Hi everyone. First off, I want to apologize for the very, very late update. College apps and school are currently consumming all my waking hours. Thanks to those of you who reviewed, it means a lot! I've already got the next chapter in the works, so I should have that up in another week or two. Thanks for being so patient!

Tessa blinked awake. The sun was streaming through the window beside her bed. The snow had mostly melted, and slowly, the buds were forming onto the trees on the quad under the gentle early-April weather. Tessa was in no hurry to get out of bed; it was Sunday, and for the first time all term, she had absolutely nothing to do for school or her activities. She turned onto her side, and glanced over at Tori, who was still sound asleep .

For once, Tori had managed to sleep through the whole night. For the past few weeks, Tessa had wound up shaking her out of her dreams multiple times in a night. And it wasn't like there was one recurring issue either. Her sleep was filled with nightmares from her past humiliations, screaming caused by revisits to her parents' deaths, and sometimes tears, caused by reasons that she wouldn't explain to Tessa. Tessa hadn't even known it was possible to cry in your sleep until she shook Victoria awake several nights after the party. Tessa had a hunch that it was the events of the party, especially the information about Cecily and Gabriel, that had completely undone her.

During the day, Tori was fine. She got along with everyone except Gabriel and Cecily, whom she was deftly ignoring. Tessa was beginning to get concerned though, because her ignoring them was starting to wear down the collective energy of the group. Plus, if both of them didn't catch up on their sleep soon, there was going to be a more immediate problem.

Tessa rolled out of her bed and put on a pair of leggings and a sweatshirt. One of Will's actually, which was a navy blue number printed with a gold emblem of some sort on the front. She slipped out of her room and after gently closing her door behind her, she knocked on the door one over, and waited until Will opened it.

He was wide awake, and it seemed like he had been reading before Tessa showed up. Unlike the rest of them, Will liked to rise at the crack of dawn. He grinned at her.

"Morning" he said, taking one her hands and pulling her into the room. Tessa sat in Jem's desk chair, swiveling about in it. Jem's bed was conspicuously empty, and when Tessa asked Will about it, he answered with a nonchalant "Probably in the music room."

Tessa swirled about again, tucking her hands into the sleeves of the sweatshirt. "So what's the plan for today, Will?" she asked.

He sat back down onto the floor. "I don't really have anything to do. I was reading for the heck of it. Do you have any work to do?"

Tessa shook her head. "Nope. We can't even go out, which really sucks."

The group had handled the campus arrest with ambivalent feelings. On many weekends, it was fine that they couldn't leave Institute, because they were so piled on with work that they couldn't have left anyways. But on a day like today, Tessa was itching to go to Hyde Park and picnic under the trees.

Tessa was still spinning around in the chair when she noticed a flyer tacked on to Jem's corkboard. She stood up and untacked it gently from the board. It was a notice about the House Olympics, which were due to start that week.

Tessa was actually excited to participate. Unlike the uneventful pep rallies and spirit weeks that Dalton's used to have, the House Olympics was competitive, and the prize at the end was usually worth it. Over the course of four weeks, each form, except for the 5th, competed by house for the most points. In each week, each form would be let out of classes early on one day in order to participate in the day's competition. Being a member of the third form, Tessa and her friends were slated to start on Wednesday. Except for Gideon and Mark, who would be competing each Thursday instead. Tessa had talked this over in detail with Will, Victoria and Sophie, and it seemed like Ethan House had a solid team for the competition. There were twenty kids on their team, and with the exception of the Victoria-Cecily-Gabriel mess, everyone got along well.

Tessa put the flyer back into place and joined Will on the floor. She put her head on his chest, wrapped an arm around his torso and slung one of her legs over his. He kissed the top of her head and shifted slightly so that they were more comfortable. Will put one arm around Tessa's shoulders and twirled her hair in his fingers. He used his other hand to keep his book open. Tessa closed her eyes, wishing to capture this moment into the deepest corners of her memory.

She opened her eyes and peered up into Will's face. "Will, read to me. It's been so long since we've done that."

"Okay, what book do you want to read?"

She flipped the book in Will's hand to see the title on the front page. "I've read this one, but I really liked it. Just continue reading from wherever you left off."

Will let out a happy sigh and continued from he had left off in The Kite Runner.

"It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime..."

Cecily stared at the clock above 's head. She tapped her foot anxiously, waiting for class to end so that they could start the Olympics. It was really the only bright spot that Cecy had seen in the past few weeks, and she desperately needed some action.

