09 APRIL 2003

Yesterday's events were surely enough to send anyone packing from this wretched boarding school. But as if that wasn't enough, all the little frustrations Clementine came to experience broke her spirit a lot easier than usual. First, it was the squeaky, hard bunk beds. Five minutes into trying to fall asleep and out of sporadic anger, she assaulted her pillow for her life being screwed up. Second, it was the muffled dripping of the taps in the bathroom next door. Did no one know how to close a damn faucet around here? And lastly, the hyperactive dorm mates that decide to stay out until two in the morning with their girlfriends, Violet. Clementine laid wide awake, staring at the bottom of the top bunk and resentfully listening to the sounds of high-pitched giggles and whispering by the door.

"Wait, just one more," what sounded like Minerva whispered. Violet giggled.

"You're gonna get in trouble, you saw Ms Caul walking through the halls," she told her.

"One more won't hurt, will it? Come on," Minerva pleaded, before the inescapable smacks of kissing ensued. Clementine grabbed her pillow and tried to suffocate herself with it – anything to not hear what she was currently hearing. But by no means was it working. It was impossible.

Now that it was bright and early in the morning, Clementine had to enjoy her only time of peace and quiet getting ready for class. As eight o'clock rolled around and she opened the door to leave, she spotted Marlon standing across the hall with a pile of clothes in his hands.

"Morning, newbie. You sleep well?" he greeted her.

"Try not at all."

"Ah, don't worry," he nodded his head knowingly. "You'll get used to this place in no time. Then, you'll be able sleep through all the fights and riots like a baby."
Clementine glanced down at the pile in his hands, ignoring his morning pep.

"That for me?" she asked, observing the red shorts and grey shirt he held with a tilt of her head.

"Your first class is gym," he handed over the uniform. "I'll take you to the gymnasium and then I've got to head off to my own class. Physics," he then huffed. "Fuckin' hate it."

Of course, her first class had to be the most gruelling. Why couldn't she have Physics? All she would have to do is just sit there and get used to being around all these odd kids, not have them watch her do jumping jacks and climb some stupid rope that'll probably fall out of the ceiling. Once Clementine went back into her dorm and changed, she and Marlon set off to the gymnasium through the waves of students.

"Now, newbies do have to be a little more careful when it comes to their first gym class. The kids here," he huffed, "they're competitive. They're not exactly gentle when it comes to fresh meat," he informed her, leading her into the courtyard.
Clementine scoffed.

"Great. I always wanted to know what it was like to lose my teeth," she quipped.

"You want my advice?" he shifted his gaze to her.

"Not necessarily."

"Don't just stand there like your mom forced you to go to the store with her. Put some muscle into it, show 'em what you've got," he insisted, tightening his fist at her encouragingly. "A lot of these kids are all bark and no bite. But if you back down, they'll assume power over you. And that's when they start to dig in. The more you fight back, the more you'll scare 'em off," he told her. "You play much sport?" he then questioned.

"I… play baseball. Sometimes. With my brother," she hesitantly replied.

"That's good. Being fit and all," he nodded. "It's definitely going to help you out here."

As they reached the gymnasium doors, Marlon stopped her before she could open them. Truth be told, she didn't even want to enter.

"Now Coach Randall is a very nice guy, okay? Just in case you're worried. If you start to feel a little intimidated, don't worry, he's got you covered. But, y'know, I don't expect that from you anyway," he smirked.

"Anyone I might know in there?" she asked, raising an eyebrow to his odd compliment.

"Uh, let's see… first period gym…" he mumbled to himself, folding his arms. "Oh, Sarah. The girl in your dorm. Which, if I'm honest, will probably need your help more than you need hers," he shook his head with a soft grin. "Vi should be in there too if she decided not to skip today. After that, it's pretty much all new faces in there."

Taking a deep breath, Clementine nodded her head.

"Time to get humiliated," she said, facing the door.

"Hey," Marlon caught her attention, extending his enclosed fist out to her. "Good luck."

Clementine glanced down at it, mildly perplexed at his act of kindness. With unsure eyes, she mimicked his fist and bumped it against his. As if on cue, the bell rang, prompting Marlon to head off to his class and leave her to fend for herself in a gymnasium full of troubled kids.

This is gonna suck.

Taking another deep breath, Clementine opened the gymnasium doors to scattered, chattering kids making their way to the bleachers. She spotted Sarah as one of the last ones to make a move and awkwardly paced up to her, walking beside her for a few moments and waiting for her to notice.

"Oh, hey Clementine. Is this your first class?" Sarah greeted, sitting down on the bottom bleacher and tapping the spot beside her.

"Yeah. Gym," she awkwardly responded.

Of course she knows your first class is Gym, you're right here you idiot.

