I arrived a bit earlier at the school cafeteria, sitting down in my usual spot. I don't expect Kevin to show up. And if he does, there's a high chance he won't join me. It's been two days since we last spoke, called, or even texted each other, and apart from a few looks we've shared in passing, there's been nothing else.

I can't deny I'm affected by it. I've thought about it more times than I can count, but I'm not sure what else to do. At least I have something to look forward to tomorrow: the party. I know our main goal will be locating whoever is responsible, but Michael offered to go with me, and he has been the only one acting normal. Kevin's dislike for Michael has really negatively affected everything, and it hasn't helped my constant brain fog. I just hope everything returns to normal once we find whoever did this.

"Gwen!" Jennie says, greeting me. She sits next to me, practically slamming her food tray onto the metal table. "I was looking for you."

I'm about to speak, but she continues.

"Ready for the party tomorrow? What about your outfit?" She twirls a strand of her jet-black hair between her fingers.

"Actually, I'm not sure yet," I say honestly. "I was thinking of jeans and a tube top, maybe, but I haven't had the time to plan it out."

Jennie shakes her head. "Oh, no, that won't do. You should come over to my house; I'll help you pick. Don't be late, though, okay? It's a girl emergency."

I'm about to respond when I see Jennie avert her gaze, almost glaring. A scoff escapes her mouth. I follow her line of sight and see Kevin walk into the cafeteria. He's side by side with Anna, the girl who apparently has a crush on him. I almost chuckle in disbelief. Our eyes meet for a moment, and I wonder if he'll come over to speak to me. His features soften, and his eyes widen, but he turns his head away. I frown.

"I don't know what her deal is," Jennie says, shifting slightly in her seat.

"Anna's?"

"Yep. She knows the handsome guy is off-limits, and she knows better than to ditch us for some guy. She did that the other day, you know."

I squint my eyes in question. It isn't my business if he's hanging out with Anna. But I decide I will question Kevin when I have the chance. Not because I care about him potentially dating Anna or anything, but because we have important things to focus on right now—Dawn and the mysterious killer, Ben's disappearance, and Amperon, who has yet to show any signs of life, yet we both know is very much alive. There are more important things going on than our…situation. And if he continues to refuse to see sense, maybe Michael will listen.

The bell rings, and Jennie walks off to her class while I stand up to get ready for mine. I make eye contact with Kevin one more time as soon as Anna walks off. I'm not sure what to expect. Will he walk over to me? I'm tempted to instead, but Kevin simply turns the other way.

I internally scoff as I walk to my locker. I pick up my books, hugging them tighter against my chest as I head to my French class, knowing Kevin will be there too. I finally enter the classroom and sit down in my assigned seat. Not long after, Kevin enters, a look of hesitation on his face as soon as he sees me. Yet, he still chooses to sit next to me.

We both look to the side, pretending the other doesn't exist, and I tap my nails against the wooden desk.

"...I forgot my textbook again," Kevin finally says. "Would you mind?"

"Figures," is all I say. I place the book in the middle of the desk so Kevin can also look at it.

I support my arm on the desk, and Kevin's eyes latch onto it. I'm reminded of our argument the other day, and I suddenly feel self-conscious, pulling my sleeve further down.

"Listen," he says. "Can we, uh, talk about this?"

He glances between me and my arm, and I already know what he means.

"Only if you promise not to start accusing Michael," I say.

"He's sketchy," Kevin continues. "The footage he claims was deleted? He has it, I saw it."

I raise an eyebrow at this. "How?"

"I went over to his house, and—"

"You broke into his house?"

Kevin shrugs. "Kinda. Not a big deal, he didn't even notice, but I saw—"

I snap my book shut and stand up just as the bell rings. "Kevin! You could have gotten caught—if someone saw you, they could send you back to the Null Void. And besides, why would you even do that?"

I start walking out of class, and Kevin follows behind me, trying to match my fast pace.

"They didn't see me, so it's whatever. But don't you find it suspicious?" he asks, instantly changing the subject.

"That you broke into someone's house?"

"Jesus, will you listen to me?" He stops right in front of me, essentially blocking my path. "He has all that deleted footage. He knows who is responsible for the girls' disappearances and deaths. He knows," he emphasizes, "and he's hiding it."

I look at him and think over his words carefully. "What did you see exactly?"

"You know that security system he has?" he asks, and I nod. "There are a bunch of password-protected folders I couldn't access, but they all had the dates of the deleted footage and were named 'recovered footage.'"

I wait a few seconds, expecting him to reveal something more, but instead, he looks at me as if expecting an answer. "That's it?" I finally ask. "Your proof is computer folders you can't access?"

"Has the guy brainwashed you or something? The Gwen I know would want to investigate further!" He practically yells this, and I can see the frustration on his face.

"And the Kevin I know wouldn't break into someone's house just because he doesn't like them."

Kevin clenches his fists at his side. "You know what? Fine." Then he walks off and out of the school, leaving me standing in the middle of the hallway.

"I think blue looks better on you," Jennie says, holding a strapless dress in front of me. She quickly switches it with another. "Or maybe black?"

"What about red?" I ask.

Jennie looks at me thoughtfully, alongside the pile of dresses on her giant bed. "Which one do you think the handsome guy will like?"

I both blush and frown at her words, knowing she's referring to Kevin. "I don't think he'll care about my dress either way. I told you, we're just friends."

Jennie throws the dresses on the bed and then sits down. "I don't buy it. I'm not one to get involved in others' drama, but don't think I haven't noticed the tension? The looks? Please, I wasn't born yesterday."

I sigh and sit down beside her. "It's more complicated than that," I confess.

"Boys and complicated, who would've thought?" Jennie says, picking up the dresses once again. "Everything is complicated when you're in high school, apparently."

"Tell me about it." I sigh.

She stands up again, this time holding three dresses. "Alright, enough moping around. Time to find the perfect outfit."

I smile at her attitude. I'm somewhat glad for the distraction and the small break, despite everything that's going on. I know it's only temporary, of course. Jennie places the blue strapless dress in front of me again, tilting her head to the left and to the right a few times, as if trying to decide. Then, she switches it up for the red and does the exact same thing.

"Red it is," she finally says. "But with your hair down. Oh, you'll look gorgeous."

"Thanks for doing this, by the way. I wasn't sure what to wear at all. I didn't even want to attend, in fact."

Jennie places the dresses back on the bed, then walks to one of her drawers. "Don't mention it." She pulls out a necklace along with a cute handbag, holding it in front of her with pride. "I wasn't going to either after Anna pulled that stunt."

"What stunt?" I ask, suddenly curious.

"She started hanging out with some older guy—very handsome apparently—and started acting very weird. I was okay with it at first, but then she left me and the girls waiting for her for over an hour because she was with him. When she finally did come, she was texting him the whole time and talking about him constantly." Jennie hands me the bag, which goes perfectly with the dress. "And that continued for a while. She would randomly blank out, whine if he didn't reply fast enough, ditch us the moment he called her back, and so many other things. She only recently calmed down a bit."

To some extent, it sounds like normal high school drama. Nothing out of the ordinary. But then again, I'm suspicious. High school girl attending Bellwood High, acting out of the ordinary, straying away from her friends.

"Do you know anything about that guy?"

"Nope. She never introduced us. I think he dumped her for some other girl, though."

"Oh," is all I say.

I make a mental note to mention it to Michael at the party, and Kevin, if he chooses to actually talk to me.