(Song of the chapter: 'Stand By Me' - Ben. E. King)

RHYS

We were back at headquarters after school. I'd just finished recounting the tale of what happened in my last period, and watched as my three best friends in the entire world laughed their bloody heads off.

I smirked, realizing I'd unconsciously incorporated more British slang into my vocabulary since meeting Lilith. But the word perfectly fit in this case. It had definitely been funny.

"So after –" Lilith struggled to speak through wheezes. "After the teacher called on her and everything, what did she do?"

I chuckled, remembering her blistering glare. "She looked at me like she wanted to kill me, then didn't look my way for the rest of the period. I felt so chastened."

Jasper chuckled. "Of course you'd go make an enemy of someone on your first day of school, Rhys."

"I honestly didn't mean to," I said, hoping I actually hadn't made an enemy of her. She intrigued me, and for some reason I wanted to get to know her – though I didn't think anyone but the three people currently by my side could really connect with me.

Also, my – our – reputation would make it a bit hard to meet real people that might become friends, that's if I even wanted to. The girl hadn't seemed awed or starstruck though when I'd caught her sneaking looks at me. Just curious... and somewhat wary.

I sat up, suddenly remembering our first encounter. "She was the same one I spoke to this morning," I told them. My humor suddenly vanished as I remembered the bruises on her arm.

My friends noticed the shift in my mood.

"The one who you said was being harassed by some ridiculous-looking bellend?" Lilith asked, tilting her head to the side.

I nodded, getting furious again. I hated bullies. They were all fucking cowards.

"Funny how we were all involved in conversation at that time and none of us even saw anyone else in the parking lot. Then you just walked over to her," Brandon mused, thinking aloud.

Jasper raised an eyebrow at me. "So she crumpled and chewed up some note some dude passed her?" At my nod, he shook his head darkly.

"She's probably gets tormented by people at school. How terrible," he said, twisting his lips to the side. He genuinely looked glum. Sometimes I thought the size of my best friend's heart was too large for his body.

Lilith chose to scoff. "By some bloke who bleaches his hair of all things," she said, rolling her eyes. "He probably irons his boxers too."

With that, she looked at Brandon. Jasper's lip quirked up and also I watched in amusement, knowing what was coming.

Brandon looked at her defensively. "Lilith, let it go, okay? Seriously, when are you going to stop teasing me about dyeing my hair?"

Lilith playfully ruffled his hair. "Never," she answered honestly, making us all laugh. She grinned at him wickedly.

"You said nothing about not ironing your boxers."

Brandon looked at her stoically. "I don't iron my boxers."

Lilith looked at Jasper for confirmation. "Well," my best friend began, sitting up and clearing his throat importantly.

"There was this one time..."

Brandon glared daggers at him. "Shut up," he snapped, pointing a finger at Jasper. We all laughed then.

"Aww, its okay Brandon," Lilith said, hugging him from behind and ruffling his hair affectionately. She rested her cheek on his head. "We love you exactly as you are."

Brandon's cheeks flushed deep red, and I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing again. Poor Brandon.

Lilith turned back to me and seamlessly picked up our earlier conversation, her eyes like burnt gold boring into mine.

"You're going to put a stop to it, aren't you?" It was more of a statement – not command – than a question.

Jasper and Lilith were more intuitive than most, and they knew me so well that sometimes I felt like they could even read my thoughts. Brandon was a bit slower to catch up, which really wasn't his fault, but he was getting there.

No thanks to the people who bore the title of his parents. No one had any business having a kid if they weren't prepared to love him or her regardless of how they turned out.

"I'm obviously not going to stand for it," I said shrugging, in response to Lilith's question.

Her eyes warmed, and she looked at me with genuine platonic affection.

"Aww, you're such a dad sometimes," she cooed.

I was not amused. "What?"

She extracted herself from Brandon and came over to pinch my cheeks.

"You know, a daddy. D-a-d-d-y. That's what you are, yes you are," she said, still pinching my cheeks. I glared at her but my look completely bounced off.

"You know, when you finally start making goo-goo eyes at a girl, I will make sure to hint at calling you that," She grinned evilly.

