Trigger Warning: Fight club. Or is there? Because the first rule is you don't talk about fight club.

Oh and to the rereaders of this chapter and the book entirely: No spoilers in this chapter or any chapter in TGGBB or TGGBB2. Don't even drop a #RR >:/

Note: I'm starting uni again on January 19 and my schedule is very rough this semester. Updates will go back to being sporadic and slow. But look out for my announcements in Wattpad, Twitter, and/or Insta for progress updates on the chapters. And don't forget there's a TGGBB Discord to have discussions of chapters and theories with other readers. Be happy and safe everyone!

~

"Finals took the rest of my brain cells," Jordan whined as he sat on the couch upside down with his legs propped over the back.

"You should stop sitting like that," I told him as I flipped a page. "If you really don't have any brain cells left, you can't afford to have the blood rush into your head."

"Fine," Jordan stretched, swinging his legs over to hit Declan.

Declan shoved Jordan away. "Stop, you'll mess me up," Declan snapped with his eyes still trained on the screen as he played a video game. "I'm fighting the next boss and he's pissing me off. Stupid little-"

"Why are you reading a book?" Jordan asked in disbelief. "We just had finals. You're a monster."

"Thanks," I said absentmindedly.

"That wasn't a compliment."

"In your perspective."

"Huh, you're right," he muttered.

"The only stuff I read were textbooks and practice workbooks," I told him. "Now I'm reading a fictional story without a single multiple-choice question in its pages. You can't stop a bookworm."

"You're a monster," Jordan repeated.

"Thanks."

"You know, I was thinking," Jordan began.

"Oh no," Declan and I said in unison before smirking to ourselves when Jordan shot us a glare.

"As I was saying," Jordan said. "I was thinking that it would've been nice to go to prom."

That made me look up from my book. "What's this? Did you already have your prom dress ready? Know what hairdo and makeup you'll use?"

Jordan smiled. "Obviously." He laughed. "But seriously. It's still an experience. And just because we go to prom doesn't mean actually have to go to prom."

Declan frowned as the buttons of his game controller clicked while he battled the video game boss. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, I was just thinking we can always play a prank. Spike the punch. Ruin the playlist. Make the principal win prom queen," he said with a grin.

"I hate that I know you," Declan muttered.

I rolled my eyes. "That sounds like a lot of work. If you put that much effort into school, you would've been valedictorian."

"Hey!" Jordan interjected while Declan snickered and said, "Nice one."

"And it might seem worth it, but we shouldn't risk getting in trouble. Colleges can rescind their offers if you do something bad."

"It isn't bad," Jordan told me. "It's funny."

"I think that's your life motto," Declan pointed out.

Ignoring him, Jordan told us, "Well, besides the actual prom, something fun are promposals."

"This again," I said with a chuckle.

"Back in my old school, they were a big thing," Jordan told me. "Seniors would make a huge showcase of them. I think they even made a side competition of who had the best promposals."

"I think you're just in it for the puns and showmanship," Declan said dryly. "And what are you getting at with this conversation, Jordan?"

"Even if we don't go to prom, we should at least do a promposal."

"As a competition like your old school?" I asked. "Why do you want one so badly?"

"Besides me deserving one since I should be prom queen... " Jordan began with a smile.

The smile turned to a smirk. "Let's just say I want to ruin the plans of a certain... person."

Declan and I shared a look before turning back to Jordan.

Continuing, Jordan said, "Once upon a time, I was minding my own business when I overheard a phone conversation." I frowned. Don't tell me-

Jordan leaned back at the couch, wearing a satisfying grin. "Bennett was saying stuff like 'it's almost done' and 'stop talking about it'."

Declan sighed. "Stop making up stor-"

"No, I heard it too," I said.

"See?" Jordan sneered at Declan.

"Last week, Bennett was talking about it'll be done by the end of this week," I told them. "I was worried it was something bad but I didn't know how to bring it up or tell you guys."

"He's moving fast," Jordan said thoughtfully.

"But what is he going to do?" I asked.

Jordan snorted. "What do you think? He's going to ask you to prom."

Declan and I gave him a blank look. "What?" We asked in unison.

He rolled his eyes. "Remember when the goddess that is Brennan Frazier first came back to the city? She made Bennett go out of his comfort zone and try talking to you more."

I frowned. "Yeah but-"

"And don't you remember how Bennett was talking about last week when we were studying?" Jordan asked. "Talking about prom and yearbook? He was just testing the waters because Bennett's sister is making him do a promposal!"

