(Song of the chapter: People You Know - Selena Gomez)

I was floating in a song fortress being carried by the clouds. It was impervious to whispers and gossip, which fractured and fell apart inches from my safe haven. I hummed away happily, short, simple tunes that defused any incoming projectiles of self-doubt. There was no room for any of that anymore.

Chopin's piece kept playing over and over in my mind. I'd listened to it all day yesterday till I fell asleep, and left my room this morning with it still nipping at my heels.

Life had sharply divided into two parts: life before Chopin's Ballade No. 1 in G Minor, Op.23, and life after it. Nothing looked quite like what I was used to anymore. Words hung solidly in the air, jumbled up, then flew away with wings. Inanimate objects seemed infused with life and limbs and kept beckoning me over. Everywhere I looked my world had turned into a surrealist painting. I stared fascinatedly ahead, wondering if the new lightness in my body meant I could step into the wall and merge with it.

I was abruptly halted by Sophie, the arm she looped through mine a physical anchor.

I blinked as she steered us away from the wall I'd nearly face-planted with.

"Are you alright?" She asked. I got the impression she was worried.

"I'm wonderful, thank you," I chirpily replied.

This only made her eyebrows narrow further. "Are you certain? This was the third time you've tried to kiss the wall today."

"Really?" I said mildly. "I'm sorry. What period do we have next?"

Her expression shuttered in distress. "Um, its nearly time for P.E sure." She turned away and grabbed her phone from her pocket while keeping a firm hold on me, and started texting frantically.

Oblivious, I hummed and tapped my fingers against my jeans, miming playing piano keys.

Half a minute later, Jasper and Lilith came barreling down the hallway towards us.

"What do you mean there's something wrong with Avalon?" Jasper huffed, out of breath.

Lilith looked between me and Sophie. "She was fine this morning!"

I smiled at my friends, delighted to see them. "Hi."

They stopped and stared at me.

Lilith was the first to speak, swinging her head towards Sophie. "I see what you mean."

"This is dire indeed," Jasper agreed.

Lilith took both of my hands in hers. "Are you sick, poppet?"

"Did you catch the flu?" Jasper asked just as earnestly.

I shook my head, hair bouncing off my cheeks. "No, I feel fine."

"You're sure?" Lilith placed a hand against my temple. "No fever," she relayed to Jasper.

"She keeps humming to herself and walking into walls," Sophie hissed furtively. "There's got to be something wrong."

Jasper turned to me. "Did something happen?"

I stared through him, my mind returning to the ballade. It was so poignant, so filled with wonder and hesitation and a happiness just beyond reach.

Mr. Franz had me working on shorter, simpler compositions first to get the basics down. We hadn't even touched the ballade yet, because I was "nowhere near ready enough to take on a piece of such magnitude." He was right, of course, but I couldn't get it out of my mind. Since hearing the ballade, I'd thought of nothing but the ballade. Just like the piece itself, it was so close, yet so far from me.

My eyes misted. "Its so beautiful," I sobbed. "I might never be worthy enough to capture it. Oh, woe is me! I wish I were never born."

They stared at me with stunned expressions. Then understanding shifted in Jasper's eyes.

"Oh, I see." He nodded thoughtfully. "She's fine. Or she will be, I think."

"That's not very reassuring!"

Lilith studied me closely. "Say, Avalon, our fans have been asking for Avalon-featured merch ever since you appeared on our channel. You'd get a cut of the profits, of course. How's that sound to you?"

I slowly looked at her. WTF? It didn't matter where we were or who it was, if I saw someone walking around in a shirt with my face on it I was throwing hands.

The music looped around and came tumbling back in, the crash just as powerful as the first time I'd heard it. My thoughts evaporated, my mind clouding over.

What did it matter that some questionable people wanted questionable things? It was all so insignificant anyways.

I shrugged. "Whatever. Do what you want."

Lilith smiled smugly, her eyes lit up with dollar signs. "I'll have to go with Jasper on this one, she seems fine to me."

Sophie was aghast. "You can't be serious."

"The bell's going to ring now. See ya," Lilith sing-songed.

