Fletcher found himself in the Chem Lab again in the afternoon.

Instead of spending an hour in Mr. Hernandez's room, with the old man glaring daggers at him non-stop, Fletcher was sent to the lab to help clean up. Apparently, the last class had quite a few accidents and, whatever the hell they did, it left the laboratory a complete mess. First of all, the room smelled downright awful. Fletcher had breathe through his mouth the moment he entered. Second, here was sludge almost everywhere. On the tables, chairs, and floors. Looking at the cleaning supplies he had in hand, Fletcher wasn't sure if it was enough to clean the whole place up.

But, suppose, what was really different this time was that he wasn't alone.

Fletcher was with four other students - and not just anyone, but it was them - Sam Gibbins, Gabriella Matsumoto, Roman Alonso and Noor Rahal. The four people Fletcher always seem to be entangled with, much to his dislike. But why all of them were here, at the same time no less, Fletcher had no idea.

There was an awkward tense in the air when each of them arrived in the lab. It didn't take magical glasses to notice the grim looks on everyone's faces. They were all hesitant, glued to their spots, as if being here, all together, was one of the worst things that could've possibly happened.

In the back of Fletcher's mind, he knew that their encounter could only lead to chaos.

"I'll open the windows," Noor mumbled, walking straight past Fletcher.

"Where are the rags?" Roman asked, to no one in particular, though his gaze was mostly focused on Gabriella.

"In the cupboard," she answered. Heading over to Fletcher, she said, "Hand me a sponge, will you, stalker?"

Rolling his eyes at her ridiculous nickname for him, Fletcher took out a sponge from his bucket and slid it across the table. Gabriella took it and went to the other end of the room. Then, Sam approached him, silent as ever. Fletcher raised an eyebrow at him.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

Sam shrugged. "No reason."

Out of everyone here, Sam was the only person Fletcher felt somewhat comfortable being around with. Sure, they weren't friends, but at least Fletcher could manage a decent conversation with Sam.

The others just made Fletcher either want to ram his head into the wall or spontaneously combust.

For a while, they were all quiet. The only sounds in the lab being from the chill breeze and the noise the sponges made as they scrubbed the surfaces clean.

That is, until someone accidentally tripped on one of the chairs.

"Jesus Christ!" Roman cursed, tumbling to the floor. He held his knee, which was surely bruised, and glared at the chair in front of him. "Who would leave a chair here?"

No one replied at first. But then -

"That was Thea's chair."

At the mention of her name, the air stilled. The nostalgia hit like a tidal wave. It was suffocating and, soon, they all found it hard to breathe. They stared at the chair - one of the items Thea left in her death, something that no one dared to look at, much less talk about or touch.

The air, at this point, must have been polluted. Because, the moment Noor took in a deep breath, her eyes turned into fiery embers that could burn anything in its path.

And they were directed right at Gabriella Matsumoto.

"Wow," Noor let out a bitter laugh. "The Queen Bee finally notices something other than herself for once."

Gabriella, who had said Thea's name aloud, looked baffled. "What's your deal?"

"You," Noor countered, every word that she spoke dripping with absolute rage. "And everyone else who suddenly cares about Thea now that she's all interesting -"

"Speak for yourself, Rahal," Roman intervened, now on his feet yet cautious enough not to be anywhere near Thea's old chair. "You knew her and did nothing -"

"That's rich coming from you!"

The four of them turned their heads to Sam Gibbins, the boy who never spoke unless spoken to. He was like another person, because there he was, looking at Roman Alonso, someone Sam never had the guts to stand up against, right in eye as he took a dangerous step forward. "Where have you been all these years?"

Roman scoffed. "Like you weren't the same?"

"Oh, you're a one-of-a-kind asshole, Alonso," Fletcher shot back in Sam's defence.

"And so are you!" Gabriella spat out. "You're vile and cruel and you treat everyone around you like shit!"

"Are we calling out each other flaws now?" Fletcher questioned, though without waiting for a reply, he continued, "Okay, well in that case-"

All hell broke loose after that. The five of them kept yelling at each other, creating thunderstorms in their wake strong enough to destroy cities and homes. Each insult they fired at one another were like arrows shot to the chest, but they all stood their ground, willing themselves to go on.

It wasn't until Ms. Bonham came into the lab when the storm stopped. She had told every one of them off and watched them clean up the Chem Lab silently for the remainder of the afternoon.

And when it was all over, on the bus ride home, it was then Fletcher realised the weight of their argument. It wasn't just about Thea's death or the pettiness surrounding it.

It was about opportunities they had turned down and events they had purposely ignored until the end credits. Until Thea finally decided to kill herself.

In the heart of their hatred for one another, the five of them shared the same thing -

Guilt. For choosing not to save Thea Banks.

Looking out the window, Fletcher couldn't help but think that, for once, he might not be the only one.