(Song of the chapter: 'Jealous' - Labrinth)

I stared blindly before me, brandishing my wooden staff. Every one of my senses was alert, waiting for the next strike, though my eyes weren't much use. A bead of sweat rolled down the nape of my neck and onto my back uncomfortably, but I ignored it. I was used to discomfort.

I heard it then, a soft plunk I wouldn't have caught if I wasn't stretching my hearing senses to their limit. I twirled my staff in the appropriate direction and it safely thunked into the wood, avoiding making impact with me. Exhaling slightly, I waited for the next one.

It came seconds later. I deflected that, but too soon another had replaced the attack, competing for the honor of sinking into my flesh.

I controlled my heart beat, my breathing, everything that wasn't necessary to me right that moment, and poured all my focus into defending myself from the attacks which seemed to be coming from all directions.

This seemed to go on for hours, although I knew only minutes had passed. Then, suddenly, they stopped. I strained my senses, staying on the alert so as not to be caught unawares.

Instead of the soft whoosh of an object flying through the air, a blaring sound rang through the space, signalling the end of the exercise. With my free hand, I pulled the blindfold off my head and studied the object I held in my hands.

My staff was riddled with knives, poking out from every single inch of space on it. It now resembled a pincushion. I'd avoided the area around my hands for the most part, but a shiny knife was currently stuck between two of my fingers. A few I'd managed to knock away were scattered around my feet.

I was thumbing the knife hilt between my fingers when I felt the next attack. I glanced up sharply to see the shiny weapon darting towards me.

There was no time to think. I dropped the staff and quickly clapped my palms around the end of the blade, stopping its approach. The pointy end was a centimetre away from my head.

The feeling of fire-ants crawling over my skin was minimal but present. I considered the object for a moment then called out, "That's cheating!"

The door of the transparent rectangular box in which I was being held opened, and Gavin poked his head in. He gave me a roguish grin.

(Gavin, a.k.a. The Sinner)

"You can't cheat if you make the rules," he said sardonically. I rolled my eyes.

"You can't just change the rules in the middle of the exercise," I shot back, walking towards him.

"Buzzer means 'it's over'. I was done. You shouldn't have thrown this at me," I waved the dagger in his face.

His lip quirked to the side unrepentantly, and he stepped away from the door so I could pass.

"Don't you know it's never really over? Besides, you shouldn't put too much basis on assumption. What if things don't go according to plan? You could get killed."

"This life lesson or whatever, doesn't change the fact that you're a cheater," I seethed, glaring at the side of his face. He chuckled.

I crossed my arms indignantly, but carefully, as I was still holding the blade. It was made out of silver after all.

We stepped out into the main area to see Archer leaning against Gavin's desk, looking a little bit amused.

"Dad, why'd you do Avalon dirty like that?" he asked, lip twitching.

"I did nothing wrong," My biological father maintained, going to grab a bottle of water perched on the desk. He raised his eyebrows at me as he drank, golden eyes dancing. I raised my eyebrows in retaliation, an open challenge in my gaze. One I wasn't actually going to act on, though, because to challenge the Alpha was to desire leadership of the Pack which was something had absolutely no interest in. No siree. He could totally keep it. Nuh-uh.

I was also a hundred percent sure I'd lose.

The dude literally packed more power in his pinky than I did in my entire body, and I knew he could wipe me out with just a yawn. He knew it too. Sometimes I was convinced he wanted to try doing just that, just to see if I could hold my own against him.

The person who gave me half my DNA was a pest and a maniac, who was constantly trying to find how best to get under my skin or drive me insane. Gave me the warm fuzzies every time I thought about it. I was already planning what to get him for Father's Day.

Ah, I remembered the day I met him. Such joy he put into my heart at our first union...

7 years ago...

The letter the strange lady from yesterday gave me felt like it burned in my back pocket.

At first I couldn't make sense of it. It said that there were people like me in the city, and they wanted to meet me? Some of them might even be... related to me? I couldn't believe it. I had a family already, and even they didn't like to see my face. They hated me. Why on earth would these ones want to meet me?

I'd figured it out eventually, and almost hit myself for being so slow. These people were trying to lure me out to get me. Maybe that's how they got him too. Is that what he was trying to tell me that... night? Did he believe the lies?