"Wait! Don't go! SHE NEEDS HELP!" Sophie cried after them desperately. I'd already forgotten that they left, staring at the wall to the side with marked intrigue.

Sophie groaned.

_

I hummed while Sophie and I did post-run stretches, then she led us inside towards the locker rooms to change. I was in the process of tugging my t-shirt over my head when Sophie suddenly pinched me.

I looked at her questioningly, the hem of my shirt hooked just above my lips. She pressed a finger against hers and pointed at the stall door with the other.

Straining, I could make out what sounded like a conversation between two girls just outside the stall. My ears perked up when I heard my name.

"Can you guys believe that Avalon's video is still trending on the internet? She, like, has fans now. Its crazy."

"That nerd is even more popular than we are. Imagine that."

"Lots of people keep speculating whether she's dating one of them." That was the first speaker again. Her voice sounded snooty and high-pitched, and she spoke like there was a piece of gum lodged somewhere in her mouth.

"As if! I swear to God, I would literally die!" The second girl squealed, her voice just as grating as the first.

"Yeah, there's no way. She might not be Loner the Loser anymore, but no amount of contact she has with the Horsemen is gonna give her any class." She snorted. "Or sex appeal for that matter."

The two tittered with obnoxious laughter. I raised an unamused eyebrow and continued taking off my gym clothes. My stomach grumbled, and I turned my focus towards it. Right after lunch I had study hall, but I could use that time to go to the Music room. I could stay late after school too. I really needed to get my hands on my own piano soon.

"Right, Josie? ...Hey, what's the matter, Josie? Why are you so quiet?"

"Yeah, and how did it go with Rhys? You didn't chicken out of asking him on a date, did you? I bet you totally did."

I nearly pulled my hair out of its roots while putting it up in a ponytail. I forced my hands to loosen.

Not my business, not my business...

Josie, who I'm guessing was a third member of their posse who hadn't yet spoken, simply started to cry. The other girls quieted as her sobs filled the space.

Finally, some blessed silence.

"Josie..." One of them hushed

"I-I was going to ask him out!" Josie wailed. Crap. There goes my peace.

"But then I saw that a bunch of nobodys online were shipping him with that bitch," The amount of venom in her tone could have singed my eyebrows off.

"They even made them a cutesy little ship name, #Avaland," hiccup, "and, and it made me just so mad! Like, they don't even know how trash she is, and how many times she's smelled like trash from when they'd throw her in the dumpster s-so I tried telling them that and how she's not fit to even bearound him, and, and..."

When she spoke again she sounded like a damn bursting: an utter, unrestrained calamity. "And Rhys unfollowed me! He unfollowed me and then everyone started calling me a liar and said that I was looking for attention and I lost almost all of my followers and-and he unfollowed me! My life is over!"

I was stock still, completely stunned. Beside me, Sophie was doing her best not to laugh.

"What am I gonna doooooo?"

There was a moment of weighted silence.

"D-don't worry, I'm sure there's a way to fix this!"

A pitiful sniff. "H-how?"

"Er..."

Just then my stomach growled. Coming back to myself, I straightened my clothes and swung open the stall door.

The two bleached blondes in front of me looked struck dumb at the sight of me. The one brunette with mascara running all over her face, however, looked at me like I was the answer to all of her prayers.

"Avalon," she breathed delightedly and rushed over to me, her hands clasped together.

"Its so good to see you! How are you? We should hang out some time!" She furiously rubbed at her face, smearing the mascara.

"Look, if you heard anything... from before, just... we didn't mean it, right guys?"

The two bleached blondes bobbed their heads.

"See?" She let out a convincing smile. Her gaze was way too pointed, making me feel like I was being drilled by a needle.

"Could you also... let Rhys know I didn't mean it, and maybe ask him to follow me back? You'd be a huge help if you do."

I stared at her blandly. Not one thing she'd just said had been the truth. And I was hungry. I literally had no fucks to give.

"I don't have time for this," I said coldly. Sidestepping her, I strolled towards the locker room exit.

"Hey, wait!"

Josie's hand was reaching towards me. Sophie reacted quickly and moved to block her.

I got there first.

