The hallways on the third floor of the school were surprisingly empty. It wasn't hard for Ziro and Lev to find Nick by his locker, his cellphone to his ear as he spoke to someone on the other end.

Nick hadn't realized the company until a hand crashed against a locker on his right. Startled, Nick lowered the phone from his face and whipped his head over to see Lev glowering at him.

Slam! Another hand colliding with another locker, this time to Nick's left.

Nick spun around to see Ziro staring him down with a hellish glint in his eyes. He glanced back and forth between the duo before cracking into laughter. Remembering that someone was still on the phone, he brought the device back to his ear, but Ziro swiped it from his hand and ended the call before Nick could utter a word.

Nick feigned vexation before laughing again. "That wasn't very conflict-free of you, Ziro."

"Let's make a deal," Ziro answered.

"A 'what' now?"

Ziro continued as if he hadn't heard him. "If I win, you leave Alex and Jeremi — all of us, alone for good."

"If you win what?"

"What we did last spring. You versus me, today, after school. Riviam Point. Whoever taps out or goes down under the blade, loses. Bring the long-sword."

Nick laughed again, glancing humorously between Ziro and Lev, and then his phone started to ring. "Yeah, I'm gonna pass. As you can probably guess, I've got much more interesting things to do." He reached for his phone, but Ziro retracted his hand and hid the device behind his back.

"Whatever happened to that cocksure narcissism you always had, Nick?" Ziro peered past Nick to see Lev. "슬프지 않니 (Seul-peu-ji Ani)?"

Nick spun back to Lev, who gave Nick a once-over before linking eyes with Ziro, nodding in agreement. The synth-oriented ringtone was still going off, but by now Nick was ignoring it.

"You know, Ziro, maybe I would take you up on that deal, but what do you even have to offer if I won? Not interested in any more of that shoddy craftsmanship of yours."

"If you won," Ziro started, his tone sly, "then I wouldn't go to Principal Heimes about the v-dust you're trafficking in school."

Nick went straight-faced in an instant. "...what are you talking about? I'm not-"

"And I also won't tell her about that notebook you use to keep track of all your sales," Ziro went on.

Nick took a threatening step towards Ziro. "And who the hell told you all that nonsense?"

"Doesn't matter how I know, but I do know. If I win and you break our deal to leave us alone, I'll make sure Principal Heimes knows what you've been up to."

"What makes you think Principal H. would believe any lies a delinquent like you tells?"

Ziro shrugged. "If she doesn't believe my words, then I can just show her all those photos I have of you dealing with several other students. You're not as careful as you might deem yourself to be."

"Bullshit. If you really have photos, then show me. Come on, pics or it didn't happen."

"Well I would, but I didn't think it'd be a good idea to carry evidence around with me, so it's being kept somewhere else. But don't worry, I've already made plenty of copies in case anything happened to it. Look Pierce, if you win, all of that evidence will just disappear. None of us would say a word to anyone."

Nick scoffed, retreating a step back as a bout of scornful laughter slithered out of him. "Okay, Acera. You really wanna do this? You really wanna go for round two, against me? Fine, it's a deal."

"It's a deal," Ziro agreed. He chucked the phone back to Nick before withdrawing as well.

Lev finally drew back his hand from the locker, following Ziro away, but he paused upon glimpsing Nick's mocking eyes aimed at him.

"Aren't you going to wish me good luck?" Nick teased.

Lev, seemingly almost feral, pivoted with blinding speed so that he was now face-to-face with Nick, their chests a breadth apart. But Nick hadn't even flinched. Ziro wasn't too far in the background, closely observing the wired situation.

Lev's stare was perilous. "Good. Luck." He stepped away, one step back after the other down the hallway, his eyes still locked in a mute battle for dominance with Nick. Ziro followed as soon as Lev had got ahead of him.

Nick remained by his locker, his smile no longer intact and his taunting mood disintegrated. His grip tightened on his cellphone just as the ringing started up again, but he ignored it. Instead he shoved the device into his jacket pocket and stormed through the hallways until he had outside the building.

