"Ready or not, here I come!"

Kyle shouted out from across the backyard, and I tried to quiet my giggling, nestling deeper in the bush I hid in.

"Your laugh is really pretty, Mar, but he's definitely gonna find us," Holden nudged me, and I nodded in understanding, biting my tongue.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Holden still looking at me. Little flecks of sunlight patterned his face, obscured by the shade of leaves. He gazed at me how my mother gazed at my father.

"Found you!" Kyle cheered farther off, and I heard Cornelia groan.

"No way, that was the perfect spot!" Cornelia whined, but giggled fondly as she assisted Kyle in seeking out others.

"Marnie, my dad always gets my mom presents. He said it's because she's the most important woman in the world and he'd do anything to keep her," Holden whispered, and I glanced at him confusedly.

"Alright?"

"You're the most important person in my world, Mar. So I got you this," Holden produced a brand new blue slinky from his jean pocket, offering it to me.

I beamed as I accepted it, "You remembered my favorite color!"

"Uh-oh! Shh!"

Kyle tore open the leaves of the bush, giving us a cheesy smile, "Found you!"

We both sighed, then I asked, "Did you find Sonia yet?"

And suddenly, a blur of red descended from the tree looming above us, landing directly on Kyle.

"Gotcha!" Sonia laughed, dusting the dirt off her ruby dress.

Kyle growled, "Oh, you're gonna get it now!"

He quickly turned on the hose and began to chase Sonia with it, spraying her with water. Soon, he accidentally splashed Cornelia, who swiped it and splashed Holden. And then a water fight ensued, everyone seeing who could hold the hose the longest.

We played like that for hours, laughing and drenched in the warm sun.

But, as all good things must come to an end, Diego Moreno stepped into the yard, causing us to halt.

"Dad!" Kyle said, surprised, and he promptly turned off the hose before running to wrap his arms around his father's legs.

"Hey, sport," Diego smiled tiredly, bending slightly to ruffle Kyle's hair, "I thought I heard the sound of the water bill going up."

"Sorry, Dad," Sonia sighed, and Diego's gaze briefly brushed over her with disinterest.

"How long are you staying this time?" Kyle asked sadly, stepping back just a little to look up at his dad with innocent eyes.

"Two whole days!" Diego smiled, "I know it's not the week we were hoping for, but money doesn't make itself."

Holden sighed, "Mr. Moreno, what's your job? My dad works a lot too but he's home too much!"

Diego laughed, "Your dad has a cushy job in finance. I'm a bit more of an entrepreneur. Problem is my product gets...too popular in most places after a while, so I have to keep moving from place to place."

Holden nodded and we all followed suit, pretending to know what all he said meant.

"Last one to the fire hydrant is a rotten egg!" Kyle called out after a beat of silence, and we scrambled off, Diego sighing as he watched us play.

Then he got a phone call and disappeared behind their back door once more.

***

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I blinked awake in the hospital, eyes focusing on the figure looming at my bedside. Mom.

It turned out that Holden had, in fact, snuck out the back door of the arena briefly with Cornelia. He'd messaged his mother and then Safa, knowing that her father was a doctor. They'd been more than willing to try to help Cornelia, kind souls that didn't wish to see others suffer at the hands of corrupt police. They notified higher authorities, and federal investigators had just begun to get involved in the drama of Plum Creek.

Mei Chen arrived shortly after Kyle did, joined by Safa's parents, who helped us all to the hospital. Exhausted, I'd fallen into a deep slumber on the ride. Legal battles would surely shortly begin to ensue. Cedric Wildman, the serial murderer, was finally dead. Yet, right then, I couldn't seem to care about anything but the well-being of all my friends.

I hissed in pain as I tried to abruptly move my arm, the freshly disinfected and bandaged wound on my shoulder stinging.

"Easy, easy," Mom cooed at me, gently but firmly pushing me back down.

My mind began to race. I stared at my mother, a question at the tip of my tongue. A question I was almost too afraid to ask.

