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I can&039;t believe we are actually doing this," Ivy said when I got into her mom&039;s Lexus SUV and we drove off to pick up Brandon and take hi Brandon in public even though we still weren&039;t open about our relationship And I thought it would be good for both of us to have a little fun since we had about teeks until his father was coood, doing so nice for soet in the habit of this," she said with a smile

"We&039;ll be the talk of the party"

"Well, it will be awesoend&039;s Run olf at the party" She didn&039;t know that she was speaking the truth "Maybe he&039;ll even wear the costume," she said hopefully

"It wasn&039;t even his," I said defensively

"How can you be so sure?" she asked

I wanted to tell her it was Nash who had hidden inside the costuot back to him that I&039;d told her, he would surely tell her he&039;d seen me in the woods with Brandon

"I just know" I said

"Always sticking up for people," Ivy said "That&039;s why you rock"

Ivy began driving us through the west side of Legend&039;s Run "What if a killer jumps out of the woods?" she asked suddenly

She wasn&039;t used to being in desolate areas, and I was only so Brandon the last few months But Ivy was freaked out by the lack of traffic and population

"Do you think we&039;ll make it out of here alive?"

"Yes," I reassured her

"What if we get a flat tire? And our cell phones don&039;t work? No one will knoe&039;re in trouble and some psycho - "

"Calm down," I said

"You have to admit, it&039;s totally creepy back here Like so Jake with us?"

I could see why she thought it was frightening, with shadows casting spooky iination race But I enjoyed the peace the country brought and felt calmed by the quiet

"It&039;s not that et to his house, too, but for different reasons

"Why would anyone want to live back here?" she asked "There aren&039;t any lights And there&039;s nothing to do"

"Some people like wide-open spaces and nature," I said "There is so ht even like it"

"There isn&039;t a h said"

Finally we turned onto Brandon&039;s street, and I pointed to the private drive sign a few yards away

She pulled into his driveway and drove down the long, tree-lined road "Where is this leading us to?" Ivy asked "I know it&039;s not a country club"

"Just keep going," I said

It didn&039;t take long before his grandparents&039; house was in view

"It&039;s so cute and tiny," she said e got close

Ivy parked the car in front of the uesthouse

"Who lives back there?" she said "So to tell her that was Brandon&039;s guesthouse, nor was I going to adrandparents&039; husky began barking like o in?" she asked "I&039;et out of the car"

Just then so by Ivy&039;s

She screa ?" I said, ht my breath and noticed a familiar smile "It&039;s just Brandon"

She lowered her"You almost scared orgeous His eyes ht blue shirt It was hard for me not to stare and even harder forinto the backseat "This is very cool of you"

"Well, it is the least we can do," Ivy said, "after you found Abby&039;s dog and all"

"Man, I&039;ll be the luckiest guy there," he said "Showing up with the two irls in school"

Ivy&039;s face flushed She was flattered by his attention and politeness Jake and Dylan spent irlfriends

"This part of town is really interesting," Ivy said, suddenly in flirt "

What? I thought The coht be easier if you turn around," he said "Saves you backing up"

"Ah," she said "Good idea"

She drove forward and turned around in front of Brandon&039;s guesthouse The lights illue backyard

"This is all yours?" she asked

"My grandparents&039;," he replied

The lot was bigger than hers, and she was impressed

Then we spotted the Jeep, which was parked off to the side

"That was a shame someone vandalized your Jeep," she said, now concerned "But it looks like you got it all off"

"Yes," he said "I did have some help"

I nervously tucked my hair behind end&039;s Run?" I asked as Ivy finished an down the drive

"It&039;s been okay"

"You don&039;t seem to have a lot of friends," Ivy said

"I have the one I need," he said Now my face flushed

"That skater chick, Hayley?" she asked "She&039;s your girlfriend?"

"No, she&039;s not," he said

"Do you have a girlfriend?" she asked, looking in the rearview mirror

"I&039;d like to think so"

"Then who is she?" Ivy pried "Do we know her?"

"Yes, I think you do"

"You ossip she could, nofro the subject

Ivy snarled, and I could tell she was let down by not getting the latest scoop

"I&039; to like it here," he said

"Well, if you haven&039;t noticed, this town is really cliquey," Ivy said as if she wasn&039;t part ofthat happen "I don&039;t knohy, but that&039;s the way it&039;s always been Too bad, really"

We parked outside Abby&039;s house There was already a line of cars, including Nash&039;s Bee at the party, but with Ivy bringing hiured he wouldn&039;t make a scene

Abby opened the door, and ere ireeted by Pumpkin She raced up to Brandon, who petted her like she was his own

Abby gave Ivy and

"Hi, Brandon," she said "Co to pull Pumpkin by her collar so she wouldn&039;t continue to jump on Brandon

"It looks like she missed you," Abby said

It took a little bit of tile her in when Brandon locked gazes with the dog

Puain

"You have a ith dogs," Abby said

We hovered in the two-story, open foyer Abby&039;s father&039;s office was on one side and a grand dining room was on the other Their furniture was too expensive to sit on, and the house looked like a ering in the foyer were obviously shocked to see Brandon in our co here?" Jake mumbled to Ivy "And why did you and Celeste pick him up?"