My arm smacked hers away so fast I was sure it was going to leave a mark. Josie retracted her arm and cradled it, looking at me in shock.

My death glare was at about 20%, but it was still sufficient.

"I'm going to repeat myself, just this once." My eyebrows narrowed into swords. "I don't have time for you."

I whipped back around and continued walking. Sophie followed me. We were outside the door when we heard a sound like someone had just collapsed.

Sophie looked at me thoughtfully. "You are just all over the place today."

"I'm in my bad bitch era," I mumbled absently. Inwardly, my mind was racing a million miles a minute. I'd thought earlier that Rhys's quest to increase his following count was simply a vanity project, and to prove a point. Now I wasn't so sure.

Thinking over it carefully, Rhys could be a rather scary individual if he monitored the social media accounts of all the students in this school. With that line of thinking, why the hell wouldn't he? Of course, a normal person wouldn't see that as something to benefit from, but Rhys clearly wasn't normal.

Its like he saw the entire school as his chessboard, and maybe even had from the start. With just a tap on his abominable smartphone, he could move students, and the flow of gossip apparently, wherever he wanted like chess pieces.

But what use would he have for such a skill? I grasped my chin in thought.

This couldn't just be a casual whim of his, this FBI-level of monitoring. Sure, Rhys was disturbed, but not that disturbed. I could be sure of that, at least, though I've always been an absurd judge of character.

No, the reason had to lie with something important to him.

You mean... so much to me.

My eyes widened. I frantically double-checked the timing of events, hoping to be wrong.

No such luck.

It was only a couple days after he told me those words that he initiated cyber warfare.

However, I wasn't delusion enough to think that whatever Rhys... believed he felt for me would inspire such madness.

This was actually a matter of obtaining information. And what kind of information could Rhys want so badly?

I could think of a few things.

It was clear that he wanted to control what people said about me online. But if he could kill two birds with one stone, why wouldn't he?

My hand unfurled, and I pondered the front of my palm.

Right then, I knew in my bones that Rhys suspected Vixen was a student at this school.

But what could have made him think so? I needed to know.

My cheek started to ache. I realized I was gnawing on it in worry and immediately released my jaw.

There was nothing online that could tie Vixen to me. Not even my voice. The Pack's security team was flawless, and Vixen turned me into a completely different person when she was in control.

But if Rhys knew... if he found out on his own... it would destroy everything.

It was like my earlier resolution not to think about Rhys had just flown out the window. Drat.

Maybe I should just tell him before he found out. Maybe I could make him understand...why... It had only selfish and stupid reasons, but they was the truth, and maybe coming from me he... he'd react differently...

Really?

From the deepest of my darkness, Vixen snickered.

The lengths to your delusions really know no bounds. She slowly padded forward, amber eyes glowing and fixed on her prey.

Her words dripped with derision. Do you know how scary it is being in your mind? I was silent while you indulged in your newest whim, but now I shall be silent no longer. Have you forgotten why we do this in the first place? You know, that we kill people who can expose us?

My heart landed a solid beat against my ribs. I'm not killing Rhys. I don't care what anyone says, I won't do it.

Vixen leaned her muzzle on her paw and studied me. Who's anyone? You mean your father and brother? If they found out you leaked information that could jeopardize the entire Pack, the matter won't be in your hands anymore.

The psychic bond is closed. I'm sure of it. They won't have to know.

Vixen looked amused. Really? That's only if things go right. If it goes wrong, everyone will know. Her eyes danced wickedly.

Can you take that chance? No, you can't, she immediately answered.

You want to trust him, but that would require more bravery than you have.

I stared at my palm for a few more moments, then slowly folded my fists.

Sophie noticed my expression. "Are you okay?"

"I'm perfectly fine," I numbly replied. I picked up one of my earphones and stuck it in my ear, letting the music wash over me again as we made our way to the cafeteria.

Jasper, Lilith, Brandon, and Rhys were already seated when we made our way to the table. Jasper was chatting away while Rhys listened, his expression cool and collected, not at all like someone who'd caused someone to breakdown in the bathroom this morning.

His attention immediately snagged on me when I sat down. I ignored both him and the arm Jasper draped around my shoulders, my fingers tapping rhythmically on the table as I let my mind drift.

