Higuchi Tachibana owns Gakuen Alice.

Prologue

Say what you mean, tell me I'm right, let the sun rain down on me
Ballad of Mona Lisa/Panic at the Disco!

I thought I knew her.

I thought we had promised never to lie to each other.

Was being her best friend all a joke to her?

I threw the picture frame I held in my hand angrily on the floor. I heard the frame break but made no effort to pick it up.

I let out a sad sigh as I ran my fingers through my hair. Who was I kidding? We weren't best friends. This whole time she was lying to me and I just fell for it. She really fooled me. The first time I actually let myself fall for a girl she stabs me in the back. I bitterly laughed at that thought. How ironic. After years of rejecting all sorts of girls, when I finally fall in love with the one I thought was different than the rest, I find my heart getting smashed into a million pieces.

I guess this what heartbreak and betrayal must feel like.

I angrily slammed my fists on the desk, causing the glass of water on the table to fall over and spill on the floor but I didn't care right now. How could I? All I could think about was about the girl who betrayed me. Why did she do it? Was it because she didn't trust me? Was it because she just liked using me? Why?

My cell started to ring, but I was far to pissed off to answer it. It was probably Ruka, but I didn't feel like talking to him—I didn't feel like talking to anybody. I didn't want to hear his apologetic voice; I didn't want any pity right now. All I wanted was peace and quiet and to just be alone.

The phone stopped ringing after a while and five seconds later my house phone started to ring. It rang six more times before it went straight to voice mail:

"Leave your name and number and I'll call back."

I never noticed how cold I sounded. Maybe that's why she lied to me—she hated how I acted. A soft voice interrupted my thoughts and I knew who it was already: Ruka.

"Natsume, I know you're there and I know that your probably too pissed off to answer the phone right now." If I weren't angry, I would've smiled. He knew me well; he wasn't my best friend for nothing. "I heard what happened and—"I heard Ruka drew a breathe and I knew that he was going to say something along the lines of 'sorry'— "I just wanted to say that you're being a total ass."

My eyes widened in surprise. What the hell?

"Look Natsume, you're my best friend and everything but you took things too far. You should have let Mikan tell her side of the story instead of just yelling at her and calling her those names. Mikan…she had her reasons for what she did and she didn't want to tell you."

My eyes narrowed. My mood darkened as I realized that Ruka was in cahoots with that damn traitor this whole time. He deliberately decided to hide something from me as well? Fucking traitor.

"Mikan, you know, she really l—"

I heard a door slam open and then slam close again. "Ruka! What—what do you think you're doing?"

It was Mi—Sakura. What was she doing there? She probably wanted to stop Ruka from letting me know the truth. I can't believe that I ever even trusted this girl.

"I'm telling Natsume everything."

"Ruka, stop!"

Although I knew I was hurt, it still hurt when I heard those words come out of her mouth.

"No, Mikan he has to know the truth!"

"No, he mustn't know! Ruka—"

There was a slight pause, before I heard Ruka's voice, filled with disbelief. "Shit…Mikan we got to get out of here."

"But—"

Suddenly I heard the door slam open. "Get the fuck out of my house," Ruka cursed angrily.

There was another crashing sound, which sounded a lot like a vase being smashed. My thoughts were confirmed when I heard an unknown voice shout, "That damn bitch threw a fucking vase at me! When I get my hands on you-"

"I'll fucking kill you, if you even touch her," Ruka interrupted, and to be honest I felt my mouth slightly drop open. I never heard him get so mad before. Just what the fuck was going on? I then heard Ruka softly whisper, "Mikan, stand behind me." I heard light steps from the phone, so I assumed that Mikan did as she was told. Although I was relieved she listened, I still couldn't help but feel uneasy.

"Aww, the prince thinks he can save his princess." There was a collective sounds of jeering before I heard a cold voice speak.

"Be quiet," the cold voice commanded and I knew that he must have been the leader of the group."Look Ruka, we can either do this the easy way or the hard way. Just come silently with us and there won't be any problems." The man started to walk apparently, because I could hear the sounds of something heavy thumping on the floor. Either this man was wearing a heavy set of boots, or he was actually really heavy set. "If not, we'll just have to use force and I'm sure that you wouldn't want your precious Mi-chan to get hurt," the unknown man said calmly, the sounds of him walking suddenly ceased.

"Fuck you."

I was surprised to hear that it was Mikan who spoke, even Ruka was.

"Mikan…"

"Well, I guess that we're going to do this the hard way. Boys."

I heard menacing laughter and then heard Ruka yell, "Run, Mikan!"

"Oh, you're not going anywhere," a different voice said.

There was another loud crash.

"Fucking bitch! I'm going to get you for that!"

There were sounds of movements and shouts. I stared disbelieving at my phone.

"Ruka!"

"Mi—"

Then the line went dead.

I stood up, not taking my eyes off the phone and I felt a tremendous sense of horror and dread fill me. I paced quickly on the floor, endless questions filling my head. What happened? What was going on? Who was that man? What were Ruka and Mikan hiding from me?

I caught sight of a broken frame on the floor. It was the picture that I threw down. I bent down to pick it up and then sat back down on the couch to gaze at it once more. Ruka had his arms around Hotaru's shoulder and he had a bright blush on his face while Hotaru had an amused smirk on hers. I had my arms wrapped around Mikan's waist and she had a bright angelic smile while I had the same amused smirk as Hotaru. We took this picture at the school festival a couple of months ago.

I shook my head at my wandering thoughts. I stared at the picture for a few moments longer. Mikan never was a good liar and neither was Ruka. There must have been a reason they lied to me. They were my best friends and I knew that they cared a lot about me. I made my decision: I was going to find out the truth.

Fishing my phone out of my pocket, I quickly dialed the number of person who I knew would help me—Hotaru.

The phone rang two times before a soft voice answered.

"It's about time."

Author's Note: Well, I should be updating my other stories, but this one just popped up in my brain while I was eating Cheerios. I think it's ironic that I was eating happy cereal while thinking about a dark and sad story. Haha, now that I say it-or in this case, type it-it sounds kinda weird. Well, it made plenty of sense in my mind :D I know that I've been neglecting my other stories for a while, but I promise I'll get to them. When? I don't know, but hopefully soon!

Oh and please feel free to just tear down my story. No, I don't mean to flame it, I mean to criticize it very well. I love critique, because it helps me improve my writing skills. If you notice something you don't like or something you want to suggest or even both!, tell me. Even if it's just the tiniest little mistake, let me know. Thanks and don't forget to review! I love reviews too :D