I smacked her hands away while Jasper tried – and failed – to muffle a snort.

"Lilith, I mean this in the nicest way possible, you're twisted in the head," I said, getting a little amused.

She threw her head back and cackled, then winked and pointed two fingers at me like a gun.

"Papi," she mouthed.

Before I could respond, I got a text from Purple Devil emoji. I scrolled on the text notification, the third one I'd received today, and groaned.

"Is it him?" Jasper asked alert, ever perceptive.

When I nodded, Brandon groaned himself. "Seriously, you wreck one guy's car by accident and suddenly your life isn't your own anymore."

"I can make the drop-off," Lilith said into the momentary silence.

I looked up from my phone to glare at her. "No, it's too dangerous."

She met my gaze calmly. "I'm good at this, so let me do it. Besides, it'll be easier now that we're in town properly."

I didn't bend. "It's my mess."

Lilith actually rolled her eyes. "And I'm your friend. So stop being a little bitch and let me do this."

She hopped off the bed we'd all been sprawled across and tapped her foot impatiently.

"Send me the details. Now," she demanded, and her voice was pure steel.

After a moment, I sighed. Lilith was used to the streets, and could find crazy connections anywhere and everywhere. I had to trust that she could take care of herself.

She hummed in satisfaction when her phone pinged. "I'll be back before you know it," she said happily, grabbing her leather jacket she'd thrown on the couch and putting it on.

"There's a pre-filmed video I left on Jasper's laptop," she told us while walking around grabbing the rest of her things.

"Make sure you upload it this Friday once he's through editing," she instructed.

"On it," Jasper assured her, giving her the 'okay' signal. She smiled at us and turned to go, then remembered something.

"And the girl," she said, looking straight at me. "Find out her name, yeah? And keep me updated, she seems interesting."

"I'll see what I can do," I said, making no promises.

She gave me a rugged smirk and turned to open the door, but couldn't resist tossing, "Choke her properly next time!" over her shoulder before slamming the door behind her.

AVALON

I made it through the rest of my week without any more embarrassing incidents. I kept my head down and didn't draw any more unwanted attention to myself, especially in classes that I shared with any of the Four Horsemen. I had the redhead in AP Bio and Chemistry, Brandon in study hall and P.E., and Rhys again in Spanish. I was strongly considering dropping the subject, even if it was an easy A for me.

I avoided looking in his direction in both classes we shared, which was much harder than I expected. As soon as the bell rang, I'd immediately rush out of the class like I'd just spotted Theo James in the hallway. I'd feel a piercing gaze digging into my back every time I did that, and had a feeling the bearer had magnetic blue eyes.

For some reason, I felt like he found me very amusing.

The only time I let myself freely observe him and the rest of the Four Horsemen – three now since the girl seemed to have disappeared – was when I saw them in the hallway.

The three males walked down the hallways in perfect synchronicity, as if they'd been attached at the hip for years, and where they walked students easily parted. They seemed mostly oblivious to the stares and whispers that followed them, always so absorbed with their own company.

Watching them, I always got a strange pang in my chest. I found the feeling strange and uncomfortable, so while everyone else salivated and swooned over them I glared at them from my little corner of the world.

Several cheerleaders and other females tried approaching them, hoping for a little bit of attention. Whenever that happened, only the redhead ever made conversation. The blonde would stare in their direction curiously while the redhead smiled and said a few words, and then the trio would go back to talking to each other.

As for Rhys, he wouldn't even bother looking at the person. He'd look away and stare in some other direction, almost like he didn't even notice they were there.

Once, though, he caught me staring, well, glaring. His eyes fixed on mine, and I felt like he very much noticed me. I immediately slammed my locker and walked away before his friends or anyone caught who he was looking at.

I probably shouldn't have made it so obvious that I was avoiding him, but I was – rather pointlessly – still trying to keep my head low.

Horny bimbos weren't the only one's attempting to gain the Horsemen's attention. True to his word, Jacques approached them several times.

