A/N: This entire chapter was going to be texts from their group message, which I had sitting in my drafts for like three months but this somehow seemed a lot better. However, the next chapter might be a lot more text message heavy. These texts are also all on Claire's phone, thus the names.

Also they're all juniors. Fawn and Sammi are seniors, so are Jaime and Ryan who are twins in this.

skeletons.

claire lyons: hey
claire lyons: i know you're on your phone. you just watched my snap story.
claire lyons: derrickkkkkkkk
claire lyons: derrick, your read receipts are on, i know you're seeing this
claire lyons: i'm calling your house phone if you don't answer in
claire lyons: 5
claire lyons: 4
claire lyons: 3
derry harrington: jesus, i'm on the treadmill, relax.
claire lyons: danny is acting weird
derry harrington: ...and?
claire lyons: he said he wants to talk to you
claire lyons: ? derrick
claire lyons: waht is going on
claire lyons: what**
derry harrington: idk he's always weird. prob has to do w soccer.
derry harrington: speaking of which, i have to go practice soon. c u tomorrow

March 2017.

Kristen waited for her phone to load. Ubers were not a common thing in Westchester, her mom was the closest thing to it for her, but she was desperate and knew she had to get out of that party and fast. Plus, she didn't need her mom anywhere near the Fishers' house at this current moment. Her head was spinning and she felt nauseous for absolutely no reason. Usually if she was drunk, she wanted to leave. Once she had sensory overload, she needed to be alone, or with far fewer people. It probably didn't make sense for an introvert like her to be as close as she was to the world's most obnoxious group of extroverts, yet here she was.

"You need a ride?" She heard a deep voice behind her, she nearly jumped but relaxed slightly when she saw Griffin, but not enough that she didn't still feel mildly on edge. She couldn't be certain but she had an inkling that's how Griffin made everyone feel.

"Are you drunk?" She asked.

His response was a wry smile, "come on, I'll drop you off at home."

She followed behind him slowly as he walked toward his car. All the other cars were by the unattached garage or lining the street outside the home. He had the liberty of parking it right at the foot of the circular driveway, where the doors to the house were. No one would have opposed, she guessed.

"Why are you leaving so early?" Kristen attempted conversation and Griffin seemed amused but didn't comment on why.

He unlocked the doors to his Maserati, Kristen almost threw up. She wondered if he knew how spoiled he was, if the thought had ever crossed his mind. If he knew anything at all about the world and what other people were living like or if it all just seemed like some type of fever dream or a fable to teach little rich kids to finish their dinners. But Kristen knew she couldn't point fingers. She too lived in Westchester, she too had that silver spoon. But Griffin was more than just a Westchester kid, she supposed. Griffin was Westchester royalty. A god. Their God. She couldn't help but mull on the idea of whether or not he ever thought to come down and see it, see the world he graced just to get a peak at what it was like.

It was during this analyzation of Griffin's privilege that she realized she had never actually been in his car before.

He slid in to the driver's seat and Kristen popped the passenger side open carefully. Griffin had a bad habit of taking his time to respond to questions, "I just got tired." Before he started his car, he reached into the side of his seat and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, "you mind?"

Kristen looked at him with a look of disgust, "yes."

Griffin snorted and put it back, started the car up, and pulled out of the grounds of the Fishers' home.

Kristen realized suddenly that she had never really been alone with Griffin for longer than a few minutes. They'd been friends enough to ask for favors, laugh at each other's jokes, and sit together in classes, but not close enough to be alone in a car for a fifteen minute ride. She wished badly that Nikki was with them but she and James had disappeared hours ago.

Griffin's music erupted from the speakers, a loud, banging rap song. Kristen shifted in her seat as Griffin lowered the windows. He wasn't a man of many words, but she couldn't tell if this was a time where maybe conversation should have filled the somewhat silence.

"I live in the Castello," she said.

Griffin looked at her from the corner of his eyes, a smirk on his face, "I know where you live."

She tucked her hair behind her ears and let out a deep breath, "I just wasn't sure." She was speaking just to fill the silence.

He looked at her again and then back at the road wordlessly. The only movement from his end was when he pushed up the full-sleeves of his shirt, his rather obnoxiously sized Rolex glinting in the light.

She then came to the conclusion that if Griffin wanted conversation then he was just as responsible for saying something. She clicked the lock button on her phone. She had two messages. Both from her mom.

As if he had been reading her thoughts, Griffin spoke, "you're not a fan of parties?"

"I am." Kristen responded, "I like them."

"Convincing," Griffin laughed again. He had a nice laugh when he meant it. Not that menacing guffaw he gave people, that came across more intimidating than anything else. This laugh was warm, deep and kind of comforting. Pleasant.

