❝ in the end, we'll all become stories. ❞ —Margaret Atwood

I woke up to the pleasant warmth of the sun caressing my face, followed by the unpleasant sound of arguments just next to my bed. I squirmed my eyes open and took in the sight of the white hospital room.

   "I'm pretty sure your dear boyfriend is the one behind this. He and his doll-faced twin sister," Mike's voice jolted me awake.

   "Shut up, Michael!" Sibi retorted in frustration. "You know nothing."

   "Oh, I know nothing? And what about you?"

   The familiar faces of my friends were the first things that greeted me when I fully opened my eyes. Sibi and Mike were shooting death glares at each-other in a way I'd never witnessed before. I couldn't tell who looked more furious.

   "Tone it down, both of you. Madame Pomfrey will kick us all out," Alex whispered-yelled. His eyes then fell on me. "Polly, you're finally awake."

   "Thank goodness!" cried Christine, emerging from behind Sibi and Mike. "I could see myself eighty years from now as a bloody old grandma with dozens of grandchildren still waiting for her to open her eyes."

   I racked my mind for some sort of catty comeback when my thoughts were once again interrupted by Mike's and Sibi's angry voices. It was like they didn't even bother to acknowledge to my presence.

   "I don't get why you've started hating Akker so much all of a sudden," cried Sibi. "What's he ever done to you?"

   "If you think it started 'all of a sudden', Sibi, I've got some news for you."

   "What's that supposed to mean?"

   Mike grunted. "Don't act like you haven't noticed how weirdly Akker and Maddie have been acting lately. We barely even see them anymore. They always say they're busy or something. Excuses, if you ask me."

   "You know what, Michael? You've had a bone to pick with Akker since we first met him and Maddie, for god knows what reason. So if you want to talk about excuses, that's what you're pulling now. You just want a reason to prove he's unreliable, so that you can feel justified in hating him. What they're preoccupied with at the moment is none of our business. They don't owe us anything."

   "Oh, I could think of a few things they owe us," I said with a sneer. Their heads snapped in my direction as if by command. "Loyalty, for starters. Which they threw out of the window. So now an apology would be much appreciated, but I don't have high expectations."

   "What do you mean?" asked Christine with a confused look, before either Sibi or Mike had any time to say something.

   I blew out a breath I didn't know I was holding in and brought my hands to my face to rub my eyes. I still didn't want to talk about this, but I knew I had to. I had to let them know who our 'friends' really were.

   "Polly, tell us what's going on," said Alex. "You know things, don't you?"

   I opened my eyes and looked at him. He was sitting on a chair next to my bed, looking down at me with worry plastered all over his face. There were dark bags under his eyes, and I wondered how much he'd slept.

   As if reading my mind, he added, "I didn't sleep at all last night."

   "And here we have Polly, who apparently knows a lot of important things but won't tell us shit, because she's waiting for the perfect moment when she's gotten herself plenty of sleep and is relaxed enough to speak," Christine chimed in.

   "I'm sorry, guys," I said.

   What I had discovered the previous evening in my sleep had completely taken my attention away from the betrayal and all of the discoveries of the previous day. The memory that had come back to mind was bittersweet, but as much as I missed my childhood, I had a life to live and current problems to worry about.

   I couldn't get lost in memories just because they were beautiful and the present was not. Just like Dumbledore had once said, 'It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.'

   I looked bitterly at Sibi's worried face as I breathed out a deep sigh. How was I supposed to do it? To tell my best friend that her boyfriend, whom she was in love with, was nothing but a treacherous jackass?

   "I'm really sorry, Sibi," I whispered. I sucked in my lips as I watched her eyebrows draw together in confusion.

   I started to tell them everything. Every single word I remembered from Maddie and Akker's conversation, the article they were planning to publish, the photographs they had collected, and the unknown person they called 'Beetroot', who had willingly agreed to help them because she apparently hated me with a passion.

   At the end of my speech, I took a deep breath and looked at their facial expressions in apprehension. Mouths hung open, eyes widened to the pointed it looked like they were about to come out of their sockets, blood drained from their cheeks. In all their faces, underneath the shock, there was also a bitterness I wished I'd never seen.

   And I understood. These people had been our friends. We had trusted them.

