Until lunch, things were relatively normal. Luke introduced me to Nick, and as I expected, he was a nice guy. His insecurity stuck out like a sore thumb, although I think I was the only person who could tell. It was probably because my psychiatry class had been covering insecurity, and Nick had a lot of the basic symptoms.

"So, I know everybody else is too afraid to ask you this, but how are you feeling?" Asked Matthew, one of Luke's good friends.

I pondered the question for a second, trying to find my emotions.

"Mostly confused." I admitted, shrugging my shoulders. "And frustrated. I can usually read people pretty well, and I never suspected that anything was off with my mom, so that's pretty annoying."

"Well, don't be frustrated." Matthew assured me. "Nobody suspects their mom to be the bad guy."

"I don't necessarily know if she's the bad guy yet." I said, frowning. The others looked puzzled, and obviously wanted an explanation. "For all I know, she had a legitimate reason for doing what she did. Or maybe she's mentally ill and didn't know what she was doing."

"She's right." Bill said, joining the group. Everybody tensed and looked immensely uncomfortable. "The bad guy changes based on perception. To your biological parents, you're abductor is the bad guy. To your abductor, your biological parents are the bad guys. And to you... I don't think you have a bad guy decided quite yet."

In all honesty, I don't think I would ever think of anybody as a 'bad guy'. Unluckily, with my psychiatrist frame of mind, I always figured someone had a reason. The villains in movies usually had a reason or a mental illness or something like that. Sometimes the reason was unjustified, but they don't know that. I was really big on perspective, and that made me too nice sometimes.

"I don't." I said, more comfortable than anybody else here. I still had a bad feeling about him, but he had yet to prove himself as a bad person. "And I won't until I have all of the facts."

"Hey Aurie, wanna go help me get somethin' to drink?" Luke asked, eying Bill. I turned to him and his expression was concerned.

"Sure." I said, standing up. Luke offered his arm to me, and just as I was about to take it, Bill interrupted.

"Why do you need Aurie to help you get a drink?" He asked, acting confused.

"I was gonna offer to buy her a drink." Luke explained, still keeping his arm out.

"That's funny. I was just gonna offer to buy her a drink myself." His gaze shifted to me. "So whose drink do you want, Aurie?"

Luke was giving Bill a death stare, but Bill was staring at me expectantly. It was pretty obvious that this question wasn't just about a soda from the vending machine.

"Actually," I said, hoping Bill would stop trying to make me a prize in a competition. "I'm not that thirsty. But thank you boys."

"Do you need anything?" Bill asked, walking closer towards me.

"Uh, I think I'm good." I wasn't exactly comfortable with how close he was getting, so I stepped back.

Bill was about to say something else, until his eyes wandered last my shoulder and caught something. His face paled, and he backed away slowly

"Hey." I heard Adonis say. I turned around to face him, and his eyes were on Bill. He did not look happy. "What's going on?"

"I was just asking if Aurora needed anything." Bill said, regaining his composure. Adonis' focus went to Luke, and his face wasn't as stern.

"Same thing for you?" He asked, crossing his arms. His tone was very protective, and he reminded me of the brother I'd always wanted.

"No. I was just trying to get her away from all of the questions she keeps gettin' asked. I figured it must get annoying after awhile." By the way Luke was talking to Adonis, I figured they must have known each other or something.

"I appreciate it." Adonis said. He glanced at the rest of the group and then at me. "Hey Aurie, will you talk with me for a sec?"

"Of course." I told him, walking away from the group. "I'll see you in Gym." That was directed at Luke, and he smiled.

When we were quite the distance away from the rest of the group, Adonis stopped.

"I don't want you talking to Carver." Adonis said, a no nonsense look across his face.

"Carver?" I asked, frowning.

"William. Or Bill. Or whatever you call that asshole."

"Luke told me the same thing. Why is he so untrustworthy?"

"He's a blackmailing bastard, that's why." Adonis scoffed. "And he usually gets people in a lot of trouble. I want you away from him."

"I'm trying. He just keeps showing up, trying to talk to me. I think he might like me."

Adonis' face filled up with realization, and he cursed under his breath.

"Look, I can tell that you're the type of person that wants to fix everything, but you can't fix Carver."

"I wasn't even thinking that." I said, but I could feel the wheels turning in my head. What if he just needed someone who didn't think he was a ' bad guy'?

