After school was finished, I rushed to my dorm and grabbed my shower stuff and rushed to the showers. In all that rush I forgot to grab what I would change into. I spent a good 30 minutes before deciding on a v-neck gingham print dress and chunky sandals. Once I started changing, Nathan texted me.

Hurry up thorne! We dont got all nite! D:

I snorted at the emoji, sending him a reply to calm him down. After adding makeup I headed out. Kate caught me in the hallway to compliment me and pry about my outfit.

"You look so pretty Maddie, you must be having something special in order for you to look so fabulous," her smile indicated that she already knew what I was up to. I can't lie to her, and my cheeks flared into a blush.

"You must've seen what happened this morning..?" She gasped with a beaming smile, clinging to my arm.

"I'm so happy for you!" she squealed, "-well, for you both. Nathan really needs someone. I mean!- Victoria and him have been best friends since as far as I can remember… but he so needs someone like you to take care of him for once." I couldn't help my eyebrow lifting up but I still nodded. I could already imagine the image she has of Nathan, she's too sweet for this world.

"Thank you." I meant it.

After finishing up with Kate, I continued down the hall to the stairwell. Before I could reach the stairs, a girls voice called my name. I froze, getting goosebumps. What if it's those same girls that jumped Victoria? My heart begins to beat fast as the footsteps get closer until a hand taps my shoulder.

"You're Maddison Thorne right?" the girl asked. I slowly turn, taking in the scene. I find a petite girl, her eyebrows were furrowed, her hair along chestnut color just gettin' back to its normal color after being dyed red.

"Actually it's Matilda," I answer, her eyes go wide for a second before getting serious again.

"Right, sorry. Can't really trust all the rumors," her hands were fisted into a ball, shaking for some reason. I reach for it and lead her outside. She cries out a "Hey!" in her surprise but I ignored it. We're outside where we can talk peacefully as there are not that many students around.

"Is this a calmer environment?" I ask. She nods carefully.

"Look I just wanted to warn you about Nathan,"

"Honey, if you're gonna tell me about how he's a huge bully with a lot of money and power, save it. I know what I'm getting myself into." I crossed my arms, she didn't hesitate to respond.

"That's not it. I'm not warning you about what he has, but what he can do," she carefully rubbed her abdomen carefully.

"He hurt you?" I said gesturing to her hand.

"It was almost three years ago… but it still hurts to remember." she sounded like she was about to cry. I patted her shoulder.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"No I have to!" her face became serious again, "you have to stay away from him, he'll hurt you, please, just-"

"Okay okay," I said, trying to calm her down, "Well, it's too late now since we're dating, but I'll at least try to keep him from snapping, a'right?" She bit her lip, her face still filled with worry.

"Please, don't forget what I told you," she walked back to the parking lot. I sighed and entered back into the dorms. Immediately after entering the hallway, I saw Nathan on his phone. He looked pissed.

"Yo, Nathan," I waved my hand, he ignored me at first, later acknowledging my existence with a slight nod. I walked over to him, feeling his anger in the air. He opened his door before putting the person on the other line on hold. He took out a wad of cash he had been holding onto in his hand and held it out to me. I took it in confusion. I opened my mouth to speak but by then he already had his phone out again, making his next call. He entered his room and left me dazed in the hall. I spent an hour outside of the dorms, dreamily wondering what he was doing before I headed to the parking lot. I called Warren as I got to my car.

"You busy?"
"Yeah," he said in a slurred voice. He must've been asleep.

"Well, now you are. Come over to my car," I jiggled the car handle as if moving it around would actually unlock it and not blast the alarm. He didn't respond and hung up. After a couple of minutes, I saw him at the entrance point of the parking lot. He looked like he had hurried out to meet me. I admit I was a little amused by that.

"Here," he handed out his hand with my car keys.

"Great!-" I walked over to the passenger side, "let's go to the Diner." He stood frozen at the end of the car. I shimmied my shoulders as I waited for him. After a while, he finally unlocked the car and headed to the driver's seat.

"Is this more of the punishment?" he asked with a deadpan expression.