My eyes prickled from thinking about him. I blinked my tears away determinedly and focused on the wooden surface above me. Recess had been over for a while- none of the teachers had noticed me crawl under the table to hide. None of the students had either, which was good.

I might as well start picking out good hiding places if they didn't come.

The note said they were going to be across the street from my school by 1:30pm, in a car painted black. I looked at my little ladybug watch. Ten minutes to go.

Half the time had passed when I got out from under the table. I wasted a precious few minutes wiping the sand off my clothes, hair and backpack, before I squared my shoulders and started off in measured footsteps.

Maybe they'd take me to the same place they had him. Or maybe they won't, but I didn't like to think about that. Either way, I'd still be taken away.

Which was what I deserved.

I spotted the car easily, since it had just rounded onto the street a few seconds before while I'd been in deep thought. It was a long car, like a limousine. A bit unsure, I walked up to it but hesitated a little.

The driver's window rolled down then. "Hi there!" The same woman I'd met yesterday smiled warmly at me. I said nothing.

"Your family's in the back," she continued. "Want me to get the door?"

I turned away from her and reached for the door handle. I wasn't incompetent.

I saw the row of empty seat first. It was a bit higher than I'd anticipated. I lifted myself onto the seat with my palms then pulled the door closed when my hands were free. Settled, I raised my head for the first time since entering.

A large man sat before me, regarding me with eyes so light-blue they reminded me of clouds in the sky, minus the clouds. He had dark hair and a bit of scruff on his face, and wore an expensive-looking suit.

He stared at me. I stared right back, waiting calmly.

Then he said, "First of all, you're not supposed to skip school."

I blinked.

"Going to school is a necessary part of life at your age," he continued, leaning back in his seat. "Imagine if you're missing something important right now. Do you even know how terrible that would be?"

I blinked again, even slower this time.

"Also, you shouldn't have just gotten into a random stranger's car." He picked a random piece of lint off his suit. "What if I was planning to harm you? Or..."

"Oh, my God," a voice suddenly interrupted, coming from the spot beside him. I hadn't even noticed it, but there was a boy sitting there. He looked way older than me and had hair falling into his face. He pushed it away and I noticed that his hair and eyes were almost the same shade of black. His skin tone was also really close to mine, and he wore black clothes.

He turned to scowl at the man beside him. "Dad, are you serious? That is not how you start conversations with people!"

Wait a minute. I recognized that voice. I'd heard it in my dreams, sometimes. The voice was usually very upset though. Sometimes it was crying.

This was getting really weird.

He glanced at me and sighed at the expression he saw on my face. "Look, she's getting freaked out now. You gotta start over. Properly," he emphasized, narrowing his eyes at the man.

He was actually quite intimidating. The older man looked unruffled, though. He turned to me and let out a breath before speaking again.

"I'm sorry for being rude." He said it in a flat tone, but somehow I could tell that he actually meant it.

"My name's Gavin, and that's my son, Archer," he spoke gently this time. "It's very nice to meet you. Could you tell me your name?"

I glanced from him, to Archer, then back. I swung my feet a little.

"Let me guess, next you're going to tell me that I shouldn't give my name to strangers?" I quipped.

It was Gavin's turn to blink. Archer looked from him to me, and I saw his mouth tilt like he could've laughed.

"You see what you've done?" The question was directed at his dad, but his eyes were fixed on me.

Gavin actually laughed, a deep chuckle that somehow made me feel safe and at ease for the first time in days. His eyes twinkled at he faced me, and I thought I saw a glimmer of pride in them.

"You'll do," he told me. While I watched, his eyes suddenly filled with gold.

I'd realized then that they hadn't been lying to me. Till this day, I was still on the fence about whether I was mad about that or not.

I snapped back to reality when the subject of my thoughts tossed me a bottle of water. I snatched it out of the air with my free hand, twisting the cap off with my teeth before taking a swig.

"So, how goes it kiddo?" Gavin asked me.

"Everything's same old, same old," I shrugged, swallowing. He, along with almost everyone else in the Pack were just waiting for the day I'd say my bullies had finally decided to leave me alone.

Well, they would just keep waiting.

Gavin peered at me closely. "Alex said some kids brought you in today?"

I sighed, pained. I'd been doing so well at not thinking about the Horsemen – about him – till now.

"They're new," I said, shrugging again. "They'll learn soon enough. It was a one-time thing, honestly."

