Ally zipped up her backpack with a determined click, the familiar weight settling on her shoulders as she checked her reflection one last time. Noticing the perfect lighting in the mirror, she captured her smile in the soft morning light with her phone, the caption already forming in her thoughts. She pushed her way out the door as she applied a filter, she wanted her first day back at SDCI to be perfect.

With each step towards the bus stop, her mind replayed Rodney's confessions—not only had he meddled in her relationship with Matt, but he kissed another guy. She wondered if had just been using her to hide the fact he was actually gay. She shook her head trying not to dwell on the thought for too long, today was about reuniting with Luke and Steven again, not Rodney.

"Hey girl!" came the chirpy voice of her phone's ringtone as comments poured in on her photo. Ally smiled as she scrolled through the welcome back comments on the bus. It was just the boost she needed. Today she was going to set some boundaries, Rodney needed to know she wanted nothing to do with him. The thought of confronting him gave her a strange comfort. She was going to set the rules and he was going to listen.

The bus groaned to a halt, releasing its cargo of chattering students onto the curb of SDCI. Ally scanned the crowd for familiar faces but found none. Her heart rate picked up as she entered the bustling cafeteria, scanning the sea of heads for the ones that mattered most. Nothing. Not a glimpse of her friends or even Rodney for that matter.

"Okay, library it is," Ally muttered to herself, hoping to find Steven there as she pushed through the double doors into the quiet sanctuary of books and studying.

Instead, she found Rodney, hunched over a table littered with textbooks and scribbling notes into his notebook. Ally's steps slowed her initial urge to hide wrestled down by her desire to just get this conversation over with. If she got this discussion over with this morning, she would never have to think about it again, heat bloomed in her cheeks as she made her way over to him.

"Rodney," she said, her voice stronger than she felt. He didn't hear her approach, too busy working on his French report. At the sound of her voice Rodney's whole body tensed. With a jolt, he looked up, his face draining of colour when he caught sight of her.

"What are you—" he began, scrambling to shove his books back into his bag.

"I transferred back," Ally cut him off, taking the empty seat across from him. "We need to talk."

"Sorry, can't, I am super late for something," He stuttered before racing toward the library exit. Ally watched him go, not sure if she should follow or not. She knew they needed to lay out the ground rules now that she was back. She deserved a great year, and no one, not even Rodney, was going to take that away from her.

---

Rodney fumbled for the doorknob, his hands slick with sweat as he staggered into the empty classroom. He took a seat near the back where he couldn't be seen from the door, safe from Ally for now but it was only a matter of time before they would be forced to talk. He leaned against the back of the chair, everything started to feel so heavy. With a shuddering breath, he put his head down on the desk, his backpack dropping beside him.

"Get it together," he whispered to himself, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes. But instead of darkness, he saw Ally's face, her blue eyes full of anger, and heard the echoing laughter of her branding him a freak, a stalker. His chest tightened, and he gasped for air.

"Pathetic," Rodney muttered, the word aimed at himself. He was afraid of someone he thought he loved, of what she could do to his reputation now that she knew everything, of how the school would turn on him if they knew the truth. He should have kept his distance, and should never have gone to that audition in the first place. He felt so stupid for what he did.

The bell would ring soon, and the empty classroom would start to fill with students, if they saw him like this then they would start asking questions. Rodney could imagine lying there, being indifferent to them as they whispered around him. It would be so easy just to close his eyes and escape.

"Can't," he rasped, pushing against the desk as if to push away the thoughts. His hand trembled as he pulled out his phone, the screen blurring before his eyes. He tapped Derek's name, but it went straight to voicemail, the electronic beep mocking his attempt for help. Rodney let the phone slip from his fingers, it missed the bag and slid to the floor.

"Fine. Class, then," he decided, turning his attention to the front of the room. He did love biology after all, and could use the distraction from the thought of leaving school and never coming back.

The familiar hum of students greeted Rodney as the first bell rang, they shuffled into the classroom as if Rodney wasn't there. He relaxed into his seat at the back, becoming part of the furniture, unnoticed and unremarkable. That fragile peace shattered as he overheard the conversation between the girls sitting next to him.

"Did you hear about Ally?" one girl whispered, her voice sounded like it had some kind of secret it wanted to tell.

"Yeah, I heard she got kicked out of Holy Cross. Cheating or something, right?" the other replied, flipping her hair over her shoulder with theatrical flair.

"It wasn't cheating, she was hooking up with the football coach. Or at least that is what I heard," chimed in a third, causing the other two to gasp before laughing.

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Rodney's hands clenched into fists beneath his desk, knuckles whitening. The rumours were absolutely ridiculous, Ally would never do any of those things. But then, a cold wave of realization washed over him. If Ally heard these, would she think he was the one spreading them? Would she retaliate by outing him and Hunter?

The walls of the classroom seemed to close in, the air growing thick and suffocating around him. "May I be excused?" he blurted out, not waiting for the teacher's nod before bolting from the room.

The bathroom tiles were cold against Rodney's skin as he hunched over the toilet, breathing as though he had run miles without a break. He struggled to catch his breath, his body refusing to listen to the request. The weight of potential disaster settled heavily upon his shoulders. Rodney knew he had to find a way to stop these rumours before they got back to Ally. For now, though, survival meant simply finding a way to breathe and not losing his breakfast. He spent the rest of the morning hidden in the bathroom until it was time for lunch.

