After Aris left, the classroom fell silent. You could hear a pin drop.

Nobody had anything to say.

As soon as Castor came in, I thought everything was over. I thought I'd lose Gem forever and so I said everything I wish I had said a long time ago.

I love Gem. I love her more than I love the air I breathe, or the water I drink. I want her in my life for the rest of my life.

And to see the picture of Li kissing her cheek infuriated me to no end, but in a way he saved her. Us.

"Gem." I mutter. Everyone in the class spins in my direction. "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry."

She doesn't cry, she doesn't yell, her face isn't red. She's smiling. Above all of this, Gem's face is lit up like a Christmas tree.

"It's okay, we're okay." She smiles.

I guess I never realized it, but I have always loved Gem. From the moment I met her in kindergarten.

"Do you remember in kindergarten when I didn't have a pencil and you gave me one? On the first day of school? You even gave me a notebook." I ask randomly, and I wonder if Gem's randomness is rubbing off on me.

She nods. "Oh yeah, I gave you all of my extra things because you didn't have anything on the first day of school."

"Why are we not talking about how to save my girlfriend!" Ric throws his arms up. "What are we going to do about the people who were caught?"

Ancer, who was technically supposed to be with Cora, sets his hand on Ric's shoulder. "She'll be okay." He nods.

Ric throws his hand off. "You don't know that!" He yells.

Ancer sighs. "I know she'll be fine because they can't kill her. Anything less than death is fine, right?"

Ric rolls his eyes. "I don't want her to turn out as bad as Leona! She has nothing going for her because of what happened! Virginia deserves better!"

Leona sucks in a small breath, walks up to Ric and widens her eyes. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? I'd like to think I'm better off than half the kids in here! What happened to me was tragic, it wasn't my choice!"

Ric takes a step back and scoffs. "Oh please, if you could you'd dump Aris in a heartbeat and get back in bed with Leo."

Ric tumbles onto the ground, clutching his jaw as his nose bleeds.

Leo grips his hand, clutching it to his chest. "Ah, that hurt a lot more than I thought it would."

Ric stands back up and kicks Leo in the side, and Leo tumbles back.

"Not so nice being hit, now is it?" Ric yells.

Leo looks back up and I see murderous eyes. Ric tries to swing with his hand but Leo dodges it and Ric doubles over as Leo retaliates.

I take a large steps forward and hold Leo back. "It's not worth it." I tell him, pulling him back.

Ancer and Seas both hold a raging Ric back.

Leo sinks to the ground, shaking his head. "I hate myself. I don't even belong here. I've messed up, I can't do this anymore." I let go of his arms and look up at Gem.

She gives me a small smile, not even showing her teeth, and takes a deep breath.

Leo is broken. He watched his true love be hurt, broken, and then he watched her be saved by someone who wasn't him, loved by someone else. He can't do anything about it.

Ric looks up and cries. "I'm so tired of this. Let me go and I'll just leave."

Ancer and Seas let him go, and not even a second later, Ric is headed towards the door to leave the classroom.

"I think, we should all ditch with Aris. We need a break." Aria says, still glaring at Taria. "Plus we need a plan of action."

Taria scoffs. "Please, a plan of action? You're an idiot. The only plan folding out here is the one where the elders catch an illegal couple."

"Please shut up, your just digging yourself a deeper grave." Aria faces us. "Any ideas?"

I nod, standing up. "Gem, our beach. I don't think there's cameras over there. Otherwise... they would have actually had proof."

Arius, someone I didn't expect to speak at this time, clears his throat. "I have somewhere to be. I'll uh, catch up later."

Arius turns and walks out the door.

"Sounds good, babe, lets go." Gem walks out of the class, everyone slowly following her.

Did she just call me babe?

***

We took 2 separate cars to the beach. One was Gem's because we all know she can't live without her car. The second was Li's, just to tip things off.

Which car was I in? Li's.

I rode passenger. "So uh... did you and Gem actually kiss?"

Li looks really worried, and if I were him I'd be worried too.

It's an unwritten law not to touch a Scorpio's girl. And I have a feeling that unwritten law was around even before the elders.

"Well, we had a plan. I figured it was sooner or later we got caught, and I figured that if they didn't have enough proof than I could help. And it did. Don't worry, Gem was not on board until I told her it was all for that very reason." Li taps his steering wheel, and bounces his left leg.