"Now you're getting it."

The diner sat quietly with the sunset sluggishly marching down.

"Am I also gonna pay?" he asked, still with that deadpan expression. I patted him on the shoulder, opening the door.

"Don't worry, I was stood up so I'm gonna treat you to a meal for comforting me." Once inside the Diner, we took a booth facing the sunset. I forced Warren to sit next to me, he hesitantly did so but I already knew he wasn't gonna take any bait. After a long silence, he finally spoke.

"Who stood you up?" he didn't sound confident in his question.

"Who else is there to stand me up?" I retorted. He stayed silent, probably trying to choose his words wisely.

"I thought maybe that other guy you make me pick up." I couldn't hold in the laughter.

"Ah, Warren. You are so innocent."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Depends on the people that see your innocence," I turned to face him, probably looking serious and I tried to seem gentle, "Jo's just my friend… Well," I folded my hands and rested my chin on top, "We're technically an ex-couple. But we only went on a couple of dates and some nights together." I glanced over and gently elbow him, "sex." His face flushed red as his eyes looked away. Once again, I couldn't hold my laughter in. After the waitress came to take our orders, I changed the topic to something less embarrassing. Once we were done, we left to the beach and watch the sunset.

"Is this how I'm supposed to comfort you?" he asked after a while. I tried to smile at him but he still looked wary.

"You've done well so far," I smoothed my arms, trying to create friction to warm up. After some more time, I rested on the sand just a few paces away from the ocean. He came up next to me but didn't sit down.

"What about Nathan?" he asked, I couldn't help but scoff.

"What about him?" I answered shaking my head.

"Maddie?!" a voice cried out. I turned around to face Victoria who had quite the twisted face. I waved her over. She stomped over, mostly glaring at Warren.

"Whatcha up to?" I asked she crossed her arms over her stomach.

"That's what I should be asking you," she glanced over to Warren, then back at me.

"Oh relax," I stood up and patted the dirt off my ass, "He's just keeping me company since my boyfriend is busy enough to stand me up." I could feel my heart sink. She seemed to feel sympathy towards me and gave a worried expression.

"He's just really busy with the Vortex club parties. He has to plan everything by himself and get a couple of 'favors', you know, as club president."

"Aren't you the VP?" Warren asked. Both Victoria and I looked over, he backed up. Victoria rolled her eyes then looked back at me.

"Who do you think has to gather everything he orders?" she said, I'm guessing more towards Warren, "but that's beside the point, I'm sure when the parties are over, he'll give you his f- half his attention." I laughed at the odd phrase. I put my arm around Warren's, she frowned at it. I still gave her a big smile and walked back to my car. We drove back in silence, which I was happy about. I didn't want to think about anything, especially Nathan. He was just becoming too much to keep up with. Pretending to be "madly in love". I scoffed. What a joke.

When we got to the school, Warren handed my keys over. I pushed them back towards him.

"I want you to take care of my car." he threw his head back and grunted.

"Still punishment," he groaned. I crossed my arms.

"You did do a lot of damage you loose-lipped little punk. Even Victoria was affected." He hunched his shoulders.

"Until when?" he asked sighing. I patted his head and headed towards the dorms.

"Until I say so!" I called back, waving.

The next morning was a bother to get through. Nathan still met up with me in the morning and walked me to my class. We didn't have lunch together and gym class was each class left to their own devices. So we didn't really talk much during the day. When we finally did, it was already after school. Nathan was looking busily at his phone. Typing and scrolling and his eyes darting about the screen. I reached into my purse and handed back the leftover wad of cash.

"What's this?" he asked, not looking up from his phone. I rolled my eyes.

"You're so rich you don't even recognize your own money?" I laughed. He lifted an eyebrow, still unmoved.

"You know, the money you gave me to 'make up' for you standing me up."

"Why're you giving it back?" he asked. I pondered the question for a while, then came up with a good answer.

"Makes me feel cheap." I shrugged like I was still unsure of that answer. He gave a small smile and took the money back and put it, along with his phone, in his pocket. Then he put his arm around my shoulder and we continued in peace.

