Quick note that y'all black screen users might benefit for switching your colour for the letter sign off this chapter. Thanks for reading, and I hope you all enjoy!  - Ann 💕

To Chloe,

Sorry for not waking you, but you're welcome? Also sorry if this page was important, I couldn't find any paper but I found your maths book.

I had to go home (it's currently ten o'clock in the morning as I write this), to sort things out before they escalate. It was pretty stupid of me to storm off last night. I can't wait much longer to check on things. I'll text you when I pick up a new phone. Sorry for ducking out, and sorry for falling asleep in the first place. I hope you didn't mind.

Thanks for letting me stay. And thanks for last night.

Sorry, a letter is crappy after everything that happened but you're too sweet sleeping to wake up. For once you don't look like you could kill someone.

See you soon,

I woke up to a vibrating sound around my pillow. It took me a while to process that it wasn't my alarm. No, it was the demanding droning of a call instead. I groaned, my hand lazily slapping the sheets around me to locate my phone.

"Hello?" I asked when I finally answered it. My voice was groggy with sleep.

"Chloe, hi." It was Maddy.

Suddenly, the events of last night hit me and my eyes darted to the empty place beside me in the bed. Instinctively, I reached out my hands to touch the messed sheets. He was gone. In lieu of him was a folded piece of grid paper on the pillow.

"Hi, Maddy," I said when I had my bearings, grabbing the note and running my hands over it. Then I remembered the other stuff that had happened. "Oh god, Maddy, are you okay? You didn't text me?"

Maddy laughed musically on the other end of the line. "Yeah, I'm great. And yeah, I fell asleep until just now. I just wanted to say sorry for last night."

I hesitated. "How did it happen, Maddy?"

"How did what happen?"

"How did you get drugged?" I asked, figuring that diving into it was the best option.

"Drugged?" She laughed again. "Oh, Chloe, I wasn't drugged, I just ate something bad, that's all. Mike overreacts sometimes, I was fine."

I frowned. She definitely wasn't fine when she'd been mumbling incoherently in the back seat. "I think it was more than that, Maddy."

"Well whatever, I'm fine now, and I owe you a big apology! I can't believe our night was cut short by that!"

Was she seriously going to pretend it didn't happen? "Maddy, are you sure it wasn't something more serious?"

She hesitated, but only for half a second. "Yep, I'm fine now. Anyway, I have to go, I'm on my way to Li's to help with homework. I'll see you tomorrow!"

I hardly managed to utter a goodbye before the phone disconnected.

The sun was bright through my window, and when I looked to my clock on the bedside table it was just past noon. My fingers fumbled to unfold the note, quickly drinking up whatever William had left me.

I must have slept well if I didn't wake up to him leaving only hours ago. I suddenly felt a weird surge of embarrassment; had I dribbled over my pillow, or snored? The thought of him asleep beside me resurfaced butterflies in my stomach, which I didn't care to stifle this time.

Instead, I had other work to do. Even if the night had taken a turn I couldn't have predicted, it did grant me with some valuable information. And that came in the form of Mike and his collection of hard drives containing footage of level one parties.

Taking down the people on that list seemed easier to visualize now, with a treasure chest of potential material lying in Mike's grasp.

***

On Monday morning, I woke earlier than usual, preparing my school bag and doing my makeup quick enough to be almost an hour early for school. I'd taken extra care to wing my liner and wear an outfit that clung to my waist, the white blouse cropped close and the plaid skirt barely enough to keep my dignity. Today, my place on level one would be rocky, and looking the part was the least I could do.

Then, I made my way to the Bishop home. It was bright and crisp out, the sun bright and the lawns still coated in a fresh coat of morning dew. I'd texted him on his new phone to let him know I was coming around, but had no response. I wasn't exactly going to go knocking on the door with the current tension in his household, so I killed the engine and waited.

It was five minutes before a figure made his way down the driveway, wearing a plaid pair of pajama pants and a grey shirt. I wound down my window and physically restrained the amused smile threatening to break through my composure. I was here for serious issues.

"What on Earth is Chloe Whittaker doing outside of my house at,"—he unlocked his new iPhone—"seven in the morning?"

I reached forward and opened the door for him. "Why don't you find out?"

