Idaho is supposedly one of the most boring US states. Well, Winter Oaks definitely wasn't boring anymore, making Idaho slightly less boring. Why? Oh. Because a girl who'd been presumably dead suddenly made her appearance in math class, making everyone audibly gasp— which, yet again, doesn't happen that often in real life. 

But it did. 

It was like seeing a dead body, a zombie, or a vampire. Or worse, kissing young Leonardo di Caprio. The worse reaction was probably from Liv. Her best friend arriving in class like a flower in spring... Without warning. She almost fainted. And Liv wasn't a fainting type of girl. She was a I'll-cut-your-balls-off-if-you-annoy-me type of girl. 

The teacher herself looked stunned when she saw the blue-eyed girl come in, Blake and Sam following closely. 

" What in the Gollum is going on here?" she muttered, half to herself, half to her class 

" Sorry we're late, Teach'!" Babylon said cheerfully " I'm so happy to start off this year with math!"

Another round of audible gasps filled the room. Babylon didn't seem to hear them. 

" Uh... yes... That's very good. Go fill up the places still available, girls... Uh... Um. Yeah. Let's... Let's..."

Needless to say, the morning went along strangely every single time Babylon entered a class. 

The bell rang. It was time for the morning break. Babylon and her friends all got out of the main building to go sit on the grass. Liv was wide-eyed, and she kept pinching herself, trying to figure out if she was dreaming or not. They sat on the damp grass, all silent. 

" Can I know why no one is talking? Cause... Awkward." Babylon stated, pointing out the very obvious 

Liv couldn't help but nervously chuckle. Another trademark  for the day. But she didn't have time to say whatever snarky remark she had up her sleeve, because the whole student body of Peters High was heading for them. All three thousand of them. 

It wasn't really difficult to guess why... The number one headline "MISSING GIRL" was back. And she looked as unfazed as possible. Like she'd never left... Which she seemed to firmly believe. So firmly she'd refused to be interviewed during school time.

The first wave of curious teenagers arrived to their spot. Blake, Liv and Sam tried subtly sign to them that now wasn't the moment, but it was like speaking any other language than English to a stereotypical American: they just didn't want to listen. 

" Oh my word! It's really true! We totes all wanted you to be back, Baby, I mean, oh my gosh, you were like, for reals gone! We thought you were maybe..." She whispered with a hand parallel to her mouth " you know... Dead" 

Babylon looked any them, still unfazed. 

" Yeah, like Mercedes said! We all were hoping you'd be safe and sound, we were even gonna open a charity and everything!"

" Yeah, and call it the Olympic Babylon Charity! It was gonna have totally cute designs and everything! Like pink and all... Because it was your favorite color..."

" It was my favorite when I was six. Back when y'all still spoke to me." 

" Yeah... Um..."

There was an awkward silence. Evidently, the bored townspeople of Winter Oaks didn't know when to stop, so Mercedes and her fans kept talking. 

" Chad also, like, totally admitted he had a crush on you and was like, devastated that you were gone. He even... Like;.. Kissed your picture and everything."

" Great."

Unfazed. Amused even. Samantha was wondering what was going through her besties brain. Normally, Babylon had been the really shy type, the one that only spoke to people she was really, really confortable around. Now... Now she was snarky and almost downright mean... 

That brought her to wonder what could have possibly happened that summer. Why couldn't her friend remember it, why had she changed so much... so many questions that weren't answered yet, that would never be answered if Lonnie wasn't going to help out the Detectives... 

" He's like, probably gonna ask you out or some—"

" Look, Mercedes. Guys. Leave us alone? She's... She's been gone for a while and she's our best friend. You guys didn't know she existed before we all thought she didn't anymore. Give her a breather, alright?"

" It's alright actually, Sammy. I don't mind their questions. It's funny, actually, because... I never went missing."

" What is she saying?" a blonde girl asked, hidden behind Mercedes and a couple of other chicks 

" She has a little... problem. She thinks she never went missing."

" I'm right here you know... and I don't think. I know."

Once more, an audible gasp went through the crowd. It was like a wave of strangeness. It made them all turn their heels and go. Awkwardly. Lonnie watched them go, smiling. 

" I don't see why they had to leave. A little attention for once was quite pleasing."

" Lonnie..."

" What, Olivia? I'm simply stating the truth."

" Lon... You've been gone for a long while. You don't seem to realize it, but you do get that if everyone agrees on that, it means it happened, right?"

" It could also mean everyone's gone delirious overnight from like, water poisoning or something which is possible here in the US, and I'm right."

" Water wouldn't cause us to be this crazy."

" Something else then. Meat maybe? I think I'm like the only vegetarian in Winter Oaks."

Samantha shook her head frantically, than gazed at her pretty best friend. She seemed like she had no physical apparent trauma. As if she'd simply hidden for two months and came back with no memories of anything. 

" Let's say you're right," Olivia said, playing the game" and everyone except you has gone mad. How come we have the same madness? Like, why are we all fixated on your disappearance?"

" Alleged disappearance."

" Okay, alleged disappearance."

" Well... Maybe your madness includes some kind of component that distorted my mental health break into a missing person story that everyone added onto and just blew out of proportions. You invented a summer in your heads and because you all spoke of it, it became true in your heads."

" That doesn't work. We have articles, things that can't just appear during the night. You said it'd be overnight. Also, we have video camera evidence of the fact that stuff took place this summer that didn't take place in your memory of things. Hence, you remember wrong, we're right."

" I'll need to see that video camera footage to believe you."

" Man..." Blake whispered " She's gone... She's gone cray-cray"