Of course, Marcus had already known about their planned performance, but out of pure satisfaction in tormenting his stubborn friend, he chose to continue his charade of ridiculous remarks.   “Too bad she fell for an idiot.” He sighed loudly as if devastated then added, “what I would do to have someone like her.”    It didn’t matter if he knew what this provoking fool’s intentions were, Jeremy really did want to punch him in the face. ‘How unfortunate I am to have him as a best friend.’ He concluded, not the slightest bit amused by the teenager’s taunts.    Jake on the other hand felt a sense of accomplishment seeing the obvious annoyance and irritation brought on by situation, since Britney wasted no time blabbering about the results of her dad pressuring Thomas and in return, he used whatever methods necessary to convince his son. So unknowingly, the predator was well aware of his target’s

   After some time, Rose too met with her mom before heading off to the docks joining the rest of the crew for an evening to remember. Erika wanted to get change before leaving, but afraid of being held back by either Miss Joy, Principal McAbee or the sports coordinator, Mrs. Vincent, she eagerly rushed out of the building with plans of stopping home for something more appropriate for the chilled night scene. Marcus and Jeremy however, were still very much occupied with the internal school ceremony.    “Dude! That was an incredible match, both of you guys were on freaking fire out there.”    “Yeah, luckily you stepped in Barkley, otherwise the game would have tied.”    “The last thing we need was an overtime play with ‘someone’, sabotaging their own team.”    “I can’t believe he acted like such an idiot, nearly causing us….”     A

   "J… Jake… wh… where… are you? What's going on?" Erika stammered in fear, hearing the familiar creepy voice as the room suddenly went dark, making it difficult to see clearly those hidden in the shadows.                 "What's the matter sweetheart? Why so shy? I thought you were a feisty little freak, come on now, let's just have some fun."   "This isn't a joke you pervert! show yourself." She yelled in panic, frantically shifting her eyes about the enclosed space hoping to get a glimpse of him.    "Be careful what you wish for." Jake mocked in a low whispering tone, causing the girl’s stomach to involuntarily ch

   "Why should I listen to you? For you to embarrass me again? You can't be with me remember? So just quit while you're ahead." After taking a few deep breaths, Erika finally calmed down, trying to reason on the reality of their situation.    "Britney is my father's choice, he's…."    "Stop! No more lies, I don't want to be caught up in the middle of your family business." Erika interrupted decidingly, though she was curious, she was also quite sure the truth wouldn’t make any difference, right?     "If you don't let me finish, I'll stay like this until the police and your father comes. Maybe I'll even kiss you again." Jeremy threatened.     "You wouldn’t dare… hmmm….” Her lips were once again covered by his without the slightest regret. The way Jeremy saw it, if he couldn’t make her understand tonight… then there really might not be another opportunity.

  “Aughhh! This is freaking ridiculous, why am I even considering his outrageous request?” Erika mumbled to herself why rampaging through her closet trying to find a comfortable set of pajamas to wear after a long soak in the bathtub.    ‘Why not accept? It isn’t like it would make much of difference anyways. Besides if he’s telling the truth about his family issues and feelings, then it will all be worth it in the end. One more year of seeing his public annoying girlfriend flaunt their fake love isn’t going to kill you.’ Her inner voice reasoned, but like the imaginary angel to the devil on the opposite side of her shoulders, another thought crept into mind.    ‘What if you keep holding onto his promise and actually allow yourself to fall deeper, beyond a silly little crush, only for him to change his mind? What then? An I’m sorry will not be enough to mend your broken heart. A lot can happen in a day much less eleven and a half more months.