"It's not my favourite but… it's easy to pass," Sarah admitted. "Also, my Dad says it's detrimental for your heart to keep active, so I kind of have to."

"That's… cool," Clementine nodded over-enthusiastically. The whole 'be good' schtick that Lee had her under was already proving to be hard. It wasn't like Sarah was a hateable person, Clementine just had a hard time caring about what she was talking about.

Saving Clementine from any more bouts of awkwardness, who she assumed to be Coach Randall came out from the office in the back and unexpectedly blew his whistle, causing the kids around her to groan.

"Yeah, 'eugh' sounds about right," Coach grumbled to the class. "Rise and shine, everyone. Now, today we're skipping the lap warm ups and we're gonna be headin' straight into the game. So look alive, people. Your blood's gettin' pumped with a good ol' game of dodgeball today. This'll teach you to stay on your guard at all times. Life don't give you warm ups when it's time to get goin', alright?"

After another collective groan and whistle blow, the class was split into two teams and the game commenced.

"God, I hate dodgeball. It's so harsh…" Sarah muttered from beside Clementine.

"It's fine, just play the game," Clementine insisted with a forced smile, attempting to sound nice amidst her irritation.

Instead of sticking around to hear Sarah whine or talk about something boring, she opted to run straight for one of the balls and away from her. Managing to snag one from the midline, Clementine backed away, scouring the opposing team for any easy takers.

"You like dodgeball?" a familiar voice spoke from beside her. Clementine snapped her head towards Violet who seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"Hnng—!" she jumped. "Where did you come from?"

"Snuck in," Violet shrugged. "Marlon saw me skipping and told me you were in here. Thought you might need a friend."

Bewildered, Clementine could only nod. The more these people extended their grape vines, the more she was thrown off her guard.

"Hey, you gonna throw that?" Violet asked. "I've got my eyes on some pushy idiot in the front."

Clementine observed the opposing side, spotting the kid from the IT lab yesterday.

"The kid in the beanie?" Clementine asked.

"Uh, yeah. Gabe. Real loser if you ask me," she rolled her eyes. "I was having locker trouble last week and he said he could fix it if I pretended to be his girlfriend," she scoffed. "What an idiot."

Without a second thought, Clementine shook her head.

"I got it."

Approaching the midline, Clementine spotted Gabe and stalked his movements. Once a clearing formed and with as much precision she could muster, she launched the ball directly at him. Gabe recoiled as the it flew right into his gut, falling down on his knees and gasping for air.

"Holy shit, Clementine!" Violet called out to her from the back of the court.

One of the fiercer competitors charged up to Clementine and hurled the ball at her, causing her to instinctively wrap her arms around the incoming object. With enormous eyes, she glanced down at the ball in shock before looking up at the kid who threw it.

"Russell, you're out! Let's go!" Coach Randall signalled, blowing his whistle yet again. As he stormed off the court, Clementine backed over to Violet with the ball in hand and astonishment etched across her face.

"Any particular reason you went for him like that?" she asked with an amused grin. "Not like it was a bad thing… it was pretty cool."

"Computer troubles. You know how the rest goes," Clementine replied, a smirk soon overwhelming her. "Um, here," she passed the ball over to the blonde. "I kind of took your target."

Without a care about stealth, Violet charged up to the midline and with considerable force, threw the ball at one of the weary kids in the back corner. His equally weary friends scattered from the area as the Coach called him off the court.

"Come on, you're making it too easy!" Violet called out to the other team, being met with equally as snide remarks and middle fingers.

Together, it seemed as if Clementine and Violet were unstoppable. Marlon's advice seemed to be right, instead of fighting back, kids were trying to avoid whatever incoming balls the girls threw. All bark, no bite. Throw after throw, the other team began to thin out. Clementine didn't realize she could have this much fun during a lousy game of dodgeball, all things considered. This was… invigorating.

"Hey Clem," Violet called out to her from the back of the court. "We're going to the music room again when classes are over. It's chill after hours. No dipshits around. You wanna come?" she offered. Clementine peered over her shoulder with a shrug.

"I, uh, I don't know…" she scratched her head. "Maybe I'll—"

Before Clementine could finish her sentence, the sudden, blunt force of a ball flew right into her stomach, cutting her off and knocking the air straight out of her. Talk about karma, huh?

"Oh god," Clementine mumbled to herself with her last breaths, doubling over onto her knees. Well, there went all the fun she was having.

"How's that for too easy?!" the kid cheered, turning around to rile up the rest of his team on the bleachers.

Pestered by his boasting, Violet ran after the ball that hit Clementine and scooped it up. Without hesitation, she dashed over to the midline and launched the ball directly at the kid, knocking him square in the side of the face. The girls' team cheered as he went down, and once again did Coach Randall blow his whistle.