He looked relieved. "Thank God." He said, running his hands through his hair.

"Adonis!" A girl called. I turned around to see a pretty girl come over, her curly hair short and in two tiny ponytails. She looked over at me and smiled. "You must be Aurora." She held out her hand.

I shook it and nodded.

"I'm Clementine, Adonis' girlfriend." I looked over at Adonis questioningly, and he just shrugged. "Adonis hasn't stopped talking about you all day." I chuckled.

"Has he expressed his opinion on my choice of boys?"

"Explicitly." She laughed. "Especially about Carver. Luke, not so much."

"Luke's alright." Adonis mumbled.

The bell rang, interrupting our conversation.

"Ah, well I gotta get to dumb kid history." Adonis said, quickly giving Clementine and I a hug. She looked at me. "I have Gym next. You?"

"Same." I paused. "Are you a junior?" We started walking towards the gymnasium together, everybody else scrambling to get to their classes.

She laughed and shook her head. "Nope. But this school teaches Gym to multiple grades each period. I'm assuming they didn't do that at your old school?"

"No. We also had different classes for different genders."

"You're in for quite the ride then."

I quickly dressed out into the school's gym clothes, green shorts and yellow shirts. The clothes were a little big on me, which was odd because I was five-ten, so even if clothes were a bigger size, they usually fit.

Lilly and Rebecca were also in this class, and their clothes were a little too small.

"Looks like you're less of an elephant than you look." Rebecca said, snickering. I rolled my eyes and didn't pleasure them with a reaction.

"You wanna talk about elephants?" Clementine said, stepping in front of me. "You're the ones with clothes two sizes too small. Come on Aurie, let's go." She grabbed my arm, leading me into the gymnasium.

When we got inside she made her way over to one of her friends, some girl named Bonnie.

"Do you have any other friends in this class?" She asked me. I found Luke and Nick standing in the corner, talking to some younger girl.

"Yeah. I'll be fine, go hang out with your friends." I assured her, not taking my eyes off of them. Clementine followed my eyes, seeing who I was looking at.

"Luke is a really great guy." She told me sincerely. "So is Nick, but he takes more warming up to." After giving me a quick smile she ran to her friend, and I walked over to Luke and Nick, hoping I wasn't interrupting their conversation?

"Speakin' of the devil." Luke said smiling. I raised my eyebrows.

"All good things, I hope?"

Nick laughed and said, "Guess it just depends on what you think is 'good'."

Just as I was about to ask what that meant, we got yelled at.

"Adler, Woods, Eden, Castro, you're not getting points for standing around and talking!" I remembered Nick's last name was Adler, and that Luke's last name was Woods, so Castro must be the girl's last name.

Our teacher, Ms. Moore, told us we were playing basketball and split us up into teams.

I was put on a team with Clementine, Nick, Rebecca, and Matthew. I was the power forward, Matthew the small forward, Rebecca the shooting guard, Nick the center, and Clementine the point guard. I was actually pretty good at basketball, as were Clementine and Nick. Rebecca and Matthew... Not so much.

"Matthew, you gotta block the other team!" Nick yelled, frustrated. Matthew quickly threw his hands straight up, not successfully blocking Alvin. Alvin made the shot, and Matthew gave a dejected look.

Nick, on the other hand, was happy. He was trying to make it look like he was angry, but he was absolutely relieved. As we sat down on the bench, letting another two teams face off, I sat down next to Nick.

"Why are you so intimidated by Matthew?" I asked bluntly. I was never fantastic at small talk, and I figured Nick would care much anyway.

"What?" He exclaimed, looking around to make sure nobody heard me.

"Why are you so intimidated by Matthew?" I repeated, in a quieter tone. Nick looked at me suspiciously, then shut down.

"I'm not."

"And I'm not an idiot. Why?"

"Even if I was," he countered. "It wouldn't be any of your business."

"I'm just trying to help. Haven't you ever heard the saying 'it helps to talk about it?'?"

He sighed, and stared at me warily.

"You're not gonna stop bugging me unless I tell you, huh?"

I thought about it quickly and shook my head. I was as stubborn as a mule.

"Luke."

"What?" I asked, slightly confused. Luke?

"Luke and I have been best friends for years. Then all of the sudden, Matthew shows up and Luke and Matthew are two peas in a pod." he shook his head. "Matthew's just a better guy than me."

