Wilhelm was back in his room, sitting at his desk, looking out at the sun and the sky. He decided to open his bible and flip to a random passage.

Revelation 13:1-4

"Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names... And the dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority... And all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon for he had gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like this beast, and who is can stand against it?"

I'm calling it a night.

After a night of tossing and turning, waking up repeatedly, as well as a healthy serving of nightmares, Wilhelm slowly opened his eyes and sat up in his bed. He was drenched in sweat and his sheets were soaked.

I guess this is as good a time as any to check my progress.

Wilhelm then walked over to his scale/measuring stick.

He had gained a bit of weight since junior year, now weighing 170 pounds (77Kg) at 5'9" tall (1.76m). His hair had lightened to an almost golden blond from a summer full of sunshine. He kept the sides and back very short, though only from the halfway point down. The top was also short, but still long enough that the end of his hair in the front fell just short of his right eyebrow. His eyes were pale green with a distinctive ring of light brown around his pupil, a trait he shared with his father and all his siblings.

Time to shower.

With that, he grabbed his things and started his day out with a long shower.

Wilhelm did not feel good today, and the blinding light of the morning sun definitely didn't help. He was greeted by Taylor who was uncharacteristically without Courtney or Victoria.

"Hi Taylor," Wilhelm said in a soft, quiet tone.

His eyes are bloodshot.

"Are you okay? You look-"

"Tired? Yes, I am. I'll be okay."

"Have you seen Courtney or Victoria?"

"No, I haven't. Could you just walk with me?" Wilhelm asked nicely, offering his hand to her.

"Aren't you going to flirt with me or make jokes?"

"No," he replied, maintaining his soft voice, "Not unless you want me to."

"What happened to you?" Taylor jokingly asked as she took his hand.

"Even I need to give it a rest every now and then."

Rather than walking directly to the front, they chose to turn right and walk around the campus before going inside.

"Have you heard?" Taylor asked.

"Heard what?"

"That video of Kate? Someone hacked into Victoria's social media and her phone and deleted it from everything."

"Can we talk about something else? I don't want to gossip."

"Okay, then.. What do you want to talk about?"

"How's your mom?"

"She's okay, considering.. It's not really something I want to talk about."

"Okay. I just wanted to check on you. How about I drive you to go see her sometime?"

"You'd do that?"

"All you'd have to do is ask," Wilhelm replied while giving her a side hug.

She reciprocated the hug and leaned her head on his shoulder for a few seconds.

"Thank you."

"Anything for a friend."

"I wish more people got to see this side of you."

"How am I supposed to make you feel special, then?" Wilhelm replied, returning to his flirty tone and getting a smile out of her in the process.

The pair continued their hand-in-hand walk in silence for a few minutes before Taylor spoke again.

"How are you and Victoria doing?"

"What do you mean by that?" He asked, slightly irritated by the question.

"You know what I mean. You two always have your ebb and flow."

"The same, I guess. That might change, though."

"Why?"

"You'll see, Taylor. I don't want to involve you. For your own good. As much as I squabble with you and Courtney, I really do care."

"Okay, then."

By this point, the two of them had reached the front lawn of the school.

"Back into the fray, mein schatz," Wilhelm said with a smile.

Within seconds, they ran into Victoria and Courtney. Victoria's left eye twitched with jealousy at the thought of them alone together.

"Where have you two been?" Victoria asked, hardly able to contain her irritation.

"Walking."

"Without us?" Victoria asked, raising her voice ever so slightly.

Wilhelm gave her a hug before responding. He also gave one to Courtney; just to pull Victoria's chain a little.

"I didn't feel like waiting is all," Wilhelm replied in a soft tone, too tired to entertain Victoria's simmering anger, "Don't worry, Viechen. We weren't plotting your downfall or anything. Just sharing a walk and a few words. Some silence, too."

I hate it when he calls me that cutesy name to appease me.

"What's wrong with that?" Taylor asked innocently.

"Nothing," Victoria replied flatly.

What's her problem? Taylor thought.

He looks terrible and Victoria didn't seem to care or even notice, Courtney thought.

"Let's go," Victoria instructed.

The four of them started towards the door and went their separate ways once inside.

First period was a total blur. He was exhausted and couldn't focus to save his life. Second wasn't so bad. Their usual teacher wasn't there so everyone just used the time for independent study. He nearly dozed off when a latecomer to the class spoke to him.

