Mensa

"Shut up. Let's take her outside, shall we? Hopefully she'll be quiet by then."

Fear, panic . . .

"I think it's time we show her how worthless she is, right? Bye, bitch."

St. Barth's, beaches, expensive clothing . . . Billings . . .

Why does that voice sound so familiar?

Why does it feel like I'm being crushed?

I awoke with a jolt, my entire body sweating. This was the first nightmare I had in a few weeks, but for some reason, I felt this dream was trying to tell me something. The sleeping pills which Noelle graciously gave to me were hidden in my bottom drawer, and I did not want to use them anymore. I realized I was becoming my mother, who spent hours and days passed out, so I quit.

Shaking my head and trying to understand what my dream was telling me, I got up and went to scrub my face off. I was still tired; the breakup between Josh and I was wearing me out, not to mention my dream. I managed to avoid everyone as I took care of myself; I was not in the mood to speak with anyone.

Trudging along Easton's campus, I found everybody up and about more than usual. I made my way into the dining hall and saw that the entire Billings table was full. Puzzled and skipping breakfast, I went straight to my friends. They were all huddled and talking in hushed tones.

"What's going on?" I asked as I came nearer. I sat down by Portia and Rose, glancing around the table.

"Hathaway's banning the final fundraiser," said Rose.

"What?"

"Yeah," supplied Lorna. "I'm beginning to hate this man." The rest of the girls began murmuring their mutual dislike. I glanced around the table and saw Noelle, stoically staring at everyone. She caught my eye and gave me a knowing look.

Noelle stood up, fixed her Michael Kors blazer and said, "Reed, let's get some meat on your bones. Are you coming?" Her head tilted off to the breakfast line; all of the Billings girls eyed us curiously. I nodded and went off, trying to ignore the stares.

"Noelle?" I asked as we went over to where the fruits and vegetables were at. "What's really going on?"

She ignored me and retrieved a red apple, a loud crunch following her dramatic bite. "Spencer's trying to stop the party. But we are going to make sure it doesn't happen." Noelle took another bite and got a tray, handing it off to me.

"How are we going to do that?"

Noelle smirked and said, "I'm going to invite all the prominent Billings alumnae and argue with him, but we have a dilemma." Here, she dumped a muffin, a bag of chips, and chocolate milk onto the tray; I never ate this stuff. Regardless, I followed her as she went to the vending machines.

"All right . . . what kind of dilemma?"

"I lost the numbers and all the contact information for all of the Billings alumnae. Therefore, I need you to raid Hathaway's office tonight and get the folder. Oh, and make copies because we can't have him–"

"No!" I all but shouted out. I stopped in my tracks, fully outraged. "You can't just expect me to waltz into his office and steal stuff! And shouldn't you have all the contact information anyway?"

"Calm down," Noelle hissed. She dragged my arm and pulled me to the side. "And no, I don't have the contact numbers because I'm the unofficial president, so I wasn't given the disk. The last meeting, I called Daddy and he did everything as a guilty favor. Now, I have to do everything on my own, and you're going to help me."

Defiantly, I shook my head. "Nope. Not a chance. Breaking and entering was pre-Billings, but this? No way." I began to walk when suddenly I felt my arm being tugged from behind.

"You can't just walk away from me, Glass-Licker." She kept a firm hold on my arm and gave me a deathly stare. "You're going to do this no matter what. Besides," Noelle said, loosening her grip, "I trust you the most. Keep that in mind, will you?" She released my arm and raised an eyebrow, waiting for my answer.

If Noelle didn't look so scary when she wanted a job done, I would have said no. If Noelle hadn't said that awfully nice statement, I still would have said no. Alas, I was a weak person. "Fine."

"Now there's the Glass-Licker I know and love."

I was scared. I had a lot at stake here, as opposed to the newbie at Easton who was vying for the Billings girls' attention. If I messed up even a little bit, I was eternally screwed. So here I was, standing in front of Hell Hall, trying very hard not to scream and leave the place.

Experience told me I had to go over to the side and go through the windows. It took me a few tries, and finally, I was granted access. Quickly, I found out that I had no area to place my feet at. There were zero cabinets around the window section; how was I going to do this?

