"No one made me feel as small as you did, no one made me feel as cursed." -I Am Not Nothing by Beth Crowley

Carlos's Point of View

After he and Jay talked to the police about what Evie had told them the day before, Carlos found himself in a state of panic, so he decided to head back to his room. He found himself sitting in the window awning, wandering why the hell this had to happen.

When Jay had come to check on him around lunch time, Carlos didn't know what to tell him when asked if he was okay.

"I guess I am, I'm just worried about Evie."

"I know, bud. I am too." Jay replied, "But we have to be there for her okay?"

"I know, I know...I'm just...freaking out. This was supposed to be our fresh start, ya know? Our safe haven. And now, it's not." Carlos felt tears brim in his eyes, "What if it turns out to be worse than the Isle because of this?"

Jay looked at Carlos and nodded, but then he patted his best friend's knee and said, "This isn't like the isle, Carlos. You wanna know why?" At Carlos' nod, Jay continued, "Because here, we have hope that something can go right, even when things really really suck, ya know? Ben and Doug have been arrested for what they did. They're probably going to spend the rest of their lives in jail, or at least the majority of it. So don't worry too much, Carlos."

At this, the freckled boy got up from where he was sitting and gave the slightly older, taller boy a hug. Feeling Jay embrace him back, they stayed like that for a few minutes until Jay asked, "Do you wanna ditch classes for the rest of the day and play Mario Kart so I can kick your ass?"

At this, Carlos felt himself laugh, "I would love that. But just to warn you, you're the one who'll be getting his ass kicked."

Mal's Point of View

Mal felt bad for leaving the purple-haired diva alone in their room. But she couldn't afford to miss anymore classes. For the rest of the day, she had pretty much her resting bitch face. When she got to chemistry that afternoon, Lonnie sat next to her and asked if Evie was okay.

"Yea, she's just not feeling too well," Mal responded.

Lonnie nodded and said, "Well, what about you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, thanks." Mal replied.

"Really? 'Cause you don't look fine."

Mal felt tears brim in her eyes, something that rarely happened.

"There's just a lot of things going on that I can't talk about right now, Lonnie."

"It's okay," Lonnie responded and then grabbed Mal's hand and added, "But I'm here if you ever want to talk."

Mal muttered a simple thanks and pretty soon after that, their professor was going on about some chemicals and formulas that she didn't understand. She did try to take notes as best as she could though so that Evie would be able to help her decipher them when she was feeling up to it.

At the thought of the purple-haired girl, Mal let out a breathy sigh. She wanted nothing more than for her Evie to be okay.

She had hope, deep down, that things would work out for the best though, so she tried her best to pay attention to the rest of her lessons for the day before heading back to her and Evie's shared room.

Evie's Point of View

Evie's sobs had subsided to more of a hiccup. She soon drifted off to sleep, with her earbuds still in her ears. So, she didn't know Mal had walked back into their room until she felt something nudging her.

She opened her eyes and took out her earbuds and let out a sleepy, "Hey Mal."

"Hi E." Mal responded.

"How were classes?" Evie asked as she started to sit up.

Mal sat next to her and said, "Fine. Lonnie asked about you."

Evie nodded and said, "She's a good friend."

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yea. I guess.."

Mal simply nodded and patted her best friend's knee. Then she said, "I love you, you know that right?"

Evie smiled slightly at that and replied, "I know. I love you too."

"Can I ask you something Eves?"

"Of course, Mal. Anything."

"Why are you cutting yourself?"

At this, Evie looked down. "I don't know...Ever since that incident happened, I just feel so disgusting. I feel so much pain that I can't control. And this is the one type of pain I can control. Does that make sense?" she asked, looking back up at Mal.

Mal nodded and said, "I think I understand. It's just…I'm worried about you, E. You're not acting like yourself. And I know you feel damaged and broken. But you aren't."

"Why did this happen to me?" Evie asked as she felt tears well up in her eyes and laid her head down in Mal's lap.

Mal just looked down at her, tucking Evie's hair behind her ear, and said, "I don't know sweetie. I don't know."