"They seem nice," Archer spoke up then, tentatively. I snorted. I found it funny that my brother, king of asocial towards anyone who wasn't Pack, was bothered by the fact that I had no friends.

"Have you done a background check?" Gavin asked him.

"Dossier's on your table," Archer casually replied. "Not that there's much anyone who wants to look them up can't find already on the internet."

I ignored the fact that the people I'd treated like pack mules were actually considered pretty big deals by most of the population and focused on the first part. "Dossier?" I snorted.

"Why do you even bother asking me about things if you're just gonna go behind my back and find out anyway?"

Gavin smirked at me. "Because it's cute to let you think you have to tell me shit in order for me to know."

Archer laughed out loud at the fiery glare I directed towards my father.

"Dick," I muttered, loud enough for him to hear. He sent a roguish grin my way, not denying it.

"Why didn't you mention it, though?" he asked me, sobering up. I groaned.

"Because there was nothing to mention." I sipped from my water again before I walked over to set it on the table near where my brother sat.

"They won't be hanging around, or whatever it is you think. Don't get your hopes up."

As I studied my reflection in the silver blade, I wasn't sure who I was cautioning – him or myself.

Gavin's eyes caught on the blade in my hands.

"You did pretty okay in there," he told me, referring to the training room. "For a human, that is." My eyes didn't bear the telltale gold of the werewolf mode, while I'd trained.

"Pretty okay?" Archer looked at him in disbelief. "She shaved three whole seconds off her response time. She did amazing."

I put on a nonchalant smirk while warmth bubbled up in my chest. My brother was my biggest stan, it didn'teven make sense.

"Well, I mean –" Gavin smirked, and I just knew whatever he was going to say next was just intended to rile me up.

"It could've been better." He shrugged noncommittally and casually picked up a stack of papers from the desk, but I could see the mischief dancing in his eyes.

I calmly retaliated by throwing my knife at him, putting a lot of strength in the throw. He reacted quickly enough, snagging it out of the air, but I could tell he hadn't been expecting it.

"I threw that at you at human speed, yet you barely even caught it." I propped myself onto the desk beside my brother and eyed him smugly.

"Don't talk the talk if you can't walk the walk, old man."

Archer threw his head back and cackled. I joined in, snickering into my palm. Gavin eyed me with displeasure before walking away, muttering under his breath about "kids these days."

"He is like, the O.G. boomer," Archer noted in amusement. I laughed so hard I snorted.

"Let's definitely call him that from now on," I suggested, then smirked. "The Sinner makes him sound actually cool."

"I CAN HEAR YOU, YOU KNOW?!!"

_

The Coffeeholics was something of a joke.

It served mostly breakfast entrées all day long and was formerly called Bagel House. Their pancakes selection was very extensive, and their antique, mish-mash décor and proximity to school were a huge reason why kids from school came here so often.

However, their coffee was terrible.

One critic had commented that it "tastes like battery acid". When the managers decided to switch some things up about the diner, they renamed it 'The Coffeeholics' as a sort of fuck-you to the haters.

The coffee, I heard, tasted only a marginally better than before. But everyone was already used to loving to hate it.

I was currently sitting at an empty booth in a discreet corner of the room.

I was also in disguise.

I'd traded in my usual black hoodie for a soft pastel one, and my face was turned away from the doorway so those who walked in would only be presented with a light-brown curtain of hair from the wig I wore. My bruises were once again covered up with makeup.

The diner had gotten more packed as it got closer to noon. I'd gotten here twenty minutes before the meeting time to be sure they were actually coming or if I was just wasting my Saturday.

I ordered the coffee, but only for appearances. Now way was I drinking that shit.

Only a quarter of an hour had passed when I started hearing the hushed whispers. I raised my head as they suddenly got louder and peeked at the room from behind my hair.

People were chattering excitedly, looking towards the entrance.

"No way!" One girl was whispering to her friend excitedly. "Are they actually coming here?"

Just as she'd finished speaking the doors opened and Rhys, Jasper and Brandon walked into the diner. The squealing started immediately.

"Oh my God!"

"He is literally so attractive!"

"Marry me!"

My eyebrows crumpled at that one. Yikes. This is what they had to deal with when they went out into public?

The Horsemen, to their credit, didn't seem fazed. Rhys just slid off his sunglasses and continued walking, along with the rest of the guys, making sure to sidestep the arms that were reaching out to him. A burly figure followed close behind them, telling off people who were getting too close.

