Thank you all for the reviews and follows/favorites! I know Holly is not in this one much, but don't worry she will be involved big time in next chapter. This chapter is the longest one so far-almost 3k words, so enjoy!

What a shitty day. Gail slumps on her bed in misery. Nothing has gone right at all for her today. She arrived to her language ethics course late and the professor screamed her head off. That Russian lady is extremely anal about being in control of every single detail of class and that includes students' attendance. She would kick out any student who comes to class without textbook or being prepared without exceptions. Gail is fortunate to simply get yelled at instead of kicked out. The screaming gives her a massive headache so Gail doesn't bother grabbing lunch before heading back to the dorm room. Five minutes later, her stomach is an unruly beast out for food.

The Imperial March begins playing on Gail's cellphone.

Gail's neck tenses up and she grabs her pillow to cover her ears. Mother. Just when she thinks her day cannot get any worse. She leaves the phone ringing and hopes that her mother will leave a voicemail like usual for her to ignore.

"Gail, why aren't you picking up the phone? I want to hear all about the Criminology course you are taking. It should be the easiest course for you since we already taught you everything you need to know. I expect you to put most of your effort toward that class over others and you really need to start reconsidering your major. You already have a future in policing career so don't take that for granted. I expect to hear you soon about family dinner. Perhaps this Sunday? I am sure Steve can pick you up or maybe I will."

That surely sounds like a veiled threat in the end there. It has only been a couple weeks into Gail's first semester in college and her mother is already starting to pile pressure on her about her career, future, and what she is supposed to do for the Peck family. She's been trained rather than raised to be a Peck and honestly she does not know anything else. That is the main reason why she wants to at least try something not Peck-like for once in her life. She already tried to give justice a shot once that summer, and it certainly didn't go so well.

Gail exhales a heavy breath of burden. Her cell phone rings again. However, this time it is The Avengers theme ringtone. Gail quickly crawls out of the bed and down the steps to grab her phone off the desk.

"Hey loser"

"Hey snail"

"Really? That's all you can come up with? That's really lame, even for you, Steve."

"And loser is original?"

"It suits you perfectly, and there is nothing wrong with going for a classic."

"So how's college life going for you?"

"Cut the chase. Did mother make you call?"

Steve sighs. "Yes, and you better answer next time or she's going to do a surprise visit. She's been asking me about which room you live in and who's your roommate. "

"You didn't tell her right?"

"Of course I claimed ignorance. I told her your roommate wasn't there when I helped you move in."

"Good. I don't need her to get on my back about that. She's already done that enough with my classes and stuff."

"Look, I know our mother is not exactly warm, but she just wants the best for you that's all."

"No, she wants what is the best for the family. Everything she does is to make the Peck name look like gold."

"And what's wrong with that? Certainly makes our life easier. We can get job stability, money's good, and women love hot cops."

"And that's why you are a loser."

"I'm simple. Easy to please. Ain't no shame in that. You think too hard sometimes, Gail. Relax and enjoy the life while you can. You gotta give into Mother sometimes. Keep things in balance and you will be fine. Pick you up this Sunday for the Peck dinner?"

"Fine." Gail hangs up and tosses her phone across the desk. She loves her brother, but sometimes he just does not understand her feelings. She is not sure if he truly wants to be a cop, but he accepts his fate with no doubt. Secretly, she is envious of him for being the prodigy son of the family, while she is more of a black sheep. She collapses in the chair and puts her head face down on the desk. This day absolutely cannot get any more worse now… can it?

The phone beeps this time as if on cue. No ringtone so probably a text message, but from whom? Gail decides to brave it again and lazily reaches for the phone on the edge. She unlocks the code without looking, then peeks to see who sent the text. It's from a number she does not recognizes, but it is local area code. Curiosity gets the best of Gail so she decides to open the message.

"Hello Gail, it's Holly from Criminology class. I got your number from Sage. Hope you don't mind. I figure it would be easier to talk like this and set up meetings for the project. We should meet soon before Monday so we can delegate the tasks. -H"

At first, Gail becomes a little giddy at the fact that she has Holly's number. She becomes peeved next moment because she realizes that Sage had her number first. She realizes that Sage passed along her number without her permission, so she becomes angry. She ignores the fact leaving abruptly last time she saw Holly probably is the reason why she had to ask Sage for the digits. Her chest becomes hot and fuming with anger, because nothing has gone right all day long. She has had more than enough things not go the way she wants.

"Hey you hungry? Let's grab some grub and eat outside. It's sunny and gorgeous!" Sage exclaims as she enters the room.

