Alex Liddell's POV

"Go eat something, you moron," Ruby said, lightly smacking the back of Alex's head. She dropped a plate of the school's Castleteria mush on the floor, nudging it towards him. "You've been acting like a total zombie since Claudia... well, died."

Alex and Ruby sat in the Student Lounge, which gave him a strange sense of déjà vu. He pushed away the plate and returned to reading the Beginner's Guide To Old Riddlish Lexicon Dictionary, which he found in Claudia's dorm. "I need to finish this, I'm on the B section," he explained, flipping to the next page.

Ruby sighed. "Seriously, Alex, reading a dictionary isn't going to help."

"But what if we missed something? We need to solve her murder."

"If you keep stressing out over this, I'm calling Beatrice and getting her down here to haul your ass away from the investigation," Ruby threatened, "and I mean it." Yeah, no, she didn't mean it, Alex could tell. Plus, Ruby would have another problem if she disturbed Bea's beauty sleep...

He shuddered from all those childhood memories of sleepovers that ended with the Liddell children trying to go for each other's throats. "Bea has been so distant from me lately," he said miserably. "I wish we could talk again these days."

Ruby let out another sigh before joining Alex on the floor, facing him. "Alex, what I'm about to say might not be your cup of tea, but it's you who has been distant, not Bea or anyone else." Her statement confused Alex. "You lost your appetite and you apparently joined Matilda on the sleepless gang, I'm not lying when I said you're acting like a zombie. You've been distancing yourself from everyone because you're so hyper-focused on Claudia, but you're losing your friends in the process."

"That's not my intent." And he meant that.

"Why do you care so much anyways?" Ruby asked, exasperated.

Alex slouched, feeling defeated. "Can I tell you something? But you seriously can't tell anyone else, especially not Tilly," he added quickly.

"Sure..." Ruby replied suspiciously.

"I... I loved Claudia. Loved her." Alex's hands became clammy as he swallowed hard. He knew that Claudia was lesbian, she never had an interest for the opposite gender. But still, their minds were so alike, it killed Alex not to fall in love with her. He loved how her eyes would flicker with curiosity, how caring she was, and the way she laughed like a madman. Get her out of your head, Alex would think constantly. She doesn't like you back, you idiot.

Yes, he did feel like an idiot for even falling for her. Stupid, stupid, stupid! It was an age-old curse of knowing the consequences for his attraction to the Hatter girl. But his mind and heart only knew Claudia, they had known each other since Day One. How could they ruin their perfect friendship?

Until that day, March 24th, he remembered the date exactly.

"You... had a crush on Claudia." Ruby stared at him like he had two heads. She pursued her lips, but didn't open her mouth. Perhaps that's what he found relieving; Ruby may act tough, but she was a true softie at heart to help out with a friend. "Continue, Alex."

"I may or may not have confessed to her the day before she passed away." There, he said the thing he had been dreading in the past days. They had met up on the roof, their usual spot, and Alex looked her in the eye and uttered the words:

I love you.

Claudia had been distraught that day already, looking tired and detached—a symptom of the Moly, Zulie said—and she was horrified. She backed away until she got so close to the roof's edge that she had almost fallen. Alex managed to grab her at the last minute, but Claudia immediately shook him off. Don't touch me, she had screamed. I can't trust you, can I? Can I even trust anyone? That's when Alex knew he had screwed up by admitting his attraction to her.

Claudia looked at Alex with a sense of betrayal in her eyes, fearful and mortified. She pushed past him, leaving him alone up on the roof. I ruined our relationship, she'll never talk to me ever again, he thought. The next day, she hadn't answered his texts or calls. And then... Claudia Hatter drowned at Forever Bridge.

When Alex was done with his story, he eyed Ruby carefully. He was scared she'd judge him, it was a dumb thing to do anything. "That's certainly heartbreaking," she allowed, "but we now know that she wasn't in the right mind at the time."

"She still would have rejected me; Claudia's queer."

"Her loss," Ruby muttered.

"Sorry, what was that?" Alex didn't quite hear that.

"Nothing."

୨ৎ──♤♡♢♧──୨ৎ

Cressida Lockes' POV

She sat on the stairs of Ever After High's entrance, the tears spilling down her cheeks. Her chest rose and fell unevenly as her voice caught in her throat. Her fingers dug into her palm until she drew blood. Cressida couldn't think clearly, everything started to blur along the edges.

I'll kill those Wonderlandian kids if it's the last thing I do, she thought bitterly. They called her careless, but oh how the tables have turned. They don't know me, they don't understand me. Cressida's hands shook violently as she couldn't stop crying. Her breathing quickened, turning into stressed, strangled sounds. Shit, another panic attack. Just what she needed on this crappy day. Cressida swallowed the bile in the back of her throat, forcing herself to focus on something else.

"Honey?"

She didn't mean she wanted to be distracted by Ajax Eliot out of all people.

Cressida tried to breathe deeply, quickly wiping away her tears, but they wouldn't stop. "Go away," she said, gritting her teeth. AJ was the last person she wanted to see right now. One of those stupid Wonderlandian students.

