Sad piano fills the air, and a pained voice follows.

Finally escaping

Something I've been running from.

I finally grew strong enough to walk away from you

Something that the old me would never have the strength to do.

The piano music sounds almost like a minor version of parts of 'Total Eclipse of the Heart'. But at the same time, it has its own personal category. It's completely original.

Ohh

Finally done breaking

When you walk back in

On my heart

The music picks straight up and the girl on the piano bench closes her eyes as she sings. But she isn't the one playing the piano.

Never had a chance in my mind

To get it right

Why can't you just leave me,

Leave me, to get on with my life.

When I needed you the most you were gone

And now you're here to haunt me

When all I finally

Finally

Finally needed

Was to be….

…on my own.

The song has slowed down again. The girl's voice does not waver as a thin tear rolls down her cheek. The piano player plays on, nodding her head a little as she plays the sad melody.

Oh, I never had a

Chance in my mind

To get it right

You made me question everything I knew about me

And then you stumble right on back when I'm finally free

Stealing, stealing

All I have to give

I want to be this lovely soul

I want to just…

…live.

But

The girl takes the last word through a long and soulful run. And that voice. Only someone who feels just what they're singing can sing like that.

But.

The worst part is

You didn't mean to peel the petals off the rose

Forgiveness is a foreign place to someone with a tearstained face

My heart's on the floor

My souls in my voice

And up in my head

There's void, void, void

I can't think when you're here

And I break when you're not

Yes, you've taken, you've taken

Just all that I've got

I don't blame you for not seeing

Don't blame you at all

I only blame myself

For having to fall

Jade west closes out the song with half a major scale, changing the song, and Seri sings the last line softly.

Never had a chance

In my mind.

And then Jade hugs the girl

(OKAY! NORMALLY AN INTRO GOES AT THE BEGINNING OF A CHAPTER, BUT WHATEVER…OKAY? This chapter is going to be long, and I'll probably be working on it for more than a day. I appreciate everyone who has contributed a character to this story, and I made a bit of an estimate on just how long it would be. I'm thinking around fifteen or more chapters, with a possible sequel about the students selected to go on the trip to Italy. I'll let you guys vote on the sequel idea, and that doesn't mean I'll make it. I don't want to commit to it quite yet, only because I'm so busy. So, here we go. Long chapter ahead. The song above was original, by me, and honestly, it fits a few situations in my life right now, which is a whole other story. But, Seri and the stranger's past are kind of similar to my story. Not completely the same, because this is YOUR story, I don't want to make myself too much of a part of it. I'm just here to type and hope you like it :). Screw this disclaimer, done it enough, let's do this thing!)

Seriana Velequian

I know I made a little bit of a scene. I didn't mean to, really. I'm not one to cause drama. On purpose.

Tracks are over, and it's officially free hour. Right now, I'm at the place in the gardens where we played truth or dare and all of that.

Ten minutes ago, I'd been in the Spare Room. It's a huge room filled with extra instruments, equipment and supplies. I'd sat at the piano, staring blankly ahead, until someone came up and sat next to me.

No questions were asked.

She just played a simple tune on the piano, saying she wrote it herself, and it was lyric-less.

I asked her to play it again, and just sang. Sang what I felt and felt what I sang while Jade West played piano next to me.

And then she gave me a hug and left.

I think maybe that was the best thing she could have done for me.

But now the girls have kind of cornered me into talking.

Ariana had taken me here, Cat and Jade with her. Emily and Ava found us along the way, and when we got here, Ethan and Annabella were sitting here talking. Ethan got up and left, but Annabella stayed for the story.

Telly and Tori showed up later, and sat down, asking Cat what was going on.

I realized they were waiting for me to talk.

To tell them who that was and just why I was so…..upset by them being here.

Can I tell them?

Can I trust them?

Yes.

I don't know if I should, but I'm going to either way. I want to trust someone, so I will.

"Uhm. I guess should begin by telling you who that boy was."

I'm sitting by Jade and Emily, and Cat is directly across from me, smiling encouragingly.

"His name is Ryan."

I cleared my throat and went back to the beginning.

"Two years ago, I walked into a classroom and sat down next to a girl who I thought was my best friend. Her name was Meghan. We're sitting there talking, and she motions across the room to a nerdy looking guy sitting at a desk. She says that they went out in fifth grade, but, you know, no one really goes out in fifth grade. It's fifth grade. Anyways, so the guy.

I didn't think, 'Oh, he's cute', or anything. He seemed average. He seemed safe. Like someone I could make friends with and not worry about being attracted to them."

And then I'm having a flashback, speaking right on through it as the images play clear as day through my head.

