"They're still making you go to class?" Virginia asks as she sees me getting ready the next morning. "I thought they would've given you like a week off or something."

"Well, spring break is next week," I say. "I should probably go to class and get my mind off things."

"So are you going to Grabby, sorry, Grabiner's class?"

I force a smile in her direction. "You can still call him Grabby around me. I don't care. I actually think I've called him Grabby to his face a few times too."

"Aren't you supposed to respect him if he's your husband?" Ellen asks.

"I respect him," I say. "We have an understanding." I feel a blush rising to my cheeks. "It's complicated-"

"Yeah, yeah, we don't really want to know," Virginia says, and I hold up my hands innocently.

With that conversation left hanging between us, I make my way out the door and head to Professor Potsdam's class, making sure to get there early. I'm the first one in the classroom and she's sitting behind the teacher's desk, reading from a big book.

"Well, hello, Tori, dear," she says as I walk into the room. "How are you feeling?"

"Um, okay, I guess," I shrug. "As good as I can be, considering."

"And things with Hieronymous?" she asks. "When he came back to tell me that he wanted to cancel the severance…why, I couldn't believe it. But I'm so happy for you, if I knew anyone could talk some sense into that man, it would be you."

"Thanks," I blush and look away. "And um, Professor, I just wanted to thank you and all. For saving my life, back there in the gym." I know that she's the one who almost let me get killed in the first place, but I remember what Hieronymous had told me yesterday. I want to stay on her good side.

"Hush," she says. "Now, didn't Hieronymous tell you that you should take it easy this week?"

"He did," I reply. "But considering next week is Spring Break, I figured I should apply myself now."

"Such a studious girl, I can see what Hieronymous sees in you," she says. "If you never need anything, anything at all dear, please let me know. You have shown remarkable bravery and courage standing up to-" she lowers her voice. "-you know."

I can hear the chatter of other students getting louder as they enter the classroom, so I quickly thank her and take my seat. I get a few looks from other students as they enter the classroom, but no one says anything directly to me, and I don't say anything to them. I idly wonder who started the rumor that I had attacked my roommates, but it probably won't do me well to dwell on it. It didn't really matter who started the rumors; I just wanted it over with.

Class starts and finishes without incident, but apparently word of my reappearance on school grounds has floated around, and the barrage of whispers begins as soon as I walk out the door into the flow of students in the corridor.

"Look, there she is."

"Oh, that's the girl who attacked her roommates, right?"

"No, they say some guy who was expelled last year did it."

"Yeah? What happened to him?"

"You heard Potsdam. It's supposedly none of our business."

"Oh, maybe she was dating him."

"Haven't you heard? She's not dating anyone. She's married to that crabby old Professor Grabby."

"Oh, that's probably how she's been earning her grades."

My hands are shaking. I want to yell at someone, anyone, but I know very well that that will not help me right now. Just when I'm about to make a run for it, I feel a hand on my arm. It's Donald. "Hey, come with me."

I sigh and walk with him down the long corridor. Maybe this is why Potsdam didn't want me going to class the first week. Maybe she wanted to wait for all the rumors to blow over. Everyone would probably forget about me with all the latest Spring Break gossip, and what with finals and the May Day Ball and summer, people would stop thinking about me.

"Thanks," I say when we're out of the school.

"Can we talk?" Donald asks, and his expression is more serious than I've ever seen it.

"Yeah, where do you want to go?"

"The trails?" he asks. "Would you be okay with that?" I think about it for a moment. It's where Damien attacked me and wiped my memories. It's where Damien-then-Tommy tried to kiss me. No, I don't really want to go on the trails.

"There's a bunch of benches by the staff side of campus," I say. "Come on."

"Are we allowed to be over there?" Donald asks.

"Well, I mean, I know I'm not supposed to get any special privileges for being married to a teacher," I say. "But I don't think sitting on a bench counts as a special privilege."

We walk over and eventually sit down, the bench facing out towards the quad and the rest of the classrooms. I pull my knees to my chest and curl my arms around them. "This sucks."

"What sucks?" Donald looks surprised.

"Everything," I reply.

"Is being married to Grabby really that bad?" he asks.

"Not Grabby," I say quickly, letting out a small laugh. "No, Hieronymous is…he's not as bad as he seems in class. You have to get to know him."

Donald makes a face, like he still isn't too sure. "If it makes you feel any better, I didn't believe the rumors that you attacked them."

"Thanks," I reply. "I mean, I know people always thought I was a little weird and all, but I didn't think people would think I was like, violent or anything."

"Well, there were also rumors that you got detention for attacking Minnie Cochran," he says.

"I didn't attack her," I sigh. "And anyway, that was when I was having partial memory loss. It was starting to drive me crazy."

He hesitates, fidgeting with his robes. "So Damien really got back on campus? As Tommy?"

"Yeah," I say quietly, looking over at him. "I mean, you and Tommy, you guys were friends, right?"

"At the beginning of the year, yeah," Donald admits. "And then he started to, I don't know, change. Sometimes it would feel like I was talking to Tommy, and then other times it felt like I was talking to a whole different person."

"Well, I'm glad you picked up on it," I sigh. "I didn't."

"But I should have said something," Donald says. "You were in danger. Ellen was in danger-"

"So, Tommy was acting weird," I shrug. "I mean, that didn't mean he was Damien. You didn't know that he was like, the evilest of evil beings. It's not your fault."

Donald is quiet for a long time. "There's a lot of people that don't believe it, you know."

"Believe what?"

"That Damien did it?"

I turn to look at him. "What?"