At this, Evie started to sob, and Mal rubbed her arm and comforted her for a while. She knew Evie needed to be held and comforted, to feel loved and cared for. And Mal was more than willing to provide that for her beautiful best friend.

After Evie's sobs started to subside, she looked up at Mal and asked, "Is it okay if we stay like this for a while?"

"Of course, baby girl. Of course." Mal responded.

Evie sighed and felt herself start to relax. Mal's touch was the most comforting she had ever had. Growing up with her mother wasn't comforting at all. And the random slaps on the ass she received from gross men on the Isle weren't comforting. Doug wasn't comforting when he touched her, even before the incident. He was always rough and too clingy. But something about Mal's touch just felt like home to Evie. And that was something Evie had always wanted: a real home.

Mal's Point of View

Mal looked down at the purple haired diva whose head was in her lap and slightly smiled. She lightly scratched Evie's shoulder, moving her fingers in circles on the girl's arm. This, right here, was what mattered most to Mal: the beautiful blue-haired princess she was lucky enough to call her best friend.

Suddenly, Mal felt Evie start to sit up. "Are you feeling better?" Mal asked, as she reached for her best friend's hand.

At this, Evie nodded. "I'm thinking about telling Lonnie what's going on. What do you think?"

Mal looked at her best friend, thinking about the potential consequences. Lonnie was a good friend, that was very true. She seemed to care deeply about others and was fierce with the determination her mother had. Still, Mal had a hard time trusting even her closest of friends. After contemplating these thoughts, she looked at Evie and said, "I think you should do what you feel is best."

Evie stood up at this and said, "I think I want to tell her. She could help me catch up on schoolwork from the past couple of days. And I feel like it would be good to have another girl know what's going on. Because I love you, Mal and I don't want to burden you."

"Sweetie, you could never burden me," Mal said, standing up and grabbing her Evie's hand.

"Mal, you're sweet. But you need to take care of yourself too." Evie gave Mal a reassuring look, "I'm gonna text her and ask her to come over. Are you okay with that?"

"I'm fine with whatever you want to do, princess," Mal responded.

Lonnie's Point of View

It was weird for Lonnie to get a text in the afternoon from Evie asking her to come to her and Mal's room, so naturally she was suspicious. Not that she didn't trust Mal and Evie. She had grown fond of the VK's since their arrival. Still, something about the text made her feel uneasy.

Tourney practice was over and she decided it would be best to take a shower and change into clean clothes before heading to Mal and Evie's dorm. As she walked back to her dorm, thoughts ran through her head and she wasn't paying much attention. She ended up bumping into Chad Charming Jr, who yelled, "Hey! Watch it!"

"Oh...sorry. I wasn't paying attention."

But by the time the last syllable had left her mouth Chad was out of sight. That didn't bother her, however, because Chad was kind of a dick. She soon arrived in her room and quickly showered and changed into a blue pair of sweatpants and a gray tank top. Then, she headed out of her room.

Walking towards Mal and Evie's dorm, which wasn't far, Lonnie's thoughts were on Evie and the text she had sent her. It had said, Hey Lonnie. Can you come over when you get the chance? I need to talk to you about something.

Texts like that naturally gave Lonnie anxiety, as she assumed it did everyone else. However, it wasn't just the text. Both Mal and Evie had been acting strange lately, particularly Evie. She was concerned about them, but she didn't know how to help them because she didn't know what was going on.

She soon arrived at their door and knocked three times. Mal was the one who opened the door and Evie was sitting on her bed.

"Come in," said Mal.

Lonnie walked in the room and Mal shut the door. "Is everything okay?" Lonnie asked.

"Not really," responded Mal and Evie simultaneously.

At this, Lonnie went to sit next to Evie on the mattress. Mal was pacing back and forth. "What's going on?" Lonnie asked, looking Evie in the eyes.

"This information...it can't go anywhere, okay? The people who need to know know. And I'm trusting you to not tell anyone..."

Lonnie grabbed Evie's hand and squeezed. "I promise I won't tell anyone."

At this, Evie smiled ever so lightly and said, "It all started about a month ago when something terrible happened to me..."