"Abby wanted to invite hi Pumpkin," she said

Dylan wasn&039;t pleased, either He took Abby by the ar I couldn&039;t hear

"It&039;s okay," she said, brushing hiuys," she said "Do you want a drink, Brandon?"

Abby was being a great hostess We followed her through the kitchen

"Hey, Wolfie," Jake said as we passed by Ivy pinched his elbow

"Knock it off," she said sternly

I was proud to seeup for Brandon

Abby led the way into the main room, with Pumpkin at Brandon&039;s heels A bunch of students were already drinking, talking, and having a good tioers were surprised to see an outsider like Brandon at Abby&039;s party

Abby handed us sodas and we stood around aardly It didn&039;t take long for Ivy to hang with Jake while Abby attended to her party

Brandon and I were left to hang out with each other Normally I would have been excited, but since he wasn&039;t my established boyfriend, I couldn&039;t be cozy with hi

"Where&039;s Nash?" Ivy asked, her ar out on the couch

"I think he&039;s out back," he replied

I&039;d been hoping Nash would have been there e first arrived with Ivy Then he would have seen the three of us girls together with Brandon, and it would have been less jarring The way it was now, it looked like I&039;d brought Brandon And though I didn&039;t mind that, I didn&039;t want to shove it in Nash&039;s face, since it really wasn&039;t why Brandon was here

Brandon and I hung together I wanted so badly to lean against hile up to him He was so close to me, I could sne on his skin Ith the house as Nash carin on his face until he sawwith Brandon Then his sarette s, so I was curious whose company he&039;d been in

"Well, if it isn&039;t the Wolfoers looked to see Brandon&039;s reaction

"Nash - " Abby said suddenly, coht we lost you"

"I was just getting some air and I come back to find - "

"I invited Brandon to the party," she said

"You did?"

"Yes, he saved Pumpkin so I wanted to invite him" Abby spoke low but forcefully

Pumpkin was still at Brandon&039;s side

"By the looks of it you&039;d think Pu," Dylan said We watched as Brandon petted Pu each other?" Nash whispered to me I could hear the jealousy in his voice I didn&039;t want to upset him, but it wasn&039;t like Nash had been so in love withHe acted a lot different now that eren&039;t Nash put his arled out "Do Ivy and Abby know about hiain "And what I saw?"

"Shh!" I said softly "No one knows"

Abby pulled Pu continued to want to be in his company She opened the back door to let Puirls came in from outside They all smelled like smoke It was apparent Nash hadn&039;t irls looked at us toldBrandon didn&039;t ensure hiaffectionate, but since no one was including Brandon in their conversation and I wanted to spend tiet any alone time with Brandon now that Nash was inside Nash followed us around, surveyed every move Brandon and I made, and tried to stand between us whenever possible Ivy and Abby were both absorbed in their owna hostess, so I couldn&039;t hang out with them and not be te Brandon ho other guys to parties It looks bad But I definitely don&039;t want you taking other guys home from parties"

"We&039;ll drive him home," Nash said

"Yes," Dylan confirmed "We can have a chat with our new friend"

My h our boyfriends weren&039;t violent, nothing good was to coets home," I said

"But you don&039;t have a car," Abby noted

"It&039;s only right, since we brought hiushed

"I can make my own decisions," Brandon said

"I don&039;t think it&039;s a good idea for you to be driven hoirlfriends?" Brandon pressed "Do you mean Celeste?"

Nash knew exactly what Brandon meant

"Guys, let&039;s cool it," I said

"I can call a cab," Brandon offered "In fact, I&039;ll call one now" He reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone

"A cab?" Nash said "I don&039;t think they drive to the Westside They et shot"

"That&039;s it," I said "I&039;ll take you home"

Nash snarled

"You don&039;t even have a car" Ivy repeated Abby&039;s remark

"We can walk to my house frouest, and I&039; to let him be treated like this"

"Let&039;s caluys"

"I think it&039;s getting ugly," I said "We aren&039;t having a good tiuests don&039;t kno to behave"

"Dylan, do so," Abby pressed

Her boyfriend raised his hand as if to stop us "Don&039;t let the door hit you on the way out," he teased Abby tossed a sofa pillow at hiot up "I don&039;t want to drive back to the Westside now," she said to uys down"

"Don&039;t worry," I said "You stay I&039;ll take him back"

"But you&039;ll be all alone with hi at all to worry about You saw - he&039;s very polite"

"Now I feel really bad He was really polite and we brought hiuys were awful This was supposed to be fun, not like school"

"I know," Abby whined "I wanted to be a good hostess"

"Don&039;t worry," I reassured her, giving her a hug "You were"

"I&039;ized "I really wish you&039;d both stay"

"That&039;s okay," Brandon said "I appreciate the invite"

"At least Pu o so soon" Ivy pouted

I wasn&039;t co my love for Brandon to the Even if I didn&039;t have such strong ros for him, I&039;d still have stuck up for hi so up, and it was inappropriate behavior

Nash was fuuy - a Westsider And tohe could do about it

"Please call et there," Ivy directed "Promise?"

"Of course," I said as I headed to the front door

Ivy was always motherly to me, from that first day I&039;d met her on the bus She liked to take care ofqualities

"Sorry about that," I said when I caught up to Brandon He aiting at the la for you I can&039;t blame him"