This chapter is basically the bridge. Next time we'll have the climax, and then after that, the ending. I'm so looking forward to writing these final chapters!

I see that most people enjoyed the revelation of Sam's true feelings. I'm so happy to hear that! Luna is the main character, the protagonist of this story, but the element I was mostly looking forward to writing in this story was the idea of this no-longer-requited love that Sam felt for Luna, the reasons behind their break up, and how the blonde girl dealt with it. To those that like listening to music and relating the songs to characters, I recommend listening or reading the lyrics of "Let you go" by Joshua Basset (from HSMTMTS). It's the perfect song for this version of Sam.

As always, special thanks to the readers that shared their reviews with me:

FanficFan920: Oh, yeah, I'm not the biggest Saluna fan, but I definitely care for Sam, and I wouldn't just dismiss her and Luna's relationship for my story. She plays a big role in this story and will continue to play a big role moving forward.

Decade 2009: I don't know! Let's read to find out!

STR2D3PO: Many theories are going around. Some say it's Luan. Some say it's Carol. Some say it's Luna herself (somehow lol). We'll have to wait to see.

Jeff: High school dramas, am I right? But I like how you summed it all up haha.

TristPHT: We'll eventually get around to seeing what everyone can or can't do with their powers lol I do have a bunch of cool ideas for them to showcase their abilities. But all in due time, we're still in the process of introducing them.

burtonfan422: I agree, their backstories were pretty sad. I'm a monster, I like tragic backstories, and making my main characters go through bad times hahaha.

Konnan: Thank you! I'm happy to be better, and that you liked the chapter!

meowloudly15: Thank youuuu you're the best Saluna fan out there so this is nice to hear coming from you!

Deku: I have many, many more "books" in mind haha Thank you!

EggsOnToast: I seriously hope no one in here had a high school experience as convoluted and problematic as this fanfic presents. Glad to hear that you're excited about this!

Commander369; I will eventually get around to the second epilogue for Requiem, but I need to be in the right mood for it. It's a special story for me and I can't just sit down and add more to it.

Capítulo 9:
Bet on me.

"I brought you a soda."

With my gaze aimed directly below me, I could still make out the tip of Chunk's shoes on the corner of my eyes.

"It's your favorite," he insisted.

I sighed. My right foot wouldn't stop moving, tapping the floor over and over again like I was trying to massacre an ant colony. I didn't feel thirsty nor was I in the mood to speak with anyone. Chunk had nothing to do with it, however, so I sucked it up, looked at him, and accepted the Baja Blast he offered me.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

I tried to go back to my melancholic position —leaning forward with my elbows pressed against my knees and my feet moving with a mind of its own— but my dad gently grabbed me by the chin. I closed my eyes and let him tilt my head, worryingly examining the bandages that covered the cut on my cheek.

"Does it still hurt?"

"Nah; I'm feeling better," I answered, assuming he was asking about the cut. If he'd asked me if the whole situation still hurt, my answer would have been pretty different.

He nodded, sitting next to me. I should've said it out loud instead of staying silent, but his presence was comforting, even if none of us pronounced a single word. I needed the silence to untangle all the thoughts and ideas that had intertwined inside my brain. Nothing seemed to make sense anymore, everything was confusing and hard to grasp. The headache from the blows to my head had gone away with the painkillers they'd given me when I arrived at the hospital, but the stress hadn't faltered at all.

There I was, sitting on a bench in the waiting room, looking at the end of the hall periodically, hoping to see Mazzy returning from Sam's room... if our friend even allowed her in in the first place. I hadn't checked my phone since the incident, but a furtive glance at the night sky through the window led me to believe we were closing into midnight. Chunk and Tabby arrived as soon as they heard about what had happened, but even though I was fine and had been discharged within minutes, Mazzy and I refused to leave until we could speak with Sam.

After the first two incidents, the doctors had gathered enough information to determine that the drug left the system within the hour. Even so, Sam would spend the night in observation, just in case, and would be discharged if the blood tests allowed it. Her parents were in the room with her, and we would have been able to see her… if only she'd let us in. And so far we hadn't been successful at getting her to receive us. Doctors insisted that the visiting hours were over, but Mazzy and I were stubborn and we refused to leave. After many hours trying to get to talk with Sam or her parents, I'd finally asked Mazzy to go by herself.

