Sorry I'm dragging it so long. They'll be at the party in the next chapter.

"Get up, Ben," Erica said, hovering in my room. "You're late."

I got up and stretched. It felt like I had slept for two minutes. "What?"

"Come on," she said. "It's ten thirty."

Ten thirty? I sprang out of bed and ran into the bathroom. I couldn't believe that I had overslept. Erica rolled her eyes when I stepped out and walked out. I grabbed breakfast and sat opposite Erica.

"The party's only at five in the evening," Erica said. "I'm going to do some research on Lucio, scoop up as much as I can and then relax for a bit. You?"

"I'm, uh, going to take a walk," I lied, grabbing my phone and exiting the suite. When Erica closed the door behind me, I quickly rushed to Zoe and Mike's room.

"Hi, Ben!" Mike exclaimed when I knocked. "Come on in."

I walked in and sat on the couch with him. Riley was nowhere in sight and Zoe was finishing up breakfast. She soon joined us and I informed them of Erica's plan.

"Erica wants us to go to the party and pretend like we're enjoying ourselves. She thinks I'm in charge of photography but you are, Zoe. She's going to plant bugs around."

"What time?" Mike asked. I opened my phone to the text message she sent me yesterday evening.

5:00 pm, 82nd Terrace third house. It's pretty big, so you'll find out.

I showed them the text. Zoe was smirking. "What?" I asked.

"She gave you her number," she said.

"What is it with you and other girls?" Mike asked.

I shrugged. "You should be answering that, Mike. Not me."

He laughed it off. "Okay, then. Is it safe to come to your hotel room?"

"Nope," I said. "I'll try to talk Erica away from the hotel room, but if she doesn't then I can't really do anything."

Zoe nodded. "Okay."

I walked back to my room and Erica was staring at the elevator. "Who's upstairs?" she questioned with a suspicious look.

"I went to the wrong floor by accident," I said, smiling sheepishly. Erica gave an exasperated sigh and walked back into the suite.

"Look, I'm going to be in my room with the door tightly closed. I won't be able to hear you if you call me. I'm also going to have headphones on. Don't disturb me, okay?" she said, then disappeared into her room without even waiting for an answer.

I waited a moment, then made sure I could hear Erica typing. I quickly checked Alexander's room to make sure he wouldn't hear anything, but he was gone. There was a note on his bed saying that he would return only in the afternoon.

I shot off a text to Mike in the group chat we shared with Zoe. The responses were immediate.

Me: Mike

Mike: Hey. Coast clear?

Me: I guess

Zoe: Wdym

Me: Alexander's not here but Erica's shut herself in her room

Mike: Did she tell u not 2 disturb her

Me: Ya

Zoe: Cool we'll be there

Mike: Ya Cya then

Within minutes, they were down. I left the door slightly ajar, fearing that Erica, with her super-supersonic hearing and hyper-hyper awareness would detect them if they knocked.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Zoe asked. I winced, worried that Erica would hear her.

"Lower your volume," I said as quietly as possible. "Follow me. Let's talk in my room. There's a lesser chance that she can hear you both."

Mike and Zoe followed me in. We sat in chairs and went over what and where to take photos.

"Cool. We'll be there. Do you want me to use my phone or my camera?" Zoe asked.

"Won't a camera release a flash?" Mike countered.

"True," I agreed, "but Zoe's camera has higher resolution than her phone."

Zoe thought about it for a moment, then answered. "Okay, I'll bring both. Let's see which one I'll be more comfortable with. It'll be easier to share the images with you if they're on my phone."

"When are you both going to tell Erica you're here?" I asked.

Mike shrugged. "I don't really know. Maybe when things start to get serious, we will. Anyways, we just need info. He's not a live threat. It's very idle, that's all."

"Ben?" came Erica's voice from outside my room. "Who are you talking to?"

I stiffened. Mike ducked under my bed and Zoe shut herself in the bathroom. I pressed my phone to my ear, pretending to call someone.

