Gwen chewed nervously on the end of her pencil as she stared down at the blank test in front of her. Her charcoal eyes slowly roamed the large testing room filled with her peers. She spotted Trent in the back, focusing intently on his own test. 

Gwen slipped out a sigh and looked back at her test. It wasn't like she hadn't studied for this test for weeks, she knew deep down that she had all the answers in her brain. She just had massive test anxiety that made everything she did all the more difficult. 

Glancing up at the clock on the wall, she blew out a long breath when she saw she only had an hour left. Swallowing hard, Gwen cracked her knuckles and went to work. 

"Oh but my head is sayin' 'fool forget him,'

But my heart is sayin' 'don't let go,'"

"Cut!" DJ yelled, holding his hands up. "Sabrina, where's the emotion? I'm missing it!" 

Sabrina Short rolled her eyes and sighed, blowing a piece of her blonde hair out of her face 

"It's not even opening night. Maybe I'd be able to perform better if you'd stop interrupting me!" she said, smirking. DJ sighed 

"Sandy is dealing with a heavy situation right now, I need to see that on your face," DJ said

Duncan sighed backstage, rereading his script for what seemed like the millionth time. His head was killing him. Izzy was humming along to her ballad beside him, which wasn't helping in the slightest.

"Iz, do you think you could do that somewhere else?" he mumbled. Izzy looked at him

"Rizzo doesn't listen to anyone!" she said. Duncan stared at her

"You know you're not actually... You know what? Never mind," he chuckled. Standing up and deciding to take a smoke break out back. 

With almost everything in his life being stressful at the moment, he found himself falling back into old habits. He hadn't touched a pack of cigarettes since senior year of high school. But with everything going on with midterms, the issue with Skye, and-

Courtney

Wincing as her name popped up in his head, he brought the lit cig to his mouth and took a drag, completely ignoring the Academy's 'strict' no smoking policy.

Leaning back against the brick wall of the auditorium, he looked up at the gray sky. It was a warmer day for January, the weather seeming to be saying 'sorry' to him for being the reason he and Courtney got stuck together in the basement of the library. 

That kiss they had shared was still fresh in his mind, keeping him up all night. Probably the reason for such a migraine-

"Could I possibly steal one of those from you?" came a voice from behind him. He turned and saw Sabrina standing there. Wrapped in a dark blue flannel shirt. She was looking at him expectantly 

"Oh uh, sure," he mumbled, handing her a cigarette. She nodded and took it with a sigh of relief

"Thank you, this fucking play has me all wound up," she said, fishing out a lighter from her pocket and lighting the end of the cigarette. 

Duncan watched her and raised a brow "I thought pretty girls like weren't supposed to smoke," he said. She snorted 

"I like keeping the outside of me pretty that way I can totally fuck up the inside of me without people knowing," she said, shrugging as she took a drag. 

"Very wise," he said. 

"What's got you all fucked up? You haven't had one day of rehearsals yet that I've seen you truly focused," she said, leaning against the wall herself. He sighed

"I don't really feel like getting into my drama with you," he said "No offense,"

She rolled her eyes "Coward," she said.

Duncan blinked "Excuse me?"

Sabrina flicked the end of her cigarette and shrugged "You heard me. Whatever it is that's eating at you is only going to get worse unless you face it head on," 

Duncan narrowed his eyes at her "What are you talking about?"

"Duncan, you literally look like your heart dropped out of your chest and now you're just wandering around clueless looking for it. It's pathetic." she laughed. 

"Look, I don't know why you feel the need to speak your opinion about my  life, but I'm fine," he snapped, throwing his cig to the ground and stepping on it. He walked past her to get back inside.

"Be vulnerable," she said. 

Duncan stopped and looked back at her "I don't know how to be vulnerable. It's not in my DNA, and quit talking like a fortune cookie. It's weirding me out" he said. Sabrina slowly threw her cig to the ground as well, and walked over to him 

"Well. Learn. Quit being so dense and realize that sometimes the hardest part of life is knowing you have to be vulnerable," she said.

And with that, she opened the backstage door and went inside. Leaving Duncan out in the chilly January air.

Heather's breathing was heavy and labored as she slowly finished her dance. The song coming to a close. Her long black hair pulled back in a tight bun on her head. 

Her instructor clapped, a big smile on her face "great job Heather! Your turns are so much more improved than last time," 

Heather smiled "Thank you Ms. Lavigne," she bowed a little. 

Heather slowly walked over to the side of the room and sat down, beginning to pull off her ballet shoes.

The door to the classroom opened and someone ran in

"I'm so sorry I'm late to my private. Play rehearsals ran way late," 

"It's all good Sabrina. Get your shoes on and get warmed up," Ms. Lavigne said.

Sabrina nodded and walked over to Heather, setting her dance bag down and scooching down to the floor next to her. 

"I love your tattoos," Heather said, smiling at the other girl. Sabrina returned it 

"Thanks, I did them myself," she said. Heather's eyes widened, and Sabrina chuckled 

"Kidding," she said. Tying her shoes 

"You said you came from play rehearsals? You're playing Sandy right?" Heather asked. Sabrina nodded 

"it's a lot of pressure. Especially when I have no understudy for my part I have to make sure I stay as healthy as a horse," she said. 

Heather slowly tilted her head to the side "Isn't that Duncan guy playing Danny?"

Sabrina nodded, not looking at the raven haired girl as she said "yes. That would be correct," 

Heather slowly leaned back against the wall, crossing her arms over her chest 

"Huh..." she mumbled, a little smirk on her lips "interesting,"

"I totally bombed that test," Bridgette growled as she and Courtney walked together from the dining hall. 

"Oh stop, I'm sure you did amazing. And you're going to ace your Dance final tomorrow too," Courtney assured her friend, as she checked her phone for the 5th time. 

"Expecting a call?" Bridgette asked. Courtney sighed a little

"I just haven't heard from my sister today. Which is weird. Do you think we could take a detour to her dorm building?" Courtney asked. Bridgette smiled 

"Of course," 

Courtney nodded and slid her phone into her pocket, picking up her pace a little. Bridgette right by her side as they made their way across campus.

"I'm sure everything is fine," Bridgette assured her, as the walked up the steps of the upperclassmen dorm.

Opening the front door, Bridgette looked around 

"Wow, I haven't been in here since the party," she said, following Courtney as she went right for the glass elevator. 

"lets not speak of that night," Courtney mumbled, as the elevator opened and they stepped inside. Courtney pushed the 5th floor button and waited as she glass elevator ascended up. 

"I think I'm going to invite Geoff to my family's Christmas party," Bridgette said. Courtney smiled at her

"Really? Bridge that's awesome. I'm sure your parents will love him just as much as we all do," she said, throwing an arm around the blonde's shoulders as they walked down the hall.

As they got to the end of the hall, Courtney stepped forward and knocked on Jess' door. 

"Jess? It's Court, I haven't heard from you and was getting worried," she said through the door. 

Courtney swallowed a little when there came no response, so she reached up to knock again.

Only to have the door unlatch as though it hadn't been locked back up. 

Bridgette and Courtney shared a look, before slowly pushing the door open and walking inside. 

Courtney's eyes widened when she saw every piece of Jess' furniture was gone. All the lights were off, and the blinds were pulled shut. Courtney swallowed hard as she walked over to the small table in the kitchen, where the room key and a note were laying on the table.

The note was addressed to her, so she picked it up and opened it.

I'm so sorry. 

I had to leave.

It's what's best for the baby.

Courtney stuffed the note into her pocket, her eyes rimming with tears as she slowly turned around to face a confused Bridgette 

"She's... Gone," Courtney whispered