"Oh, hey. I didn't know you were in this class." I say, turning to the kid named Ryan that Meghan had pointed out a few days ago. I had to sit by him in class, and he seems pretty okay. But I didn't realize he was in this class too.

He nods. "Yeah." He says, giving me a smile.

The days turn like pages in a book.

Ryan is in all of my classes. He's alright actually. That kid, he's smart. Not a lot of people can keep pace with me at this school. I mean, I used to go to genius school, and I guess you could say I'm a nerd, but Meghan tells me I don't act or look like one. Whatever that means.

I'm explaining all of this to the girls. I tell my story as it replays in my head and I wonder just how long until I'm speaking through tears.

Our table was too crowded, so Jenny and Kelsie moved. I'm just going to stay here, by Kaitlynn and Alex. Ryan sits on my other side with his nerd friend Max. We talk a little bit sometimes, since this class is really laid back.

"Eventually, we got to a point where Ryan and I were really great friends. I would talk to him more than Kaitlynn and Alex, who I had been friends with longer and also sat by me. We would walk to our lockers together, because they were right next to eachother, and he was in all of my classes. We would talk through class and we had inside jokes and we passed notes. That kid lent me his jacket and through my complaining let me use him as a foot-rest. I'm not a whiny girl, but, yeah."

And then there was the day I realized what was happening.

I'm sitting in band and our band teacher is lecturing us. Ryan's over by the wall, laughing with his friends.

I smile, seeing him laugh, and stare off out the window. Then I look back and we make eye-contact and he smiles. I smile back, roll my eyes, and turn back to the teacher and realize….I'm blushing.

I had spent the whole rest of band class thinking through this, realizing that I liked him and then going into denial.

I stayed in denial for as long as I could, and then I realized it was too hard. Too much trouble, because what I felt wasn't going to go away.

So I told my friends, and they all said go for it. Everyone said that he liked me. That he was perfect for me. Because if perfect exists, then….he was, for me.

And then I had one last obstacle before I would tell him I liked him, which by the way, would be the bravest thing I've done. Because I'm shy…not brave.

I had to tell Meghan. But of course, she said she was over him since fifth grade. AND, it was fifth grade.

So one day in class I tell her I need to tell her something.

"I like someone." I say.

Meghan grins. "Oooh, spill!" the gossip queen begs.

"Uhm….welll…er…"

"Is it Braden? He is SO cute! Wait, is it Jeremy?" I shake my head as she lists each guy.

Then she thinks for a bit.

"Oh, dude, what if it was RYAN?" She says, laughing, jokingly.

I stare at her and her eyes widen.

She starts laughing.

"OHMYGOODNESS- YOU like HIM? Oh, this is too much!" She doesn't even seem like she cares, just like it's so comical that I like nerd-boy.

And then of course, Ryan comes to sit by us and I give her a death glare as she sits there cracking up.

"What?" he asks.

"Nothing." I say with a pointed look at Meghan.

I look at my phone and see I have ten minutes left of free hour. I need to finish the story, but no shortened version can really describe what happened, so I just do my best.

"Anyways, one weekend we started texting, and he asked me if I liked him. After making myself be brave for once, I told him I did, and said that it was okay if he just wanted to be friends, which was a total lie. He said a bunch of nice things, about how beautiful and sweet I was, and then said he didn't know how he felt. The next weekend…he and Meghan were going out."

Cat gasped.

"That bitch!" she said with a squeal.

Everyone looked at the innocent girl, not expecting such a word to leave the mouth of a person like her.

And then I finish my story. I tell them about how Meghan WAS actually a total bitch to him. She insulted him, told me she liked using him for homework, talked about other guys in front of him, was shallow, a bitch to his friends. How she told everyone she was going to break up with him and then when mine and Ryan's mutual friend Kaitlynn tried to warn him and Meghan heard about it, she told him that I started that as a rumor to make him mad at her.

I tell them about how one day in a dark auditorium on a fieldtrip I'm sitting by them and wearing his jacket and they're holding hands and all of a sudden I start crying silently, in public, which I never do. No one would have known if Meghan hadn't looked over and loudly asked what was wrong. Then people turned around, my whole grade staring at me in the dark, and Meghan 'defending' me, telling them to 'Go away! She's crying!'. And then telling them why. And then Ryan pulled me aside and told me that his heart belonged to Meghan.

Despite all she'd done to him, and all I'd done for him.

I put nice words in her mouth so all she had to do was press repeat and suddenly she was the best girlfriend ever. I told her what to say to make him feel good and he never knew so she got all the credit. And how he still doesn't know to this day how I did that.

I tell them how that summer she cheated on him. How she didn't tell him and broke up with him. How she told me she didn't regret cheating, and I should tell him what she did. How I told her it was her responsibility, how I ended my friendship with her.

