For the next week, I ignore my uncle and Emma. It isn't very hard because they barely say anything to me. I take that back. My uncle barely says anything, unlike Emma. She's begun to get really annoying because she acts so cheerful and happy all the time. How in the world can anyone be that positive?

I guess that's why I find myself in a bad mood as I stand in front of the high school building with a frown on my face. I pull my hood up and walk up the stairs to the entrance. I push open the doors and find myself walking once again under the stares of the other students.

I hear snickers and rude comments as I walk past the jocks with their cheerleader girlfriends, some of the nerds, and some of the other outcasts. Everyone is classified under a certain category, and I hate it. I don't even belong with the "outcasts" because I'm so despised.

I walk into history and sit down in my seat. I get my notebook out to write down a story idea since nobody else is inside. Soon, the classroom begins to fill up, and I find people staring at me. I hear even more whispers.

Somebody sits down next to me, and the person taps my arm. I ignore the person and sink down into my chair. The tap comes again. I ignore it. The person taps me again. I sigh with irritation and turn to look at the person who's bugging me.

"What?" I ask the girl staring at me who has nerdy glasses and strawberry blonde hair.

"She's not in a good mood today. I'd take the hood off if I were you," she says kindly.

I roll my eyes, but I take her advice and pull my hood down. I smooth my hair and wait for class to start. The girl taps me again.

I turn and look at her and realize that she's the one who helped me the other day, so I tell her, "Look, I don't know why you somehow think I want to talk to you. Actually, I'm just trying to help you. I promise you don't want to be associated with me. Plus, I don't trust anyone in this school. Would you please leave me alone?"

She doesn't speak, so I think I've gotten her to stop annoying me, but she soon speaks up and says cheerfully, "Luckily for you, I don't trust anyone here either. I'm pretty sure nobody can tell me who to hang with and who not to hang with."

"I just told you," I mutter.

"And I ignored your warning. I understand you probably don't want to associate with a classified nerd like me, but I think we could try," she whispers.

I roll my eyes and don't respond as the teacher walks into the classroom. She begins class, and I'm thankful for the escape. I no longer have to talk to that girl. She obviously is new since she doesn't understand the way this school works with all the cliques and such, and she's too nice. How many people do you meet that are that friendly without having some ulterior motive? Plus, I can't even remember her name.

When class is over, I stand up and begin to hurry out of class alone, like usual. This time, I have someone following me. Wouldn't you know? It's the nerdy girl.

I feel stares as I walk in the hallway with her chasing after me and calling, "Maya, please."

I stop and turn to face her with a glare on my face. "How do you know my name?"

Unlike most people, she doesn't back down when she sees my face. "Look, I know you don't know me, but I promise I'm being sincere when I say I want to hang out with you and get to know you."

I'm surprised at how sincere she actually does sound, but I just simply say, "Whatever."

She opens her mouth to speak, but I walk away before she has a chance to say what she wants to say. She doesn't bother me for the rest of the day, making me extremely grateful.

I'm walking toward the path to the house after school when I hear someone's footsteps behind me. I don't bother to turn around because it's usually some idiot trying to get on my nerves.

"Maya! Wait up! I need to ask you something," the voice calls.

I sigh, knowing exactly who it is. "What?" I impatiently ask the nerd girl.

"Why?"

I turn to face her and ask, "Why what?"

She gives me a slight grin as she begins to back up from me. "I guess that's what you'll be needing to figure out."

With that, she walks off, leaving me puzzled and wondering what in the heck she meant. Who goes around asking someone a one word question that makes absolutely no sense? I shake it off and keep walking down the path to the house.

"If it isn't the famous Maya Walker," a male voice says teasingly.

I roll my eyes. "What do you want, Nick? I'd rather not talk to two people in one day."

He walks up beside me from wherever he was and says, "I didn't know you despised us people that much."

"Are you saying I'm not a person?" I demand.

He laughs. "No. I'm just saying that I knew you didn't really like other people, but I didn't know you that you despised us this much."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

He gently placed his hand on my arm and stops me from walking any further. I turn and glare at him as he points out, "Look, I'm just bringing up what you said earlier."

"And what exactly was that?"

"That you didn't want to have to talk to two people in one day," he replies, cheekily.

I roll my eyes and keep walking toward the house. He keeps walking beside me and doesn't even speak. It's slightly annoying yet also pleasant. For once, someone isn't bugging me to death.

When I get to my uncle's house, I stop and turn to him. "Well, thanks for the silent walk. Bye."

"Wait," he almost whispers as he places his hand on my arm. "I want to ask you something."

"What?" I reply.

He sighs and takes his hand off me and runs his hand through his brown hair. "Why?"

I sigh with exasperation because he asked me the same question the nerd girl asked me. "Why do you people keep asking me that? If you want to ask me why, you should expand on that."

He takes a step toward me. "Why are you so upset?"

I roll my eyes. "Like you care."

"I do."

I sigh again. "Listen, I don't know what you think you're accomplishing by talking to me and acting like you care. If this is some sort of game, I'm not playing, so I would appreciate it if you would leave me alone."

Before he can reply, I quickly walk inside the house. I take a deep breath and lean against the door, closing my eyes in the process. I just need to some peace and quiet without people bothering me and acting like they care.

