The bell rang above her head as her wet shoes pounded down the hallway. She had woken up late and had stepped in a puddle of slush as she had raced for the bus. She was going to get detention, she knew it. Her math teacher was a real hard-ass when it came to punctuality.

At that thought Quinn slowed a bit, thinking that if she was already twenty minutes what would a few extra minutes do? She didn't have to beat herself up for something that wouldn't really get worse.

"Quinn?"

She stopped and turned to see Gwen standing a couple feet away.

"We need to talk," Gwen said.

Quinn looked her up and down, noting how tense she was and how her eyes darted around. "Quinn," she repeated. Quinn nodded slowly and stepped inside an empty classroom with the older girl. She had been suspecting to find Noah and Gabriel in the room but the two males weren't to be found.

"You need to watch your back," Gwen told her.

"Why?" Quinn crossed her arms. "Is Duncan going to beat me up behind the Dumpsters after school or something?"

Gwen shook her head, her gaze hardening. "I'm not joking around, and I'm not talking about some high school thugs like Duncan. I'm serious."

Quinn met the girl's eyes and nodded once.

"You need to watch yourself and your friends ok?" Gwen told her firmly. "Do you understand?"

"Where's Noah and Gabriel?"

"Do. You. Under. Stand?"

"Yes."

"Good." She walked out without another word and Quinn watched her leave, wondering if her hardness had to do anything with Noah and Gabriel being out of sight. She left the classroom a few minutes after Gwen and, as suspected, got detention the minute she walked into her Math class; not that she was going to go.

She skipped second period Science, not wanting to face Mark after yesterday's training session. After she had ran from the infirmary she had stayed in her room for the rest of the day, missing dinner so she wouldn't have to see him. She had felt sick all evening and the same wave of illness hit her when she thought about sitting next to him in class. So she skipped, went down to the dance hallway and hid in one of the unused rooms.

She was heading off grounds for lunch when Alex ran up to her. "Hey Quinn," he greeted, flashing her a smile. "I was wondering if you had seen Mark."

Something clamped onto Quinn's chest and she mutely shook her head.

"Oh, I thought you had science with him?"

She sighed and crossed her arms. He took the hint not to press her. "Alright, well have you seen Jake?"

Quinn paused and shook her head again. "No."

Alex smiled and shrugged. "Alright. Caim and I just wanted to ask them something. We'll find them later. Thanks." He took of back towards the school and Quinn stuck her hands in her pockets. That was strange, usually Mark and Kitchie went straight to their lunch tablet after their classes.

She didn't want to linger on these thoughts very long as the clamp tightened around her chest. She took in a deep breath and her mind shifted to her short conversation with Gwen earlier that morning.

You need to watch yourself and your friends.

Quinn shook her head and continued off the school's grounds; Mark didn't need her to protect him.