The manager ran out of a hidden room to meet them. "This way, please," he directed, gesturing towards the door he'd just come through. Rhys went up first, climbing up the stairs. Jasper and Brandon followed him, with the manager and the guard bringing up the rear.

Girls on this level were still calling out their name rather loudly. Some were on their phones, texting furiously. More people had started arriving, and I knew in a few moments I was gonna be trapped inside.

I stood from my seat, grabbing the duffel bag by my feet, and slipped out of the diner, unnoticed by anyone. Everyone was still focused on the door the Horsemen had just gone through, believing that if they just hollered loud enough the guys would come back down.

Man, my ears hurt.

I ducked out of sight and quickly circled around the building. Once hidden, I ripped off my wig and replaced the hoodie I was wearing, stuffing the discarded items into the duffel. By my calculations, the window to the room the guys were currently in was the one right above my head.

I stashed the bag behind a tree a few feet away, which conveniently had a long thick branch that extended towards the window. I rolled up my sleeves and started to climb.

As I neared the window, I switched on my enhanced senses to pick up on the vibe in the room.

"Dude, they just saw us like, yesterday," I heard one of them say, unimpressed. Sounded like Brandon.

"Why are they screaming so much?"

"Comes with the job, bro." That was definitely, unmistakeably Rhys.

"They'll cool off of us soon, okay baby?" That was probably Jasper.

"Get your hands off me, man."

Oh yeah, the former had definitely been Jasper.

"You think she'll come?" I paused on the branch at hearing Rhys' question. My heart started thudding hard against my ribs.

"Oh yeah. She said she would, don't worry."

Jasper's voice turned mischievous. "I can hold your hand till she arrives if you want, Rhysy-poo."

"Jas, if I hear you talk again..." Rhys threatened.

I snorted, crawling closer. I could see inside the room now. The guys were sitting around table, and Rhys was currently glaring at Jasper. Brandon was watching them, amused.

The bodyguard from before suddenly burst into the room.

"Alright little dudes, I've got everything under control," he held out his brown hands in a placating manner.

"Y'all are completely safe here. I'mma step outside now, and believe me when I tell you that no one who doesn't belong in here would be able to get in now. I will be a boulder – if they want to get in, they'll have to go through me, and that's not gonna happen." He sounded very self-assured.

Guess that was my cue.

I flicked out my multi-purpose razor into my palm and used it to edge open the window. Once I could get a grip, I shoved it the rest of the way open with my palm, then glided into the room in one smooth movement.

I landed on my feet, lithe as a cat, then pushed the window closed. I dusted off my hands in satisfaction before turning around.

They stared. The bodyguard seemed the most shocked, jaw hanging open in pure stupefaction.

"To be fair," I consoled, briefly looking away to snap the window lock down, "I didn't go through you, I came through the window." I clicked my tongue.

"Don't think I would have been able to do that if you'd been standing right in front of it, you boulder you."

The bodyguard regained his voice at that. "Please, forgive my mistake, little dudes." He puffed out his chest, directing a glare towards me.

"I will remove this unwanted disturbance from your presence at once."

I raised my eyebrows at him, intrigued as to how this was going to play out.

Jasper spoke up. "Actually Reggie, we do want her here." He seemed amused. "We were actually expecting her. Just... not the way she arrived."

Reggie shot me a suspicious look. "Well if you change your mind, just let me know."

"We're good," Rhys spoke up. His eyes hadn't left mine.

I looked away and at Reggie, who was about to walk out of the door and stuck out my tongue at him. His gaze darkened just a moment before he shut the door.

"Why the fuck would you come in through the window?" Rhys looked at me like I had lost my mind. "Didn't Alex tell you not to do any strenuous activities?"

I raised my eyebrow at him. "You mean, as opposed to coming in through the door?" I bit out sarcastically.

"I don't know if you've noticed but there's a crowd down there, of mostly females, who're all flipping out and acting like they're trying not to wet themselves." I walked towards the table and pulled out a chair with my foot, sitting on it backwards.

"Making my way through Tartarus would've been easier than getting past your crazy fans." I shrugged, crossing my arms around the chair's back.

"I don't know what they're getting so hyped up about. I mean, I'm just here for the free food."

A wide grin spread across Jasper's face.

"I like her," he declared. "Can we keep her?" he asked, looking at Rhys. Rhys gave him a weird look.

