Sep. 7, Room 102 (Ms. Berot's Room), Goldhelm Secondary School, Vancouver; Class Time

Thorne inconspicuously eavesdropped on the gossip he heard behind him. "Did you hear about that Psykonet rumour?" a student asked.

"Oh, yeah, it spread like wildfire, and it's only the first day of school," responded the other student.

Thorne couldn't be mishearing it. They definitely said something about PsykoNet.

"What do you think it is?" asked the first student.

The second student whispered back, "To be honest, it's probably just some indie game thing."

"I mean, I know that," the first student scoffed. "But what do you think Psykonet is supposed to be?"

"Oh, that… hm…" The second student paused to think. "I mean, I heard it was some other dimension that's inside your phone."

Thorne had to strongly resist not correcting them. How did information about the PsykoNet even get out there?

Sep. 7, Room 105 (Mrs. Lydia's Room), Goldhelm Secondary School, Vancouver; Class Time

Thorne's next classroom, which he had French in, was on the other side of the hall from his Social Psychology class. So, he arrived quite early. Someone he did not expect to see was sitting near the back of the room. He immediately sat down next to the familiar face.

"Heather," he smiled. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Yeah, well, me neither," Heather sighed. "My Literature class was over capacity, so I got moved to a French class this term…"

"You sound upset… is it that bad?" Thorne asked, taking out his notebook. He noticed Heather's notebook had a cute sticker of a stylized black cat on it. It was cute. It suited her.

"Well, not really…" she sighed. "I got a priority position in next term's Literature class. But…" Heather's eyes darted around the room. "Don't bring anything up with me, unless it's a question about French."

"Huh? I'm confused… you don't want me talking with you?" Thorne asked.

"…No… Well, you of all people should know it's not black and white," Heather sighed.

"What's up? Didn't our talk, and taking you into PsykoNet help you see anything?"

"Shh!" heather hissed. "Don't talk about that. Just… don't talk at all. Just focus on the class… Like I said, I have a reputation now."

"And you gave me a reputation," Thorne harrumphed. "You know, there were students gossiping about me in the class I had before this."

"W-what…?" Heather half-gasped. "I'm… so sorry… I didn't think… that it would leak out from my private group."

"So you expected to use those girls to make you more popular, and you didn't think there would be any consequences to using other students as stepping stones? Heather, I can't believe you…" Thorne and Heather sat in silence during the remainder of the class.

"Bonjour, classe," greeted the teacher. "Comment ca va?"

One of the students in the front row responded, "Ca va bien, Mrs. Lydia."

"C'est Madame Lydia in this classroom." The teacher gave a sweet smile to the student.

"Je suis ton professeur de francais. I am your French teacher this term. My name is Madame Lydia."

Sep. 7, Courtyard of Goldhelm Secondary School, Vancouver; Lunch Break

Thorne didn't really want to see Heather after their conflict in French class, so he wandered to the courtyard to enjoy some food during his lunch break. Surprisingly, the courtyard was not very populate at the time. The only other person he saw was Snow. "Oh, hey, Snow," he waved. "Fancy meeting you here."

"Oh, hello, Thorne," she greeted. "How's your first day of school going?"

"Well… it's been a roller coaster ride. On one hand, I met a cute new guy in my Philosophy class. He's a French exchange student. On the other hand, the student I sit next to in my Social Psychology class is… intense… and Heather is in my French class, but she's… well, she's treating me like some cretin."

"I see… Say, I heard some people talking about something called 'Psykonet'. I wonder… do you know anything about that?" Snow asked.

"Me? Why would I know about that?" Thorne asked, lying to protect himself, and his tuxedo-sporting alternate identity.

"Well, I just assumed, you know?" Snow replied. "I feel like of all people who would know about it, it'd be you. No one really knows where the rumour originated, but I have my suspicions. Everyone seems to be treating it as a joke, though, so if it was you, I don't think I'd have to worry."

"I'm sorry, but… I don't know anything about it," Thorne lied.

"Oh,' Snow sighed. "Well, that's fine. I wonder what this 'Psykonet' thing could even be."

Sep. 7, Room 220 (Mr. Mark's Room), Goldhelm Secondary School, Vancouver; Class Time

Heather was already sitting in Mr. Mark's Room when Thorne finally found his way there. There were a few empty seats… Thorne was tempted to sit next to Heather, but he decided not to. Instead, he took the seat on the other end of the room from her. He somewhat regretted it… Class would have been so much less boring if he had decided to sit next to her. He caught her glancing at him occasionally. He sighed to himself… It was clear that she felt terrible about the consequences of her decisions, even if they had no negative impact on herself.

Sep. 7, Room 050 (Mrs. Weller's Room), Goldhelm Secondary School, Vancouver; Class Time

Thorne took a seat next to Heather during the final block. She sighed. "Look, I'm… I'm sorry… really…"

"No, I… I can tell you're sorry…" Thorne replied, looking into her upset eyes. "Which is why I wanted to suggest… going back."

"Going back?" Heather's eyes simultaneously widened and narrowed. "To… my H.Q.?"

"Yeah," Thorne nodded. "The Masquerade Ball is supposed to start today."

"Hm…" Heather thought for a moment. "Okay, let's do it. We'll go immediately after school."

"Heather," the teacher commented. "Focus on your work."

"S-sorry," Heather groaned.