Chapter 12:

15 Days Til' Homecoming…

…2 Days Til'.…

"How long?" A voice asked though it sounded faint and angry. She opened her lips to answer, but nothing would come out. "How long?" It asked again. She took in a deep breath. Inhale…. Inhale…. In—a hand waved in front of her eyes, "Kory? Have you been listening?" Kory snapped out of her trance as she stared into the distance. She glanced around to find many people proudly wearing yellow and black colors.

Oh yeah, she completely forgot she was at the football game. "I'm sorry, Kole, my mind has been elsewhere," Kory turned down to the football section to find Vic giving Dick a friendly pat on the back. "What were you asking?" "I was asking how long you think this game will be?" Kole groaned. Kory averts her eyes to the scoreboard and sees they are only in the 2nd quarter. "Um, we still have about an hour or two left. I'm afraid," Kole nods, "I think I'm gonna head to the concession stand and grab some gummy worms. You want anything?"

Kory shakes her head. She shrugs, then gets up and heads down the steps. Manny scoots over to Kory, his face covered in a nacho goop that drips off his freckled chin and almost unto Kory's black jeans. Instead, it lands on the steel bleachers. "Manny, I'd appreciate it if you would grab some napkins and wipe your face," He tries to look down at his chin and licks some of the substance off.

"Did I get it all off?" He didn't. Kory rolls her eyes, then gets up from her seat. "I have to go to the restroom. I'll be right back," She gives him a polite smile and then walks down the staircase. As she edges closer to the gate that cuts off the fans from the football field, she catches a glimpse of Bee and Jinx in a cheer. "Let's go, Tigers, Let's go!" They clap. The crowd joins in, "Let's go, Tigers, Let's go!". Jinx, and two other cheerleaders, gather around Bee and load her into a cheer basket.

Bee locks eyes with Kory as she preps to be thrown in the air. She doesn't show her peppy smile. Yet on her face lies a fake one that doesn't reach her eyes. Kory glances at Vic sneaking a glance at his girlfriend, who's getting ready to launch into the air. He looks so proud of her, Kory thought. She notices Dick next to him, his sunglasses making his expression unable to read. Although, through the lenses, it feels as if he's staring directly at her, sending chills through her spine. "Let's go, Tigers, Let's go!"

Bee speaks hushed to the cheerleaders next to her, and they nod. Kory turns her head over to the band and spots Herald. He watches Bee in contentment. Her heart pounded as she averted her eyes from Bee to Vic, to Herald, and to Dick. Bee followed Kory's eye direction. She swallowed the lump in her throat. "Let's go, Tigers, Let's go!" The cheerleaders yell for one last time. "5-6-7-8!" Brooke calls out. It happened in slow motion. Bee goes into the air, fake smile, and pom pom's shine brightly. She pops into a high toe-touch.

The crowd is in awe as she shines like a star. As Bee comes down from her spectacular move, the cheerleaders hold their hands, ready to catch her. However, once Bee makes contact with their hands, there's a loud thump, followed by the sound of a crack. "AH!" Bee cries out on the ground. She clutches her leg. The crowd gasps at the scene before them. The cheerleaders immediately stop their routine and all huddle around Bee. Vic begins to head over to her, though Dick stops him and points to the scoreboard. "Give her some room! Give her some room!" Brooke yelled over the crowd's whispers. Kory let out a breath. She didn't even know she was holding it in. Students took their phones out and snapped pictures.

The Hive: "I spy with my little eye, a fallen Queen Bee. Was this an accident, or do I suspect foul play?


Jinx, Dick, Kory, and Vic sit in the waiting room with Bee's parents. "Ugh, can you two please stand like five feet away from me? You smell like a gym locker." Jinx pinches her nostrils. "Excuse us, Jinx, but Lover Boy here didn't want us to hit the showers after the game. He begged that we head straight here." Dick shrugged. Vic hasn't said a word since he and Dick entered the waiting room. His shoulders were rigid, eyes stoic, and his foot tapped. Again, and again. "I'm sure she'll be fine, Victor," Bee's mother stated.

