"🎶Lovely and pure
        🎶One in a million
Dark as the night🎶
       🎶Their words they hu-"

"Shut it, Flattie!" Amber shot at me, interrupting my singing. There were several of them, all trying to squeeze their heads through the small bathroom windows just to catch a glimpse of the males working out and training to keep fit. They were by the security housing occupying the rest of the clearing around it.

Some of the girls I was to be working with to clean up that room were amongst those fighting to see shirtless, sweaty guys while I was amongst the few who saw that as less important and was working on tidying up the room. At that rate, we would get nothing done.

"Hasn't it been enough? Come on! The clock's ticking and we've been in the same position for the last hour. Mrs. Evelynn will be here soon to inspect our work!" I emphasized.

Since Cassidy was back as well, it could be any of them coming to inspect our work but I hoped for the former.

"So?" Amber began, disengaging from the window.

"Even if she came and met us like this, she's your guardian angel, she could punish the rest of us but she'll do nothing to you. So why do you even bother?"

That left me speechless; Evelynn wasn't like that and if she had to punish me, she would. However, before I could say anything, Lenny cut in.

"Amber just stop it, Carina's right. Let's just work."

She crossed her arms over her chest while glaring daggers at Lenny. I was glad someone agreed with me and not only that, but Lenny used my actual name to address me.

"You know what, Flattie, you're just feeling bad because none of those boys are ever gonna look your way and I don't blame them because aside from feeling bad, you don't even look good." Her lips were pulled in a smirk.

Everyone's attention was on us now as there were dramatic 'oohs' and 'aahs' following Amber's comment. My hands were starting to clench by my side. I knew it was not true—none of it was.

"And don't even let me get started on when Susan out of her infinite kindness tried to help you but you refused and why? You just can't stop being the miserable b*tch that you are."

Everyone else hailed her—clapping and cheering, putting me to scorn.

The news just kept on spreading, didn't it? Susan was trying to help me—though I wouldn't call it that—in exchange for something much more precious. I wasn't gonna let that happen. They were all too blind to see the truth anyways.

To say her words didn't faze me would be a hideous lie. Even though all that spewed out of that mouth of hers were nothing but lies, I wanted to wipe that smug look off her face.

"It's not true!" I retorted.

"Prove it!" She cocked a brow, staring at me in mock anticipation.

At that moment the door opened and storming in, was Cassidy with Lenny behind her.

"What is going on here?" She bellowed.

At her words, the many others who weren't supposed to be there started filing out one by one.

"So this is what you all have been at? Picking fights with each other instead of working? When I come in here in the next five minutes and you aren't done, I'll make sure you finish up at least ten rooms before the end of today!"

Thank God for Lenny 'cause I didn't know what I would've done. That was a close call.

Amber kept on glaring daggers at the pair of us. "You win this time! But I'll have the last laugh."

My last chore for that day included taking the dirty linen to the washing room.

"Remember guys, it's tonight." A voice echoed. It sounded like Estefania's. I knew that voice anywhere. "She wouldn't know what hit her."

Quickly, I hid as they exited before they could see me.

"What?" I thought as I pondered, why did I have this weird feeling that the 'she' they were talking about was me? It had only been two days since that letter and now I was just finding out that today was the day they act.

That would've been bad if I didn't know what I knew then. If I didn't go to dinner and stayed in some random room then nothing could happen to me but then I would be very hungry the next morning, not that I wasn't starving right then... Fine! Skipping dinner wasn't an option but if I finished on time then I could return equally early right?

Now that sounded like a plan.

Whilst rotating my fork around the pasta and letting it slide back down into my plate, I thought of what I was about to do. My heart was hammering in my chest and I might have lost some of my appetites.

"Hey," greeted Bambi as she sat beside me. The dining was thronging with people, talking, flirting, and slurping.

"Hey," I whispered back, not bothering to look at her. My plight weighed heavily on me.

"How was your day?" She asked, she was very much aware of how my mood was. Normally, I could veil how I felt but that day was different. I mean, I seemed pretty optimistic about my plan but right then, not so much.

"Good," I responded. "Mostly."

"Mostly?" She questioned after swallowing a forkful of her food.

I searched for the piece of paper where I hid it in the folds of my clothes and handed it to her.