"I'll really make it up to you at the end of the week. I can promise you that for sure." I rolled my eyes.

"What about the Vortex Club?"

"Everything I need will be ready by the end of the week, trust me." I couldn't help the smile. I lifted my head up and gazed at him.

"Then it's a deal. We'll have another date at the end of the week."

"Ms. Thorne, may I speak with you for a moment?" Jefferson asked as I was heading out the door. He wasn't being coy about it either. All the other kids in here stared at me for a second before continuing on with their business. I stepped aside and waited 'til everyone was gone to approach Jefferson's desk.

"What's up?" I asked. He sat down and put away one of his binders.

"As you know, the month is about to come to its end. And in another week will come the results of the heroes contest," he drawled on a little more before finally coming to what I assume was the point of the conversation, "because you turned in your photo early, I think it would be best for you to continue with extra credit assignments in place of that project," he looked at me with a gentle smile. I took a moment to piece together what he was telling me.

"Ok, so what exactly did you have in mind for extra credit?" I decided to take the bait and see where it led me. Of course, I wasn't gonna do the extra credit though.

"Just simple things. Like staying after school with me. Maybe even taking a sort of field trip with a few others that have already turned in their photos." I stared at him for a few moments, seemingly thinking it over. Then he stood up, circling around me. He leaned on his desk, his arm just inches from mine.

"Its okay if you don't have an answer now," he placed his hand on my shoulder. Giving it a light squeeze. I threw my shoulder back giving him a focused glare. He put his hands up in defeat.

"I'll give you one now. No." He gave a surprised look but quickly went back to his aloof expression.

"May I know why?"

"How about the fact that I was placed into this class, even though I had already taken the class 2 years ago, so the school could parasite off you and gain some publicity. As if you didn't know that this class is being used as an extra credit class." His expression didn't change but I could tell I was getting to him. With nothing else to say I left the room. Later in the day, I walked back to the dorms with Nathan and Victoria. We all headed to Nathan's room, I had to tutor both of them in an assignment. After that, Victoria left to hang out with her friends, and Nathan and I stayed behind to watch a movie.

"I'm surprised you aren't too busy to be here right now." I teased. He shushed me. He was really into the film. "Trainspotting".

"I have to go see my parents tomorrow. So I'll be gone the whole day," he whispered, I rested my chin on my knuckles.

"Too bad you won't get to see Jefferson's face after what I told him today," I snickered.

"What?"

"Ah," I sighed in glee, "the photocopier wanted me to do extra credit after school, and I told him his class was already my extra credit. Ooh, the look on his face," I turned to see a different expression on his face than what I had imagined.

"So what?" his eyebrow was raised, his exterior was like a man looking down at a bug it had just crushed.

"Nothing," I spoke in a small voice. I hated myself for that.

"Were you hoping I hated Jefferson as much as you?" he scoffed, "were you expecting me to praise you?"

"Yeah right," I brushed it off, or at least tried, "I was just telling you something that I thought was interesting."

"Hope you realize I don't care if you spend your precious little time with Jefferson. It's all the same to me."

"As if I'd want to do that. It's bad enough I was shoved into the class because the school wanted to milk every last drop of publicity they could get out of Jefferson, now the narcissist wants me to do 'extra credit'," I raised and folded my fingers, "What a creep." I shivered and rubbed my arms.

"You hate school that much," he was finally focusing on me, "and here I thought it was all you thought about."

"Ha! All I can ever really think about is how I'm gonna pay for school." I leaned back on the headboard and nudged him with my elbow, "What about Mr. Prescott, does he have something in that demented little mind of his?"

"Photography," he didn't stutter, didn't falter. Never really thought he was into that. With his low tolerance in- actually, with all the bullshit he pulls himself, I can believe he would love something like Mark Jefferson. Not to mention their similar levels of narcissism.

"What a tortured artist," I said, though I don't think he heard since he didn't respond.

Nathan was sitting in front of me. He only had shorts on sitting on the floor. He had a sad look about him as he turned to face me.