   Sibi's reaction was what I'd feared the most. I hated that I had to be the one to give her the news. I hated that I had to be the one to break her heart. I met her big hazel eyes. They were shining with tears that had just welled in them, but it was as though she was stubbornly refusing to blink and let them flow down her cheeks. Her face had paled, her lower lip was trembling, and it made my heart pang.

   Sibi looked away for a moment before lifting a hand to wipe the corners of her eyes.

   "Okay," she whispered. "Great. Wonderful. Splendid."

A teardrop rolled down her cheek. She wiped it vigorously. "If they think. . . if they really think we will let them get away with this, they're dead wrong,"

"Damn straight," Christine blurted out. "Fucking bastards. I've known them since year one and I never thought—"

She let out profanity after profanity, her face growing redder and her voice louder with each. Alex grabbed her arm gently and tried to soothe her before Madame Pomfrey could walk in and shoo them all out.

"Not to turn this into a 'told you so' moment, Sibi, but—" Mike started but knew better than to finish the sentence when Sibi threw him a death glare.

   "Mike, not the right time, man," Alex whispered to him.

I let out a sigh and turned to Sibi. "I'm so sorry, Sibi. Please don't blame yourself. None of this is your fault, or any of ours for that matter."

"Blame myself? Me?" she scoffed, lifting her chin. "I'd never, ever, ever stoop as low as to torture myself over a guy. Especially some foul oaf like Akker Simmons. I'm just frustrated. How dare he? And how could I not have seen it coming?"

"Not your fault," Christine reassured her. She leaned against the frame of my bed and shook her head with a frown. "Those twats will pay for this. I'll punch the living daylights out of them."

"They can't do anything to us," Alex said. "We know what they're up to now. There's no way we will let them publish whatever article they were planning on publishing."

"You're right," I said. "They can't do anything."

However, I had a terrible gut feeling that told me otherwise.

I tried to ignore it. I owned the files of informations about The case of Dolphinuses. I was the one responsible for handing in the materials to Breeze so she could get the magazine shipped and published. As long as I did, they couldn't publish that article of theirs. I would never let them. Nor would Breeze.

"What's up with the pictures, anyway?" Mike asked. "Polly, did you get a chance to see what they were?"

I shook my head. "I only saw them handing a folder full of photos to that Beetroot person. I don't even know what to think at this point."

   "Maybe they have some sort of sick plan to modify the pictures so they show you murdering people or something," Christine said. "Didn't you say you've been hearing the camera noises since December?"

I nodded. Well, that was a possibility I hadn't considered. It was mid-January now, so Maddie and Akker had been working on their scheme for quite a while.

"Doubt it. The spell that modifies photographs is very advanced," Sibi said. "If not cast properly, it's pretty easy to detect that photos are bewitched. It's N.E.W.T. level spell. I don't think idiots like them would be able to cast it properly. Remember that Maddie had to repeat Charms last year."

Christine scoffed. "Yeah, and she kept saying up and down it was because of her attendance. Supposedly. Like it's not common knowledge she struggled to even cast Alohamora."

Ironic that Christine had just mentioned the spell about unlocking doors the very moment the doors of the Hospital Wing sprang open. I turned my head and a sudden flare of anger rose up in me as I saw Maddie at the door.

"Well, speak of the devil," Christine whispered.

Maddie was wearing a knee-length dress, her honey blonde hair curled in ringlets that bounced as she made her way toward us, her short-heeled shoes clicking against the marble floor.

"Hey guys," she said softly. "Polly, are you alright? I heard you got here last night and knew I had to come visit. What happened?"

She approached my bed and took a seat on a free chair next to it. Christine flipped her off behind her back. Alex lowered her arm before Maddie could turn around and notice her. Sibi's lips were tightened in a grimace as she stood cross-armed next to Mike, whose eyes were glittering in vexation.

"I blacked out," I replied curtly. "Looks like it's become my specialty at this point."

Her lips stretched into a smile that enlightened her facial features. Hadn't I known the true colors hiding beneath the mask of this sweet and pretty girl sitting opposite me, I would have never pictured someone like Maddie capable of being a backstabber.

"How did you black out?" she asked.

Oh, I don't know, Maddie. Maybe because I was in a shock after I found out about you and your brother's true intentions.

