I walk up to the double doors of the building, turning around and watching as Brad leaves the parking lot with Maggie still sitting in the backseat. I get inside my room, taking off my shoes and heading into the shower immediately. I am so tired by the time I walk back into the room with my pajamas on. I sit down on my bed, turning on my laptop and starting a movie, falling asleep almost immediately.