It was a couple days after A's funeral.

B had locked himself up in his room after the funeral concluded, he was too upset to see the outside world. He was grieving and the residents of Whammy's didn't blame nor disturbed him. He was offered meals but he refused them. He was offered medication for his sudden depression but he declined that too. He was even offered a bribe of jam to come out of his room but he refused even his favorite of foods. He was at two points in time offered work but he snapped at whoever offered it saying that work was why A died. He cursed and ranted and wept loudly in his room, but normally it was silent as death behind the hard oak door. Many worried he'd kill himself just as A had hung himself.

Meanwhile, three friends, C, D and E were talking about it in E's cousin's F's dorm.

"You think B killed him?" D asked his two friends.

"A and B were the best of friends it's not logical." C said shaking her head.

"So, that doesn't mean anything." E disagreed sounding more serious than what he usually did. "I think B is unconventional enough."

"He's falling apart." C said unhappily. "How could it be his fault when he's carrying the burden of losing his best friend on his shoulders? He's probably blaming himself, he probably thinks that he could've stopped A if he found him in time."

"That kid is a first-class actor." E said bitterly, crossing his arms in front of his twelve-year-old chest. "He'd be a great, maybe even renowned actor if he were in Hollywood."

"Yeah, have you seen how much he dresses up like L?" D said with distaste. "And the way he's taken on his mannerisms and the way he consumes sweet foods like jam?"

"He does not devour jam because of L!" C protested. "B has always consumed mostly strawberry jam. From his first day here he's eaten strawberry jam. You just want to accuse him because you didn't know A and his affiliation like me. And if you'd known A like I did then you'd know that B was his most devoted companion. They'd have never wounded each other without making up. Never."

"Yeah, I could just picture it." F snickered appearing beside his cousin E. "B goes to A's dorm and taps him on the head. He makes an apology. Then A says 'What for?' and he ties a noose around A's throat and hangs his body up in the attic after strangling him to death. Then he erases evidence and pretends to be shocked and upset when he's told A killed himself. Perfect murder strategy, don't you think?"

"That's incongruous!" C exclaimed outrage tainted her voice. "That's a bunch of gobbledygook!"

"Not really." Her three friends said in unison.

"B is really unhappy! You guys should show him some empathy! He's depressed and has virtually bolted his dorm room closed and refuses to eat anything! You'll feel really terrible if he dies from malnourishment and know that you're saying such unpleasant things about him! You know it's true! You would feel dreadful and at fault I bet!"

"I wouldn't." D said shrugging his shoulders carelessly. "I don't like him."

"Yeah, he's an appalling fiend." E agreed. "F feels the same way."

"Sorry, but he's correct about how I feel." F sighed.

"You're all presently atrocious!" C wailed running from the room.

She couldn't believe how cold and callous her friends were towards their housemate. He didn't deserve such ridicule and cold treatment.

C had seen a softhearted side to B.

One time when they were little kids A found a baby blue bird behind the orphanage. It was sick and dying and A was really upset about it. He didn't want the bird to pass away. A shown it to B who seemed upset about it as well.

C later found out when they tried to nurse it back to health, but she saw they were failing. The baby bird cheeped with anguish; it was clearly in a lot of pain. A started to cry feeling sorry for the baby, C cried too because she was a little kid back then and was prone to crying a lot whenever she saw other children cry.

B gave the bird a look of compassion and he reached down to touch the baby bird. Then without warning the bird went silent. Both A and C were shocked to see that B had killed it. A got really mad and yelled at B. He was angry because he thought that it could've been saved. A and B argued about it and when A stormed off after calling B an (quote unquote) "Evil murderer that killed any living thing that crosses his path, because he's a real jackass and mindless zombie." C never figured out if that hurt B's feelings or not, but he seemed unmoved when his friend said it. C stopped crying to ask why B killed it.

He explained that it was in a lot of pain and deserved to take a break from all the pain it felt, so he put it down as a mercy killing. It was too sick to survive from the beginning. He knew that and only tried to help it get better, because he knew it'd make A happy. C understood that he didn't want to kill the bird but he had to kill it so it'd stop suffering.

A soon realized it and apologized for insulting B. They buried the baby bird after finding a small empty box and writing on it. B dug the hole while A sat holding the box. He cried for the bird and apologized for letting it suffer longer than it needed to. B finally finished the two-foot deep hole and comforted his friend before gently placing the box in the hole.

Yeah, A had really liked B.

He said that B's best quality was his loyalty and his best feature was his ruby red eyes. She knew that B detested his eyes, but A didn't and she didn't either. It was cool of how someone that wasn't albino could have red eyes. It was a defect according to B, but C didn't think so. She was thirteen, therefore a year younger than B and two years younger than A, but she had good judgment on her side. She was sure of that much, anyway.

