I was 10 years old when I first met him. Ian Ice. My name is Kelsie Chin. He was very good-looking and talented at such a young age. I smiled at him every time I passed him. He was either reading a book or playing sports. Many years has passed. We are now in high school. He stands out in the crowd a lot, while I, on the other hand don’t. He was from a wealthy family, while I wasn’t. He gets to go party everyday and night while I have 3 part-time jobs. I don’t really care about partying or having fun, I focus in studying and working hard to make money to support my family. I never break the rules.

She was very lovely and kind when I first met her, Kelsie Chin. We were really good friends, till she shut everyone out in 8th grade. By high school, she was nobody. No one cared about her. I forgot about her. I once did look at my old photo albums to see how she used to be. Her smile always cheer me up. I just turned 15 while she’s still 14. How will I tell her I loved her since she was 11 years old?

There was notification sound coming from my phone. It was from Ian. I haven’t talked to him for a while now. What does he want?

“Wanna come to a mini get-together?”. I read the text. I’ve never been to one. It was tonight, I wasn’t sure if I should go.

“Sure”. I typed.

“I’ll pick you up at 6 pm, tonight”. He responded.

“Ok”. I responded back.

I sighed. I was really nervous, I’ve never been to one before. What will I wear?

It was 5:30 pm. I was almost ready. Just a simple top and shorts is fine, I guess.

It was my first get-together, and I don’t know what to do. I don’t really interact with anyone, I hope I don’t do any bad things tonight. I put on my shoes.

My phone rang. I declined the call, and walked downstairs. I saw him and his expensive-looking car, I’ve never been in one before.

“Why’d you decline the call?”. He asked.

“Because I know you’re here”. I responded and smiled.

He smiles back. “Well, let’s go then!”. I nodded.

He drove and speeded up half way there.

We’ve arrived to what was a bar, I wasn’t really sure what we were doing here. He grabbed my hand and walked into the bar. I never drank before and what is he doing here?

He was greeted when we first entered.

“Yo, Ian, why’d you bring a hot chick here?”. One of the guys said.

“She’s just a good friend and this is her first get-together”. He answered.

He sat down and I followed. “Here, drink”. He said. “I’m underaged”. I responded.

He held the cup in front of me,and took it back. He dranked it himself. “Won’t your parents be mad at you for drinking?”. I asked. He didn’t answer. “Drink and I’ll answer”, he told me.

I stared at the table for a second. It was my first time in a bar and drinking. I grabbed a bottle of wine out of curiosity and started drinking it. I was half way done when Ian told me to stop.

“Kelsie, are you trying to kill yourself?”. Ian asked.

“Dude, let the chick drink, she’s doing a good job anyway, don’t you think?”, another dude asked.

“Won’t you have fun with her tonight?”, the third guy asked, “I mean, she’s kinda hot”.

“She’s like a best friend to me, and she’s 14”. Ian told them.

I finished the bottle and grabbed the next one. I drank the whole night away, from bottle to bottle, I drank up to 4 bottles now. My vision started to get blurry but I continued.

“Ian, how much for a night with this chick?”. The fourth guy asked.

“You can’t buy her”. Ian told him.

I grabbed the next bottle but he knocked it out my hand. He took my hand and walked out. Everyone was laughing as he left.

He carried me to the car, and drove to his house. He carried me to his room and I started heating up. What’s wrong with me?

He touch my forehead, it was burning hot, but with his cold, icy hand, it soothes it. I put my hand on top of his. My vision was still blurry, everything wasn’t clear.

I woke up to see him sleeping by the side of the bed. I smiled and patted his head without waking him.

My stomach wasn’t well, so I rushed to the bathroom. I vomited everything out from last night.

My mind was full of crazy thoughts of what had happened.

A hand touched me from my shoulder.

“You okay?”, Ian asked. I nodded. I wiped my mouth. He hugged me. “You drank too much for your first time”. He told me. I got up and walked away. I didn’t look back.

