"Whereas Cornwallis's position was going from bad to worse with sickness having broken out amongst his men,-" the history teacher said, making his way slowly down the rows. It was 2:56 and the students were ready to leave, the clock was ticking slowly. Most of the students had been passed out on the desks and others -Mara and Fabian- had been listening intently. Nina Martin sat in the very back, tapping her foot quietly to the clock's every tick. She played with her caramel brown hair and bit on her #2 pencil. The clock's ticking slowly lured Nina into a deep sleep.

Gladly, Nina closed her eyes and let her head fall onto the desk. Nina had been staying up late working a science project the night before last. Last night, Nina's mind had wandered off to other things. She had wondered why Amber had hated her so much. Amber had stopped being nice to Nina after Nina had caught Amber kissing Fabian. Then Nina told Alfie, Amber's boyfriend, well ex-boyfriend. So that was why Amber hated Nina.. That was why-

"Nina Martin, would you like to stay for detention with the other sleepers?" her teacher snapped hitting her desk with a long ruler. Nina awoke with a jolt and looking around. Her classmates were giggling, Fabian looked down and Mara was giggling as well. Amber seemed to be satisfied by the spectacle and was filming the whole thing with her camera. KT and Willow were doing the same, giggling quietly while making snoring noises. Nina looked up at the teacher, who had a very stern look on his face.

His brown bushy eyebrows were turned down and his lips were in a frown. He looked strict, but very concentrated. The overhead lights shined down onto his bald scalp making it reflect.

"Miss Martin, I asked a question." he snapped, once again hitting the desk with the long ruler, but harder making Nina jump.

"I-I-" Nina stuttered still in shock.

"No use, Miss Martin. Detention." he dictated pulling out a fresh pink detention slip. He scribbled down the time, date, class, etc. The history teacher handed over the pink slip to Nina and she quietly took it looking away sadly. The bell rang and the students hurried out of the classroom. The teacher set a egg timer and walked to the door.

"I have a meeting, when the timer stops, you may leave. It's set for 5:00 and I'll be back around 3:30 to check on you. If you leave before that, I will make sure you get detention for a whole week." He said before slamming the door shut, it echoed loudly through the room.

Nina looked out the windows, the sky was dark and overcast and rain was pouring down so hard that she could barely see past the old oak tree. A huge lightening bolt struck the tree making Nina whimper. The lightening left the tree burnt at the top and split down the middle. Nina let tears escape her eyes, if she had never let Amber say those things to her, she wouldn't be here. Heck, if she hadn't told Alfie and just let it slide, she'd still be friends with Amber and as a bonus she wouldn't be here. She'd be in Anubis House snacking on some of Trudy's treats while curling up on the couch under the blankets with a good book.

She'd be in Anubis House laughing at Alfie's jokes and giggling at Patricia's thick British accent, but it had seemed that ever since Amber's secret was revealed, everyone had gone cold. It had seemed everyone's world's had gone crashing down when Amber made her switch to the dark side. KT and Willow become cold-hearted ruthless bitches, Fabian had become distant from Nina and hung out with Mara, Alfie stopped talking to Nina and Amber, Eddie and Patricia were having relationship problems, Joy and Jerome were starting to like other people, and etc. Everyone had a pile of pressure on them, but the person with the most was Nina.

Two hours or so later, the egg timer had dinged, Nina gathered her things and walked to her lockers. After putting all her things in her bag, she made her way to the door. The rain had been pouring down harder and Anubis House was a good walk away. Nina sighed and looked back at the empty hallway. She pushed the door open and began to run. She missed a step and tripped over a huge stick sending her rolling down a hill. She landed in the dirty muddy grass below, a little dizzy. Nina looked up at the dark sky and closed her eyes, before she slipped into unconsciousness, only one word escaped her lips.

"Why?"

Nina awoke with a start about an hour later, it was still raining and she was drenched. She examined herself after immediately realizing what had happened. She had a huge bloody scrape on her knee and her ankle was a purple-blue-black color. She felt her cheek and whimpered in pain after touching it. She pulled her hand away and examined her finger, by the looks of the blood on her finger, she had a huge cut down her cheek. She slowly stood and cried out in pain. Nina had twisted her ankle, she fell on the ground in a sitting position. She cried and ran her fingers through her messy golden brown locks. Her hair had various leaves and twigs in it. She looked around, not seeing much, but trees. It was dark outside because of daylight savings deeming the only light source the moon.

Nina pulled out her phone and checked for a signal, no bars. The tears came down faster and faster. She wiped them with her right hand and sniffled.

"Why? Why? Why did this have to happen? Why? It's all my fault." Nina cried out her voice beginning to crack. She sniffled and more tears fell. She just let them. She let them fall because no matter how many times she wiped them away, told herself not to cry, or tried to stay strong, she cried. She couldn't help it, maybe she was pathetic. Just like Amber had said. She was pathetic, very pathetic. She cried out more, for her pain, her heartache, how Amber was right, everything. Amber was right, like always. It was true, all of it.

Nina sat on the ground for about five more minutes to get herself together. She sniffled and rocked back and forth. A minute later, a bright light shone down on Nina and a voice called out her name. Nina looked at the person.

"Nina, is that you? I've been looking everywhere... Nina?" the voice said coming closer. The person stepped into the moonlight showing their face.

"I'm so sorry for everything, Nina. I mean it, I really am. I shouldn't have down you like that. Let me take you back to Anubis and you'll take a shower, Trudy will take care of your wounds and I'll make you some cookies." the voice said.

"You don't have to do that, Alfie." Nina said drying her tears and slightly smiling. Alfie helped Nina up and put her arm on his shoulder. They walked back to Anubis House and stopped at the front door.

"Are you ready to go in there, Nina?" Alfie asked frowning.

"I-I I don't think I can." Nina frowned looking down at the ground.

"Nina, I promise. I'll stay by your side. I'll care for you and so will Trudy." Alfie smiled. He rubbed her back gently while Nina sniffled.

"Come on." Alfie smiled and slowly led Nina inside. They stopped at the main room and everyone turned to look at them. No one spoke. You could feel the tension, it made you feel upset or sick. It seemed as if, Nina had that effect on people. It was quiet, until one voice said something.

"Where have YOU been?"