Chloe,

I get it, you're busy. Senior year, right? Have you fought through your humongous pile of letters from colleges BEGGING you to join them yet?

I hope you're not stressing yourself out too much when it comes to getting a perfect score or getting top in the class (which you'll get anyway). Miss your face. Send some pictures next time?

Love, Monica

Although the cafeteria around me became abuzz with chaos, I couldn't tear my eyes off of the phone screen.

Thin bronzed legs were crossed, but not with each other. One leg was dangling from a boy's thigh, the other intertwined with another's, her black strappy heels barely clinging to her foot as she arched it dramatically. Her body was clad in lacy lingerie, but it may as well have been nothing with the way it was too tight across her chest. In one hand dangled what looked like a cigarette, in the other the cheek of one of her companions.

I recognized the first to be Jonas from his lip stud, but his eyes were hidden with a black sensor bar. Beside him was a boy from Arlington, a member of the lacrosse team. Their hands were all over her, and from the expression on her face, she reveled in it. Her eyes were not covered, Maddy Danton's identity exposed to the world. Her face was smug, eyeing the camera with pride.

I couldn't tell how old the photograph was, but I pinpointed it to be the one Sophie and Lola had been talking about in the bathrooms. The one they were saving for her as punishment for challenging Lola's prized reputation.

Tearing my gaze from the picture which had been sent in a bulk Facebook message – containing all nine-hundred-and-twenty-one of Arlington's students – I took in the horror-struck expression of Maddy in the present.

Even with the hall abuzz, her voice rang cold and desperate to the triumphant girls before us.

"You promised me you wouldn't." Her eyes were cold with rage, her breath coming quickly. "You told me if I dealt with her you'd protect me."

"Oh, honey," Sophie said, clicking her tongue. "But you didn't, did you?"

"I did everything in my power, I just needed more time-"

"Time isn't infinite, Madeline," she said, a smirk brightening her baby blue eyes. "And your time is up. Good luck with your life, you drug addicted whore."

Maddy leapt forward, grabbing the collar of Sophie's blouse, triggering the cafeteria to silence again. "You bitch! After all I've done for you, you fucking ruin me! Do you have any idea the shit I've gone through for you to wear that smug little grin around like you own the place?"

At Maddy's physical outburst, Max and Piers came forward, pulling Maddy back by her shoulders. "Don't either of you touch me, you sick fucking pigs!"

I didn't know what to do. I was standing there frozen as the student body watched on at what was likely going to be the highlight of this term's gossip, right up there in front of Francis and William's fight.

One thing was clear to me, though: I was the girl Maddy was supposed to deal with.

"Stop!" I said as Max and Piers started pulling Maddy towards the exit.

Both of the guys looked to each other and then stopped their effort to remove her. I shot one more hateful glance at the girls on the table before taking Maddy's arm with my own and heading towards the corridor.

Our way into the hall may have been a walk of dignity, but now it was full of defeat, the expressions of our classmates making that very clear. In my hand, my phone still buzzed, the typed reactions of the people around me sparking notifications from the chat group.

"What's this about?" I asked as soon as we'd vanished from view. It was like as soon as we left the room the students had burst into chatter, the noise so loud that voices reverberated through the stone walls.

Maddy's face had paled. Her arm slackened in mine as I let it fall. "What does it fucking look like, Chloe?"

"It looks like you didn't hold up your part of a bargain," I said coolly, the sympathy I felt for Maddy's position canceled out by the possibility of her plotting against me. "What was that bargain, Maddy?"

She scrunched her hair and screwed her eyes shut, as if giving up. "If I gave them something to use on you, they wouldn't use what they had on me."

My heart ran cold. They were actively trying to destroy me. "Why didn't you?"

"Because I couldn't," she said. "Because I tried and I couldn't. I couldn't give you that spiked drink on Saturday and I couldn't let Mike film it. It was so fucking stupid – I thought I could handle the rohypnol. I mean, I've had it before, but clearly, I should have just thrown the drink in someone's face or something equally as dramatic instead of drinking it like the stupid bitch I am."

