Blaze woke up to the sensation of her phone, which was wedged between her bed and her collarbone, vibrating vigorously. She groggily stirred, her face damp with tears and snot, and pulled her vibrating phone out from under her. It was Amy. Blaze felt like she'd been hit by a bus, and didn't feel like answering, so she let it get sent to voicemail. When the call screen disappeared, she noticed Amy had tried calling her three times previously. When Amy tried calling a fourth time, she sighed. She didn't want to answer but also didn't want to keep ignoring her in case it was something important.

Feeling like she'd been hit by a bus, she exhaled and picked up.

"Hey, Blaze! Hey, Sally and Sonic and I are working on world history homework at the library, and we wanted to know if you could help us out with something."

Blaze inhaled. "Uh . . . S-sure," she sniffed, trying and failing to hide the fact she had just been crying.

Amy picked up on Blaze's mood immediately. "Blaze, are you okay?" she asked, her tone changing swiftly from cheerful to concerned.

Blaze's eyes welled up as the events of the past hour came crashing back down. "N . . . No," she whimpered.

"Blaze, oh my god, what happened? Have you been crying? What's wrong? Tell me, girl, please."

Blaze started to cry again, tears rushing down her already damp face.

"It's . . . Shadow . . . He . . . (hic) . . . lied . . . about having . . . detention . . . to d-ditch me . . ." she sobbed.

"Oh no," Amy gasped. "Okay, uh, hold on, Blaze, it's gonna be okay. I'll be over in a few!" she said hurriedly. She then quickly hung up.

Blaze put her phone down and started to cry again. Everything crashed around in her head. The joy and excitement of getting to ride home with him, the disappointment and anger of having him seemingly snatched away, and the utter horror and despair of seeing the whole plot unfold in front of her. Selena's blonde hair swishing in the air as she jumped into Shadow's arms was burned into her mind. Her chest felt like it was burning and tightening. All of the happy memories with them together were tarnished.

"Why?" she cried out loud to no one. "Why would he do that?" She started to cry harder.

An eternity passed. Even after Blaze ran out of tears to cry, the burning feeling in her heart wouldn't go away. Her room didn't feel comforting anymore, but she couldn't move from her bed. The image of Shadow and Selena kissing wouldn't leave her brain. She felt horrible, to say the very least.

She heard the faint sound of knocking on her front door, followed by the sound of it opening and Amy yelling out, "Blaze?"

When Blaze didn't respond, there was a pause, followed by the sound of the footsteps of multiple people coming up her stairs and down her hall. More knocking, this time on her bedroom door, commenced.

"Blaze? Blaze, are you okay?" Amy called out.

"Can we come in?" Sally's voice said.

"Mhm," she answered.

Her bedroom door opened, and in walked Amy, Sally, and Sonic. Concern was etched on all of their faces, and Amy, in particular, looked like she was about to explode from concern.

"Blaze, oh my god, what happened?" Amy looked shocked to see Blaze in the state she was in: hair mussed, clothes wrinkled, cheeks wet with tears, and her eyes and nose red. "Are you okay?" she probed, already knowing the answer.

Blaze felt her lips quiver. "N . . . Not r-really . . ." She started to cry again.

Without hesitation, Amy rushed forward, climbed onto Blaze's bed, and took Blaze into a hug, which Blaze reciprocated.

"He . . . Shadow lied about having detention to pick up Selena," she blurted out, still crying.

"Oh no!" Amy exclaimed.

"Oh god . . ." Sally said, her eyes going wide. She sat on the edge of Blaze's bed, opposite Amy, and patted Blaze on the back. "Can you tell us what happened?" she asked. Sonic, confused and concerned, sat down to listen on Blaze's desk chair.