His gaze was pointed at the floor and my eyes traveled to Matthew. He was cheering and clapping loudly, repeatedly calling Luke's name out. He was showing a lot of affection for a friend, and I couldn't believe I hadn't realized it before.

"Nick." catching Nick's attention, I nodded my head in Matthew's direction. "Does that look like he's cheering for a friend."

"No..."

"Has Matthew ever had a girlfriend?"

"I don't know." He said, scratching the back of his head. "This is the first year he's been here?"

"What about Luke?"

He looked over at me, his face asking, 'Are you serious?'.

"Seriously!" I groaned, a bit frustrated. Honestly, I could tell Luke wasn't gay, but I wanted to know if he was experienced in the dating department. I kinda lacked there.

He laughed a little, then answered somberly. "Yeah. He dated Jane Moore, Mrs. Moore's daughter. That's why she puts him on the un-active team."

I looked over to see what he meant, and quickly figured it out. Besides Luke, almost everybody on his team was just standing there. There was one kid who was trying, but he wasn't succeeding. In my eyes, that kid was better than any of the kids who weren't trying, good or not.

"Maybe he's bi?" I asked. I mean, he seemed like the kind of guy who was always dating someone, and if he'd only dated one girl...

"I really don't think so. Just because he hasn't dated girls, doesn't mean he doesn't like 'em. He asked a bunch of them out freshman year, but I think all of the rejections got to him."

I frowned a little. Luke was cute and seemingly charming. Why would all of the girls reject him?

"Then you have nothing to worry about." I said, glad I had solved one problem. He glanced between Luke and Matthew.

"You're right." He said, sitting up a little straighter. "Thanks Aurie."

I smiled. "I'm just glad to help."

"Of course Aurie's glad to help." Rebecca said, venom in her voice. "She's got a lot of things she'd like to 'help' you with, Nick."

Just as I was about to tell her what she could do with her comment, Mrs. Moore approached.

"Ladies, do we need to send you to the office?" She asked, hands on her hips. Her short blonde hair sticking to her face with sweat. Unlike most gym teachers, she actually did physical things while teaching us.

"Not me." Rebecca said, her hands flying up. "Aurie, maybe. It seems she didn't get the booklet on abstinence at Argonaut High School."

Mrs. Moore looked over at me sternly. "We do have an abstinence rule, and even if you don't follow it you'll need keep your affairs to yourself."

I looked at her in disbelief. "You're just going to believe her?" I asked, feeling like I was a bit cheated. I didn't know why she didn't like me already. Or it didn't seem like she liked me.

"I've seen who you hang out with, and they're not the best role models when it comes to abstinence."

"She just didn't know Molly." Rebecca said, fake sympathy in her voice.

"Unlike Walter, I prefer to be called by my professional name." Mrs. Moore said. She turned to me. "I've seen your grades, and don't let the people at this school ruin things for you. You have the potential to be something great, and I don't want to see that go to waste."


The rest of the day was quick, nothing too exciting to report. The only class I had with Bill was chemistry. I wasn't his lab partner or anything, but he kept staring at me the whole class period.

"Why does he keep staring at you?" Sarah, my lab partner, asked nervously. Sarah was who Nick and Luke had been talking too, and I liked her already.

"Apparently he has an interest in me." I told her, shrugging.

"Lucky." She said, her tone jealous. "No boys ever have an interest in me."

"It's just because their teenage boys. Most teenage boys are only interested in sex, and when there's an intelligent and beautiful girl-like you-, boys are intimidated because they don't want to fall in love."

She looked at me with wide eyes. "You sound just like a grown up!" Then her face fell again. "But you're smart and pretty, and Luke and Carver like you."

Luke liked me? Ignoring that comment, I tried to focus on Sarah's words, not wanting to be ditzy. "That's just because I have a big chest."

Sarah looked down at her own chest and frowned. "They're the same size they were when I was twelve." She said, disappointed.

"It's better than having a really big chest." I argued. "When I'm old, these things will sag so much. Yours will be nice for a really long time."

I then analyzed the conversation. Were we really talking about boob sizes? With Sarah, we had a few more conversations like that before the period ended. I felt like a teenager, and was relieved.

After school, I caught up with Clementine and Adonis, before they reached the library.

"So we just wait at the library for three hours?" I asked, not really upset. The library had books and Internet, two of my favorite things.