"How is that the stupidest thing I have ever heard," Declan began.

"But also makes perfect sense," I finished.

"The story of my life," Jordan said nonchalantly. "Bennett has the reasoning behind it and has all the money in the world to pull it off."

"But I made a big deal of not wanting to go to prom," I said sheepishly.

"I mean, like before, Bennett is probably forcing himself to do this because of Brennan," Declan told me. "In the end, we all have our different paces and neither side should force anything to happen."

"The four of us went through a lot and we already know what we mean to each other," Jordan said. "But in the end, our friendship is what matters and nothing should change that."

"Wow, that sounded almost wise," Declan told Jordan.

"Yeah, you think so? I've been watching a lot of romance anime lately. Guilty pleasure," Jordan said with a shrug.

Jordan looked at me with a smile. "And that was what I was talking about earlier. We can always go together and make it our own prom. Who cares about our graduating class?"

"Then what now?" I asked.

Jordan abruptly stood up from the couch, his fist clenched and fire blazing in his eyes. "So what we're going to do is make this a competition, beating Bennett and showing money isn't everything but the creativity behind it!"

"But how?" Declan asked.

Jordan smirked. "By first scouting. I'm going to infiltrate Bennett's room and find out his plan. I'll probably see all the supplies for the prom-posal or at least check his laptop of his plans."

"Isn't that cheating?" I asked.

"Isn't that cheating?" Jordan repeated mockingly, making a face. "It's being resourceful. Anyway, Bent's went out for a bit so this is our only opportunity."

"Your opportunity," I corrected. "I'm not getting in trouble by going into Bennett's room."

"Same here," Declan said, leaning back on the couch to go back to his video game. "I'm fine with watching at the sidelines. It was nice knowing you."

Jordan shot double finger guns at Declan. "So you admit it's nice knowing me," Jordan pointed out, earning an eyeroll from Declan.

Jordan grinned. "Au revoir!" Then he went upstairs to go to Bennett's room.

Declan shook his head to himself. "Godspeed that idiot."

Declan suddenly paused the game and leaned back against his seat. He closed his eyes but spoke out. "My plan is to drown myself in video games so I can get a high score for at least something-"

I couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"-but now I'm thinking the calc exam is easier," Declan grumbled.

"What the hell?!" I heard Jordan exclaim from the second floor.

Declan and I snapped our heads in the direction of the exclamation. We watched as Jordan sprinted out of the hallway to the balcony banister and then raced down the stairs until he was in front of us.

"When did we do spring cleaning?" Jordan demanded.

I raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"I went to Bennett's room," Jordan explained. "I've seen it before. It was minimalistic. Looked cool. Suits him. Kinda ironic. But I doubt that he went so minimalistic that his entire room is empty."

Declan frowned. "Wait, his room's empty? We're supposed to move out once everything's over and we go to college."

"What... What if those calls Bennett made were for something else?" I asked slowly.

"About the gang?" Declan asked. "I mean, Bennett knows a bit more than the rest of us, but he usually tells us what's going on."

"What if it's with his family?" Jordan asked.

"But I thought things were alright now," I told them.

"And just think we didn't know until now." Declan pointed out. "He deliberately worked around the times we weren't in the base."

I frowned. "Then what's going on?"

"I can answer that."

We all turned in the direction of the door with Bennett walking into the room.

"Since when did you get into interior design?" Jordan asked him.

"I never have," Bennett explained. "And it goes beyond that."

Bennett looked at us, each and every one of us.

"I'm leaving the Musketeers."

I didn't think I heard him right.

I saw his mouth move. I heard those words strung together. But... I just couldn't process it. That was until I looked at the others and saw they were frozen at his words, slowly processing them as well. The air has grown still as if everyone held their breath, the words carrying the silence after them.

Bennett held a stoic look in his eyes. He didn't look distraught, worse, he held no emotion at his words. He said it, stated it, curtly and calmly as one would respond to a question with the absolute truth.

"If there are no objections," Bennett continued. "I will use my authority to name Declan as the new leader of the Musketeers."

Declan abruptly grabbed the collar of Bennett's shirt with both of his hands, yanking him forward to meet his glare.

"This isn't funny, Bennett," Declan snarled at him. "Take that back."

Bennett narrowed his eyes at Declan. "I already decided," he stated.