The entire story came tumbling out of Blaze's mouth. About how Shadow stopped Alysha, Selena, and Fiona from bullying her in front of a crowd, how he asked to take her home because of a prank Scourge was planning, how he came up to her just before afternoon homeroom saying he had detention, and how she had gotten home only for him to drive back with Selena in tow. She went over how she knew it was Selena based on the hair and the pink top she had been wearing, how she had watched helplessly as Selena jumped into Shadow's arms, and how they had kissed in his driveway. Blaze's friends sat in stunned silence.

Blaze went to wipe her eyes with her arm, and Sonic passed her a box of tissues sitting on her desk. She gladly took it, grabbed a handful of tissues, and blew her nose.

"I dunno what happened next. I couldn't take watching them anymore, so I ran upstairs," she tearfully recounted. "For all I know, she could still be at . . . at his place." She took a deep, shaky breath.

"Blaze, I'm so, so, so sorry he did that," Amy said sympathetically, rubbing her back. "Him of all people! He's actually such an asshole. I can't fucking believe it."

"Except he's not!" Blaze blurted out. "He's so nice and thoughtful to everyone, especially to me as of late. He even gave me a book I thought I would like, for fuck's sake! I don't know why he would do this to me and go back on his plans just to hook up with a girl he knows torments me daily!"

Sonic let out a sigh. "Yeah, something isn't right here," he commented. "Like, I'm not super close friends with Shadow, but I know he's not like that." He turned to look at Blaze directly. "I completely believe you Blaze, don't get me wrong. But . . . Agh, something's wrong here. Like I said at lunch, he hates Selena's guts. He rejected her a week ago, and he said he'd never in a million years date a girl like her."

"That's what's confusing me as well," said Amy in reply. "Based on what Blaze's told me about him, he's not the kind of guy to side with Selena or any of her friends, ever."

"That still doesn't change what I saw, though!" Blaze cried.

"Oh, Blaze, I know, I know," Amy said, hugging Blaze tighter.

Sally, who hadn't spoken in a while and was quickly scrolling through her phone, suddenly spoke. "Uh, you guys might want to see this . . ."

Amy and Sonic stood up and went over to Sally, who showed them something that both made their jaws drop.

"What, what is it?" Blaze asked, scooting over to see. Sally declined to show her.

"Blaze, are you sure you want to see this?" she asked, fully serious and very reluctant to show Blaze.

"C'mon Sally; you can't just show them and not me, especially not after all of this!" Blaze exclaimed.

Sally nodded. "You're right, Blaze. I just didn't want you to get hurt any more than you already are."

She sighed and turned her phone so that Blaze could see.

It was Selena's Twitter, and the most recent tweet, posted 30 minutes ago, read:

It's official: we're together! Station Square High, meet your new power couple! _Shadow2709_

Attached to the tweet was a picture of Shadow in his truck, his head turned away from the camera. Resting on his shoulder was presumably Selena's arm.

Amy, Sally, and Sonic were all stunned, but Blaze, having witnessed the whole thing, felt no shock. She let out a pained sigh, sniffed, and brought her knees in towards her chest.

"I knew the way he treated me was too good to be true," she whimpered.

Amy shook her head. "No Blaze, he hates her! I don't know what that Tweet even means!"

Blaze shook her head. "It means they're dating," she sighed.

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry," Sally said, putting her phone down and hugging Blaze tightly.

"Me too," said Sonic.

The four of them were silent for a few minutes, the dead air only being punctuated by the sound of Blaze sniffling.

Finally, Amy spoke. "Hey, Blaze, I'm so sorry this happened. Do you want to get something to eat? I know it won't fix everything, but it might make things a little bit better."

Blaze hesitated. She hated asking people to get things for her, but she was quite hungry now that Amy had mentioned it.

"Well, if you're offering, I could go for some chicken nuggets or for that boba tea you guys offered earlier."

Amy jumped to her feet and clapped her hands. "Chicken nuggets and boba it is!" she exclaimed. She turned to her boyfriend. "Sonic, sweetie, could you go get us the food and boba please?" she requested sweetly.

