(Song of the chapter: 'Gold Rush' - Taylor Swift)

"Are you okay?"

Glancing up, I saw Kit set down his guitar, watching me with concern. I'd been glumly plinking at the keys of my piano, not in any particular kind of melody. My heart was too heavy for a song.

I nodded at him, turning back to Sandy despondently.

He hesitated. "I heard about... what happened at the party. With Jacques."

My gaze darted up again.

"Not that anyone knows exactly what happened exactly, but I saw you... afterwards."

He cleared his throat awkwardly. I waited.

Kit scratched at his neck, the skin pinking. "I haven't told you this before, but I'm really sorry. About all those years. Even though I didn't do anything to you, I still did nothing, and that's just as bad. So I'm sorry."

I thoughtfully stroked the keys, considering him. I was quiet for a long moment.

Then I stilled my fingers. "Christopher," I said, tasting the word.

"Can I call you Christopher?"

He looked puzzled. "Uh, sure, but I prefer Kit."

"Christopher," I forge on. "Would you say you are in love?"

He blinked, clearly not expecting the question.

"With Bella?" I prompted.

A flush climbed up his cheeks. "Maybe," he replied truthfully, turning back to fiddling with his guitar.

"I think so."

"Why?" I was honestly curious.

Kit looked somewhere between affronted and amused by my bluntness. "Look, I know how she comes across, but she's just very passionate about her art. She's always on edge about improving and getting better at being an actress, and I get that."

He shrugged a shoulder. "I mean, I'm an artist too. So I just try and support her and give her the space she needs to grow."

Hmm. 'An artist', he said. I thought for a moment.

"Have you ever written any songs about her on your guitar?" I nodded at the instrument. "Or thought about it?"

"Yeah," he admitted, flushing again. He blushed so easily.

"Did it include a lot of shouting and swear words and basically like something by Metallica?"

Kit was aghast.

"What? No!"

I arched a brow. "Do you chase after her in the hallways every other day, serenading her with 'Friday' by Rebecca Black?"

If possible, he looked even more horrified.

"Of course not! Why would I do such terrible things?"

"I'm trying to put things in perspective," I replied measuredly. "You're an artist too, but you're not weaponizing your art against her. Whereas she is taking hers and is practically beating you over the head with it. She's created this grand play in her mind where she's, like, the evil queen, and you're the village idiot."

All I'd gathered from their interactions told me that Bella seemed to really get a kick out of embarrassing her boyfriend. Preferably where there was a really large audience.

I couldn't pretend I knew the dynamics of their relationship, what went on behind the scenes (get it, 'cuz she's an actress?), or what kept them together despite circumstances that should have rended them apart. But I did know bullying when I saw it.

Kit shifted uncomfortably, looking slightly pained. "She's not always been so... dramatic."

Honestly, that was difficult to imagine.

"Things were great between us in freshman year. Even now, sometimes, when we're alone, she'd go back to that, and I'd know she still cares about us. I guess..."

He shrugged, "I guess I'm just hoping things would go back to the way they were."

That was something I understood pretty well, just wanting to stop time just to you could catch a breath to keep up with everything changing. Or wanting to reverse it, to go back to simpler days when life wasn't filled with so much heartache.

But that wasn't possible.

Even as he spoke the words, I saw the wavering hope in his eyes.

So I helped him along to the conclusions he'd already made.

"Kit, I don't think that's gonna happen," I said softly.

It was like I'd just struck him. I know truth hurts, but mine seemed to really pack quite a punch. His shoulders bunched up to his ears like he'd just absorbed a blow.

Ease up, Avalon. Despite all his faults, I actually really liked Kit. He'd gone out of his way to apologize to me, something no one else had bothered to do, and officially restored my faith in humanity. I wouldn't have minded having him on my list of friends.

Be likeable, be relatable.

"Being in... that situation," I haltingly began, "over the years, I started to forget I had any power of my own. They'd make me feel like I didn't have any and I– I'd just believe them. But it was always there, which was their mistake. And when push came to shove, I finally snapped and almost killed him."

I gave him a withering look. "Tell anyone I said that and I'll deny it. For the record, it was an accident."

Kit's brows slowly rose.

I cleared my throat. "My point is, you might think the other person has all the power, but they don't. There's a lot of stuff that's being bottled up inside you, and if you don't let it out soon, you're gonna explode. And it won't be pretty. Just start by telling her how her words affect you and setting some boundaries. If she doesn't respect your feelings, well... maybe you two aren't meant to be together."

He said nothing for a long moment, chewing his lip. The period was going to be over soon, so I wiped down Sandy's keys, making sure she was spotless, before I replaced the headboard.

