Kate chugged the soda sitting in front of her, hoping that the sugar rush would somehow jolt her brain back to usefulness. It had stopped working properly half an hour ago and she'd been reviewing the same page on the French/American War in her textbook to no avail. She felt the sting of the bubbles as the carbonation burned her nose slightly. A loud burp came erupted from her lips and she would have felt embarrassed if she was with anyone worth being embarrassed in front of.

"Jesus, you sound like a 40-year-old drunk man," Nathan said, waving his hand in front of his nose. He stood and walked over to the espresso machine on the counter.

"I heard 40-year-old drunk," Jared said as he came into the room. "I hope you weren't talking about me."

"You don't drink," Nathan replied.

"And you're older than forty," Kate added from the refrigerator.

Jared scowled and chucked the empty soda can at her and hit her square in the forehead. "What are you guys doing, anyways?"

Kate scowled and pulled a container of fruit from the fridge. "Studying. Finals start tomorrow morning." She shoved a piece of watermelon into her mouth. "What are you doing?" she asked as she was chewing.

"Finalizing the seating chart for the Winterlake charity event on Friday night," Jared explained, spreading a pile of papers across the table in front of him. "Headmistress Choi is coming by later tonight to discuss details."

It had been Jared's idea that he host the annual Winterlake Academy Charity Benefit that year. Kate was too busy studying to notice or care that he was doing it.

"Why couldn't you have had the meeting at school?" Kate asked. The idea of her headmistress coming to the compound was wrong on so many levels; school belonged at school.

"Because the last time I was at your school, I got mobbed," Jared explained. "Besides, she wanted to check out the space where the charity event is being held. Two birds, one stone."

"Just don't give her a grand tour or anything," she muttered, returning to her History textbook and doubting her father would adhere to her request.

Sure enough, four hours later, Jared was showing Headmistress Choi through the galleries on the lower level while she sat at the desk in her studio space.

"And this is Kate's studio," Jared said, his voice echoing off of the concrete floors and bare walls. "When we moved in, we had all this extra space, so I gave her one of the galleries to have as her own creative space."

The pair of them rounded the corner and Kate looked up from her laptop. Choi was unrecognizable, with her black hair loose from its typical tight bun. She had on a pair of jeans and a leather jacket paired with a white tank top. She looked like she was a club-hopping hipster instead of the headmistress of the most elite high school in California.

Kate stood up the second Choi stepped into the room, wringing her hands nervously as she appraised the space. "Headmistress," she replied.

"Kate, please. We're not at school. You can relax," Choi said with a chuckle. She looked at the walls that Kate had covered in various photos in the year or so that she'd lived in the house. "These are quite good. You have a natural eye for photography."

Kate looked at Jared in slight bewilderment. "Thank you," she said, trying to hide her nerves.

"This is for your Senior Project, right?" Choi asked, gesturing to three photos on the far wall.

They hadn't been matted or framed yet, just pinned to a large bulletin board. "Uh - yes. They're the first prints I've done. My final project will have both digital and print photography."

"Its an interesting concept. I'm certainly glad you chose it," Choi remarked.

"Thank you," Kate repeated, unsure of what to say.

"She won't tell me exactly what its about," Jared said from the doorway. "So I guess I'll have to be surprised along with everyone else."

Choi looked at her. "Go on. Tell your dad. Its a fabulous idea," she urged.

Kate focused her gaze on a photo she had taken the previous weekend in Long Beach. "I was really moved by a story I heard on NPR about a teen that committed suicide because of bullying he received for being trans. It struck me how profound a statement that made: that someone would rather end their life than face bullying because of who they want to be - who they see themselves as." She felt her heart quicken. "The idea is to feature photographs of places these people would have been if not for the decision they made, to turn a mirror on society and make them realize the damage they are doing."

Jared blinked. "I don't understand where you get all of this talent from, Gremlin. That's a fantastic idea." He turned to Choi. "So, what's the deal with these Senior Projects, anyways?"

"Every senior must present a Senior Project by the end of their senior term at Winterlake. It is ungraded, but a required activity. They are designed to encourage students to pursue a field or subject they are interested in, much like a dissertation would."

"Jesus, you weren't kidding when you said that place was like a university," Jared told Kate.

Headmistress Choi smiled. "We pride ourselves in preparing students for their futures."