He slipped into the passenger seat. It looked like he'd just woken, his hair wasn't yet styled and flopped over his forehead, and his eyes were slightly puffy. The mark, though fading, was still red on his cheekbone.

"Want me to drive?" I asked, twisting the keys and igniting the engine.

He nodded, looking backward towards the house. "That's a good idea."

"So how's things?" I'd received a text from him yesterday, but it hadn't gone into much detail.

"Just great," he said, propping his elbow against the window and pushing his hair out of his face. "If this interview with the principal goes bad today then I'll be leaving by the end of the term."

I winced. "I'm sorry."

He waved it off. "We'll see how the meeting goes."

When silence ensued I bit my lip, ready to pose my idea. "So I want to break into Mike's house and steal his footage."

Will did a double take, his brows furrowing. "Breaking in and stealing? Really, Chlo?"

"Really," I said, my fingers squeezing the steering wheel nervously as I rounded a corner.

He was quiet for a moment. "That's a big deal."

"Yep."

"And very risky."

"So is what I'm already doing."

"Not just lose-your-social-status risky, but go-to-jail-get-a-criminal-record kind of risky," he reminded me.

"Not if I'm careful," I said.

He sighed, visibly stressed. I felt a little bad for springing this on him, especially with everything he was already dealing with after the fight. And everything we'd been through on Saturday night.

"I don't think it's a good idea," he said finally.

I straightened, my eyes on the road and my lips pursed. I don't know what I expected his reaction to be, but I felt somewhat disappointed. "I think it's the best way to get what I need. I can't wait around forever, and I can't let them continue to reign over the cohort until they graduate. This needs to be over as soon as possible."

"I get where you're coming from," he said, "I do, really, but I think it's extreme."

"So is what happened to Mon."

He gave me a look, one that told me that it wasn't an appropriate response. "Chloe, seriously. Just consider the repercussions."

"Of course I've considered them," I said. "You're doubting me a lot for someone who was so supportive the other night."

He didn't know that I'd sacrificed handing in a math assignment today to download floor plans of the identical units for sale besides Mike's, or the extensive research I'd done on the schedules he and his two housemates worked and studied.

"That's because this is a completely different league, Chlo," he said. He rubbed his jaw as I pulled up at a traffic light. "And I don't think I can afford to be involved."

I nodded. I got that. Obviously, with everything going on for him, the last thing he needed was to risk getting arrested. But the confirmation, the weird feeling of rejection tingling in my chest, made my throat dry. "I was just running the idea past you."

"When are you going to do it?" he asked, his tone telling me that he most definitely didn't agree with the idea.

"I'm going to his house tonight to watch," I said. "I just need to confirm my details and make sure this is realistic."

"Right. And if it's not?"

"Then I go to plan two," I said, grimacing. "And it's going to involve finding a whole lot of blackmail material, something big enough to get him to go against all level one has on him, whether it be loyalty or cash or secrets."

"That does make breaking in sound easier," he said dryly. "Just don't rush into anything."

"Please, I'm the kind of person to analyze everything to its finest detail," I said, giving him a reassuring smile. The stress lines were still deep between his brows. "When's the meeting?"

"Eleven," he said. "I don't even think the school's prepared for the two teams of lawyers and the wrath of the Greenes that's about to be unleashed upon it."

"Well, I hope it goes well," I said. I turned back onto his street, having lapped the neighborhood. He was staring out of the window as I pulled up on the curb, his jaw tensed. Before I could think too much about it, I let my instincts drive me and reached out to take his hand, squeezing it softly. "But, if it doesn't we'll get through it."

He turned to me, a small smile etching on his lips as he squeezed back. "I'll see you later. Don't get up to trouble tonight, okay?"

"I'll do my best," I said, the teasing note in my tone inducing a concerned look. I waved him off. "Good luck."

With a sigh, Will dropped my hand and unbuckled his seat belt before hesitating. "Good luck with the girls today... if you need to, just go home for lunch. Nobody would notice and I'd rather you have me there with you when they confront you than have you there to be targeted on your own."

I waved him off again. "I can handle it. And if I can't, I'll leave."

