"Are you sure about this?" Rita was looking in the same direction as me.

We stood next to our open lockers, dressed back in usual clothes after the PE lesson. The blonde of medium height was about to grab the backpack and leave the locker room. There were still a couple of girls in there. But there was supposed t be only one left.

"I am. Everything has its consequences."

I nodded to her, and then, straightening my hair, I moved toward the blonde. She was tying her laces of her other shoe, and when I stopped right in front of her, she slowly got up from her crouch. She wasn't glad to see it was me. It was more of an irritation and tiredness. Her black eyes were filled with dislike for me. She sighed in frustration.

"What do you want, Georgia?"

I tilted my head, smiling slightly. I swallowed my pride and ignored her insolent tone.

Control.

"I heard that you've been making some riots against me lately. I wanted to do this like a decent person and tell you to stop." I put my hand on my chest. "I'm flattered by your commitment to me, but this is my life, and you can't just turn it upside down acting on your whims. Do you understand?"

Hearing that, the girl frowned, resting her hands on her hips and shifting the weight of her body to one of her legs. She raised a provocative eyebrow. She was treading on thin ice.

"Are you kidding me? You call manipulations and school terror 'your life'? Nice." She snorted ironically as she took a step towards me. "You really have to be a complete idiot not to see the consequences of your actions." Then she smiled, and I wanted to wipe that look off her face. "It's a good job Kade finally noticed them."

She didn't say that.

I sucked in the air through my nose, feeling the heat of anger spread all over my body. My eyes flashed with lightning, as I wished they could set the blonde on fire.

Ostensibly or not, I wanted to avoid it. There's a reason I started the conversation peacefully, hoping that the girl would give up and not spread evil around just to turn everyone against me. I'd rather Plan B didn't come into life.

But I had to do it. There was no turning back. Control. Power. Control.

Infallibility.

"I see you leave me no choice." My voice was low and calm.

When the girl went from being satisfied to being utterly confused, I moved away, refraining from delivering a blow to her face. From screaming. Tearing her into small pieces. I stood as still as I could. I had my hands along my body, involuntarily opening my fingers and squeezing them into fists.

And then, at the sound of my heels, two other girls quickly and firmly grabbed the blonde by the shoulders. Anger and panic hit her instantly. Every apparent facade has fallen.

"What are you doing?! Are you nuts?! Let me go!"

But they didn't listen, feeling my eyes on them.

Control.

She tried to get away, but I took the strongest girls I could find. They stood with her in front of someone's locker. The third, smaller student, knowing the code, opened the creaking door. The blonde was no longer hiding her emotions. She struggled mercilessly. She wanted to scream, but they covered her mouth.

I saw her stare burning holes in me. But I didn't react. I turned around and headed for the exit.

Control. Control. Control.

I heard the door slam behind me. Muffled scream.

"I have a sister to pick up from school! Let me out!"

The footsteps of the girls following me a moment later.

Control.

Rita, who was in on the lookout before, matched her pace with me. From the corner of my eye, I could see her mixed emotions, although I was looking ahead myself, with my head held high, being unmoved like a sculpture. Stone. Strength. I had to do it. There was no turning back.

I took an anxious, invisible breath of relief when we crossed the door sill of the school.

Control. Power. Control.

On the way to the club, I wiped out as many dark spots from under my eyes as I could.

I had a habit of carrying pocket mirrors, which I sometimes hated, and sometimes, like this very moment, I felt like it saved my skin. Literally. I may not have cared much for the stains, but for work it was expected and mandatory to look bearable and not scaring people away. I didn't want to risk getting fired. Especially for such a trivial reason.

Dark clouds hung in the sky, following me relentlessly. I didn't feel any emotion. The whole range of feelings was already used up in the middle of the day. At this moment, walking along the path, I saw it keenly. I could have sworn there was nothing left in my eyes.

I walked calmly through the single leaves that were tangling with each other under my feet, lifelessly waiting for other dead leaves to cover them. Other people, going much faster, every now and then passed me by. They did not lose their enthusiasm for parties, and were even coming here in greater numbers.

And even though it was supposed to benefit my paycheck, all I could see with my imagination was a long, tiring night.

"Glass, right?" Out of nowhere, I was stopped by the Tattoos Fan, Chucks.