I sent an equally disgruntled look his way. "Keep me? Like I'm some kind of pet?" Was there something wrong with him?

"Did someone let you out of your cage, bro?" I asked, raising my brows at him.

"Ooh, the BURN!" Brandon snickered gleefully, while Rhys just looked amused. He turned to smile condescendingly at Jasper.

"Would you like some ice, honey?" Rhys asked sweetly. Jasper mock-scowled and folded his face into his arms.

"Don't talk to me right now." His words came out muffled. Sorry not sorry, dweeb.

Just then the door opened and in came Vivien Hayes. She was a strawberry-blonde cheerleader who was quite popular at school for dating some jock on the lacrosse team. However, she wasn't popular enough for the 'It' squad, and had been dying to get in since. Some of the methods she used included being mean to me, along with the rest of the sheepish population.

Apparently, she worked here on weekends.

She was carrying a tray with four drinks on it in one hand, a giddy, excited smile on her face. No doubt already thinking of how she was going to brag about this to all of her friends.

Her smile abruptly froze when she spotted me.

Probably wasn't expecting to see me sitting there. I cocked one eyebrow at her, wondering how she was gonna react. She narrowed her eyes contemplatively at me, then looked at the guys and back at me. After a moment she turned away and fixed the grin back on her face, continuing her approach. Guess she was going to just ignore me for the time being.

"Hiii," she squeaked, setting down the tray. She sounded like a mouse. "It's on the house," she explained, referring to the drinks.

She shook her head, looking a little puzzled.

"When they said there were four of you, I was thinking that Lilith was finally back, but..."

She cast a glance towards me again. I stared back, passively. Was she expecting me to apologize for my presence? Hahahaha lol.

None of the guys offered up any explanation so she went on, clearing her throat.

"Anyways," she reached into her apron pocket and pulled out a notepad and pen, "What do y'all want?"

Brandon stared straight ahead, contemplating.

"Can I get the cream cheese bagel? And also, could you get a paper cup and fill it with just ice?" he added while Vivien scribbled. He smirked. "It's for Jasper."

Jasper raised his head and glared fiercely at Brandon.

"Hey!"

Vivien giggled like he'd told the funniest joke. I held back an eye roll.

"What about you, Rhys?" She asked, chipperly.

"Give me what Brandon's having." Rhys sounded as bored as he usually did when talking to other people.

"Okay." She still sounded extremely optimistic, which was getting on my nerves. She looked up after making the notes and smiled at Jasper, beaming a little wider.

"How 'bout you, Jas?"

Jasper straightened. "I would like a bowl of Cream of Wheat, please," he stated proudly. We all stared at him. Even Vivien was thrown.

"What?" she asked, perplexed.

"The hell?" Brandon unwittingly finished. He stared at Jasper like he'd just asked for dog food.

"Are you five?"

"Is that even on the menu?" Rhys snatched it up and flipped through it. His search must have proved inconclusive because he lowered his head and gripped the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

"We can't take you anywhere," he muttered.

"I said what I said, beesh," Jasper wasn't backing down. Vivien blinked furiously, then raised her notebook and wrote something on it.

"Ooh, how's the coffee?" Jasper asked. I perked up, an evil smile forming on my face.

My hopes were immediately dashed when Vivien said, "Oh no. You do not wanna try the coffee here."

Scowling, I turned to glare at her darkly for ruining my fun. She looked at me like she couldn't understand what had gotten into me.

Inching slightly away like I was poisonous, she eyed me but continued, "It's quite awful. The name of this place is a joke, honestly. No one orders the coffee."

Jasper stroked his chin, sending a glance my way. "Nice to know that some people care about my well-being." He didn't seem offended though. I rolled my eyes and reached for my drink.

I regret nothing.

Vivien tee-heed into her palm, making me roll my eyes again. No one was just that effortlessly happy.

She turned towards me finally and her entire friendly demeanor crumbled. Her smile fell, her face soured, she raised her nose up at me and flared out her nostrils like she'd just smelled expired milk... Wow. The switch up was real.

Ha, I was right!

"And you?" She squeaked much more nasally than before, using her nostrils as a second pair of eyes. "What do you want?"

I'd been called a 'thing' and a 'you' in one week. I loved how ambiguous we were getting.

I examined her beastly expression for a moment, contemplating. I could let her ruin my afternoon, or I could just continue to ruin hers as I was already doing without effort. I showed her my teeth.

