To say I am shocked is an understatement of the year. What the hell was Alexander doing there, waiting for me? Even though I'm innocent, I've watched enough romance movies to understand what Jade meant by "Just go and tell him what you feel and talk." My face must have twisted into a grimace at the thought.

I don't even want to imagine what would have happened if I had gone in there and talked to him. What would he have said to me? As these thoughts whirl in my mind, I look for Amelia but can't find her where we were playing. Great, now I have to search for her while hiding from Jade.

Groaning once, I start my search for Amelia but have no luck. Along the way, I notice several of Alexander's friends keeping tabs on me. At first, I think it's a coincidence when my eyes meet Ethan's, and he quickly looks away. Weird. I decide to confront him about it later in class. With no luck finding Amelia, I start climbing the stairs and spot her. I run over, not wanting to draw unwanted attention by yelling her name. I grab her hand and pull her aside from the line of storming students.

"Where were you the whole break?" she asks immediately, predictably concerned.

"That's not the point right now. I need to tell you something really important," I say urgently.

"No, not right now. We'll be late for the lecture, and if we're caught roaming the corridors after the break, we'll definitely get punished," she replies.

"Will you listen!" I whisper-yell, which shuts her up. Not knowing what to do in this situation always gets to me. I like having things under control, and she knows that. I start telling her everything: from my morning to the break, Jade's weird behavior, everything.

"Okay! I get what you're saying, and I agree, but before jumping to conclusions, you should clear things out with Alexander. If not with him, then talk to Ian and Ethan. Maybe they know what's going on and can tell you. Also, talk to Jade when you go back to your bench. I'm sure she'll explain. She's just one bench ahead of you, so it'll be easy to talk to her," she advises.
See, this is why she's my best friend. I'm impulsive and easily panicked, whereas she stays composed and looks at situations from all perspectives.

"Yeah, you're right. I should talk to them first," I agree.

"I know I'm right. Now come on, otherwise we'll be late for class," she says, dragging me along, while I dread the awkward conversation with Jade.

When we reach the class, I pray that Alexander and his friends won't make it back for the next lectures. Of course, my prayers go unanswered, and I know they wouldn't skip class just because of this mess. Well, technically a mess for me. For them, I don't even know what this whole situation is! Swallowing the lump in my throat, I go to my seat and call out to Jade. She doesn't turn around at first, so I raise my voice a notch, and she finally hears me.

"What the hell was that during the break? Why would you push me like that?" I ask, getting angry.

"It was nothing but a dare. I'm sorry I should have told you before, but I thought you wouldn't like it. You being used in a dare and all that," she says. It sounds rehearsed, but I decide to play along.

"Of course I wouldn't have minded. You should know that much about me. It's not like you did it willingly, right? So it's fine. But it shouldn't happen again. By the way, when were you playing? You were with me the whole time before that," I say.

"Um, it was before the break," she stutters, and I know she's lying by the look on her face. I decide not to comment and pretend to buy her story. Ian, however, still looks at me suspiciously, so I quickly change the topic.

"Why were you all looking at me like that during the break? What were you guys playing?" I ask, trying not to sound doubtful.

"Um, yeah, we were playing a sort of detective game and role-playing. You were the target today. Sorry!" he says, but I don't believe a word.

"Really? Where was Alexander? Doesn't he always play with you guys? I didn't see him anywhere during the break," I say, pretending I didn't see Alexander in the playground.

"I don't know. He said he had something to do and didn't play with us. He doesn't really like this game. Why? What did you think?" he asks.

"Nothing, I just wanted to know. And I didn't get what you guys were playing, that's why I asked. Nothing else," I answer.

"You thought we were...," Ian starts, then clears his throat and coughs. "...doing that?"

"No! Whatever that means, it didn't even cross my mind," I say, playing innocent but quickly averting my eyes. He doesn't answer any more of my questions, so I decide to observe their reactions.

Suddenly, Ian calls out to Alexander, "She knows everything. She knows everything."

"What are you talking about? I don't know anything," I say.

"We're not talking about you," says Ethan from the other side of me. Alexander asks, "How did she find out?"

"Because of Jade. She told her everything," Ian says.

"WHAT!" Jade shrieks.

"She didn't tell me anything," I say, not wanting to cause trouble for Jade.

"We are NOT talking about you," Ian and Ethan both say simultaneously.

I stick to my plan of making them react, so I call out to Jade again. "I'm calling you today. When should I call? When will you be free this evening?" I bluff because I don't even have her number. Ian shakes his head at Jade and mouths something to her.

Ian calls out to Alexander again, telling him I definitely know. This time, I keep quiet. Then Ian says, "No problem. We'll use plan B on Friday since plan A is ruined because of Jade." I stay silent but try to figure out what "plan B on Friday" means. When I realize what it is, I gasp and mutter, "Oh, shit."

I seriously don't want to come to school on Friday because...

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