"Why me?" Sonic replied, cocking his eyebrow slightly in a teasing manner. "You gonna come with? That's a lot of hard labor for a young man." He shot Amy a wink.

Amy rolled her eyes. "Because, Sonic, you're the only one out of all of us who can drive, and I need to continue to offer Blaze my full emotional support." She playfully smacked his shoulder.

"Okay, okay," Sonic said, laughing in response. "I'll get all of you your usuals for boba. Unless you want something different?" he asked the group.

"I want my usual, but make it a large instead," Blaze responded.

The group verified their boba choices with Sonic (a "pink drink" for Amy, "mango mango tea" for Blaze, red bean tea for Sally, and "The Signature" for Sonic), and he left shortly afterwards. While Sonic was out, Amy and Sally continued to comfort Blaze.

"Look, Blaze, I'm not saying you have to get over him right away or any time soon," Sally was saying. "But, you should know that if Shadow would seriously choose to date Selena over you, well, that's his loss."

"Yeah," Amy chimed in. "You deserve someone better, someone who won't ditch you for another girl when the opportunity arises." She looked Blaze in the eyes, jokingly serious. "No matter how hot he is, girl, I'm serious. I know he's a charmer, but he picked Selena over you. Fucking Selena. How attractive does that really make him? I can assure you: that bod is not worth it."

Blaze couldn't help but snicker. Her friends had good points. She sighed. "You guys are totally right, but I can't help but still want to date him."

"That's normal," Sally sagely replied. "You'll grow out of it in time, I promise."

Blaze couldn't help but feel lighter as she and her friends conversed. Her mood perked up even more when Sonic arrived back home with McDonald's (chicken nuggets and fries for everyone) and boba tea from their favorite boba shop. The four of them gathered on Blaze's bedroom floor and partook in the goodies, with Blaze tearing into everything ravenously. She hadn't realized how hungry she was.

"So, Blaze," Amy opened, munching on a few fries. ". . . About that world history homework . . ."

"Oh yeah," Blaze answered, popping a nugget dipped in sweet and sour sauce into her mouth. "We can study it together. Might be a good distraction for me."

"Wait, aren't you in advanced world history and not regular world history?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah," Blaze replied. "Makes me a good person to study with, though, yeah?"

Sonic gave Blaze a supportive grin. "Very true. Lead us to victory!"

The next hour and a half flew by, despite the fact it was spent mostly doing homework and studying world history. Her friends' positive and supportive auras were the perfect boost of serotonin she needed (the fast food and boba tea helped with that as well). It was a good, albeit only semi-productive study session. In fact, Blaze had almost forgotten about the Shadow fiasco. Almost.

The sound of the garage personnel door opening caught the group's attention.

"Oh, sounds like my aunt and uncle are back home," Blaze mentioned. She stood up, picking up the trash from the food and discarding it. "They're probably gonna start making dinner soonish."

"We should probably go then," Amy said, gathering her things and standing up as well.

The three friends quickly packed up their things and filed out of Blaze's room. As they were heading downstairs, Aunt Monica glanced up at them.

"Oh, hello, Amy," she said. "I didn't know you were coming over today." She nodded, greeting Sonic and Sally.

"Hi Mrs. Ashton," Amy said. "Sorry if it caused you any problems, it was very impromptu. We were just on our way out."

"Oh, it's completely fine," Aunt Monica replied. "I'm going to start preparing dinner for us soon. Would you like to stay for dinner?"

Amy shook her head. "No, it's okay. Our parents are expecting us back for our respective dinners. But thanks for the offer."

Blaze's aunt smiled. "Of course, Amy. You and your friends are welcome over any time."

She turned to head into the kitchen. "Blaze, come help me prepare dinner," she asked.

"Sure," Blaze agreed. She turned to her friends. "Well, I'll see you guys later," she said in departure. Amy rushed forward and hugged her again, and Sally followed suit.

"Feel better, Blaze," said Amy. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah," Sally added. "You're gonna get through this."

Blaze smiled. "Thanks, guys."