"Pancakes," I requested in such a syrupy-sweet tone, I almost gave myself cavities.

She begrudgingly lifted her notepad. "What kind?" She forced out. Wow, she must really hate having to talk to me civilly.

"The cute little mini ones," I cooed. It was my turn to be hella annoying, and I was loving it.

Her eyes sparked with annoyance. She folded her arms and eyed me like I was a piece of dirt, eyes glinting. 

I hadn't expected to piss her off that fast.

"Okay, look, you've clearly never been here before."

I bit my lip, fighting amusement. I knew I was supposed to be getting offended, but man, I could not get over the way her voice sounded.

"You can't just say mini-pancake. There's a lot of different flavors to choose from." She spoke slowly as if to a child, which really didn't help her squeak.

"Unless you want to pick them all, you're gonna have to be more specific." 

The condescension was practically leaking off her.

"Okay." I just shrugged. "Get them all."

Why not? I wasn't paying.

She stared at me for a shocked second, then craned her neck like it would help her understand me better.

"What?"

"Oh wait," I snapped my fingers, pretending to regain my senses.

"Leave out the... what's it called? The gluten-free ones," I instructed. "I don't like stuff that's good for me."

One of the guys exhaled a laugh. Vivien's eyes widened and searched the room wildly, as if expecting to see a dietitian, or maybe the Pope, suddenly pop out of nowhere and tell me that my body was a temple.

When that didn't happen, she looked to the guys for one of them to react and rein me in. I turned to them as well. Brandon and Jasper just looked very entertained, and Rhys.... He was tapping his fingers on the table and looking towards the window. I didn't even know if he was paying attention.

And then he said, "The service here is so fucking slow."

He sounded so neutral, like he could've been talking about the weather, but I saw him shoot a brief apathetic glance at Vivien and then away.

"It's appalling."

My jaw plummeted.

Vivien looked like she'd just been slapped across the face. She flushed and mumbled something about getting right on our orders before practically running out of the room.

Brandon looked thoughtful. "Is it just me, or did her voice sound really pitchy?"

"Not just you," Rhys snapped, sounding curt. "And instead of talking minimally, she chose to be even more annoying."

Jasper spluttered with laughter. "She looked so stunned. People really should know by know how crusty you can get."

I was still gaping at him.

"You just say things like that?" He looked at me.

"Why haven't you been cancelled yet?"

Jasper and Brandon snickered openly. Rhys was unfazed.

"What did I say?" He asked, sounding completely unbothered.

"At this point, people understand that he's just born rude." Jasper slurped on his drink, looking at Rhys in amusement.

"A lot of people in the comments say they find his saltiness quite entertaining."

"How weird." I took a sip of my drink. "Are you going to tell me why I'm here now?"

They exchanged glances.

"We just wanted to make sure you were okay," Jasper gingerly replied. I blinked at him.

"I can't understand this strange investment in my well-being. That wasn't my first rodeo ya know? I would've been fine by Monday. You didn't have to throw me in the backseat and run me off to some quack."

Rhys gave me a flat stare. "You still  think I should have just let you go home?" He bristled. "Take a moment to imagine how the police interview would've gone once you'd died. 'So, what did you do when you saw her standing there, looking like she was about to topple over?' 'Well, I just stood there and watched, of course'."

He rolled his eyes, sipping from his drink. "No, thank you. I don't want to be known as some sort of heartless devil."

I stared at him. Jasper stared at him as well.

"Since when?" He asked, sounding very amused. Rhys threw him an unfriendly glance.

Jasper burst out laughing. "Rhys, you once threatened to call the police on an old lady."

Rhys narrowed his eyes. "She was violating my basic right to safe personal space".

Brandon joined in the laughter. I was curious.

"What the hell happened?"

Brandon turned to me. "This one old lady thought Rhys's eyes were very pretty, and wanted to know if they were real and not contacts."

"Meaning," Rhys seethed, "she tried to poke her finger in my eye." He shuddered. "She also smelled like pickles and yarn. I thought I might pass out."

Jasper and Brandon burst out into fresh peals of laughter at the traumatized expression on Rhys' face.

"He completely spazzed," Jasper wheezed. "He was like, 'Get away! Leave me alone! I'll call the police!'"

The way Brandon was laughing looked like it had to hurt. My lips twitched.

