I flinch at the loud thud the door makes as it closes. I breathe out a sigh of relief, my heart still pounding from the lie I just told. But... what else could I have done? This way makes everyone happy, Courtney gets to hang out with me, Raven won't be upset, and I can talk to Courtney and get Raven's notebook back. Yes, this is the right thing to do...

I sigh and decide to clean off my coffee table of all my papers, sliding them all into one pile and stuffing them into a folder. I pick up the now empty tea mugs and bring them to the kitchen, throwing out the tea bags and putting the mugs in the sink.

I look at the clock and see that I still have fifteen minutes until I have to meet Courtney. "That should be enough time to get to the station," I say aloud. I go to my room and put on my black leather jacket and my short, red boots. I grab my purse from where it hangs on my bedpost, and throw in my wallet, my phone, a pack of gum, and my lip balm into it.

I leave my apartment and close the door but immediately pause, "Crap I forgot my keys," I angrily mutter, opening the door again. I run in and grab them from the coffee table in the living room, immediately pocketing them. I run back out, closing the door softly and locking it. I lean against my door and sigh again. I guess I'm really going through with this... I hope everything goes well.

I peel myself away from the cold metal door, testing the handle once more to make sure it locked properly. I run down the metal stairs, each of my footsteps making a quick clacking sound. After I hit the ground, I begin to walk in the direction of the station, which is the same way as school. As I walk, I notice that the streets and the roads are quiet, as school got out a while ago and most jobs probably don't end until six.

The quiet is nice, though, it makes the town seem beautiful, especially in the setting sun's light. I close my eyes and breathe in the cold crisp air, taking in the tranquility of this scene. I feel so free and unstressed right now, and for a moment I forget about my current problems, but as soon as they disappear in my mind, they return.

I take out my phone and see that I've been walking for five minutes already, only ten more minutes until five. If I don't hurry I'll be late.

I walk for another six minutes in a faster pace before I arrive at the station. When I look around I don't see Courtney but a vending machine catches my eye. I smack my mouth feeling that it's dry so I walk to it to get a drink. I take out a dollar bill and two quarters, putting them into the machine. "Hmm what do I want..." I hum as I scan the options.

I click the button for a bottle of iced tea, the machine shakes a little, and a bottle iced tea comes out in the bottom with a thud. I bend over to pick it up, and as I stand back up, a hand touches my shoulder, which startles me. I juggle the bottle around a little before I firmly grasp it again and I turn around to find Courtney standing there, a gentle smile on her face. "Oh, hi Courtney," I say with a small wave.

She waves back, "hey Addie."

We stand in silence for a few seconds, not knowing what else to say to each other. I break the silence, asking, "so where are we gonna go now?"

"I thought that we could go watch a movie in the theatre two blocks from here."

"Oh, so we're not taking a train?" I ask, turning towards the trains.

"No, this was more of just a meeting place. Come on let's go." I glance at her from over my shoulder and see that she is already walking away; I quickly turn on my toes and catch up to her, walking beside her. I open my bottle and take a sip from it, finally relieved of my thirst. I take another sip and see Courtney staring strangely at the bottle, the look almost sad.

"Want a sip?" I ask her shyly.

My words seem to snap her out of a deep thought, "no, it's ok, I don't particularly like tea. It's just that I don't think I've ever seen that brand before," she says as she shakes her head and waves her hand, with her normal smile and an awkward laugh.

"Oh, alright..." I say quietly, fumbling with my bottle to get it into my purse.

We walk in silence the rest of the way there, each of us awkwardly stealing glances at each other. A few times I opened my mouth to say something, but I could never seem to find something to talk about. It seems that I truly know nothing about her, but I guess that means I'll have to get to know her, but where do I start?

"Hey... Courtney... umm..." I begin to say before she turns into an alley behind the theatre. "Shouldn't we go that way? The entrance is on this side, isn't it?" I question, forgetting what I was going to say before.

"Yeah, it is, but we're going to meet someone here, and she says she can get us in through the back, that way the movie is free," she stops and takes out her phone, typing away on it. I don't want to be rude to her, so I don't question her further, but this seems like something immoral to me...

As I slowly walk into the alley, I look around to see the back of the theatre. It's made of old red bricks with a row of windows high off the ground. The opposite side of the alley is a bowling alley, which is made of the same red brick. The bowling alley wall seems to have no windows, and looks older than the theatre.

Courtney keeps typing away at her phone, her nails clicking against the screen, the sound echoing throughout the alleyway. After a short time, Courtney sighs and pockets her phone, the phone only to ding again as she does this. She doesn't look at her phone again, though, and instead turns toward me. "My friends will be a short while longer, they were supposed to be here by now, but they're running late."

"Oh, that's alright. I don't mind." We both turn away from each other, the air becoming heavy and awkward.

After a little while of just waiting around, I hear a loud familiar laugh from the distance. "Oh there they are!" Courtney says, waving to them. Oh crap! Why them?! I look over and see Jessica and Tiffany walking towards us, smirks plastered on their faces.

I should've known they were the 'friends'. I mean, they're the only people I ever see Courtney with. I try to force a smile at them as they walk towards us, until I see what they are laughing at.

Raven's notebook.

