"Welcome to the first official meeting of We Hate Kyler -Club." Said Devon sounding way too excited. Her dark eyes sparkled, as she happily glanced around the small group of girls seated in a ring on Sky's four-poster bed.

"We hate Kyler Club?" Asked Sam with a frown. "That's the best we've come up with?"

"I am open to all suggestions," Devon replied cheerfully, flipping her black, shiny ponytail over her shoulder. "So far I've got that, or Justice League, which has a nice ring to it, considering—"

Sky let out a sigh and rolled her eyes. "Come on, no DC references in my room. If we're going to pretend we're superheroes, I'd prefer Avengers. 'Cause that's what we're doing, right? We're avenging. Or revenging—"

"No way are we going to call ourselves Revengers," said Sam. "That's just ridiculous. Why do we need a name, anyway?"

"We don't," Sky replied, leaning her elbows to her knees as she glanced from Sam to Devon. "But it would be cool. This is, after all, a secret society. And Kyler is the villain in this story."

Devon flashed her a smile. "The order of the Phoenix? I mean, it fits. You have a phoenix tattoo, and all."

The Phoenix—

As if she could feel the ink in her skin, Sky glanced at her tattoo. It was partly visible under the loose, black tank top she had paired with her dark jeans. It felt surreal that she'd had the tattoo for almost a year now - the symbol of a new beginning, of rebirth.

So much for that. Since getting that tattoo nothing had gotten better. Her heart was broken, she had tried to kill herself, had gotten severely injured and attacked multiple times - and she had watched Luke and Cody die. During this year she had crashed and burned so hard that it was a miracle she was alive at all.

"It's actually an X-Men reference, not a Harry Potter one. You know, Jean Grey, Phoenix," she said silently, her fingers brushing the phoenix's tail feathers that curved down her upper arm in arcs of gold and fire. It brought memories of the day she'd gotten it tattooed, the day that now felt like it had happened a thousand years ago.

Hawk had been there with her. He'd been holding her hand, his fingers entwining with hers, so gentle, so warm, so loving—

An emotion squeezed Sky's chest, taking her breath away. She wasn't going to think about that now, not about Eli, or the day she'd gotten that tattoo. It was gone, it was ancient history. Nothing of it remained, except for the ink in her skin.

"Not that I don't love X-men, but we can't call ourselves that, since we are all girls," Devon replied. "And X-girls—"

"Makes us sound like strippers," Sky pointed out, making the other girls laugh - all except for Yasmine, who sat next to her, looking bored and annoyed. She had been examining her flawless, blood-red nails as if they were way more interesting than anything anyone had said so far, but now she looked up, her lips curling down with distaste.

"We're not strippers or superheroes and we don't need a name for our lame club. It's not like we're twelve years old," She snapped, rolling her eyes. "Can we just get on with this, please? Some of us have a life, you know, and plans."

Yasmine's remark brought a short silence into the group. She was sitting next to Sky, leaning her back on the wooden headrest, her long legs crossed at the ankles in a very ladylike way, but her posture was stiff, and she was twisting a loose curl around her finger, releasing it and twisting it tight again. Sky could tell she was uncomfortable, but she wasn't quite sure why. When she had asked all her female friends who wanted to participate in this meeting, Yasmine had been the first one to say yes - but now it looked like she was having second thoughts.

Maybe it was the fact that Sky had told her she couldn't tell anyone about this, not even Demetri. Because if Demetri found out about their little secret society, it was only a matter of time before Eli found out about it too—

And that could never happen.

She didn't want him to know. Just like she didn't want Dad to know. There was too much shame there, too much guilt, too many dark, messed-up emotions she didn't want to face. Besides, guys would only complicate things. They wouldn't understand what this was about, what this truly meant. They would want to do things their way, they would take the power away from her, and she would be helpless again, helpless and stupid, and in the end they would still let her down.

She would not allow that. Never again.

She was bringing Kyler down with these girls, or not at all. And Yasmine could be as sour about it as she wanted, but the no-guy policy applied to Demetri too.

"Yas is right. We don't need a name, it's not important," Sky said silently, giving Yasmine a reassuring glance that said without words that she appreciated her being her, appreciated her friendship. "What is important, is that we have a mission, and we need to start planning on how we're going to get shit done."

"Agreed," said Sam, suddenly serious too. "Kyler's been getting away with his shit for way too long. It's time we start fighting back."

Sky threw Sam a grateful glance. Just like she had guessed, Sam was 100% on board with their mission and her first suggestion had been that they teamed up and kicked Kyler's ass. Not that Sky didn't find that idea appealing - kicking in Kyler's nose was the only thing that had made her feel satisfaction in a very long time, and she was itching to do that again. Too bad that they couldn't do it. Putting Kyler in a hospital bed would be a temporary solution at best, and in the worst-case scenario, it would get them all in a shitload of trouble, if Kyler decided to sue them.

They needed to come up with something else.

Looking like a teacher who is about to give a presentation, Devon flipped open the iPad she had on her lap and turned it so that they could all see the screen.

