Longest chapter so far and it has been a pain in my neck ! I personally think it's pretty bad but have a look ! Thank you guys for all the FEEDBACK ! You are amazing and all these comments where you state you thoughts about the story line etc. … I LOVE IT ! There are a lot of super nice guest feedback's which makes me really happy !

Chapter 10

Stella's P.O.V.

"Alright" Sky started as he put the car in park, right across from where Brandon and the boys normally do every day in the school parking lot. But thank God, we were a little late to school today and they're already inside. I really was not prepared to face Brandon or his crew just yet. "You ready ?" I shook my head before he looked to me with a ton of remorse. "Stella, you have to make things right. People literally saying Brandon tried to force himself on you and if that got out to the authorities, he could get locked up so fast." I again sighed, Sky scoffing. "He already has a record, Stell. He doesn't need sexual assault to an under aged girl added to it..."

"I know Sky !" I said, annoyance clearly in my tone. "I know..."

"Then why did you react like that ?" He paused, the moment replaying in my head. " I mean you made such a scene that I actually said some hurtful shit to him too and apparently the boys doubted him as well. I can only imaging the rumors going around by people that don't even know the real Brandon." I sighed.

"Sky, I know ! I messed up !" I snapped, silencing my brother. "But I couldn't help it." I then paused, a sigh escaping my lips as I slouched back in the passenger seat and looked down to my lap. "I like him," But when I saw Sky's irritated face impression, I quickly continued . "But he scares me." I finally admitted, looking back to Sky. "He reminds me so much of James. The brown hair, the cockiness, his whole bad boy thing and worse of all, his temper. You should have seen the look on his face after I hit him " Sky scoffed.

"Of course he was pissed Stella ! You punched him in the face." I sighed, shaking my head. "But one thing I can promise you is Brandon would never hurt one of his friends. He might have a temper, but he would never lay his hands on a girl or even force himself on one and like you, I own him a massive apology for assuming he did. I should have known better than that." I felt bad for not telling Sky what really happened on Saturday night, but I had to do it to fix Sky's and Brandon's friendship.

"You were just being a good brother Sky." I said, my brother smiling. "You always are and I don't know what the hell I'd be doing without you these days." He scoffed.

"Probably jumped off a bridge or something like that, huh ?" I looked to him with a seriously facemaking him chuckle before we finally got out of the car and walked towards the building; his arm around my shoulder. "So what have you and Bloom been up to all day, yesterday ?" A sly smirk appeared on my face at my brothers sudden interest about my day with Bloom.

"Um, we went to the mall and constantly analyzed the embarrassing moment when I kneed my friend." He chuckled, me forcing one with him.

"Yeah, that's probably not the way you start things up with Brandon." The laughter ceased and instantly looked to him with furrowed brows. "You're gonna to apologize to him, or ?" I scoffed.

"That's gonna be so bloody embarrassing !" I said, looking to him like he was crazy. "He must be absolutely mad if you think he'll talk to me. Especially after Sunday night." He scoffed.

"Whatever, I think you should." I shook my head, the two of us entering the building and heading towards the dreadful set of lockers Brandon and the boys were most likely posted at. "Stell, I'm serious ! He is my best friend and after what I've said to him it would be great if the two of you could talk about it. I think Brandon is giving him a hard time as well because he cares about you." I scoffed at my clueless brother.

"Why ? What's makes you think that?" He chuckled.

"Because," I again looked to him in utter confusion. " Last night, Brands chose to stay in instead of going to the pub with me and the boys to celebrate after he signed his contract that made him an official fighter. And I know it has something to do with Saturday night. He barely talked to the boys since you left the party."

I said nothing cause I actually knew that it has to do with me. I woke up so many times last night with the urge to call Brandon and clarify things but I was just so embarrassed so I tried to avoid him what he was clearly doing as well. I knew I liked Brandon, but he still scares me and I'm just not sure I'm ready to be with a guy like him again. That's assuming he even wants to be with me.