"You mind if I sit here?" Max asked, making Wilhelm's eyes shoot open and his head pop up.

"Of course not. Please sit," Wilhelm said, pulling the chair out for her.

"Thank you for yesterday," Max said as she sat down.

"Thank Warren. You would've been fine without my help."

"Warren wouldn't have been."

"Nathan's not exactly Don Frye but I see your point."

"Who's tha-"

"Never mind. I was glad to help you and Warren."

Her eyes are such a nice shade of blue. She's quite pretty in a very understated way… Probably because she doesn't know she is.

"It was brave of you. Thank you. You're a much nicer person than you let on."

"Someone easily could've seen that as me trying to keep Nathan out of trouble. I certainly made him think that. I keep up an ambiguous appearance."

"Not to everyone."

"That's true, too."

"Was that true about Rachael?"

As soon as he heard her name, Wilhelm's smile left his face and he buried his eyes in his right hand. After a few seconds, he looked back at her.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to torment me. Maxine."

Too soon, Max thought before rewinding to before she mentioned Rachael.

"Why do you have to keep up appearances?"

"Can you keep a secret?" Wilhelm asked, leaning towards her.

Max nodded in response and leaned in.

"So can I," Wilhelm whispered.

"I like you, Max, but I don't know you like that," Wilhelm said with a sly smile.

"Very funny," Max said.

Max tried for what seemed like hours to get him to talk about Rachael but he got too upset or angry to say anything every time.

Damnit. I'm trying too hard.

"How have you been, Max?" Wilhelm asked, changing the subject, "We haven't talked in a long while. I'm positively dying to hear the next tale in the action-packed saga of Maxine Caulfield."

"I've been doing okay. I reunited with an old friend."

"Who?"

"Her name is Chloe Price."

"Oh.. How. how is she?"

"You know her?"

"Yeah. I met her through Rachael… I guess I never had the heart to talk to her. Or her parents for that matter. Not that I know them."

"You never met them?"

"No. I guess you could say I was her secret. Among others."

"Her secret?"

"I can't say more right now. I really don't like talking about her. Especially in public."

"Why?"

"It makes me very prone to emotion and I don't want to air that out to every Tom, Dick and Harry."

"No one says that anymore," Max said with a chuckle.

"Well, I do. That's rich coming from someone who's stuck in the retro zone."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm gonna go further than what Victoria said. Hamilton? Really?"

"What's wrong with Hamilton?"

"What isn't? The guy spent his whole life making borderline child porn and calling it art. It's no wonder he lives in Paris. He probably goes bowling every Saturday with Roman Polanski and then talks about little girls over dinner afterwards."

"Take that back!" Max said, getting defensive.

"No. I won't. If there ever was "Degenerate Art", that would be it."

"There's no such thing as-"

"What would those pictures be without that blurry effect?"

Max gave no answer.

"Besides, real camera art lies in film. Don't worry, Hamilton got his grubby hands on that, too. You know what his movies were about?"

"No."

"I'll tell you. They're about minors having sex. Anyway.. now that I'm done making you feel embarrassed for liking one of your favorite "photographers", let's get down to brass tacks."

"What?"

"Directors cut or theatrical cut?"

Max, confused, stared at him blankly in response.

"Blade Runner?"

"Oh. Director's of course."

"Oh, Max," Wilhelm said dramatically, as if his heart fluttered from her single statement, "I don't take back anything I said about Hamilton, but you've redeemed yourself fully. That would've been the final nail in your coffin. I knew you had at least a little taste. I swear I could kiss you. And not just to make Victoria jealous."

For the second time, Max just stared at him and said nothing. The only difference was that she was blushing a bit this time.

Wowser. I cannot keep up with him. He's eccentric even by my standards. I can see why Victoria likes him so much.

"Looks like I've overloaded your defenses, Caulfield. Guess I'm done torturing you for now."

"You're.. a lot."

"Thank you," Wilhelm replied with a smile, his soft tone making a comeback.

I can also see why he annoys her so much.

"Can I take you to lunch? My treat."

"Why?" Max asked.

"Because I want to have lunch with you."

"Where are we going?"

"Wherever you want, Maxchen," Wilhelm said, softening the "X" to make her name sound more gentle.

"What's that mean?"

"I've said your name in diminutive form in German. It's like a term of endearment. I do that with most of my friends, unless they don't want me to, of course. I guess you could say it's a subtle way of showing affection, especially since no one here knows what that means."