"What if I never find this again?" Kit asked me hesitantly. I turned back to him.

He looked so vulnerable. "This connection to someone? What if she's the only person I ever feel this with?"

I remember thinking the friends I had in preschool would be my friends forever. And then, thinking I would be alone forever.

But then I thought of Rhys and Lilith and Jasper and Brandon. Of the friends I'd lost, and the new ones that came to take their place.

Sometimes, change could be good.

"You will," I assured him, my words ringing with a truth that comforted this time.

I thought of Kaitlynn.

"Who knows? You might even find better."

_

I stepped out of the class and into the hallway with a little spring in my step. Sharing experiences with Kit, the both of us confiding in and possibly helping each other in that way, made me feel like I'd just gained a piece of myself back. A small piece, maybe even just a scrap, but it had me feeling like I'd just levelled up somehow.

I wanted to pump my fists in the air right then and there and yell "I'M NOT BROKEN ANYMORE!", while students looked on in bemusement.

Okay, that was a lie. But still, I couldn't deny the fact that I'd made some actual progress with my healing. And, not gonna lie – it felt amazing. Euphoric, like I was walking on air.

I desperately hoped I only went up from here.

Several students stared at me as I walked past, some even whispering behind open palms. Self-consciously, I fidgeted, wishing I could hide underneath my usual hood.

Unfortunately, I wasn't wearing it today.

Lilith's nagging had finally inspired me to switch up my wardrobe. I had on a cream colored long-sleeved tee and cute little booties studded with gemstones. I'd even put my hair up in a half-up ponytail.

My jeans were still the same – black and store-bought from Old Navy. Once you go black, you can never go back.

Just ask Jon Snow.

I made my way to my locker, grateful when I could duck my head inside it. I could only imagine what stories the rumor mill had concocted about what gone down at the party – with me hitting Jacques and all. Whatever it was, I probably wasn't being painted in a good light.

Clearly I could be more of a pariah at this stupid school.

Ugh. I just wanted to be left alone in peace.

As if in response to this wish, I heard the shuffling of feet behind me. Turning, I saw that someone had just walked up to me.

I blinked at the person. Wait, I knew her – Anita Abbas, one of the major members on the debate team. She and Kaitlynn had some kind of rivalry, and it was always pretty epic whenever they went head-to-head.

She seemed nervous for some reason. As I stared, she reached up and fidgeted with her bright orange, which splendidly complimented her dark skin.

"Uh, can I help you?" I asked, a little bit unnerved. What could a captain of the debate team want with me?

She looked like she was mustering up the courage to speak, something that went against everything I'd heard about her. Then she inhaled, straightened her spine, and looked me straight in the eyes.

"I just wanted say that I really like your outfit today."

I felt like I'd just been turned to stone. Did she just... compliment me?

Anita seemed to be waiting for me to reply. Holy fuck, what the hell do I say?

After a few minutes of inwardly scrambling, I finally managed an, "Uh, thanks."

She smiled tightly, then scurried away as if glad to have gotten it over with. I stared after her, still dazed. Did that just happen?

Didn't people know about what I did to Jacques? Wait, was that why she'd been nice to me?

I quickly discarded the thought. No, Jacques was the school's golden boy. Students usually treated him like he shat gold. He was my bully, a monster only in my eyes, but to everyone else – except the Horsemen – he was a widdle angel.

So what the actual fuck?

I turned back ahead, and saw many gazes immediately flit away like they'd been staring at me.

Yeah, no. Whatever the fuck was in the air today, I did not want to stick around to catch it.

I slammed my locker and was about to be on my merry way when my attention snagged on the two It Girls making their way down the hall.

Kaitlynn was carrying a few books in her hand and speaking to Mary intently. For all intents and purposes, Mary looked completely absorbed in whatever she was saying.

But just as they were about to turn the corner, Mary's gaze tilted to the side... and then she looked at me.

The expression in those lime-green eyes had all the hair on my arms standing on end.

Well, shit. Apparently, there was someone in the school that was pissed about me punching Jacques.

I turned away, my face heating up. It was just a fraction of all the pain he'd caused me over the years, it really shouldn't have bothered her that much.

Suddenly I recalled the first conversation we'd had when she returned. She'd been very displeased at the prospect of me becoming popular. Was that why she was pissed? Because for some reason everyone seemed to be talking about me?

I had no idea why that was, but clearly I needed to get to the bottom of things.

_

I skipped my next period to go find Lilith. Her teacher was asleep, so I just slipped into the seat beside her.

