The next few days after my return to school were tumultuous, to say the least. After what Derris did to the guy who assaulted me, no one approached me directly again.Instead, their attacks were more discreet. I got messages instead. Notes, private anonymous messages from people telling me all the nasty things that they couldn't say to my face for fear of upsetting Derris.Every day, I walked into school, looking at the faces around me, wondering who sent the last messages.Nellie told me to just ignore it and not read them but sometimes I just couldn't help it and I got hurt.Some were even accompanied by pictures from the clip and lewd messages. The video had been taken down but pictures couldn't exactly be erased.I tried to ignore it and not let all the whispers, murmurs and messages get to me like Nellie advised but it was easier said than done.I felt trapped at school like my every move was being watched and at home too. I knew that s

After my conversation with my dad, I got back to Mr Raymond as soon as possible and told him that I had accepted his offer. He was ecstatic, to say the least. He told me to inform him whenever I planned to come to England so my accommodation could be made available.I did, however, have a few months before the dance academy came back into session.My dad and I planned to move to England though as soon as the house sold so we were working towards that.The thought of moving filled me with fear and excitement. I would be leaving Nellie and the life I had known for years to an entirely different environment. Then again, after the year I had had, the prospect of moving was pretty exciting.It was a mix of emotions. Nellie had been pretty sad when I told her my plans."You know I'm always going to have your back no matter what. I'm so happy for you— and also sad. I'm going to miss you, Allison," she sniffled. I rolled my eyes at her dramatics.

Long story short, I missed my flight the next day. It was a little hard to explain why I couldn't leave town just yet to my dad but being the caring person he was, he understood. Since the family who bought our house didn't have plans to move in just yet, we didn't have to move out yet so our accommodation was settled, at least for now. The next few days after Derris' accident though, were anything but. As it turned out, his injuries were a lot severe and he had to be rushed into surgery two times while still being in a coma. Every moment he spent in surgery was a moment I spent wondering if he would come out alive. And when he did, I was torn between being happy that he made it out and devastated that he was still in a coma. But after seeing his car and the accident scene, it really was a wonder he hadn't died on the spot. Supposedly, Derris had crashed into a parked car from behind and then had his car run into by another car. The police rep

Neither Derris nor I spoke about the situation with his mom again. Things were a little tense because of it so ignoring it was probably for the best. The next day, Derris got discharged from the hospital so he could finally go home which was enough cause for celebration. But I was also reminded of the fact that that meant I would be leaving soon. I had told my dad to book another flight, guaranteeing him that nothing was going to stop us from leaving this time. The flight was booked to go in three days. Three days to say goodbye to everything and everyone I'd ever known and loved. It was a little depressing but I tried my best not to focus on my nearing departure and just live in the moment and at the moment, I was happy that Derris was doing okay and out of the hospital. After he was released to us, we — consisting of Max, Caleb, Jeremy, Nellie, Derris and I — piled into Max's car and drove to Derris' house. The atmosphere was filled with excitement

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" I inquired, looking at his stitched-up wound with concern. "I'm sure. You heard the medic. It wasn't really serious. The bullet just grazed me. I'll be fine," he assured me but it did nothing to abate my worry. "But still... You could have been seriously injured. Why did you have to rush in like that?" "It was all worth it to make sure you didn't leave here in a body bag. I'd do anything to protect you," he stated, staring seriously at me. "How about you try not to die while you're at it?" He chuckled. "I'll do my best." I nodded to show that I was satisfied and continued to look at his wound.  "Allison?" he called. I looked up from the wound. "Yes?" "About what Aria said—" he started. I raised my hand to stop him. "I don't want to hear it. Be it the truth or not," I told him. "I still want you to know. I've kept it to myself for so long but I didn't know how I w