I didn’t have time to go home and change into my uniform. My clothes smells like reeking alcohol. I just wore it to school.

“Oh my god, she reeks of alcohol”. One girl said.

“Did she sleep with any older men?”, the girl next to her said. She laughed.

“Slut!”. I heard many students call me that. I ignored them.

My hands were trembling, and I ran toward the back. I started crying. They mistaken me, this isn’t who I am. No one can help me now, I thought.

Near the front was Ian. Everyone was over there and I didn’t care.

“Ian, please notice me”. Many girls wooed.

“Ian, Ian”. Everyone shouted at the same time.

I walked to the entrance way and entered. He looked at me but I didn’t look at him.

I sat in the lonely classroom. Some guys entered the classroom, they seemed familiar.

“Yo, aren’t you that hot chick from last night that Ian, brought?”. One asked. I didn’t answer.

“How about you come and have a night with us, cutie”. The second guy asked.

I got up and left the room. I went to the roof, there were a couple of chairs there but I sat in the corner.

The bell rang for our first class.

“Kelsie Chin?”. The professor called. “Kelsie Chin, absent”. He said.

Ian was frustrated. It was her first time being absent. Was it my fault?

Ian was furious. He got up and stormed off the classroom, and headed for the roof.

He opened the door, and sat on one of the chairs. He saw the same shorts from last night.

“Kelsie?”, he asked. She didn’t answered. He walked towards her, and touched her arm, it was freezing cold, colder then his hand. She closed her eyes. “Kelsie? Kelsie!”.

He took off his jacket and put it over her. He carried her once more and headed down the stairs to the nurses’ office. She wasn’t heavy at all. He placed her on one of the beds and sat there beside her.

“How is she?”, he asked the nurse. “She isn’t that well”. She answered. “What do you mean?”.

“You see, there’s too much alcohol in her system, it isn’t good for her and the stress”. She told him. “Ok”.

I opened my eyes. Ian’s eyes were wide open and hold me to sit properly. I started crying and he hugged me. The nurse smiled and left. I moved the blanket out of my way, and got up. “You need to rest”. He told me. I ignored him. “When will you stop ignoring me?”, he asked. “I-I think it’s best if we should keep our distance away from e-each other”. I told him. I left the office.

I walked into the classroom. Everyone was looking at me, as I go to my seat.

They were all whispering.

“How’d she still show up?”.

“Look, it’s the slut”.

“I heard she sleeps and drinks with older men”.

Ian walked into the classroom.

“Where’s his jacket?”, one girl asked.

I held it in my trembling and cold hands. I turned back and put it on his desk.

“Look, how does this slut have his jacket?”.

“It’s Ian’s jacket”.

“Did she try to seduce Ian too?”.

“See, I told you she’s a slut”.

The second bell rang. Ian got to his desk and took his jacket still staring at me.

I got up and went straight to the entrance way. He looked at me and followed. “What are you trying to do?”, he grabbed my hand and asked. I shake it off. I left the school. He was standing there looking at the floor by his self.

“Look, even Ian fell for her”.

“What a slut!”.

“Why would Ian care for a slut like her?”.

I walked toward the same bar from yesterday. They recognized me and let me in. They told me everything I order today is free. I nodded.

I went to same table from yesterday and ordered some wine. I started drinking and drinking. I was on my 6th bottle, when one of the bartenders tell me to stop. I ignored him and continued.

He took out his phone and texted someone.

Ian got a notification sound from his phone.

“That girl you brought from yesterday, is in the bar drinking alone, she’s on her 9th bottle of wine, she won’t stop”. He got up and went toward the entrance and left.

“Where’s Ian going?”.

“What’s going on?”.

“What’s happening?”.

He headed straight for the bar downtown.

He entered and was panting.

I finished my 11th bottle of wine and tried to start in my 12th. He grabbed my hand.

“Kelsie Chin, what’s wrong with you?”, he asked.