"What the hell is going on?" I whispered furiously.

She looked amused. "You really don't have social media, do you?"

I crossed my arms. "No," I growled. "What does that have to do with anything?"

She pulled out her phone and unlocked it. After tapping a few keys, she showed me the screen.

I gaped at the display in disbelief. No, that couldn't be right.

Our video had over 2 million views already.

I took the phone, bringing it closer to my eyes in case I'd misread things.

"Our fans love you," Lilith said as I continued to stare. "See the likes?"

200K thumbs-up, and almost no dislikes.

"A lot of people are seeing for themselves how amazing you are. Before, you were just a big deal to us, and they thought they could ignore you. But now you're a big deal to a lot of people."

I stared at her uncomprehendingly.

She sighed and broke it down for me. "We like you, plus internet likes you, so now they like you."

Wait, seriously? I would've thought kids at this school would be the ones flooding the video with dislikes and hate comments.

And speaking of comments, I was seeing a lot of them for this video.

"You don't want to read the comments," Lilith advised. "If you're popular on social media, you never want to read the comments."

I scrolled through them anyway.

"She was the one in that other video? That shit had me rolling for weeks lmfao XD" one comment read.

"Woah, she's so pretty! I want to see more of her 🤩" another wrote.

"Her voice 😖 Damn I'm so jealous"

"She seems really fun. I can see why they like her"

It went on. I saw multiple random strangers saying nice things about me online. It seemed way too good to be true.

And it was. Towards the bottom, I started seeing a few rows of hate comments.

"Not to sound mean or anything, but Avalon seems pretty rude. I mean, she didn't even want to say 'hi' at the beginning of the video"

I snorted. Well, yeah, 'cuz I am rude, be-yotch.

"What's all the hype? This girl can't even sing 🙄"

Okay, that was just straight up lies.

"Who the hell would want to be friends with her?"

This question would be better addressed to the Four Horsemen, since I'd been wondering the exact same thing when they first started hanging out with me.

But they wanted to be my friends, and I wanted to be their friend, so there. Suck it, you jealous heathen.

I looked up, seeing Lilith watching me with concern.

"Hey, don't pay them any attention, alright? Some people put others down just to make themselves feel better."

I shrugged. The thing was, I actually wasn't hurt by their comments. I'd survived years of bullying at the hands of people I'd known all my life, who'd literally walk up to me and punch me in the face. Getting trolled online by strangers seemed rather tame in comparison.

"I don't care," I replied. And I really didn't.

Lilith studied me for a moment. Sensing my honesty, a bright smile stretched over her face.

I returned her grin.

The bell rang then, and I made my way to my next class, feeling rather accomplished.

· Have heart-to-heart with Kit – check

· Be unbothered by hate like a girl boss – check

· Receive compliments from random people online and in-person – Okay...? But I'll take it.

My day was looking up so far... even if it didn't have Rhys in it.

These cherry thoughts automatically crashed to a halt when I stepped into the hallway and found Rhys leaning against his locker, surrounded.

By girls.

I gasped.

I mean, it wasn't just girls. I saw students from all kinds of cliques crowding Rhys – Wannabes, goths, jocks, even some nerds like myself.

I'd never seen them all so unproblematically gathered.

Rhys was holding court, looking like a king attending to his subjects, and the crowd seemed to be hanging on to his every word. They weren't getting too up in his personal space, but still...

He was talking to them.

He wasn't looking murderous.

He wasn't telling them to go away.

I felt something in my brain short-circuit.

WHO THE HELL WAS THIS AND WHAT HAD HE DONE WITH RHYS?

No, there had to be some mistake. Rhys hated crowds. He hated socializing. In fact, I'm pretty sure he hated everyone except the Horsemen, and his sister, and, well... me.

So why was he talking to all these people? AND WHY WERE SO MANY GIRLS TALKING TO HIM?

Well, it's not like he can talk to you. You told him to stay away, a snarky voice in my head reminded me.

I blinked. Shit, I did.

Lilith had to pick me up this morning, and the fact that she and the rest of the guys were still hanging around me meant that Rhys had to stay away from them too!

I'd basically ostracized him from his friends! Even he couldn't handle such seclusion. So he'd gone to seek human contact where he could find it because he was so deprived. I'd basically pushed him into the arms of his ever-waiting fan club!

Zombie-like, I made my way to class, still consumed by the enormity of what I'd done.

I'd taken possibly the most antisocial guy in the entire state... and turned him into a social butterfly.

Oh my God, I realized with dawning horror, my hand flying towards my lips.

I broke Rhys.