Maybe Sam was only trying to avoid me.

I felt some movement to my left and turned to see Tabby returning from the bathroom to sit by my side. The poor thing looked so tired, bored, and worried. She looked at me with puppy eyes, and I raised an arm for her to lean into me, wrapping it around her shoulders and resting my head over hers. Her powers seemed to be unconsciously activating since her skin felt cold, but I decided not to say anything about it.

I was still busy trying to process everything that had happened.

Sam, my best friend since childhood, my ex-girlfriend, was still in love with me. From the looks of it, she'd never stopped loving me. How could I have missed that? How was it possible for me to fail to notice it? My mind showed me memories of the last couple of months, but I now replayed them with the knowledge that every joke, every glance, every comment, every gesture, every touch she'd given me hid a secret yearning.

It was like a movie with an amazing and unexpected plot twist, one that you watch again for the second time, realizing the thousands of hidden clues you'd missed on first viewing. But whereas that fascinating experience usually left you praising the genius of the director, this time I couldn't stop feeling like the biggest idiot ever.

The worst part was knowing that Sam had gone through it all just for me. She still loved me, but she decided to put an end to our relationship without calling me out on anything, simply because she'd realized that I didn't feel the same way anymore. And she never brought it up, she never blamed me, she never held it against me, never let out that she was mad at me for it.

Or maybe she did. Maybe she hated me deep down. How could I know? Clearly, I wasn't able to read any emotions anymore. How come I never noticed? I tried to think back to the last time she sang anything to me. After we sneaked into school, I reckoned. How couldn't I read her emotions then? Was she purposely hiding them? Or maybe I hadn't taken the time to properly read what her music was trying to tell me.

I felt Tabby squirming around, making me look up just in time to see Mazzy walking towards us, dragging her feet on the cold tiles.

"Tabby, wanna come with me to the cafe? I'll buy you a snack."

She seemed ready to say no, but she stared at Mazzy and then at me, and ultimately decided to nod. She gave me a quick hug, walking away with Chunk to give Mazzy and me a little bit of privacy.

"Could you talk with her?" I asked as soon as she was within talking distance.

"Her parents let me in, but I barely spoke with her. A minute at best."

"How is she? What did she say?"

"She's… okay."

"And what did she say?"

"She, uh… Well, you see…"

"Mazzy," I insisted, "what did she say?"

She cleared her throat and looked elsewhere. "She told me she needs some alone time, and that she'll talk back to us whenever she feels ready. She asked me to please leave her alone for now… especially you."

I leaned against the wall, hitting the back of my head a bit harsher than I intended. The sharp pain paled however next to the emptiness that filled my heart.

"Did you know?" I asked her.

The way she bit her lip was eloquent enough for me.

"Know what?" She offered, avoiding a direct answer.

"You know what I mean."

"Well…"

"You knew, didn't you?"

Silence. I nodded to myself, opening the bottle and taking a big sip of soda.

"Did Sully know? Did everyone know?"

"Luna, I didn't know. Or at least she never told me."

"But you suspected it?"

"I… Well, one can't just stop loving someone overnight, right? I assumed you were both adapting to the changes. That you were still getting used to being just friends and not your significant others. In all these months haven't you had a moment where that fire sparked again?"

"Of course I have," I admitted, both for her and myself. "Sometimes… I missed our relationship. I wanted to kiss her one more time."

"That's normal," she assured me. "It's perfectly normal. If it makes you feel any better, I didn't know she was still in love with you. I just thought she might still be holding on to some embers of that love, but that they would cool with time."

"But it never went away. And I never noticed."

"Luna—"

"How could I be so blind?" I said, putting my soda aside and covering my face with my hands. "And all this time I've been talking about Carol with her! Imagine how much that must have hurt!"

Mazzy stayed silent, and I remembered how the whole incident with Sam had started. I stood up and walked closer to my friend, placing both hands on her shoulders.

"And Mazzy… I hurt you too."

"What do you mean?"

