A/N: Hello, all! It's me, your nerdy friend, Maddy, here to answer two reviews that I got for chapter 18. And to say, this chapter is dedicated to Silver Hair Fox, who's going to be at bandcamp for a while. Until the 28th, I think. Right?

JoonSanders: Yeah, the whole shebang with Cath and Gil happened to me, and the reason I said "don't laugh" is because it's like my fairytale moment, and I don't want someone to think it's cheesy because I'm still totally in love with the guy. Sad, ain't it?

Silver Hair Fox: I totally understand thatyou have bandcamp, I'll miss your reviews! There's a littleTasha/Jim fluff at the end of this chapter, not a lot, because of all the totally intense events of last chapter, but still...I do what I can. Love you, girl!

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"Hey, Nick! Greg!" Catherine was hiding in a corner between two lockers when they walked by.

"Cath, what's up?" Nick asked, amused at her attempts to remove herself from her hiding place. Greg was equally puzzled, but said nothing.

"Warrick told Mia, who told Jim, who told Archie, who told me, that this Ecklie guy Sara's seeing is a real creep," she said, all in one breath. "He says that this nice, sweet, sensitive guy thing is all an act."

"No offense to your mad detective skills, Cath, but…No duh!" Greg said, laughing. "He's obviously a sleazy bastard who only wants one thing."

Nick nodded, feeling gratitude that Greg had said the exact thing he was going to.

"Well," Catherine said, looking a little hurt for a second, but cheering up quickly. "I propose that we follow them on their Valentine's Day date. We'll go to the same restaurant, in disguise, of course, and make sure he doesn't try anything. We need to keep Sara innocent and un-violated!"

Nick and Greg agreed immediately, just as Catherine knew they would. "Let's hope we don't have to do anything drastic," she thought to herself as she walked away from the two boys.

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Gil was sitting in his advanced biology class, a vacant expression on his face. It was February seventh, seventeen days after the incident at the dance. His bruises had almost completely healed, and, although the other boy still hadn't been caught, there were no more threats on his life for the time being. On the downside, however, he and Catherine had barely spoken to one another, and the atmosphere weighed heavily on their shoulders whenever they were alone together, which was rarely.

"What was I thinking?" he thought to himself, remembering how bold he had been, pushing her against a wall and trying to kiss her. His mind had distorted the memory so much that, now that he thought of it, she seemed to be an unwilling participant in everything. In his thoughts, she had not wanted to kiss him, to have his arms wrapped around her waist, to be closer to him than she ever had before. His wicked imagination had invented a look of relief when the other boy had intervened.

Sighing heavily, Gil opened his textbook and stared at the page in a melancholy way. "Why can't life be as simple as science?" He thought. "Why do they let us loose on the world with no instruction, no directions on what to do in which situations, no helpful pamphlet to turn to when you can't tell what's going on?" He glanced at the empty page in his notebook, then busied himself by filling it with notes.

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Speaking rapidly in French, Sara was standing at the front of the class. She was trying desperately to explain to her teacher that she had promised Mrs. Wells that she would help decorate the balcony in Romeo and Juliet. Unfortunately, her French was less than stellar, and she stumbled over words quite often.

"Désolé, monsieur ! Je dois aider la série en haut Roméo et Juliet, j'ai dit mon enseignant que je serais là-bas ! S'il vous plaît, peux-j'aller?" Sara was pleading, her mind set on getting out of French for a day.

"Ouais," the teacher said wearily, waving a hand at her as if to say "Leave me now; spare me from hearing any more of your lousy French!"

Sara sprinted from the room, bursting into the auditorium two minutes later and apologizing to Mrs. Wells for being late. "My French teacher made me talk in French to the whole class, he wouldn't let me leave!"

Mrs. Wells smiled at her enthusiasm, pointed her to the balcony, and sat back down the front row of seats with a Stephen King novel clutched in one bony hand.

Ecklie, much to Sara's surprise, was standing on a stepladder next to the balcony, arranging a vine of silk flowers on a trellis. Sara walked over, poked him in the side, and grinned up at him when he looked down. A smile broke across his face, and he stepped down from the ladder to give her a quick kiss and ask her to grab the string of lights for the railing, please.

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Warrick vaguely acknowledged the absence of his lab partner in chemistry that morning; he was too busy thinking about Mia. Her dazzling smile, her bright eyes, the way she had said "I love you" to him on the best night of his life so far. He speculated, only for a moment, on why such a beautiful girl would choose him, a science geek with thick glasses, unnatural eyes, and a height of five-feet five.

He smiled, deciding not to question her judgment, and looked up at the teacher, who was scribbling furiously on the board. He had already copied all of his notes from the textbook, and was instead reliving the moment when Mia had first kissed him, in front of everyone, on Christmas night.

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Natasha Haan was in an almost comatose state of ecstasy. She hadn't been paying attention to the teacher for the entire period, thinking of Jim Brass, the sophomore who had danced with her so kindly at the winter formal. He had been so sweet, talking to her while they danced, smiling and laughing with her…

Tasha sighed. "He's so…dreamy," she thought, smiling a little. They hadn't talked much since that night, but she was sure he felt the chemistry between them. She didn't know how he couldn't; it was electrifying and anxious, calm and comforting all in one. She felt special when she was with Jim, like she was someone else. She wasn't sure if he felt the same, but she hoped he did. "If I even have the slightest chance with him, I'm the luckiest, happiest, most happy-go-lucky girl in the world," she decided.

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A/N: Well…That was interesting. I hope it was as good as last chapter, which I am TOTALLY IN LOVE WITH! From here on out, the Cath/Gil isn't based off me, it was just last chapter. In truth, the boy who was Gil to my Catherine is still not with me, but I am so in love with him…We're great friends, though. Andthe French that Sara says is from a free translation website, so it's not that accurate. The teacher is saying "yes", though. I know that muchFrench!Anyway, I have to go work on my friend's birthday present. Ta!

Hugs and smooches,

Maddy