"you should say something." Sky said, stopping us dead in our tracks. "He's right there ! Just do it !" I sighed, my eyes following his eyes to see Brandon putting his stuff in his locker and I couldn't help but check him out. He was in some blue navy tee, his typical straight jeans and white high tops, but what really looked so good today was his bum. Like always, the top of his pants were hanging just below it and as he reached for something in his locker, his toned arse looked incredible in the black Calvin Klein briefs he was wearing."Let's go !" I sighed, Sky pulling me along with him and soon, we're walking up to the boys. "Hey guys !" Sky greeted his friends, Brandon looking over his shoulder, freezing at the sigh of me. And despite how side tracked I was by his looks, he actually looked mad at this very moment.

"Hi Sky !" Riven said, instantly dabbing each other. But I just stood there with my arms folded beneath my breast, feeling incredibly uncomfortable while Brandon slammed his locker shut and everyone stared at me.

"Hey Brands !" Sky said, grabbing his attention before he leaned back against his locker like the rest of the boys. "My bad, for Saturday. I was out of line." Brandon scoffed, looking back to me.

"It's not like you didn't have a good reason to assume the worst or anything." I sighed, looking back to him.

"Can we talk in private Brandon ?" He again scoffed, shaking his head at me. " Please ?" I pleaded, for the firs time ever in front of him. And just because of that, he broke and dabbed up his boys before he walked passed me and led the way. But it wasn't long before we're alone and standing by the large main stairs that led to our school's second's floor.

"Well ?" Brandon asked, folding his arms beneath his pecks as he leaned against the wall.

"I'm sorry Brandon." I said, trying to figure out what I even wanted to tell him. He scoffed, shaking his head.

"Do you know how fucking confused and worried I was ?" I sighed as I tucked some hair behind my ear because, honestly regretting this whole thing.

"I was trying to call you...but I just couldn't." He scoffed, stepping closer to me.

"What the hell happened, Stella ?" I sighed. "I mean, it's not like I kept my record from you ! You know I have one and you actually ran out of the bedroom like I forced myself on you!" He scoffed. " You're 17 for Christ sake ! You know how much trouble I could have gotten in if someone reported me ?"

"Brandon I know ! That's why I'm trying to apologize." He just sighed, the two of us staring at each other when we noticed we actually had just brought some attention to us with that five-second outburst.

"Honestly, I don't even know what I'm more pissed off about Stella." Brandon said, staring me hard in my eyes. "The fact that you reacted like that... Or that I've actually managed to make myself believe I really might have forced myself on you." I sighed.

"No, you didn't."

"Then what was that ? You punched me in my face and bloody kneed me in the balls. Then when I came over to your house you weren't there the next day when I tried to apologize ?" He scoffed, I furrowed my brows at the new piece of information but I decided to ignore it. "You don't react like that for no damn reason, Stell."

"I know..."

"Then why the fuck did you make such a scene ?" He released a long breath. "I mean, you told me I scare you, but do I seriously scare you that much ?" I looked to him in silence, but soon I took a deep breath, knowing it was time to take a step away from this fear James bestowed on me.

"Honestly, Brandon, yeah." He looked to me with furrowed brows as I stepped closer to him so the talk could be a bit more private. " You know my last relationship didn't end well for me and I got hurt." I started, semi being truthful with that. "And you scare me because you remind me of him so much. That's why I did everything to push you away when I moved here but all it took was one hang out with you to completely make me give in..." He scoffed.

"Why the hell are you comparing me to your ex Stella ? And what the hell did you mean by give in ? Last time I checked, you punched me in my face when I took things a bit further." I felt my body shaking, and seeing as Brandon clearly was not picking up on any of the small and well stuble hints I just gave him, I was gonna to say it.

"I don't mean snogging with you when I say give in..." He looked to me with furrowed brows and honestly, I didn't realize just how uninterested I must have made myself come across to him. Well, unless he just really doesn't want to discuss it ?

"Just spitted out Stella ! I'm so done with your mind games right now !" He snapped, answering the question that just ran through my head.