"Was he...was he real?" I rasped, and Mom smiled.

"Kyle? Yes, sweet pea. He was real and he's here, in this building."

I sunk into a sea of bliss.

"Where? I have to go-"

"You have to focus on getting better, okay? He's with Sonia and their parents, explaining to detectives."

"Explaining what? What happened? How is he alive when I saw-"

"I don't have all the answers for you right now. What I can tell you is that we'll be going home very soon."

As if on cue, a nurse walked in. She smiled kindly, beginning to poke and prod me with medical instruments. She examined sets of data, then turned to my mother.

"Just as the doctor suspected, it's alright if we send her home this morning. She's just about discharged," the nurse said, then stepped outside with Mom to discuss.

Had she said this morning? I must've been out for longer than I thought. What had become of Sonia, Holden, Persephone...

Cornelia?

•

I laid on my bed with the curtains closed, staring at the glow in the dark stars on my ceiling. My mother spoke to the officers downstairs, finishing up with them, as, I had left after being questioned only minutes ago. I played with the faded blue slinky in my hands. Was there a chance Holden still had his phone on him?

I was dialing his number before I could ever truly consider it.

"Mar-bar!" Holden's tired voice answered just before the final ring.

"Holden!" I gasped with relief, "Are you alright?"

"Me? I'll be beating you at Wii Sports again in no time! I have a broken leg and the doctor says I may never be very good at running again, but is that actually a loss because-"

"Oh my God, that is the opposite of okay!"

"Pfft! I'm vibing! Off of hospital drugs, anyway. What about you, Mar?"

"I'm home, I just talked to officers about everything. Cut on my shoulder is killing me, but it isn't as permanent an injury..."

"Hey, you'll get a wicked cool scar! I can start calling you Mar-scar!"

"Please no. So lame. Really."

"You mean you don't want to practice hurling Mufasa off a cliff?"

I chuckled, "Whatever, dumb-dumb! How's..."

"Cornelia? From what I hear, she's where Seph is. ICU."

"F*ck..."

"F*ck indeed. I'm trying not to think about it until there's more answers."

"Right. And just to clarify...did I hallucinate or-"

"We really saw him, Mar."

"Cool, cool. Now I'm trying to see some answers."

"..."

"Holden? Hello?"

After a long few moments of silence, I heard his quiet snore. Seconds later, someone else picked up.

"Get well soon, Marinette. He's sleeping," Mei spoke, and I tensed.

"...thanks."

*

Weeks passed before we could all meet again. It had been a sporadic bout of texts and short calls for the duration of our recoveries, and the time that passed by felt like years.

Crippled and battered, Sonia, Kyle, Holden, and I gathered in Persephone's bedroom on bean bag chairs. Before talking about anything, we all piled into a gentle group hug, wary of Holden's crutches.

Cornelia was still in ICU, and Persephone was briefly bedridden. When we broke apart after ages, we turned to Kyle and Sonia, who clung to him.

"Wow, all eyes on me. Cool. Great. I love the spotlight!" Kyle beamed.

"How the hell are you alive, dude?" Holden pressed, in utter disbelief, and Kyle chuckled humorlessly.

I couldn't help but notice how different he looked. His curly brown hair had neon green tips. He was taller, his voice deeper, his face and build more mature. He still had dog decals across his shirt, but there was also an uncustomary golden chain around his neck.

All this time. All this time, he had been living and breathing and growing. He had been experiencing the smallest bits of life, like the sensation of the bubbles in the bathtub popping against his skin, the smell of coffee, the sight of the sun setting; All the way to the bigger things, like crushes, like heartbreak, like emotions.

He had been learning and developing and discovering. He had uncovered more of his likes and dislikes, had come deeper into his sense of self. All this time, he had been doing the things I never stopped wishing he could do again. His life hadn't stopped almost a year ago. The universe had miraculously tipped the scales for his presence to grace me again, despite it all. Despite utter impossibility.

