The next day passed by surprisingly uneventful. It was like time was for once on our side, and we were frozen in place.

Well, unless you count Minley's trip up with the new teacher.

"You're not our teacher! Bring my dad back!" He knew he was dead, but something inside of Minley wouldn't accept it. I can see why.

Aquaria had grabbed his shoulders and made him calm down.

The new teacher, Mrs. Alaska, was (as you guessed it) working for The Elders.

She was here specifically to teach us about what it took to become an Elder.

She was... answering questions about some of it. Clearing the air.

"Okay, but why the sudden change in Elders?" Virlon had asked.

Mrs. Alaska was chubby and short, yet held a certain beauty to her. She was a Cancer, so she was naturally kind. She never wore makeup (she never needed it) and she never yelled.

Overall, we hated her. She replaced someone who we almost considered our father. He was Minley's father.

Mrs. Alaska's hair was pulled up in a messy bun. "Well, we have been switching out the Elder's for years. Giving them the illusion of immortality by keeping it a secret."

Oh. Well. That's nice. Not.

Virginia had come back, getting many hugs and greets from the class. Her eyes seemed dull and her skin was sunken in. It almost looked like she was on drugs, with how thin her hair had gotten.

She looked like a wreck. But nobody said anything about it. Just like nobody said anything about Leo looking the same way when he came back.

Leo had been the most help to Virginia, offering her advice and thoughts that only he and her could possibly share.

It was weird how when things got tough, it brought all of us together.

Cor and I kept a distance apart. We would sometimes casually meet eyes and smile at each other. Or he would find subtle ways to glare at Li whenever Li tried to engage me in a conversation.

But, it wasn't this day that turned our lives around. It was the next.

***

I was sitting next to an empty desk. Leona's desk to be exact. She wasn't there, and she wouldn't ever sit there again.

The space behind me was Aria's spot. Nobody touched her seat. And on the other side of me, Capri listened to Mrs. Alaska teaching about things I didn't care about.

When was I ever really going to use calculas?

I don't know how much time flew by, but Mrs. Alaska suddenly stopped teaching and answered her phone.

She smiled brightly and clapped her hands together.

She stood in the front of the classroom and cleared her throat, her eyes alight with happiness.

"Today I have a very special surprise." She says, clapping her hands together. "I would like to introduce to you, two very special people." She looks to the door and waves her hand into the classroom. "C'mon."

A girl with rainbow colored eyes walked in, coming to stand next to Mrs. Alaska. Her hair was the color of slate grey, with dark roots that spread through her hair. Nobody had grey hair. Yet she had it... naturally. It wasn't illegally dyed. She was tall, probably had a couple inches on me, but then I realized she was just wearing heels. She was drop dead gorgeous and even I was jealous. And I don't really get jealous.

The other one to walk in was a muscular boy with the same colored eyes. Only, his hair was the color of Arius's eyes with dark roots. He smirked at me, winking.

I turned around, and Cor was glaring at the guy.

I smiled to myself and faced back to the strangely beautiful specimens in front of me.

"Are they... are they Ophiuchus?" Li asked, blinking his eyes like he could correct his vision.

The girl nodded. "My name's Ophelia and this is my twin brother Philip." She says, offering the class a small smile.

I heard Cor coughing behind me and I turned to see him shaking his head. "Twin as in, brother and sister born at the same time? How are you both alive?" He asked, more angry than confused.

Philip shrugged. "Because we're Ophiuchus. We're going to be Elders with you all and bring back the forbidden sign."

My mouth dropped open, and I'm sure mine wasn't the only one.

"So—" I start, but the girl interrupts me.

Nobody interrupts me. Did she just interrupt me?

"We have more important news than just that, though. Along with being new students, we also come with two messages. There will now be twenty six kids in this class. Of the twenty six, 15 of you will make it out alive. Of those 15, four spots are guaranteed safety. Those spots are mine and my brothers, and the two Geminis. Alongside this, Arius, whoever that may be, your mother says the deal is off. She'll be thinning this class to whoever she wants at the end of the year in a couple weeks."

Immediately the class becomes chaos and anarchy.

I meet Cor's eyes instinctively but he isn't showing anything but fear as he looks at me.

Four men walk in with guns strapped to their chests, yelling at us to calm down.

"But we had months left!" Aris yells. "Months!"

One of the guards shakes his head. "Not anymore kid. Not anymore."

"This is— this is ridiculous." Even Virlon seemed mad, standing up and throwing his chair back. "I had months left to figure an escape route." He clamps a hand over his mouth. "Escape route for my... my uh computer game." He quietly picked up his chair and sat down.

Mrs. Alaska smiled at us, seemingly picture perfect. "As of now, expect everything you go through to be a test."

"What if we tell everyone your dirty little secret? I'm sure parents will retaliate." Capri said, raising her eyebrows.

Mrs. Alaska giggled slightly, unnerving me in every way she could unnerve me.

"Well, Capri," she started. "If you do that, then we will fire every adult who knows. Trust me, classes before you have tried to pull the same trick. It never works."

My breath hitched in my throat.

"Leona's dad knows!" Aris shouts, looking suddenly regretful that he had said anything at all. "It's too late! He'll—"

Mrs. Alaska shrugs. "Of course he does. He's funding us."

Leo sighed slightly. Things were not looking good for him.

"Now, if we could get back to learning calculas that would be just wonderful." Mrs. Alaska said, clapping her hands together. "Philip, why don't you take the seat next to Gem, the girl with the orange eyes."

Philip started walking my direction when Cor yelled, "Wait!"

Mrs. Alaska looked up from her work. "Yes?"

Cor smiled gently, showing off his pearly whites. "Can I sit there? I've been struggling to see and—"

"Move your desk to sit next to Cance, Cor. And Ophelia, you can sit in that empty seat. When Cora gets back we'll just give her another seat. Well this is perfect." Mrs. Alaska smiled to herself before droning on about calculas.

"Gem, right?" Philip whispered, leaning over to talk to me.

"She literally just said my name was Gem, do you have bad memory?" I snapped, facing forward. "Sorry, just trying to pay attention. And, worried about the whole half class gone thing."

Philip tilted his head. "But you're safe?"

I nodded slowly. "But the person who has my heart isn't."

Philip nodded like he understood my dilemma. "Oh. Who is it?"

I shook my head and faced back to board, choosing to ignore what he said.

"It's the Scorpio boy isn't it?" He asked.

I faced him and he held his chin up, pride radiating off of him. He was almost worse than Leo. Almost. I don't think anyone could out-pride Leo. Well... maybe now-a-days people could.

I glared at him and swallowed down every curse and threat I wanted to send his way. "What are you talking about? No, why would you think that?"

He looked forward. "Because he hasn't moved forward to sit next to the cancer, and he's been glaring at me this whole time."

I turned to look at Cor who was in fact still sitting in the back row, his deadly gaze meeting the back of Philip's head.

His eyes met mine and we froze, just staring at each other like Bella and Edward. However, this was more than that. It's like every look could be our last.

Cor had my heart, and he always would. But in this world, he was my forbidden sign, and I was his.

In this world, all that would come to us was pain.

It's all it brought Leona, it's all it brought Cora. And I had a feeling, it's all it would bring me.

But for him, I'd feel pain everyday if it meant he was okay.

If it meant we were okay.

And not Lucas, or the laws, or even the Elders themselves could make me stop loving him.