"I… should've noticed it as well. Ugh, I've really been obnoxiously blind. All this time I've been spending with Carol… I should've checked in with you first. Especially after what happened with Sully and the cheerleaders. I thought it wouldn't be much of an issue 'cause I told myself she wasn't directly involved, but she's still friends with them, and I should've—"

"Luna, "she interrupted me with equal parts softness and controlled anger. "You don't have to explain anything to me. The last couple of days or weeks that you've been with Carol were the happiest you've been in a long time. I'm not against it, girl."

"But Sam told me…"

"Look… Alright, I might have told Sam that I was pissed with you at some point. I hate the cheerleaders and Carol seems to be their friend. Yeah, part of me is mad at her for… I don't know, for seeing her around those bitches. But that doesn't mean you need to fight your feelings for me."

"But you're my friend," I said, shaking my head. "I don't wanna hurt you or rub salt into the wound."

"You could never hurt me. I mean, sometimes I get a bit mad, but I would never ask you to stop hanging out with her just cuz I don't like her! Not everything has to be so… extreme. It bothers me a bit, but it's not a super big deal. And… Sully told me that Carol was never around Chelsea or the others. So, you know… Love's complicated. Don't let other things get in the middle of it. Just do whatever makes you happy."

We smiled and soon wrapped our arms around each other.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, it's alright," she assured me as we stepped back.

"So… I guess we don't have much to do around here then."

"Not for now."

"Was she pissed off?"

"No, not really. She seemed more… sad. Or embarrassed. Maybe both."

"I see…"

She threw an arm around my shoulders as we walked to the closest elevator.

"Don't worry, Luna. Everything's gonna be alright. You've both been through so much, you'll get over this."

"You think she'll ever forgive me?" I asked, fearing the answer.

"I think you both want to apologize and won't realize that the other person has already forgiven you."

"Maybe, but I feel like what I've done must have hurt her much more than what she did to me. Tenfold at least."

"I disagree, but even if that was the case, wasn't she the one that just today said that everything can or should be forgiven? Come on, don't lie to yourself, you know everything's gonna work out for the best between you two. I've no doubt that you're being harsher on yourself than she ever was. It even looks like you're afraid of being forgiven."

I pressed the elevator button and waited in silence for it to reach our floor. I didn't say anything. I wasn't ready to admit out loud that Mazzy was right, that I didn't feel worthy of being forgiven. Not after messing up so badly. Not after causing so much pain and anguish to one of my closest loved ones, one of the few people that had ever loved me with such fierce intensity.

We walked into it in silence, going to the cafeteria to look for Chunk and Tabby. As we descended one floor after the other, I sensed that the silence kept incriminating me more and more regarding Mazzy's comments, so I tried to change the topic.

"So… You and Sully…"

She cleared her throat, pulling the neck of her shirt and looking quite anxious all of a sudden.

"W-We're not back to dating, if that's what you're asking…"

"I didn't ask anything. I was just surprised to see you two together."

"Yeah, well, you know… We talked. Tried to see where we stood."

I nodded. "Does that mean you forgave him already?"

"I told him I don't know if I'm ready to forgive him yet. And that even if I did, it would take a long time for me to fully trust him again. That it would take a lot of work to rebuild what we had… but that I'd be willing to work for it."

"And what did he say?"

She shrugged. "Nothing, that's when we heard all the yelling."

"Oh. Hehe, sorry."

"Stop apologizing!"

We laughed as we looked for my dad and sister. We quickly found them, and after letting them know that there was no point in staying in the hospital, the four of us walked to Chunk's van. We drove Mazzy to her home, and then silently returned home. We got there, and after thanking them for their support, I told them I was tired and needed to hit the hay.

"Let me know if you need anything," Chunk said, giving me a warm embrace. "I know you have trouble sharing your feelings… but I'm always here if you need me."

"I know. Thanks."

He prolonged the hug for a few extra seconds, maybe expecting me to give in and dump all my feelings on him, but eventually, he sighed and let me go, ruffling my hair and smiling at me.

"G'night, Loony."

I said goodbye to Tabby as well, and without having dinner or taking a shower, I went straight to my room, putting on some comfy pajamas and laying on my bed as soon as I could. The cold blankets under my back were comforting, but with my eyes lost in the ceiling, not even the comfiest of pillows could have relaxed me.