"I took the liberty to write down everything we have on Kyler so far," she said, tapping the screen and starting a slide show. "I made a list of incidents when Kyler has tried to feel me up at family gatherings—" Devon opened a new slide which was filled with rows and rows of dates and comments, but she wiped the slide away and opened the next one. "And here we have the things he's done to you, Sky - I wrote them down in chronological order the best I could. I started from the beginning— We don't have any actual proof it was Kyler writing insults on the door of your locker last door, but it seems to be a recurring pattern with him, so—"

"It was him, I fucking know it," Sky muttered, her voice suddenly weak.

Seeing the photos of her ruined locker door, of the huge, red SLUT! that had been painted on it, felt like a slap on the face. Devon had been fucking thorough, she had to give her that.

Apparently, that stuff was still on Instagram, if Devon had managed to find those photos. The anonymous account Sky had always suspected of belonging to Kyler must have been still up, the same one that had posted the horrible photos of Cody choking on his blood on the bathroom floor.

Kyler was a fucking sick bastard. He was the only one Sky could think of, who would have even thought of posting that kind of stuff. A picture of poor Cody, bloodied, hurt, dying on the bathroom floor as if it was just some sick joke—

Sky pushed that image away. It was too painful, like a knife in her gut. She didn't want to think about that now, but still, the memory slithered into her mind, turning her pain into anger. Kyler had been with Hawk that day, beating up Cody. Another thing Sky would never forgive him. At least Hawk was sorry about what he had done, but to Sky's knowledge, Kyler had never apologized for that, just like he had never apologized for a thing in his life.

"-and of course the incidents when he's attacked you physically," Devon went on, flipping a new slide to the screen of her iPad. "At Sam's house last December— the 19th, if I'm correct? And the latest, at the tattoo parlor a couple of weeks ago."

"You've been thorough," Sky said, picking on a loose thread at the hem of her tank top, hoping that Devon would move on. She was aware that it was important to document things, but just the thought of talking about the assaults again, made her want to start screaming.

It was all so fucking depressing.

Maybe this had been a mistake.

Who was she to think that they could actually bring Kyler to justice? She had told the truth to the police, and it had done nothing. Not a fucking thing. So how was this going to be any different? Suddenly the whole idea felt childish and stupid, as if she was Nancy Drew, playing a detective when she was nothing but a stupid, little girl.

But Devon didn't seem discouraged. She was still talking excitedly, moving on to the next slide, and Sky tried to hide her sinking moods. Devon might have her own reasons for getting rid of Kyler, but it didn't mean she wasn't also being an amazing friend and showing true Eagle Fang spirit. The least Sky could do was to see this through.

"-and here's a list of all other known incidents when Kyler's been harassing girls," Devon continued, showing them yet another slide. "Sam, thank you for sharing what he did to you in that movie theater, and the rumors he spread afterward—"

"I'm sorry—" said Yasmine sharply, interrupting Devon mid-sentence. "But what are we exactly doing?"

Devon frowned, her hand stilled in mid-motion in the air. "What do you mean?"

Yasmine glanced around the group, scrunching up her nose like she'd smelled something bitter. "We all know Kyler is an asshole. I don't know any girl who doesn't have bad experiences about him. But it's not going to make any difference. These lists—" she waved her hand at Devon's presentation. "They are going to do us no good."

Her words were depressing because they were true, and even Devon's shoulders sank. Sky felt a lump in her throat, looking at the names of girls who Kyler had hurt, a persistent lump that wouldn't move no matter how much she swallowed. There were so many names, but when she had tried to contact them, most had just hung up after hearing what it was about, and the rest of them had told her to stop digging up stuff that was none of her business.

The worst part was, that Sky couldn't blame them. They were perhaps smarter than she was. Talking to the police had been a huge mistake, and nothing had come out of that except for more pain. Maybe it was better not to talk, to trust, to share. Maybe it was better to just try to forget and move on.

"I'm not finished," Devon said, drawing Sky's attention back to the iPad on her lap, to the list of names that was going to do them no good. "This isn't all I have found out about him. There's more."

"Well let's hope it's something we can actually use," Yasmine said pointedly, her words sharp like knives. She started playing with the loose curl again, twisting it tight around her slender fingers. "Because so far, this has been a waste of my time."

Sky had a sharp comment on the tip of her tongue, but she held it. Yasmine's name was on the list of girls Kyler had harassed. She hadn't been aware of it at the time, but after Yasmine had fallen out of the group of the popular kids, Kyler had had his fair share of fun telling everyone who cared to listen how he'd been banging Yasmine for a year and that she was a slut who liked to suck his cock. None of it was true, of course, but those rumors were still going around the school. Yasmine had as much reason as any of them, to hate Kyler, so Sky couldn't blame her for being edgy.

"Fine, let's move on," Devon said, and showed them another slide, with a picture of a young boy who bore a strong resemblance to Devon with his big, dark eyes and his heart-shaped face. "This is my cousin Calvin—-"

"Don't tell me Kyler's been harassing him too," Sam sounded disgusted, her brows arched high on her forehead.

