A/N: I just had to go and fall off the face of the earth. No worries, I brought back some fresh new ideas for my future one-shots. In the meantime you should check out the current selection. Well, the good ones. Hint obvious statement hint. Also, this chapter is really short. Sorry about that, but the next one will almost definitely be longer, and if not, then I'll be posting two.

One last thing...

I'm a review whore. I like them. They're kinky.

Disclaimer: I don't own My Candy Love

Chapter 10—Busted

Amber

Monday, November 16

"This is ridiculous," Amber snapped, flinging eraser pieces off of the table. Everyone else in the library was working diligently with what time they had in class for their project, the hum of computers and scratch of pencils invading her senses. She had absolutely no idea would make for a good legend—as if she were interested in the whole thing anyway! To make matters worse, Nathaniel was sick, and very sick at that, so he'd stayed home. She herself had suggested it even, considering that he would drag himself through hell and back just to get one sheet of paper filed on time. But if she had known that they would have to spend time working on this stupid project, she wouldn't have been so generous!

Charlotte, who had been uncharacteristically distant the entire day, didn't acknowledge her friend's outburst. "Where is your dumb step-sister, anyway?" Amber huffed. "She's supposed to be working on this too!"

"Sick," the brunette replied shortly.

"Sick?" Amber didn't believe it. Nathaniel was sick, and he'd been showing symptoms on Friday. Addie had looked perfectly fine, save for the bags under her dark blue eyes, and that was just sleep-deprivation, she was sure. And, with Charlotte's strange behavior, she was beginning to wonder what had occurred that weekend. She knew something had happened, because the two always sent each other a few texts a day, and she had received none after Saturday afternoon, and none at all on Sunday, coupled by the glazed look in her friend's eye and Addie's absence. As a matter of fact, she didn't see Castiel at the moment, though she'd seen him earlier.

"Sick," Charlotte repeated.

Amber narrowed her eyes. "She was fine when I saw her Saturday," she lied.

Charlotte's eyes flickered. "She came down with it Sunday."

"How can it be so bad that she can't come to school?" she badgered her.

"Amber, if you don't want to do the assignment, don't do it. It's not like Nathaniel won't manage to get it done anyway, he works miracles when it comes to his grades. You know that better than anyone."

Still, Amber couldn't shake the feeling that something was up. Charlotte's blond step-sister attracted incident like children to candy, what with pulling Capucine out of the fire at the Reef and the incident on Halloween. Both which had to do with that thing—she could hardly stand to memorize the pale skin and red lips. Amber knew the fine line between hatred and cruelty and pure sadism, but she didn't feel one ounce of sympathy for Lilith, and she would emphasize it vocally if need be.

On the table top, Charlotte's phone buzzed.

Blue eyes met green, and the two girls lunged at the same time, wrestling desperately for the phone. "Let go," Amber hissed.

"It's my phone! What are you doing?" the other girl riposted.

In the end, Amber pulled through, snatching the phone away as she went running out of the room.

"Hey! You two get back here!" Mr. Jenkins commanded as Charlotte followed her out the door.

"Amber!" she heard her friend call as they went stampeding around several corners. Amber darted out into the courtyard, where she recognized a shock of red hair but kept running. She had reached the doors of the gym, but the sight that she caught through the small, rectangular pane made her stop before her fingers reached the handle. Immediately, she spun around, grabbing Charlotte's arm as she reached her and shoving her towards the other window. "Look!" she hissed, the thought of Castiel seeing her doing such an absurd thing suddenly escaping her as she became engrossed in the image of Zane and Jett facing each other on the other side of the doors, in the corner of the gym, half-hidden behind the stacked floor mats as the rest of the class shot played scattered games of basketball.

"Get in!" Charlotte snapped, looking stunned. "Quick!"

"I thought they had some restraining order or something?" Amber whispered, opening the door just a bit.

"They do. But I thought Zane was gone today. He's in my group for the history project, he should be in class." Charlotte disclosed. The girls slipped in, suddenly bombarded by noise. They ran across the court, knowing anyone who saw them would not be particularly interested in their motives. They made a wide detour around the side of the mats, then rushing up to the backside of them. They peeked around the corner, getting a perfect view; Zane stood on the right, dirty-blond hair mussed under his hat, and brown eyes narrowed venomously. Jett was in his P.E. clothes, holding a basketball to his waist.

"...you can just go around messing with any girl you want?" Jett snapped.

"What are you even talking about?" Zane asked incredulously.

"Don't try your bullshit with me. Addie," Jett growled. "You follow her around like you're going to get something out of it."

Zane snorted. "Addie and I are good friends. I wouldn't hurt her, or any other girl."

"Charlotte?" Jett barked, rather loudly. Said girl flinched, shrinking back slightly. Amber froze; for a moment, she thought they had been caught.

"What about her?" Zane groaned exasperatedly.

"What about—you're fucking kidding, right? You're the one that spread Lilith's stupid fucking rumors about her," Jett accused. "Don't play dumb, I know damn well that was you."

"So what? They're stupid rumors, you said so yourself. And that was last year. Chill the fuck out."

"Yeah? And what about Tessa? Ari? Leilani? You went after fucking Leilani, and now she's—" Jett halted, shaking his head. "And you were practically partners in crime with that whore, spreading shit around."

"Ha ha, Lilith? That's funny. She was easy, that's all. Besides, you were the one that believed those rumors," Zane countered.

"Yeah, before I realized that none of it was Charlotte's fault and Lilith was after her for no reason! You were just a catalyst for all her shit!" the dark-complected boy snarled.

"That's over," Zane snapped back, although his voice had shaken slightly, and something flashed in his eyes. "I'm done with all of that. I'm not going to hurt Addie. I can't do that to her, she doesn't deserve it. And I'm not going to do anything to Charlotte, either. You need to let go of all of that. You're the only one torturing yourself with the marks Lilith left behind."

"It's not over, you idiot. All the shit that's been going on isn't spontaneous—"

"Hey, asshole, you're forgetting that I was the one that was nearly strangled to death by the bitch!"

Jett guffawed coldly. They were getting progressively louder, and a glance over Amber's shoulder showed a furrowed brow from Mr. Boris, who was eyeing the maze of stacked mats suspiciously. They needed to get out there, fast.

"She's dead, moron. The body they found had already been decaying. You probably did that to yourself, knowing your dumb ass. That, or there's some other crazy bitch running around killing people. Take your pick," he spat.

"Hey, who's over there?" a deep voice boomed.

"Shit!" Zane cursed, echoing what they were all thinking. Amber and Charlotte began clawing their way off the floor, retreating behind the mat once again, when flying footsteps echoed from their previous position. Zane landed in a heap behind the mat, and as he began to move again, he froze, making eye contact with the blonde.

"What the hell?" he cried.

Neither of the two had a second to spare before Jett stepped around the stack as well. "Charlotte?" he exclaimed, as the gym teacher emerged from the other side, cornering them.

"Just what is this?" Mr. Boris demanded, looking quite irritated as he towered over them. No one moved, all sickeningly aware of their position. Amber's heart sunk. For once, she wished she had just let things alone like her big brother so often told her to do.