"Well then... thank you for kissing my girlfriend on the cheek." After a moment of much needed silence, I break it. "But if you do it again, you'll be just as scared of me as Arius is."

Li smiles and shrugs. "Note taken."

He's so carefree. So happy and vibrant. He has the same light as Gem. She deserves someone like him.

But she chose me. And I'll live everyday making sure she picked the right decision.

Li pulls into the secret beach and I see Gem leaning up against her car, Leona next to her, and Aris on the other side of Leona.

Aris. He knows Liam isn't my dad. And as to who my real dad is... I have no clue.

But I don't care. He's still the father to my little sister.

Is it him who knows I have a little sister? The question runs through my mind. Someone here knows I do, someone besides Pi and Gem.

I hop out of the car, and walk over to them, smiling at Gem.

"So, what's the plan." I ask.

Gem shushes me. "No plan, just relaxation." She grabs my hand and drags me towards the beach, pulling me. "Let loose for a while."

Let loose for a while? This is the exact time we should be tightening up.

"Gem,"

"Shh, let's just have fun." Before I know what's happening, Gem tackles me and I, being unprepared, fall backwards into the water.

My jeans are instantly clinging to my body along with my shirt.

But I'm laughing. "Gem." I laugh, standing up and helping her out of the water. "What was that for?"

She smirks and stars back up further into the cold water. "Because I miss having fun."

She strips off her shirt until she's in a bra. I widen my eyes and take off my jacket and toss it to her. "What are you doing put on a jacket! It's almost winter and your swimming. In the ocean. Gem, come on."

As I say this, a cold breeze blows past and I shiver. Gem, who is crazier than normal, throws the jacket back.

"I've always wanted to swim in winter." She laughs, her teeth chattering. I throw the jacket to her, once more.

"You mean, you've always wanted hypothermia?" I take steps toward her, my shoes weighing me down. I take them off and throw them on the beach.

A big wave crashes into me and I get a mouthful of saltwater.

Everyone mocks me, as I spit it out crying with joy.

"Ooh, your gunna pay for that Gem!" I run towards her and scoop her up in my arms, and she sits shivering against my chest.

"It's cold." She mutters.

I widen my eyes at her. "Really!? It was cold without being soaked, and now it's just freezing."

We look out to the sun and together we walk back up to the shore where the class has started a bonfire.

It's the end of the year, the beginning of the rest of our lives.

Someone throws us each a towel and we take it, shivering. "Where's my jacket?" I ask.

Gem hands me a soaking hoodie.

I nod and dump it onto the sand. I don't even care that she ruined it. She can ruin everything of mine if it means she'll be there.

Only a couple months. Then you don't have to hide. You can kiss her in public. You can love her with all you have.

Just a couple months.

"Gem?" An adult female voice calls from the cars.

We all look up and a pretty Pisces girl stands with natural blue hair and silver eyes.

She was short, looked around forty, and she almost looked like Gem. No, Gem looked liked her.

Next to her were three people; Lucas Osbourne, director actor and also Leona's Dad. A tall Scorpio man who I had never seen before. And a pretty Libra with blonde hair and kind yellow eyes, aka my mother.

What they were doing, I had no idea.

"Mom?" Gem asked, her eyes watering. She shot up from my lap where she was sitting, and ran to the group.

My mom ran down to us and I stood up to catch her in a hug. She smelled like the restaurant. Her hair was soft. She was my mom and I don't know what she was doing here but I didn't even realize how much I needed her.

Lucas was hugging Leona, he whispered things to her and I don't know what it was but she held him closer.

The Scorpio ended up being Gem's father, and he awkwardly held her like she was a stranger.

From what I knew, Gem didn't ever talk to her parents.

Nobody in our class really did except for Minley, me, and Arius.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" I ask.

Her eyes fill with tears and she rests her hand on the back of my neck and pulls me into a hug. "Your sister was found."

~~~~~

Okay okay, I know, not my best chapter. 🙃. BUT, I had writers block and this got me out of it. Writers block sucks, okay 😂. But yeah, we still have some mysteries to unfold.

Ah, don't you just love cliff hangers!?

Jk, I hate them just as much as you do.

However, they're still an authors biggest weapon. Well, second biggest. I have the power to kill off one person of your favorite ship, don't I? 😂😂. Jk jk, just thought I'd let you guys know that I'm back and I missed writing 😂.

I hope everyone has an AMAZING day and.....

As always, stay happy, stay gold,
-Dani_Kail