"Yes, nothing our little honeybee can't handle" They share a smile with each other. Kory observed the two. It's as if they were copied and pasted from a Forbes Magazine or that rich people magazine, she often saw Donna read. Bee's mother was so elegant and poised, not a hair out of place or a wrinkle in sight.

You would have thought she was Bee's older sister. She had beautiful chocolate brown skin with chestnut-colored eyes and a dazzling smile that consisted of perfect teeth. Her outfit showed her off as a lawyer or successful businesswoman, with the fancy fabricated pants suit that hugged her curves and a Chanel purse to match. Her father seemed like a perfect match for her mother, regal and sophisticated.

His mustache showed the little gray hairs between the black strands, though it didn't make him look old. Instead, he looked dashing, as if he was meant to have them. He had caramel-colored skin, dark brown eyes, and a gray head of hair. A Rolex watch popped out from his fancy business suit, gleaming under the fluorescent lights.

They were the perfect couple. Some could argue a powerful one at that. The door creaked open, and everyone stood up only to see that Herald was on the other side. They sat down except for Vic, who stared him down in confusion. "What are you doing here, Herald?" Behind Herald's back were yellow tulips... Bee's favorites. Herald rubbed the back of his neck and gave a casual smile to everyone. "I saw what happened at the game, and I didn't want to not stop by to see how she was doing," "Well, isn't that sweet, right Charles?"

Bee's mother smiled, and Charles grunted with agreement. Kory glanced at the teenage boys that both pinned after the same girl. "She's cheating on you!" Kory wanted to scream out to Vic. She yearned to step in front of him, give his big shoulders a good shake and tell him that Bee had been lying to him for several months.

"That's nice of you…I guess," Vic eyed him with suspicion. "Sweetheart, why don't you take a seat? We haven't heard any news about Karen yet," Bee's mother motioned for Herald to sit next to Kory. Fucking hell. "Sure, thank you," He locked eyes with Kory and gave her a small wave. She gave him a brief smile back.

"I don't think we've properly introduced ourselves to each other. I'm Herald" Herald holds out his hand to Kory. Would she be betraying Vic by shaking Herald's hand? Or would it only make her more suspicious? "Kory," She nodded to him. He glanced at her with a strange look, then shrugged his shoulders. "How long have we been here for?" Jinx asked. Dick checked his watch. "Only about an hour. It hasn't been long." "Jinx, what happened in that basket toss?" Vic asked. "I don't know. We all had her. I swear we did, but I think Bee was distracted," Thump, Kory's heart pounced.

"Bee distracted? She's never distracted at any of the football games. From what?" Thump. Thump. "That's what I didn't understand. It's the only explanation, but lately, after that crap that Kitten pulled. It's like she's on a whole other planet," Thump. Thump. "Whatever it is, we need to get to the bottom of it—""—Excuse me for a moment," Kory nearly leaps out of her chair and darts to the exit door. "What's up with her?" Jinx asked. Dick's eyebrows knit in curiosity as the door slams shut, thinking the same question.


"Hi Mr. Markov, this might seem like a strange phone call but do you happen to know where—No. No." Gar scratched off the lines he wrote down on a sheet of paper. He tapped his pen on his chin and thought to himself. Surrounded his bed was crumpled sheets of paper that lay beside his pile of dirty laundry that got bigger and bigger as the days went on.

"What about…Hi there Mr. Markov. My name's Garfield. I'm a friend of yours—Nope. Too dorky," He sighed and snatched the sheet of paper out of his journal, then crumbled it up and threw it across the room. He plopped down on his unmade bed and stared up at the ceiling. "Why is this so complicated?" He turned to a cat that slept at the top of his dresser. "What do you think? You think this is all a big mistake?" The cat blinked a couple of times, showcasing that he was sleepy, and yawned. He stretched out his body, walked around in a circle, and lay in the opposite direction away from Gar.