"I said take it back," Declan told him, his tone low and tense.

Bennett put a hand on Declan's wrist and visibly tightened his grasp. When Bennett looked at Declan, his impassive demeanor was washed over with irritation, even disdain. Declan nearly flinched when he realized Bennett's change which gave Bennett the chance to shove Declan away from him.

Fixing the collar of his shirt, Bennett returned to his collected self and said calmly, "I determined that Declan would be the best person to replace me. Declan, you have the instinct to be a leader when needed, are able to make tough decisions when no one else can, and now have the experience to utilize Jordan's and Naomi's skills."

Declan's eyes widened. "How long have you been planning this? You've been making me take more assignments for months."

Jordan cursed. "This is stupid, Bennett. We made you the leader. You can't do this."

"It's because I'm the leader, I can do this," Bennett corrected smoothly. "And the only reason I was decided as the leader was because neither of you wanted the other to be."

"Bennett, let's talk about this first," I reasoned with him. "We have the right to properly discuss this."

"There isn't anything to discuss," he told me.

"Was it because of what we talked about during my birthday?" I asked him. "I thought you already understood. Every leader has their-"

"It's not because of that," Bennett said.

I racked my head, desperately trying to find a reason to change his mind or at least make him stop and think about it. Desperate, I began, "Bennett please-"

"Naomi, you're the only one who will be able to keep these two in check," Bennett told me, ignoring, no, avoiding my attempt to talk to him. "In the end, you're the only one who they'd listen to. You're responsible for them. But if you want to leave as well, you're able to because you've only barely come up on the Lost Boys' radar."

I glared at him. "Stop it, Bennett. You're not going to appoint me as the official babysitter because you're not leaving us. No one is leaving."

"Was it because of the Lost Boys?" Declan demanded. "Did they try to contact you to taunt you again? Or did they threaten you this time? Were they behind those calls?"

Bennett narrowed his eyes at Declan at his barrage of questions. "You knew about the calls?"

"But that only happened before I joined, months ago," I said. "They tried to do something again? Why only now?"

Jordan glared at Bennett. "Is that it, Bennett?"

Bennett stared down Jordan but didn't respond.

Jordan gritted his teeth. "Then why are you even doing this?" Jordan demanded. "Is it because of your family? Or is it because of the gang? Was there too much pressure? You have to tell us."

"It's neither of those things," Bennett stated, narrowing his eyes at him.

"You're lying," Jordan accused. "Tell us the-"

Bennett scoffed, shaking his head to himself. "You don't understand."

"Understand what?"

"It doesn't matter why I'm leaving, it's the fact that I will still leave," Bennett told us. "If I really cared about you three, then I would have done everything I can to stay. I would've told you what was happening instead of doing all of this."

"But I didn't because I understand. I understand that all of this-" He held up his hands in exasperation, looking around the room, showcasing everything around us "-is temporary. It isn't forever. It won't last. We won't last."

He looked back at us. "I know you three well, too well. And I know that we have to end this now before it's too late."

"I was never part of this group," Bennett told us. "Declan, Jordan, since the beginning you've been closer to each other. I knew that was always a line between us. Even now."

Declan shook his head. "You're wrong, Bennett."

"That agreement between you and Jordan if either of you were to hurt Naomi," Bennett reminded him. "That was between you two. I never knew you agreed to it. I never know what happens between you two." He narrowed his eyes in Jordan and Declan's direction. "I never know anything."

Declan gritted his teeth. "But that was supposed to be just between-"

"I didn't know regardless if I was your leader or your friend." He paused. "Or used to be your friend."

We all tensed at his words.

Bennett exhaled. "And even though the three of us have known each other the longest, Naomi is much closer to you." He looked at me as he said, "That line between us has only widened."

"That isn't true," I began. "It may seem like that but you can't think of it like that. We're your friends, Bennett."

He looked at me but then just... scoffed. "I thought so too," he said quietly.

Bennett looked at Jordan. "I know you don't want Declan to be the leader, but the other leaders recognize Declan as my right-hand man and you're too much of the wild card. So you have to accept-"

Jordan gritted his teeth. "I don't care about that!" He exclaimed. "We're already past that! Declan can be president for all I care!"

"You're lying to yourself," Bennett told him. "You think that lashing out like this will get the attention you're after. You need to get over yourself and-"

Jordan grabbed the front of Bennett's shirt and punched him across the face, the sound of his fist connecting to his jaw was the only sound in the room. Bennett stumbled back with a hand over his face. He straightened back up, his fingers tracing the light graze of the corner of his mouth.