"Cheesecake?" Jeremi asked, holding out a small saucer carrying a sizable piece of chocolate cheesecake. "I'm more of a New York-style kind of guy anyway."

Alex didn't reply, but he stuck his fork into his mouth and reached across the table to take the dish.

"Hey, cheer up, chamo. Might not seem like it right now, but things are gonna get better. Pretty soon, you and me are gonna be better."

Alex plucked the fork from his mouth and set it on his lunch tray. "Have you...ever kept a secret from the group before? I mean something that wasn't related to v-dust."

Jeremi plowed into his sandwich, chewing slowly as he pondered the question. Alex was a bit surprised that Jeremi was being so calm about his asking of something so unexpected.

"Mhmm...nah, I don't think so," Jeremi finally replied. "Since I met the group — not sure how to explain it, but it's usually easy to talk to them about anything, even when I'm nervous like when I was the new guy at the time. Literally the second day of me knowing them, I basically told them my whole life story: living in Venezuela before coming to Canada, how I mostly just learned English growing up, even about my parents splitting. I was an open book around them; barely knew what a secret was."

Alex nodded, particularly to himself. He remembered his own first day of meeting the group, the jumbled mess of excitement and anxiousness that surged through him when he'd recounted parts of his own life story.

"So what changed when it came to v-dust?" Alex asked. He wanted to bite his tongue for being too nosy, but again, Jeremi didn't seem bothered by the question.

"That's a good question," Jeremi said. "It always just felt like... some sort of uncharted territory, something I've never felt before. Grade ten is when I first got my hands on some dust, and I shared it with the group. I did that for about two years, and last fall Ziro finally asked if I was doing anything more than just buying it. Of course I wasn't then, but I guess I kind of thought about it — how easier it could be to get another supply if I was a dealer. I wish I didn't think about that, but I did."

"So you don't use anymore?"

Jeremi shook his head. "Not since I started working at Halcyon. Being around pie and cake fumes, the colorful furniture, watching Syn and Silas bicker nearly everyday... Pretty soon I forgot all about v-dust, and just focused on making things right with my friends — with you."

"Remi, things are already right with you and me."

"Well not totally yet, but they're about to be. I've finally found a new nickname for you!"

"Really? I thought that was gonna take 'some time'?"

"So did I, but there I was late last night, lying in bed. It just came to me. Alyx."

Alex scoffed. "Alex? Dude-"

"No no no, not Alex, Alyx. Like with a 'y' instead of an 'e'. Alyx. It's Greek, means 'helper' or 'defender'. Totally suits you, I know."

Alex stared at Jeremi, both parts fascinated at the nickname, and a bit skeptical too. "You really thought of that name all on your own? So soon?"

"Sí chamo!"

"Really?"

"Yeah!"

"Really?"

"...okay fine. I looked up nicknames for the name 'Alex' online, while I laid in bed late last night. Happy?"

Alex chuckled. "I am. You finally have a new nickname for me, and I actually really like it. But could I suggest a nickname for the nickname, just so it's clear when you're saying that or my actual name."

"A nickname for a nickname? Like what?"

"How 'bout, Lyx."

"Lyx? Lyx? Hm, Lyx...Lyxlyxlyxlyxlyx."

Alex laughed. "Remi..."

"Sorry, just trying it out. And you know, I think it could work. Okay Lyx, after some thoughtful consideration, I'm beginning to realize that I might also be a 'chocolate cheesecake' kind of guy too. Slide it over, we'll share as honourable dudes do."

Alex lifted the plate from his tray, placing it on the table between him and Jeremi. Just as Jeremi nearly plunged his fork into the slice, his phone rang, and he dropped the utensil to tend to the call.

"Ziro?"

"Jeremi, it's done. Nick agreed. Lev and I are on our way," Ziro said through the phone.

Just then, Alex's phone rang too, and he didn't waste a second in answering it either. "Syn?"

"Lexy, hope you and Remi saved us some seats. The plan's in motion. We're closing in on the lunch room now. Are they still serving chocolate cheesecake?"