"Are you okay?" He gestured to her red and puffy face. "Seriously, did someone do anything to you? Hurt you? Honey, I'm not joking—"

"Get out. Now," she spat out. Look at him, trying to play Mr. Nice Guy. Liar, traitor. AJ held up his hands in the air. Cressida glared at him as AJ sat next to her, not close enough that she could rip off his head.

"Do you actually hate me?" AJ asked out of the blue. That caught her off-guard, the question ringing in her ears. All of a sudden, when she did think about it, the answer daunted her. She was a bitch sometimes, but not out of hatred.

But Cressida Lockes would rather die than say she admired AJ. "I do now." Venom was laced on her tongue as she said each word.

He was surprised. "You didn't hate me before?"

Then she couldn't take it, the anger overtaking her other emotions. She stood up, glaring daggers into his eyes. "You know what? I can handle your friends and you walking all over me and my work," she hollered, the tears uncontrollably springing from her eyes.

"But for you to tamper with it? To ruin it? God, I know I'm the pettiest person in Book End, but you? I know you despise my guts and we're some shitty academic rivals that are always fighting for first place, but God... You crossed the line, AJ. I'm done with your bullshit, all of your friends' bullshit."

Cressida walked away, too upset to fully understand the gravity of her words. She shivered from the cold, the tears half-freezing her face. "Honey, wait!" AJ called after her, which only kicked in her instincts to walk faster. He caught up to her, grabbing her by the shoulders.

"Let me go, you bastard—"

"What are you talking about? Crossing the line?" he asked hurriedly. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of Cressida's neck stood up, chills running down her spine. She felt as if she was being watched. "Honey, I know you're upset, but talk to me," he urged.

"You were the one who deleted all of my work this evening," she said, the painful reminder of her hard work gone. Cressida sobbed, she couldn't help it. Seeing that all of her work was archived, it hurt like hell. "I know you wanted me to take down the post about C-Claudia, but..." She shook her head. "You didn't have to destroy my life for it."

AJ's brows furrowed in confusion. "Honey, I swear in my life none of us tampered with your work. I-I know we didn't like your article or MirrorCast, but we would never do that to you. I would never do that to you, because yes, despite the fact you always take ten extra minutes for your journalism presentations, anyone in EAH can see how passionate you are about it."

Cressida blinked blankly. "B-But..." She was speechless. "The message said—" Suddenly, a wave of nausea hit her as she covered her mouth with her hand. Her knees buckled as her head pounded. What's happening to me? Cressida collapsed, overwhelmed by her blurring vision. Something wasn't right.

"Honey? Shit—Cressida? Hey, hey, just lay down, alright? Can we get help! Detective Pois, Detective Pois!" AJ's voice sounded so far away as Cressida was pressed against the pavement. Her breathing laboured as colours swirled around her line of sight. She wanted to speak, but her speech slurred.

What is this? Another panic attack? Cressida's head buzzed with a thousand thoughts. No, she realized, it was something much worse. I'm dying, oh God, I'm dying. "Stay still, help is coming, Cress—"

With what strength she had left, Cressida grabbed his wrist. "Pocket," she blurted out, struggling to form the words. "Everything... Claudia... the C-Companion... Notebook..."

She let go of AJ's hand and her eyes closed shut.

୨ৎ──♤♡♢♧──୨ৎ

Bianca White's POV

Bianca sat on her bed at the crack of midnight, yawning as she texted the Weaver again. She was sleep-deprived, but nighttime seemed to be the only time that the Weaver was active online.

BW: Did you hear that there's a new movie coming out? Dragon Quest or something. We should go watch it together, it'd be hexcellent.

TW: Yeah, I'll find a way to sync up our devices.

BW: No, I mean, we should watch it in-person, yk? We could go to the Multi-Hex Theater in Book End, it's 25% off of tickets right now. I kinda wanna see you in person.

TW: WDYM? We can just watch it for free online, I'll download it off some website.

BW: Ur laptop is going to get a virus.

TW: Bold of you to assume it doesn't already.

BW: Seriously, why don't you want to meet up? At least tell me ur name.

TW: I told you, I'm the Weaver. Just stay out of it, alr?

BW: Why does it matter so much to you anyways?

TW: Because names hold power.

Suddenly, the Weaver went offline. "Oh, come on," she swore under her breath. Sometimes, it was such a struggle to be friends with that boy. At least, Bianca hoped they were friends, they never met up in-person, just on their chats. But she did grow to care for the Weaver, whoever he was, because he was just so easy to be around. He wasn't biased—alright, that was sort of a lie—because they had a fresh start a few months ago when they just started chatting. It was easier for Bianca to open up online, there were less expectations.

It all started when Bianca accidentally got a wrong number, but Weaver joked about it. They got friendly, Bianca found it so comforting to have someone who understood her. She found the Weaver's mischievous antics a bit alarming, but also amusing. It was like a carbon copy of Cadien Cheshire, just... not? The Weaver could only be described as himself.

Yet, she always ran the risk of never finding out who was on the other side of the screen.