Jessie watched as Angela cooked the same piece of beef for the third time.

It was almost as black as soot.

Luckily, the filter vents in Xavier’s Mansion ensured not even the slightest residue was left behind after her failed concoctions.

It’s not happening…

Send me back…

Jessie managed to ignore the words Angela would constantly mutter – many of the students at school would say Xavier liked weird girls.

It was true…

Now, Jessie was not sure if Angela was weird or slowly going insane.

‘Not my business…’ She decided.

Alas, it was… so The Lesbian Freeloader kept an eye on Angela as she cooked the same piece of meat for the fourth time.

Not like this… maybe I need to drop on my head?

“Okay, that’s enough!” Jessie hopped to her feet and quickly escorted Angela out of the kitchen. “I don’t know what’s happening but self-harm is never the answer…”

“You would know,” Angela unconsciously spat.

Jessie paused briefly, a grimace flashing on her face before it was quickly pushed aside.

Angela realized what she had said belatedly.

“Yes…” Jessie aided Angela onto the couch without any change in her movement. “I would know more than anyone else what self-harm is like.”

“Jessie, I—”

Jessie raised her hand to stop Angela. “If I was unable to take this much, I would now be friends with Xavier,” She mentioned. “You know how he is…”

‘Actually, I don’t—’ Angela secretly commented in her heart.

The way Xavier treated her was almost princess-like, not that she actually enjoyed such treatment most of the time.

The good and the bad made up a relationship but before this current version of their relationship, Angela knew he spent the good with her and spent the bad through countless other girls.

‘Now, I have to take it all…’

It worried her.

“You don’t have to worry about Xavier too much,” Jessie comforted, seeing the deepening frown on Angela’s face. “He knows what can and cannot be done.”

“He~” Angela chuckled. “I am not so sure about that,” She mentioned and then rose from the couch. “We should get ready for school,” She checked the time on her phone. “—at this rate, we’ll be more than half an hour late.”

Jessie watched Angela’s back ascending the stairs, all the while clenching the pillow hard enough for her knuckles to whiten.

‘She knows something…’ The Lesbian Freeloader realized.

There were things Jessie shared with Xavier that never left The Eternal’s mouth… trauma deep enough buried that even Jessie only retained a vague idea of what it was.

But she had an inkling that Angela knew about such things – such things Xavier should never, and had no right to share.

Jessie sighed. “I guess I can’t stay here forever. I definitely can’t beat the wife of the landlord,” She muttered, solidifying her resolve to leave as soon as Brittney was prepared.

…. She was completely unaware of the consequences that such a decision would bring in the future…

Had Alice been watching, she would have been able to alter the decision by witnessing the end but aside from Bella, there were no mortals that entered her possibilities.

…………

The drive to school was an uncomfortable affair.

Usually, Angela would take the Bugatti and Jessie would take the Hummer but in an effort to wean herself off the luxuries, Jessie opted to ride with Angela this time.

Inconvenient but necessary.

Besides, Angela wasn’t feeling nearly as awkward as Jessie was; after all, The Lesbian Freeloader was never one to wear her emotions on her sleeves.

The small hill into the school smelt of salt.

As far as Jessie knew, the incident with Tyler was a wake-up call to the school, and now, the de-icing solution was applied to all the entrances and exists.

Technically, everyone was aware that complaints had been made to do something about the slippery slopes long before Tyler’s incident happened.

At least, his blame should have been shared with the school.

Alas, the brilliant African American boy just had to add nitro to the bottom of his van, making him the prime scapegoat that the school needed at a rather desperate time.

With her Hispanic origins, even on the day of the incident, Jessie could smell the blood of desperate leaking accountability permeating the air.

As much as the school was concerned, Tyler may as well have built the school in a shitty way some decade ago.

Adding to the fact that the incredibly handsome Xavier was the person who got hurt, Jessie hoped Tyler would transfer schools before anything particularly damning could occur.

And it would…

‘Oh, it will…’ She lamented.

Experience had taught her that murders didn’t come from poor neighborhoods, they came from normal schools like Forks High School.

Angela parked the car in the usual spot – Xavier’s spot.

Jessie glanced out the window to her side and sighed – she immediately got out of the car and departed, only spinning back around when Angela had entered the main building.

Checking to make sure that no one was around, Jessie tapped the window of the opposite car twice.

There was mumbling and groans inside.

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“WHO THE FUC—” Otto, ready to curse up a storm, found the saliva in his throat drying as soon as he saw who stood outside his car’s window. “J-jes-Jessie?”

“Fucking Otto. Has to be fucking Otto,” Jessie snarled, flexing her fingers with the urge to beat someone down. “I always tell you never to park next to Angela!”

Otto whimpered, slipping into his shirt in the backseat – he had been sleeping in the parking lot since the previous night. “You only told me not to park in Xavier’s spot,” He argued.

Jessie internally groaned. “When I said not to park in Xavier’s spot…” She took a deep breath, steadying her voice with utmost solemnity. “It means, stay away from anything related to Xavier!”

‘Then, you should have said that…’ Otto’s thought rebelled. “Anyways,” He grabbed a backpack from under his seat. “—this is the last time I act as an in-between for you and the gang. You have to make future deliveries yourself.”