"What do the words mean?" She asked after scanning the contents. I had since disposed of the fabric that was attached to it.

"If you want peace, then prepare for war," I told her. "The S.S stands for Silent Susan."

"Whoa, I knew she was after you but this? You really outdid yourself, Scar." She smiled. "But don't you think it's high time you let Mrs. Evelynn in on this?" Her voice was in a hushed tone.

"I don't know, but wouldn't that worsen the situation? 'Cause Susan will know it's me, remember what happened to y-"

"-except we will do it right this time. Nothing will happen to you. We'll tell her tomorrow, don't worry much about it, we'll be very careful and we'll get it right this time." She consoled me.

Tomorrow? But they were acting on it tonight. I considered telling her about this... Nevertheless, it was my fight, my burden to bear alone and I wasn't going to pull her deeper into the mess I created.

Nodding, I began to rush my food even though my appetite wasn't there. My stomach would thank me later.

"You must be starving," She remarked. She was digging into her food too, though at a remarkably slower rate than I was.

After swallowing the food in my mouth, I gave a fake smile as my response.

"You know, there's word going around that Constance may be pregnant." She whispered to me.

It was an unspoken rule that when you let your hormones get the better of you, you go packing.

Looking around, I searched for Constance amongst us all and when I didn't spot her, I turned to Bambi. "Wow, you don't say."
I remembered that day I saw her making out with that guy. "I did see her with a guy the other day," I finally mentioned.

"Really? You did?" Her eyebrows were almost meeting her hairline.

"Shoulder-length jet black hair, equally dark eyes, and a very contagious smile. If that isn't Constance then I don't know who is."

"OK, then the guy she was with, what was the colour of his hair?"

"Why would you be asking that?"

"Just tell me!" She demanded.

I thought back, willing my brain to remember stuff..."Brown. His hair was brown. But what are you doing with that information?" I asked.

"What about his eyes?"

"I didn't see those details," I responded.

"Tommy has brown hair. I thought he stopped getting with her when his foolish attempts at making me jealous didn't faze me but he didn't." She elucidated, a tiny smile playing on her lips.

"So, what's your point?"

"My point is if it turns out he is the one responsible—that he's Constance's partner in crime, they both will lose their jobs here."

"Ooh," was all I managed, swallowing the last of my food. I never liked Constance one bit but never did wish her bad though she brought this upon herself and as for Tommy, the little I'd heard about him was more than enough. And Bambi having stopped seeing him was for the better. He was bad news...

"No, think about it?" She began. "It's like killing two birds with one stone except that this time it's this twisted scenario where the birds end up killing each other."

She erupted in a peal of maniacal laughter which ended abruptly with her choking, attracting the attention of everyone who was at that table with us.

My eyes found the clock at that moment and it read nine o'clock on the dot. I knew it was high time that I put my plan in motion as I slid my empty plate farther towards the centre of the table we were on. That consternating feeling had also set in again.

"Where are you going?" Bambi inquired when I stood up.

"I-I'm just tired." I faked a yawn. "Thought I'd turn in early, you know. Sleep's good."

She cocked a brow at me, before awkwardly patting my shoulder.

"You're acting weird but I'll let it slide." She told me.

When I searched the room earlier looking for Constance, I spotted Anne and Judith, the mouse girl—she was an accomplice but wasn't the only one though. I wasn't surprised 'cause we all came around there to eat but in my current situation, I would be simply stupid to think that eating was their only reason for being around 'cause I felt their gazes on me occasionally.

Right then as I moved towards the exit, they were watching me and the moment I stepped out, I took a different route instead of the usual one and still stalled a lot along the way.

My heart pounded as the adrenaline was making it hard to think straight. The feeling of dread stirred deep in the pit of my stomach and my hand trembled as I unlocked the door to the room I was supposed to hide out in.

I was about to open the door finally when a blindfold went over my eyes and a hand, over my mouth when I tried to scream but that wouldn't stop me from squirming.

"You're so silly, Flattie," Estefania's voice reverberated in my head, "Why did you ever think that you could outsmart us?"

I never stopped thrashing around even as my legs lost contact with the ground and as I was being whisked away to a destination unbeknownst to me…

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Hey guys! If you all noticed, I changed my story's name. It's still the same storyline, nothing's changed. Please bear with me and have a good day.