"I've spilled the juice," he said in a small voice. I walked over to him and held him to my chest.

"Don't rely on them. You'll only need me." I said. He smiled with his cheeks turning pink. He suddenly gripped the back of my shirt, pulling me in more. I was being absorbed by him. Despite my heartbeat speeding up, I didn't want to let go. I had no strength. I was falling into him.

"Don't rely on them. You'll only need me," he repeated.

I was at my table. Victoria on my left, Jo to my right and Nathan across from me. He was spinning a red crayon on a coloring book. He was so focused. I tried to look at what he was coloring but it only became blurry and hurt my eyes as I tried to focus on the picture he was coloring.

"Nathan you'll ruin the color," I cried as tears started to well up.

"He's too busy with the vortex to care about the color. He has to focus." Victoria replied. She had a blue, sad color drawing a man's beard. I looked over to Jo with his bright orange color drawing a beach. It didn't look like a beach but something told me that's what it's meant to be.

"I'll try to figure it out for you," he said in reply to my staring. He barely glanced up from his work. Finally, I looked down to my paper. There was green sprawled all around with flowers, spirals, and scribbles. I think the words were meant to bring a message together. I suddenly grabbed it and held it out to Mr. Jefferson.

"Amazing job !" he held my back and my skin crawled, "Since you finished so early, why don't you come with me to complete some extra credit." His eyes were closed and I was scared to see them when they opened.

Nathan was sitting in front of me. He only had shorts on sitting on the floor. He had a sad look about him as he turned to face me.

"Don't leave me," he began to cry.

"Don't rely on them. You'll only need me." I said. He smiled with his cheeks turning pink.

Morning came as the light of the day hit my face. I was on Nathan's bed, he was nowhere to be found. Suddenly the door opened and in came Victoria. For a moment I gasped out, hard enough that it choked me for a second.

"Jesus, relax it's just me," she must've gotten scared from my hard exhale. She tossed an outfit in my direction, they were my clothes.

"Where's Nathan?" I finally asked after catching my breath.

"He left early this morning," she closed the door behind her and spoke in a quiet voice, "Now hurry up before the teachers catch us."

"Wow, the Victoria Chase is scared of being caught by the teachers." I teased, she shook her head with a smirk. Nevertheless, we sneaked out of the boy's dorms.

The day went about, the eyes were still all over me but at least they didn't have the balls to come up to me. Nathan wasn't back yet at the end of the day, so Victoria and I decided to head out together on the town.

"What kinda parties are they?" I asked Victoria who was trying out a couple of dresses for the Vortex club party.

"Oh you know, just like any other club," she was adjusting the folds forming around her waist, "well, sometimes we have themed parties, but those are usually for special occasions." She spun around with a glamorous smile. I rubbed my chin.

"It's a little gaudy for a simple party?"

"Guess your right," she looked back at the mirror, "I think I'll still buy it." Forgive my eye roll, I thought to myself. I stood up with the outfit I was deciding on. Not for the party, just to have something new. A red see-through shirt, a black miniskirt, a black bralette and a pair of maroon colored heels.

"Are you sure that's all you want?"

"Unlike you Victoria, I don't have the privilege of my family's money." She had offered to buy me an outfit or 2 but with my big ego, I didn't want her to buy me anything.

"Last time I do charity work," she replied. I stopped and let out a short laugh, shaking my head.

Night came and I still hadn't heard from Nathan. I only hope he doesn't cancel again. Why?

"Because Victoria can't fight a hundred fangirls at once."

You sound like you'd be disappointed for being stood up again.

"Well, who wouldn't? It's a great insult to their pride." I sighed and let myself float to the depths of my dreams. Hoping I wasn't gonna have that same weird dream from last night.

Friday- and the date- came upon us. I made sure not to repeat my mistake from last time and dressed less excessive. I put on a pair of skinny jeans, the new bralette and a soft sweater on top. Knee-high boots to put the outfit together. Five minutes before the hour, I grabbed my purse and headed to his dorm. No Katie to stall with and no weird girl to get in my way. Just before entering the boy's floor, he texts me that he's waiting outside. At the parking lot, there are other students heading out, too. I find my way to where he's parked and we head out.