I shake it off again. I took the bottle of wine and gave it to him. He didn’t take it, so I started to drink it, he took the bottle and threw to the ground. It smashed onto the concrete ground. I can see the broken glass and the wine on the ground and looked up to him.

“I’m just like a slut, everyone thinks I am”. I told him. I chuckled. I got up.

“Like I said, we should keep our difference far from each other”. I told him. I walked toward the entrance and left.

****. What did I do wrong? She’s hurt because of me. Ian thought.

I was wandering around, still drunk. “Ho, Ho”. I heard. Who was it?

There were around three guys surrounding me.One from behind, one from the front, and one from the side. They all stare at me, with their tongues out.

“Ho, Ho!”, the one from behind said. “What’s a cutie like you doing alone?”, the one from the side said. “How about we have some fun, tonight?”, the one from the front said, touching my chin. “I-I’m sorry, but I have something urgent to go to”. I told them still not seeing them clearly. “I-I will take my leave now”.

“Hold up”. The one in the front said. I paused as he came to me, touching my hands, then to my cheek. “Name a price!”.

“I really need to go somewhere”. “Please let me go, you’ll find someone else”. I told them.

“Hm..”, he moves his hand to my thigh, “How about showing me what you do in bed?”. He takes my hands and tied them with a tight rope. “Hey, what are you doing-.” I didn’t finish my sentence, they covered my mouth, something dissolve in it. I tried to spit it out, but couldn’t.

Every bone and muscle in my body was very weak. They carry me to what I thought was a van.

Someone passed by looking but turned away. Does that person know me? I tried to scream for help but I couldn’t find my voice. “Who will save you now?”.

Ian’s phone rang, apparently it was Kelsie’s mom, he answered.

“Hello?”.

“Ian, this is Mrs. Chin, please help me find Kelsie, she hasn’t return home yet, and she isn’t any of her part-time jobs. I am afraid if she will run into any danger, please help me find my daughter”.

Ian takes a second to think it over, should he help? After all, Kelsie a complete different person because of him.

“Ok, I will try to find her Mrs. Chin”.

“Thank you so much, Ian”. She said happily.

I close my eyes, as my body began to feel sore. My eyes started watering. “Little lamb, who will save you now?”.

“I-Ian”. Some girl said. “What?”. He answered.

“I-I over-heard you talking to Kelsie’s mom”. She told him. “So?”.

“I s-saw some men take her away tied u-up”. He rose from the table. “Where?”. He expression changes, he was now actually serious.

“The alley-y way of M-Madrid road”.

“Ok”.

He took his phone out once more, and dialed a couple of words. He went straight for his car, and drove to Madrid road. There was no one there except a white van. “Ready?”. He said to his phone. “Go!”.

Many men from the sides started breaking open the van. There inside laid the three rapists and the little lamb. “Get them and tie them up, beat them”. He hurried over to Kelsie. Her clothes were ripped off, she was freezing, trembling, and seems to be in pain. He saw the tears. He covered her with him jacket and carried her to his car.

I open my eyes once more laying on his lap, what happened?

I recalled everything and started watering up again, but the tears are faster this time.

I lay against the window of the car and soon fell asleep.

I woke up on a bed with Ian’s clothes on. I tried to move my back, but it was very sore.

“Don’t move it too much”, a voice came from behind.

“Why’d you help me? After what happened”. I asked. He didn’t answer.

“I should go”. I told him.

I got up, yet he pushed my hands against the bed, and whispered something into my ear.

“I..love..you..”, my ear became bright red. I touch his face but stopped.

I left without a word. We’re not a good match for each other, I thought.

He should find someone better.

“Kelsie, you’re home!”.

I smiled at my dearest mother. “I’m just going to go buy some fruits!”.

I nodded. I tried to get rid of the scent but no luck.

“HEY, LOOK OUT”. A huge pickup truck hit someone. There she was, lying on the ground, all bloody.

Kelsie’s phone rang.

“Miss Chin, your mother got in an accident and she didn’t make it. I am sorry for your loss.”