Like him, I stood still, immediately recalling the morning, when I saw him in the store. I had already noticed that he was one of those quiet, stoic, phlegmatic people. And according to this description, he slowly reached into his pocket, effortlessly pointing the money in my direction.

Waking up from my momentary confusion, I carefully took the bills and put them in my bag. In the meantime, I nodded to Chucks, thanking him, which he reciprocated and walked away most calmly in the world towards the club. We were even.

I still felt uncomfortable in situations like this. Strange. However, I was relieved to see that words were unnecessary. Talking about that situation would just be weird. And that way, it was over. Because I was in no hurry to explain the impulse that prompted me to help.

"Hey, Elsa, what were you and Chuckster talking about?!"

Cursing in my mind, I turned toward the voice. The Braid and Stoned Latina were walking in my direction, and when I saw them, Tristan had his hands folded into a tube through which he was screaming, and Valentia had just thrown a blow to his ribs right from her elbow. The guy instantly bent over from the impact, moaning in pain.

"Go now, or they'll run out of cold vodka before you can order. Or any vodka."

The girl grabbed him from behind by the shoulders, pushing him in a slightly different direction from mine. The guy, giving me one last, slightly amused look, pointed with two fingers at his eyes, then at my own. I rolled my eyes regretfully. Because I didn't know if it was meant to scare me or to show the opposite, that he wasn't a real threat.

I assumed the latter.

And when he finally looked at the road ahead of him as he walked away, I noticed that the Latina didn't follow him. Instead, she came up to me and matched her pace with mine as I was on my way to the club, not wanting to be late. I really didn't know what to expect from her. Last time I saw her, she slammed her hands on the countertop, leaving the bar in a rage.

At this moment, walking by my side, she was looking at me with narrowed eyes.

"Chuck's mom told me what you did." She didn't say it with a negative tone. Rather, with a neutrality hitherto unknown to me. "I know from Chuck himself that it was you. And honestly, until now, I thought you were Mrs. perfect and you wanted to be seen as such." Then she was already looking ahead and at the slowly intensifying lights of the party. "Adding to it the day you came to work right after your injury... It wasn't my best day, and I judged you wrongly, thinking that you wanted to be employee of the month or something like that."

I had to admit, she wasn't completely wrong. But what I wanted was just to be an employee. Which means not getting kicked out because I didn't take any sick leave. And even if I did, I wouldn't be sitting in an apartment.

"I don't like the unknown," she continued. "So as soon as we met you, I wanted to know everything about you. I had my own image of you in my head. Plus, because we once had a friend who..." Suddenly she looked at me, as if waking up, and then again plunged her eyes into the road, cutting the topic. "Never mind."

She made me curious, but I think she thought she'd tell me too much. So, she went on, returning to a different thought as if nothing had ever happened.

"I just saw that superiority in you before, and now I know it's because of our past experience. I obviously misinterpreted your behavior. All of us. Well, everyone except Britt and Yvette. That's for sure."

And then I started to feel this strange, unpleasant pressure in my stomach. I hated it.

Guilt.

"Thanks for being honest," I replied after a moment of reflection. I was telling the truth. I looked at her, unsure if I should. Not sure if she could read more out of my eyes than I'd like.

However, the only thing that came out of her mouth when our eyes met for a brief moment was:

"You look awful. Again."

And I couldn't help but smile, looking at the well-visible club in front of us, answering:

"For that, too."

When we got to the bar, Valentia went to sit behind it next to Chucks, where everyone was settled already, and I put my bag in the same place as always, so that I could finally stand behind the service side of the counter. I'd already noticed Britt busy at work as well as another barmaid I didn't recognize.

Seeing the eternally energetic girl with her equally eternal beanie on her head, I was reminded of Valentia's words, and indeed, she and Yvette were the only ones who did not cast me skeptical glances from the very first meeting. Even at that moment, they both greeted me with their individual, distinctive smiles, and I nodded to them in return. They answered me with the same gesture, going back momentarily to their earlier conversation.

It was... different?

And then I looked at the last person I hadn't seen today, and I collided with their caramel-colored gaze, which no longer held a hostile shadow. Kendrick calmly raised his hand in greeting, which I returned.

However, this brief moment was interrupted by Yvette, directing her urgent question to me.

"What about you, Glass? What are your plans for Two Rulers' Day?"