Erica walked in just as Mike was settled. "Yeah," I said slowly into the phone, trying to sound convincing. I waited for a few moments, then said, "Okay, Cynthia. Sure. I'll be there on time."

Erica seemed to buy my act. She stared long and hard at me. I weakly smiled at her before pretending to return to the call. Then I made a show of hanging up. "Okay, bye."

"Was that Cynthia on the phone?" Erica asked.

"Yeah," I lied. "She wanted to make sure I got the address correctly."

Erica stared long and hard at me, then walked away. Even as she walked away, she glanced over her shoulder multiple times. I hated lying in general, and I hated lying to Erica even more.

"It's safe," I whispered. Zoe peeked out from the bathroom, glanced both ways, then rushed over to the door and locked it.

"Okay, that was super close," I said in a low whisper. "I think you guys should get going."

Zoe nodded. She followed Mike out and I made sure Erica was back in her room. Then they ran out and I closed the door, breathing a huge sigh of relief.

"Erica?" I called, opening her door. There was no response. Slowly, I opened the door wider. She was nowhere in her room, though her laptop was open to ten different sites showing pictures of Lucio.

I slowly closed her door and turned around, only to find her glaring bullets at me.

"What are you doing in my room?" she asked.

"I just wanted to check on you and ask you if you were hungry. It's almost lunchtime."

Erica nodded subtly. "Let's go get food outside."

Which is how I found myself eating tacos at a shop right outside the hotel with Erica Hale.

"This isn't like you, Erica," I said. "In two ways. One, you are being overly icy to me. You seem to get furious at me for no reason. Even if you were mad otherwise, you always direct it and go all out on me. Two, you act super nice and kiss me at school and have these sudden smiles you give me casually."

Erica sighed, looking at her salad. When she looked up, her eyes were full of the emotion I had seen on the flight to Australia. Just then, I was desperate to be kissed again. Erica casually leaned in, thinking the same. From under the table I took her hands in mine, and we were inches apart.

But Erica didn't kiss me. She just stayed there. She looked like she was about to kiss me, but then she shook her head and turned away from me.

"No, Ben," she said, but her voice was filled with longing. "I can't."

"Why?" I asked, my voice trembling. "Why does it have to be like this?"

Erica shook her head. Every bit of emotion in her eyes vanished as she turned as cold as ice again. "You know why, Ben."

"Why can't you stand up for yourself?" I asked. "Why not?"

"Ben, let's change the topic. Please."

"No, Erica." I looked her in the eye. She avoided my gaze and continued to eat her food.

I gave up eventually and sighed. We ate in silence for the rest of the time. Riley came back to pick us up and Erica chose sitting up front, much to my dismay.

"Do you guys need me to drop you at the party in the evening?" Riley asked. "Alexander said you'd be going."

I nodded. "Yes, please. That would be very helpful."

Riley smiled in the mirror, and when Erica looked away, she shot me a questioning glance, glancing at Erica. She was asking me why she hadn't sat in the back with me.

I closed my eyes for a brief moment and shook my head slightly, indicating that it was nothing at all.

"I'll be here at four thirty," Riley said as we got out. Erica walked fast and didn't even wait for me. I caught up and ran into the elevator at the last moment.

"Erica, look, I'm sorry I had to bring up the conversation at the restaurant," I said. "I shouldn't have messed with your feelings."

Erica looked up to me again. "It's fine. You're probably the only one who will understand me. Even my parents won't understand me as much as you do right now. This part of me, this emotional side of me, I've never really showed it around my dad and grandpa."

I nodded. It was very hard to live a life like Erica. I left the conversation hanging and stepped out of the elevator. Erica noticed my expression and sighed.

"Ben, there's no point in feeling bad for me. Just come on. We have a lot of work to do." With that, Erica disappeared into her room. I was exhausted, so I fell asleep.

Thanks for reading! I'll see you all later, and have a great day!