I hung up. My eyes were watery and tears were streaming down. I was crying and sobbing for around an hour.

I’ve made my decision, I will work hard to make lots of money and study abroad.

I had only two friends, Lilia and Ian. I think it’s best I don’t tell them anything.

I never had enough money growing up, so I can’t afford a proper funeral. I sighed heavily. The next day was a Saturday and I decided to work that day and the day after that. I quickly write my plan out for this year, and how I was gonna make money to study abroad. I had a huge smile on my face but deep down in my heart, I was hurting. Both day passed by quickly.

The next day came in a blink of an eye. I walk pass Ian, trying to forget what happened yesterday and acted like nothing happpened and it was a normal day. I sat in my seat a few minutes before the bell rang. I was studying because I never got a chance to at all, we had a test today.

She seemed not like herself, he thought. She never study on a Monday and right before a test. She also didn’t say hello to me today just like every other day. He sighed.

The bell finally rang and many students rushed to their seats.

I put the book away, and waited for attendance. It got by so quick, a few minutes later, the test started. I did struggle a bit but it was fine, I guess.

An hour had passed, and the test was finally over. Everyone was talking about the questions.

“What’d you do on page 3, question 4?”.

“What’s the answer for the 2nd question?”.

Everyone was comparing answers. I quickly got up, and my legs were wobbling, I hope no one noticed that.

Her legs are wobbling, what happened? He thought.

I ran out the door and hope he didn’t follow me, because I knew he was staring at me like every other day.

I went to my locker and took out my planner with some other books. The third bell rang and it was lunch time. I didn’t head to the cafeteria but instead to the classroom, to study. I had an apple and I guessed that was my lunch. I sat in my seat, it was very quiet for a couple of minutes, until some students came into the classroom. They talked a lot.

“Look, it’s the slut”.

“Oh yea”.

I try to ignore them and concentrate. I couldn’t really take it anymore, they were really loud.

I put the planner inside my desk, and decided to study in the library. I hurried to go outside and saw Ian, I ignored him as I walk by holding my books.

Huh? He thought after taking seat. What’s this?

He took it out of my desk and began read it.

“What are you reading, Ian?”, asked the school belle.

I was quiet for a minute.

“Ian?”.

“What?”.

“What are you reading?”.

“Don’t worry about it”. I answered. I closed the planner and put it back into her desk.

The fourth bell rang and I walked to the classroom quietly.

He was already there and he had a serious yet disappointed face. I sat at my seat. He tapped my shoulder and I turned around. He handed me a piece of paper.

Just before I read it, the school belle took it.

“Oh Ian, is this for me?”. She asked.

I look down and read my book after she snatched it.

“I’ll meet you after school!”. She said, and then winked at him.

He sighed. He wrote down something else on another piece of paper and handed it to me.

(If you really need money, I can give you some, and why do you wanna leave school?)

I get out another piece of paper and wrote something.

(Don’t want your money, because I can make my own, and it’s none of your concern of why I wanna leave.) He read it.

The day came by quickly and soon the last bell rang. I take my stuff and quickly leave.

It took me a couple of minutes to go to my first part time job. “You’re early!”, the manager said.

I nodded my head and quickly got to work. I work there about 9 hours every week, making 7 dollars every hour. When it was time to go, I always take the expired food to eat. I ran to catch the bus for my next job and arrived shortly after, I was a tutor.

“Kelsie is here!”.

A little boy come out his room with some work in his arms.

It takes about 2 hours to finish all his work and I make around 12 dollars every 2 hours.

“Goodbye, Mrs. Li, good bye Liam!”. I exclaimed while Mrs. Li hand me the money.

“I added a bonus!”. She said. I smiled at her. “Thank you!”.

I took my stuff and left once again. I rush to my next job. It was a mini studio with a sewing machine. “Kelsie, remember that it’s 5 dollar for every piece of clothing you make. I nodded and hurry to work. It was already 10 pm but I didn’t care. I worked until 2 in the morning. I just finish counting all the clothings I made, in total there was 24 pieces, I wrote it down onto my planner.