"Yep." Adonis said, popping the p. "Unless you want to get a job. There's a few options on Main Street. Clem would know all about it."

"I work at the ice cream shop, but I took the last job opening... I think Swensons, Heins and Company, and Moon n Stars have available jobs though." Clem was deep in thought, trying to think.

"I have no idea what any of those stores sell." I said glancing between their faces. Clem was still concentrating, so Adonis informed me.

"Swensons is a shoe store. There's some clothes there, but nobody really goes there for them. Heins and Company is a used book, movie, and video game store. It's pretty cool, but they don't really have anything up to date. And Moon n Stars is a tarot store. Clem wanted to work there, but they didn't have any opening when she was looking for a job."

"You'll have to skip Moon n Stars." Said Clem. "They don't hire anybody under eighteen. So that narrows it down to two choices."

"Alright. I think I'll go check them out." I said, smiling. I also wanted to leave them alone, because I had a feeling they wanted some 'alone time'. I had no idea where that would take place, and I didn't want to find out.

Main Street was cool, the shops all small and quaint. I got an application from both Heins and Company and Swensons, although Swensons seemed more enthusiastic about a seventeen year old wanting to work there.

After getting a lemonade at a cafe, I made my way back to the library, not surprised to see Clem and Adonis gone. I sat down at a table and filled out both of the applications. Although Swensons was more 'teenager-y', I felt like I was more qualified to work at Heins and Company. Either way, I'd be happy to have a job.

About an hour later, Adonis showed up, Clem not with him.

"Where's Clementine?" I asked. They seemed inseparable.

"She had to go work her shift." He said sadly. They seemed more serious about their relationship than most kid. Their age, and I was glad. Although I didn't know her very well, I really liked Clementine.

"So..." Adonis said, obviously holding his tongue.

"Just ask." I said, curious about what he wanted to know. Nobody in my family had really asked me about my experience, and it worried me a little.

"Did you have any other brothers or sisters?"

"Yeah." I nodded, feeling darkness sweep over me. "I had a little sister. She went missing two years ago. She just didn't come home from school one- oh crap!" I said, realizing something while I was in the middle of talking.

I ran outside and called Jolene, not believing how stupid I had been.

"What's wrong?" Adonis asked frantically, obviously worried.

"Hello?"

"Is this Jolene?"

"Yes. Aurora?"

"Yeah. Could you come over to the public library real quick? I think I have some more information."

"Of course. I'll be there in about ten minutes."

I flopped onto the bench, burying my face in my hands.

"Oh Sandra." I exclaimed, starting to feel sick. "I'm such an idiot!"

"What's happening?" Adonis asked, annoyance lining his voice.

How could I be so stupid. After ignoring Adonis for a few minutes I got a poke on the shoulder.

"Aurora?" Jolene said. I looked up at her and jumped to my feet, pulling my phone out of my pocket.

"Okay, can you tell me if you recognize this girl?" I asked, going through my pictures. I finally found one where you could see Sandra's face clearly, and handed the phone to her. She studied the screen and then handed it back to me.

"She looks familiar, but I don't know who she is. Can you send me that picture?"

I quickly complied, hoping that my gut instinct was wrong. She pulled out her phone and began texting. After a few taps of her fingers, she called someone.

"Chuck? Hello, it's Jolene. Did you get that picture I just sent you? Great! Well, I was wondering if you could check through some adolescent files that fit her description. Thank you." There was a long pause from Jolene, assumingly because the man hadn't found her file yet.

"Heather Sadley? Oh my. Well thank you Chuck. See you at the office."

She ended the phone call, and looked at me.

"Heather Sadley?" I asked, a lump in my throat.

"Yes. She was found murdered two years ago. Someone had stabbed her, but hadn't left any evidence. Her case was in the 'unsolved' cabinet."

I felt my heart slow, and tried to catch my breathing. The woman I had lived with for fourteen years had killed the girl I thought was my sister.

Sorry I haven't updated in so long! I've just been stuck in a deep abyss of depression, and all of my attempts at writing have been rather dark. This was as light as I could go, but I hope it was alright. Also, writing about Nick ripping my heart out of my chest and forcing myself to eat it. So, I have a question. Was anyone's mind changed about Luke after episode four? I didn't see the logic behind hating him, so I would like to see it from someone else's point of view. Anyway, please favorite, follow, review, any of that.

-Love Bella.