I had so much in my mind, especially now that to all my issues with Sam and Carol, I had to add to the mix the uncomfortable truth Mazzy had brought up.

Was I scared of being forgiven? Ever since I was a small child I had always been extremely critical of myself and my mistakes. I'd always been the kind of girl that apologizes over and over again for the smallest mistakes, and that didn't trust people when they said that it was okay, that they forgave me. Even when things were settled and everyone was over it, a small part of my mind kept worrying about me not doing enough to apologize, or the other person holding secret grudges against me.

I was harsh on myself for every little mistake. Maybe too harsh. Not in vain had I practiced for so many hours to become a great pianist, guitarist, drummer, and singer. My powers didn't allow me to play any instrument, they just made me much more acute at noticing the difference between a well-played piece of music and a poor attempt at it. And that's where my furious self-deprecation and self-criticism led me to spend entire afternoons sitting in my room, practicing and practicing until my fingers could barely move. Many a day was spent that way, with me not relenting until the music came out as close to perfect as humanly possible.

I expected way too much from myself, and I knew that it wasn't healthy to a certain extent. But I held myself to a higher standard than everyone else because, unlike most people, I wasn't a regular person. I was a metahuman, and we metahumans had a higher bar. We couldn't allow the same mistakes regular people made. We were supposed to be better, more responsible, more careful. The idea of a metahuman making a mistake was unforgivable since the consequences tended to be much worse than a common mistake.

Some of those mistakes would be with me for the rest of my life.

Needing a way to vent, to unload my emotions, I sat up and stretched my arm to grab the acoustic guitar that rested next to my bed. I put it over my lap and began strumming without even thinking, trying to focus on the emotions that poured out of my skin, singing to depurate my soul from them.

This is my all-time low
Somehow it feels so familiar
Somehow it seems so familiar
I feel like letting go
And every second that goes by
I'm screaming out for a second try

Sam had introduced me to that song. She wanted me to teach her how to play it on the base, and I had been more than happy to break it down for her. Just like me, she played intuitively, learning songs by ear. The biggest difference was that, unlike me, she had no superhuman power to help her understand music right away, which usually made it much more practical to let me listen to a song and break down the chords and notes.

I loved hearing her playing bass. That's how I fell in love with her, with her music acting as an open window to her soul. A window she consciously opened for me, luring me in, showing me her true colors and bare soul to me, with nothing to hide.

Or at least that's how it'd been for the longest time.

Said goodbye
To my best friend
Sometimes there's no one left to tell me the truth...

I didn't think Sam would be capable of keeping secrets from me. She knew about my powers, I trusted in her more than I trusted my own family. We were supposed to be on the same page, but now that wasn't the case anymore. And even though part of me wanted to shift all the blame in her direction and pretend that I hadn't done anything wrong in this situation, what I felt for Sam wasn't anger, but guilt.

Had it been up to her our relationship wouldn't have ended. She hadn't given up on us. It was me who wouldn't requite her love, who stopped loving her as strong as I used to. Maybe I should've tried harder. Spend more time with her, go back to those first steps in our relationship where everything was an adventure, where every move we made let us experience new sensations, new feelings, where we explored uncharted waters.

It's gonna kill me
The rest of my life
Let me apologize while I'm still alive
I know it's time to face
All of my past mistakes
I've got to live with them the rest of my life

The harmony of my voice and the guitar was broken by an insignificant vibration that wouldn't have bothered anyone else in normal circumstances, but that my powers allowed me to feel like a great disturbance, completely ruining my immersion. And just when I was about to get to the bridge.

Distracted and annoyed, I put my guitar aside and searched in my bag until I grabbed my phone and checked the notifications. A few channels I was subbed to uploaded some videos, the Jellyfish had won their game, there were some reports of Muscular Fish roaming the state of Michigan, and, of course, I had over a dozen conversations with new messages.

I laid back with a grunt. I had precisely zero intentions of reply to messages that would all probably be about what happened to Sam. It wasn't the right time and I wasn't in the right state of mind to get to it. I marked the entire app as 'read' and put my phone aside.

I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to think about anything. Of course, I didn't manage to do it, but eventually, exhaustion took over, and at some point in the middle of the night, my eyes closed and I fell asleep.