"You're never any help, Kevin." Gar rose up from his spot on the bed and grabbed the journal again. "Hi, Mr. Markov… I'm Garfield Logan, a classmate of Tara's, and I was given the assignment of-of bringing her some homework that we were assigned?" He contemplated the words and smiled, "That'll work," He grabbed his cellphone off his desk, then dialed the number he wrote down courtesy of Vic. Gar presses the phone up to his ear. It rings and rings until…." Hello?" A gruff man's voice answered on the other line. It sounded as if he was at a club or someplace loud. All of a sudden, that confidence Gar had was gone. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. "Who

is this?" "I-I—""Look, if this is one of those robot bill collectors, stop calling this phone," The person hung up, leaving Gar stuck with the dial tone. His heart sank, his eyes empty, and his face turned red "Agh!" He threw his cell phone against the wall. "I'm such an idiot!" Gar shouted out. Kevin, the cat, woke up from his nap and tilted his head at Gar. "Meow?" Gar glanced at him.

"Thank you for confirming that, Kevin. Really, it helps a lot," He smacks his hand against his head. "Stupid, stupid," Kevin jumps off Gar's dresser and unto the desk. His paw hits one of the keyboard keys on Gar's open laptop. His laptop pings and shows The Hive website. Kevin waltzes over to Gar's leg and purrs. Gar stops smacking his head and scratches his ears. "I'll feed you in a sec, buddy. Right now, I have to figure out how I could find…." His words drift off as his gaze moves from his cat to the bright light from the laptop screen.

"Wait…are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Gar glanced back down at Kevin, who rolled onto his back. "Meow." "Exactly," He pushes himself off the bed and grabs his desk chair, then takes a seat and clicks on his computer mouse. Gar clicks through a couple of the website's tabs before getting to a chat box at the bottom "Have a Secret, Tell the Hive!" It read. He took a deep breath and began to type in the chat box. "Can you help me find my friend Terra Markov?" He clicked the send button. "Now I can feed you, Kevin, hopefully, they respond," Gar begins to get up from his desk chair, and the laptop pings. His heart sinks. "That was fast," He sits back down in the chair, much to Kevin's dismay.


"Why do you think I have information on a nobody such as Terra Markov?" His eyebrows knitted together. She wasn't a nobody. She was beautiful, smart, funny, and a total badass, but to the Hive, someone like that who's not beauty queen hot is considered a nobody? "She's not a nobody, she's my friend, and I need your help finding her.

You have dirt on everyone. I know you do," He typed out. The chat bubbles appeared at the bottom of the chat box but disappeared. He waited a couple of moments, though there was no answer. "Come on…come on—"Ping! "You'd do anything to find this girl, won't you? I have to warn you it may cost you," He exhaled a breath, Terra was missing, and he wanted to get to the bottom of her disappearance.

Something was wrong as if she fell off the edge of the earth without a goodbye. They were starting to get close. His chance to be the knight and shining armor meant more than anyone could know. If that meant he had to use every source alive, then so be it. Gar took another breath before typing out the word yes. More chat bubbles appear before a bubble of a bird emoji, and a wishing well emoji appears. Ping! "If I give you a secret, you tell me a secret," He thought.

What secret did he hide? That he only showered once a week doesn't include game day? He secretly sleeps with a teddy bear at night to get rid of the blue monster under his bed. He's never clipped his toenails.

"What kind of secret? I don't have any," He typed. Chat bubbles appear…Ping! "The kind that one of your friends is hiding. How about this, in exchange for my services, you tell me secrets you've found out about from one of your friends, and I'll give another hint to finding Terra. Each secret could equal another piece to this complicated puzzle.

The larger the secret, the more I'll spill. However, if Terra manages to come back or you quit on me, I'll tell everyone how much of a squealer you are. We wouldn't want that now, would we?" He gulped. What the hell did he just do..." Also, I'm not referring to the nobodies you hang out with. I want the buzz on Gotham's rich and famous. You know, the group," He types. "What if I refuse?" Ping! "I warned you that my deals cost, I already gave you your first puzzle piece, and I don't do refunds…welcome to the game Garfield," the chat box shuts off at the drop of a hat. He sat back in his chair and glanced back up at the ceiling. "Fu—"

The Hive: "Garfield, Garfield… didn't anyone ever tell you to never make deals with the Devil? You should know that my services are not free, and I play games with everyone until I'm the last player.


