Layla and Will seemed to be getting along well again. Chandra wasn't ready to forgive Will yet, but she was no longer angry with him. She treated him cordially, even if she wasn't particularly friendly. Will had slowly been growing more distant from the pink-covered girl. Chandra knew that Gwen was up to something, so when she heard Will complaining that Gwen had come to his house, uninvited, while he was hanging with Layla and talked to his parents, inviting them to homecoming, Chandra was very suspicious.

She didn't trust Josie or Steve yet, but they had been kind to her and she shared her suspicions with them. They insisted that Gwen was a lovely girl without hearing the evidence and dismissed Chandra's worries. The poor girl was clearly only jealous of Layla and upset that Will had been ignoring her. Chandra couldn't believe their naivety to believe that the girl meant no harm. She guessed that the Commander and Jetstream were too arrogant to consider that there may be a danger they didn't know about. They had good reason to be very confident, but Chandra was starting to see that they were more confident than they should be, arrogance being a better word to describe them. Steve thought that because he was invulnerable he couldn't be defeated. As Chandra had proved, the strongholds weren't invulnerable to everything, only weaponry and external harm. There were plenty of other ways to stop someone besides hitting them with great force.

Will now respected Chandra more, and had started hanging out with the girl. Chandra suspected that Will was curious as to how powerful she was, but she also could tell that there was no malicious intent behind his curiosity.

Chandra was broken from her thoughts when Will spoke from his place on the couch, where the sidekick gang was back together and studying. "Why do you keep hiding?" he asked, drawing the attention of the whole gang. Chandra stared at him intently, trying to figure out what he knew.

"What do you mean?" Chandra asked calmly.

The others in the group stared at Will like he had grown two more heads.

"Yeah, what do you mean Will?" Ethan piped up.

"You mean none of you have noticed?" Will looked at Layla, noticing her silence.

"You know what I'm talking about, don't you?" he asked the green girl.

He knew that Layla and Chandra had a deep bond, in fact, he was sometimes doubtful that he was Layla's best friend instead of Chandra, but he knew she wouldn't keep secrets from him unless it was important to someone else she cared about.

Layla looked like a deer in headlights. She was terrified that Will would think she betrayed him by not telling him Chandra's secrets, but Will smiled, surprising everyone. "I'm glad Chandra has someone she can trust so much." Layla looked relieved and leaned into his side. Will smiled down at her as she hid her face in his side. Chandra smiled at the scene, noticing that Will seemingly had much stronger feelings for Layla than the girl knew.

Chandra sighed, drawing attention from the gathered group, who had been staring fondly at the best friends who could not just get together already.

"I have something to tell you all." Chandra looked to Layla, who looked at her encouragingly.

"Before I tell you, you must know that a lot has happened to me in my life. I have trouble trusting people since I lost my mother." Chandra hesitated, but steeled herself. "My mother wasn't killed by natural forces, but rather, by my former best friend. Before I met Zach, I had a best friend named Liam. I had thought we were in love…"

A growl sounded from the doorway, where Warren had just entered, but Chandra just smiled, confusing him. "Come sit down, this is a long story." He hesitated, but sat on the couch next to Ethan.

"As I was saying, I had thought we were in love, but he really only wanted one thing. And no, it wasn't the typical things boys want. He wanted to undo me. You see, he loved my rival, a girl by the name of Becky. She wasn't just a school rival. You see, my family was always poor. And my mother was sick. So I started fighting for money. I used my powers to cause injury and weaken my opponents to win. I didn't know what I was doing, just that my punches hurt others a lot more than they should. I feel no guilt over this. Afterall, anyone who wants to win money by beating up a five year old deserves to get beaten. Becky was the other girl fighter. Instead of wanting to stick together, she saw me as her biggest competition. Liam befriended me. Later I found out it was at Becky's request. She wanted him to gain my trust, learn my weaknesses, and stop me from winning. So he got close, close enough that I invited him over to my house, telling him about my mother and how much she meant to me. I was about to tell him about my powers when the door was kicked down. Liam's gang of friends burst into the house and went for my mother. They killed her. At that moment, my powers exploded. I felt nothing but pain, rage, and betrayal, and I killed them, every last one of them. The explosion had healed me. But what use was my power then? My mother was already dead."

Chandra was silent, her head hanging down as silent tears slid down her cheeks and dripped to the floor. There was complete silence around her as everyone took in her story. Chandra heard Warren get up but didn't open her eyes. She felt arms wrap around her torso, squeezing her tightly but ever so gently. She turned around and buried her face in his chest, silent sobs wrecking her body as she held onto him for dear life. The rest of her friends sat in stunned silence before Will spoke up.

"You were just a kid. A kid who went through something life changing and traumatic and lashed out with newfound powers and no idea what they did. Those snakes are to blame, not you."

She lifted her head, wiping the tears from her cheeks, but staying in Warren's arms. For some reason, she felt safe there. She continued shakily. "After that day, I closed myself off. I roamed the streets, stealing food and then continued fighting for money. I became the undefeated champion, and money was no longer an issue. But I was still too young to buy any kind of place without an adult, and I looked younger than I was too. I was wondering around a random rich neighborhood, hoping to find food in the trash bins, when a boy looked at me from his bedroom window. He opened it, and called down at me to wait for a minute. I was naturally suspicious, but he hadn't seemed dangerous, so I waited. Afterall, I was way more dangerous than he could ever be. He brought me his lunch and invited me in. I refused, but every day I came back, hoping for more food and he'd talk to me. It was three weeks before I talked back. I hadn't said a word since my mom's death. That boy had platinum blond hair, an affinity for acting tough when he was sweet, and a love for the color yellow."

Everyone turned to Zach, who was smiling widely at Chandra, proud that she had finally trusted people other than him with her story.

"We became friends. Eventually, he introduced me to his mom, who was nothing but kind to me. I saved up money, determined to pay back the family that had done so much for me. Because, while I had the money, Zach gave me something I had been missing for the three years, a piece put back into my shattered heart."

Zach was beaming, despite tears in his eyes. He knew of all the pain that Chandra had. And he knew that she was nowhere near healed. But this was the next step. He knew that true friends, and maybe, just maybe, Warren, would heal her. It would take time, in fact, he'd known her for eight years now. She had changed a lot in that school year. She was slowly putting pieces back into her heart.

"So to answer your question, Will, I hide because the first friend I ever had betrayed me. I hide because I'm afraid. Too afraid of betrayal to ever let anyone more in. And testing everyone who might have a chance. Because I do want to let people in, but I'll never be able to trust easily. That is also why betrayal is the largest sun in my eyes, and why I prize loyalty above all else. After all, if I expect people to be loyal to me, I will be loyal to them too."

Chandra waited. Warren had reacted like she'd hoped. Will had comforted her. And she could see the pride in Zach's eyes. But everyone else had yet to say something.