To say that sleeping helped me rest would be a mere technicality. Yeah, it complied with the metabolic functions that sleep is supposed to do, but as far as my mental health was concerned, my dreams were far from pleasant.

I forgot most of it shortly after waking up, but above everything, I could remember the feelings. Guilt, pain, treason, grief. I remembered the happiness of smelling fresh cookies, the cold surface of glass against my nose, and then the horror. It didn't take a genius to know what my nightmares had shown me.

It was Saturday, so I didn't feel guilty for sleeping until eleven in the morning. I even took my time under the shower, taking advantage of the acoustic in the bathroom to sing love ballads that, for some reason, came to mind.

Cause I think we messed this up
falling in and out of love.
I wish I could pick a different end
Can we go back to being friends?

Once sanitized and changed with some clothes for the rest of the day, I went straight to the kitchen. Chunk was at work, and through the closed door to Tabby's room I could hear the sound of the TV, so I had the house practically to myself as I prepared breakfast.

I also used that time to finally check the messages on my phone. As expected, most of my classmates had written to me, asking about me and Sam. No one else had heard her confession, so I didn't have to explain anything. I copy-pasted the same generic message to all of them. That I was fine, that Sam would most likely be discharged this morning, that I was thankful for their concern and that everything was fine.

The only chat that required more attention and a particular approach was Carol's, who had texted me twice the previous night.

"Luna, I just heard what happened, are you okay? Please let me know if you need anything," she'd texted me shortly after the incident. And then, a couple of hours later, she sent me an audio message. I pressed Play and put my phone next to my ear.

"Hey, Luna," she said and hearing her voice so close to me gave me chills. "I know you're probably busy and pretty anxious right now, but I just wanted to let you know that… What happened earlier between Sam and I wasn't your fault. I don't blame you. And I don't blame her either. She's right to feel pissed off at me. I've no excuse. And if you feel the same way, I'm sorry, I really am. I should tell you this in person, and I will, to you, to Sam, and your friend Mazzy, whenever I have the chance. But… I don't know. I've been thinking about this all night and I just wanted to let you know. I'd like to think we've gotten pretty close lately, and I'd hate to ruin it just because I couldn't accept that I did something wrong. So… y'know. Let me know if you need anything. See ya."

I sighed and pressed my phone against my forehead. Why did everything have to be so hard? Why were all my relationships colliding right when I should have been focusing exclusively on my songs and the musical that was just a couple of days away? Too many mixed emotions and clashing feelings. I felt like I had several ropes tied to different parts of my body, all of them pulling in different directions. They weren't strong enough to hurt me, but they confused me, disoriented me, distracted me.

My head was starting to hurt, so I served some juice and went straight to my sister's room. Chilling with her was always relaxing, and hopefully, it would help me get some distraction. I gently knocked on her door and once she let me in, I entered her small sanctuary.

She was still wearing her pajamas, sitting on the edge of her bed as she watched her favorite princess movie. She gave me a worried glance, but I flashed a smile in her direction and sat by her side, my arm brushing her shoulder.

"Don't you ever get tired of watching this movie?" I asked, brushing her hair with my hand.

She giggled and seemed to relax when she noticed I was seemingly in a good mood. Seemingly.

"It's the best movie of all time."

"Is it though? Or do you only like it because the princess has ice powers like you?"

"Both," she admitted, shrugging. "The music's really good."

"It's catchy," I conceded.

"Wanna watch it with me?" She asked me, stopping for a second before continuing. "It feels like forever since we've done anything together."

She wasn't calling me out. She sounded completely honest, which made me feel even guiltier than if she'd complained about my failures as an older sister.

"Sure, sis. It's been a while since I've seen it," I said, getting comfortable next to her.

And for a long while, my problems disappeared as we discussed the plot of the movie and the characters, joking about the little trolls. When the main song came, we both sang to our heart's content, trying to reach those impossibly high notes that the composers had put in there just to ruin the lives of so many parents that would have to deal with their children trying to sing them over and over again.

"Not bad, not bad," I said as soon as we were done, surprised at her great singing.