"Breath, Kory, Breathe," Kory whispers to herself as she paces back and forth on the patio. She wrings her hands out, and the door cracks open. Herald pops out, "Kory, are you okay?" "Don't-I don't want to talk to you," Herald looks at her with confusion. "What did I do?" Kory's eyes widened. "You are kidding me?" He scratches at the back of his neck. "I'm sorry, Kory, it's gotten to this point. We didn't mean for any of this to happen—""—You mean Bee cheating on Vic with you. She was in a relationship, and you come in on a white horse taking her away from my friend—""Woah, Woah, that's not what happened and keep your voice down," Kory shook with anger.

How dare he ask her to keep quiet when they're the ones that should tell Vic? "Why are you here, Herald?" He doesn't answer her. "Herald?" He exhales, "I think I'm—""—Everything alright out here?" Dick lay against the wall, his eyebrows quipped as he observed the scene before him. "Dick, what are you—I mean—everything is fine," Another lie. "Yeah, I was helping Kory calm down," Herald stated. She hated this so much, and no one cared how it was killing her inside to continue to lie. Again and again. "Doesn't seem like it's fine," He pushed himself off the wall and stepped in front of her.

"Tell me what's wrong," She glanced past Dick and locked eyes with Herald. He shook his head. "Kory, what's going on?" He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. His fingertips were warm and comforting, his touch so soothing. An indication that never made her stomach flip until now. Dick stepped closer to her, his body heat radiating off him. Kory opened her mouth. She could see Herald wince from behind. "I-I—""—Doctor's here!" Vic beamed as he snapped the door open. He looks at the scene before him. "What did I miss?"


"Honey bee, you're okay!" Vic rushed to Bee's side and gave her a bear hug. She wrapped her arms around him and then took a sniff. "Um, Vic, baby. I'd appreciate it if you'd take a shower or at least step five feet to the left," He gave her a bashful smile, then scooted away. Still elegant, Bee lay down in the hospital bed with a yellow cast over her ankle. Her makeup was flawless, as if she never sweated it off, and her hair stayed in a tight ponytail. She was perfect. Everyone around the room, except her parents, hugged her. Herald's touch lingered on Bee a little longer, which caused Kory to tense up in her shoulders; Dick rose his eyebrow at her. Bee lightly pushed Herald off and cleared her throat, "So, did anyone bring me any get-well cards, gifts?" She glanced at Vic, who rubbed the back of his neck. "Um, well—""Karen, it's not polite for a lady to ask that kind of question," Charles warns. "Your father's right. We don't treat guests like this," "Sorry," Bee mutters. "When will you get your cast off?" Jinx asks. "The doctor said six-eight weeks, which sucks cause that means I'll have this cast for Homecoming,"

"I'm sure we can bedazzle it to match your dress, Bee," Vic smiles, and she smiles back. Bee catches a glimpse of Herald and drops the smile instantly. "That'd be fun. You could probably do it at the sleepover soon! If Brooke doesn't have the other activities planned," "Right…Brooke," "In the meantime, Karen will be keeping that Straight A average up by reading her textbooks, and we'll probably sneak in a couple of medical school tours," Charles explained. "Our little honey Bee could also be going into law, Charles. Remember that" "Diane, not the time to discuss this," Charles whispered to her. Diane glanced around the room at the teenagers' faces,

"Right, why don't we leave you all alone for a couple of minutes while we grab something from the cafeteria? Karen less frowns, please. We wouldn't want wrinkles this early," Diane explains. Bee's parents waltz out of the room and close the door. Bee lets out an exhausted breath and falls back into her pillow. "That was so awkward," Jinx proclaimed. "Tell me about it. I wanted to scream, 'get out so bad," Bee stated. So this was what home life for Karen Beecher was like? Kory thought to herself. Perfect Parents had to mean perfect child, and Bee was, well…perfect. She had the best grades and the best hair. Everyone wanted to be her.