"Clementine! Aasim! Both of you, off the court!"

"You're an ass, Violet!" Aasim groaned from one end of the court, causing her to snicker.

"Yeah, well don't make cheap shots if you can't take them!" she shouted back.

Managing to pick herself up, Clementine dragged herself over to the bleachers where she sat next to Sarah for the remainder of the game. Violet ended up winning for their team, resulting in a massive cheer and a prolonged blow of the whistle. Clementine couldn't help but laugh as Violet chanted her self-proclaimed nickname.

"Victory Violet!"

It wasn't long until the bell sounded and Clementine's morning classes were over. Lunch hour had eventually arrived, however when the terrifying abundance of students situated themselves in the cafeteria, Clementine decided she just wasn't hungry. She couldn't be around all these people at once, going into classrooms of twenty to thirty kids were bad enough. With nothing else to do during the hour, she figured she could call Lee instead. If she couldn't talk to anyone on AOL, then there had to be a phone around here somewhere. Lee had to be wondering how she was. He seemed more scared than she did, after all. Walking through the court yard, Clementine could see Marlon in a rush as he jogged out of the administration building with some taller, preppy looking kid by his side. If she hadn't caught his attention, he may as well have run right past her. She didn't mean to interfere with whatever serious business it seemed he was going to take care of, but he was the only person she knew she could ask for help. Needless to say, he as growing on her.

"Marlon?" she called out to him as he zipped past her. He slowed down, unwilling of stopping, and turned around to the girl.

"Clem, what's up?" he asked through his panting, edging closer in the other direction.

"Do you know where the phones are? I need to make a call," she asked, folding her arms.

"Phone? Shit—uh…" Marlon fumbled with his hands, looking back at the direction at the boy he was with. "I've got something I need to take care of right now, Clementine. Find Louis, he'll help you out, alright? He knows what to do."

Clementine's face contorted as Marlon began to head off again.

"Where the hell do I find him?" she took a few steps forward.

"Admin building! Just follow the music!" he shouted back to her, walking backwards as he did. Music?

Letting out a sigh, Clementine glanced at the administration building. It was always daunting having to talk to someone new. If she was being totally honest, she knew she couldn't carry a conversation without being 'abrasive.' It was all she knew: how to drive people away and away and away until they never came back. Though it was different this time, she actually needed something from someone. She couldn't afford to drive people away, not anymore. But old habits sure did die hard. Laced with uncertainty, Clementine finally worked up the courage to find Louis, or as Marlon put it, "follow the music."

Whatever that meant.

Upon entering the building, the distant sound of piano keys and passionate singing alerted her attention. The disembodied sounds were so unearthly to hear in such a frigid, gloomy place like the boarding school, that she could have sworn she was hallucinating for a minute. It was mellow and pleasant, unlike anything or anyone she had yet to come by.

Clementine took the first right and walked down the corridor. With each step, the music grew louder. She peeked her head around the corner to see a few kids chatting on one of the sofas, while others were drawing what the Headmaster would probably call 'phallic imagery' on the white board. But as her gaze continued to shift, she landed eyes on the same dreadlock-brandishing kid from yesterday. He was focused as he played away on the grand piano, the girl beside him was singing along to that popular 4 Non Blondes song.

Immediately, Clementine backed away and turned around. She couldn't bring herself to talk to him, not after she ignored him so unkindly yesterday. She couldn't bare the possibility of begging him like an idiot to show her the phones and watching him spit it back in her face. God, why do I have to be such an asshole? she questioned herself, before shaking her head and taking in a deep breath.

"You need to call Lee. He might not be an asshole back. He can help you… you can do this," she jaggedly encouraged herself, slowly turning back around.

Without trying to think much about it, Clementine walked into the music room and slowly advanced to the piano. As she got closer, her eyes caught the red, choppy hair of Minerva beside him. She was almost taken aback at how effortlessly she sung – all Clementine knew about singing was how to sound completely awful at it. It was rude to interrupt, especially something that sounded so nice, but all she wanted to do was call home, feel some type of familiarity among unknown. This had to be done.

Clementine eventually forced herself to tap the boy on the shoulder, his head soon turning to glance up at her. Seemingly a little spooked, he did a double take at the girl, his hands accidentally mashing the keys. Minerva's singing awkwardly came to a jagged stop.

"What? What's—" Minerva cut herself off as she noticed Clementine beside the piano. "Oh, hey, uh… Clementine?" she guessed, standing up from her seat and approaching her.

"Clementine. Yeah. Your singing is, um… cool," she nodded, scratching the back of her head. "It's pretty amazing, actually."

"Shit, thanks," Minerva shyly replied, taking a moment to grin to herself before she glanced back at Louis. "If you haven't already met; Lou, this is Clementine. Clementine, Louis," she gestured between the both of them.

