I drive as fast as I can down Steve's neighborhood. Let's just say that the familiar streets don't bring back pleasant memories...

The loud steps of the strange figure following me.

The pounding steps of the mysterious man running after me.

The door-shaking knocks that made me wonder if Kevin and I were going to make it out alive—

Stop that. Don't let your mind drift there.

I take a deep breath as I pull into Steve's driveway. He didn't answer my phone calls after we found out the cast list so I decided to come over and check on him. I don't even have to think to know that he's angry, like really angry. I mean Kevin got the part, Kevin who Steve hates.

Why? Honestly I've almost given up by now on why. Almost. All I know is that Kevin has some weird dark past or something that he won't tell me about and that Steve despises him for it.

Speaking of Kevin...

Why did he try out for Beast when he said he was going to do stage crew? When did he audition? I didn't see him with the rest of the beasts. I wonder if something happened that made him want to do it...

Stop thinking about Kevin, you're here for Steve, remember? Your boyfriend?

Right. My boyfriend.

I sigh as I hop out of my car and walk up to the front door. I ring the door bell, even my own knock freaks me out, and wait for the big hunk of wood to be opened. Then I hear the lock click open and a pair of green eyes greets me. Except they're not Steve's eyes, they're his younger, energetic, and quite frankly annoying, sisters eyes.

"Peyton! I just knew that you would stop by, I knew it! But I have to warn you, dear-ol-darling Stevie is in a baaaaad mood right now. So...good luck!" With that she runs off and leaves me to go find Steve.

Which isn't too hard, considering this is his house and his bedroom is, well, his. Loud music is blaring from inside, but I can still hear Steve talking to...someone.

He must be on the phone because I can hear him talking but not the person he's talking too.

"And the guy didn't even audition! Who does he think he is?! I bet the retard just wanted an excuse to get his nasty hands on my girlfriend! He's such a—" He calls Kevin something I'm not going to repeat. I bite my tongue to keep myself from saying something.

Steve continues. "I just can't believe it man. I don't really want Peyton to play Belle if I'm not Beast, maybe I can talk her out of it...I mean she is mine."

My frown deepens. His?! I am not an object! And he needs to know that right now! I raise my hand to knock on the door, but...I can't. I'm probably acting like such a baby, but I just can't bring myself to do it.

Knocking should be so simple...but it's just too scary.

Too familiar.

I take a shaky breath and try to pull myself together. Just as I scrape together as much nerve as I can find, Steve starts talking again, and this time he sounds...strange.

His voice seems strained and I can nearly picture his features drawn tight together. I wonder who he's—no, it's none of my business, I need to just walk away from the door and stop listening. That's right, I'm going to walk away any minute now. Any minute.

It's wrong, I know, but I can't seem to help myself from stepping closer to the door.

"I know okay—I am not getting distracted! I know what I have to do! She—she's not. Just...remember your end of the deal, that's all that matters." He goes silent for the longest time, I'm assuming the person on the other end is speaking, before I hear him walk to the door. I back away quickly and I'm about dart down the stairs, but then he says one more thing that makes me stop in my tracks:

"Don't worry, Peyton doesn't know, and she's never going to find out."

Then I hear the twist of a doorknob and I sprint down the stairs as fast as I can before Steve can catch sight of me.

***

I plop down on my purple blanketed bed as soon as I get home. The conversation I overheard and the questions that come with it flood my mind.

Who was Steve talking to?

Why was he acting like that?

What "deal" did he make?

And what is the thing that I can "never find out"?

So many questions.

Not nearly enough answers.

I thought Steve would always be the one person who wouldn't keep anything from me...but clearly I was wrong. What is he hiding from me?! And maybe it's none of my business but...I just feel like it's important.

That doesn't make it your business.

Ugh

I just want to know what's going on with the people I care about! Is that too much to ask?

Apparently so.

A sharp knock hits my door, making me flinch. After taking a deep breath, I get up and open my door. Jacklyn walks in with a huge smile on her face.

"Girl you have no idea how happy I am!" She exclaims loudly as she launches herself onto my bed.

I don't exactly know how to respond so I try to muster up the biggest smile I have and plaster it onto my face.

"I mean we both got the parts we wanted! You as the beautiful Belle and me as the magnificent Miss Potts and—are you okay?" Her bright turquoise eyes narrow as they study my face.

I hesitate. "Yes! I'm fine!"

She shakes her head and scoots closer to me. "Nope. Uh uh, you are not fine. Because as good of an actress as you are, I can see right through you. So don't hesitate to tell me what Mr Perfect Pants did."

I roll my eyes. "Of course you assume it's him."

She gives me a look. "Well is it not?" When I don't respond she says, "Exactly. So now go on and tell me what he did."

I sigh. "He didn't do anything."

"Then what did he say?"

"Not anything to me." I grumble under my breath.

"Hm?"

"Nothing."

She purses her lips. "Could this have anything to do with Glasses getting the part of Beast?"

"Yes! I mean no, I mean...I don't know." If I'm being honest I don't really mind Kevin being the Beast. Sure it's kind of weird that he's playing my love interest when Steve's my boyfriend and everything, but...

"Did you know that he was trying out for Beast? When did he even decide, he told us that he was just going to do stage crew?" I ask Jacklyn.

She bites her lip. "Well...I might've given him a little push. He's just so shy and he's such a good singer and you two know each other so well, I just thought...I thought that this was a good opportunity for him to come out of his shell."

I think about this. "That makes sense and I'm glad you pushed him, but I have a boyfriend! Steve is really angry! What if this messes up our relationship?!"

Jacklyn clicks her tongue. "If that boy can't learn to be happy for you then that's his loss! He has to accept that not everything can always go his way! Don't let his teenage boy mood swings get you down, you should be celebrating! Girl you got the lead! I got Miss Potts! So let's forget about the boy-we're-not-going-to-remember and go get ice cream!"

I want to tell her that it's so much more than him not being happy for me. But I just can't bring myself to do it. Plus how light would I feel if I just simply pushed my worries away and went to get ice cream with my best friend?

So I tell her, "Sure, lets go get some good old fashioned ice cream."

Then she hooks her arm through mine and leads me out of my room, and I try to leave all of my worries behind.

But it doesn't work.

Especially when the very next day I find a different, brand new, note in my locker.

You haven't gotten rid of us yet Peyton, not even close. You got three years to hide but now your times up. It's time for us to seek. You may not remember what you did but we certainly do, we always will. But let's get to the point, we know about Olivia Wright, and we're not afraid of letting everybody know. The question is, how far are you willing to go to keep it a secret?

How far am I willing to go?

How far?

Far.

Maybe too far.

So I leave a message of my own:

Nobody can ever know. Name your price and then leave me the heck alone.

Sorry for the late update and short chapter! I've been SUPER busy lately. I hope you liked it though, tell me if there's anything you would like to see in future chapters!-Vanna💜