Alright then, I was going to jump down and make as little noise as possible. Precariously, I tried to turn around and have my back face the room, but I almost tripped trying to turn around. I was still perched on the window sill. Crap. I was stuck.

I closed my eyes and tried to conjure up how the superheroes Scott watched fell down with ease. The only character who came up in my mind was Batman. So, spreading out my arms, I jumped down, biting my lip to stop from screaming. My ankles buckled beneath me, and they hurt. I hoped I didn't sprain my ankle.

After a quick inspection, I found that I was OK. My eyes scanned around to see if there was any damage around the receptionist's, but there wasn't, so I went to the headmaster's room. It was unlocked, much to my surprise. I waited for about a minute, checking for any noises; it was silent.

Click. The room was cool and dark, but the moon was fully out, covering the office with silver light. I shut the door behind me and looked around. The shelves were covered with books, so I went to the filing cabinets. The B part of the cabinet was in the second shelf; I opened it up. Every single folder in there was huge. It was time to get to work.

Most of the files weren't labeled, so it was a pain in the ass flipping through a million pieces of papers. Eventually, I found the file, which was tucked away in the back. I sighed with relief, thanking the gods of breaking and entering. Now, all I had to do was make copies as silently as I could. As I went to put the rest of the files back, another one caught my eye.

That was it. It was here; it was the shady Billings folder that everyone seemed to be afraid of. This was the folder Ivy, Josh and Headmaster Hathaway refused to show me.

Not wanting to waste anymore time (and my curiosity getting the better of me), I yanked the folder out. This one was the largest one yet. My heart drummed beneath my ribs, and my hands were shaking. Glancing at the clock, I realized I had been here for a long time. Hurriedly, I tried to read everything inside.

Date: December 29, 2009

This was after winter break, while I was stranded on the island. Why would they have meetings during their break?

Meeting #3

Officials: Cathy Jane Berger and Brett K. Wilhelm.

Witness: Joshua Hollis, Ivy Slade.

I felt as if I had been shot in the back. My suspicions were correct; Ivy and Josh were a part of this. They were a part of tearing Billings down. Ohmigod.

But why?

I read some more, and I found out that Josh and Ivy gave "testimonies", giving the board members enough evidence to tear Billings down. There were newspaper clippings of both Ariana and Sabine, their seemingly innocent faces plastered on the paper. I shuddered and flipped the paper; Thomas's handsome face covered the next page. A broken sigh escaped me, and I quickly turned the page.

Along with that, I saw many papers of former Billings girls, their antics all recorded down. There were cases of extreme hazing, bullying and late night favors with some of the teachers. All of their dirty secrets were in this folder.

So this was why they reduced Billings to a pile of rubble. We, the perfect girls, were full of drama. We, the girls who ruled Easton, were deemed unworthy by the board. People hated us. We were the breakdown of high society,and we were a threat. But were we?

The board thought so. Josh and Ivy thought so. It seemed like the entire school thought so, too.

It was time I got some answers.

I had managed to give a happy Noelle the file late that night. I didn't tell her about my discovery, but I was planning to save my anger for Josh and Ivy.

I didn't know why I was so angry with them. It wasn't such a big deal. We were rebuilding Billings, and their treachery was no longer a problem. Their project failed because we were strong enough to work for something we loved.

But they lied. Josh and Ivy lied to me. They didn't care for me. They thought since I was partying in St. Barth's, they could tear down the one place I felt at home because they felt like it. It was unfair. Did they hate Billings so much that they were willing to rip me apart also?

Currently, all of the Billings alumnae were again inside the chapel. We were forced to leave and go to class. I guess it was part of our week long punishment. It was lunch right now, and the weather had gotten considerably nicer, so Constance and I were sitting outside.

"So, Whit was totally stoked to go to the party, you know? He kept on telling me I was doing a great job and all that." She paused and took a tiny bite from her veggie sandwich. "And now, that horrid man who made me puke the entire time is saying no to our parties! Mr. Hathaway is officially not the coolest headmaster."

I laughed. "It's OK. Noelle's sorting everything out, and you can go to the party and do whatnot with Whit," I said. Constance barely did anything for this fundraiser; at least, not as much as Noelle and I.

