Ainsley sat down on her bed, brushing her hair back into a ponytail. She'd done it so many times that she didn't even need a mirror anymore. A fat fly landed on her knee, and she lifted it to get it to fly away. Her eyes watered when a few hairs got pulled out, so she lifted her head and widened them. The feeling went away quickly.

A certain event was coming up: the Rainbow Vision music competition, to be exact. Rainbow High was getting prepared for it, but she knew that they didn't need to. They were talented, certainly, but she knew something else lay beneath the surface. When her ponytail was secure, Ainsley stood up. There was only one outcome.

Just as she went to leave, however, her hair fell out of the hair tie holding it. She sighed. Of course, of course this wouldn't be a normal month. Shaking her head, Ainsley checked her box of hair ties. All cut up. Why couldn't this just be a normal competition?

"No, no…" she mumbled, pulling out hair tie after hair tie. Not a single one had been spared. A wave of panic washed over her. She had never been seen without a ponytail before, it was her signature look! Her eyes darted around her room, settling on a pair of sweatpants she'd kicked under her bed. A string ran through the top…

Ainsley walked out of her room with the string tied around her hair. It had been looped her hair around a few times, then tied into a bow. Cute and functional, especially with a stray diamond earring stuck through the middle! That was exactly why she was a Prefect. The others probably wouldn't notice the difference.

By the time she caught up with the other A's, she was panting like a dog. "Sorry," she apologized, "ponytail emergency." Her friends stood next to her waiting for her to catch her breath. The bell rang, and they all started off to class. Sadly, they didn't get much time to talk in the morning because Ainsley liked to sleep in. No matter, she'd just talk to them at lunch.

Her first class, Jewelry Design, went by rather slowly. It was filled with all freshmen besides her and Avery. Today happened to be presentation day, which meant that she was bored to death by students droning on and on. Daphne began to present her jewelry, and that was when things became interesting. Ainsley was about to fall asleep standing up when…

"Oh my god!"

Suddenly, the string dissolved, spilling the beads all over the floor. Everyone gasped, including Ainsley. Her eyes widened. Thoughts started spinning all around her head. She shook it, trying not to show her anxiety on her face, and began to wring her hands. Avery glanced over at her to gage her reaction. Groaning, Daphne checked her string. "Heat dissolving thread? Someone switched my thread out!"

Yep, definitely their work.

Ainsley shook her head again, hunching her shoulders and pulling out her phone. "Oh, they're gonna get it…" she mumbled. "I can't believe them!"

"Ainsley, phones away."

"Yes, Ma'am."

Classes ended earlier than normal, and Ainsley expected the rest of the school day to be cancelled. But no, the students were left to stand in the halls and converse. She and Avery approached Aiden. "Hey, so did-"

"It was awful!" Avery gasped. "So many beads on the floor… it's like a nightmare."

"Poppy's tunes freaked out on them, someone started speaking over the track." The boy cracked his knuckles.

"Maybe it's just a prank…" Ainsley started, raising a finger up.

"Yeah, an awful prank! Who would do that?"

Frowning deeper, Ainsley continued. "I think… I think I know who it was."

"Maybe it was the Fashion Fates," Aiden suggested.

"Guys…" Her voice became even softer. "I think…"

"No way!" a voice demanded behind them. Laurel was swiftly walking towards them, Holly and the Assistant in tow.

"The Fashion Fates would never mess with good fashion!" Holly added.

"No, this reeks of Shadow High."

Ainsley fake-gasped, but she knew this already. After all, only two people could possibly be this cruel. And especially when it was this close to Rainbow Vision too… It couldn't possibly be a coincidence. She hated to say it, but the De'Vious twins were right.

All around, the students gasped and shrieked and moaned. The other two Prefects shared a look, then looked at Ainsley. They knew. She knew they knew. "Room. Now." Avery said, and they all three nodded. Her heels clacked as she walked, the chatter behind them dying down.

When they got to their room, Aiden pushed it open and invited the other two in. He closed and locked the door behind them. "Ainsley, you said that you know who's behind all this?" he asked. Avery sat down on the couch and invited her to sit as well, which she did.

"Yeah…" The girl ran a hand through a strand of her hair, then sighed. "I told you about where I transferred from, right?"

"Yeah." Nodding, Avery put a hand on her shoulder. "Do you have something to do with this?"

"No, not anymore. See, there's these girls I know." She waited for a moment and watched them react, then continued. "Veronica and Naomi, they're Prefects this year. I was supposed to join them. Shadow High always pulls pranks, but they upped the ante. They wanted to win the music competition so badly this year, they came up with this plan…"

Tilting her head, Avery let out a whistle. "Do I even wanna know?"

"They want to get the justice that Shadow High deserves. Which, fair, Rainbow High cheats." All three nodded their heads. Some of the students that graduated already admitted to cheating, and Ainsley remembered a fellow jewelry designer tampering with her project last minute. Still, her sisters were planning a major disaster. "But-"

"But how?" Aiden asked.

Ainsley stood up, causing her friends to fall silent and stare at her. "We need to tell Miss Wright. I know them, they'd stoop low to win."

At that moment, the intercom cracked to life. "Students, report to the auditorium for a totally normal assembly." Ainsley tilted her head to the ceiling.

"So you think that was-"

"Totally not," Avery interrupted. "C'mon, hopefully we can get to the bottom of this." Together, they made their way down the hall, with Ainsley still thinking. These were Shadow High students they were talking about. And she knew them personally, more personally than anyone at that school…

"It's on, sisters."