He's like a night-owl. It must be one in the morning, and Aquaria isn't home yet, and Cor is still here.

We aren't even completely talking, just watching a movie on TV. I say we're watching it, but I'm not focused on it and I doubt Cor is either.

I pep up my nerves with an inside motivation talk- all but talking to myself like the psychopath I am when I'm alone- and finally ask what's been bugging me. "So... back at the Sling, Aria said that she knew the real reason you worked there. Why is that?" I feel like there is an obvious answer, and I'm just not seeing it.

He glances up from the TV to tilt his head. "What?" He asks.

I definitely remembered something important. "When she was banging on the glass, she said "I know why you work here and I'll tell Dean Murphy if-"

Cor shoots up from the futon. "Oh my god! Gem! You're a genius!" He pulls me up and hugs me like I've never been hugged before.

He pulls back and gives me a full on, shining, white teeth smile. "Oh my god, I could kiss you!" He picks up his car-keys from my table before I could respond to his statement.

He's off limits, Gem. Forget about it. Even if he's different than what you thought, that doesn't mean it's okay to treat him like a Forever.

I shake my head, putting on a fake smile. "Great. I'm not stupid. But I still feel stupid, what's going on?"

He opens up my door and whisper-yells at me. "The reason I work there is so my family can pay to keep Ginny hidden. Aria is the other person who knows."

Sensible. Plausible. Fact-filled. But something still feels off about it. "No- It's not Aria."

He sinks a little. "What do you mean? It makes perfect sense."

I shake my head. "No. Aria hates Pi with a burning passion. She'd never have anything to do with her. Not even getting high. Nope."

He frowns and I wish I had never said anything. "But what if." Cor stops and stutters. "I should probably go."

I take two long strides to him and place my hand on his arm before he could leave. "No. We're figuring this out together. Plus, we still haven't figured out what happened with Arius. Stay."

Cor smirks at me and kisses my cheek. "Good night, Gem."

He walks out and shuts my door behind him.

Oh my Rubidum.

Cor kissed my cheek.

It's was just a simple tiny thing. But to me, that didn't matter.

Every fiery, beach filled, secret revealing, moment with Cor, was just another way I fell deeper into what he is.

Cor is a Scorpio. And I am a Gemini.

But at this point, I don't even care.

Someone knocks on my door and I swing it open, my heart racing.

I close my eyes. "Screw it- just kiss me." I say.

"What? Why the hell would I do that?" Leona asks, dripping wet and smelling like ocean water. She widens her mouth, looking more shocked than ever. "Oh. My. God. Tell me, EVERYTHING!" She slams my door shut behind her.

She walks at me and I trip backwards onto the futon.

"TELL ME EVERYTHING!" She yells, doing a girly dance.

Her royal purple eyes glitter and shine, reflecting the lights turned on in my dorm.

You would think that she wouldn't be this excited. I mean, she is figuring out I like an illegal match.

Then again, Leona is the kid of girl to say screw the rules.

"Well..." I start off, not knowing how to start off. "I guess..." I sigh, shaking my head. "It doesn't matter, just go to bed."

She raises one eyebrow and pushes back her dirty blonde hair back. "Tell me, or I will go tell Arius you still like him." She sits down, not caring that she's getting my futon wet.

She must have just went swimming on the beach.

Her makeup runs down her face, making her look like a raccoon, but some how in her own way, she pulls it off like a model.

I widen my mouth with hatred. "Dude! Are you serious!" I'm rarely mad, but a one way ticket to my angry side is to limit my options like she is now. "Are you kidding me? You're seriously threatening me?"

She smirks and nods once. "You're my best friend, I'm going to threaten you until the day we die. All with love, of course... most of the time."

I roll my eyes and lower my head. "I uh- started hanging out with Cor more often then usual and were just kind of... I don't know. We get each other."

She pulls her mouth into a straight line. "Continue."

"And uh- I kind of like him. Like, like like him. More than like him. He kissed my cheek." I rub my cheek and blush at the memory, smiling.

"Why didn't you actually kiss him? Mouth to mouth contact. CPR without the CPR. Ya know-"

"I get it! Thank you, Leona." I laugh.

I knew she wouldn't be mad, but telling her something like this is huge.

It isn't some silly crush like it was back in freshman year when nothing mattered. We're seniors. Everything we do is towards our future.

"So why didn't you?" She asks.

I don't know. And I hate saying that, but sometimes there is a certain need to. "Because... I know I'll regret it later." I answer, partially telling the truth.

Leona frowns at me. "The only things you'll regret, are the chances and the risks you never took. In the end, it's never about what we didn't do. It's about what we did. It's about what we change, not what we keep the same." She sounds philosophical, and leave it to Leona to say something that makes a difference.

"And sometimes you regret the things you did do." I should have kissed him. What am I thinking? He was right there.

"And sometimes you don't. But, I guess we'll never know." She pats my leg and twirls her hair.

I look into her eyes and know she's not just talking to me- but also to herself.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I ask, pushing her lightly with my shoulder.

"I want to be happy, Gem. And I'm just not. Not anymore. The future seems so far away, it's like I'll never reach there. And there's so many things I haven't done that I wish I had." She blows a heavy-hearted sigh out of her nose and looks at the bag of Fritos on the coffee table. She takes a handful an eats them one by one.

"What's going on? We still have a long time. You're going to be an actress for crying out loud." I smile at her, trying to bring some light onto this serious moment.

She shakes her head. "No, Gem. We don't have a long time."

Woah. "What are you talking about?" I'm left in the dark, like always.

"Arius didn't get a chance to tell you, before you kicked him out. He didn't come to declare his undying love." She almost laughs but it's under some heavy seriousness.

I almost feel bad. Almost, but not quite. He still basically said he wished I had died. And that's not okay.

"So what did he come for then?" I'm annoyed by now. Why can't he just leave me alone like he had when we were dating?

He's trying to fix things way to late.

"He came to say that we're the perfect class." She says, almost robotically.

Perfect class? What even is that?

"Further explanation." I say, still lost like a shadow at night.

She starts laughing, but it's more of an insane-diabolical-can't-believe-this laugh.

"We're taking over for the Elders when we graduate! Fun, right?" She laughs. "This is going to be just like the Sling. No fun-"

"What do you mean!?" I yell, perfectly understanding what she means.

We're going to be the new elders. Apparently not even the gods live forever. Are they though? Are the Elders really gods? Or is that just an image?

"How do you take over for the Elders? What does Arius have to do with this!" How do you tackle on a position held by people who've been doing it for hundreds of years.

Leona leans back. "Here's the best part. Remember the hospital trip?"

I nod, and I feel like I'm finally coming to terms on what's been happening around me.

Hahahahahaha I'm secretly demonically laughing. Well, I guess it's not a secret anymore.

Hahahahahahahahahaha. I have no regrets about ending it here.

So I feel like it's kind of obvious, but there's still some things left in the dark.

Who exactly is Arius texting? Why did he go to the hospital? Why did a certain somebody who shalt be named beat him up- no it's not Voldemort- and ditch him?

What the heck?????

And no- we're not done with this!

I rounded out the chapters and figured this is the half-way point through the book.

And can we puh-leez talk about how Cor kissed her cheek?

I'm hyperventilating.

I got some good quotes into this chapter.

I'm so excited it's killing me. I NEED to write more!!! Holy crap.

Whew.

Anyways, I hope you all have an amazing day and...

As always, stay happy, stay gold,
-Dani_Kail