Rodney slumped into his usual seat at the cafeteria table, his shoulders hunched and his gaze locked on the table's fake wood surface. He listened to the voices around him, a silent mantra playing in his head: 'Don't let Ally be here, don't let her be here.' Derek glanced up from his sandwich, his brow furrowing with concern.

"Man, you look terrible," Derek commented, nudging Rodney's arm. "Are you sick or something?"

"Bad eggs for breakfast," Rodney muttered, not looking up at him. "I'll survive."

Madison, her dark hair clipped into a messy bun, peered at him with intensity. "You sure? You're paler than a sheet of paper. Maybe you should head home."

"No, I can't—" Rodney caught himself. "I mean, I'll survive."

Matt chimed in with his own thoughts on the matter, "Does this maybe have something to do with Ally? I mean it's her first day back today,"

Rodney's stomach tightened, but he kept his voice even. "Not all, I haven't even seen her." He finally looked up and his friends, "But I have heard some rumours about her going around,"

"Oh, me too," Madison snorted. "My favourite's the one where she got expelled for going berserker on a teacher, apparently she through a desk at him. Can you imagine?"

Derek chuckled, shaking his head. "As if. But, hey, karma's a thing, right? After what she did to Rodney..."

"Exactly," Matt agreed, nodding emphatically. "If a few wild tales are the price for ghosting our man here, seems fair."

"Did any of you...you know, start these rumours?" Rodney asked, he needed to know if he really was to blame for this.

"No, but I wish," Madison said with a laugh as she unwrapped a large chocolate chip cookie. "They're gold."

"You all know I don't have the imagination to create any of them," Matt shrugged.

Derek hesitated before confessing, "I might've told Nicole it was odd how Ally just all of a sudden decided to come back to SDCI. I don't think she would do this but you never know with her."

Panic flickered behind Rodney's eyes. He could almost see the dominoes falling, leading back to him. "I think we should try to stop them if we can," he blurted out, surprising even himself.

"Wait, what?" Madison's brows shot up in disbelief.

"Stand up for Ally?" Derek echoed, equally taken aback.

Rodney nodded, feeling a knot tighten in his chest as he prepared his next lie. "It's the right thing to do. If she thinks we started these rumours, then it will only make things worse between us. All I want is a drama-free year."

"Guess that makes sense," Derek conceded with a thoughtful tilt of his head. "These things usually blow over fast anyway."

"Fine," Madison sighed, "but it's not for her—it's for you, Rodney."

As the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch, Rodney pushed himself up from the table, his legs slightly shaky. The conversation had exhausted him more than he cared to admit. He didn't look back at his friends' worried glances as he made his way to return their trays. He needed to keep moving forward, one foot in front of the other, if he stopped for even a moment he was scared he wouldn't start again.

---

Madison's name was called over the intercom as she sat in her art history class, summoning her to the guidance office. She pushed her chair back with a resigned sigh, curiosity and irritation mingling as she navigated the empty hallways to Mr. Rogo's door.

"Madison, come in," Mr. Rogo gestured with a warm smile, his glasses perched on the bridge of his nose as he peered over a stack of files. "Have a seat."

"Am I in trouble or something?" Madison asked, slipping into the chair across from him, her hands folded neatly in her lap.

"No, not at all," Mr. Rogo said, flipping open her file. "I'm just meeting with all our students graduating this year. It's good to start thinking about your post-SDCI plans,"

"Right, like college and stuff," The words seemed foreign in her mouth. Visions of college applications and career paths swam fuzzily in her thoughts, none taking solid form.

"Exactly! Your grades are solid, Madison," he continued, tapping the papers. "You have potential, you should start thinking about the interests you want to pursue."

"Interests," she echoed, her gaze drifting to the diploma frames lining the office walls. "I don't know if I have any interests that I can make like a career out of,"

"Take some time," Mr. Rogo suggested kindly. "You don't have to decide right now, just think about it. Why don't I schedule you for next week and we can discuss your interests and see if there are any programs for them,"

"Sure," Madison agreed half-heartedly, though the pamphlet he handed her was already fated for the recycling bin before she even left the office.

Back in the classroom, Madison returned to her desk. Madison’s eyes found Ally immediately; she joined the class while Madison was out, her presence like a smudge on Madison's perfect picture of art history class. With deliberate care, Madison chose to avoid risking eye contact with her. She knew Rodney wanted them to be nice, but she was still mad at Ally for him.

"Madison, while you were out we discussed some famous sculptures," Mr. Hendrix informed her while distributing worn magazines among the students. "I need you to choose a design to recreate."

Madison nodded and immersed herself in the images of stone and metal, trying to decide which one to attempt to recreate. As she looked over the pages a shadow stretched across them, she turned to find Ally looking over her shoulder.

"Personal space, Ally," Madison snapped, looking disgusted by her. Ally recoiled, looking hurt before she wandered back to her desk.

As Madison bent over the magazine again, the low murmur of male voices reached her from the back of the room. She could hear him gossiping, mentioning Ally's name alongside words like 'theft' and 'expulsion.'

"Hey, keep it down," Madison cut in sharply, not bothering to turn around. "You're not as quiet as you think you are."

The murmuring ceased instantly, followed by the shuffle of embarrassed movement. Madison didn't need to look to know the boys had turned red.

She tried to refocus on the sculptures, but her thoughts were elsewhere. She didn't defend Ally out of kindness; she did it because Rodney had asked her to. She didn't want Ally to think she was on her side, she was just being a good friend. Besides, she had more important things to worry about, her future.