I just couldn't seem to do anything right. When I tried, I made even more of a mess. This had backfired so craptastically.

Right there in A.P. Calculus, I picked up my textbook and screamed into it.

The room fell silent, the teacher's rambling abruptly cutting off.

I looked up to find the whole class staring at me.

"What?" I snapped, glaring at them, my tone venom.

Everyone hastily turned away.

I was still fuming as I settled back into my seat, but now that I had unloaded some of my pent-up feelings, I now had a clearer head. And a plan to fix this mess.

I needed to tell Rhys to come back.

I was resolved. No matter the cost to myself, I had to save him from becoming a nice and sociable individual before it was too late. It went against his nature, and quite frankly, it was creeping me out.

Not just because there were a lot of girls lining up to talk to him. Like I said, this wasn't him. He didn't like to do stuff like this.

In fact, I'm pretty sure he was hating every minute of talking to those girls.

Once the bell rang, I bolted out of my seat, frantic to find him.

But he was no longer in the hallway.

I deflated momentarily, but then perked up, remembering we still had classes together. Once I had a moment in Spanish class, I'd go talk to him and take back everything I said.

_

José Hernandez was in the spot next to me in Spanish where Rhys usually sat at. He was a cute Asian-Latino kid, with tan skin and curly hair and always reminded me of Bruno Mars.

He had a bright, rejuvenating smile – the kind that made you sit up and feel like you'd just taken a shower and a coffee and now you were ready to tackle any problems that came your way head-on.

Right now, he was aiming that smile at me.

I blinked at him.

"You have really amazing hair," he told me in Spanish.

I blinked at him again, then again.

"Uh, gracias."

He nodded, then craned his neck back, swiveling his gaze to face... Rhys? I saw his lips move, and Rhys nodded, then picked up his phone and started typing.

Satisfied, José looked away.

I turned back to my notebook, reaching up to massage my temple.

I was so confused and everyone was acting so weird someone help.

I'd just resumed my work when a shadow loomed over me all of a sudden. Feeling extremely wary, I slowly looked up.

Ms. Martinez was peering down at me with at least a five-hundred-kilowatt smile stretching across her lips.

Incredulous, I stared back at her.

"¡Tus mejillas son tan bonitas como un melocotón!" She gushed. "Ooh, I could just put you in my handbag and take you home with me!"

My eyes bulged out. MS. MARTINEZ TOO?

Had everybody been fucking replaced by aliens? I was really getting worried now.

She waited eagerly, still grinning. I floundered and managed to muster up a response.

She gave me another blinding smile. Then as I watched, she looked up and shot a severely exaggerated wink Rhys's way.

I slowly turned, not daring to believe it.

Rhys looked very amused alright, but he didn't look particularly surprised. A look of understanding passed between them, then he went back to typing on his phone.

My eye twitched. Wait a goddamn minute...

What did he... Did I even want to know?

Forget subtlety. As soon as Ms. Martinez's back was turned, I pushed back from my seat and stormed over to Rhys, determined to get to the root of this mystery.

"What did you do?"

He slowly looked up. His gaze felt tangible, like a caress, as he dragged his eyes up to my face.

An awareness passed through me. For a moment, I forgot what I'd been about to say.

The corner of his mouth lazily tipped up.

"Are we no longer giving each other space, querida?"

The endearment completely scrambled my brains. Several seconds passed and I stared at him, gaping wordlessly.

A glint in his eyes told me he knew just how much he'd just affected me.

I came back to life with a jolt.

"No, no." I backpedaled, putting at least five feet between us. "The space is still very much enforced."

Later I'd turn that word 'querida' over and over in my mind, replay the memory of it rolling off his tongue. But for now, I decided to ignore it. It was either that or short-circuit again.

I suddenly remembered I was angry at him. Scowling, I folded my arms across my chest and pinned him with a glare.

"Don't change the subject," I gritted out. "Answer me."

Rhys was quiet for a moment. Then, "You said you were nothing. That bothered me. So I thought I'd correct you."

The three sentences fell from his lips like stacked books, surprising in their volume though the words themselves were so minimal on the surface.

Again, I was struck speechless. But this time, it wasn't for long.

He was the reason everyone was acting weird?

I felt like throttling him. "Well I don't want you to correct me," I seethed. "So stop it."

"Hmm." He considered me for a long moment.

Then he shrugged. "Sorry, I can't help you. You're just–" he waved at the space between us "–so far away."

Oh, I see what he was doing. He was going to use this space as a way to piss me off until I called it off.

My fingers curled. If there weren't any witnesses, I really would have throttled him.