"But you were still going to do it," I said slowly, sifting through the hysterical ramble to the essential points. "You were still planning to offer me up to save yourself."

"I had no choice, Chloe," she said. "It was you or me and at this school, you have to save yourself. Just be grateful I didn't dig far enough to find something worth sharing. I know you've got shit you're hiding, and you're lucky you have it covered well."

My jaw locked. I didn't know why I felt so betrayed. So surprised. I knew these people from the start. I was setting out to destroy them for a reason.

"You don't understand. I was protecting you. Fuck – all this shit happened because I was protecting you, because you're so innocent and angelic and can't put a fucking step wrong without your boyfriend being there to protect you. This is why you can't have a conscience at Arlington. As soon as you put someone else before yourself you lose."

The bell rang through the hall from the speaker, signaling the end of lunch. Maddy's eyes were swimming with rage, her expression both forlorn and furious.

"I'm going. I have to do damage control before this spreads to my family. Or worse, the press. God, to think I thought my life was fucked up an hour ago."

And then she stormed off, her actions careless. I couldn't help but admire her solidarity and her strength. I was sure if our situations were reversed I would have burst into tears a while ago. Although I considered myself determined and strong, to be humiliated in a public setting was a whole other story.

I couldn't let myself be too stressed about her. After all, it could have been me if Maddy had a little extra time. Like she said, I should be thankful.

God, what would I have done if she'd found out about Monica? I mean, my whole plan depended on nobody digging. Because, as William had found, my secrets weren't buried all that deeply. Had she found out and not said anything? Or had she just not looked in the right places to begin with?

My whole afternoon was a whirlwind of messages from the newly created school group-chat. I tried to avoid opening them, but I had to gauge the reaction. One thing was apparent: level one itself had beaten me in knocking the first person off of my list.

Knew she was a whore, but didn't realize she took two guys at once omg

Those tits tho #maddyillbeurdaddy

I'd be so embarrassed holy shit

Just posted it on my tumblr, it's hot af

I cringed at the sexist, horrible comments that just kept coming. I muted the chat. This was the student body I was trying to protect by taking level one down. They fed off of this. Despite whether they were delighted or disgusted, everyone was talking about it.

I was at least thankful that it diverted the attention off of me, the fight on Friday temporarily forgotten. I blocked the chatter out of my mind and tried my best to focus on my chemistry lecture. But, all I could think about was the photo, and how level one had beaten me to the precise action I was supposed to pull off. To ruin Maddy Danton's social status.

Oh, the joy I'd get out of doing it to Sophie or Lola themselves.

When school ended nobody left the campus straight away. People still lingered in groups, exchanging phones and devices, countless memes and Photoshopped versions of Maddy's picture going viral through the student body.

I couldn't go home. I had a test tomorrow morning and I hadn't even done the homework for the topic, let alone started to revise it. I knew if I went home then I'd fall into the trap of coding or stalking or doing something else progressive to my list. Despite all that was circulating in my mind, I needed to concentrate on something much more logical, and much more productive towards my future.

Arlington's library was a gorgeous building, the oldest on campus and the one holding the most history, both recent and old. The founder, Sir Matthew Arlington, had taken over what used to be an old hospital to create a library. It was rumored that three years ago the senior year level had held a party here so large that part of the floor collapsed into the basement, triggering a quick renovation and a public cover-up.

Today, it appeared empty, which was what I needed if I wanted to concentrate.

I walked down the open area of seats, trying to find the most strategic place to set down my books. But, my searching was interrupted when I heard a voice.

"No, I didn't realize you were using it today. But you did a good job, the revelation was priceless." It was a male voice, moving up and down the aisles, just out of my view. But it didn't matter that I couldn't see him, I recognized it instantly.

"I only contributed the names, I can't exactly take credit for the photo. You'd have to thank Piers for that. They took it from his phone." That tone was bitter, and it was moving closer and closer in my direction. I sidestepped, staying out of view.

"Yes, I'm still on campus. God, you're so paranoid, Soph, nobody's around," he said. "And yes, I'll do my best to make sure she's dealt with, considering Maddy is hopeless. That or your blackmail wasn't quite enough to persuade her."