"Why do you say that?" She asked, turning to him.

"I dunno," he said nonchalantly as he switched lanes, "I've noticed. You just seem...uncomfortable."

Kristen scoffed and Griffin laughed again. "That's so...that's so mean!"

"I didn't mean it like that," Griffin rested his head back on his seat, his chin pointing up. He never apologized, just clarified things and let you come to the conclusion that you wanted to. If he ever apologized it came once and wasn't offered again. That was Griffin Hastings, and Kristen often found herself wishing she had the same confidence and composure. "I just noticed."

"Noticed what?" Kristen challenged, an edge to her voice that she meant to sound more like Dylan's playful tone but sounded angry instead.

Either way, Griffin still seemed to find this funny. He rested a hand on the side of his car and placed his chin on his fist. He shrugged, "you just don't get involved."

"I like hanging out with you guys. I just don't like being with bigger crowds where there are strangers. It's overwhelming," Kristen crossed her arms over her chest.

"So you don't like parties." Griffin stated in the way a lawyer might have lead a witness to an answer on a cross examination.

"I-that's not what I said!" Griffin burst into another fit of laughter, it was infectious. Kristen found herself trying not to smile, "What, do you like parties?"

"Yeah, love 'em," Griffin turned onto Westchester Boulevard. They weren't too far from her stop now, time had gone by faster than she had expected it to. She was surprised.

"Why?" She leaned her head against the window, head still turned to face him.

"You sound personally offended," he grinned, "they're fun. I like 'em-"

"You said you love them," Kristen interjected.

"Like? Love? Same thing," Griffin said, pulling to a stop in front of the Castello.

"They're definitely not the same thing," Kristen said, "also, you're gonna have to go to the back of the building."

Griffin pulled back onto the street without saying a word and then, "and you know the difference?"

"Yes, I live here and there's a giant sign on one side-"

"I meant your first comment," Griffin chuckled, he ran a hand over his hair. The streetlights shifted on his face, red, yellow, and green. The shadows of his face became more pronounced, the contours of his cheekbones and the sharpness of his jaw looking clearer to her now.

"You literally laugh at everything I say," Kristen narrowed her eyes.

"You're funny," Griffin made a U-Turn and looked behind him.

"I don't mean to be," Kristen watched him warily.

"That's what's funny," he smiled broadly again and then looked back to the road.

Kristen felt a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, she wasn't sure what it was and it was upsetting her that she couldn't peg it. He stopped in the back of the Castello, slowing the car down. He didn't say anything to her, just looked at her and she smiled, her cheeks heating up for no particular reason.

"Thanks," she unbuckled her seatbelt and debated leaning over to hug him like she would the others. She didn't really know what the situation was with Griffin. Nikki always hugged him but that seemed to be an exception. Instead she just nodded at him and threw her hair over her shoulder, pushing open the door.

Griffin nodded back and then as she walked to the building's entrance, he lowered the window and without having to raise his voice much, leaned over and said, "you never told me the difference." He sped away, his laugh filling the air as he left her there, staring into the night.

Dylan's Asshole

claire lyons: guys
dylpickle: yes?
nikkidicky: what's up
claire lyons: um, i just had the weirdest fucking encounter with danny robbins?
nikkidicky: so like every encounter w him
dylpickle: Laughed at 'so like every encounter w him'
claire lyons: no! he was so weird! weirder than usual!
nikkidicky: what do you mean
clairebear: he asked if my friends sent me to his house
clairebear: like honest to god wtf
dylpickle: weird
nikkidicky: when will he quit it w his bizzare-o crap
dylpickle: bizzare-o, i like that
dylpickle: speaking of things i like...i fucking HATE this group name
nikkidicky: well i didn't like the old name
dylpickle: nikki dicky is a classic
claire lyons: guys, no this is just creepy
dylpickle: ok my asshole is not creepy
nikkidicky: that's hurtful, kuhlaire
claire lyons: i'm talking about danny robbins!
nikkidicky: wait, have you guys heard from kris?
dylpickle: not since she last texted in the other group
dylpickle: also someone tell kemp to shut up before i block him

It was probably not the most efficient thing for Kristen to be thinking about Griffin Hastings' car when his sister was standing in front of her fuming. There was also a chance that Fawn, notoriously known for being one of the bitchiest girls to have ever walked the halls of Westchester High, would call the cops on Kristen. Granted, Kristen had trespassed on private property and had broken into the home of one of Westchester's most dignified families who also had just lost a son. Lost meaning they genuinely didn't know where he was. Not, Kristen hoped, the other thing.

"Well?" Fawn prompted, she raised an eyebrow, "what the fuck are you doing here?"

