Despite all my protests, Justin drove me home. At least, he drove me to my neighborhood. He was already familiar with it, a remnant of his days with Abigail. I’d stepped out of his car, feeling I was in another world. My head was too preoccupied with thoughts of what I needed to do.

“Show up bright and early to return those to me.” With those parting words, Justin was gone and I’d returned home. It was right as the sun dipped below the horizon. Neither of my parents had been home yet, and so I’d laid down. I was out in minutes.

By the time I woke up, there was little time to clean the disaster that was my uniform. Dodging my parents’ questions, I’d dug into my closet for one of my spares. It was worn, but at least it didn’t look like it had been dragged through the woods for a few hours.

If Abigail had showed, I didn’t know. I’d left without eating, a jacket draped over my frame at the bite of cold in the early morning air. The rest of the world wasn’t awake. Everything was quiet, save for a stray car. My steps were weighed down, and my brain couldn’t stop dwelling. I didn’t know what I’d say to Abigail when I saw her. It wasn’t possible to keep the knowledge of what I’d seen and heard off my face.

Even the academy was a ghost town. If I glanced over at the parking lot, I could see a handful of teacher’s parked in the lot, but even they were few and far between. The morning haze was heavy in the air. I was surprised the gates were open so early in the morning. I was annoyed Justin had really meant bright and early, and even more so that he’d texted me. I couldn’t remember giving him my number.

I walked past the main school buildings towards the back. The last time I was in the back gardens, Fable had been berating me. I winced at the memory, and half of me expected to once more run into him. I hadn’t seen Fable for almost a month now. It made our inevitable reunion all the more daunting.

“Wow, you actually came.” I blinked, coming back to reality. On one of the off white benches, Justin laid sprawled out. He looked half asleep himself as he narrowed his eyes at me, fighting against the morning sun.

I unzipped my backpack and nearly threw the clothes at him, “Here.”

He caught it easily, “Don’t want to be caught at school with me? I promise it won’t start rumors.”

“That’s not a concern.” At least, it wasn’t. I stamped down my anxiety before it came into being. “…Thanks for yesterday.”

The corner of his lips tugged up, “Yeah, don’t mention it. Like I said, I couldn’t leave you like that.”

“Um—” I cut myself off as I sensed someone else coming. Justin’s gaze flickered past me, his eyebrows furrowing together. It was enough to make me turn around and see who it was that’d showed up.

Cyrus raised a hand in greeting, a ghost of surprise flickering through his faux pleasant smile, “I wasn’t expecting anyone else here, Justin.”

“To be fair, I wasn’t expecting you either.” Justin was to his feet and by my side faster than I could blink. I stiffened as I felt the brush of his arm against mine as he passed and placed himself just a step in front of me. “When was the last time we talked?”

“End of last year.”

“Yeah, and what happened during the end of last year?” There was no smile or sharpness to Justin. I couldn’t read an emotion at all.

Cyrus looked at me specifically. The friendly mask from class cracked and went back to the self he’d been in club. The harshness was one of a million clues that I should not be here for this conversation, “U-um, well, I’ll be on my way then…”

“You’re joining the club,” his fingers grazed my inner wrist, a command to stop though he didn’t actually grab me. I stiffened, but tried to relax. “That means whatever Cyrus wants to say, you can hear it.”

Cyrus gave me a once over. A chill zipped down my spine. I didn’t dare move, “She’s not officially a member until she shows up to the meeting next week. For now, she’s nobody.”

“Right. The rules of the club are pretty sacred aren’t they?”

“You’re the last person who’d ever break them. Especially for a girl.”

“But she’s pretty cute, isn’t she?” I willed myself to stone. His index finger traced a line down the inner part of my wrist, stopping right at the base of my palm. Cyrus watched the whole exchange, a slow, sarcastic smile festering on his face.

He laughed, warm like honeyed toast and dusted with poison, “You’re so full of shit Justin. You didn’t say a word to Abigail when you were together and she’s the hottest girl in school.”

Justin was writing something in my palm. It was hard to focus with the burning ice slicing through every part of my body. My brain was wired on how I wasn’t a person in this exchange. A piece on a board maybe. A pawn in chess, gridlocked with a piece in front of me.