"Fuck off Sage. You just had to go and give out my number like confetti. Goddamnit I'm so sick of this!" Gail stands up and the chair clatters on the floor.

"Whoa, simmer down white girl. What are you talking about?"

"Holly." Gail stares sternly.

"Oh that. Well, I saw her earlier for lunch and she asked for it. She said she needs to contact you about a project you're doing together. I figure you forgot or something. What's the big deal?"

"That's not the point. You should've asked."

Sage scans Gail's face in search for emotional signs. Gail recognizes what Sage is doing, so she looks away, hiding her face from Sage's eyes.

"Seriously, Gail. What happened today?"

"It's nothing. Just a bad day of classes." Gail dismisses Sage's concern.

"Did Holly piss you off or something?"

Gail abruptly turns her head to Sage. Yes, she is frustrated about the whole project thing with Holly, but Sage cannot know that. "No. It's got nothing to do with Holly."

"It's your mother eh? Did you see her?"

"No." Gail pauses for a moment and shrugs in defeat. "She called. Left a message."

Sage's face softens in understanding and pulls Gail to sit with her on her bed. Gail ends up laying on the bed instead.

"So is your mother bitching at you as usual?"

"Yeah. Mostly about my futile future. Kept hinting that I should just follow in her footsteps and stick to policing. She even called Steve to convince me to go over for dinner this Sunday."

"Well, just go. It's only for a couple hours and hey, free food. You can't say no to that."

"True. " Gail sighs and turns over to lay on her stomach. "I'm just tired, Sage. I spent first sixteen years of my life believing in my mother's plan for me without any hesitation. Now, I can't do that anymore. I just want to be me and do what I believe to be right, but that is not good enough for my family."

Sage puts her hand on Gail's shoulder. "Well you're doing pretty good right now. You're majoring in something you're good at. You pick up languages like a sponge."

Gail raises her eyebrows in amusement. "Sponge? How original, Sage."

"Hey, you smiled at that. Even if it's just a little. That's my job as your Tonto."

Even though the Holly thing is hurting, Gail knows it is worth it. Sage just gets her and always support her in whatever she wants to do.

"Holly actually told me what the project is about."

"Oh."

"Gail, I know what happened is still on your conscience. I know it still hurts. I'm still furious about it. I won't tell you how to feel and what to do about it. But… maybe you should think of this thing as an opportunity. You tried to do the right thing and it got all fucked up by your mother. Maybe this time you could plant some small seeds and sit back. Watch it grows. Maybe it will become something big and the world will change. Maybe it won't and everything will remains the same. At least in the end you can say you did all you could. That's all that matters."

"Fuck Sage, when did you become the wise one like your grandmother?"

Sage laughs. "Well I gotta wise up sooner or later. What are you doing after dinner tonight? There's a softball game going on. The pride group is looking for more players. Holly's gonna be there. I gotta play and look good! Join me so I'll look good next to you."

"Hello? Remember I hate people. Even our high school gym teacher automatically assigned me to be the scorekeeper because I'm not a team player." And no way is Gail going to be there to watch Sage and Holly flirt with each other.

"Alright. Alright. I know that. You hungry?"

"Not really. Just go."

"You sure you alright? I can cancel and chill with you."

"And moan about not seeing Holly? Gross."

"Fine. I'm going. Be a good kid!" Sage gets up and leaves the room.

Gail scoffs at Sage's comment as she slowly sits up. Her mother's words still nagging in her head, while her own self doubt is growing in her heart. Is she really making the right choice? Gail is not so sure about it, but one thing she knows for sure is she does not want to be alone tonight. She does not really have friends other than Sage, and she's busy with the softball and surely charming Holly too. She won't call Steve either because she's still upset at him for not understanding her perspective. Holly obviously is way off limits and will be at the game anyway. Who else?

Ciara.

Gail remembers her words about texting her when she wants to improve her fluency in ASL. Well, she has nothing to lose by sending out a text, so she sends out one before she heads out to the lobby area for some cheese puffs from the vending machine. Cheese puffs should suffice for now.

Gail notices a blue light blinking from her phone after she returns. That usually means text message. She enters the code to open her phone and reads the message:

"Meet me in room 2701 at Booth. I'll be there all night long, so keep me company!"

Booth? Gail doesn't recognize the building name so she checks it out on campus map app. It is an arts building behind the administration building. She has not been there since orientation week, and it is on the other side of the campus from the buildings her classes are at. It is going to be a long walk, but Gail does not mind because she needs time to get herself together before she sees Ciara. Ciara must not see her being weak and unsure of herself. Gail does not want to get pity from anyone, especially someone she barely knows in first place.