I turn off all the lights of the studio and locked the doors of it. I walked home since there were no buses now. I ate the food on the way, and counted the money Mrs. Li gave me.

So today I made 21 dollars at my first job, then 20 at my second, and 120 at my last. I sighed and headed inside the house. It was very small, just a small kitchen, small bathroom and a sofa with a couple of shelves, and a sewing machine. I quickly shower and then to bed. I sleep around 5 in the morning. I always study before sleeping.

My phone suddenly vibrated. It was a text from Ian.

(Hey, you up?)

(Yea, why?)

(Just wanted to say sorry for today, I promise it will never happen again.)

(It’s fine.)

(Can we talk before class starts tomorrow?)

(Sure, I guess.)

(Ok then, good night!)

(Night.)

I quickly charge my phone and head to bed early. I slept and woke up at 6. I quickly got dressed and tied my hair into a ponytail. I walked to school and went into the classroom and he was already there.

“So, what did you want to talk about?”, I asked.

“About the note”. He answered. “I known you for years and our families are really great friends, if you ever need money, we would be glad to help”.

“I don’t need your help or your money”, I told him. He nodded.

“Then what about the school changing?”. He asked me.

How’d he know? I didn’t answer him yet.

“I read your planner”.

“Don’t worry about it”. I told him.

I got to my seat and started to study again. I was still tired and took a nap.

I felt a cold hand touch my forehead and suddenly wake up.

“You have a fever and you’re burning up”, he told me. It was Ian. I ignored him and started to study again.

“Hey Kelsie!”, Lilia said. I look up and smiled at her. Then she looked at Ian, behind me, and she blushed a bit. “Are you going to go to the overnight field trip in 2 days?”.

I didn’t know if I should go. “Do I need to pay?”. I asked. “Yea, only 100 dollars”. I nodded.

I still wasn’t sure if I’ll go. The first bell rang. My head wasn’t feeling well, 20 minutes into class.

“Ok class, get a partner and practice your revisions!”, the teacher said. I started breathing heavily, and my whole body turned hot. I got up and pretended I was fine.

“Teacher, may I study my revisions in the roof?”.

“Of course!”. I walked up to the roof and my vision was getting blurrier. I hold onto the wall at the top, and my knees touched the ground, my books fell onto the ground. I didn’t want to scream in pain, so I kept it to myself. I closed my eyes, laying on the ground, hopeless.

“Ok class, hope everyone did their revisions!”. The teacher said. “Where’s Kelsie? Has anyone seen Kelsie?”.

“I’ll go find her”, Ian said, volunteering. He ran out the door and to the roof.

“Kelsie?”. He touched my forehead and it was like burning fire. He layed against the wall and I was in his arms. A couple of minutes passed.

“Kelsie, you up?”. He said. What happened to her? He picked up the books and carried me to the nurse’s office. “Miss, is she alright?”.

“She has a really high fever”, she said. “None of our equipment works here, you might have to bring her to a hospital”. I nodded. “Here’s a pass, you may go now”.

He carried her once again and tried to find a cab.

“Hm, what’s this?”, a student said. She sat onto Kelsie’s desk and pulled out the planner. “Oh my god, look guys!”. She read it and pointed at it. “She’s poor and has to work, haha!”.

“Oh my god, I thought she was rich!”.

“Never knew when was poor!”.

“I know right!”.

“The whole school has got to know!”, said the same student, taking a photo of the planner.

“Sir, to the nearest hospital, please”. Ian said. “Ok, that’ll be 50 dollars!”. He handed a 100 dollar bill. “Keep the change”.

They arrived at the hospital shortly after. He carried her in. “Help, my friend is really sick, someone help!”. Some people came and rushed her into a room. An hour has passed. I tried to call her mom but there was no response.

The second bell rang, and it was lunch time.