"Do you do that with Kate?"

"Yes. I call her Kätchen."

"Victoria?"i I'm

"Viechen."

"Courtney?"

"Kortchen. She doesn't like when I call her that in public, though. I think it embarrasses her."

"Why?"

"I guess a lot of Vortex Club members don't like to reveal where their soft spot is. Not that Courtney has a large one, anyway." No

"Okay. What about Taylor?"

"Tächen."

"Juliet?"

"We aren't that close but I called her Julchen once when I was drunk."

"Dana?"

"I called her Dänachen on the same night. She told me she liked it so it stuck."

"Warren?"

"Warren didn't like the name because he couldn't pronounce it. Besides, we aren't really that close."

"Anyone else?"

"There's no one else I do that with. My circle of friends is relatively small."

"Not a lot of guys, huh?"

"No, you're right. I don't really like any of the guys in The Vortex Club. This isn't a problem I had in my previous schools. I do prefer the company of women but I've never not had a decent group of male friends, either. Not to mention this school has more females than males."

"I guess that makes two of us. I don't get along with guys too well here, either."

Wilhelm responded without words. He simply shrugged and showed a straight-lipped smile. He opened his mouth to say something else but was interrupted by the bell.

"Good talk, Max. See you later," Wilhelm said with a smile.

The rest of the school day flew for Wilhelm, and his lunch with Max went well. Victoria of course was very annoyed to see him drive away with Max in the passenger seat. She ignored him for the rest of the day in retaliation. The afternoon was even more drama-filled. Juliet had accused Dana of sexting her boyfriend and Max went to find out the truth. It was in the midst of all this when Victoria knocked quietly on Will's door.

"Can I come in?" Victoria asked.

"Go ahead."

Victoria entered his room and shut the door before taking a seat on his bed. Wilhelm was sitting at his desk.

"What's with you today? It seems like you've been antagonizing me all day."

"How have I done that?"

"You've been paying attention to every girl except me today. Didn't our night together mean something? Will, I'm falling in love with-"

"Did you ask Zach the same question?" Wilhelm asked with a stone face.

Victoria turned pale and her eyes widened.

"What are you talking about?" Victoria asked with a trembling voice.

"Did you ask him if it "meant anything" when you were sexting him? Were you thinking about our night together while you were doing that?"

Tears began to well up in her eyes as she spoke.

"No I-"

"You what? You what, Victoria!? You didn't think you were gonna get caught? My father was a fucking SPY!!"

Wilhelm's eyes were something she found so attractive, but now they were being used as a weapon against her. The usual life-filled orbs were now cold and focused, emanating every negative emotion she could imagine. That would have scared her under normal circumstances, but in this case, his eyes were able to suck every bit of courage from her being. Only his rage and his force of will kept him from breaking down and crying. Victoria could not muster such strength against his gaze. She began to sob uncontrollably, her makeup running down her face.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

"What's worse is that you knew that it fucking destroyed me when I found out Rachael had been with other people. You fucking knew and you still did this! You stabbed me in the heart! I was ready. I was ready to love you with all your faults; your bitchiness, your scheming, your toxic social life, your disgusting friend group. I was going to ignore all of that. All of it! But no. You betrayed me! You fucked it up! On top of that, you hurt Juliet and didn't have the spine to admit it, so what did you do? You blamed Dana!"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry… I love you. Please I'll do anything-"

Wilhelm interrupted her again.

"You know what else?"

"What?"

"It was me. I did it. When you left to take a shower, I got on your phone and computer and I deleted the video of Kate. There was no hacker. It was me."

"Why?"

"I was disgusted by what you did to Kate and I was willing accept the consequences that deleting the video would have on our friendship. It became different when I discovered you were planning to cheat on me from the very beginning of our relationship."

Wilhelm's voiced progressively softened as he spoke those words, his rage subsiding.

"No, I was going to stop.. That was before we-"

"At that point, I didn't care if you found out I did it. We're done, you and I. And FYI, I saved the email about Zach, so if you try to come after me, Max, Dana, Juliet, or Kate, I'll forward it to your parents and all your friends. I don't want that. With regard for our previous friendship, I'll let us break away clean. You've hurt me enough, so just leave me alone. Goodbye, Victoria."

Victoria looked up at him and tried to say something, but couldn't. Defeated, she got up and walked out the door.

I can't catch a fucking break.