I was present in the hallway for one of these encounters, and I was left incredibly confused. Jacques approached with a pleasant smile on his face, fully prepared to be his charming self, but Rhys glared at him fiercely before he even began speaking. Brandon narrowed his eyes and crossed his bulky arms, and even the redhead didn't smile. If they were cats, I would have said their fur was standing on end.

Jacques seemed as confused as I was by such an intense negative reaction. However, he shrugged it off and forged ahead on his purpose.

I was too far away to hear what he said, but I did see Rhys roll those magnetic blue eyes of his and spit something back. The blond and redhead both pursed their lips right after, looking like they were trying not to laugh.

I really wanted to know what he'd said.

The conversation didn't last much longer after that. Rhys turned and strode off in the other direction, and the blond followed him. The redhead shrugged at Jacques and headed after them.

A confused Jacques stared after them, and while I watched he narrowed his eyes and a muscle twitched in his jaw.

Uh-oh. An angry Jacques was never a good one.

He swiveled around then saw me standing there, staring. I immediately scurried away, faster than Scrat chasing his stupid acorn. I didn't want to be anywhere near him when he was in such a mood.

Unfortunately for me, that wasn't something I had any command over.

At midday that Friday, I was at my locker stowing away my books when I suddenly heard students murmuring around me. I turned around, thinking it was going to be another sighting of the Horsemen. Instead, I saw something much more distressing.

Jacques and two of his particularly heinous friends were headed my way, and his stare was fixed on me.

My eyes widened. I darted my gaze about widely, reflexively looking for an escape route. The students noticed and clustered together more thickly, closing off any gaps in the crowd.

I growled into my locker in annoyance, then slammed it shut and turned around. I wasn't about to present my back to Jacques.

His fist slammed into the locker beside my head, and I startled impulsively. The familiar feeling of terror spread in my chest, and I gritted my teeth together in an attempt get a handle on myself.

Trent – the one on the left – smirked devilishly at my expression. My eyes landed on the football in his hands. Why were football players always carrying that thing everywhere?

Jacques snarled into my face then. "You," he spat, eyes flashing.

I crossed my arms in front of me, trying to look brave.

"What the fuck do you want?" I snarled back.

His eyes narrowed at me. "You haven't forgotten our deal, have you?"

My throat closed around nothing. I took in a deep breath, forcing it to unclench.

"No," I said, speaking the first thing that came into my mind.

Jacques looked satisfied. His hand came up to brush a hair a millimetre away from my face and I instantly felt revulsion. That gave me the strength to do what I needed to do next. No way in hell was I going to spend time alone with him on this plane of existence by choice.

"I want you waiting right next to my car immediately after school. You won't be late, now will you?" Jacques stated matter-of factly, already assuming the matter settled. I'm sure he never once considered that I might dare refuse, or have second thoughts about the shady arrangement.

"Actually, about that..."

I had to close my eyes briefly to brace myself for the leap I was about to make, and for what I was sure was about to come. I almost couldn't force the words out, I was so scared.

Was he bothering you?

I heard his voice again in my head. The words helped let out some of the tension from my body, as well as loosen my pursed lips. I practically knew nothing about this Rhyland dude, yet I was about to bet that the narrative Jacques' had concocted to make me fall in line somehow wouldn't take place on his watch.

Well, so be it.

I reopened my eyes and saw Jacques' expression quickly clouding over with anger. My heart skittered but I forced myself to continue.

"Look, the thing is, we made that deal on Monday. I usually only make deals with the devil on Tuesday. So it's gonna have to be a no."

Oh shit, I'd reverted back to my usual defense mechanism of being a caustic smart-mouth. All I really needed to say was the last part, but nooooo, I just had to insert the sarcasm.

Jacques took it about as well as he usually did.

His palm slammed into my locker with more force than before, and he got very up in my face. It took a lot out of me not to react, which would have been to break down crying and pleading for mercy. I'd faced down a lot worse than this guy, but for some reason whenever he got close to me, looking at me like he was now, I literally felt like I couldn't breathe.

But dying wasn't an option for me, so I'd had to learn how to deal with it.

The familiar stirrings of my anger rose in me when Jacques said, "Are you seriously trying to make me angry? You really think that's a good idea right now?"