“Has anyone seen Ian?”, the school belle asked.

“He left to find the slut”. A student said. “He never came back”.

“I bet, the slut is sleeping with Ian right now”. Another student said. “But how’d she charm him?”.

“Hey, look at this!”. Another student said, pointing her phone to the school belle. “She’s poor!”.

“This will be great news for the whole school, make copies today and put it on the hallway tomorrow!”.

I was walking from one place to another hoping she is alright. The doctor finally came out her room. “How is she?”, I asked, running towards him. “Her fever isn’t that high anymore, she had the fever because of stress and lack of sleep”. I nodded. “Oh, the fees, it’s 500 dollars, who’s paying?”. “Oh, I am”. “ Follow me to pay”.

Minutes passed. I was sitting on a chair besides her. I reached for my phone and see many notifications from my classmates. Most of them are from a group chat, I was in.

I read the messages. I wasn’t really surprised that they were gossiping about her.

My eyes opened and I sat on the bed. “Where am I?”.

“Oh, you’re awake”. I told her. “Your at the hospital”.

“Thank you for today, Ian”. I quickly got out the bed. “How much was the fees?”.

“Don’t worry about it”.

“So the field trip, you gonna go?”. He asked.

“Not sure”.

He also got up and hugged me from behind, I felt safe in his arms.

“I’ll pay for it”. He told me.

“You helped me enough”. I said. “I’m just gonna go”.

“Wait”. He reached for my hand. “Why didn’t your mom answer the phone?”.

I was shock, I don’t wanna answer the question. “She...”.

“She’s gone”. I told him, with tears falling from my eyes. “She died last week”. More tears started coming out. He pulled me into a hug again. “I’ll ask my parents to help pay for the funeral”.

He hugged me tighter. “You can stay with my family, from now on”.

We hugged for the next few minutes and I got out from his chest. “I’m gonna go to work, don’t worry about me”.

I quickly left the hospital and headed to work.

School was already over.

I got home and ate dinner with my family.

“Son, you weren’t at school today, what happened?”. My dad asked.

“Kelsie had a really high fever and I sent her to the hospital”.

“You mean Eva’s girl?”. My mom asked. I nodded.

“Did you know her mom passed away last week?”.

“WHAT?”. They both said.

“Poor Kelsie!”. My dad said. “She can stay with us”.

“Yes, I agree!”. My mom said. “We can hold the funeral tomorrow!”.

“It depends if she’ll agree”. I told them. “She has 3 part-time jobs and not a lot of time”.

“Alright then”. They told me.

I just finished work and is headed home. My phone rang. The caller was Ian.

“Yes?”.

“There’s a funeral tomorrow for your mom, my parents are paying for it and you’ll stay with us from now on, so you don’t have to work anymore”. He said.

“Oh ok”. I told him.

“I’ll come pick up your stuff tomorrow morning and drop it off at my house, then we’ll go to the funeral, after, we’ll go to school”.

“Ok”. I hang up, knowing he will say more things. I sighed.

I went home and packed everything. I didn’t sleep at all, but instead studied.

It was 7, when I heard a knock. I opened my eyes, and rubbed them. I opened the door.

“You ready to go?”. I nodded, looking back and taking a duffle bag. “Is that all you have?”. I didn’t say a word and walked to the car. “Hello Kelsie!”. Said both of of Ian’s parents. “Hello”. “You’ll be staying with us, and you don’t have to work so hard anymore”. I nodded. “Your mom is our best and closest friend, and we promised her, when she’s gone, we’ll take care of you and give you the money she kept for you!”. “Oh ok”.

We soon arrived. It was only us there looking at the casket. I was there when we buried her, still in my tears. It was about an hour long.

“Hope you two have a great day at school”, they both said. I smiled at them.

We arrived at the gate of the school. I entered the school before him and they were a lot of whispering.

“Oh look, it’s a poor bitch!”.

“It’s that poor snake, again”.

“I heard, she is very poor”.