"You know that this is the 4th time they missed a game? Daddy claims that it was an emergency over at the company that needed his immediate attention," "I'm sure they'll be there for Homecoming. Your parents wouldn't miss you getting crowned duchess for the world," Dick mentioned. "Right, Duchess. Can't wait for that," Bee cracked open another one of her fake smiles. Kory could sense that something was going on with Bee. Usually, she'd jump at the chance to talk about her pending win for Homecoming Duchess. Now, it's as though she doesn't care anymore. "Here, Bee, I got you tulips. Your favorite,"

Herald handed her the bouquet. Bee blinked a couple of times, then reached out to grab them from his hands. Her fingertips touched his. He glanced up and locked eyes with hers. Kory saw the whole thing and wanted to vomit on the carpet. She couldn't take this anymore. "Thanks, Herald, they're beau—"Bee stopped as she met eyes with Kory, who squirmed in her stance then glanced over at Vic. "—Lovely. Thanks," She grinned at him, and he gave her a charming smile that almost made Bee into a lovesick puddle. Vic steamed next to them. He couldn't be beaten by some band geek and taking his Honey Bee away from him. He had an idea, and his best friend was gonna help him do it.

"Hey Dick, we need to head out to do that thing remember?" Dick rose an eyebrow at him. "What thing are you talking—""about—The thing that we needed to do for Wally, remember?" Vic made a face at him that said I'll tell you later. Dick finally got the idea and glanced at Bee, then nodded slowly. "Right, that thing. We'll see you later, Bee. I hope you feel better," Dick gave her a two-finger salute as Vic sauntered over to her and gave her a kiss on her forehead. "You're leaving me in my time of need?" "I'll be back sooner than you think, baby, I promise" He tapped his lips for a kiss.

She rolled her eyes and gave him a quick peck on his cheek. Kory glanced over at Herald. He looked away and pretended that his gaze was on the soap opera that played on the television. "Bye," Vic waved at the group and then followed Dick out of the door. Bee averted her eyes over to Kory, she gave her a smile, but Kory didn't smile back. "Jinx, could you go to the cafeteria for me and make sure my parents got me something edible to eat? I don't want them to choose some cardboard for me to munch on,"

"Sure, I'll probably need a slice of pizza or something. I'm starving," She headed towards the door, then popped it open. Once the door closes, Kory falls back into the chair next to Bee's bed. "Herald, I need a word with Kory. Would you—""—Say no more. I have to go anyway. The band has practice at 5:00 am tomorrow, and I can't be late. I'll see you later?" He steps closer to her. Bee looks over at Kory, then back at Herald. "Um yeah, I'll see you," Herald gives her a kiss on the cheek and waves to Kory. The two girls wait until Herald leaves the room before either can relax. Once the door closes, Bee takes her pillow from behind her back, fluffs it, then puts it back behind her. "I think it's time we had a chat Kory," Bee stated. She grabbed the remote from her bed and shut the tv off.


Dick and Vic shuffle through aisles of stuffed animals, cards, and ugly knick-knacks. Dick gazes over at a stuffed Tweety Bird with the card in between his wings and displays "I Love You." "What about this one? Bee watches cartoons, right?" Vic follows Dick's gaze and rolls his eyes. "She hasn't watched cartoons since junior high. It's all about Real Housewives and Kardashian whatever now," "Right, maybe you could get her a Kylie something. I'm not really into the celebrity products," "Kylie's one of her least favorites," Dick rolled his eyes this time. "It's like you two share a brain," Vic chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you could say that we do," they continued to search through the aisle and couldn't find anything that would stand out to Bee. "Ugh, this isn't working. I can't find anything that says 'I love you so much—""—Much more than Herald?"

Vic's shoulders stiffened. Uh oh, I struck a nerve, Dick thought to himself. "What makes you say Herald loves her?" Vic growled. Dick scratched the back of his head. "It was just a joke, sorry dude," "Well, don't make it again," He left the aisle and stormed over to another one. Dick wanted to smack himself in the face, "Nice work Grayson" he mumbled to himself as he followed Vic over to the other aisle. They scoured the next couple of toys on the shelves, but nothing would satisfy Bee. Dick's eyes landed on a purple dragon stuffed animal, "Kory would like that," He thought to himself and smiled. Vic noticed the dopey smile on his friend's face. "You thinking about a certain redhead who likes the color purple?" Vic taunted.