"'Do whatnot with Whit'? What are you implying, missy?" Constance mocked. "In case if you're wondering, nothing out of the ordinary. Except . . ."

Immediately, I tuned Constance out because I saw Ivy walking all by herself. Now was it; this was my chance to confront her. "Uh, Constance, I'll talk to you later. I have something to do."

Ignoring Constance's protests, I speed walked to Ivy. She saw me and slowed down her stride, smiling at me. "Hey!"

Scoffing, I said, "Don't 'hey' me after lying to me for the longest time. Were you ever going to tell me the truth?"

"What truth? I have no idea what you're talking about," a lying Ivy said. Her perfect eyebrows furrowed; it was clearly an act.

I shook my head and stepped closer towards Ivy. "The truth about tearing Billings down!"

In an instant, Ivy's face turned stone cold. "Shit," she drawled out.

"Yeah, shit. Here's your chance to redeem yourself, Ivy," I stated.

She sighed and leaned against the wall. "Look, we – I was forced to go there and give this firsthand account of . . . everything. They left me no choice," Ivy explained.

"You had a choice, and you know it."

A moment of silence passed us. "Look, I don't love Billings. I don't particularly hate it, either. But I wasn't going to lie just to save your asses. I told them the truth; I told them about my disastrous attempt to be a Billings girl, and I certainly didn't need to tell them about my gunshot wound."

Guilt crashed on me. I was the reason why Sabine came to school; I was the reason why Ivy got shot. However, this conversation wasn't about me feeling guilty. "So, you thought you could tear down the one thing I loved the most?" I pushed.

"Look at you! You're in love with a goddamn building! It's like a secret possession of yours! You're just like the rest of the Billings girls – always drooling over material goods. I'm glad they tore the damn thing down. You guys deserved it," she spat.

"It's not something to me, OK? It's the one place where I've felt at home and the one place where I thought I could accomplish anything–"

"'The one place you've felt at home'? You've got to be kidding," Ivy cut in. "Haven't you paused to think how they treated you when you were kicked out? What about Ariana and Thomas's murder? Sabine? Billings is all about drama and pushing people away.

"Both you and I know that."

No. Billings was everything to me. All of those glitches were just that – glitches. Despite everything, it was the one place I felt normal, like a girl. I didn't have to be ashamed of my household because my friends made me feel better. I had people who were nice enough to buy things for me, so I wouldn't feel left out. And nobody, nobody, was going to stop that. It wasn't about being on top or having the latest designer clothes. It was about sisterhood, and it wasn't something any outsider would ever understand.

"What are you guys arguing about?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and saw none other than Josh. What the hell was he doing here? As I looked around, there seemed to be spectators everywhere, watching our little spat.

"The bell's about to ring. Besides, you guys are causing a lot of commotion here," said Josh, laughing a bit. "I guess we should leave?"

Upon not receiving a reply back, Josh's face fell. "OK, there's clearly some tension here. What happened?"

I was about to respond when Ivy broke through. "She knows, Josh. She knows everything."

Just like Ivy, Josh's entire body went stone cold. He immediately paled and stepped forward, outstretching his hand. "Oh, man. I – I never meant to do that. Honest to God, I didn't," Josh pleaded.

I gave a disbelieving laugh and moved back. "No need to fret over this, Josh." I paused and gathered my breathing. "It's just . . . did you guys hate me so much that you wanted Billings torn down?" I asked, voicing my deepest fear. What had I done wrong to earn this?

Instantly, Ivy and Josh softened. "No, Reed, we never hated you," Ivy replied. Josh nodded in agreement.

Josh sighed and added, "We thought we were doing it for the better. We were trying to help."

It took every ounce of me not to strangle the two. How dare they think they could do whatever? How dare believe their actions were just?

I had to leave. Now.

"Doesn't seem like it," I mumbled, turning around and leaving the two behind.

If Easton and Billings and drama taught me one thing, it was this: not everything was what it seemed. I could trust no one but myself.

A/N: Many thanks to my reviewers, although I thought we could break a hundred. No fear - we can do this! (It seems like you guys love Josh. Huh.) Many thanks to Glyndewar for beta-ing.

Next four chapters are the parties. Get ready...