"Thanks," she said, looking a little bashful. "This song… It's like… Like…"

"It makes you happy, it makes you feel like you could do whatever you want like the sky's your limit," I offered, noticing she couldn't find the words.

She laughed. "Did you really feel it?"

"Loud and clear, little one. You wear your heart on your sleeve when you sing."

"It's just that the lyrics are so inspiring! And everything she does with her powers, it makes me think I could—!"

Her enthusiasm vanished, and for a few seconds, she avoided looking at me.

"It's a nice song," she finished with a dull tone.

I had been thinking about this conversation for several days, so I had a little script figured out. I crawled through the bed to put myself right behind her, putting my legs around her and hugging her from behind, resting my head over hers. She snuggled in, leaning against my chest and letting me pamper her.

"Tabby, there's nothing I want more than for you to be happy."

"I know."

"You and Chunk are everything I have. It breaks my heart to think that something bad could happen to you."

"I know, Luna, I know."

"Superpowers are so dangerous. If we use them without thinking, they can ruin our lives. I know it sucks, but that's how it is in Royal Woods. We metas aren't lucky here, we're easy targets. I know you want to be a hero—"

"Sam talked with me about it," she rushed to say, sounding dejected. "It's too dangerous."

"It is. Although…"

I debated with myself how to bring up what I was about to tell her. She took notice of my pause and turned her head around, trying to catch a glimpse of my face.

"What?" She asked.

"Well… Look, using your powers is extremely dangerous. But… well… that doesn't mean you shouldn't ever use them."

That definitely caught her attention. I had never brought up exceptions, I had been very clear through the years in saying that using her powers was strictly prohibited, that she should try to live her life as if she had no powers. This was a big turn in the narrative I'd been trying to indoctrinate her in for so many years.

"What do you mean?" She asked with a hint of hope in her voice.

"Using your powers can put you and everyone you love in danger. So it's not like you could use them freely without worrying about the consequences. But sometimes, there might be situations where not using them can be just as dangerous if not more than using them. So… well, I trust you to be smart enough to judge the situation and realize if you should or shouldn't use them… but only as a last resource!"

"Are you for real?!"

"Yeah. It's not that I'm super into it, I really am against the willy-nilly use of our powers. But I'd be a hypocrite if I kept telling you that you shouldn't ever use them."

"Hypocrite?"

"It means I don't follow my advice."

"I know what it means, you moron," she said, laughing. "But why would that make you a—? Hold on! No way!"

She crawled away from my hug, kneeling before me, staring at me with stars in her eyes.

"You used your powers in public!" She said, pointing at me with a finger. "You did it!"

I sighed and nodded.

"Oh, wow! I never thought you would do it! Please, tell me everything!"

I'd spent many days mentally preparing myself for this moment, and yet when the time came to finally come clean with my sister, I found myself hesitating. Should I put more emphasis on the fear that I felt when I was using them, or on the adrenaline of finally unleashing the part of me that I'd chained up within me for so many long years?

Tabby expected an answer, but a soft knocking on the entry door delayed my explanation. Squinting her eyes like she thought I was trying to escape, she allowed me to leave her room and go to the living room.

I peeked through the door's peephole, and what I saw took me by surprise. I opened the door right away, trying to not look as dumbfounded as I felt, and I smiled at my unexpected visitor.

"Luan! What a surprise! Whatchu doing here?"

She was the last person I was expecting to receive a surprise visit from. I'd never even seen her outside of the rehearsals, not even in other parts of the school. Seeing her just outside my home, so out of her element, was slightly baffling.

She seemed pretty anxious, her eyes moving non-stop like she was trying to look in all directions at once. She glanced to the side and behind her, then quickly to my eyes, then to the floor, and finally to her fingers, which she fidgeted with exaggeratedly. She seemed to gather up the courage to finally look me in the eye for more than a second.

"I'm so sorry to come here unannounced!" She apologized, lowering her head and putting her palms together in front of her in an apology gesture. "B-But I didn't have your phone, and I didn't know how to get it, and I couldn't—!"

"Yo, relax," I said with a smile. "Don't worry, it's fine. I wasn't doing anything important."

From the hall to the rooms, I heard an eleven-year-old growling with fake anger. Tabby would use those words against me, for sure.