"C'mon. I'll show you the rest of the house," Jared offered.

Kate watched the two of them go, turning her focus back to her laptop as she sank into one of the hanging chair that swung from the ceiling. Time got away from her and she realized it was late. As she was walking down the hallway toward the stairs to the main level, she heard voices in one of the unused galleries. The lights were out, but she heard a thumping noise.

"Fucking possums," she grumbled, making note to tell her father to call an exterminator as she grabbed an old mop that was leaning against the wall.

She rounded the corner of the gallery and flipped on the lights, brandishing her mop with a shout. Her shout swiftly morphed into a scream of terror as light filled the room. Jared was underneath Headmistress Choi on one of Shannon's sofas and neither of them was wearing clothes. At her scream, both adults looked up and shouted themselves. Out of reflex, Jared flipped Choi off of himself and over the back of the couch, where she landed with a yelp.

"Shit!" he cried, flipping off the couch onto the floor.

"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!" Kate exclaimed, flinging the mop down to the floor. It banged loudly, echoing.

"Kate, its -," he started. He scrambled to find something to cover himself with, succeeding with a loosely-crocheted blanket.

"Jesus Christ, Jared! You're fucking my headmistress!" Kate shouted, wincing as Jared stood up. She wanted to blur the image of the two of them naked from her mind's eye as quickly as possible. When she looked at him, she caught a full glance of his junk. "Oh my God! Pick a different blanket! I can see everything!"

He cursed and covered himself with his hands in embarrassment. "Kate, can we just get a minute to..."

She didn't wait for him to finish the sentence. She ran out of the room and blindly grabbed her house keys. Logically, she knew it was a bad idea to drive in her current emotional state, but it beat the Hell out of staying there to deal with whatever shitfest that was. Kate hopped in her car and drove off, fuming.

How in the fuck could he do that?! she thought. Of all fucking people?!?!

Then she was faced with the image of the headmistress's tits in her minds eye and that made her shudder. It wasn't that Choi was ugly; in fact, she was actually really pretty. It was that there was a line between school and home and Jared shouldn't have crossed it. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she nearly blew through a red light on Laurel Canyon. A honking car caught her attention and she slammed on the brakes.

Her heart was pounding and she felt adrenaline course through her body. She sighed and gripped the steering wheel as she watched traffic flow through the intersection. When the light changed, she drove on, forcing deep breaths to regain control.

Somehow, she ended up at a nearby park and she walked to the first bench she saw and collapsed onto it. Her mind was racing.

How in the fuck could he do this to me AGAIN? She fumed to herself. Once again, Jared had crossed boundaries and let her down, putting his needs above hers. A tiger can't change his stripes, she recalled.

Jared's history of shitty choices regarding their relationship flew through her mind. It really was par for the course at this point. Though he had gotten much better, he still seemed to look at his needs first. It wasn't fair. Life's not fair, she thought with a sigh. Several birds flew overhead, chattering with each other as the sun began to set.

Eventually, she walked back to her car and began the drive back to the compound. The parking area was empty, save for the Bronco and Headmistress Choi's silver Audi. Kate cursed under her breath as she pulled into her space.

"Kate, come in here please," Jared called when she tried to sneak in through the kitchen door.

With a large sigh, she dropped her keys on the island and walked into the family room. Jared and Choi sat a respectable distance apart on one of the low sofas. He motioned for her to sit opposite them and she sank down onto the cushions.

"Can you just say what you have to say so I can ignore it and we can move on like this never happened?" Kate asked, locking her eyes onto the brightly-tiled floor.

"Kate," Choi said, her commanding tone causing the teen's eyes to flick up. "What your father and I were doing...was...a misjudgement...on both our parts," she explained. "There are lines that I should not have crossed and I am incredibly sorry that it happened."

"Yeah...Thanks. Can I go now?" Kate asked, hoping to get as far away from the conversation as possible.

"Kate," Jared said sternly. "Behave."

"I hardly think you're the person to be lecturing me about behaving," she snapped back. "Look. You know I don't care about who you see or what you do with them. Can we all just pretend like this didn't happen?"

The two adults looked at each other and then back at her. "Fine," Jared said.

"Great," Kate said, standing. "I'm heading to bed."

She walked down the hallway to her room and collapsed on the bed, wanting to fall asleep as fast as possible to put the whole day behind her.