"Oh, we're acquainted," he assured, turning around and leaning his elbow on the end of the grand piano.

"No we're not," she squinted at him.

"Well, we will be," he smirked at her, shrugging one of his shoulders.

"So, what's up?" Minerva asked, placing a hand on her hip.

"I—uh, need to use a phone. Do you know where they are around here?" she asked, looking between the two.

"Oh, easy. I can take you," Louis perked up, stepping out from between the seat and the piano.

Eh… no, that was way too easy, she skeptically thought.

"You're… not tricking me, are you?" Clementine hesitantly asked, earning addled stares from the both of them.

"Louis? Trick you?" Minerva condescendingly chuckled, more so directing her doubts at the boy himself. "He might have his moments, but I've seen more of his pranks fail than succeed—"

"Hey," he glared back at her, his arms crossing over his chest. "I'll have you know that The Great Pen Leakage of 2002 will forever haunt Aasim for the rest of his life. That overrides all the failures."

Minerva scoffed.

"Yeah, until he got really fucking mad at you and tried to jam your Bio notes down your throat," she replied. "If it wasn't for Vi, he would've made you his personal note dispenser."

"The general consensus here being, it was a good prank," he declared.

"Mediocre at best," Minerva grumbled.

The pair then stared at her, almost as if they were waiting for her confirmation on the topic.

"…Phone?" Clementine blinked, before Louis clicked into action.

"Right, right. She's all yours, Minnie," he said, jerking his thumb at the piano.

As she hissed out an excited 'yes' and a distracted 'goodbye' to Clementine, Louis guided her out of the music room and back into the hallway. It was quiet for those first initial moments. What was she supposed to say? He already knew where to go, and to her surprise, he didn't seem bitter about yesterday's interactions. Maybe if she could just shut up and walk, would doing something in this place be somewhat easy for her to accomplish for once…

But it's never easy, is it?

"Tried talking to you yesterday," Louis began, looking back at her as they trekked through the lobby.

"Yes. I was there," she spoke with a tinge of sarcasm in her tone. He chuckled as she stared in front of herself.

"I could tell by the way you expertly ignored me that you didn't want a bar of me," he managed to maintain his smile. Clementine furrowed her brows.

"In the nicest way possible, I don't want any part of you," she remarked, again earning a chuckle out of him. He found it comical how forthright she was being. Alright…

"What, you couldn't do without the extra hand?" he joked, nudging her with his elbow. "I promise, it's good at what it does. I can show you," he continued, a grimace promptly overwhelming her face.

"That doesn't sound creepy at all," she retorted, disgruntled by his crude suggestion.

"Uh—wait, no, that's… that's not…" he stammered over his words, scratching the back of his head. "I meant it plays the piano," he gestured to his ascended right hand like it was the damn hand of Zeus himself.

"And judging by the way you talk, I bet it has a lot of alone time too," she smirked at herself.

When he suddenly halted in front of her to face her, the blunt force of regret began to seep into her gut. Damn it, what happened to not being an asshole?

"I'm…" she breathed guiltily, dropping her head.

"Quite the comedian," he observed, again, maintaining his now dulled smile. Impressed by his lack of rebuttal, she peered up at him through her self-disappointment.

"I've told my fair share of jokes," she replied, raising a brow at him.

Louis was… something. She wondered if she was misunderstanding him; something about him seemed a lot more light-hearted than her expectance let on. At both instances that she anticipated his bite, he took her contempt as if it were somehow a joke. It was incredulous to her, how he constantly deflected her blatant disrespect or how he refrained from getting frustrated with her almost effortlessly. Whatever happy pills he was taking… she didn't mind sharing. He continued to stare down at her from the higher stair level, but quickly shifted his gaze to the ground out of awkwardness.

"I wasn't trying to make you uncomfortable or anything," he assured her before grinning. "I really do play the piano."

"Yeah," she nodded, "I saw."

"Good enough to see again?" Louis persisted, his grin widening as he confidently placed his hands on his hips. Clementine stared at him worryingly.

"You really don't scare easily, do you?" she questioned, folding her arms over her chest.

"What's there to be scared of?" he retorted, his casually bold smirk plaguing his visage.

"Apparently a lot," she raised her brow curiously at him.

"Welp," he contently shoved his hands in his pockets, "if you stick around something long enough, the more used to it you'll get." His dauntless smirk held no bounds as he then gestured his head towards the rest of the staircase. "Ladies first," he insisted.

"So start walking," she gestured her head as well.

Louis started to lead the way with a shake of his head, but it wasn't long before they were brought to yet another stop. Or, rather, forced to another stop, as Louis instinctively grabbed her arm and yanked her down, forcing her to crouch with him in the centre of the staircase.

"Jesus—!" she sputtered in shock. "What's your deal—?!"