I didn't hide my confusion.

"For what?"

Then half of those gathered raised their eyebrows in disbelief. And most of all, Britt, whose eyes could pop out of her head any second.

"You've never celebrated the Two Rulers' Day?" And it seemed to me like she got a brilliant idea, because a bright smile suddenly appeared on her face. "Then you have a great opportunity, because for this reason in two days I'm organizing a bonfire at my house for all my friends and you are invited! You can't say no!"

I didn't know what to think. I wasn't the kind of person who was too excited to soak up the smoke of a campfire or surround myself with a large group of strangers. I didn't celebrate practically any holidays, let alone one I'd never heard of in my life.

But the hope in the eyes of Britt and Yvette, Valentia's raised eyebrow, Tristan's narrowed eyes, Chucks's stoic attitude and Kendrick's intrigued gaze were all factors that reminded me of today's meeting with my family. And not just today's meeting.


"...you'd rather sit here alone in this hole and act like a savage."


"No sign of any friends."


So, I said:

"It's fine."

Having no idea if I was helping myself with those words or not.

I didn't want to admit it, but I was afraid of that moment.

Despite being tired by the wave of customers and practically falling asleep on the way back, at this moment the pressure woke me up enough to make my breath race restlessly with my heart. I stood in front of the door of my own apartment, surrounded by the dim light of one old light bulb.

I took a shaky breath, turned the key, and opened the door.

The apartment was as quiet as ever. I took off my top clothes, as always. I turned on the kitchen light, as always.

However, unlike as always, I went to the refrigerator, looking at the folded in half sheet attached to it, hidden under an ordinary black magnet. I grabbed it to pull out the note, and then, opening it, I prepared myself for everything I could think of.

However, I did not prepare for a note from my father himself.

I recognized his handwriting, somehow. I haven't seen it in a while. And incredibly quickly, my eyes went misty.

'I'm leaving you this short letter just so you know how I feel about all of this. And what it really means.

I took another, deeper breath, trying to regain my composure. The silence of the apartment, almost deathly, only intensified the wheezing of my lungs. My heartbeat.

When your mother and aunt wanted to know how you functioned in society, I wanted to know why we got into such irrational arguments the last time. Maybe even clear up the understatements.

I really didn't want to read it any further, but my eyes weren't listening to my thoughts.

After this meeting, however, I saw a problem. We cut you off, you cut us off. No one could look at anyone. Something has changed, and our insistence has only made matters worse. We saw it today. Your mother didn't take this last argument well, and I didn't...

Then my eyes became even more hazy.

I'll try to convince her to give you some space, the both of us. Time. Peace. Our relationship will only benefit that. The tension wouldn't have served either side. That's why, Georgia, we're giving you some space. You can talk to us anytime you want. Forgive me for saying what I've said. Forgive us.

We love you.

Dad.'

And that last word tore me in half, leaving me alone in a void of cold echoes.

If I ever grumbled about the course, it was at this moment, after removing the stitches, removing the natural hair color and constantly thinking about the letter left in my apartment, the Italian lesson suddenly was the blessing part of the day that I desperately wanted to return to.

On top of that, the day, although better than the previous one, left a slight chill, which is why I was wearing an unbuttoned coat and fingerless black gloves instead of bandages. I may have been advised against dressing my wounds to let them breathe, but with the gloves found at the bottom of the old stuff, I felt more secure. Safer.

And finally, putting everything aside, I crossed the door sill of the school and went to the same room as always. At the door, as usual, stood Mrs. Harrison and greeted all the students with a smile.

However, the moment she saw me, she frowned strongly, which didn't feel like anything good waiting ahead.

"Good morning, Mrs. Harrison." I greeted her on my way.

However, I was stopped before entering the classroom.

"Wait, Georgia."

I turned to the woman, so that after a second, I stood next to her without blocking the entrance at the same time. I raised my eyebrow when the teacher hesitantly fixed her hair. She had something to say, and I couldn't even figure out what it was.

But I found out pretty quickly.

"I hate to say this because I thought you knew, but I got an e-mail from your mother this morning."

I looked at her in surprise, and I put the pieces of the puzzle together too late.

I stepped back, intoxicated by the fact.

"She said she's not making any deposits from now on and..."

She did it.

She signed me off the course.