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Chapter 6

A few days later Ezra found me in the pottery room, telling me he saw me run past his building, I make an excuse why I didn't stop by, not wanting to dismiss him right away. He wraps his arms around me and starts kissing my shoulder and neck, making me cringe inside.

"Can we do this later?" I ask nicely, he backs off.

"How are things at home?"

"Sucky."

"Look kids do stupid things. Probably one of his friends put him up to it."

"He's broken into other houses before." I inform him, wishing I didn't have to retell everything. "Jason found Mike trying to break into his house a few weeks ago."

"Jason," Ezra says with distaste. "As in Ali's brother? Jason? Is that what you two were talking about the other night?"

"Yeah," I say thinking back to Jason offering to talk to Mike. "Something like that." He walks with me as I put up my pottery, asking a million questions about Jenna and my brother like he always does, it's like I'm his research project sometimes. He tells me I don't have to be embarrassed around him about anything, and all I can think is that he is embarrassed of me all the time, why would I want to tell him anything to make him more embarrassed?

"Maybe you can stop by my place later?"

"Sure," I say without much feeling, he gives me his hurt puppy face so I manage a smile and tell him i'll call him later, just wanting him to give me a break.

"So, should I be worried about you, and this Jason guy?" Ezra asks seriously.

"What? No," I say immediately. I never thought of Jason like that, as us having a possible romantic relationship. He has just been there for me lately and I him, we've connected more than I have with my friends or Ezra in a while. But romantically connected? "No," I say shaking my head and turning around. I don't think so.

"Hey Jason, sorry I was at the hospital with Emily when you called, whats up?" I call Jason on the way home, needing to hear his voice to calm down after Emily and Spencer attack me with reasons why Jason was Ali's killer.

"I just wanted to check up on you, I haven't heard from you since Saturday. Is Mike doing alright?"

"He is refusing to talk about what he did or why he did it, it's making my life even more difficult," I say, leaning back in my seat while I sit at a red light.

"Are you doing alright?" Jason asks, picking up on my tone.

"Yeah, my friends and I just got done fighting when I called you."

"What about?"

You. "You don't want to know." I tell him seriously, not finding it in me to lie but not wanting to tell him we don't think Ian did it either.

"I don't care what you all fought about, that's true, but i do want to know if i can make you feel better." My heart swells at his words, but the car behind me honks for me to go when i don't notice the light change. "Are you in your car?"

"Yeah I just left the hospital, I'm headed home to crawl in bed and sleep until Monday."

Jason pauses on the other line and speaks up as I enter the neighborhood, "why don't you stop by my house? I can make you some comfort food." I can hear his smile as he speaks, encouraging me to take a left to his house.

"Well... I should get home..."

"I have cookie dough that my mom left behind."

"Are you trying to bribe me, Dilurantes?" I ask, shutting off my head lights and pulling into his driveway and around by his garage so that Spencer doesn't see my car when she gets home.