"Dehydration, probably," I lied. "Was running up the stairs."

"Oh, I see. Let me get you some water."

She stood up from the chair and walked toward my night table. I had to hold myself back from grabbing her by the hair and telling her to get the hell out. As she poured some water from the pitcher on an empty glass, I exchanged a look with Sibi, who had reached for the wand in her pocket. 'Don't', I mouthed.

"Here you go," Maddie said with a smile and handed me the glass of water. I took a sip—again resisting another urge to spit it in her face.

"Hey Maddie, where's Akker?" Mike asked, his tone blank. Weren't I so pissed I might've actually chuckled; Mike, like me, couldn't pretend to be nice to someone he disliked. This is what had helped us get along so well when we first met. "We haven't seen you guys in a while. He promised me a game of Quidditch a fortnight ago."

"Oh," Maddie said. She let out a nervous laugh and tucked a curl behind her ear. "Yeah, uh. . . he's been kinda busy. . . catching up on Potions homework he didn't do over winter break. You know him, Sibi."

"Yeah, Madison. So I thought," Sibi snapped.

I looked at her. Her brows were drawn together, her jaw was tight. I shook my head to signal her not to start a quarrel but she wasn't looking at me. I wasn't planning on confronting Maddie just yet, especially not now and in this position.

Maddie looked at Sibi for a moment before glancing at the rest of my friends out of the corner of her eye. They weren't even trying to hide their anger. Maddie's eyes flickered to her lap and I saw the fear flit across them. She gulped.

"Hey Polly, can I—can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "Just you."

"No, you can't," said Sibi before I could respond. "Whatever it is you have to tell her, we are going to listen too."

I sent Sibi a small smile, though deep down I wished she and the rest would've played along a little longer. Now that Maddie had sensed we were aware that something was up, she and Akker could plot a whole new plan or God knows what.

"Oh, I don't mind if she tells you guys everything later," she said in a tone that sounded both unbothered and gentle. "I'd just rather talk to her in private. It helps me get words out better, you know."

"That's fine by me," I said, looking past her at Sibi.

She seemed to be in some sort of inner dilemma, but eventually nodded. Mike did too, but he gave me a pointed look, as though warning me not to trust anything Maddie was about to tell me. Not that I had planned to.

They got up to leave and Christine followed suit, but not before raising both of her middle fingers behind Maddie's back. Alex gave my hand a squeeze in assurance and got up as well. As soon as he let go of my hand, Maddie reached for it, so I quickly pulled the quilt up to my neck, pretending I was cold.

   Maddie breathed out a very audible sigh as the doors closed with a thump when my friends walked out of the room.

   "You guys are mad at me, aren't you?" she said, sounding guilty. I knew better than to believe the sincerity of it, though.

   "What makes you say that?" I asked.

   "Look, I know that Akker and I have been, um . . . busy recently," she replied, looking at me as if asking for forgiveness. I remained silent. "You all have every right to think we've left you behind. But we'll make up for it, I promise. We guys are our friends."

   "Maddie, nobody is mad at you and Akker." Big lie. "You both are amazing friends." Tremendous lie.

   Maddie gave me another smile, which made me sick to the stomach. She was about to say something, but suddenly I let out a loud yawn that didn't let me hear whatever came out of her mouth.

   "Do you need to rest?" Maddie asked. For some reason, her voice sounded a mile away. "We can talk later, if you'd like."

   "No, I'm f—" Another yawn escaped my throat. When I blinked, my eyelids felt heavy. What was happening?

   I watched Maddie's mouth form another series of words, but I couldn't make out what exactly. A sudden wave of exhaustion was overtaking me, even though it was only morning and I had woken up no longer than an hour ago.

   I struggled to keep my eyes open, but every inch of me was screaming 'sleep.'

   The last sound I heard was the Madame Pomfrey's distant voice and the rattling of the chair as Maddie's silhouette got up. As I heard her footsteps fading and those of Madame Pomfrey approaching, I gave in and let sleep overtake me. Again.

◈

ok listen. r these endings wack af and i've written them at least four times already? yes. but also do i know better ways of ending on cliffhangers w/o making chapters dreadfully long? no. anyway i couldn't help myself from updating even tho i got sm shit to do for school but it's so hard to focus my dudes. senioritis is a real bitch ;(