He gave me a doubtful look, but stepped out of the car anyway, giving a small wave of goodbye as I sped off towards Arlington.

The halls, though absent from the reigning king and his newly defined rival, were still abuzz with their drama. And consequently, this meant that the attention was directed to me. What was a corridor filled with chatter and laughter died down to a deafening silence as I made my way to my locker.

Eyes followed me carefully, and the only sound audible was the tapping of my boots against the floor. I kept my chin high, my dignity intact, as if I knew all the secrets they wouldn't ever discover. Only, they would. That was the whole point of my position after all, to air out level one's dirty laundry.

My fifteen minutes of fame was soon shortened by the entrance of the reigning queen and her counsel of Sophie and Li. I tried to keep my cool as she sauntered through the hall, her eyes training lazily on the ogling students before she found her way to me.

"Chloe," she said, as if she were surprised that she'd made her way right in front of my path. When she spoke, her voice was injected with a sickly sweet dose of false friendliness. "I hope things are okay between us despite everything going on. I mean, guys will be guys, right?"

"Right," I said, my tone too high as I tried to go along with whatever she was playing at.

Then her voice dropped lower. "I can't help that they're fighting over me."

I narrowed my eyes. Not even Sophie and Li were in earshot to hear that one. There were so many retorts I wanted to shove in her perfectly smug face, preferably ones that the whole school would hear. But her time would come. I couldn't waste my progress on pettiness. There was a bigger picture here.

"Must be hard being Lola Davenport," I muttered sarcastically, dropping her honey gaze and making my way past her.

She seemed disappointed that I hadn't taken the bait. That was clear when she called out after me, her voice laced with venom. "See you at lunch, Chloe!"

I headed to my classroom early, suddenly feeling dirty from the pairs of eyes that clung to me. Everyone was talking about the fight, most creating absurd details, like Francis being in a coma and William being held in jail.

I wasn't the only one early to class, though. Another figure leaned against the wall, his face buried in a textbook. "Hi, Jack."

He looked up, feigning familiarity as if he hadn't been avoiding me all week. "Hey, Chloe."

"How are you doing?" I asked, my query seeming insignificant compared to the question that really hung in the air. Did they do something to you?

"Fine. Busy with school," he said with a shrug, his brown eyes lingering on the floor. "You know, sometimes I mistake you for Monica, sitting with them."

I swallowed. I remembered the days where Monica's flaming hair would waver with laughter as she sat between Lola and Sophie, while I sat invisible at our old table by the fire escape. "I'm sorry about the party."

"So Claire said," he mused. "It was crap, but it's in the past. Let's just move on, yeah?"

I nodded, but I could tell things weren't quite resolved.

By lunch, my stomach was in knots. Between being nervous for the outcome of Will's meeting and the confrontation of joining level one without him by my side, I was dreading entering the cafeteria.

So I was half thankful when someone interrupted me. Until I saw her face.

I'd never seen Maddy Danton without her carefully applied mask of makeup, but today it was bare. It would have been beautiful if it wasn't for the firm set of her lips and the crease of worry over her forehead. Her uniform didn't even carry the usual array of accessories or violations it usually did.

"Chloe!" she called when she saw me, immediately directing me away from my path to the lunch room.

I frowned, figuring she'd be going to the cafeteria too. "Maddy, aren't you coming to—"

She cut me off by grabbing my wrist and leading me towards the other side of the building instead, against the flow of students. Both the attention we were creating and the difficulty of maneuvering through the people made it hard to grasp any reason for her urgency.

Finally, when we turned a corner and reached the female staff toilets – the only kind that locked from the inside – she let go of me and ushered me in, fixing the lock behind us.

I looked at her, my eyes taking in her horror-struck face as she took a deep breath. And then another. And then so many she was hyperventilating.

"Maddy," I said firmly, grabbing her shoulders, an almost maternal instinct kicking in. "What's wrong, are you okay? Take deep breaths, you can talk to me."

Her panting turned into sobs, but no tears rolled down her cheeks. Instead, she hunched over, her hands resting on her knees for support. For a moment I was sure she was going to throw up, but instead, she looked up to me, a tirade of words falling from her mouth in terrified gasps.

"Chloe, I-I think I'm pregnant."