“Look, the slut came to school with Ian, did she seduce him again?”. A girl said.

I look at her and she was frightened. I put an arm onto Kelsie’s shoulder. “Let’s go”.

She smiled at me, and just walked. She sees the papers about her in the hallway and ran to it. She took it off and ripped it into many pieces. She ran away from the huge crowd.

Who did it? I thought. I was very upset, again. My phone vibrated. It was Ian.

(We’re going to the mall today, after school, for the field trip.)

(Ok.)

The fourth bell rang and I hurried to the classroom.

When I walked in, I saw my desk. Many people had wrote on it.

Slut, *****, bitch, loser, poor. I kept it to myself and sat on the chair. It broke into many pieces and I fell. Everyone laughed.

“Look, the slut is fat, she broke the chair”. A student said.

Ian entered the classroom and it was quiet.

“Who did it?”. He said. “I said, who did it?”.

“It was Tiffany, the school belle”, a student said.

He takes off his jacket and put it over my shoulders. “Let’s go”. He helped me up, and we headed to the principal’s office.

“Mr. Ice, Miss Chin, how may I help you?”. I didn’t say a word.

“Expell Tiffany Zhang, NOW”.

“But she’s my daughter”, he said sweating. “I don’t care”. He said.

“Can I just suspend her?”.

“Fine, but if she dare bully another student, you’re losing your job”.

We left the office. “Here”, handing back his jacket.

The speaker were suddenly turned on.“Students, school ended early today, have a great day”.

“Well, let’s go”. He said. We got into a limo. “You excited?”.

“A little, I guess, I never been to a mall before”. I told him. “Really?”. I nodded.

We arrived shortly. It was huge. “First, clothes, pick out anything, I’ll pay for it”.

I went to a couple of shops.

“Wait, is that Ian?”, said a student pointing at him while he was in his phone.

“Oh my god, it’s really him”. “Let’s go say hello to him, after all we’re good friends!”, a boy said.

“Yo, Ian!”. He look up. “Yo, hey jay!”.

“Since when did you arrive?”. He asked.

“Just now, Ian!”.

I walk out the door. “I’m done”.

“Yo, isn’t that the chick from that day, and the rumored girl?”, another guy asked.

“She is, Jacob. Got a problem?”.

“So are the rumors true, did she really seduce you?”, Jacob asked.

I sighed heavily. “No, the rumors aren’t true, and she never did”.

“Dude, why do you even stand up for her? Are you two dating or something?”. another guy asked.

“Ethan, we’re not dating, and I stand up for her just because we’re really good friends, and you three better not say a word of us being friends at school or I’ll cut your hands off”. All three of them were frightened. “Got it, dude”.

“So what are you two doing anyway?”, Ethan asked.

“Doing what normal people do in a mall”, I said to them.

“So, she do talk”. Jacob said. “I thought you were a mute”.

“You really let her swipe your card, man”. Jay asked.

“”It’s my mom’s”. He said. “She allows her to, since we all live in the same house”.

“Since when?”, Jay asked. “Since today”, I said. “I’m just gonna go get ice cream”, I told Ian.

I walked towards the food court and got in a line that sold ice cream.

“Dude, who really is she?”, Jacob asked.

“She’s someone”. He said. “I’ll get you all the new iPhone, to keep your mouths shut, what color?”.

“White”. “Black”. “Yellow”.

“Well, I’ll give it to you tomorrow, you guys better keep your mouth shut”. He turned and walked toward to the food court.

I held two ice-cream cones in my hand, ready to give Ian one. “Here you go, it’s strawberry”.

“Thanks”.

“So who were they?”. I asked. “Just some of my friends”, he answered. “They won’t say a word”. I nodded and smiled. We walked to the Apple store and bought some items.

“I think we have enough stuff, let’s go”. I told him.

We both walked toward the parking lot. Suddenly, someone pushed me and I fell.

“Ian, did you miss me?”, Tiffany asked, about to give him a kiss on the cheek.