Sophie scooched between Brandon and Lilith. Lilith's eyes lit up when she saw me.

"Once I finish making the arrangements for the photo shoot, I'll send you the details, okay love?"

I bobbed my head placidly. Rhys's eyes finally left mine and he peered at Lilith.

"What photo shoot?"

Lilith blinked innocently. "Didn't I already tell you? We'll be releasing an Avalon merch collection. T-shirts, sweatshirts, the works."

My soul felt mildly disturbed. I ignored the feeling.

"You agreed to this?" Rhys asked, reasonably surprised. I shrugged a shoulder.

"Why wouldn't she? There's money to be made!"

"I wouldn't mind drinking coffee from an Avalon mug," Jasper mused, stroking his chin.

Sophie gave Lilith an assessing look. "You'd make an excellent leprechaun."

"Really?" Lilith seemed delighted. "You think so? Maybe I should be a leprechaun for Christmas."

Lilith started fantasizing about her pot of gold while Jasper and Sophie threw in helpful tips. Brandon appeared enraptured as he listened to them while eating his food. Rhys kept watching me. I fixedly ignored him.

None of us noticed Lola until she spoke.

"Hi."

The conversation abruptly cut off as we all turned to look at her. She seemed taken aback by all the sudden attention, but then steeled herself focused her gaze only on Jasper.

He raised his brows, realizing she was talking to him. He smiled, putting her at ease. "Hey."

Her brown eyes shone behind her glasses. "Are you the tech guy?"

Jasper's brows furrowed slightly. "Yeah..."

Lola flipped some braids out of her face, the beads jangling as they moved.

"Your firewall is impeccable."

It took me a while to process her words. I gaped at her, unsure whether I was more surprised at the fact that she was striking up a conversation with anyone other than the It Girls, or that she was staring at Jasper like a starstruck fan.

Jasper seemed equally surprised. "Uh, thank you?"

Lola waved away his words. "There's really no need to be humble. I spent days trying to bypass it, but I only gave myself a headache." She rubbed her forehead as if it still hurt, but her eyes were brimming with glee.

"There was a certain point that I thought I'd found a backdoor, but upon further inspection, I discovered it was actually a trap that would've allowed a rather horrendous virus into my computer system. This was your doing?"

Lola's tone remained awestruck and rather enthusiastic, almost like she wasn't admitting to having tried to hack Jasper.

We stared speechlessly at her.

Jasper seemed amused by her directness. "Yes I did, and that's exactly what would have happened."

"How beautifully brutal," Lola remarked, meaning it. She dropped the hand she'd been kneading her temple with and pushed hair back from her face.

"If you ever have the time, I'd love to converse more with you about computers. You should keep up the good work."

She gave him a meaningful glance, then waved and walked away.

We watched her go. "What just happened?" Brandon asked.

I picked up my apple and munched. "Lola's a tech geek. She's really good at coding and hacking and stuff like that. From what she said, it seems she tried to hack into one of the accounts Jasper controls. She wasn't very bothered that she didn't succeed, and she told him to keep it up, so I'm guessing the hacking wasn't her idea."

My eyes trailed Lola across the cafeteria. She seemed to be heading for the door, but first she had to pass her regular lunch table.

"The only person with such a motive, especially now with a certain video up would be–"

As Lola walked by, Alisson frowned and reached out to grab her sleeve. Lola shook her head at her and muttered something before walking away, leaving Alisson looking enraged.

"Her."

We all had our heads craned to watch the events unfolding. Alisson pushed back her chair and looked ready to follow Lola when Kaitlynn said from beside her, "Leave her alone, Ali, she said she couldn't do it!"

Scowling, Alisson turned to glare at Kaitlynn who was already glaring at her.

"Just. Fucking. Leave it alone," Kaitlynn gritted out. Her outburst caused other tables to turn towards them, but she didn't seem to notice.

After a loaded stalemate, Alisson slowly lowered herself into her chair then stabbed at her plate with a fork. She muttered something angrily under her breath.

I forced my eyes not to widen, knowing I was supposed to be too far away to hear.

But Kaitlynn wasn't.