"So listen. Our parents have been arrested," Sonia said, and it was only then that I noticed the heavy bags under her eyes.

Sonia noticed me staring and winked.

Kyle continued, "Dad was busted for drug dealing and a handful of other felonies surrounding the deaths of numerous customers, plus all the things our mom was in for. Mom was taken in for child abuse and neglect, among other things..."

"That's great? My dad's also in the clunker for his involvement in Mr. Jon's death. But that answers absolutely none of the questions we have?" Holden cut in, and Kyle waved him off.

"I'm getting there, I'm getting there. Story time!" Kyle joked, but his demeanor became much more serious, "Listen. This is going to sound really messed up, but the body you all saw that night? It wasn't really me. I'd been kidnapped by Cedric Wildman."

"Then who was it that they saw?" Persephone asked weakly, and I came to her bedside to fan her gently.

"Oh, hi there, Persephone! I'm Kyle, we've never met but I've heard a lot about you from Sonia!"

Persephone laughed softly, "Call me Seph, man."

Sonia sighed, cutting in, "To answer your question, the kid that died was actually...our triplet."

We fell silent.

"Is this a goddamn Lifetime movie?" Holden massaged his temples.

Kyle chuckled, "Oh yeah. We deserve a book or something. But anyways," he shifted in his seat, "When she got to the hospital, our mom started freaking out when she saw me alive. I think it actually broke her. She admitted that Dad was always so entrenched in making money. It was to the point where when she was pregnant he made a deal with Wildman to sell one of us for enough cash to continue his diet pill business outside of Plum Creek..."

Sonia continued for Kyle as his eyes got misty, "Wildman demanded a boy, but Dad wanted to keep both. Ultimately, he cared about making money more than his actual f*cking children, so he did sell the other boy. His name was Vivek...the baby Mom got to name. He and Kyle looked just alike. He was raised by Wildman for the pure purpose of torturing and using. He was the prop to make Kyle's death seem real."

We were all quiet for minutes before I asked Kyle, "And where were you actually?"

Kyle lowered his eyes, "In Pear City. Christine convinced Wildman to send me to live with her mother there instead of torturing me. Muriel would barely let me out of her sight, but I got into contact with Kasper Madsen by emailing her on the Plum Creek High website at school one day. Over time she slowly revealed every horrible plot to me - we were pen pals. Kasper told me it felt like all the high school bullies in town found fortune and were on steroids. After months of convincing, she helped me forge enough documents to book a flight here, and she put a tracker on Sonia, which is how I found you all at the laser tag arena."

"Why didn't you reach out to any of us?" Holden asked, sounding emotionally shattered, and Kyle's gaze softened.

"I couldn't. I tried - God, did I try! I only had ten minutes on the computer at school every day, barely enough to catch up with Kasper. She was the safest bet, even if she worked slower. I've never even been allowed a phone. Strict with Muriel is an understatement, especially after she lost Hannah..." Kyle trailed off.

"So your parents sold the triplet you never knew you had and Priyanka told you. Then what?" Persephone asked.

Sonia answered, "Then we obviously snitched on those b*tches with all our receipts, and they were taken in. Our Nana is taking care of us now. Our mom's mom."

"How is that going?" Holden implored, and Kyle sighed before saying:

"This has all been so weird, but she's kind, just a little distant. We weren't raised around our mom's side of the family. Dad never let us see them. To be honest, most of the time I forget I'm half Indian. It's been insane realizing just how much Dad's wants and influence dominated our upbringing."

Sonia nodded, "I know, right? An entire other culture we're apart of, completely cut off...it's hard to me because I don't claim Mom, and that culture is apart of who she is. She's my mother and my abuser. Seeing parts of her in me makes me feel like I'm some semblance of the horrible she is..."

"That could never be true, Sonia. You're not a bad person," Persephone told her, and they shared a genuine smile.