"Shh! Look…" he instructed before pointing to the hallway. The pair watched as the Headmaster left his office to walk down the corridor and into the staff bathroom.

"So?" Clementine turned to him, unimpressed.

"So, you better hope he's got food poisoning, 'cause now we can make your call," he told her, her nose then crinkling.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Students aren't allowed to just make calls here, and there's no other phone in the school that can call to the outside world," he turned to face her. "Sure, teachers have cell phones, but there's no chance they'd let us use 'em. The only phone that can make calls to the rest of civilisation is, low and behold, in Ericson's office," he said, gesturing to the door as if it were sacred. When met with her persistently confused visage, he sighed. "We can't just make a call to mommy whenever we want, the Headmaster's gotta approve and supervise your call – something I don't think you'd take to too kindly. So, sneaking into Ericson's office is the only free route to a phone you've got."

Clementine grimaced, rolling her eyes at the effort she knew she had to put into this.

"So much for staying out of trouble," she mumbled to herself.

"Oh, this is the best kind of trouble," he smirked at her, nudging her once again.

"You can get your hand off me now."

"Right, sorry," he awkwardly chuckled, retracting the hand that pulled her down. "Come on, let's go."

The teens quietly tiptoed across the hall and up to the Headmaster's door. Louis gently turned the door knob and calmly took a glance inside, signalling it was clear to her before entering.

"Alright, the phone is on his desk. I'll keep watch at the door while you make the call," he whispered to her.

"What do we do if he comes back?"

"I'll ask him about his food poisoning," he shrugged, grinning as he waited for her blunt stare to lessen. It didn't. "Don't worry, I'll distract him. But you might wanna make it short call just in case. I can't guarantee he'll wanna stick around and talk to me as much as you clearly love to."

Clementine rolled her eyes again.

"You were leaving?" she whispered back to him.

Once Louis managed to stop talking and shut the door, Clementine darted over to the black telephone set and immediately dialled Lee's number. Hoping he didn't go back to work a day early, she bit her nails as the ringing commenced, unsure of what to do if he didn't answer.

"Come on, come on…" she muttered as panic began to settle in.

"Hello?"

"Oh my gosh, Lee," she spouted out in relief, placing her hand over her chest.

"Clementine? What's wrong, sweet pea? Is everything okay up there?" he worriedly asked.

"I don't even know anymore, Lee. This place is just weird," she told him. "Everyone's either death staring me or… or they're helping me. Me? Out of all people? These kids are so… charismatic or angry or too easy going — oh, and my guide is probably the most normal out of all these people and even he looks ridiculous! He has a mullet, Lee! There's no middle ground here!" she barked into the receiver. "The teachers even let us call them by their first name! And everyone is so… whatever they are, and it's freaking me the fuck out — oh, and the Headmaster is all haughty, too, like 'Hellooo, Miss Everett! We're going to rehabilitate you! Look at my fancy office! La, la, la—'"

"Clem—"

"Speaking of his fancy office, I'm not even allowed to be in here. But the only phone that can call you is in this… stupid, nice office with stupid, nice curtains and chairs. They don't even let us make calls! Even prisons let you make calls! And—uh… maybe don't ask how I know that. I haven't been to prison, obviously, but… ugh, why am I talking about prisons?" she shuddered.

"Clem, I can't understand what the hell you're saying when you talk fast like that, you know that," Lee exclaimed before sighing. "Now give me something digestible, alright?"

"You want digestible? I want digestible," she exclaimed, breathing heavily into the receiver. "This place, Lee—I'm…" she sighed, "I'm so lost, here."

"I take it you've had a bad day, Clem," Lee responded calmly to her blabber.

"Bad day? I haven't slept at all. I haven't eaten. I'm tired, I'm dizzy, and some kid asked me to be his pretend girlfriend for a month so I pelted him with a dodgeball in gym class," she spilled, taking a breath from her quick-paced rambling.

"Well… did you win?"

"Huh?"

"The dodgeball game, did you wi—"

"That's not the point!" Clementine almost shouted into the phone, placing her hand on her hip. "But… but yeah, my team won."

"Good job, sweet pea."

"Ugh, Lee…"

"Look, Clem. Besides not sleeping and not eating, it sounds like you're havin' a totally normal high school experience," he replied, earning her outraged silence.

"…Are you serious? You're not serious—"

"Now, the kids in Macon nowadays, they aren't some bright bulbs. I know that. But you're supposed to be meetin' and interactin' with all these crazy kids. You need that experience, Clem. You need friends, real friends. Ones that aren't gonna look at you weird 'cause you can't afford a new MP3 player, or stop talkin' to you 'cause they found the cool kids," he assured her. "Talk to these people. Be nice to them. They're obviously nice to you 'cause they see somethin' in you. That's something, isn't it?"