Bennett narrowed his eyes at Jordan. "This is why you aren't the leader," Bennett said coldly.

Jordan laughed, but it wasn't his warm, charming signature laugh. It was cold and bitter that brought a shudder down your spine.

"Really? That's why?" Jordan asked in disbelief. "C'mon Bennett, that can't be the only reason. Lay it on me. Don't hold back. You're always quiet because you're too busy judging us, thinking you're better than us, knowing everything about us when we don't know jack about you."

The Jordan I couldn't recognize anymore wore a sick smile. "I know you've been just dying to give your two cents about me. I say two cents but you probably don't even know what a penny looks like, you- Rich. Piece. Of. Sh-"

Jordan finished his curse by moving forward to punch Bennett once more, but Declan grabbed Jordan's arm to pull him back. However, Bennett, ready to defend himself this time, swung in Jordan's direction but, because Jordan was stopped, instead punched Declan.

When Declan staggered back in shock, Jordan grabbed Bennett's arm to stop Bennett from punching him before swinging a fist into Bennett's stomach. At the connection, Bennett swung his left fist onto the side of Jordan's face, weaker than his punch from his dominant-hand but managed to shake Jordan. The two of them tackled each other onto the ground, blindly trading fists to undefended spots.

"You don't know how long I've been wanting to punch your face in again, silver spoon!" Jordan exclaimed as he kneed Bennett's stomach.

Bennett shoved Jordan's chin up with one hand before punching his stomach with the other. "Not as much as me whenever you think you're being funny!" Bennett yelled back.

"Both of you!" Declan shouted. "Stop fighting!"

Declan moved to force the two apart when simultaneously Jordan kicked Declan square in the chest while Bennett gave him a right hook- knocking Declan back. Cursing at them, Declan dove in.

Declan grabbed Jordan's shirt and slammed him backward to the ground. Jordan grunted at the impact and cursed at Declan as he tried to kick him off. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" Declan exclaimed.

Bennett moved to punch Jordan, but Declan grabbed his arm to stop him then shoved Bennett backward with both hands, knocking him onto his back. "And you! Are you kidding me?!" He demanded.

What the hell! What the hell! What the hell is happening?

I yelled at them to stop, but my pleads were drowned out by their shouts of curses to each other. I grabbed the back of Jordan's shirt to at least take out one side of the fight out of the mess, but he shoved my grasp away and elbow slammed Declan's stomach. I grabbed Declan's arm raised to hit Bennett and pulled it back to stop him, but he yelled at me to go away and shoved me, making me fall backward onto the ground.

I winced in pain at the impact, more surprised than anything by the action. When I looked back, Bennett had blindly swung at Declan but was punched in the face and knocked back in my direction. Bennett was on the ground, glaring at the floor. I grabbed the sleeve of the shoulder of his shirt to stop him. But still running on adrenaline, still in the middle of fighting with the others, Bennett had his fist raised up to strike at who believed was one of the other two out to finish the job. I raised my arms up to brace myself. Flashes of memories I thought were over, believed were gone, suddenly flooded in and overwhelmed me.

"Stop!" I desperately exclaimed.

My words made Bennett snapped back to reality and he froze, realizing what he was about to do.

Before he could do anything else, simultaneously, Declan punched Bennett square in the face just as Jordan connected his fist upward to Bennett's chin, knocking Bennett off of me and onto his back.

Jordan and Declan moved to continue their work when I grasped the back of their shirts and yanked them back.

"Stop! Please!" I ordered them and was surprised that they finally did.

Still on the floor, Bennett scrambled away from us, his hand clutching the bottom of his face with his nose and hand splattered with blood. We all watched as Bennett slowly stood up, panting heavily, looking both shocked and angry. He wiped some of it with his sleeve and looked at the amount of blood stained on the fabric.

Jordan let out a small groan, clutching his side as he slowly got back up on his feet. He clutched the side of his head, slightly stumbling as if his legs were about to give up under him, then for a moment closed his eyes to steady himself.

A short curse left Declan's mouth as he lifted himself off the ground. He tentatively massaged the side of his face where a sickly bruise was beginning to form. He looked down at his knuckles, raw and red from the thrashing he gave.

Declan held out his hand to help me back on my feet but, still angry at how he shoved me away, I smacked his hand away and stood up on my own, refusing to look at him.