Dick dropped his smile. "No, I thought Bee might like it," "You know Bee would be pissed off if I got her that," He cleared his throat "Victor Stone, how dare you to get me a stupid ass dragon? Is this what I am to you? A purple scaled, bad breath, big ass freak to you?" Vic said in his best Bee impression. Dick laughed at how uncanny it was that he could sound like his spoiled girlfriend. "I'm sure Kory would like it, dude," Dick rolled his eyes again and pushed the dragon to the side. "Yeah, her boyfriend should get that for her then," "Ah, that's what this is about" He folded his arms and smirked at Dick. "What, what's about?"

"You are jealous," "Am Not," Dick scoffed. "Are too, that's why you've been walking around with a stick up your ass lately because you like—""—Don't finish that sentence," Vic pretended to zip his lips shut. Dick sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. They started to walk through the aisles again. Dick thought back to how Kory acted around Bee and Herald. She was quiet, reserved, and tense. All three of them were. Usually, Bee would kiss Vic a lot more before he left her, and she'd make sure everyone knew how in love they were with each other. However, when Herald arrived, she didn't do anything with Vic. It's as if she didn't want to do anything in front of Herald.

Meanwhile, Herald would tense anytime Vic would speak to or touch Bee. He acted too friendly with someone he had a fallout with years ago. Then there was Kory. She barely said two words to any of them. She and Bee would share looks that they thought no one else noticed. Also, there was that thing with Herald that he saw outside. What was that about? It's as if they met before the waiting room, raising his eyebrow more. Something was going on. He needed to get to the bottom of it. For both Vic and his sakes. "I found the perfect gift!" Vic shouted to him from a couple of aisles away. Dick shook his head and walked over to where Vic was.


Gar rode around different sheets with his beat-up moped but couldn't find anything that could connect with the slip The Hive gave him. "Bird? Bird?" He whispered as he glanced around at the different stores through his helmet goggles. Nada. He pulled over to the street and removed his helmet, shaking the sweat from his hair. A couple of shady people passed him by. They reeked alcohol and caused him to cover his nose. "Bleh, where the hell am I?" He glances up at the street name "Nottingham?" He snatched his phone out of his pocket and typed into the maps app. The screen shows his search loading, and a map of where he was and how far he was from home pops up. 30 mins away.

"Great, at this rate. Chief will definitely kill me," He sighed again before placing his helmet back on his head and revving his moped engine up. The moped roared to life. He saddled himself up and continued to drive into the night. Lights flashed in his peripheral, bodies whizzed by, and the world was a blur around him. A red light flashed above him. He came to a stop and observed his surroundings. There were a couple of cafes that were closed and college students who were engaged in conversation. He glanced closer at the college kids.

One of them wore a shirt that said "Birdwell's." "Hey!" Gar called out to the college students. They weren't listening to him; he gazed at the traffic light. It was still red. "Hey! You with the bird shirt!" He yelled. The girl perked her head up at him and rolled her eyes. Gar gave her an apologetic smile, then pointed to her shirt, "Where did you get that shirt from?" She glanced at where he was pointing, then popped her head back up. "You mean Birdwell's restaurant? It's down the road. You make a right on Theodore, then drive straight and another right at Howard," The light changed to green, and the car behind him beeped. "Thank you!" He waved at the group before revving up his moped and driving off.


There it was, smack dab in the middle of dry cleaners and nail salon. Birdwell's. Gar drove his moped over to the bike rack and parked it. He took off his helmet and glasses in excitement. This was a piece of the puzzle that he's been working on. His answers that he's been seeking, his worries were no longer—an older gentleman came out of the restaurant with a bag to his side and keys dangling from his hands. The older man brought the keys to the doorknob, "Wait!" Gar called out, which caused the older gentleman to jump and drop his keys. "Oh, dang it" Gar got off of his moped as the older man knelt down to the ground to grab the keys. "Heh, sorry about that," Gar slid the keys over to him and handed them back to the gentleman.

"It's okay. I hate to tell you, though. Restaurants closed for the night. You can come back tomorrow at 11," Gar winced. "I have school tomorrow," The older man finished locking the door, then glanced Gear up and down. "You seem a little young for a college student," "I'm in high school," "Don't you have a curfew?" "Yeah, kinda bending the rules a bit tonight. It was important," The older gentleman sighed and shook his head, "If this is about a job, I can't help you. I hired a high schooler not too long ago, but she kind of left without a notice" Gar's ears perked up at this, "Are you talking about Terra? Terra Markov?" He was taken aback by this, "You know her?" Gar nodded his head furiously.

