Lilian's mom was actually quite sweet, offering food and a drink when they walked in the door.
"Mom, we'll be up in my room, please, just leave us be." Lilian demands, her mom nodding. 
Lilian leads Rana up the stairs, and into her room. 
It was small, but not so small it was hard to move, there was a lot of books littered around the room, most of them being teenage romance books. 
"Sorry about the mess, just wasn't in the mood to clean it up." 
Rana nods. "No, no, it's fine." 
Lilian plops down on her bed. "Duke will be here any minute." 
"And?" Rana asks.
Lilian looks at Rana's nails. "Agrimony hurts him, take off your nail polish." 
"Alright." Rana says, walking into Lilian's own secluded bathroom. Rana walks to the sink and starts washing her hands vigorously. The deep red polish deteriorating to a liquid and slipping down the drain. 
Rana walks back out to Lilian's room, waving her bare nails around. 
"Who's that?" A guy I presume to be Duke asks.
 Lilian smiles at him. "This is my friend Rana, Rana, this is Duke." 
Rana gives a shy wave.
"She looks like Ambrose." Duke states.
Lilian nods. "I know, Dixie told me Ambrose is her mom." 
"I'm standing right here." Rana grumbles.
"Oh, she's British, how sweet." Duke says, smirking. 
Rana rolls her eyes. "Lilian, you brought me here to tell me something, what's that?" 
Lilian perks up at the sound of her name. "She likes Oliver." 
Duke's jaw drops. "I've never met someone as suicidal as you." 
Rana felt herself shrink as she looked at the floor. "He seemed like a nice guy."
"He IS a nice guy, don't get me wrong, but you know he has trouble sometimes." Duke trails off.
"Trouble controlling his urges!" Lilian says.
"Urges for what?" Rana asks. 
Like the universe was against her, Rana's phone rang at that moment. 
Rana reaches for it and answers it. 
"Hello?" She calls into the receiver.
She could hear a sigh. "Rana, where are you?" Mom.
"Oh, I went to a friend's, sorry I forgot to ask." Rana apologizes.
"Just get home, now, and don't get lost. I don't trust these streets." Ambrose says, then hangs up. 
"I have to go." Rana says, putting her phone in her bag, hoisting it onto her back. 
Lilian nods, solemnly. "Be careful, it's getting late."
"It's only," Rana pauses and grabs her phone. "A quarter to 5." 
"It'll take a while to walk, don't trip and rip those stockings." Duke says, motioning to Rana's school uniform.
"Shut up, plank." She says, letting full Brit fall over her.
Duke looks at her then at Lilian. "Did she just call me wood?"
"Actually, it's slang for idiot." Rana says, turning on her heel and walking out of Lilian's abode.

As night fell, the streets got gradually colder, and eventually Rana, cold and lost, was defeated. Her feet drag across the cement, just looking for something that would make her know the directions to home. 
Home. 
Rana's stomach gave a monstrous growl as she held onto it. She reaches into her bag and grabs her phone, pressing the home button over and over again until she finally concluded it was dead. "This is just great." She mumbles to herself. 
It was beginning to get dark, the sun starting to set, sending a beautiful array of colors across the sky. 
Rana walked to a building, a pool, and leaned on the side, trying not to cry. 
"Troubled teenagers are the best teenagers." A man says from the alleyway next to the pool house. 
Rana stayed quiet, trying to put a calm look on her face. 
"Don't worry sweetheart, I'll take care of you." He says, walking closer. The man was in his mid-50's and smelled strongly of illegal substances. He wore a stained hoodie and tank top with a pair of ripped sweatpants. 
Rana swallows all the saliva in her mouth, pressing further to the wall.
"Say something, honey." The man belched loudly, and walks to stand next to Rana at the pool house.
"I have pepper spray." Rana says, standing her ground.
The man shakes his head. "You have a mouthful of lies and a dead phone. Now, c'mon, give me a big kiss."
Rana's eyes widen, and she subconsciously looked for an escape route. 
"You're not gonna get away with out a punishment." The man drawls. 
Rana, scared, cold, alone, and slightly confused, shakes her head. 
"Kiss me you fool." The man says, leaning closer to Rana.
Suddenly, the man pulls away, a hand on his shoulder. 
Rana sighs in relief, seeing that it was Oliver who had saved her.
Oliver throws the man to the floor and walks to Rana in two long strides. "Are you okay?" 
Rana nods, suddenly becoming very aware that she could've been raped.
"What are you doing out here?" Oliver asks, pulling off his leather jacket, wrapping it around Rana. 
Rana gives him a quick look-over.
His uniform had been replaced by A white t-shirt and jeans, a small tattoo peaking out from under his sleeve. "Well?" 
"I'm lost." Rana blurts, looking at the ground, trying to cover up the blush that had overtaken her cheeks.
"And you're freezing and suicidal, let me walk you home." Oliver offers.
'Trouble controlling his urges!' Lilian's voice rings through Rana's head.
"Are you gonna hurt me?" Rana asks shyly. 
"No!" Oliver says. "I'm trying to help you, why the heck would I want to hurt you?" 
Rana let her shoulders droop in embarrassment. "Just something someone said." 
"Who ever said that is a lying jerk." Oliver huffs. "May I please walk you home?" 
Rana nods. "My address is 431 Ryder Street." 
"That's about a 15 minute walk." Oliver says, giving Rana a quick look-over, his eyes lingering on the scrape that tore through her left stocking.
Rana's eyes widen. "I'm fine, don't worry." 
"Is it bleeding?" Oliver asks.
Rana shrugs, leans down and presses her fingers to the wound. "Yeah." 
Oliver looks up and takes a deep breath. "Are you going to be alright?" 
"Yeah, can we just go?" Rana asks. 
"Sure, let's go and get you bandaged up." Oliver

"Thanks for walking me home, Oliver." Rana says, grabbing the house key out of her backpack. 
"It's not a problem." Oliver says. "I wanted to help." 
Rana nods. "I should probably give you my number or something." 
"Yeah maybe." Oliver says, taking his phone out of his pocket and handing it to her. 
Rana types her name into his phone, handing it back. 
"Thanks." Oliver says. 
Rana nods, turning to open the door. 
Before she can do so, Ambrose opens the door, her eyes wide and damp. "Oliver."