What's wrong with them? Why can't they just leave Rae alone?! I grit my teeth and squint my eyes, trying to hide my anger.

"Good job Courtney, you got her here," Tiffany says with a smirk.

"What do you mean by that?" I angrily ask them, my eyes cold as I glare at them.

"Oh, we just want to have a little chat is all~" Tiffany tells me, an evil smile coming to her face.

"Well I don't want to talk to you right now," I say, my voice shakey. I was feeling a little confident before but as they come closer I feel my heart weaken.

"Well, we need to talk to you, so let's talk," Jessica chimes in, the same evil grin on her face.

"Well, what is it you need to talk about?"

"Oh we just want to teach you not to mess with us," Tiffany says, putting her hand on her hip and closing Raven's notebook with one hand.

I quickly walk up to her in anger and rip it from her hands, clutching it close to my chest. "Hey, didn't your parents ever tell you it's rude to take a book someone is reading?" Jessica mockingly asks.

"Didn't your parents ever tell you it's rude to steal?" I retort. I feel pride lift up my spirits, maybe I can stand up to them after all.

"Hey! You guys told me that you just wanted to apologize to her!" Courtney says with annoyance in her voice.

"Ha! Why would we do that?! Of course we're going to teach her not to talk back to us. Don't you know us better?" Jessica fake pouts.

"Just get that notebook back or everyone will know your secret. The secret that you're actually some poor, homeless girl who had to do disgusting things to earn money, until your saviors came," Tiffany dramatically flips her hair, "your saviors, Jessica and I, helped you out so much, so now help us, ok~"

"Fine." Courtney says with a quick breath. She looks down to the ground, her face becoming dark and somber.

"Courtney... what are they talking about? I thought you were rich?"

Is one of the only things I know about her a lie? Do I truly know her less than I thought I did?

"She was, but then her father died and her poor mom committed suicide, so with no family she was left all alone. She'd probably be dead from some STD by now if we hadn't found her sorry ass," Tiffany says snottily. That tone... why did she have to say it like that... it's like she has no sympathy towards her...

"I'd be scared if I were you, Courtney was the president of the karate club until she had to quit because of her 'other occupations'," Jessica giggles.

I quickly turn my frightened gaze back to Courtney, who is slowly coming closer to me. I back up against the wall behind me, my legs shaking a little. "Courtney... please..." I breathe.

I see her pull back her fist for a punch, so I dodge, running away down the alley. I am then trapped, another red brick wall blocking my path. I quickly turn around, Courtney walking towards me. "Come on, make this quick, we don't have all day," I hear Tiffany complain.

"I'm... sorry..." Courtney whispers as she draws near me. Who was she apologizing to? What for?

"Courtney... what's so bad about people knowing you're poor? So what if you're poor, I'm not that rich either!" I try to reason with her, my hands visibly shaking.

"It's not about the fact that I'm poor... I... I did awful things to get money, to just get food in my stomach..." a tear forms in her eye, but doesn't fall. "But... despite my reputation being ruined, let's just say I'd be jailed for some of the things I did."

"So? That's all in the past now, they can't prove you did any of those things, so why?"

"They do have proof of what I did... that's why I have to obey them..." she grits her teeth and clenches her fist tighter. "All of this was their plan. I guess they just hated that you talked back to them... but maybe you won't do that in the future, because now you know what they're like..." she says, getting ready to throw a punch.

I put up my arms to block, the sting of the punch coming seconds later. I grit my teeth because of the pain and shake out my arms. "Please..." I mutter before she kicks me in my stomach, making me fall to the ground and drop the notebook.

Courtney picks it up and throws it to Jessica and Tiffany. Tiffany catches it and smirks, "good job. Now, teach her not to mess with us," they begin to walk away, laughing.

"Oh and I'd be careful of your 'friend'. Some of the things in this notebook are just plain creepy and uncanny," Jessica adds with a smirk.

"Most of it isn't even in English, and they aren't recognized by translators, so who knows what other strange things are in here," Tiffany says, flipping through the notebook.

"Yeah, it kinda scares me that I have to go to school with this weirdo," Jessica adds, laughing loudly.

I growl, dodging another punch from Courtney and running past her up to Jessica and Tiffany. I punch Tiffany in the face and kick Jessica in the stomach. At this moment an image, more of a memory, flashes through my head, but it disappears before I can tell what it was.

I look down at my fists, trying to picture it more clearly. I try harder to think of what it was, closing my eyes and clearing my mind, but a sharp pain shoots through my head. What could this pain be, it comes when I try to remember things but disappears as quickly as it comes. It's like a dog's shock collar and my mind is the master, telling me it's bad to remember.

I turn around at the sound of someone running toward me and I see Courtney, ready to throw a punch. I brace for a punch, ready to take the pain, but it never comes. Slowly, I look up and see Raven standing in front of me, Courtney's punch caught in her hand. "Rae..." I breathe. She turns her head around and stares at me, her gaze cold.

A/N:
Hi hi! Hope you enjoyed!

Ooh boy Rae is getting in on that action now! Do you think she just happened to be there or was she perhaps following Addie?

Well anyway, a lot will be revealed soon, but I'll explain all later

Anyway, please comment, vote, and keep reading! 💛