The man rolled his eyes, "If you see her again, tell her she needs to turn in her uniform and that she's fired," "Do you know when she left?" "I don't know. All I remember is she was here for a shift one day, then the next I get a call from some guy with her phone number saying that she'd no longer be working with us," A guy? Could it have been her uncle or maybe her brother was in town, that's why she never showed up for classes. Still, based on the information he could gather, some pieces were missing. Big pieces. He asked her teammates. They didn't know Terra's whereabouts either. One of them claimed that sometimes she'd have to leave practice early for some project in class. "Was she always leaving work early?" Gar asked. "Yeah, a couple of times. Donnie would cover her shifts, though," Maybe Donnie knew more about Terra? He thought to himself, though the more he learned about Terra's life, the more he realized how complicated it was. "Does Donnie work tomorrow?"

The old man rolled his eyes and fixed the hat on his bald head. "You seem like a nice kid, but I'm not comfortable giving you all of my employees' information," "Please," Gar clung his hands together and begged. "Fine, yes, she works tomorrow. I find out you hounded her. I'm calling the cops. Understand?" Gar nodded again and smiled in satisfaction. "I remember faces, boy," The man took off from the restaurant, then walked down the street, mumbling incoherent words to himself. "Well, thanks, Hive," Gar whispered to himself. On the inside, his heartfelt two things, happiness, and ache. He found another piece to finding Terra, but that also meant he had to do the Hive's dirty work for the complete puzzle to be solved.


Kory shifted her feet from one side to the other. Bee's eyes lingered on Kory's uncomfortable body language. "Kory, will you take a seat? You standing like that is starting to get on my nerves," "I can't Bee if I sit down. My foot will start tapping, and I'll begin to bite my nails—""—Got it, never mind," Bee took a deep breath before continuing, "I really appreciate you keeping this to yourself. I know it must be hard for you to do. However, I have a plan that—""Bee, I don't want to be involved in any more of this. I don't care if I'm breaking this 'girl code' or whatever. Vic deserves to know—""—You're right, he does" "—And how could you drag Herald into this mess that you created—wait. Did you agree with me?"

Bee nodded. Kory blinked a couple of times. She glanced at Bee's blank face. Was she kidding her? Kory asked herself. "I thought you would have argued more," Bee laid back against her pillow. "I've seen the error of my ways, trust me. I'm in the hospital because of it. I can't continue to do that to both of them," Kory smiled a bit. That's the Bee she knew and loved. "Do you need me here for support?" Bee grinned. "No, I need to do this on my own—" her phone beeped. She took it off the charger and glanced at the screen. Her face changed to concern.

"Everything okay, Bee?" Bee glanced up from her phone and plastered on a fake smile. "Yeah, it's fine. I wanted to tell you that I've been an awful friend to you and that I apologize," "Apology accepted," Bee opened her arms up for a hug, and Kory walked over and embraced her. After a couple of moments, Kory broke the hug and began to head for the door. "I think the boys should be here soon, but Bee, I wanted to know that I'm proud of you," "Kory wait," she turned around to meet Bee's worried face. "What's wrong?" Bee's phone pinged again, and Kory noticed Bee wince. "What would you do if I told you that someone else knows your secret," Kory's heart dropped.

The Hive: "I have an equation that I need your help figuring out. What do you get with Three big secrets? Six liars. One outcast. and 15 days til Homecoming? The answer is a big, drama-filled mess. Thanks for playing.

Au revoir,

The Hive


Hi everyone! I know this is kind of a short chapter, the next one's gonna be a bit longer! It's sort of a filler for what's to come between EVERYONE. Also, I really appreciate you guys reading this story, it means so much to me! So I've got an announcement to make, I'm going to rewrite a couple of the chapters in this book. They won't be any different, it's just some tweaks here and there for continuity and grammar purposes. So, nothing major to worry about! Anyways, what do you guys think about Gar being a part of the Hive now? We'll definitely see a change with him and the others in the next chapters.

Please R&R! I'd like to know that you guys support!

Another chapter will come soon!

XOXO

Comicgeek16