Knocking on B's door she got a muffled reply.

She knocked again.

This time she heard the clicking of several locks, as they were unlocked and heard the sound of a hammer pounding on something and finally the sound of heavy chains as they hit against the wooden floor. The door then eased open.

B stood in the doorway.

He was skinnier than what C remembered.

It appeared as though he'd been lacking a proper meal and much sleep for a while. He also appeared to have become paler and wasn't just wearing make-up. His clothes were dirty, yet they smelt of fresh jam rather than a dumpster like she had expected. His face was tearstained and some of his black hair dye was gone and blonde hair shown through. His red eyes were redder than normal and distended. He had bruises on some parts of his face and arms like he'd been hitting himself until he bruised. C felt miserable for him.

"Yeah, C?" he asked sounding cheerless unlike he used to when A was still alive and he sounded happy and energetic. But everything about him had seemed to change since then.

"B…are you…okay?" she asked watching as he quickly became angry.

"No! I'm not okay! I've been locked in here for days now and can't think of one good reason why I've got to be the one who has it so arduous! Everyone says that it's my fault! And I can't…I'm not…I-I mean look at me! Do I look okay?"

"No." She replied quietly.

Suddenly a creepy smile appeared on his face. "Congratulations to me I'm the new top student, aren't I?"

"Yes."

"But of course if something happened to me…you'd be the new top student…right?"

"Yes."

"Everyone abhors me." B said sulkily. "I wish I'd just die!"

"Backup!" she gasped.

"Don't call me that!" he hissed. "Never call me that, Catalog!"

C remained silent her face as pale as a white sheet.

"A's gone and nobody else cares about me! My parents didn't care, my older brother didn't care, none of my family cared, hell, and the foster care system didn't care and none of the children here care! Hell, L doesn't even care! A was the only guy who cared whether I was happy or sad, angry or furious! Nobody else cares about me whatsoever! I-I just w-want to die! I want to die as slowly and painfully as humanly possible!"

With that said B slammed the door shut and relocked it.

C held her breath as she knocked on the door. A loud pained cry came from behind the door followed by a loud crash. She felt sickened to her stomach, and a bit worried that he'd done something foolish, something that would scar him for life. Pounding her fists on the door she hoped he'd reply but the only sounds she heard were moans of pain.

Worry gripped her and she ran down the hall for help.

By the time C, D, E, F, G, H and Rodger got there B was gone. His room was a mess and littered with papers, pencils, pens, paints, books, photos, jam jars, dust bunnies and cobwebs. The window was open and B had left.

He'd ran away and had left with a deep seated, bitter grudge against L and everyone who looked at him like he was a freak. He had been at his wits end for months, but that night, when C had came to visit.

B had finally cracked.

No longer would he have to see or listen to Catalog and her concerned or kind thoughts about Alternative. B didn't need to worry himself with Different and his stupid jokes about his eyes or see Equivalent and his stupid cousin Frisker. B wouldn't have to avoid Gossipmonger and Hem's stares of discontent they always gave him, anymore.

No longer would he be referred to as pathetic, predictable Backup. Because he was nobody's backup, he was not L's backup. If anything he was better than L in every way, he decided to be known as Beyond Birthday.

Not only was it a cool name, but also it described him to a T.

A plan begun to hatch in young Beyond Birthday's mind late that night it was not only crazy, but also risky. However if he done the job right then he'd prove himself better than L in every prospect. He'd surpass L, and he'd make A proud of him. Yes, and with some work the plan could also be preparations for his suicide. It was such a mouth-watering plot that would take years to achieve, but he was patient.

Yeah…B was very patient….

And as far as Beyond Birthday knew he had all the time in the world.

C finally finished cleaning B's room up. She had spent all night cleaning. The room was finally neat and clean. As she started to leave she noticed something sticking out from beneath B's pillow. The bed turned out to be the only thing B didn't mess up. She took cautious steps towards it, once she was there standing beside it C carefully pulled the pillow back. Her heart throbbed as she saw what it was.

It was a photograph of A and B when they first arrived at the orphanage.

A was so cute as a five year old. He wore a plain black long-sleeved shirt with cream-colored shorts and white sandals. He sat beside B licking a strawberry ice cream cone and smiled at the photographer. His cerulean eyes glistened with life and joy. He had an arm wrapped around B's scrawny shoulders as he smiled gleefully.