Her eyes burst into black flames. Not a soul in the cafeteria breathed as those eyes fixed squarely on Alisson, looking like they wanted to melt every bone in her body. I could swear the temperature of the room just went up by about 50 degrees.

Alisson turned chalk-white, like her soul was trying to leave her body. Under that blistering gaze, she shrunk even smaller in hear seat.

Kaitlynn suddenly pushed back her seat. Multiple students flinched from the grating noise.

Alisson, however, completely toppled forward onto her table. She either wanted to hide her face from Kaitlynn in hopes Kaitlynn would disappear since Alisson could no longer see her, or she'd passed out from fear. It was also entirely possible that she was dead.

Students muttered as Kaitlynn picked up her tray. When she steered her murderous gaze away from Alisson, there was a collective sigh of relief.

Kaitlyn turned around, tray in hand, and strode directly towards our table.

My friends sat up, instantly alarmed.

"Oh, shit, she's coming this way!" Jasper whispered in panic. There was a bit of frenzied motion from his side, but I watched calmly as she stomped towards us and slammed her tray down at the empty seat beside me.

"Sorry to intrude like this," Kaitlynn muttered through clenched teeth as she folded into the seat, "but I can't sit there another second. If I do, I'm pretty sure I'll pick up one of these lovely sharp objects on my tray and puncture that bitch's head like a balloon."

Her voice increased in volume as she spoke. She paused to exhale then continued, quieter, "And I can't become a lawyer with a criminal record. So I'm gonna sit here for a while. Any objections?"

She looked around our table.

"No? Good." And with that, she started angrily munching on her food.

Sophie tried to shift closer to me, probably prepared to attack.

"She's scary," I heard Jasper whisper. Rhys considered Kaitlynn for a second then pulled up his phone and started scrolling.

My gaze flickered to him, then returned to Kaitlynn. She'd already violently devoured almost all of her fries. Just as she was about to finish the last one, I picked up the fries on my table and passed them to her.

My friends gaped at me. I ignored them.

Kaitlynn accepted my fries. "Thank you," she said with her mouth full, then swallowed and started to nibble on my fries.

I picked up my second earphone and plopped it into her ear. Kaitlynn blinked at me in surprise, then her brows furrowed as she started to focus on the music. Her killing intent gradually decreased to zero.

Huh. It really does work.

Watching our exchange, my friends unconsciously relaxed.

Lilith leaned forward curiously. "So, you and Lola are really close then?"

"She's like a sister to me," Kaitlynn replied earnestly. "People can say whatever they want about me, but whenever I hear someone say something bad about Lola..."

The French fry in her hand was unceremoniously crumpled.

"This is exactly what I want to do to them," she said darkly, then chewed the contents of her hand aggressively.

Lilith slowly leaned back again.

Needless to say, I didn't feel intimidated at all. In that moment, Kaitlynn felt like a kindred soul. There was a certain familiarity to her temper, and the fact that it was directed towards Alisson made it even better.

Kaitlynn finished chewing and shot me a bemused look. "I really can't understand whatever is between you and Mary. I can't imagine letting anyone treat my sister that way."

What. The fuck.

My friends instantly turned towards me, looking extremely flabbergasted. They might have been less surprised if I'd suddenly transformed into a boy.

"SISTER?"

Kaitlynn was also stunned. "What, they didn't know?"

I slowly craned my head towards her. The look I gave her made her earlier reaction to Alisson seem like the tantrum of a mildly disgruntled cub. Kaitlynn saw the death march dancing in my eyes and had the good sense to shrink back.

I snottily reached out and yanked my earphone out of her ear.

"Eat your fries, Kaitlynn," I seethed cuttingly. Kaitlynn obediently placed a fry in her lip and chewed sheepishly.

My friends were all still staring at me, waiting for an explanation. I pretended not to see it and started to place the earphone into my other ear.

Jasper grabbed my wrist. "Hey, you can't just leave us hanging! Is Mary really your sister?"

I shot him a look, but it had no effect on dissuading him. I sighed heavily.

Well, the cat's out of the bag now. Can't exactly hide it anymore.

"Step-sister," I immediately corrected. "She's my mom's daughter from her first... engagement."