Jordan tentatively lifted his hand to touch my shoulder, slightly leaning down to check how I was. I jerked my shoulder away for him to let go before shooting him a glare.

"Jordan."

"What?" Jordan snapped at Bennett.

Bennett narrowed his eyes at him. "You smile and laugh to hide your insecurities despite knowing that everything you do is pointless because everyone sees right through you."

Jordan glared at him. "What are you..."

"Your imposter syndrome makes you take too much responsibility to prove yourself, but those same insecurities stop you from completing them well, if at all. But then you laugh it off and showcase this fake confidence to act like it was your plan from the beginning." Jordan flinched as if Bennett feigned to hit him.

"All of this makes you think, no, know that you're selfish, dragging people down because of your careless actions. But you're a hypocrite because when your trust issues overwhelm you, like because of your parents' divorce or that time with Dominic and Naomi, they force you to realize that people have their own lives and the universe doesn't revolve around you."

Jordan opened his mouth to retaliate, but no words came out. He was left speechless and stared at the ground as if trying to process everything that was said to him.

"Declan," Bennett said.

"Don't you dare Bennett," Declan threatened him. "I swear I'll-"

"You'll what? You'll punch me? You'll beat me up like everyone else that crossed you? You think that you've gotten better. You think that you don't let your anger control you anymore. After all, you have your friends and your family. But you're terrified that with one wrong move, you'll lose control or your past will catch you up to you. You tell yourself that you're not Gio, that you're glad you didn't end up like him. But every time you look at him, think about him... you realize it's not a matter of if but a matter of when."

Declan shook his head. "No, you're... you're wrong..." Declan faltered away.

"Every day you're counting the seconds, the moment you will hurt everyone again and they'll call you a monster and abandon you as others have before."

Declan staggered back and leaned against the back of the couch with a hand to hold himself up. His eyes were glazed over as he muttered curses to himself, almost as if it was a prayer.

"And Naomi."

I chuckled. "I'd hate to know what sort of character analysis you'd have on the three of us."

Bennett shook his head, holding a faint smile. "I wouldn't do that to you."

I shook my head, refusing to look at him. "No, Bennett. You promised you wouldn't," I begged.

"You're constantly weaving this character who is either strong and sarcastic or weak and insecure to your advantage. You think you have everyone fooled with this double-sided facade of yours, but now you can't even distinguish yourself."

I put my hands over my ears. "Stop it, Bennett. Please stop."

"You make yourself someone who you can talk to without being judged. Someone who is there to listen about their most inner thoughts and feelings. But you're actually judging them, knowing that while you know something about them, they'll never know the real you. Somehow you think you're both morally superior and inferior to everyone. You're hiding something from us and yourself. You say that you hate books with unreliable narrators but that's exactly what you are."

I blinked, speechless by his words. I raised my hand up to my face to then look down to find my fingertips damp. I felt drips roll down my cheek and onto the hand I was looking at. I'm crying.

"And what about you?" Jordan demanded.

Bennett scoffed and shook his head to himself. "My inferiority complex because of my quiet, curt demeanor clashes with my superiority complex I would have because of my prestigious background. I believe I'm above my family who flaunts their wealth but I'm nothing but a hypocrite because I still use my wealth and know I can't live without it. And at the end of all of this? I'm a coward and a spoiled brat who runs away from my responsibilities, who lived in this fantasy where I could run away to be a chef when I have the means to already lead my father's company."

Bennett looked at each and every one of us once more.

"The only thing holding us together was first the gang war and second Jordan's ridiculous contract. It wasn't until now did I realize that we don't have to be responsible for either one. Nothing is holding us together anymore. I'm done pretending to be friends, being in this fantasy as these 'Musketeers' with all of you."

He glared at us. "I have my responsibilities and an actual future ahead of me. If you realize this yourself, then you should leave too."

Bennett turned around but paused and my heart skipped a beat, believing that he changed his mind.

He slightly turned his head but didn't look back at us. "I paid the rent for this place until the end of the summer," Bennett told us. "Stay here until then or not. I don't care."

Bennett moved to walk away but stopped.

My hand grasped the fabric of the back of his shirt. My body moved on my own. I wasn't even looking at him and was instead staring down at my hand. My hand still clutched tightly at the fabric so he wouldn't move, so no one would move. I took deep breaths, having temporarily calmed down enough to wipe my tears away and have enough of a calm mentality to do this. I slowly looked up at Bennett and began to force out the words.