At long last, the bell rang, and Cecily was the first one out the door. Honestly, who cared about Medieval Europe? As far as Cecily was concerned, they were all dead because they enjoyed war far too much. Whatever, that wasn't important now. She figured she would dump her stuff in her room and change before she grabbed some lunch. She reached the dorm quickly, and she dashed down the stairs to the first floor. She was moving so fast that she didn't even hear Gabriel coming up from the ground floor.

They plowed into each other on the landing of the steps, and Cecily hurriedly spit out "Oh my gosh I'm so-" before she realized that it was Gabriel's arms which had set her upright.

Cecily gulped and pulled herself out of them, turning past him into the West Wing of the floor. After entering her room, she tossed her book bag under her desk and flopped down onto the bed, allowing herself two minutes to freak out before she changed.

It may have been weeks since that party, but Cecily had only spoken to Gabriel once. Right after the meeting in the Headmistress' office, Gabriel had followed Cecily down one of Institute's many open air corridors. When he caught up with her, he had put his hand on her arm and whirled her to face him.

"Cecily, you need to talk to me. I can't go on like this."

Cecy stared at the ground and shrugged out of his reach. "Why are you here, Gabriel? You should be looking for Victoria."

"She won't want to see me."

"You mean you're too afraid to go talk to her. Or you don't want to. Am I right?" she asked.

Gabriel put one hand on his hip and ran the other through his hair. "A little. But you and I both know that no matter how hard I try to apologize, she won't take me back. She might forgive me someday, but she won't trust me again."

Cecily knew in the corners of her mind that he was right. Victoria did not forgive easily, and it was even harder for her to trust. Victoria's stubborn will was perhaps the only thing that Cecily really hated about her best friend, but she knew that Victoria would be heartbroken, regardless of the front she put out. And Cecily knew that as much as she wanted Gabriel, there was no way that she could parade her sentiments for him right in front of her. For everyone's sake, she lied.

"I know Gabriel. But that doesn't mean that we can be together. Just because you kissed me doesn't mean that you can have me. There is nothing between us; I don't know what you imagined. It was just a kiss and nothing else."

She had turned on her heel and stalked across the quad to the dorm. She went into her room, where Sophie was already present. She was stretched across her bed, a blank expression on her face. Normally, Cecily would've been more concerned, but she was too deep in her sorrow to notice. Finally, Sophie sat up when she noticed that Cecily hadn't said a word.

"Cecy, what happened?"

Cecily turned to look at Sophie. "I think I've broken three people's hearts, Sophie."

Sophie got up from her own bed and lied down next to Cecily on her's. "I'm really sorry, Cecy."

Cecily shrugged. "It was bound to happen at some point. But I just wish that the entire school didn't know about it. " When Sophie didn't respond, Cecy said "What's on your mind, Sophie?"

Sophie shuddered before she recounted the previous night to Cecily. Cecily bolted upright, her jaw dropped in shock. "Sophie, I can't believe this. Are you- Are you alright?"

Sophie opened her mouth to answer, but instead she burst into tears. "No Cecily, I'm not okay. I'm scared and embarrassed. I'm worried that he's going to find me again, since he knows where I go to school. And to make matters worse, Gideon was the one who found me. It's so humiliating" she sobbed. Cecily wordlessly took her friend into her arms. Cecily soon started to feel tears slipping down her own face. She and Sophie had clung to each other, murmuring comforting words to ease their hurt hearts.

Cecily snapped out of her reverie when she heard the door open. She hastily stood up and dived to stand in front of her wardrobe. She opened the wardrobe door and hastily began to pull on a pair of jeans and a shirt. When she was ready, she closed the door to find Sophie leaning against her own wardrobe, already changed.

"Hey Cecy, are you ready to go?" she asked, a smile plastered on her face. Cecily grinned, infected by Sophie's excitement.

"I've never been more ready. Let's stop by the dining hall and grab some lunch. After that, we can let the games begin!"

After a rather hurried lunch, Sophie and Cecily joined the rest of their teammates on the quad, waiting for the bell in the clock tower to chime one o'clock. Most of the team was already present. Jem grinned when he saw them.

"Hey guys! I think you're the last ones. Dean Roberts should be out any minute with the instructions for today's competition any minute now. Are you ready for this?"

Cecy laughed lightly and gave a jittery Jem a quick hug. "We're going to win. I can just feel it."