The prospect of his demise seemed to amuse him. He laced his fingers under his chin and grinned at me chipperly.

"If you want to kill me, you might have to get closer than that," he drawled.

I wanted to wipe that beautiful smile off his face. Instead I whirled around and stomped back to my seat.

_

Rory slid into her seat beside me in Econ, perching daintily on the chair.

"So I guess I'm supposed to tell you that you have really nice lashes. And you're, like, pretty smart," she unceremoniously remarked, tapping away on her phone.

I groaned miserably.

She set down the phone and gave me a sidelong glance, her eyes filled with grudging admiration.

"Just how good in bed are you?"

I felt like I'd swallowed a frog whole.

I slowly turned to look at her, my eyes bulging out of my skull.

Rory shrugged, like the topic was no big deal. Since when was everybody so freaking comfortable with me?!

"You've got him completely smitten by you. At least tell me how you did it."

When I still didn't respond, just continued gaping at her, Rory finally seemed to get the memo.

"Wait," she said, confused, "you guys haven't done it yet?"

"No!" I managed to croak.

"Hmm." Rory stroked her chin. "The 'keep him wanting more' tactic."

She shrugged. "I guess it's effective, but how are you able to resist that?" She threw a glance over her shoulder, roving an admiring gaze over Rhys.

"I know I'd jump him, given the chance. Pity, really, that he only seems to have eyes for you."

I pried apart my lips. "You know, I liked you better when you weren't talking to me."

Rory mulled for a second. Then, before I could say anything, she pushed back her seat and walked over to Rhys.

I shrieked inwardly in alarm. Wide-eyed, I watched as she leaned over the table to speak to him, her lips moving. The movement brought her ample chest dangerously close to his face, but Rhys didn't even seem to notice.

He looked like he was considering whatever she'd told him. Then he nodded.

Pleased, Rory returned to her seat.

I shot her a wild glance which translated to "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?" She just shot me a coy smirk then mimed zipping her lips.

Mr. Graham walked into the class then, and all conversation ceased.

_

Whatever sorcery Rhys had cast over the entire student body continued to persist over the following days.

"I have to say, I really love your handwriting," the girl sitting next to me in Calculus gushed this morning.

"I would kill for earlobes like yours!" Another random girl squealed from behind me while I was just running track, minding my own business.

"You look beautiful today!" A cool-looking chick with an Avengers notebook tossed over her shoulder as I walked by.

Even some pimply freshman rolled up to me in the hallway to tell me that he "liked my style."

My teeth had nearly melded together from all the grinding I'd been doing. Right after lunch, I made a beeline for my locker and rested my temple against it, letting the coolness seep into my skin.

If I had to put up with this for another two days, I was going to explode.

"Avalon?"

The voice came from behind me. I groaned. Not again.

Grudgingly, I turned, feeling a headache coming on.

A girl stood in front of me. She had a very pale skin tone, as if she didn't see the light of day very often. Freckles dotted her face, forming a unique constellation of stars across her sharp cheekbones.

Her eyes were a deep chocolate-brown, like Nutella. Just thinking about that made me hungry.

Clearly, lunch had done nothing for me. What can I say? Anger really burns away those calories.

The look in her eyes as she stared at me was hopeful, like I might do a magic trick.

"What?" I snapped.

"Are you here to tell me that my feet are attractive? Or that you like the shape of my neck?"

My tone was, understandably, rather hostile.

I scowled. "Just spit it out."

Her flame-colored brows rose in amusement.

"Just what kind of week have you been having already?" She asked, clearly humored.

A faint accent tinged her words. What was that, Scottish? Some Gaelic culture?

I looked at her more closely. A backpack hung from her shoulder awkwardly, like she was unused to carrying it. 

I blinked. Come to think of it, I don't think I'd ever seen her before.

"Who are you? Do you even go here?"

I didn't already have a stalker, did I? Wasn't it too soon?

That hopeful look returned.

"It's my first day, actually," she grinned.

"Archer sent me."

Before I could even process that, she stuck an arm in my face and said, "Hi, I'm Sophie Cahill. Nice to meet you. I'm your new bodyguard."

A roaring filled my ears, but it wasn't enough to drown out what she said next:

"Also, I think we're related."

********************************************************************************

"¡Tus mejillas son tan bonitas como un melocotón!" - Your cheeks are as pretty as a peach!

"Querida" - sweetheart/dear/darling

Shout out to unofficial_avengerXx for the compliment you gave Avalon! I hope you liked how I wrote you into the story 💖

What do y'all think is gonna happen next?

Thank you guys all so much for being patient with the story so far 🥺 I love you all so much,

Lulu.