Gail wanders along down the hallway on the second floor. The white walls serve as blank canvas supporting various art students' artworks being displayed. One piece in particular catches Gail's eye and she stops to observes the work in front of her. It is an image manipulation with a thick mechanical looking frame. The teenaged girl has her mouth opened with straight black line from both corners of the mouth down to bottom of the chin, two mysterious hands covering both of her eyes, and her ears are unproportionally large with dry cracks. Gail looks down to the girl's actual hands wrapped with ropes and lay on her stomach. It is as if the girl is trapped and being controlled by someone invisible. Gail feels a nudge on her arm and looks around to see Ciara standing next to her with a proud smile on her face.

"Like what you see?"

"It's impressive. Whoever made this is really good."

Ciara points toward a small sign next to the frame and it reads, "Broken Puppet by Ciara Coughlan. Fulton Exhibit Gold Winner"

"That is my piece from an exhibit over the summer. I almost didn't get in, but my advisor and I fought for admission and I got it. Never been so angry and proud at the same time before."

"Why didn't they let you in in the first place?"

"Well, normally they won't allow freshman submissions due to inexperience, but one of the professors was really impressed with this piece and wanted to give me an exception. However, the old farts, who run the show, didn't want to deal with providing accommodations for poor little deaf girl. Little did they know I raised hell and threatened to sue the shit out of them for violating my rights." Ciara chuckles.

Gail nods in impression of Ciara's bold assertion.

"Come on." Ciara hooks Gail's arm with hers and drags her to a small studio down at the end of the hallway.

The studio is so messy. There are bunch of unfinished canvas of various sizes leaning against almost all of the walls. A long wooden table is stationed right in the middle and it has a huge pail filled with grey liquid. Next to it is a cardboard box full of ripped newspapers. Gail realizes it is for making paper maché and she notices a weird looking bust with bunch of random electronic wires spread around it. She recognizes the wires from old FM equipment Ciara takes apart in her room the other day.

"Those were in your room the other day weren't they?"

"Yeah, it's for a project I'm working on right now. I'm hoping to get it done at some point tonight… most likely in the morning."

"Pulling an all nighter?"

"Yes. I work best under pressure. Pulls out my feelings from deep inside. I just find it easier to face myself in the middle of night when nobody's looking."

"So, what am I doing here then?"

"I don't know. You asked what I am doing tonight. This is it. Feel free to do what you want here. Actually, I have one blank canvas you can use." Ciara walks to pick up a 30"x 40" blank canvas and puts it on an easel standing in a corner away from the table. She brings out several cans of different color paints and hands a thick paintbrush to Gail.

"What?" Gail stares in puzzlement.

Ciara just laughs and put the paintbrush in Gail's hand. "It's for you. Go ahead. Dip it in a can. Pick a color that represents a feeling you want to let out of yourself. Throw it at the canvas."

"What makes you think I want to do that? I'm not an artist and I left finger painting back in my preschool days."

"It's got nothing to do with artistic talent. You obviously got something going on in your pretty mind. It's your chance to throw 'em out. Consider it a therapy of some kind."

"I don't need therapy, thank you. I'm not depressed."

"Look, I'm not asking you to vent out to me or anything like that. I'm definitely not a therapist. I'm too crazy for that shit. I saw you looking at that picture I made. Your eyes tell me you can relate to it. I won't ask why. I just know you feel trapped by something, so here's your chance to let it go. Even if it's just for tonight. Just my suggestion. Do whatever you want. That canvas is yours. " Ciara pats Gail's shoulder and walks back to her paper maché station and starts working away.

Gail watches Ciara working for few minutes and considers her suggestion. Today has been a shitty day and she is full of messy feelings that she does not want to deal with. Therapy is definitely out of question. She can barely talk to herself about her own feelings let alone talking to a stranger in a boring office. She picks up the paintbrush and figures it would not hurt to give this a shot. She looks at the paint cans. Forest green, cerulean blue, onyx black, burgundy, and dark purple among others. The dark purple and onyx black speak to Gail and she decides to dip her brush in the dark purple can. She raises it a little and watches the paint dripping off the edge of the brush. Purple is one of her mother's favorite colors and she always tries to persuade Gail into wearing more purple as it supposedly looks good on her. Gail whips the paintbrush at the canvas and a splatter of purple diagonally spread across the canvas. She releases a small breath of relief and repeats the process over again and again.

Both Ciara and Gail are in their own world and work in silence all night long.