How I eventually told him after Kaitlynn reassured me I had the right to.

And then I tell them about he and I. How when they were still going out he had told me if I ever needed to talk, he'd be there, how he said he'd always be there for me.

And then, that summer, before and after the breakup, he wasn't. I was going through some really terrible things that summer with my family, and I told him everything, and he only texted me once.

He broke his promise, my heart, and then ignored me back at school.

And lastly I tell them how it took me so long to get over it. I felt so insecure and terrible and alone that I wore a mask of a smile on my face. And that having just recently smiled a real smile, the absolute last thing I needed was for him to stroll right on back into my life.

That I knew from the moment my eyes traveled to the door, I was screwed, and I ran, ran, ran, because I just can't.

I can't do that again.

I can't see him, can't talk to him.

I can't do anything except escape.

I thought about leaving camp, but I figured I'd sleep on it. Why walk out on a trip to Italy just for a guy who only broke me?

But honestly? I don't want anyone's pity. I don't want the attention. I would have much rather preferred he never showed up. But of course, he had to come.

I look up to see everyone standing. Obviously people had tried to speak to me, but I had been zoned out. Apparently for a few minutes, because Ethan was there, and ohmygoodness is he making Annabella blush?

That's it. At our next free hour tonight, I'm getting answers.

I told my story, and now I want Ethan and Annabella's. I want Beck and Tori's. I want Jade and Alex's.

Because Jade and Alex are making out by the fountain right now, and I haven't seen Beck and Tori all day, except for when Tori came to hear my story.

A girl has the right to be curious, right?

Tori Vega's POV

Beck and I had been in the Improv room. Everyone split up into groups of four and made a script. We're all going to preform them tomorrow, and then they day after that we're getting to the actual impov part.

And I have to say, I'm quite nervous about the part where I kiss Beck….

And I also just might be guilty of looking forward to it.

And then for free time, Cat told me Seri needed us.

I didn't think that girl needed anyone.

She seems cool, but rather independent if you ask me, despite her love of fun.

But after hearing her story, I know now that I have to tell Beck how I feel before it's too late and some other girl like Meghan snaps him up.

So, I'm going to do it this week.

I hope.

And the only reason I'm not scared of Jade right now is because she's making out with that Alex kid by the fountain.

Annabella walks up to me as we're heading to lunch.

Through lunch, she talks to me about Seri's story, and we talk about the skit we're doing, as she's in our group. Ethan is too, and I noticed the whole time she switched back and forth from avoiding him to staring at him.

This must be complicated.

But, of course, he did the same to her.

There's so obviously something there, and Annabella notices me deep in thought.

"What are you thinking about?" she asks me as I take a bite of my tortellini. Oh, yum, pasta.

I figure I might as well just ask…..

"….Uh, did you and Ethan….know eachother, before we came here?" I ask hesitantly.

Annabella rolls her eyes and blushes

"Well, Seri asked me if I'd tell that story at next free hour. Even though I think we should just start calling free hour story time." She says, first serious, then grinning.

Beck comes to sit by me and I tense up at little.

Don't stare.

Not as his gorgeous hair.

Not at his gorgeous face.

OHMYgoodness, he's looking at me!

I can't believe I still get so excited around him.

We three talk and laugh, and pretty soon we head off to the ballroom for our afternoon meeting.

I can't wait to hear about the contest! It's going to be great!

Okay, this chapter was kind of long, because of Seri's backstory, but I had to put that in sometime. I feel bad for not getting to the Italy contest yet, and I also feel bad for not getting in Ethan/Annabella's story yet. But, this chapter WAS 6,000 words long, so I have it typed, but I didn't want to put it up and make you guys read such a long chapter. SO now it's just 3,00 words XD

And plus, I think I'm going to retype it anyways, when I have the time.

Okay, a few MUY IMPORTANTE QUESTIONES.

What did you think of this chapter? Were you bored or interested in Seri's story?

Although Annabella's POV will DEFINITELY be in the next chapter, who else would you like to have a POV next chapter (don't put your own character)

Bori. How should they happen and when?

Ryan/Seri. Should they make amends, or should she move on to get back at him? Or maybe both?

And lastly, rate this chapter on a scale of one-ten. I would like to know what you think, because this was a whole lot of backstory and I don't want you guys to be bored.

Okay, so please at least answer SOME of those questions in a review, please and thank you.

What am I forgetting?

Uhm…..I'm not sure. Anything else, please leave in a review or PM me.

Also, I wrote that song. Oh, wait, already said that….

How was your day?...Now I'm rambling nervously.

Bye, thanks!