Sophie blinked. "You mean, I'm related to her too?" She turned towards the table where Mary sat and studied her curiously.

"You two did grow up together, right?"

I shot Kaitlynn another death glare.

"I'm sorry!" She cried out. "It's just, she never talks about her other family, and I've been wondering about it for so long..."

"Come on, Sunshine. Spill," Jasper prodded me.

I groaned as they all stared at me expectantly. All of my previous tranquility from this morning was completely gone. I paused my music and took my earphones out, then stared back exhaustedly.

"Yes, we grew up together," I began. "But after the... incident, things had to change. Everyone thought that I was also a possible target for the kidnapping, Mary's dad included. So, he took her to live with him indefinitely. He said if I was the target, then there was no need for his daughter to be put in danger as well by being under the same roof as me."

It had been so many years already since everything happened. I wondered why, then, did I still feel a slight stab in my chest even just talking about it?

"He did?" Kaitlynn's eyes narrowed into slits, their fire reigniting.

"I am going to put hair remover in his shampoo the next time I'm over at her house."

I couldn't hide my surprise. "Woah, you don't need to that."

"But he deserves it!" She countered with an air of righteous anger. "You were both just kids, and were probably scared out of your minds when your friend was taken. What was his name– Jonathan, was it? Mary never talks about him either," she mused.

"It just seems so unfair to have separated you guys at a time you were both going through the same thing. You could've helped each other!"

I stared at her mutely, having no words to reply.

"Kaitlynn?"

Our eyes swung over to the lithe figure who'd silently slid up to the table, and we almost jumped out of our skins. Mary stood there with her signature cold expression, staring at us with unreadable eyes.

Her brows furrowed slightly as we stared at her with intensity in our gazes, but she quickly dismissed us and turned all of her attention towards Kaitlynn.

"We have Physics next."

Kaitlynn nodded and stood, tray in hand.

"See ya," she told me, then looped an arm around Mary's shoulder as the two headed away.

I watched them go.

"Avalon?"

I blinked, refocusing on my table.

"You were pretty young when... all that happened," Lilith hedged. "Do you... remember what it was like growing up with her? It wasn't all bad all the time, right?"

I stared at her for a moment, then my gaze veered back to the back of the two departing figures. Mary's blonde hair moved silkily as she turned her head to listen to something Kaitlynn was saying. She'd always worn her hair long like that.

Ever since the first day of school, although her arms and legs were short and skinny, her hair always made her seem more impressive and even larger than she was. And that day, when I'd run into the bathroom to cry because I had been picked on... kids were mean even then... she was the one who'd found me and helped me to my feet.

"I won't let anyone pick on my sister," she'd said, with such a stern expression I'd felt sorry for the other kids.

"As long as I'm with you, no one would hurt you." And no one had. We'd marched back to the playground together, and after that day no one had dared to make me cry again.

For a long time after that, I used to think my sister was made of magic.

She'd been the only person I could talk to, since my parents hadn't let me play with anyone else. She'd helped me gain enough courage to make friends. If not for her, I wouldn't have been able to say even two words to Jona the first time we met.

But then...

I shook myself furiously out of my reverie. There was a reason I kept such memories guarded under lock and key. What was the use of reminiscing over anything now?

Mary had turned cold after Jonathan disappeared, and had grown even colder after she'd moved out from home. I'd learned long ago that hoping for things to return to the way they were was useless. Nothing was the same. The four of us, we could never go back.

Lilith was still watching me, waiting for a response along with the others.

"No," I said without missing a beat, "I don't remember."

Mary and Kaitlynn had reached the doors leading to the exit. At the last moment, she turned her gaze in my direction.

As her lime-green eyes fixed on me, something cold slithered right over my bones at the chilling expression in their depths.

I almost had to force my heart not to stop.

She must be even more pissed at me than Alisson was over what happened with Jacques.

Even though she'd never said anything about it like Kaitlyn confirmed, I'd never been confused about what side she'd taken after what happened to Jonathan.

You see, Kaitlynn? I thought as I resumed eating. She wouldn't have wanted my help. I'm the last person she could have wanted at that time.