1. L. A. Y.

Pause.

1. O. N. G.

He wrote it clearly, considering he wasn’t looking at what he was doing. I didn’t want to play along, not when it was already taking everything in me not to run at the shadows dancing in Cyrus’s eyes. When he took my hand, my whole body wanted to flee. A cold sweat, punctuated by the morning chill. I somehow remained as I was. After a minute, I made my fingers lock with Justin’s.

“All because you can’t even bother to remember her name doesn’t mean others are the same.”

“Cinder.” Cyrus’s voice was marred with an onset of uncertainty. “Her name is Cinder.”

“Oh, you do remember. I’m almost proud. Now tell me what you wanted so we can get this over with.” He did not let go of my hand and he didn’t appear like he was going to do so anytime soon. The longer this lasted the more sick pooled in my stomach, and I kept thinking of Abigail. If she heard, she’d hate me. If she hated me, I…

“Fine then.” He took a step forward. “They’re going to rig it. They already know who they want to make wolf.”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Justin still showed nothing, “Of course they are. That’s what they do. The reason I’m not Vice President anymore is because I tried to put a stop to all of it.”

“That’s why I wanted to talk to you. I know it’s going to be me.”

“Well, yeah. You decided to get into a fucking fight with Everett. Not your brightest moment considering the power him and Ava have. Your fate was sealed since the first day of school.” At least my prediction was correct. If things went wrong, I could already picture the end of this story. It wasn’t going to be something as kind as accepting I wasn’t going to fall in love. “If you came to ask for help, I’m not going to do it.”

Cyrus kept a vague expression, his eyes flickering towards me, “We could help each other out.”

“With?”

“I know you’ve been trying to put an end to the game. It’s why you’re no longer in a position of power in the club. It’s always why you haven’t been by much lately. I’ll help you put an end to it.”

Justin barked out a laugh, humorless and cruel, “Right, of course. Now that this effects you directly, you want it over with. Fine, I’ll see what I can do. But know this. I’m not going out of my way to help you, and I’m only going to do so if you prove you’re going to help me out too.”

“Fine. Deal.” Cyrus was still looking at me. Despite myself, I shifted an inch closer to Justin. “Sorry to bother you on your lover’s tryst.”

It was near enough for me to rip my hand away from Justin, but he gave it a harsh squeeze in warning. He smiled at Cyrus, and I forced my eyes to focus on the ground, “We’ll work out the details later. After your fate is really confirmed.”

“After the club meeting, we’ll meet here. I’ll see you then.” A pause. “I’ll see you in class Cinder.”

He turned and left. We watched him go, and after he was truly gone, I tore my hand away. It was like the colors of the world all poured in at once and I rubbed my hand against my skirt. I didn’t realize how much I’d been sweating.

“Hated it that much huh. It almost hurts.” He dramatically placed a hand over his heart.

There were so many things I wanted to say, and I didn’t think I could say any of them right, “We’re helping Cyrus.”

He nodded, even though it was a statement more than anything, “Guess so. It helps to have someone help us out, and since we’ll know he’s the wolf he won’t try any shit against us.”

“Then we should clear up the misunderstanding. Why did you even act like we were—”

“Dating? It helps cover up why we were really together. Plus, people will be less inclined to ask questions.” He blinked at me, as though he noticed the wobble of my lips. “Was it that bad?”

“Yes.”

He laughed again, this time on the side of genuine. “Sorry. I do think it’s safer for you if we pretend we’re dating. At least, as far as the club is concerned. We can explain everything to Abigail, too. Since she is being blackmailed and all.”

“She’d never agree to that.”

“She isn’t the one that needs to agree with your actions.” He shrugged. “But yeah, if you hate the idea it’s fine. It was done in a moment of panic.”

I couldn’t imagine Justin panicking. If anything, he had near full control of that situation. After a moment, I took a step back, “…I should go.”

He smirked, but didn’t comment on my evasion of the topic, “Right. I’ll see you later.”

