This is going to climax and end soon, thank goodness. I really can't keep up long stories. I don't want to write any more psychological fanfiction, or at least any Fitzgeraldian ones. They exhaust one.

I cried about it later.

I hated doing this to Noelle, but I couldn't stop. After she realised she couldn't get me at academic studies, she turned her attention to other things. That was the day Noelle died. No more friendly greetings in the corridors at schools, no more calls or emails, just an icy silence.

I resented her for her silence. I didn't want to lose my best friend, especially when her iciness was hurting me terribly. I wanted to make her pay for it. That was when she became my rival.

This was her revenge now, to steal Sherlock from me.

The flame had been lit; it was war.

The sky was gradually lightening. I dressed quickly and went downstairs, even though I had slept little and spent most of the night worrying and thinking. I went downstairs and found Sherlock drinking tea at the empty breakfast table.

"Mother and Father have gone to the fairgrounds to set up," said Sherlock. "Eat your breakfast and we'll go and meet them."

I slipped silently into my usual place at the table. "Did Noelle do anything… strange yesterday?" I asked quietly.

Sherlock looked at me. "I know. Don't worry, she'll forget about it sooner or later."

"What…Sherlock, I never told you anything."

"I heard you pacing in your room for most of the night and when you finally fell asleep I heard you railing against Noelle in your sleep. Quite elementary, really."

After I had eaten a hurried breakfast we walked out into the mist of the fairgrounds.

"Roll up, roll up," my dad was yelling. "See the monstrous Moby Dick gobble a shipload of people!"

"Relax, Henry, the fair hasn't started yet."

"I know. I'm just practicing."

After Sherlock and I had set up the booth, we walked around the compound to see what we could see. "Beth! Over here!" screamed a voice.

We turned to see Jade and Kristall running towards us. "It's important, it's disastrous, and it's official!" panted Jade.

"National crisis! It's war!" added Kristall.

"Hang on, hang on. Slow down, and tell me what this is all about."

Jade looked at Kristall worriedly. "Shall we show it to her?"

Kristall produced a piece of paper from her bag. "It's okay. We know you're on our side. We found it on the ground just now."

"Who's on the other side?" I asked, unfolding the grubby slip and looking at the note.

"Christine: it read

Meet me at nine in the park. They'll be at the Advent Fair. Something has to be done about her. This is dead urgent.

N."

"Trouble," said Sherlock quietly.

"Can you do something about it?" I asked urgently. "This is really big trouble. Jade, stall with the answers when they ask you anything. Reply casually so they don't know what's going on. Kristall, be sarcastic to Jade."

"I need an excuse!" cried Kristall. "We've decided. Since you and Holmes obviously can't go and see what's happening, I'm going. I'll communicate to Jade, who is staying down here and she will pass on the information to you."

"Good. Now, I think you will have to pass through the park on some pretext. Lurk behind the trees at first, don't be seen and listen in. Then make a noisy entrance and ask them if they've seen, say, a camera. Say your younger brother dropped it here yesterday. I hope Christopher won't mind?"

Kristall shook her head.

"It's now a quarter to nine. Set off now, and I'll expect text messages from you about the information."

Kristall ran off for the park. I shook my head sadly. "I never thought it would come to this. It's all my fault."

Sherlock looked at me questioningly.

"If I hadn't tried to compete with her back then she wouldn't be doing this. I'm sorry," I whispered.

Sherlock didn't say anything, just hugged me.

The news came in at five past eight.

"They're here," read the text message. "I'm going to call. Go to a quiet place and don't make a noise."

We hurried to one of the storehouses and sat down on a crate. Jade's communicator rang, jarringly. She accepted the call and soon we heard the exchange.

"Does she even know you like him?" Christine was saying. "If she doesn't you're just being absurd."

"Look, I don't know what she knows!" said Noelle sharply in reply. "She always has ways of finding out things. You know her. All her Freud, the unconscious, sympto-whatever actions… she can see right through us."

"Get to the point. What do you want to do?"

"Make them break the engagement."

"You can't! For heaven's sake, maybe Holmes doesn't even like you. You're just breaking up our friendships! Why do you want to do this to Beth anyway?"

Noelle was clearly at breaking point. "She's just such a power-hungry…"

"Be reasonable. Just because she seemed to have everything she wanted doesn't mean she's power-hungry. She had a lot of unhappiness too! In fact, what right have you got to do this, seeing how you treated her at our last get-together? No wonder she wanted to organize so much this time. She's scared, you know. She's afraid you do the same thing to her again, give her the wrong instructions and make her get lost."

There was a heavy silence. We stayed frozen with anticipation.

Noelle came in again. "How did you know about the gathering?"

"Jade told me. Beth told her everything."

"Beth, Beth, Beth. Yeah, right. See, you're even taking her side! I mean, if Beth was upset, she could have just told us, right? If Beth wasn't happy she could have just said so, right?"

"It isn't as easy as that, Noelle."

"More like she wanted to see us get hurt."

"Us? There's no us in here, Noelle. It was you. You hurt her, you pay the price. I'm not involving myself."

It sounded like Christine was walking away. Then came Noelle's voice again, vicious and cutting.

"You forgot again, Christine. We've got a crack down the middle. We've got Beth, Jade and Kristall on one side and you and me on the other. If everyone votes me out for what I've done, you'll be left alone. And then, I tell you, you'll be the next to go, Miss Giry. Or you'll be their doormat for life. But if you join me, we'll still have each other."

Then, Christine's voice again. "What do you want to do?"

The answer came readily. "Spread rumours that Beth just wants to marry him for his fame. They'll be pressured to break up. I can manage from there. He'll just forget her in favour of me."

There was a uncomfortable silence, and then a word. "No."

There was the crash of someone making her way through the tall grass and an anguished voice screaming in the background.

"Go ahead, Christine Giry! Go on and see what they do to you!"

There was a click and the call ended.

The darkness of the room suddenly seemed a lot more oppressive. Things looked bad, but I still clung on to the hope that one day the silence would end and Noelle would be my best friend again.