"Well," he starts. "I mean, I don't think you'd attack them. And you stood up for me last year when the fire broke out and you believed that I didn't do it. So I believe you. But Damien wasn't supposed to be on school grounds after what he did last year, so how did he get in? And no one saw him on campus or anything, and the freshman don't know who he is, so all they know of him is just rumors." He hesitates. "But some people say that Potsdam is only lying about it being Damien to protect you, since you're married to a teacher."

"What?" I gasp. "Who would say that?"

"I don't know," he shakes his head. "Do you know what happened to Tommy? The real one? They wouldn't tell me anything."

"I don't know," I say, shaking my head.

"Some people say he returned to his family and gave up magic." Donald shrugs. "I mean, yeah, there's always the possibility. But it's also possible that Damien killed him."

"He killed me," I offer, and Donald gives me a strange look. "I mean, my heart may have stopped beating. My guts were like, bleh!, you know."

"Are you okay?" Donald asks, his face filled with concern. I shake my head in the affirmative. "Do you have any scars?"

"Nope," I say. "I guess that's one of the benefits to green magic? I don't know, I don't think I'd really mind if I did have scars though. Something to help me remember, you know?"

"So do you have all your memories back?" Donald asks.

"Yeah," I shrug. "But I mean, I can't help but feel tampered with, you know? Like Potsdam read my diary from last year and everything, it feels like all my privacy just went whoosh, into the void that my memories were stuck in."

"Ellen told me about that," he says. "Apparently her memories were shielded too."

"Potsdam is the one who did the spell though," I say. "So she was safe. She never was in the kind of danger that I was."

"But that's still not right," Donald shakes his head. "She didn't ask to be a part of this. She just got sucked into it because she was your roommate."

"And I didn't ask to have my memories stolen or to almost be killed," I say, my voice rising slightly. "It just happened, okay. And she's okay now, Donald, she's fine."

We're silent for a while. Clouds start to form overhead, and it looks like it might rain again soon. "I should tell you something," Donald says at length. "They don't really want to be around you right now."

"Around me?" I echo.

"Well, I know you're getting the hard part of it," he says. "But they're not immune to it either. People were hounding them all night and day when it first happened, asking for details. Now that you're back, people have been asking them all sorts of questions about you. They don't want to deal with it."

"They shouldn't have to." My shoulders slump and I hug my knees to me just a little bit tighter. "And I'm sorry for it, I really am. I don't know what else to say." We sit in silence for a little bit longer. "So, is it that they don't trust me anymore or-?"

"Remember last year?" Donald asks. "When all the rumors were going around that you married Grabby, and people were knocking on your door all night and day?"

"How can I forget?" I murmur.

"Well, you didn't tell them anything then," he says. "I mean, they know why you couldn't tell them, but at the same time, they feel like you could have told them something, so they were at least in the know when all the rumors started going around. They're your roommates, and they felt as out of the loop as everyone else."

"Well-"

"And then this year," Donald continues. "You start acting really weird, and you're quiet and in your room all the time, and then suddenly they get attacked. And the constant knocking on the door starts again. And all the questions."

"I-"

"You're drama," Donald finishes, and my jaw drops. Drama? At my old school, I was the one who never had a boyfriend, the one who could spend weekends in my room just listening to music, the one who studied hard and never complained about anything, but was always quick with a joke and a hug. I had friends there, and what's more, I had a good reputation. Even people that didn't know me were happy when I was paired up with them for class projects, because I could always be counted on. I was the opposite of drama in my old school. And now I was suddenly drama? Suddenly no one wanted to be around me anymore? How did I change so much in a mere two years? "You may not try to be, but you are. And they don't want to deal with that."

"So what am I supposed to do?" I ask.

"They're hoping you'll move out," Donald says. "They didn't tell me to tell you that that's what they want, but they don't want you as a roommate anymore."

"Where am I supposed to go?" I demand.

Donald shrugs. "I mean, technically you are married-"

"Are you kidding me?" I ask. "I don't think I have to tell you that married or not, Hieronymous values his space and his privacy. I'd probably be better off trying to get a room in one of the dungeons."

"I just felt like I should warn you," he said. "They want to approach you about it but after what you've been through, they don't know how you'll react."

"So they're afraid of me?" I ask flatly.

He shrugs. "I don't know if afraid is the right word, but with everything that's happened between this year and last year-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," I snap. I let out a frustrated sigh as I run my hands through my hair. "So what are we then? Are we still friends?"

He shrugs. "Were we ever friends? Really?"

"What?" I ask in surprise. "Of course we are. I mean, we built that snowman together last year, and you told me about your family, and then we played in the arcade with Tommy almost every weekend this fall-"

"Yeah, but that's just because we ran in the same circles." He shrugs. "I mean, things are different now. Ellen's my girlfriend. Virginia's my sister. If I hang out with you, and they find out about it, they're both going to give me a hard time, you know?"

"And?" I ask. "Last year you were pranking Virginia all the time. You couldn't care less if she didn't like you."

"But since I've been dating Ellen, things have been different between us." Donald sighs. "And I don't want to mess that up. I'm sorry about everything you've been through, I really am, but-"

"You're choosing sides." I take a deep breath. Part of me wants to slap him. Part of me understands. "No, I mean, I get it. Your sister and your girlfriend. I get it."

"So that's why I'm telling you," he says. "Giving you some warning. Hopefully it makes us square."

"Yeah," I mutter bitterly. "We're square."

"Well, look on the bright side," Donald says. "Now you and Grabby are in a league of your own. You're like, the husband and wife of ostracization. The weird couple at the end of the block who everyone suspects eats the local missing children-"

"Thanks," I say quickly, a touch of venom in my voice. "Anyway, thanks for the warning. I should probably head back and confront them about it."

"Good luck," Donald says. He gets up and starts to head back as I rub my temple with the sleeve of my robes.

Hadn't I been through enough for one year?