Clementine paused for a moment to take it all in. Lee's words eerily corresponded to what Marlon had told her yesterday, about the kids appreciating 'good people.' But did she really consider herself as good of a person as they thought? Clementine didn't have a doubt in her mind that she wasn't a good person – she was tolerant until that tolerance fleeted, and all that was left was a bitter, resentful girl who dug into anyone and everyone. Good when it counts, perhaps. But good overall? She couldn't describe herself so.

However, Lee was right about one thing. These people, as strange as they were, had more character to them than anyone else she had met back in Macon. Was it fair to disregard the boarding school kids as unusually bizarre halfwits? After years of being toyed with, being held to idiotic standards with no real purpose, and left alone to boil in her bitterness, why were the kids who had helped her deemed abnormal compared to the flesh-suited robots back home? Maybe that wasn't normal. Maybe trying to be like everyone else wasn't how it was supposed to be.

"I guess you could be right," she mumbled, twiddling the phone cord between her fingers.

"You know I am, sweet pea," he chuckled from the other end. "Get some food in you, alright?"

Clementine couldn't help but grin.

"Have you walked Sam yet?" she asked, dismissing the topic as she fiddled with a snow globe from the desk.

"No, not yet. I'm a little exhausted from the drive back home," he told her. "Damn near microwaved a bottle of ketchup when I was heating up some nuggets for AJ."

Clementine quietly huffed.

"That's okay. Maybe sometime later in the week?"

"I'll try my best."

Louis' ecstatic voice could suddenly be heard greeting the Headmaster through the walls. He instantly schmoozed with him before going on to blabber about class schedules and other boring school-related matters he could muster up.

"Uh— how's AJ?" she hurriedly questioned, tapping her foot with anticipation.

"Well, he seems a little sad that you're gone… which is all the more reason to straighten yourself out and get home quicker," he replied, exhaustion evident in his tone. "We want you home, sweet pea."

Clementine sighed at his words, irritation beginning to overwhelm her.

"I'll try my best," she echoed his previous words, staring at the door cautiously.

"I have no doubt you will, Clem," he told her. "One thing I know for sure is when you wanna do somethin', you put your mind to do it. Ain't no stoppin' you."

It was as if her heart had beaten a couple thousand times in those few, short milliseconds. Clementine's lip began to quiver and she tried so desperately hard to keep her voice from shaking.

"This time… it might take me a while," she confessed, rubbing her eyes clear of any threatening tears. "Just tell AJ that I miss him. And I miss you too."

"Aw, Clem, I miss you every second you're not here," he spoke through a sad chuckle. "I'll tell AJ what you said. Do you—uh, have any words for Audrey?" he asked, his hesitation seeping through the receiver.

"Yeah…" Clementine's eyes narrowed as she sniffed, her hand dropping from her face. "Ask her how Robert is," she cryptically responded.

"Who?"

"I gotta go, Lee. I'll call you."

"Wait, Clem—"

Slamming the receiver back into its hold, she shut her eyes, embarking on the silence that was accompanied by Louis' eccentric conversational skills. It was painful – all of it. The sleepless night, the hunger, the loneliness. She had found a new form of isolation, one she unwillingly put herself through, and dear god was it eating away at her. Clementine shook her head, stepping out from behind the desk and approaching the door. Calmly, she twisted the door knob and opened it to find Louis and the Headmaster by the staff bathroom. His hand excitedly gripped the Headmaster's forearm as he jabbered on about an "artistic vision" he had for the school. An involuntary grin formed on the girl's face as Louis spotted her, and she quietly exited the office before trotting down the staircase.

"But, I get it," Louis shrugged, "Ericson's Boarding School is trying to clean up its somewhat tainted image. Buildings need to be refurbished and renovated, yada, yada, yada. However, with that being said, I think the school's music program is a great place to start," he explained.

As the Headmaster politely declined Louis' ideas, he pivoted the man aside, just enough to keep Clementine out of the Headmaster's sight and to let him watch her make her way down the staircase himself. Locking eyes with Louis, Clementine idled long enough to give him a curt nod alongside her dull, yet appreciative smile.

"Thank you," she mouthed to him.

In the midst of his ideas being shot down, he responded with a wink, something she shook her head at as she continued down the staircase.

"It's just not one of our concerns right now, Mr Scott. However, I do appreciate your vigour for our school's sustainability. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some matters to tend to in my office. If you would like, try brainstorming some ideas on how to deter misconduct in students, perhaps?"