Rhys caught the movement. He slowly turned towards me, a blatant warning in his eyes. I allowed a Cheshire grin to stretch across my face.

"Touchy, touchy," I tsked, smirking.

Brandon recovered enough to speak. "You know how people come up to us and Rhys doesn't look at them, acting like he's this unbothered, rude bad boy?" At Jasper's nod he continued, smirking in Rhys' direction.

"I think he's just afraid of it happening again."

Jasper and Brandon cracked up again. Rhys rolled his eyes but his lips were twitching.

"I say this with love, but fuck you all."

The door opened and Vivien returned, bearing our food. Even though I'd placed a large order, I got my food at the same time the guys did, most definitely because of Rhys's complaint.

Her face was concealed by the large stack of pancakes. Her face was as red as a cherry once she set down the plate. I bit my lip.

She glared like the devil but kept quiet this time. Turning stiffly, she walked out the door like there was a pole up her bum. I quietly chuckled.

Once Umbridge left I turned to my plate of pancakes, marvelling at it.

"Oh wow." I peered up at the pile from below, happiness bubbling up inside me. The edges were so perfectly golden-brown and everything smelled so good. I think I was in love for the first time in my life.

"Would you two like to be alone?" Rhys drawled, sounding amused.

I shushed him impatiently. I picked up the pitcher of syrup she had provided and poured it all over the stack, then grabbed the first one and bit into it.

The most heavenly flavor of vanilla flooded my taste buds. I enthusiastically finished it and reached for the next one.

Rhys was staring at me, his chin resting on his fist.

"Are you actually going to finish that?" he asked, sounding intrigued.

I raised an eyebrow. "Is that a trick question?" 

The next pancake looked like it was chocolate chip. I eagerly took a large chomp then abruptly spit it out into a napkin.

"Why would someone put oatmeal and raisins into a pancake?" I asked, disgusted.

"Try it with Cream of Wheat," Jasper suggested, swirling his spoon around his bowl. "It might taste better."

For a moment I could only stare at him. "You are a danger to society," I informed him, meaning it. "Why do you come up with these ideas?"

Brandon snickered. Rhys shook his head slightly, lip quirked up.

"I agree," he said.

Jasper scoffed, whipping his hair. "I will keep my brilliant ideas to myself next time," he said snottily. He eyed the pancake I still held.

"Are you gonna eat that?"

I nervously handed it to him. He dipped it into his bowl and took a bite. Brandon and I grimaced.

"Wow," Jasper hummed thoughtfully. "This tastes absolutely terrible." He continued to chew.

Shuddering, I turned back to my pancake stack, sniffing it cautiously this time. I selected one that smelled like lemons from the pile, as well as a blueberry flavored one. Folding them together, I took a bite.

"Hmm, that tastes interesting," I commented. Brandon raised an eyebrow.

"Ever thought of starting a Mukbang channel?" He asked, eyeing my diminishing stack of pancakes. "It might actually take off."

I glared at him while Rhys and Jasper laughed. "Shut it," I snapped. 

"Besides, I'm don't even do the social media thing. I don't have an account on anything."

"Why not?" Jasper asked curiously.

"Harassment," I explained, stuffing the rest of my pancake in my mouth.

"About that," Jasper sat up in his seat. "So Brandy here had soccer practice this morning," he began. I raised my eyebrows, wondering where he was going with this.

"I went up to some of the jocks afterward and asked them why people were mean to you. They got really heated," he frowned, "but their responses didn't make any sense. They kept babbling on about Tic Tacs and... Satan?" The last part sounded like a question.

I snorted. Sounded about right. Most people had forgotten the real reason they'd started bullying me in the first place.

"It's some rumor people made up about me a long time ago." I reached for another pancake, finally tasting chocolate chip. "I can't believe some people still think that."

"What was it about?" Rhys asked.

I sighed. "It doesn't matter." 

It mattered very much. "People are mean to me mostly because Voldemort is mean to me, and if they join in they're seen as 'cool'."

"Voldemort?" Brandon echoed.

I huffed. "I have many, many names for that creature." I finished the pancake and reached for another. "And also, shouldn't it be obvious?"

I bit into a strawberry flavored one. "I'm a person in high school who actually takes school seriously. I'm also like, minority."

I'd expected them to look uncomfortable at that last bit, but Rhys only looked disgusted.

