“They are taking a long time to get back.” Rosita spoke unhappily, twirling her finger through her curly red hair before letting go and letting it bounce back into place.

Ivy glanced over in Rosita’s direction. She didn’t disagree with the other girl, even though she had been the one to push them into getting some alone time together. Her relationship with Aiko might be fake, but that didn’t mean that Lana didn’t still have a chance. However, Ivy wasn’t sure why she had gone out of her way to try to get them together. In reality, if Aiko and Lana started fooling around on the dance floor, wouldn’t that only cause bad rumors to hit Ivy?

Ivy had just never had a close friend before. She knew that Lana liked Aiko, so she had acted before she had thought about the consequences. So, why was the pair’s prolonged absence irritating her? If they were spending some alone time together, that’s exactly what she had wanted. Yet, she felt as impatient as Rosita.

After all, Lana still believed Ivy was dating Aiko. If Lana knowingly started an affair with Aiko, Ivy wasn’t sure how that’d make her feel. This was her first friend, after all, and if they could cheat on her behind her back, could she call Lana a friend? Then again, Lana almost acted like they were both pursuing Aiko together, which felt odd to Ivy too. Ivy had no real interest in Aiko. He had blackmailed her into this situation and even found time to flirt around with other women while claiming she was his girlfriend. It was infuriating!

Why were so many women gravitating around that man? Lana was a neighbor and childhood friend. Her presence could be expected. However, there was also Skylar, one of the most popular girls in school, who suddenly started getting closer to Aiko. The oddest of all of them was the sudden mood shift for Rosita. She had started the night with an ax to grind. Rosita was always well known for having a temper and being a prude, but then she took off with Aiko for just a bit, and then she was suddenly a different person after returning.

Was Rosita possessed? She seemed to be very distracted, and things that usually would have caused her to start fights with other students were ignored. One group of boys almost got passed the ticket booth with alcohol in hand before Ivy was able to get Rosita to pay attention. The student council president seemed to be lost in her thoughts. She had suddenly asked a few strange questions about Aiko. Did something happen between the two of them in those few hours they were working together?

Also, Ivy didn’t want to say anything, but Rosita’s dress seemed to be showing a bit more cleavage than before. It was almost like… was she still wearing a bra? No… there was no way that Rosita and Aiko went somewhere and did that, right? Ivy looked over at Rosita, who still seemed completely distracted. Had she been wrong the entire time? Was Aiko a sex pervert who took advantage of women? If that was the case, didn’t that mean that Ivy had sent her best friend into the claws of a sex pervert?

“I’m going to check…” Rosita began.

“I’ll do it!” Ivy jumped up, causing Rosita to glance up in surprise.

“What?”

Ivy’s face flushed. “I’m going to check and see what is holding those two up. Something might have happened.”

“Something…” Rosita gave a strange expression. “They couldn’t have had the same thing… that we…”

“You…?” Ivy’s eyes narrowed.

“N-nothing!” Rosita straightened herself in her seat. “Y-you should go check on them! Perhaps… check the basement.”

“The basement?” Ivy shot Rosita a stare, but Rosita wouldn’t meet her eyes, her face red with embarrassment.

Aiko had taken Rosita to the basement and then did something with her? Rosita wasn’t completely inexperienced with boys. Her unfortunate history had matured her a lot faster than other women, so she immediately understood what had likely happened. Ivy felt like an idiot. She had been tricked by another guy. She had told herself she’d never let that happen again, yet Aiko had blackmailed her, and worse, she had given him the benefit of the doubt. Why wouldn’t a guy who had blackmailed her also be a deviant who molested women in the school basement?

Just as rage was building inside Ivy and she was preparing to go out and severely chastise Aiko, the door opened and someone stepped forward. Miss Alma had appeared with a few students trailing behind her loyally. She looked toward the pair of them with an uneasy expression on her face. Rosita seemed to snap out of her daydreaming upon seeing her favorite teacher.

“Miss Alma? There are no problems out here!” Rosita seemed to panic for a moment. “We’ve been working properly.”

Ivy couldn’t help but give the other girl a look. She was technically correct. There was nothing wrong on their end. If Miss Alma thought there was another problem she needed to resolve like those thugs earlier, she was mistaken. However, how could Rosita have known that given how much her head was up in the clouds?

“What?” Miss Alma blinked. “Ah, yes, you’ve been doing a good job. Um, Ivy, you’re a good friend with Lana, right?”

Ivy’s brow furrowed. “What happened to Lana? Is she hurt?”

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Ivy’s heart skipped a bit. She couldn’t help but jump to the worst. Perhaps there was an accident. Perhaps, Aiko had done something.

“No… it’s nothing like that.” Miss Alma looked a bit embarrassed.

“What is it then?” Ivy asked.

“It’s just, she’s been acting somewhat inappropriate on the dance floor, and I already gave her a warning, but she has refused to settle down. If it was someone else, I would just kick them out of the dance, but she was one of your volunteers and your friend. I thought that it might be better if you talked to her first.”

“Lana is acting up?” Ivy didn’t mean to act disbelieving, but she knew Lana well enough to know that she wasn’t the kind of person who caused trouble.

Lana was a wallflower and had spent most of her life being quiet and following the rules. She had never even had that rebellious phase in her life like Ivy when she started following around bad boys and skirting the law. Lana would be horrified even if she was absent. When she was sick for those days, the anxiety of missing school had seemingly given her a tummy ache. Despite Lana’s love of witchcraft and the occult, she was the farthest thing from problematic that Ivy could imagine. Furthermore, what could she be doing on the dance floor that was enough to make Miss Alma look so squeamish?