"Maya?" Emma's cheery voice calls, making me cringe.

I sigh and open my eyes. "What?"

She comes around a corner, and as usual, she's smiling at me. I sigh with exasperation and don't even bother saying anything, even though I know she wants me to. She knows I've been giving her the cold shoulder, yet she's adamant that I talk to her.

"I though I heard you come in. How was school?" she asks.

I stare at her without saying anything. All she does is stare back at me. I'm tempted to say something, but I don't want to make her feel satisfied. I've let people get what they want way too often.

She finally breaks, so I walk past her to and to the stairs. Suddenly, a hand is placed around my arm, making me flinch. I turn around and see my uncle. I yank my hand out from under his soft grasp and try to make sure he didn't see me flinch. He did.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he says as though he's reading my mind.

I try to cover up by smirking. "Why would I worry about that? You can't hurt a fly."

He smiles slightly, but I know he knows the truth. "Whatever you say. Could I just talk to you?"

"Why do you want me to talk to you all of a sudden?"

"I though giving you space would work out," he replies.

I roll my eyes. "I guess not. Please leave me alone."

He surprises me by firmly stating, "No."

"No?" I ask incredulously.

He nods. "You heard me. Maya, I need to make things right with you. I'm not going to give up, and it's starting with not allowing you to walk away with me. Can't we discuss things like the adults we are?"

I sigh because he gave me no other choice but to agree. "Fine."

He just nods and gestures for me to follow him into his office. I follow him, and I walk past Emma. She just nods at me and then walks past me to the kitchen, and my uncle opens the door to his office. He holds it open for me. I walk inside and sit down.

He closes the door behind him and sits down across from me behind his desk. "So," he begins, "I want to know how you feel about me being here."

I think for a moment before replying with, "It's not the best situation, but I can bear it."

He sighs. "Maya, I want honesty."

"You came to the wrong person," I snap.

He rolls his eyes at me. "You can't at least be a little honest with me? I don't think I can help if I don't know what I can do to help this situation."

"Tell me why all of a sudden you're trying to fix everything. In the last four years I've lived here, you've never tried to form a relationship with me. Why now?" I ask.

He folds his hands and looks down for a few minutes before looking back up at me. "I just felt like I needed to start trying."

I laugh at his lie. "You're not fooling me. If you won't be honest with me, I won't be honest with you. You're not hearing anything from me until you tell me your secret."

Before he has a chance to say anything, I stand up and walk out. He doesn't follow after me, making me assume that he's given up on the idea of not allowing me to walk away. Instead of going up to my room like I usually would, I walk to the back of the house. I open the French doors leading to the back deck and close them behind me.

I take a deep breath as I stand on the deck. As soon as I feel myself relaxed, I step off the deck and walk down to the private beach. I've never really gone to the private beach, but I think I might be ready for a change. Plus, there's absolutely no way that I'll run into Cassandra or her clique, and I'm really not in the mood to run into them.

I come to wear the tide is and slip off my shoes and stand where the water can wash over my feet. I hold my shoes in my hand and close my eyes again. Once again, all I can hear is the sound of the ocean, bringing me a little peace.

"Maya?" someone asks from behind me after clearing their throat.

I open my eyes and turn around and see Nick standing behind me with an unsure look on his face. I sigh and turn back around to where I'm facing the ocean and close my eyes again.

"I'm not playing whatever this game you're playing. Was I not clear enough?" I tell him.

"This isn't a game. I don't play games, and I never plan to play games with you," he replies.

I sigh again. "What're you doing here?"

"I walk down this beach to clear my head or to just relax without having anyone question me about whether I'm okay or not. I'm surprised to see you here, though," he whispers close to my ear.

My eyes fly open, and I turn my head to the right to see that he has come and stood next to me. "Why is it surprising that I'm here?"

He smiles when he sees me looking at him. "You're not the kind of person that comes to the beach when you need to think."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I demand.

His smile drops, and his faces becomes serious. "You seclude yourself and avoid any places where there might be someone else."

"And you know this, how?"

"Like you said when you first met me, I'm observant. I tend to notice things," he replies.

I shake my head and close my eyes again. "Some people would call you a creep for watching people. Me? I call you weird."

He laughs. "With my line of work, I've had to learn to be observant in order to do well in the business."

I sigh and don't reply. To my surprise, he doesn't say anything either. The silence isn't awkward. In fact, it's a comforting silence that allows me to think in front of someone yet not be questioned.

I finally open my eyes and begin to walk away from the shore. "I'll see you later," I call over my shoulder.

"Bye, Maya," he shouts very loudly.

I find myself smiling at how loudly he shouted. I'm still smiling when I reach the deck to the house, and I quickly walk inside the house before running up the stairs to my room. I stretch my body across my bed and close my eyes, exhausted from today's events.

Still, for the first time in a long time, I finally feel a little bit of peace about my life. I want this feeling to stay, but I know that it won't. It's sad, but it's my reality that I have to face.

I sigh and find myself falling asleep.

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Chapter is dedicated to joybell_writes Tethie MISOCCERFAN and TesserWrites for always letting me know that they're reading through their votes and comments!