"That's why they bully you?"

It was odd seeing him riled up on my behalf. I looked away.

"Well, it does makes it easier for them to." I thoughtfully chewed on another bite. A lot of popular students were ethnically diverse, but it was me we were talking about. All the regular rules didn't apply when it came to me.

"It's mostly about something that happened a long time ago, when I was really young." I blew out a breath, leaning back. I hated thinking about this, much less talking about it.

"You guys probably wouldn't get it," I told them, trying to divert the conversation.

"Why wouldn't we?" Jasper asked.

"Ever had people just look at you and know you're different, and then just never give you the benefit of the doubt?"

They exchanged glances.

"A lot of trolls are like that on the internet," Jasper said. "People just criticize what they don't understand or what doesn't fit neatly into a box." The way he talked sounded like it was personal.

I opened my mouth to ask when I saw Rhys looking at Brandon from the corner of his eye, who was facing me...

Wait, that wasn't right. He was facing my direction, but he wasn't actually looking at me. His eyes were actually fixed on a spot a millimeter away from my face.

Oh. I had no idea.

"When I was younger, I got picked on a lot because I just liked to play with the same toys and do the same things over and over." His tone of speaking, which I had mistaken for perplexed, was actually the tiniest bit flat.

And it was only that way when he was speaking to me.

"I mean, I still do that." He chuckled unselfconsciously, which made my heart lighten for some reason. 

"It also didn't help that I was also overweight back then," he added.

I stared at the muscular, incredibly handsome dude who currently had multiple girls screaming his name downstairs.

"People bullied you?"

Humans were idiots.

I made a noise of disdain in my throat. "Well you sure showed them, now didn't you?"

Something like respect flashed across his warm hazel eyes and I paused. I needed these people to not like me, the fuck was I doing?

I couldn't put it off any longer... I had to tell them. They needed to understand that befriending me, or whatever it was they were trying to do, wasn't a good idea.

I picked up another pancake, one of the last on my plate. "When I was in fifth grade, the boy that I lived next door to got kidnapped."

They simultaneously froze. I ignored them. I needed to get it all out, as quickly and detachedly as I could. Already I felt like someone was slicing up my heart.

"We were really close growing up, and our houses were like, this far away from each other." I held up my thumb and index finger, separating them by an inch.

"One night, Jonathan tapped on my bedroom window and asked me to go for a walk with him. He wanted to tell me something." I chewed a little bite of pancake and swallowed.

"So we walked to the park, which was like ten minutes away, and he was trying to explain something to me... I don't remember what. A lot of that night is a big blur, really." I shrugged.

"I remember being confused and trying to figure out exactly what it was he was trying to say. Then, the next moment he's sprinting away from me. I don't know if I did something or said something..." I bit my lip, feeling a pang in my chest despite my efforts. A lot of the things missing from that night still haunted me.

"Anyways," I continued, forcing my voice to sound even. "After he ran away, there's this blank in my memory, so I don't know if I tried to follow him or not. I was like... nine when this happened?"

Jasper interrupted me for the first time. "You were nine in fifth grade?" He asked, gaping at me.

"Yeah," I nodded. "I started school early. Probably because I learned to read before most of you slowpokes. Anyways..." I gave him a look that warned to not interrupt me again.

"Everything's incredibly clear after that. I remember waking up in my house the next morning. The police show up because the neighbors have reported that their son is missing, and my parents tell them they haven't seen him. Then it gets around that I was the last person he was with the day before, and I'm being asked all these questions like 'Do I know where he is?' and 'Were you two planning to run away and did you just chicken out?' I keep telling everyone that I don't know, but no one seems to believe me. Not until the next day, when his parents find the ransom note on their doorstep."

I exhaled. "After that, all hell broke loose. The police question me some more, the neighbours end up moving away, and my parents start worrying that I might've also been an intended target so they move us into the house that I live now. Kids at school start looking at me like I'm contagious. They pass around these crazy stories about what might've happened, and they all think I - did something - to him.

"The most popular one was that I somehow handed my childhood best friend to a Satanic cult for Tic Tacs, because I always had some on me to share back then."

I snorted. "If I'd had the bright idea to sacrifice someone to Satan, mark my words, it would've been Jacques.

"So yeah, that's the reason." I finished off the last of my pancakes, peering into their stunned faces. I raised an eyebrow.

"Are you gonna punch me now?"