"I like you Brandon." I breathed, his eyes slightly widened as he froze and I knew he was probably panicking hearing me say that. "But I know you don't feel the same way and that's a huge reason I freaked out on Saturday." I paused, preparing to lie, but in a way it was somewhat true to me. " And Sky wouldn't be alright after he reacted on Saturday. I don't want to be the reason you guys destroy your friendship. I wanna be with someone who actually likes me for me and not just my body like you do." He scoffed.

"I like your face too." He said, clearly trying to change the serious subject with humor and while I forced some laughter, I was little hurt and embarrassed.

"Thanks I guess." He just nodded his head as the awkwardness came about. "But anyways, I'm um, I'm sorry for overreacting like I did and I'll be sure to clear up any rumors people are starting or talk about today, okay ?" He said nothing and just briefly nodded his head. "Alright then..." I embarrassingly said and with that, I turned around to head to my locker.

I literally had to close my eyes as I walked away from him. I had never been rejected before. Mainly because I never stick my neck out there first and after this, I'll probably never do it again. I was just pretty sure he did feel something for me. After all he did came to my house yesterday, even if I wasn't there and if what Sky said is true and he stayed in instead of celebrating the start of his career cause of me, I wasn't crazy for thinking he did feel something, right ?

"So you actually told him ?" Flora asked, me and the girls sitting at our table at lunch.

"Yeah." I replied, looking over my shoulder and seeing Brandon laughing at his mates and Layla who was sitting with Nabu at their signature lunch table. "And he didn't even address it." I sighed, the embarrassment taking over my body as I looked back to my friends. "He literally just brushed it off..." Bloom sighed.

"I mean at least you talked about everything. There are some girls talking nasty shit about what happened Saturday night." I scoffed, Musa giving me the latest gossip. "You really don't get it Stella, and a lot of girls are drooling after him. You know how many girls would died to be in your shoes last weekend ?" Musa scoffed.

"Mitzi would have." They laughed, fist bumping each other. But that ceased down as soon as they saw the look on my face. "Sorry." I scoffed.

"Anyways, have you guys mastered the modern dance we learned last Thursday ?" Bloom scoffed.

"Almost ! I can't figure out that last eight count ! It's just so weird and doesn't feel natural to my body."

"Same !" Flora said. "I was hoping you could help me with it sometime before practice today Stella." I nodded my head, seeing as they needed to have it perfected by then anyways. We had to all perform the routine individually for the coach today and this dance as well as the four others we would be learning determined who would be selected as the first squad members for our first competition in just two months.

"I'm done eating !" I started, setting the fork down in the nasty food before me. "There's still like 15 minutes of the lunch left and the halls are empty. Let's just go knock it out now."

"Sounds good to me ! We should ask Layla as well." Bloom said and with that, we all picked up our trays and headed towards the trashcan. But what sucked was I had to walk up to Brandon's table to ask Layla and as I neared it, his laughing ceased at the sight of me and we just stared at each other.

"Hey Flora !" Mitzi's familiar voice called for my friend, stopping us in our tracks when we were beside Brandon's table. Mitzi and her clique were sitting at the table right across from him. "Just thought I should let you know, you might wanna push a bit harder today at dance. It's not looking too good for aou and your two left feet sweetheart." Flora blushed, being her insecure self but Musa scoffed. Mitzi was always doing stuff like this to her and I really could not figure out why.

"Wow, aren't you a top notch of team mate ?" Musa replied, sarcasm noticeably in her tone and grabbing the attention of the tables around us as Mitzi and her friend's laughter ceased.

"You head her. What kind of team player disses her own teammate ?" She chuckled, turning to face Bloom and sitting up straight and tall in her chair.

"One who is honest and knows who should and should not have made the team in the first place." She then looked to me and I honestly had enough of her picking on her teammates.

"So you wanna be honest, huh ?" I asked, setting my tray on Brandon's table. And I could feel so many eyes on us, including Brandon's, Sky's and the boy's. "Here is some honesty; I'm still trying to figure out how 'someone' who can't even master simple fouette turns are in this team." I scoffed. "You have no right to judge your teammates for their skills if yours aren't perfect neither."

"Come again." Courtney Teal snapped, standing on her feet. I chuckled.