"Oh, I hope so. I want my first Olympics to be memorable" said Tessa, who had joined Jem, Cecily and Sophie. Will followed closely behind her. Cecily peered around her brother's shoulder to see if Victoria was coming, but she was too engrossed in a conversation with Oliver Rhodes, his roommate Logan Edwards, Charlotte Bell and her roommate, Abigail Burton, to really notice. Or she was purposefully avoiding them.

"Cecily, give her a little more time. She just needs a good distraction so she'll think clearly again" said Will, following his sister's gaze. The two of them had detached themselves from the group, and were talking in hushed undertones to each other. Before Ella died, Cecily and her brother had been very close. They had banded together in order to go against Ella's regime as the oldest child, in the manner that most young siblings do. But after she had died, Will never really seemed to want to talk to her. It wasn't until they had started going to school at Institute that Will had opened up again.

Cecily sighed. "I don't know Will. I've stopped by her room every night, only to be turned away. I've sent her a thousand texts, and she hasn't replied to one. And I tried waiting for her at meal times, but she never seems to show up. Tessa even mentioned that she's been eating at the oddest hours too. I wish I could say it was because she wanted a change in pace, but it's probably because she wants to stay away from both me and Gabriel. I don't know what to do."

Will sighed and pulled his sister into his embrace. "It'll be okay. If it makes you feel any better, I know that you aren't the one to blame. Damn that Lightwood."

Cecily closed her eyes. Oh Will. If only you knew. I have feelings for Gabriel, and I can't even tell him. And I deserve as much blame as he does. Cecily opened her eyes to find Gabriel staring at them, only to avert his gaze back to Thomas, Arjun Singhania and Sophia Chang when he realized that Cecily had noticed.

All of a sudden, the bell chimed one o'clock, and everyone hastily convened. All the other third form students were arranged into their houses. Dean Roberts appeared from one of the corridors. He was followed by Coach Michael and Coach Jen, who were to help with the event. Dean Roberts made his way to a small stone pedestal in the middle of the quad, where he set down a small box. All the groups were quiet, awaiting instructions for their first task.

Dean Roberts cleared his throat. "Gooooooood afternoon, ladies and gentlemen! I am pleased to announce the start of the 2013 House Olympics for the Institute Class of 2016!" His voice boomed across the quad, and all 120 students on the lawn cheered in unison. When the noise died down, Dean Roberts spoke up again. "I know that most of you know the rules to the Olympics by now, but bear with me while I repeat them again for the convenience of our new students." He pulled out a sheet of paper from the box.

"Over the course of the next four weeks, you, as members of your house and form, will compete in afternoon-long activities in order to determine which team is the most deserving of Institute's prize. The prize will be handed out the closing ceremonies, which, unlike the commencement of the Olympics, will be attended by the whole school. Each week, the activity will be announced at one o'clock on your competition day. At the end of the allotted time slot, each team will be awarded points based on the degree to which they completed the task. The winning team is the team with the most points by the last week. In the event of a tie, there will be an additional activity, which will occur amongst the teams in question. There will be rules for each activity, but there will also be a few general overarching there is any infringement on school rules, then the student in question will be eliminated from the competition. If any member of the team is caught in any legal issue, the person in question will be suspended, and the entire team will be eliminated from the competition. If there are any purposeful injuries, then the entire competition will be shut down. Do you understand me?"

All 120 heads bobbed up and down. 'Would they actually do that?" Tessa whispered to Tori. She nodded. "Tessa, you have to understand, Institute only adopts rules when something so serious happens that the rules are needed. They believe in an open education here, so the rules are a lot less rigid. There have been students who've broken the law and broken other school rules in order to win the Olympics. When my mum attended this school, someone wound up paralyzed from the waist down because of a trick gone horribly wrong."

Tessa blinked before she turned her attention mutely back to Dean Roberts, who was wrapping up his speech. "And I think this is it for the formalities. Onto the real part of the games" he said, slipping the formal rules into the box and pulling out a stack of envelopes. "I have your challenges right here. Do not open them until I say so" he said, handing an envelope to the first member of each team that he could reach. Logan took the cream-colored envelope from the Dean's outstretched hand. He turned it over in his hands, waiting for the signal.

After what seemed like hours, Dean Roberts finished handing out the cards and stood next to the stone pedestal. " One more thing. I want everyone to put their phones into the box set aside for your house." There was a slight grumble running through the crowd, who was surprised by this new stipulation. But nonetheless, everyone forked over their phones. After the hubbub had died down, Dean Roberts spoke again."Note that you have until five o'clock to complete your task" he said, holding the sound gun in his hand. "Let the gamessssssss… Begin!" he shouted, blasting the sound gun.