"Bennett... Even if you don't believe it anymore. We'll make you see it again. We're always going to be-"

When I looked up to meet his eyes, I saw nothing. It was like when we first met, with a cold, unmoving stare that didn't look at you but through you. My hand let go of his shirt. His eyes, his look, his intention was clear.

We are now strangers.

Bennett looked back in front of him, facing away from us, turning his back to us.

"Goodbye. Let's hope we never have to see each other again."

We couldn't do anything but watch as Bennett walked away.

Jordan shouted sick profanities at him until his voice went hoarse then just cursed at everything as his hands clutched his hair in frustration.

Declan swung at a lamp to have it crash and its remains scattered across the floor before he punched the wall again and again and again.

I held my hands over my mouth, the tears rolling over my trembling hands, in an attempt to stifle my sobs but failing pathetically.

Once...

There were four.

And now...

There are three.

~

The end.

Jk lol

Cackles maniacally.

I can't believe you actually made the hashtag #BennettKnowsAll. I never realized the coincidence of the hashtag creation and this chapter outline. This turmoil, this drama, their fighting- it was amazing to write. I've been wanting to write this for years. Finally.

The third to last arc begins and I'm excited as both a reader AND a writer. I've been letting you all off so easy with the past few chapters. I hope you're all excited to learn what's to come.

I also want to say that I've seen some great comments and discussions about what has happened in the comment threads and TGGBB Discord. Why did Bennett do that? What's going to happen? Do we hate him or not? Is this his true self or not?

Aw man, are people going to cancel me over something like this? Not going to lie, that'll be pretty funny.

Edit: Thank you all for commenting on my writing! While I wasn't surprised when readers said they hated me (hopefully just being in the moment and not actually hate me), I was surprised those readers and many others said they love the writing. Thank you very much. I hope to continue to improve my writing to rile up emotions.

Oh also, just to check, how many ppl actually cried? It's scattered over the comments and I just wanted to get the numbers right. Thanks :)

And no, I didn't write this because of that stupid "Disrespectful Ship Readers" chapter. I already knew this would happen since I made the outline of this book in 2017. I already sowed the seeds of this happening way before back when Jordan and Declan fought. My plan is that once the community has gotten better and there are no more toxic ship wars, I will delete that chapter. I also already made a community guidelines chapter.

I also want to tell you, in case you don't know, that TGGBB isn't a romance novel. It has romance, sure, but that isn't the only genre and isn't the main focus. If you look at the book, I put it under humor and that should say something. I know how TGGBB2 and the series will end, I've known since 2017, even back when I was writing the first book in 2013-2015.

I'm writing the book on how I want while also considering the feelings of the readers. But from the beginning, you should have already known that you are reading a book from an author who will write the book however they want. I'm not heartless, just sadistic. I am of sound body and mind knowing how the book is going to go and how it will end.

I'll see you in the next chapter.

Also @-BurntChickenNugget- wrote this: "To anyone whos gonna go to previous chapters and reread, PLEASE DONT CONTRIBUTE TO SPOILERS. this includes the ominous #rr or anything else that seems foreboding out of context. Let the ftrs suffer the way we had to". #LetFTRsSufferToo

Oh, and(holds up a peace sign and smiles) just trust me, alright?

Or not. Who am I to stop you?

The Cube

P.S. I was really in between what song to choose for this chapter. Check my Wattpad bio or the TGGBB Discord for the collaborative TGGBB Spotify playlists specifically for Bennett/Bennomi and TGGBB 4M. There were a lot of good ones to choose from but I stuck with this one.

Important Afternote:

Please understand that I'm only human, one person writing this book and series. Please know I'm a reader before I'm a writer, but am currently a writer of this book. Please know that I'm weaving together a story with these characters to bring out passionate emotions and provoke critical thinking of these characters and situations. I never am aimed to hurt anyone but to entertain them. This includes not only my book but also in my comment replies and author's notes because I use humor and sarcasm as a coping mechanism to help myself.

So I ask that you stop and think before you believe that I aim to hurt anyone and you flood my inbox to attack me for writing this. It's a book, it's a chapter, it's a character. I ask of this because I have anxiety that has overwhelmed me and impact my performance in life and writing.

I hope that even if you hated the chapter because of the emotions riled up from you, that you also realize the effort I put in my writing to achieve that. Thank you.