A month already had passed upon Emily addition to ECLPSES, she seems to be everyone's favorite

One fine Sunday morning, ECLIPSES decided to do an outing, it was Emily first outing with them so she was excited,

The sun was setting as the ECLIPSES gathered outside the gates of the vibrant carnival, their laughter mingling with the cheerful melodies drifting from the carousel. Excitement danced in their eyes as they discussed which rides to try first.

"Crimson, we have to go on the Ferris wheel first!" exclaimed Emily, her voice filled with enthusiasm.

Hannah nodded eagerly, her grin matching Emily's excitement. "Definitely! And then we can hit the roller coaster!"

As they made their way through the colourful crowd, Emily couldn't shake off the feeling that Lily was acting strangely. She noticed how Lily kept glancing over her shoulder, her expression tense, as if she was expecting someone to appear at any moment.

"Lil, are you okay?" Emily asked, concern lacing her voice.

Lily forced a smile, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just excited about the rides, that's all."

But Emily wasn't convinced. She had seen the way Lily's gaze flickered towards Ash whenever he passed by, a subtle exchange of nods and gestures that raised suspicions in Emily's mind.

As they queued up for the Ferris wheel, Emily decided to confront Lily about her behaviour. "Lil, is something going on between you and Ash?" she asked quietly, hoping to catch Lily off guard.

Lily's eyes widened in surprise, but she quickly composed herself. "What? No, of course not! Why would you even think that?"

Emily hesitated, unsure of how to proceed. She didn't want to accuse Lily without concrete evidence, but her instincts told her that something wasn't right.

Before Emily could press further, Hannah interrupted their conversation, excitement bubbling over as they reached the front of the line.

"Come on, you two! It's our turn!" Hannah exclaimed, pulling Emily and Lily towards the waiting gondola.

As they boarded the Ferris wheel, Emily couldn't shake off the feeling of unease that lingered in the pit of her stomach. She vowed to keep a close eye on Lily for the rest of the evening, determined to uncover the truth behind her suspicious behaviour.

Suddenly Ash approach the "ECLIPSES" while they were taking pictures in photobooth,

"Hey Ladies" said Ash waving at them followed by his boy's catching their attention and it was clearly evident that they weren't happy seeing him

"What's it, Ash, why you disturbing us, don't got anything else to do" shot Hannah this question towards him with annoyance clearly evident in her eyes which she was even trying to hide

"Oh, calm down warrior, just was here to invite you for the party at my place not to find SOLACE IN YOUR ARMS" he said emphasizing the latter while intensely staring at Alice who was until now was avoiding him,

Ash word's caught Alice attention and now she was looking at him with pure disgust and they kept staring at each other for few minutes until Alice eye's gaze at his lips causing her to reminiscence their kiss during masquerade and quickly look away when Liz spoke, "And, we decline your invitation and you may leave now", "Here's the invitation card, you can come if you change your mind" and he walked away but not before making the atmosphere of suspicion, "Bye Lil" getting everyone attention towards Lily.

"How does he know your nickname, Lil" questioned bewildered Emily

"I-I d-don't know" she replied while her gaze were stuck on Ash whose back was now facing them

"Let's not focus on that jerk guys and let's enjoy overall even we are not going to party" said Liz to lightening the mood after sensing the tension built by Ash

And as everybody was leaving Lily suddenly spoke catching everyone's attention,

"L-Let's go to the p-party" making everyone shock

"What, are you out of your mind, Lil, you want to go in that jerk's party" questioned angered Hannah

"N-No Crimson, that's not what I meant" replied Lily

"Then what the heck do you mean" asked Liz who was also now fed up by Lily's behavior

"Lil, give me a honest answer, is there anything going on between you and Ash, I caught you glancing towards him many time today" questioned Emily with a frown making everyone shock

"Is that true Lil" asked Hannah while trying to control her anger

"N-No there is n-nothing going b-between us, I-I j-just.....I just want to" said Lily while shaking in fear and on the verge of crying

"WHAT THE HELL YOU WANT TO?" shouted Hannah totally losing her calm causing Lily to flinch and crying

"Stop it Crimson, you're scaring her, you know she is sensitive to loud noises" said Alice quickly going to Lily's side and embracing her and calming her

"Ssh.....it's alright, tell me why do you want to go to the party" she asked softly like she was talking to a 5 year old kid

"B-because you see he was j-just here to mock us and if we don't go to the p-party h-he will do it a-again and I..... I don't want to ha-happen" replied scared Lily

"See Crimson, She was just trying to help us, and .......we're going to the party, let him know also we aren't scared of him" replied Alice

"WHAT, you are asking us to go to that bastard's party" asked Hannah totally bewildered

"Why" asked Emily

"Because he is not responsible for our fun, we will go where we want irrespective of his presence" answered Alice

"I gave you the right nickname, TYCHE" said Liz

"Ohk, let's go, if you want to, and Lil am sorry for shouting at you" said Hannah disappointed

"I-it's okay, Crimson" said Lily shyly

"Time for the group hug" said Emily and Liz together

"Nice work, babe" commented Ash looking from the faraway place

Little did they know, their evening of fun and laughter would soon take a dark and unexpected turn, plunging them into a tangled web of lies and deceit that threatened to tear their friendship apart.....

To Be Continued.....