With the dismissal I escaped. I didn’t know where, with my friends being an open wound and the whole school feeling like a stage. But I imagined a place where I could merely be. A place where I didn’t have to stare into the pile of problems I wouldn’t be able to run from.

//

There were a collection of missed calls and texts on my phone. I got back to Nia, because it was the least I could do after she took the fall for me yesterday. I assured her I was alive. I confessed I didn’t know how to talk to Abigail. She understood, and I kept myself holed up in the library.

The lingering fear of running into any members of the literature club was present. Mauve and Cyrus had ignored me in class. I still got whiplash seeing his easy smile perfectly in place as he talked to classmates. He hadn’t even glanced at me. I’d almost managed to do the same.

Still being here was easier. Maybe Abigail and Nia would find me. I was sure Abigail was looking for me. I never ignored her texts and calls. She’d know something was wrong. As my phone vibrated with another text, I snatched it up from the table and flipped it open to text her.

‘alive’

I didn’t bother to read whatever she had sent. It was the most I could do, still in the depths of figuring out what to do. My brain was caught on Justin. The morning hadn’t cleared away, and I was acutely aware that I hadn’t outright said no. Thinking about it even for a second was dumb enough.

My eyes finally looked away from my phone and towards the shelves. Back here, I could see the archives, where school papers and magazines from years past were kept. A girl had died once. There was probably an article of it within the papers. I rose.

The archives were their own room. No one was in it, because no one really cared to read what was occurring at this school at the turn of the century. The door clicked behind me, and in such an enclosed space, I finally felt like I was free.

With a purpose in mind, I started hunting through the shelves.

It shouldn’t have been hard with a timeframe. My fingers skimmed along the shelves, looking at the dates. Year after year passed by, with more items then I would have thought. Old yearbooks were in here too, along with flyers, pamphlets for plays, cds and recordings of band concerts and sport games. Aster Academy had gone out of its way to keep every minute detail of its history.

A couple years ago, a girl died. My fingers paused as I reached the section. It would be in the newspapers, maybe. An obituary to a girl who passed far too young. I grasped at the binder filled with them and—

Another hand pushed it back in. I jerked, and felt the person behind me keep me steady. I wasn’t sure who I was expecting when I turned around. It certainly wasn’t the boy in front of me. It’d felt like years since I last him. Maybe my thoughts had summoned him.

“Fable.” He stared down at me, not bothering to step back from where he was.

“There is nothing for you here.” When I opened my mouth to protest, he cut me off. “There’s nothing related to this tale.”

I looked back, at the binder he’d pushed back in, “But…”

His hand was still on my shoulder from where he’d steadied me. It gave a sharp squeeze, pain shooting down my shoulder. I gasped. “She wasn’t part of the literature club.”

“But Justin—”

“Lied. Twisted the truth. Regardless, it is not yours to look into.” The warning was clear. “You should go. Or do you run from your friends as much as you run from the stories you promised to take part in.”

I thought of saying something back. The sudden anger from before was there, burning in the pit of my stomach. But his grip was so tight, and the pain was still there, and it painted a clear picture that I should be afraid. I was small and he was not. Even the thought that he couldn’t truly hurt me didn’t offer much my comfort. Not when it seemed like he wanted to.

“…I’ll take my leave, then.”

He let go and the relief was instant, “That would be wise.”

There was a brief pause. I rubbed at my shoulder as if to dispel the pain. Fable had turned, eyes scanning the shelves. Had he been watching me, or had his arrival been mere coincidence? The thought of the binder burned behind me. I forced myself to move away.

As I approached the door, I paused, “Before I go…nothing will happen to Abigail, right?”

“As long as you make no mistakes.” He considered me. “But, don’t you already have a collection of them?”

There was no response for him. I thought over the past month. The endless missteps and lies. Even this morning, when I couldn’t be firm enough to tell Justin to shove it and that I wanted no part of his plan. Maybe whatever the Literature club had against of her was something I could have prevented if I’d stepped up.

Turning away, I finally left the room. As the door closed behind me, I breathed a sigh of relief. Away from him, I probed my shoulder once more. A dull ache thrummed through it. I didn’t need to check it to know.

He’d left me bruised.