B sat blushing, holding an undersized jar of strawberry jam. He was frowning appearing forlorn and distressed. The photograph was apparently taken before B became an L impersonator. His messy blonde hair went down to his shoulders and he had thin streaks of tan hair showing on the sides. His skin had a rose-pink tint to it. B wore a pale yellow shirt with baggy jeans and cherry red-socked feet. His ruby red eyes appeared fatigued and were half lidded. He had bags under his eyes, but they were scarcely noticeable.

C felt tears slide down her cheeks as she remembered how extraordinary of friends the two boys had been. A had been the one to first approach and befriend B upon his arrival. He was also the one to show B how to divide and multiply more than three numbers at a time. B had shown A how to climb trees and ambush children who passed beneath them.

C remembered how A had, on one occasion, dressed B up as a bunny for Halloween and in return B dressed A up as an outsized orange carrot. They had a lot of flabbergasted moments because of those costumes. They pranked lots of people together and took the blame together whenever they got caught. One time they had put a dead mouse in Rodger's desk drawer and made him scream so loud that the whole block heard him! They had lots of laughs about that and cleaned the bathrooms after the laughs were over. B got the old man back for that by putting well-hidden tacks all over his office.

They had at one time baked an apple and strawberry pie together and almost destroyed the entire kitchen! They loved their pie and claimed it was the best ever made. Nobody wanted them in the kitchen after that. Everyone was excessively fearful they'd demolish it if they were to cook in it again! They didn't think they would though.

B had once called C when he saw A and D talking together. He was jealous and worried A wasn't interested in being his friend anymore, mostly because D was one of B's biggest rivals next to X, Y and Z. Anyways, C was the one to cheer him up and mend their friendship after they argued about the matter for like five or six days!

Once on A's birthday B kissed him making A embarrassed and later after that rumors circulated that they made out. Whenever asked by anyone B happily said it was true while A denied the charges whilst blushing from embarrassment. Nobody knew whom to believe, because of how devious B was and how secretive A was at times. Then on B's birthday, A kissed him and rumors circulated that they had sex, but once again nobody knew who to believe because of how the boys were. B said yes and A said no, but they gave each other big, dumb smiles for the rest of the day.

The two boys done so many wonderful, crazy, funny, mysterious, fun and cruel things together it was hard to believe that their friendship was over. It started to end when A became depressed. C knew that as a fact, as well as B knew it.

C recalled the previous Valentine's Day when they made each other cards. A's card was shaped and looked like a jar of jam and B's card looked like an apple. They wrote each other poems expressing how much they cherished each other's friendship. B cried all Valentine's Day. Nobody knew why, but C suspected that he saw A's depression was starting and one way or another C thought that the red-eyed boy knew how it'd end.

They had studied and listened to music together. They ate snacks, built card towers, worked and played together for as long as anyone at Whammy's could remember, but once A became depressed that all stopped and A became distant from everybody including B. everyone backed off from him, believing that he'd get over it, even C.

B didn't back off though and tried his best to cheer A up, knowing that things would only get worse, C had seen him a few occasions telling A some lame joke or making a funny face at him or tickling him, B even tried to make his depressed friend laugh by hitting himself, but nothing worked, nothing at all. A stopped eating after a while and despite several warnings B went to A's room and force-fed him in an attempt to help.

C had once passed by the door and peeked in. She saw B prying A's mouth open and shoving a spoonful of pea soup into the stubborn boy's mouth. B was yelled at by his depressed friend but always soothed him after upsetting him, the L imposter told A about books he'd read and movies he saw and B gave crude comments and he promised his friend that he would always be there when he needed him the most.

But early one morning, A's body was found hanging motionless in the attic, limp and lifeless. After B woke up Rodger told him of what happened. B didn't want to believe him, though and he hurried to the attic first thing and became frenzied after seeing A was dead. He was heard screaming and sputtering by everyone in Whammy's.

The first person that arrived said that he was talking about numbers. Saying that the numbers weren't right. Saying that there weren't any zeros. They said he was saying something about A's number's changing and running out. He was a wreck unable to speak what he thought correctly. When the second person arrived they saw B holding A and muttering apologies. Several orphans and a few teachers had to pry B and A's body apart. When B was finally taken back to his room he'd given up fighting.

He just sat on his bed sobbing and trembling. C's best friend Q said that when she went to check on B after he failed to appear at dinner he was in a rage. He shouted at her and slammed his fists into walls. He was really angry.

Mostly at his own self, C knew.

He truly believed he could've saved Alternative.

But he managed to calm down before A's funeral. And looking at the photograph reminded C of how he looked at the funeral. She hoped B wouldn't be too badly affected by A's death and would simply live a peaceful life, but she truthfully doubted it.

She knew that the funeral was a very bleak day, just like B's future was going to be.

She just had that feeling.

And little did she know…she was right….