"I- um...," Kristen rubbed the back of her neck and offered a sheepish smile. Looking down at her leggings that were now covered in water from the sink. The very sink she had just crawled out of moments earlier and had caused a spillage of pots and pans, to make things that much worse. "I came to get some books I had lent to Griffin."

Fawn stared at her and then snorted, "you're kidding."

"Y-yeah," Kristen laughed awkwardly, "well, I did lend them to him. I need them back. They're rented from the school library and I thought...I thought there would be some kind of clue -"

"Clue?" Fawn spat, "what like this is fucking Agatha Christie? Who hired you to be Poirot?"

Kristen blinked, "well, I- it's just I thought-"

"I don't know what you thought but you better explain yourself and cut the crap." Fawn looked like she was not having the best day, perhaps due to the fact that Kristen had crawled through her window like some type of clumsy James Bond.

"The cops," Kristen sighed, "they're coming tomorrow and I thought if I just found something, anything that showed that Griffin was out there-"

"He is out there," Fawn said angrily.

"I- what?" Kristen rubbed the side of her face.

"We don't know where he is but he's not-"

"I wasn't suggesting that," Kristen felt all the blood from her body disappear, rushing through her and then suddenly gone. She felt cold all of a sudden and there was something like a rock in the pit of her stomach. She had never even entertained that thought, she didn't think she could bear it. "I just meant that he ran away or something and that maybe he left behind some kind of evidence of it. I just want to know."

Fawn blinked and then narrowed her eyes, "why you?"

Kristen felt the words catch in her throat.

"We're friends," Kristen said meekly.

"Barely."

She wasn't wrong.

"Yeah, barely, but I've known him since I was eight years old, that counts for something. We were friends, even if we weren't that close." This was all true. Kristen wasn't lying to Fawn, yet she still felt as if Fawn was reading her mind, like she knew more than she was letting on. It seemed everyone was giving off that same feeling these days. Like they all had skeletons in their closet they were trying to hide.

"Fine. You can leave." Fawn pointed behind her, "out the front door."

Kristen nodded and began walking out, she could feel Fawn's eyes on her. "What about the books?" Kristen asked, turning around to face Fawn. "They're probably the only school books Griffin has." Kristen tried to force a smile but Fawn didn't reciprocate.

"I'll give them to Sammi to take to school tomorrow."

"You're not going?" Kristen asked. She knew it was a stupid question the moment the words left her mouth.

Fawn laughed maniacally, it reminded Kristen a lot of Griffin. "Yeah, because I want to be there when they interrogate the entire student body about my brother's whereabouts. No thanks. I've already done my part."

Kristen just nodded and continued her path. Fawn was no longer following her and the Hastings' home was nearly pitch black. Most of the lights off. The rich woods of the house making everything that much darker. The only room with the light on was the sitting room that Fawn had apparently been in. The soft glow of the single light was almost flickering.

There were large portraits of the family. Fawn and Griffin and their youngest brother, who was still in elementary school. Then individual ones and one of the entire family, parents and all. Kristen's eyes gravitated to the one of Griffin. He was wearing a red sweater and looked a lot more groomed than usual, but still there was that look on his face. If you studied it enough you could see all the things that made him Griffin Hastings. The tattoo poking out of his collar, the confident way he was sitting, almost like he was leaning forward, and the slight curl of his lips. It sent chills down her spine.

She broke eye contact with the picture and continued on her way. Her heart pounding in her chest.

It felt like Griffin's eyes were following her.

"I don't trust you, by the way." Fawn called from the kitchen, just as Kristen had reached the door. She said nothing as a response and went outside before Fawn Hastings had time to put things together.

Dylan's Asshole

kristmasgregory: Hey.
nikkidicky: there she is!
nikkidicky: i've been worried sick about you all day, young lady
dylpickle: u know better than to just disappear!
nikkidicky: too soon
dylpickle: sry i didnt mean it like that :/
kristmasgregory: Did Fawn and Sammi go to the Back to School Bash?
dylpickle: i thought it's the back to school banger
nikkidicky: didn't realize it even had a name
nikkidicky: thought it was just danny's annual compensation party
claire lyons: no they didn't
claire lyons: they went into the city to visit pat and harry!
claire lyons: harris** dammit
claire lyons: dyl, didn't the twins go too?
dylpickle: idk probably
kristmasgregory: Okay, thanks.
nikkidicky: wow
dylpickle: thanks for the context
claire lyons: are none of you worried about tomorrow?
nikkidicky: nah
nikkidicky: speaking of harris, who wants to see an embarrassing photo?
dylpickle: me, always

Author's Note: It's been a really long time since I last updated. I just didn't know what to do with this chapter! But here it is. The next one will be more of the questioning. Then the one after will probably be the White Party.