Clementine brushed the spider webs off from her pants and leaned back up from the floor. The whole sneaking in and out situation was really dirtying all her favourite clothes, she started to wonder if AJ's window was a better solution. No, he'd just want to come with me, she thought to herself. As the dryness in her throat ached for relief, she decided to quietly pursue the kitchen for a glass of water. If Lee woke up and busted her, that would be the second time this month. And Clementine wasn't about to further ruin her almost perfect record of not being caught. Upon leaving her bedroom, the faintest of laughter from downstairs caught the girl's heightened attention. Her furrowed brows dug deeper as she cautiously walked down the stairs, the light of the living room catching her eye. She recognised Audrey's caramel-brown hair poking out from the recliner that faced the living room. The curly phone cord hyper-extended to the receiver in her hand, and once again, she let out a suppressed giggle.

"I can't, baby. You know I can't," Audrey spoke softly before letting out another chuckle. "He might be a little naïve, but he'll get suspicious if I'm gone twice a week."

Clementine's eyes widened.

"Listen—baby listen…" she paused. "We'll spend time together again next week, alright? I'll just tell him I've got an emergency meeting in Virginia or somethin'."

The voice on the other end was too muffled and static-like for Clementine to recognise, but she knew for a fact that it wasn't Lee, who was asleep all the way up in his bedroom. She knew something was up with Audrey, she could feel it ever since she went on her first business trip, like a cold settling on her skin. Why did the manager of an insurance company need to go on so many business trips?

"Hot and heavy, just like you like it, baby," she giggled again, triggering the gag reflex in Clementine's throat. Yuck.

Who the hell could she be talking to like that at three in the morning? It was disturbing enough hearing it be said to Lee through their paper thin walls, but Clementine knew for a fact that she wasn't supposed to be saying that to anyone else.

"I'll see you at work tomorrow, don't you worry," she continued. "Goodbye Robert," she spoke in a long, sultry tone before letting out one last giggle and hanging up.

"Robert…?" Clementine mumbled to herself, grimacing at the ground in front of her.

As Audrey stood up and walked around the recliner, Clementine decided to reveal herself, arms crossed and glare stern. The woman's warm smile immediately dropped into something bitter at the sight of her enraged foster daughter. She shook her head, smacking her lips at the young girl.

"Sneaking out again, huh?" Audrey folded her arms in disappointment. "Lee ain't gonna like this, kid."

"Lee won't like a lot of the things you just said," she readily retorted, stepping out from behind the staircase rail. Audrey grew shocked at her remark.

"What on earth are you talkin' about? I was on the phone to my mama—am I not allowed to call my mama in my own house?" she quietly exclaimed, a grimace setting upon Clementine's face.

"During the night? Telling her she likes it hot and heavy?" she asked incredulously, unfolding her arms. "And is Robert some cute little nickname you call her, too?"

"You've got no damn clue what you're talkin' about," she shook her head dismissively. "You keep putting yourself in other people's business, and you gonna do some serious damage, little girl."

"No, you're doing the damage!" Clementine growled, stepping up to the woman robustly. "You're hurting him and all he's done is love you! Why the hell would you do this?!"

With a knowing grin, Audrey scoffed, shaking her head at the girl's persistence.

"When are you gonna learn that what you say doesn't matter, Clementine?" she spoke hollowly, staring into eyes. "There's a reason he's always takin' my side over yours. You're just his pain-in-the-ass little girl. And I'm his wife – a grown ass woman. I got a career," she spat sternly, letting out another scoff. "You barely show up to your classes."

"He'll still believe me—"

"No," she huffed out a chuckle, "he won't. And if he does, then he's gonna be stuck with a smartass girl that ain't even his. And he's gonna hate his life so much, he'll be beggin' for me to come back. So, don't go botherin' him about what you assume you heard, because he won't believe a damn word out of your lyin' mouth."

Fists balled and nose crinkled with resentment, Clementine wouldn't advert her white-hot glare from the horrid woman that stood before her. She didn't want to go down the 'evil adoptive mother' path in life, she saw it too often in movies, but saying she loathed her foster mother would be the understatement of the century. This wasn't betrayal, this was deceit, and it had been all along. Deceit to her, deceit to Lee, deceit to everyone who ever thought she was a 'busy foster mother just doing her best.' Audrey was playing everyone.

"What's goin' on down here?" Lee's groggy voice sounded from the staircase, Clementine's hefty glare unmoving from Audrey.

"Clem just had a bad dream, is all," she gleefully replied, placing her hand comfortingly on Clementine's shoulder. "Heard her stirrin' in the night. I thought she might need to sit down and talk about it for a while, clear her head before she goes back to sleep."

With tears of anger welling up in her eyes, Clementine started to shake almost uncontrollably.

"Clem, how come you're not in your pyjamas?" Lee asked as he approached her. "Tell me you ain't sneakin' out again—"

"I don't know, she must've fell asleep before she changed," Audrey quickly replied, halting Lee's frustration. "Right, Clem?"