He was too close now, too furious. I hated this. And people just watched, no one stepping in to tell Jacques to get away from me. To allow me breathe.

What right did any of them have to make me feel this way?

I finally erupted. "No time's a good time to make you angry, Griffin! You are always always in a satanical mood whenever it comes to me!"

Jacques didn't bother to deny this. He just gritted his teeth while he stared at me, eyes clouded with so much hate that despite myself I was taken aback.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" I asked him. Even to my own ears, I sounded weak and pitiful.

Jacques actually laughed. "You think you deserve to be left alone, after what you did?" He stared at me somewhat incredulously.

In his mind, I'd destroyed an entire family and taken away the life of his best friend. And maybe I did. But I couldn't allow him do the same to mine or to any other family.

So I narrowed my eyes at him and summoned my rage again.

"There is no deal, Jacques. So go ahead, do your worst." I tilted my head up and made myself look brave.

He smirked at me and my heart skittered. "Oh, you know I will." His palm reached up and tapped my cheek almost gently before he pulled away from me. My fear intensified.

"Don't run," he said, turning away. You'll just make things more... painful for yourself."

I was left staring at his back once the bell rang. Once the hallway cleared of students I allowed myself to slump down to the ground and sat there for a long time, running my shaking hands through my hair and sucking in deep lungfuls of air.

_

I felt like a zombie as I made my way into my last class of the day. I found myself in my seat when the bell rang, and just stared ahead, looking at nothing.

One half of my mind was busy formulating all the things that could go wrong that afternoon, while the other half was busy worrying about things I could no longer control, such as whether Rhys and the other Four Horsemen were actually what I believed them to be and if I wouldn't have been better off taking Jacques' deal.

Well, it was clearly too late to change my mind. I just had to believe that the narrative Jacques' painted was false and that the world beyond these four walls didn't blindly dance to his hate-filled tune.

Mr. Graham was at the front of the class, talking about the quiz we were about to take.

"Once you're done with the quiz, you can bring your papers up to the front here and then you can leave," he explained. He looked at his watch.

"Your time starts now."

I looked down at the white sheet of paper on top of my desk. I frowned. Had it always been there? I must've been really out of it.

I forced myself to snap out of my bleak thoughts and start on my test. As I filled in my name and other required shit, my mind finally focused on what Mr. Graham had said. And I stilled.

Wait, I can leave once I'm done? I recalled. So, if I finish pretty early, like way before school's even over...

I took a few minutes to reflect on this, realizing that there was actually a way to avoid this whole mess altogether. Jacques and his cronies usually came after me right when school was over. I just needed to be out of here way before then.

My pencil blazed across the page then. What a nice man, I thought, retrieving economical facts I'd studied last night into my working memory while periodically glancing at the clock.

I was scribbling so fast my pencil nearly broke once, so I slowed down a little. I could only hope that Mr. Graham could read what I wrote.

Then I was on the last page, filling in the last section of my test. I looked up at the clock then. I'd finished in approximately half the time. My pencil lead, or graphite or whatever, was probably drying on the page.

Hopefully none of the future inmates that followed Jacques around were out and about.

I stood up from my seat and took my test to Mr. Graham's desk. He took it, looking slightly amused.

"Finished already?" he said, raising an eyebrow. He flipped through pages filled with my pencil scribbles then nodded and set it down on his desk. "I'll be sure to make it harder next time," he joked.

"You do that," I said, humoring him. Walking towards the entrance, I took my beats headphones from around my neck and set them on top of my head.

Before I walked out, I paused.

I hadn't even looked at Ocean Eyes' way once, even though he'd been the main focus of my thoughts. My eyes travelled to where he sat now, still busy with his test.

Feeling my gaze, he looked up.

For the first time in days, I didn't look away when he made eye contact with me. Instead, I looked into his magnetic blue eyes and... hoped.

Please don't make me regret this, I tried silently communicating my thoughts to him. His brow furrowed, as if he knew I was trying to tell him something but wasn't quite getting the message.

Oh well. He'd know soon enough. I turned away then, pulling out my phone and putting on One Direction's 'Ready to Run'.

And then I ran.