Blaze watched them leave out her front door, and even as the door snapped shut soundly, Blaze couldn't help but grin from ear to ear.

My friends are the best . . . I don't deserve them.

Alysha fidgeted on a bench outside the Mall at Station Crossing's food court, tapping her foot and fiddling with her phone.

Ugh, where the hell is Scourge? He said he'd be here by now. And speaking of, where the fuck are Selena and Fiona? They said they'd be back soon.

She sighed. The day was exhausting for her, and while she was happy to go shopping on Selena's dime, her feet were tiring faster than normal. Plus, it was boring waiting here. She wanted to spend time with her boyfriend mainly and wasn't interested in the handbag sale going on inside Nordstrom's that her friends were checking out (she had plenty of those).

Finally, she heard the distinct sound of Selena giggling in the distance, and she turned to face the direction of it. There was Selena, blonde hair and pink top distinct, with a surprisingly amused Fiona in tow. Both were laughing quite loudly but trying to hide it.

"Oh. My. God. Fiona! You can't say that!" Selena quietly screamed.

Fiona snorted. "Psh, not like she's here. Plus, it's true. Jewel got her nose job done when she was 13! Her parents had to take her out of the country to get it done," she scoffed. "Can't even imagine what her old nose looked like."

"I bet it was hideous," Selena snickered.

"There you guys are!" Alysha called out, waving them over. Fiona and Selena glanced in Alysha's direction and hurried over.

"How was the sale?" Alysha asked, sipping from a Starbucks mochaccino.

"It was great!" Selena chirped. She waved a new Ganni Festival leopard print hobo bag and beamed.

"Ya know, I'm not a purse girl, buuuuuut I got this," she showed a genuine leather clutch from Kate Spade. "Couldn't help it."

"You're welcome," Selena said, sitting down next to Alysha. "Scourge show up yet?" she questioned somewhat absentmindedly.

"Nah," Alysha answered. "Ugh, I just wanna see him. I don't know where he is, and I need a goddamn hug from him." She hung her head backward and sighed.

Fiona shrugged, drinking from a can of Red Bull. "He should be here soon, no?"

"Hey, is that him?" Selena asked, pointing off in the distance.

Alysha quickly turned her head and immediately smiled wide. "Scourge! Scourge baby, over here!" she yelled, standing up and waving.

Scourge strolled over to the bench where the three girls were sitting. He gave Alysha a smug, pleased smile. "Hey babe," he greeted, kissing Alysha on the cheek. "What's up?

Alysha smiled, tucking a lock of her red hair behind her shoulder. "I'm better now that you're here," she said, hugging him.

Fiona glanced at the couple and then at an absentminded Selena, checking her phone. She exhaled, placing her pants into her pockets while staring at the ceiling absentmindedly, waiting for a distraction to happen. Luckily, as if on cue, Selena squealed in excitement.

"Oh em gee, Alysha! The new Stewart Weitzman collection dropped! Including the shoes Undina Meropis showed off on her Instagram after the fashion show! We gotta go check 'em out!"

Alysha jumped to her feet excitedly. "Yesssss! I've been waiting for this for a long ass time. I need new boots for the fall. Let's go!"

"Weitzman? Nah, too expensive for me right now," Fiona replied, glancing at her nails. "Plus, they're not really my style."

"How?" Selena exclaimed. "They're so well made!"

"Yeah, and they're not my thing," repeated Fiona, mildly irritated.

"Yeah, I gotta agree with Fiona here," Scourge chimed in. "They're not really my thing either, seeing how they're, well, women's shoes."

"Not you too!" Alysha bemoaned.

"Dude, just take Selena and go look at the shoes," Fiona said, shooing them in the direction of Stewart Weitzman. "That store is tiny. It won't take you too long anyway."

"So, you're just gonna sit there by yourself?" Selena asked.

"I'll wait for you ladies," Scourge volunteered. "I have no interest in shoes I can't wear," he shrugged.