"No, but he's been paying Calvin to do his math homework for the past year."

Now, that was interesting. Sky leaned closer to take a better look at the kid. Calvin Lee, said the text under the picture of the smiling boy. With his wide smile and an uneven row of teeth with braces, he looked like he was twelve, but he must have been older because Sky was pretty sure she had seen him in school.

"Kyler pays this kid to do his homework? Who told you?" she frowned, turning her eyes back to Devon.

"I have multiple sources," Devon replied quickly, pointing at screen where new photos popped up around the first one. "Calvin obviously denies it, but his brother Kevin—" Devon pointed at a skinny boy with glasses. "-told me it's definitely true. And two other cousins confirmed it."

"You have a lot of cousins," Sam said, her brows still two high arches on her forehead.

"It's a big family," Devon shrugged. "Anyway, we know that Kyler's Dad expects him to do well in school, but unfortunately for him, Kyler is an idiot. So Kyler's been paying Calvin to do his math homework, so his Dad wouldn't find out that he sucks at it—"

"We could send an anonymous email to his Dad," Sky thought out loud, her fingers still playing with the loose thread of her tank top. "That would get him in trouble, right?"

"Definitely. His Dad would lose his shit. He would ground Kyler for life," said Devon, but her smile disappeared. "Unfortunately, that would also get Calvin in trouble. And it doesn't seem fair… Knowing Kyler, he probably threatened to beat Calvin up if he wouldn't cooperate."

"Still, worth a thought," Sky shrugged. "Unless we find something better."

"Wait—" said Sam, glancing around their circle. "I don't understand. If Kyler was paying someone to do his homework, how did he pass the tests in school? He's got like an A in math, right? But if he can't even do his homework, the question is— how?"

Sky looked from Sam to Devon and back. "You're right. He should be failing math, not getting an A."

"He probably cheated in the tests," muttered Yasmine, the only one who didn't sound excited about this finding. "He used to brag about it, when…. when we were still hanging out. He said he had a way of getting the answer keys, and that he would share them with us if we paid him."

Sky's jaw dropped, but she closed it quickly, resisting the urge to ask if Yasmine had ever done that. But Yasmine let out a sigh that was half annoyed, half resigned, and continued.

"I paid him a couple of times. I didn't want to fail, and— and it was legit. I don't know how he got them, but they were exact. He got the math test and the answer key beforehand from someone, but I don't know who. He wouldn't tell."

"I remember him talking about that too," Sam admitted. "But I— I wouldn't know. Besides, it was more than a year ago, so…"

Of course, Sam wouldn't know, Sky thought. Even if she had briefly dated Kyler, Sam had never had to cheat in a test in her life. Not only was she smart, but she also had a family who fully supported her and probably would have hired a private tutor if Sam ever needed one. Sky looked away, her cheeks heating with sudden shame. She didn't want to think like that about Sam, didn't want to be jealous, but sometimes she couldn't help it. Sam was pretty and smart and she had everything figured out, whereas Sky's whole life was shattered glass on the floor tiles. Nothing remained of the things she'd once dreamt to become. She was failing both math and science this year, and the only subject where her grades were somewhat decent, was English. She had thought that maybe with Eli's help, she could catch up with math, but now—

The tutoring sessions had stopped after Cody's death, and there hadn't been any talk about continuing them. It seemed unlikely it would ever happen now, that Eli wasn't even talking to her anymore.

Sky glanced around the small circle of her friends, the weight on her chest getting heavier, harder to shake. Devon was brilliant, Sam was getting an A on every subject, Yasmine had Demetri who was tutoring her so that her grades were better than ever, but what did Sky have? A brain injury, a broken heart, and not much more. She would probably have to do her junior year again, and that thought was so depressing it caused her physical pain. She didn't want to do that, but what options did she have? It wasn't like she was magically going to pass the subjects she was failing.

She looked down and swallowed hard. Get a grip. These are my friends. It's not their fault my life sucks. I need to stop this stupid pity party and get shit done.

"So—" she cleared her throat. "That's all very interesting, but it's still pure speculation. We need proof. I'm guessing none of you have any?"

Yasmine shook her head, keeping her eyes down. "No. I mean— the answer keys were official, they had the school's logo and everything, but— I didn't keep them. And I don't know where he got them."

Sky turned to look at Devon, who was suddenly awfully serious. Her big eyes had turned dark, and she was biting her lip, looking nervous for the first time during this meeting. Slowly she turned off the iPad and placed it on the bed next to her, as if to gain a short moment before she talked.

"I have an idea," she said and made a face. "But you're not going to like it."

Sky frowned, impatient. "Just spill it out."

A tense moment of silence followed. Devon twisted her hands looking more nervous than Sky had ever seen her. In the light of the setting sun, her serious face was beautiful, the shadows under her cheekbones were sharp.

"I know how we'll get the proof," she said, glancing around their circle. "We're going to steal Kyler's laptop."