Lee turned his daughter around to face him, but dropped his dubious brow at the sight of her tears. Her look of disdain had cowered at Lee's concern and she quickly became overwhelmed, unsure of what to do other than unwillingly agree.

"I— I forgot to change…" was all she could muster out before breaking down into Lee's chest.

"Clem—"

"That nightmare she had…" Audrey shook her head worriedly. "It wasn't an easy one, Lee."

He glanced at his wife expectantly, and hugged Clementine tighter when she nodded in confirmation. Nightmares had followed Clementine around since the day her parents died – like a plague that wouldn't kill you, but only wear you down for the rest of your life. But today wasn't one of those days. Today, her nightmare was standing right beside her, threating to break yet another family of hers apart.

"It's just a bad dream, sweet pea," Lee assured her, rubbing her back as she tightly gripped his shirt.

Clementine's brows furrowed at the painful tinge of her memories. The stiffness of her bunk barely bothered her as the conversation from all those months ago consumed her vacant thoughts. Audrey, Lee… it had been a while since she found out. She still didn't know what to do. It was some dirty, indigestible secret that Audrey wouldn't allow Clementine to spit out. And as long as she didn't, the rancid, bitter taste would never dull. It's not like she wanted to hide it from Lee, but what Audrey said was right; he would never believe her. For all he knew, it was a petty lie she mustered up to get out of being sent to Ericson's. And she knew Audrey played the victim card so well, it was nothing shy of impossible to let him truly know what was going on.

A knock at the door brought Clementine back into her surroundings. Expecting it to be Marlon or one of her dorm mates, she uttered an approval just loud enough to be heard.

"Clementine?" an unfamiliar woman entered, prompting the girl to stand from her bunk. "I'm not sure if you were told, but I'm your guidance counsellor that's supposed to check in with you," she gently informed her, closing the door behind her. Her voice was temperate and sobering to the teen's ears.

"Uh, hello," Clementine managed to greet, clearing her throat.

"I'm Kate, I work with a lot of the kids here at the school. My job is to help you guys get through whatever you're going through, I'm all ears."

Clementine folded her arms, uncomfortable with looking her in the eyes. Did she really need this? A guidance counsellor? It wasn't like she was disturbed or plotting an attack on the school. For the most part, she just wanted to be left alone, despite how horrible it felt. All she had to do was what Lee told her and she'd be out of here in no time.

"Is this really necessary?" the girl asked apprehensively.

"For your benefit, yeah. We don't force you to come to your sessions, but we recommend you try it out and make the decision from there," Kate insisted. Nonetheless, Clementine was riddled with doubts, evident from her uncertain expression. As Kate recognised this, she approached her softly. "One of our most troubled students started his sessions a little over four years ago. He used the tools we gave him to better handle his emotions during stressful situations, and slowly but surely, the improvement came. Now, he's one of our student body leaders. He told his counsellor it was one of the best things he had ever did for himself," she explained, gently smiling at her.

"Then why's he still here? Doesn't he get to go home?" Clementine dubiously questioned.

"His situation is a bit more complicated than that. I can't tell you his name, guidance counsellors need to keep all private information confidential. Which means whatever you tell me isn't going to be gossiped around like it might between other kids. Our programs work only if you want them to. And when you do, I have no doubt you'll be happier with yourself."

"What if I already am happy with myself?" Clementine proposed with a brow raise.

"Then come and see if there's any room for improvement," she replied without missing a beat. "Not everyone is aware of what they need to change."

But Clementine sure was. Ruminating about it for a moment, she scratched the back of her head skeptically. Even the mere thought of going to counselling was challenging, but if she didn't give it a go, then she knew she wasn't trying her best. That's all Lee wanted of her. Put into perspective of all the other things she's done here, the outcome didn't seem as bad as she might anticipate.

"So, where do I go?" she eventually asked.

"My office is in Youth Services. It's on the second level of the admin building, just down the hall from the Headmaster's office," Kate informed the girl. She then reached into her pocket and gave her a pink slip. "This is your session time, Thursdays at four," she pointed specifically to the bottom of the slip. "That's an hour after classes finish, so you'll have time to get a snack, talk to your friends, your dorm mates," she smiled. "If you ever need to talk to me outside of your session times, my door is always open. My lunch hour is the same as yours, I'm usually in the break room."

Clementine nodded as she stared at the bright, pink slip in her hands. She couldn't imagine herself sitting down in some upholstered chair, talking about how sad her life is and how she couldn't escape it. Did that mean she wouldn't go? Well, no. She knew she needed someone to open up to, so why not a woman who was paid to listen to people whine for a living? It's not like she had any other options. Like Kate said, if Clementine wanted this to work, all she had to do was want it to.

"Thanks, I'll… I'll be there," Clementine agreed.