"Downgraded much?" He said. We'd been quiet for most of the ride, so it was weird that he was speaking now.

"It's insurance," I glanced at him, he didn't look away from the road.

"Coulda just changed after that," he retorted.

"It was a hassle to get in and it would've been a hassle to get out." I rested my head on the window. The bumps in the road made it hard to drift to sleep. We were arriving at the location anyways. It was the parking lot to the beach; instead of leading me down, he led me upwards. I took one look at the trail and was relieved I'd chosen flat shoes.

At the top, we took a rest at the bench near the edge. I took a peek at the bottom. First, my mind went to Jo and how he would've loved to jump off this cliff. Then it immediately switched to my stomach that was now taking refuge at my hips.

"If you don't like it, don't go near it dumbass!" Nathan ordered. I did as he suggested and backed away and took a seat next to him.

"What a date," I commented, he didn't respond and leaned back into the bench. The view was pretty nice at least. Though the company could be better.

"I bet if you took a photo of this scene, Jefferson would orgasm by just looking at it." I joked. I guess Nathan took it seriously and stood up and took a picture. I couldn't help the surprised face.

"You realize I was joking right."

"I know, but I also know he would cream his pants at this picture," He joked while putting away his phone. Guess he doesn't like Jefferson as much as I thought he did.

"As breathtaking as this view is, is there anything else on the agenda?" I asked before the sun was starting to set.

"Yeah there's more, I'm not completely despicable-" Suddenly his phone rang. He ignored it but then it started up again. He took a glance at it, froze, then hung up, but he didn't put his phone away. He continued to text something, then stood up and headed down the slope. I stood up to follow but was stopped as he turned to face me.

"I'm gonna have to take a raincheck." It took me a moment to realize he was talking to me. What about all he said the other day about being done with the preparations for the party?

"Well, can you at least take me back to the school? Or…" I paused, there was no way he was gonna give me a ride back home, let alone to the school. He seemed to guess I got his unspoken message and left. I returned to the bench, my throat feeling tight, my eyes burning.

This is officially the worst date I've ever been to.

The trick to using a fake I.D is really owning it. Don't try to alter your appearance in the photo, since it'll make you more suspicious. And always remember to have your story straight. Don't go for the ol' "I go to 'such-n-such' school". Say you're from outta town or traveling states. Do not, under any circumstances, go back to the same liquor store. It'll become too complicated to explain what you're doing back so soon.

On that note, I went to the liquor store just off the highway. Yes, I had to walk, thanks to my designated driver. The least he was able to do was leave me with some cash, again. The store clerk must've noticed my pissed mood and decided not to question it.

The park at this hour was crowded by teens and bums. One could hardly differentiate between them. My feet were tired from the long walk and staggering steps, but I didn't want to rest with so many sneaky bastards around. I headed to the top of the overlook, it was more work but at least it was further from everyone. The beer was gross but it washed out my anger.

I was sitting on the curb of the sidewalks paved on the original dirt trail. The people that did walk by avoided eye contact. Then suddenly, these two people came up to me.

"You look pathetic," one said, she sounded familiar, "makes me not want to go into next year."

"Glad I already got out of there." It was a different voice. I decided to look up, it took a moment, but I was able to distinguish between Rachel and her friend.

"Kids shouldn't be out this late," I spouted.

"It's barely eight o'clock!" The other one yelled out. I attempted to stand, hard to keep my balance.

"That usually means kids are up to no good,"

Would you quit calling us kids?" Rachel asked.

"Anyone younger than me is a kid," I responded.

"Like your little prince boyfriend?" The other retorted. It pissed me off.

"What could you possibly know about my relationship with him?" No more than me. The girl glared at me for a while, then glanced at Rachel who was making a weird face.