"I'm sorry, you know those little spinny things we do on our toes at practices ?" I said, talking to her like she was five and a complete idiot. There was already a ton of chuckling coming from all corners of the room.

"You've got some bloody nerves Solaria !" Mitzi said, her and Grace standing up beside their friend.

"You know that Meghan, our dance coach, is Grace's mother, right ? We could have you thrown off the team so fast !" I scoffed.

"Right ! But you forgot that I'm the team captain and Stella's gonna choreograph the hip-hop routine that only she knows how to lead." Layla said as she rose to her feet. Mitzi and her crew said nothing and Musa, Bloom, Flora and I were laughing; whispering and chuckling from lunch student's filling the room. "Maybe you need to worry about Flora's two left feet a little less and more about your lack of equilibrium cause at the rate you're going, we'll never making it to the DA Competitions like you think we were." A dry chuckle escaped Mitzi's lips.

"What the hell do you know about the DAC's Layla ?" I scoffed.

"Well, I heard a lot about them from Stella here." Layla started, looking over her left shoulder to see my smartass smile plastered on my face. Mitzi scoffed, shooting to me with a dirty look. "I know what they wanna see because I've won the O'10 competition." I paused. "Twice." Oh's filled the room, Mitzi folding her arms beneath her annoyingly exposed breasts.

"And know you think you could teach me how to properly dance or what ?" Mitzi started, I shrugged my shoulders, not really wanting to get further into that conversation.

"Who the fuck do you think you are ? You think just because you've been hanging with the boys you're a goddess now or something ?" I scoffed.

"No honey, I'm not !" The loudest laughter of the room filled our ears yet. "Listen, I'm not trying to embarrass you here but if you haven't realized yet, but Sky's my brother-..."

"Damn !" I heard Riven say, laughing with the other kids in the room.

"Let's just end this conversation and agree you hop off Flora's back and attempt to be somewhat of a decent teammate from here on out, yeah ?" I continued, earning a scoff from Mitzi.

"Alright bitch. I've been nice to you, but clearly you've got that Espinoza ego I can admit comes as soon as you hang out with him." She chuckled, stepping closer to me so just I and the girls could hear her. "Oh, but that's right. Rumor has it, you thought he liked you and you dumbass actually told him how you felt today, just to get rejected." My eyes widened, my fist clenching as she stepped even closer to me. "I guess that's why you screamed rape, yeah ? You thought maybe that would buy you more time with him since you clearly don't stand a chance ?" Mitzi's devious smile stretched across her face; my crazy eyes showing when I heard Blooms voice from behind me.

"Wow, you really had the audacity to say that shit." Bloom said, stepping beside me.

"Back the fuck off Bloom !" Courtney said, stepping right in front of my best friend.

"Alright Toxic Teal " Bloom said, earning the loudest uproar of laughter in this room."You voice will bloody matter when you test negative for once and gain just a bit more dignity after all the screwing you've done in this school." Courtney scoffed.

"Fine, we can go get tested together then. Cause Sky felt me before you."

"Oh shit..." Sky breathed from the table and as I looked to my friend, that scary laugh when she's about to really hurt someone neither physically or mentally escaped her lips.

"Pipe down Bloom." Mitzi said, again grabbing my attention. "You two really think your something special for hanging with the boys." I scoffed.

"Or maybe you're just that jealous cause one of those boys had been hanging with you but just ditch you when he found something better." Her eyes widened at Bloom's words, every guy ohing and laughing at the girl.

"BITCH!" Mel yelled, raising her hand to slap Bloom. But she instantly caught her wrist, turning it before she fell to her knees, screaming from the pain.

"Let her go !" Courtney yelled. And from the side of my eyes, I could see she was about to hit Bloom, but I delivered a hard shove to her chest and she fell back in her chair.

"Ready to get a fell of me ?" I snapped, rolling up my sleeve and with that, people instantly crowding us, chanting 'fight' before we both just focused on our opponents. But before I could do any move, I felt a large, strong arm wrap around my waist and I was being lifted up and pulled away from Courtney. "SKY !" Bloom yelled and when I looked to my left, I saw her being carried away too.