No way. Seriously, today had been dramatic enough, and I had to stop a hysterical laugh from slipping through my lips.

"Whatever, I'll see you later. Bye, babe."

As Jack rounded the mystery section, I stepped into his line of view.

"Of all the unexpected shit that happened today, I have to say you've surprised me the most," I mused, folding my arms over my chest. "Jack Thomas and Sophie Rutherford. I would never have picked it."

If Jack was startled by my entrance, he didn't show it. Instead, the crook of his mouth was uprooted in an amused smirk. "Afternoon, Chloe. Didn't pick you to be the kind for confrontation. Thought you were more the listen-in-and-take-notes type of girl. You know, pocketing secrets for later."

The true impact of what he was saying hit me. He knew about my past. He knew Monica almost as well as I did. And he obviously hadn't told Sophie yet.

He had me in the palm of his hand. And he knew it.

"My, my. Monica Pennington would have been so proud to see you up there with them. All she ever wanted was that corner seat opposite Lola, and you took it within a week. What did it take her, six months?"

My blood ran cold.

"At first I kind of believed you. Figured they could be keeping you around for sympathy. But, Chloe Whittaker was never one to crave a level one seat, was she?"

"You haven't told them," I stated. "You're holding it back."

"Secrets are too valuable to just toss around, Chloe," he said. He started pacing, circling his phone around in his palm absent-mindedly. "And maybe I'm interested to see how this will play out."

I frowned. "Who has your loyalty then, Jack? Monica or Sophie?"

Jack chuckled. "Neither. Consider me here only for my own intentions. Win me over with information, but never receive my loyalty."

I was so confused, my whole perspective uprooted. Suddenly, the level system was void, at least to Jack. He clearly held power over level one itself, but played no interest in gaining attention. "Why haven't you told them? Do you want to see them fall too?"

Jack's increased amusement made me want to slap him in the face. "Maybe. It depends how far you get, I guess. Whichever route is more entertaining. Watch you triumph, and watch them fall from their graces, or watch them destroy you, and anything left of Monica."

"You're sick," I said, my mind still not able to comprehend his motives. "You're here purely for the show."

Jack shrugged. "I like to be the one pulling the strings. I went for Sophie, you went for William."

"And you have no regrets about what happened to Monica?" I asked. "God, did you control that too?"

His expression faltered slightly, but it didn't fall. "After what happened to Monica, I realized how unpredictable the system could be. I wanted some way to manage it without putting myself in there, and I didn't want to bring down level one."

"Why not?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because you're obsessed with them?"

"No, Chloe, because I'm smart," he said. "You don't understand Arlington. You don't realize that with one monarchy falling another will rise. These people, the whole of level two and most of the other levels, they thrive on drama. If level one dissipate then new students will step up. Everyone wants to be them. The student body will never be equal."

"I'm not here to create equality," I said. "I'm here to even the scales. After Monica—"

"Oh stop pretending this is all about Monica," he interrupted. "You enjoy it, Chloe. This is about you. You get to ride on the arm of the most coveted boy in school while half of us ogle over everything, from the shoes you're wearing to the shade of gloss on your lips."

I took a deep breath, feeling slightly faint. I wasn't in control. Every move I had made so far was probably being laughed at by someone I thought was my friend – someone I wanted so badly to protect.

"No, you don't understand a thing," I said, mostly because I had no other way to defend myself.

Jack chuckled. "We'll see about that. I'll be in touch, Chloe."

He paced out of the building at a leisurely pace, while I supported my now fragile frame on one of the bookshelves, my mind running laps around itself. Out of the uncontrolled mess, one thing was for sure.

If I wanted to take down level one I needed to do it fast, and I couldn't wait any longer.

AUTHORS NOTE: I wasn't going to update because I'm unbelievably busy but I ended up staying up to write anyway because I couldn't leave y'all on that cliffhanger... I'm so tired, I can't think of a question, but you could reward me for my effort with a vote? lol, thanks for reading! - Ann 💕