"Ugh, fine," Alysha said, rolling her eyes. She blew Scourge a kiss and grabbed Selena's hand. "Let's go!" she chirped, and they ran off both giggling.

Fiona breathed a sigh of relief and made eye contact with Scourge, who gave her a knowing look. Fiona returned a sneaky grin, glanced around to make sure Alysha and Selena were out of sight and slid on the bench right up to Scourge. He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her in closer. She giggled as his hand lightly brushed across her chest and down her stomach.

"Scourge!" she squeaked. "We are in public!"

Scourge shot her a lustful grin. "I know, kitten, but I couldn't resist touching you for a moment."

Fiona returned Scourge's eager look with her own. She turned slightly to face him more and placed a hand on his middle thigh. "Look, just make sure you're vigilant. We don't want Alysha or Selena to see."

"Oh, of course not," Scourge replied. He looked Fiona in the eyes. "Don't worry, that stupid chipmunk won't." Fiona couldn't help but giggle a bit at this remark.

Scourge thought for a moment. "You know Fiona, why do you keep company with Alysha and Selena? I thought I'd enjoy the company of the popular crowd while dating Alysha, but it's not worth it, especially since Alysha isn't that hot. At least, not as hot as you," he complimented, to which Fiona blushed slightly and snickered.

"Well," Fiona thought aloud. "Alysha's alright. She can be really annoying at times, but she fun to have around to shoot the shit with. We kind of have an agreement as well. I get her gossip; she buys me nice things. She invites me to her parties; I bring the booze and the drugs. I tag along with her as a friend; she treats me as one. But yeah, honestly, I definitely could be more attached to her. Not even sure how I got mixed up with her in the first place."

She crossed her legs and leaned up against Scourge's chest. "It's Selena I'm attached to," she admitted.

Scourge blinked. "Selena? Really? Her out of everyone?"

Fiona glanced up at him sheepishly. "Yeah, it doesn't make sense," she admitted. "But there it is. Selena's is fun to hang out with. She's a bit ditsy, but I guess weirdly, that makes her more tolerable than Alysha. That doesn't mean that she isn't annoying cause holy shit, she can drive me up the wall at times. When she's in a good mood, though, she's a bunch of fun to hang out with. Dude, I introduced her to weed at one of Alysha's parties last year. That was an experience for both of us, let me tell you!" she laughed.

Scourge shrugged. "I don't fully get it, but I'm glad my kitten is happy with the company she keeps," he said, smiling at Fiona. He planted a kiss on her forehead. "I just can't wait for the right opportunity to break up with Alysha."

"Yeah, me too," replied Fiona. "As fun as this is, I just want to be a public couple, ya know?"

"I getcha."

Scourge glanced over Fiona's shoulder. "Queen and princess at 5 o'clock," he whispered.

Immediately Fiona broke away from him, slid to the opposite end of the bench, and whipped out her phone. She stared intently at it, pretending as if the past few minutes hadn't happened.

Alysha sprinted up to the bench, with Selena in tow. "Selena's an idiot. She didn't even bother checking to see if the Weitzman store in Station Square even had the new collection. They didn't."

Selena looked mildly embarrassed. "Sorry," she responded.

"Ugh, whatever, it's fine," Alysha said dismissively. "C'mon, let's go to the food court," she said, grabbing Scourge's arm.

"What would my baby like?" Scourge asked gentlemanly.

Alysha playfully slapped his chest, and he embraced her in a hug. "I'm not sure yet," she told him. "C'mon, girls!" she called to Selena and Fiona. "Let's go get dinner."

Alysha linked arms with Scourge, and they started to walk in the direction of the food court. Selena, engrossed in her phone yet again, and Fiona followed them. Scourge turned and glanced back at Fiona, to which she winked back. He smirked, then turned back to Alysha.

"I'm so happy you're mine, Scourge!" a joyful Alysha proclaimed.

"Me too, baby," he replied.

⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤ END ⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