"Put me down !" I snapped, already knowing who was carrying me out of the room. And I kept kicking, but he refused to put me down till we're out of the common area and actually behind the doors of the empty music hall at the other end of the cafeteria. "What the hell Brandon!" I roared, my two feet meeting the ground before I turned around to face him. But he quickly grabbed my arms and pressed my back against the wall.

"Calm the fuck down Stella !" I was shaking and my breathing was rapid. I was so mad and my defense mode was completely on. I just wanted to hurt Mitzi not just for trying to hit my friend, but actually bringing up Saturday night and me being rejected today.

"Let me go !" I snapped, trying to move. But he was too strong and I wasn't going anywhere.

"Stell !" He yelled, but I wasn't hearing him. Everything was going black again. "Stella !" He called for me again, his hands moving to the side of my face as my loud rapid breathing filled the quiet hall. "Take deep breaths." He whispered. But I felt like I was about to explode and it was just really painful. "Stella, breath !" He again whispered, his thumbs softly rubbing my cheeks. And when I finally took a deep breath and listened to him, I felt my pulse slowing down. So I continued taking slower and softer breathes till the sight of his face became clearer and I was finally calmed down.

"I'm fine " I breathed, Brandon slowly removing his hands fro the sides of my face.

"You have got a bad temper, you know that ?" I said nothing, looking away from his face and to the ground. "You can't go around and using what you've learned at the gym and hitting other people." I scoffed.

"Are you telling me this right now ?I delivered a shove, I didn't hit anyone. Like you don't do stuff like this on a daily basis."

"It's different." I again scoffed, folding my arms beneath my chest."I'm a guy Stella. That's what we do."

"So since I'm a girl, I can't earn my respect ?" He scoffed.

"Naw, it's never not you trying to earn your respect. Every time I've seen you freak out, something's been triggering and you are not yourself." He paused, me getting uncomfortable as he told me about myself."I've seen the look in your eyes three times now Stella. What the hell are you so afraid of ?" I looked to him, glaring in his eyes and frankly after today, he didn't need to know why I was the way I was.

"Why do you care Brandon." He said nothing, earning a scoff from me as I shook my head. "I'm such a hypocrite. I just talked all the shit to Mel, but in the end of the day I'm not better than her when it comes to you." I paused, Brandon just staring at me. "I let you fool me just like you did to her and I embarrassed myself when I thought I could trust you and tell you how I felt. But that was the biggest because you really everything I thought you were before we even met and if I could, I'd take that moment back right now."

"Really ?" He asked, stepping closer to me.

"Brandon, stop " I said, pushing him away from me. And as I tried to walk away from him, he grabbed my wrist and pushed me right back against the wall. "Brandon, seriously, d-..."

"Will you shut the hell up for five seconds !" He snapped, silencing me. "You're always lecturing me but you never take the time to listen !" I looked to him with furrowed brows.

"You never respond to anything !" I, this time, snapped.

"Cause you always start bitching or walk away before I can !" I scoffed.

"If we're seriously talking about those moments where you just stare at me and make me feel like a complete idiot, you've got some major communication issues Brandon !" He sighed. "That's not normal !"

"It's when you're someone who actually thinks before they bloody speak Stella !" I stayed quiet and a groan escaped Brandon's lips before he placed his hand against the wall, right above my shoulder and looked down between the two of us.

"W-Why are you thinking so much when you talk to me then ?" He sighed, finally looking back up to me with so much contemplation in his eyes.

"Because..." He scoffed. "I'm always trying to stay a step ahead of you. You're the fist girl I can't figure out and it's driving me crazy. You're acting like you want nothing to do with me, despite who the fuck I am."

"I just told you what you've been clearly waiting for then, so what's your excuse for saying nothing this time ?" He sighed, shacking his head.

"The fact that in the process of trying to figure you, I..." He paused, our eyes locking as he struggled to say what he wanted to. "I caught feelings for you too, Stella." My eyes slightly widened and I was beyond lost. "Look, I don't know what the hell this is. I just know I think you're pretty, that I like being around you and I like having a conversation with a girl who can actually hold one."