Giving Rosita a single glance, Ivy nodded to Miss Alma and allowed her to escort her into the dance room. It was dark, hot, humid, and loud inside. Ivy was glad she was a volunteer and not an attendee. She didn’t like to get hot and sweaty, especially when she was wearing makeup or a dress. Thankfully, none of the volunteers had been dressed up. They wore khakis and a matching shirt in the school colors that indicated them as workers, not attendees. She had still done up her hair and face to look nice, I didn’t want to mess it up.

That said, when Miss Alma pointed to Lana, Ivy needed to look twice. The girl had seemingly found a dress since Ivy had the last scene her, and it was a dress that was scandalous, to say the least. It had a slit up the side that showed a large bit of her smooth, white legs, and her chest was nearly popping out the top. She was dancing extremely provocatively with three different boys at once. Ivy didn’t know the boys, but they seemed to be extremely excited to be rubbing up against Lana.

At that moment, a girl and her two friends stormed up to Lana.

“What do you think you’re doing? That’s my date.” The girl flicked her finger out angrily at the guy in the back. “You, get your skank ass away from my boyfriend!”

“I don’t see your name on him,” Lana responded, her voice throaty and filled with a seductive vibe as she wrapped an arm around the guy’s neck, pressing her chest against him.

The girl’s eyes widened in disbelief, and she shot the guy a glare.

“We’re just dancing!” The guy responded as he gave a helpless shrug, a smile on his face.

If it was Ivy, she would have ditched the guy in a second, but this girl seemed to ignore him and turn back to Lana.

“Bitch, you’re going to regret this!” She made a fist, about to punch Lana in the face.

Despite this, Lana seemed to either not be away she was about to be punched, or she didn’t care. Just as the girl threw out her fist, a hand caught it.

“There is no fighting here. You need to leave the dance now.” The voice was none other than Miss Alma, who despite her usual kindness, had a stormy look on her face that caught the other girl off guard.

“B-but… she…”

“She’ll be dealt with.” Miss Alma threw Ivy a helpless look, causing Ivy to snap to attention. “As for you, let’s go talk about discipline! You two also!”

“Eh? Why us?”

“I didn’t do anything!”

Miss Alma walked away with her grip still tight on the offending girl’s wrist. The other two girls followed while complaining loudly that this was not justice. Meanwhile, Lana continued to dance wildly. Although she had lost a lot of weight, she still typically moved like an overweight girl. That was to say that took her time getting up and wasn’t particularly excitable in her movements. When did she suddenly become so energetic?

Ivy took a breath, and reached out and grabbed Lana. She was surprised when she felt Lana’s skin, which was ice-cold.

“Lana, we need to talk.” Ivy declared.

“Hmm?” Lana only seemed to fall out of her dancing at that moment. “Oh, Ivy!”

As soon as she saw Ivy, a smile broke out on her lips, and she let go of the boy she was holding and wrapped her arms around Ivy.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Ivy cried as Lana started dancing with her.

“I’m doing whatever I want,” Lana responded, laughing. “I’m free to do anything I want.”

“Can we go into the hall and chat for a moment?” Ivy tried to grab onto Lana, which only resulted in her accidentally grabbing Lana’s chest.

Why were those things so big! She was a mom, and she didn’t have melons like those!

“Oh, my… I guess we can.” Lana’s voice sounded strangely flirtatious, and she wrapped an arm around Ivy’s shoulder.

Was Lana drunk? It almost felt that way. She had to be on something. Ivy took Lana and started heading away. The guys who had been feeling up on Lana protested, but she shot them a wink and they stayed put as Ivy did her best to guide her out of the dance and into the hallway.

As soon as the door closed, Ivy turned to Lana. “What is wrong with you? Why are you acting that way?”

Lana blinked. “Acting what way? I’m just doing what feels natural.”

“What about Aiko? I-I thought you liked Aiko!” Ivy didn’t know why her voice seemed to break when she mentioned him.

It was all his fault! She didn’t know why, but she was sure it was him.

“Aiko…” Lana seemed to think for a second like she didn’t recognize the name, and then she snapped her fingers. “Ah, isn’t he your boyfriend? Are you sure you’re not the one who likes him?”

“Wh-what are you saying? I-it’s a fake relationship. You know that! I told you already.”

“Ohhh…” Lana pulled a finger out and touched Ivy’s cheek. “Why else would you let him blackmail you then? Isn’t it because you wanted it?”

“That’s not true… I even helped you…”

Lana’s eyes widened, and then she giggled. “Or maybe Ivy wants to share him with me. Do you want to play with Aiko together?”

“T-t-together!” Ivy couldn’t stop her voice from raising an octave.

“First, we can practice a bit ourselves, for when he can join us…” She giggled.

Before Ivy could even grasp her words, a pair of lips pressed against her. Lana was kissing Ivy! She was about to push Lana away. She did want Lana as a friend and she didn’t want to hurt he felt, but Ivy wasn’t into that. However, at that moment, she felt a sudden weakness inside her. It was like all of the energy in her body was being sucked out. She started to feel cold, as ice-cold as Lana had felt. It was like Lana was stealing all of the warmth from her.

Alarm bells were ringing, but her body had seemingly lost all energy. As the darkness started to creep in around her, a vision of Aiko appeared in her mind. Why was he the last thing she saw? She didn’t know. She just wished… maybe… it was him kissing her instead.