Happy Saturday, everyone! This chapter is a bit late because I was originally going to have it be a longer chapter that I'd post on Monday (and apologize profusely for missing an update), but my friend convinced me to post this part of it and leave a cliffhanger. So you can blame him for this. Also it's been so cold, I'm actually having trouble typing. I'm not used to such cold weather, but thankfully it's warming up. Anyway, hopefully you lovelies enjoy! ~Shaymie

Lorin's POV

"Don't worry, Lo. I'm sure Darcy just has to blow off some steam," Alex said calmly, taking a sip of coffee. I wouldn't be so worried if this wasn't the second time in less than a month she had run off. John said that she was with him, but told me to wait awhile before trying to talk to her. She was pissed. I could hear her rampaging in the background of the phone call, screaming curses. Today was her second day of being gone.

"Yeah, you know how bad her temper gets," Thomas sighed, glaring at Herc as he was pricked with a pin. They were about to do their last rehearsal runthrough of Macbeth before the final, which was a performance in front of the entire school. They had to perform tonight and everyone had frazzled nerves. I didn't envy them at all. Especially since Herc was stressing over making sure that their costumes fit perfectly even though he had already fitted them.

"She just looked so… angry. And betrayed. I don't think she was expecting for me to forgive Mama." I held out the pin cushion for Herc and sighed. "I didn't think I would forgive her either…"

"Why did you forgive her?" Thomas asked as Herc finally finished with his costume. He tagged out with Alex and leaned against one of the prop thrones. I frowned. I didn't know why I had forgiven her. I had been furious. I didn't even want to see her. But she seemed truly sorry about what she did. I know now that she was only trying to protect me, even though she had a terrible way of doing it. Before I could think of a way to tell this to Thomas without sounding like a total pushover, the back door slammed open and Mr. Conway bursted in, saying that it was almost showtime. I kissed Alex on the cheek and walked over to the seats. I had a front row seat in the auditorium since I was in the class.

Rehearsal went on with only a few minor hitches. Everyone avoided Seabury like the plague. It was hilarious to see Banquo trying to avoid his own son. Alex tried (and failed) to pull of a Scottish accent, which was kind of ironic since he told me that he had some Scottish blood in him. It was so bad that Thomas broke character to tell him to speak like a human being. Maddie had a coughing fit halfway through the first act and sat down next to me. And since he didn't have an understudy, I was tasked with reading his lines. Sally Hemings (who played Lady Macbeth) couldn't keep her hands off of Alex. It took all my self restraint to not march up onto the stage and punch her.

"That was amazing!" Mr. Conway cheered as the other kids in our class pulled the curtains shut. He looked out to the audience, which was just me and Maddie. We looked at each other and hesitantly clapped for our boyfriends. I had a feeling we'd docked down a grade if we didn't. Alex and Thomas burst out from behind the curtain and walked over to us. I pulled Alex in for a kiss, shooting a murderous glare over his shoulder at Sally, who was walking over to us from backstage. He pulled back from the kiss and smirked at me.

"I didn't see you as the jealous type, Lo," he grinned. I opened my mouth to respond, but was cut off by Sally, who sidled up to Alex, her… assets pressing against him. His face turned bright red as he tried to push her away, She only latched onto his arm, a flirtatious grin on her face.

"Hey, Alexander," she murmured, her voice low and sultry. "Why don't you dump the squirt and hang out with me for a bit?"

"Hey Sarah, why don't you fuck off?" Thomas crossed his arms and glared at Sally, using her real name even though she hated it. Her face twisted into a grimace as she huffed and pulled away from Alex. She grabbed his hand and grabbed a pen from in between her boobs, uncapping it swiftly and writing something down.

"If you're ever looking for a real woman, ditch the fatass and call me." She walked backstage, her hips swaying seductively. Alex rolled his eyes and licked his thumb, wiping the markings from his hand without even looking at them. I wrapped my arms around myself and frowned. I… I wasn't that big, was I? I squeezed myself slightly, not liking how squishy I felt. It definitely wouldn't hurt me to lose some weight.

"God, when is she going to get the message?" My eyes flicked over to Thomas as he spoke again. This had happened more than once? I hadn't been to every rehearsal since I didn't really need to be. I'd spend my free period hanging out with John in the nurse's office or in the choir room, which was always open in case anybody wanted to rehearse. It probably shouldn't be like that, considering anyone could just walk in and steal things. But it wasn't like anybody really cared about choir. Anyone that wasn't in it just ignored its existence. John wasn't here today, since he said he had to help Darcy nurse a hangover. So I had decided to stay for rehearsal.

"Don't listen to her, Lorin," Maddie said quietly, raising his handkerchief to cover a cough. I frowned. He never did that well in winter and spent most of it sick. I squeaked as Alex pulled me into a hug and put his head on my shoulder with a huff. I managed a small smile as he started murmuring to me in French. I didn't know what he was saying, but just the sound of his voice was soothing. I wrapped my arms around him and sighed happily. He wouldn't leave me for Sally. Even he had some standards.

"You haven't heard anything from your sister?" Mama asked with a frown as she helped me fold clothes. I shook my head and sighed. She hadn't been answering any of my phone calls. John had been giving me small updates on how she was doing, and jokingly said that I was going to have to pay to restock his snack cabinet. When he had called earlier though, he seemed a bit… distracted. Something in his tone had changed, but I couldn't pin down exactly what it was.

I folded a sweater and looked at the clock. It was 5:30, so I should probably start getting ready. The play started at seven. I kissed Mama on the cheek and went upstairs to take a shower. I turned the water on so it could warm up while I got undressed. I put my charm bracelet on top of my towels and frowned at my reflection. It wouldn't hurt me to lose a few pounds… My new year's resolution was definitely going to be to lose weight. I looked away from the mirror and stepped into the shower, sighing in relief as the warm water hit my skin.

I spent almost an hour in the shower, only getting out when I remembered that I had somewhere to be. I reluctantly turned the water off and wrapped a towel around my body. I was in the middle of wrapping my hair when someone knocked on the bathroom door. I frowned. This was my personal bathroom. Who would want to come in here when they knew that I was using it? I padded over to the door and opened it a crack, blinking in surprise when I saw Darcy. She looked like a total mess, her eyes wide and frantic. I saw red marks going down her neck and disappearing into her sweater.

"W-What are you-"

"I messed up, Lori. I messed up big time. We got drunk and I don't remember much of what happened after that, but I have a pretty good idea of what it was and oh my god, I fucked up so much…" I led Darcy to my bed as she rambled and grabbed my clothes from the bathroom. I frowned as I got dressed. I had never seen her so panicked. Whatever she had done must have been pretty terrible if she was coming to me for advice even though she was mad at me. She was infamous for holding grudges. I smoothed out my purple dress and sat next to my sister.

"Dar, what happened?" I asked gently, putting a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked down at me. Now things were getting scary. She had always made a conscious effort to not cry in front of me. "Darcy, what happened? If someone hurt you-"

"I slept with John last night!"