"S-Sorry. The other day I heard you talking with your friend about your home, and I seemed to hear this was the address… I didn't do it on purpose! I was just getting ready to get out of the rehearsal, and you were close by, I wasn't spying on you or anything."

I hadn't even stopped to think about how she knew where I lived. I would have assumed that someone from school told her. Her apology seemed a bit overblown. But… well, not to be too patronizing, but Luan wasn't the best regarding conversations and socializing. I decided it would probably be for the best to make it clear that it was all good.

"Don't worry, I'm usually pretty loud when I speak," I joked, before opening the door a bit more and stepping aside. "Don't just stand there, dude, come on in."

She took a few seconds to make a decision, but she finally walked inside, standing next to me and following me to the table.

"Do you want something to drink?"

"N-No, thanks, I-I'm okay."

"Alright. So, uh, what brings you here?"

"I just… you know… I wanted… Wanted to check on you after what happened to your friend."

I sighed. I had suspected as much.

"I'm good. Nothing to worry about."

She timidly pointed a finger at the bruise on my face.

"It's fine, really. It looks worse than it is."

"It looks painful… You were lucky that the police got there as fast as they did. The other times there were incidents like that, people got super violent."

"Yeah. It was kinda terrifying, but it didn't last long. So don't worry about it."

"Thank God it ended quickly. The players and the cheerleaders also started yelling a lot of awful things about themselves," she commented, looking away to the floor.

I bit my lip, trying not to think about what Sam had revealed because of that stupid drug.

"Everybody heard them," she continued. "Some tried to say they were lies, but everyone knows it was true. Whatever happened to them forced them to speak out truths. To show their real faces."

"I'd say it was more like showing the worst of them," I suggested instead. "Everyone has embarrassing or terrible things we don't want anyone to know. It's awful."

"Yeah… it is. But sometimes we forget that no one's really honest. We live in a society where everyone puts on an act, where everyone pretends to be someone they're not, where fitting in is more important than being authentic. Where everyone has things to hide, even those we think are close to us."

I thought about Sully and his cheating. In Mazzy and her insecurities. In Sam and the love she never gave up on. My three best friends, with secrets I'd never suspected.

I shook my head. I didn't like thinking about those things.

"Maybe you're right. But no one deserves to go through what's happening in the school. Especially not someone like Sam."

Luan shyly looked up to me, slightly tilting her head.

"What do you mean?" She softly asked.

"Sam's like… the best friend one could possibly ask for. She's funny, kind, always super supportive."

"She didn't seem very kind yesterday. She was pretty mean to you and Carol Pingrey. You didn't deserve that treatment, you were just having fun."

"It's… complicated."

She seemed to want to add something, but she stopped herself, carefully examining me. She finally sighed and glanced away, like she changed her mind.

"If there's anyone that doesn't deserve to go through anything like that, that's you," she told me with determination. "What I wanted to say to you yesterday was that… no one had ever worried about me as much as you do. You always say hi to me, and you ask me how I'm doing. The rest of the world ignores me like I wasn't even there. But you always take time away from your day to talk to me. And that means so, so much to me."

I smiled at her evident gratitude. I stretched a hand to hold one of her own, gently squeezing it.

"I just treat everyone else the way I want to be treated, and I worry about people as much as they show me that they deserve it. And you're such a good person, Luan. I like talking to you, you're great company."

I thought that would make her feel better. To my absolute shock, her face scrunched in a frown of sadness, and within seconds she was crying, moving her hand away from my touch.

I was stunned, not knowing what I'd done wrong.

"I-I don't deserve this…" She cried. "I'm n-not… I'm just an antisocial girl. That's why I don't have friends… no one would ever want me around."

"Hey, don't say that! Come on, dude, you're such a sweet girl. I'm sure that if you just talked to people a bit more you'd have plenty of friends."

"N-No… Not everyone is as k-kind as you. Not even my parents loved me," she mentioned, sobbing a bit harder, pressing her wrists against her eyes, "I was just another testing tube for them."

I remembered what Carol had told me about Luan's parents. Doctors and scientists that had worked for Tetherby Industries. That should have probably been enough evidence, but now, even though I wasn't entirely sure about what she meant with "testing tube", I had no doubts that they were awful people.

