Three years ago:

Chase got his report before Cole, of course he did . And of course he knew what was inside it because it was what was always inside it, he had received amazing results, his teachers loved him.

As for Cole?

He ripped up his report as soon as he got it, why waste his time and his parents time discussing my slipping grades, his 'toxic' behaviour.

It was something he realised quite early on in life, he could never beat Chase, he would always be the golden boy, there was no point trying to compete with him for anything, grades, friends and success, so instead of competing with him in a game he had practically won the day they were born Cole did the exact opposite, he became the rebel.

Cole's rebellious behaviour earned him much more attention than his good behaviour would have, He would have been second best to Chase but instead he was in a league of his own. 

Charlie was at the door, like she was every single morning, that was something he had never expected, that he and her would ever drift apart, we had been friends from the start, she had been one of them, one of the gang... but then she had met Chase and of course he had turned her life around, he had fixed her.

Charlie wasn't a failing student anymore, she didn't dye her hair black, she didn't wear eyeliner so thick that her eyeballs weren't even white anymore, she looked like a completely different person, standing there she could have been any old cheerleader, there was nothing special about her anymore, no spark about her.

"Is Chase here?"

Cole didn't reply, she still tried every morning like she could get him to talk to her by catching him off guard, he ignored her, she had been taken in by his brother, the good twin, they had been dating for four weeks and they already made him want to projectile vomit when he was in their presence.

"Is Charlie there at the door?"

Cole ignored him too, they had a rocky relationship the two of them, it was a myth that all identical twins could read each others thoughts, were close.

They had been close before Chase chose the books and he chose the parties.

Chase went to the door and pecked Charlie on the lips, Cole looked away as she giggled and rolled his eyes, they had plans to go to school today, he had plans to avoid school at all costs today.

"Cole?" his Mother came up behind him, she looked sad all the time now and he knew that was partly because of him, but mostly due to the fact that his father was having an affair with someone ten years younger than her.

Chase would have known what to do right now, his Mum's eyes were red and she looked like she needed fixing right about now, but Chase was gone and she was stuck with him.

So he walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Mum I love you, you know that don't you"

She began to cry, it was more common to see her crying rather than dry eyed these days.

"I love you too son, you and Chase are the only good things about this house, and don't for a second think that I don't love you as much as I love him"

It was as if she had read his mind, she had seen into his deepest insecurities and tried to patch up the festering wound that had been playing on his mind for years.

But he also knew it wasn't strictly true, Mothers had to love their children but they chose how to distribute that love and she definitely distributed more of it to Chase, but then again why wouldn't she? If he had been a parent he would probably have preferred his brother.

Cole picked up his backpack, detaching himself from his Mother carefully.

"I'll be late for school if I don't go now"

She knew as well as he knew that he had no intention of going to school.

On the walk there the only thing Cole could think about was Charlie, when exactly had she decided? That their friendship wasn't enough, that she'd rather date the head boy then hang around with his disappointment of a brother?

He was almost there, he could see the chimney in the distance.

When he arrived he could tell that no one was there yet, the house was still dark, if the others had been there they would have drawn back the curtains.

Once inside he collapsed onto one of the armchairs and just waited every few minutes taking a sip of his Coke.

Marley arrived first with a smile.

"Hey Colester" she said with a flourish as she pulled out a bag of Doritos.

"Your a life-saver" he said ripping open the packet and beginning to devour the crips in cheesy mouthfuls, his stomach groaned with delight, he hadn't eaten since last night.

"Where's the others?" she asked.

He shrugged.

"So tell me, how's the golden child?"

She was of course referencing Chase, but he didn't want to talk about Chase, he came to The Coven to escape home and to escape school.

"Meh" he shrugged.

After an hour the two of them realised that one else was coming.

"Well I guess it's just the two of us" Marley didn't seem put off at all.

Marley was the cleverest person her knew, she was the brains behind their operation, she could hack the unhackable and she had never failed them so far.

This time she had chose Grayson's, the local retail shop, they weren't going for the big targets, not today because they didn't need to.

There was only one attendant in the shop, they'd probably want to look at their security again after today, the attendant was a middle aged woman with grey curls and she would be an extremely easy target.

Marley held onto his hand as they entered the shop, not because she was scared or because it was something they did, but because their robbery began at that very moment.

"Can I help you?" the woman was kind, she'd regret that later.

"Yes... my girlfriend she's not feeling very well, I was just wondering if you had a bathroom here"

They already knew there was a bathroom here, Marley had the floor plan.

The woman eyebrows creased with concern as she looked at Marley. 

"Of course.. I'll take you"

Trusting people was a dangerous thing.

The woman led Marley towards the bathroom, the plan was going to be for her to keep her their as long as possible, while Cole stole as many shoes as possible, he got to work immediately grabbing as much as he could and shoving them into his backpack that was actually bigger than it looked.

He managed to fit around six pairs in, it wasn't even about the money they all received at the end, the money was nice but he enjoyed the thrill, this sudden flood of adrenaline and the fear that he could be caught, he loved it.

But they weren't caught, of course they weren't.

Marley came back clutching at her stomach, the attendant holding onto her, she glanced around the shop but there was nothing wrong, there were just shoeboxes as there had been before. And they had disabled the cameras, she wouldn't know anything about them, they would just be two anonymous teens.

"Clara wasn't feeling too good up there, maybe you should take her to the emergency room"

"Sure I will, thanks so much"

He took Marley's hand and walked out of the shop, not too fast she was 'ill' after all.

It was only once they were in the car that she turned to him.

"You got them?"

"Yes"

And then they sped out of the driveway, already on their way to their next targets.