"Then...Then why didn't you say something ?" He sighed.

"Because, I care about you. Not just cause you're Sky's sister but because like I said, I don't wanna lead you on because," He paused, my brows furrowing." I don't do relationships and I'm the wrong person for that." I scoffed.

"Who said I wanted to be in one ?" He this time looked to me with confusion." Brands I like you for same reasons you like me. I'm really attracted to you and I had a lot of fun last week." He softly chuckled at that. "But the drama that comes with just being linked to you is a pain and I can't feed my brother with lies forever. He will find out and when he does he'll be furious."

"Then what do you want Stell ? Why tell me how you feel if you don't wanna have a relationship ?"

"I want to get to know you !" I bluntly sated and a sly smile stretched on his face as he steppe closer to me. "The real you." He softly chuckled, his hand grabbing my waist as I looked up to the tall boy.

"But there might be things you won't like." I nodded my head, biting my bottom lip before a small smile appeared on my face.

"I'm aware of that !" I shook my head before I presented the piece I knew he wasn't going to like.

"And I want you to show me how serious you are about me." His face changed, my message getting to him instantly.

"Wasn't chasing you out of the bloody house when you freaked out too stuble for you ? Or the fact that I drove to your place to reach you afterwards ? Or maybe even the fact I just pulled you out of a bloody fight so you wouldn't get suspended ?" I sighed, saying nothing."Stell, I don't think you know how scared I was when I saw you crying on Saturday. You were all I thought about this weekend, and I couldn't even enjoy what should have been one of the best few days of my life because the entire time, I was worried I hurt you. If you can't see how much I cared about you yet, you must be blind."

"So what ? I'm supposed to thank you for treating me better than you normally treat females ?" He scoffed.

"What ? No, it's just..." He sighed, discomfort taking over his body. "I just wanna be around you. But after Saturday, I know I'm never gonna be the one to make the first move again." I looked to him with slightly widened eyes.

"What part of I caught feelings don't you comprehend ? I told you, I like you. I'm just the wrong person to have a relationship with."

"But you are gonna keep sleeping around?" He froze, and he was just thinking so hard. It was insane how terrified he was for this step. "It's not a 'relationship' Brands. We're just talking and seeing where it goes, I guess." He sighed, looking down between us."Alright, I'm not gonna beg you for this." I stated, trying to walk away from him. But his hand instantly met my stomach and he pushed me back against the wall.

"What the hell did we just talk about ?" He snapped and I just sighed, rolling my eyes. How much time did he need to freaking think about this ? "I've never committed myself to one person before ! Forgive me if I'm a bit uneasy !"

"I just don't get what's so hard about this. I mean we could be friends, but let's be real. How mad would you get if I hooked up with someone else ?" He scoffed.

"You'd never." I said nothing and just looked at him basically saying, try me.

"How mad would you be ?" He looked at me, hard in the eyes.

"I'd be pissed as hell Stella and the idiot could potentially end up in the hospital." I just nodded my head, making my point and soon he was sighing. "Alright, fine. We're..." He paused, taking a deep breath. "We're seeing each other and no one else, Okay ?" I softly smiled, rolling my eyes and nodding my head just before the school bells rang.

"Do you wanna hang out at my place today ? I can pick you up after practice ?" I just nodded my head. "See you then." I continued as I started walking passed him, but he again grabbed my wrist, pushing me back against the wall. And before I could react, he was completely hovering over me, ; his hand caressing my cheek and his other placed on my hip.

"What are we doing about Sky ?" I softly smiled, Brandon's sly one coming about before he pressed his lips on mine and my hands instantly grabbed his cut waist as the lingering kisses continued in the empty hall.

"We won't tell him as long we don't know where this goes." I mumbled on his lips.

"Guess that's our secret then." He said before he leaned in for another kiss.

Guys this chapter was pure torture for me ! I didn't like it at all ! Please tell me what you think about this crap of letters. It took me ages to finish this.

Next one is going to be way better I promise !

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Zieta xx