"B-But you're different… You're a good person. And I… I just wanted to tell you…"

"You can tell me anything," I assured her, standing up and moving around the table to stand next to her.

She wiped away her tears and stared at me with unsuspected intensity, the bags under her tired eyes showing deep worry.

"I don't think you should go to the musical."

I blinked a couple of times, making a conscious effort to close my mouth after my jaw dropped.

"Uh, what?" Was the best I could articulate.

"The school's a dangerous place lately," she told me, closing her hands around mine. "No one's safe, and the musical's gonna gather a bunch of people at the same time in the same place. And you… you've been too close to the attacks. Three incidents where you were involved. A-a-and I'm not one of those that believe the rumors about your involvement in them!"

I frowned. Rumors?

"But for one reason or the other, trouble seems to follow you. It's not your fault, I'm sure it isn't… but I feel like you're in danger. And like I said, if there's someone in the school that doesn't deserve to suffer anymore, that's you. So please, don't go to the musical. Mr. Budden can play for you. Take care of yourself. Please…"

She begged me with her eyes, filled with fear and genuine unrest. I tried to decode her words, trying to understand if she was actually asking me to not participate in the musical I had been practicing for months. The musical for which I had written part of the most important song in the play. Part of me wanted to believe that she was joking, that she couldn't possibly be suggesting that.

Her eyes, however, showed just how serious she was.

"Luan, I can't just drop out of it two days before the big day. Everyone's counting on me. We've been practicing for weeks. I can't let everyone down!"

"But something bad could happen to you if you go!" She insisted, and she looked like she was about to cry. "I don't want you to get hurt!"

I shook my head, removing my hands from Luan's grasp.

"I appreciate your worry, I really do. It's very… kind of you to worry about me this much. But nothing's gonna happen to me or anyone. There's going to be a lot of security at the auditorium, no one could get away with anything in there."

Of course, Luan didn't know that the person behind the attacks could turn invisible, but I should probably keep that piece of information to myself.

"But… if something were to happen…"

"Hey," I said, smiling at her with a fraternal instinct that grew in my chest, "I know this whole situation is scary. We're all scared, but we can't just stop living because of the fear, y'know? I'm sure nothing bad's going to happen. So don't worry, okay?"

Luan kept staring at me with watery eyes. She pursed her lips like she was struggling not to say anything else. She finally lowered her head, gently nodding.

"Okay," she whispered. "I get it."

"Don't be discouraged. Tell you what, after the musical, let's go get some ice cream to celebrate. It's on me. What do you think?"

My invitation seemed to push her even closer to breaking down. Even then, she tried to smile at me. Tried.

"Sure. I'd love that."

"Perfect!"

"Yeah… perfect."

She stood up, her hands shaking as she fixed her skirt.

"I should get going, I… I gotta do… stuff."

"Yeah, sure. Thanks for coming, seriously. And for worrying about me. I really appreciate it."

I walked her to the door, opening it up and stepping outside with her.

"You're a good person, Luna. You don't deserve anything bad happening to you."

"Thanks, Lu. You too, but as I said, you shouldn't have to worry about anything. Everything's gonna be alright. See ya at the show!"

She turned around and began walking away. "See you there."

I thought it was weird for her not to look back to me when she said it, but to be honest, that was the least weird thing in the entire conversation. I walked back into my house, trying to understand this girl a bit better. What was going on in her mind? What was she really trying to say? Why was a part of me telling me that there was something, a crucial piece of information, that I was missing?

I would have kept wondering about that strange visit, but the sound of someone clearing their throat brought me back to the real world. I turned to the hall that led to the room, where Tabby stood with her arms crossed over her chest.

It may have been her powers, but suddenly the temperature in the whole room dropped.

"So you weren't doing 'anything important', huh?" She said, her words coming out with icy judgment. "I guess spending time with your sister isn't that big of a deal."

"...I'm going to work hard for you to let this go, am I not?"

"You have no idea how much it's gonna cost you to make up for it," she mentioned before an evil grin spread on her face. "But you can start by telling me exactly when and how you used your powers. And if you give me all the details… maybe you won't wake up with ice cubes under your shirt in the middle of the night."

And that's how I told her every little detail of my recent adventures.