"Whatever let's go Rache, she's drunk out of her ass." With that, I turned to face the edge of the cliff. It wasn't steep but nonetheless, looking down from it was making me dizzy. I suddenly felt a hand grasp my wrist and pulled me back. The sudden shift of gravity made me topple over whoever pulled me back. "See, she can't even stand up straight, Chloe." Or maybe I hadn't toppled on top of them, more like slammed against them but not fall. The same hands held on to me until I reassured that I had regained my balance.

"Wonder if he would've sued us for killing his girlfriend," Doubt it.

"How about this, we'll take you with us to the concert," Rachel suggested so very happily.

"Ah, Rache!" The other one, I think her name was Chloe, cried.

"What concert?"

"Bet she doesn't even know who Chelsea Wolfe is!" she continued.

"I know her." I said almost really quietly, "I'm not that old." I explained after noticing their surprised reactions. Rachel looked to Chloe, who was still stunned and pulled on both our arms.

"Then let's go!" she cheered. Chloe was not happy, I guess Rachel was the leader of this duo.

A cab ride later, we arrived at the club where she was performing, from outside I could already hear the instruments- probably warming up- and the crowd cheering. There were people outside taking in tickets.

"You guys got tickets?" I asked. They both froze up. I rubbed the space between my brows. Then took out a $50. They were dazzled by the large amount. Guess he can come in handy sometimes. I approached one of the people and I'm sure she saw the face of disappointment.

"Let me guess, didn't get one on time," she said. She was multitasking, looking at me and still taking in tickets.

"More like my friends dragged me out here without any plans ahead." She exhaled and pouted, I guess thinking. She eyed the wad of cash. I smirked and fanned a few bills. She turned away, whispered something to her coworker and led us around the building. I lowered my voice and spoke to the girls.

"Let me do the talking." Rachel nodded in glee while Chloe rolled her eyes. Finally, the lady turned to face us with a stern expression.

"Let's get one thing out of the way first, I don't know you and you only handed your tickets to me," she held out her hand and waved her fingers, "second," after handing her the money, she gave us wristbands, "you didn't get these from me, you bought them yourselves online. And of course, you walked in with a larger crowd that the security didn't catch a single detail about you guys." She looked us over and walked back first. I extended my hand in front of the girls. Keeping them from going.

"We're gonna miss her!" Chloe exclaimed. I shushed her.

"This the first concert you've crashed?" I asked, then continued to the front. We saw the same girl again and went in with a large group.

House of Metal was already starting up as we entered. It was so soft and comforting. Chelsea was still looking fresh. Made sense, the concert had just started less than half an hour ago. Someone must've been handing out some drug in the air since for the rest of the night it all became fuzzy. As I swung to the beat of the music, it felt like I could feel everything around me. I don't know when I lost the girls since I didn't see them when the concert ended. Somehow, we met up outside and left, continuing the tiresome walk back.

When I awoke again, I was in somebody else's bed. I sat up, which was difficult to do without falling off the bed. My head was aching and my eyes burned from the sunlight coming through.

"Who's house is this?" I said in a muffled voice. My throat was dry as all hell, it was difficult to swallow.

"Present," Chloe said from the other side of the bed. I then realized how we'd positioned ourselves. Chloe and Rachel were on the top side of the bed, separated by my feet. Maybe the headache is from sleeping upside down.

"Where's my stuff?" I also realized I was half naked. I scooted backward to pull my feet from underneath the covers.

"Just borrow some of mine," Chloe said, "I think Rachel has some stuff in there, too." Her hand lazily pointed to the closet. I got up and surveyed their heights and proportions. Chloe was almost my height but more like she was stretched in all other parts with rounded hips. Rachel was close to my proportions but smaller. No way.

"I don't think your guy's clothes'll fit," I decided, then stretched as I grabbed my clothes.

"What about some free breakfast?" Rachel was up now, her makeup smeared underneath her eyes.

"Sounds nice, but I gotta get home," I pulled my pants on and my sweater overhead.

"Thanks for staying at Hotel Casa de la Chloe," she said, crashing back into bed and reaching for a cigarette. Scratch that, it was a blunt. After grabbing the rest of my things, I headed out. I didn't know the neighborhood well enough, either way, I decided to head towards a bus stop. At least it was Saturday.