Kyle looked to Sonia, "I never understood why Mom acted like she hated you until now. It's because she took all this out on you. You had no choice but to be kept. If Wildman had wanted a girl, Mom could've kept the baby she got to name. Maybe our parents' marriage wouldn't have fallen apart if Dad had the sons he wanted. They were so happy together in those home videos from before we were born. They barely talk to each other, and it's easy to blame you even though you have nothing to do with it all."

Sonia nodded slowly, tears in her eyes, "Just her play thing. A reminder of what she could've had if only I wasn't around..."

"We want you around, Sonia," Holden offered, and I nodded in agreement.

Sonia beamed, wiping her eyes.

"Is that all? All the bad things?" I asked.

"Not quite," Persephone said, "I'd like it known that my parents are both in police custody as well."

"Who was the woman who opened the door, by the way?" Holden asked Seph, and she sighed.

"That was my Aunt Iris. She's looking after me now, she just moved from Apricot Valley."

We all nodded, taking everything in.

"So," I said, "Everyone involved in every conspiracy is either dead or in custody. Kyle is f*cking alive. We're in recovery-"

Persephone cut in, "Speaking of recovery! According to the doctors, mine is miraculous. Apparently the gunshot was centimeters away from my heart. It narrowly missed everything vital as it was going through."

"Cool," Sonia said, "I might've actually missed hearing you talk all the damn time."

"Wow, I'm so touched. I would've missed your backhanded compliments."

Kyle observed us, eyes sad.

"What's wrong, buddy?" Holden asked, and Kyle chuckled.

"Just. This is insane. You guys have a completely different dynamic now, and I haven't even seen you with Cornelia."

Holden tensed at his sister's name. We eyed Kyle warily.

"He knows what she did," Sonia told us, "For some reason he forgives her. So f*cking quickly."

Kyle shrugged, "Cornelia is naive and extravagant. I've always known that. It's not like she single-handedly ensured my - Vivek's - execution. If she hadn't fallen for the trap, I'm sure Christine and Wildman would've found another way. I'm here now, and I just want everything to find its way back to something like normal."

"...they could have found another way, but they didn't. They didn't have to. Maybe it would've gone differently if not, but nothing can change the fact that Cornelia did assist them," Persephone countered.

Kyle nodded, "Yeah, well I judge off of intentions, not outcomes. Like when Sonia got me that awful cat scarf as a gift!"

Sonia elbowed him, "Excuse you, that was amazing!"

We all laughed.

"Kyle, you had to have made some new connections in Pear City. Who was important to you there?" I asked.

He stood up to regale us all with his life's tales.

"It all started when I landed face first in a pile of mashed avocadoes in the Pear High School cafeteria!"

•

"...and that's the story of how I started dating my girlfriend Lottie!" Kyle finished after an excruciatingly lengthy, dramatic story.

"Dare I ask about your friends?" Holden chuckled, and I scooted up beside him, giving him something more stable than the crutches to lean on in his bean bag chair.

Sonia folded her arms, "What does this 'Lottie' look like?"

Kyle answered fondly, oblivious to Sonia's tone, "Oh, pink hair, pastel goth, warm brown skin tone, a little short, dresses like she stepped off an episode of Strawberry Shortcake."

"Sick, man!" Holden smiled, "Surprised you had the time to get a girlfriend to be honest."

"Always one step ahead of you, just like in Mario Kart," Kyle teased, laughing when his face was hit with a plush pillow, "Hey! Ha, and anyways, I had plenty of time. Even had time to get a boyfriend before her."

Sonia blinked at him, "A what?!"

Kyle nodded, "I'm bisexual. Always forget to mention that, wow!"

Persephone smiled, "Nice! Me too."

"Are any of us straight then? I know I'm a lesbian," Sonia giggled.

Holden shrugged, "I like to call myself pansexual. Cornelia's definitely straight, though."

Everyone turned to me.

"Alright," I began, taking a deep breath, "I like girls, and maybe guys. After weeks of online research and after years of denial, I've come to the conclusion that I hate labels, but respect them on other people. So as an umbrella term, just call me queer."