Jessie frowned, weighing the bag in her hands as she slipped her schoolbag into Xavier’s Bugatti – needless to point out, the bags were identical. “How much was your cut?” She questioned, noticing the weight was lighter than it had any business being.

‘Steal? From you?’ Otto snorted in disdain at the thought reflected on Jessie’s face. “You know I don’t have the balls to take from you. It’s just that five pounds of the product couldn’t sell.”

“Why?”

“According to the boss, it came from some dead kids called Luis and Greg who liked fucking unconscious girls,” Otto rubbed his stubble. “Apparently, their parents are big fuckers near the seaports. We don’t dare sell too much of their product.”

Jessie shrugged, slipped the schoolbag onto her shoulder, and directly departed, only entering the main building after she was sure Otto had departed the parking lot.

A friend was a friend…

But blood was blood…

Xavier was the blood in her veins so doing something that naturally went against his creed made Jessie extra-paranoid.

………………

The next two hours were boring.

One class to the next…

One teacher to the next…

One overdue project and pop quiz to the next…

At one point, Jessie headed to the office to finally confront her demons – she was forced to wipe her parents’ names from the emergency contact list of her admission documents.

The fact that the receptionist gave her a pitying look grated her guts – it meant her parents had long since called to make the request, and the receptionist was only waiting for her action out of charity.

Maybe not charity… but that was how Jessie saw it.

Of course, where her parents’ names were erased, Xavier’s and Angela’s names took their place.

Exiting the office felt simultaneously more humiliating and releasing than any singular action in Jessie’s life.

The next hour until lunch was relaxing since Jessie avoided the next two classes altogether, resting in one of Xavier’s many hidden rooms in the abandoned building.

“Still smells like virgin blood,” Jessie joked.

The amount of virginity Xavier had taken in such rooms was not lost to her, especially when she had been the link that introduced him to most of those girls.

After all, most girls want a Lesbian best friend.

Just as everything was looking up, Jessie received a text message from the same unknown number – she usually opted to ignore the messages but this time, it just happened to come it immediately after Brittney’s message.

I NO XAV SECRET… DO U WANT 2 KNW?

“NO!” Jessie’s reply was immediate and concise.

And had the strange messenger left it at that, The Lesbian Freeloader would have been contented to remain unaware but…

The next message that came in held no words, only a picture – a picture that may as well have set off a bomb in Jessie’s mind.

A picture of her… a picture of her and Xavier but very old.

A couple of times in the past, Xavier would refer to her as his sister… she always thought it was an endearing remark but this photo made her question many of the things she thought she knew.

WANT 2 KNW MUR?

Jessie stared at the message for a while, squeezing the phone tightly; then, she made her decision with a single tap.

α

Brian, Erin, Yesmin, and Jason met in the A5 conference room.

Of course, Yesmin took her place at Brian’s side, gently running her fingers through his thick head of brown hair.

She always enjoyed playing with his hair; after all, judging by his work ethic and academic performance, Brian was destined to have one of those important jobs that made one lose their hair.

Luckily, what he would lack in hair in the future, Yesmin was sure he would make up with wealth, kindness, and bringing genuine change to the world.

And best of all, he was not inflexible.

Brian was not someone willing to die on his sword, hence the current meeting.

“I have no need to hide it from you. Even Jason, though always high, can figure out what my father did,” Brian voiced, exhaling a calculated breath of exhaustion.

“What he allegedly did, and we are speaking merely hypotheticals,” Erin quickly intervened, paying attention to the semantics just in case someone was recording – probably not but better to be cautious of even god. “From now on, we will speak without specifics.” Her voice was solemn.

Brian understood and was grateful for Erin’s practicality – he was under no illusion that she cared about him or his family.

It was a matter of survival – exposing his father for embezzling funds would make a Forks High School Certificate useless, and the generous scholarship coming Erin’s way would be no more.

Nothing could negatively affect the school.

Brian was unsure of how far Erin was willing to go to make sure nothing happened but based on the constant warnings from Yesmin, he quickly understood that Erin was a special type of callous unemotional.

Her mind worked in terms of rewards and risk.

Meeting Erin’s eyes, Brian subconsciously trembled, though Yesmin quickly held him – she could not allow her boyfriend, The President, to show any weakness in front of those he would lead.

Still, Yesmin, herself, trembled a little in her seat.

Luckily, there was Jason – a pothead he may be but when it came to money (to buy drugs), there was hardly anyone else more qualified.

It took Yesmin considerable effort to convince Jason that a pouch of weed for Prom was what they needed to purchase and in no time at all, he was pulling funds from the most inconspicuous of places.

Index funds…

Tax returns…

Jason even found a way to turn the stray dogs and cats near the school into finance.

‘Brutal…’ Yesmin thought.

Of course, Brian, Yesmin, and Erin had to do a lot of fine-tuning of his idea… Jason was many things when it came to money, and sadly, one of those things was unethical.

The depth of Jason’s financial mind surprised Erin – she especially liked his idea about printing forgery traffic tickets and working with someone at the police station to that end.

Apparently, Xavier had done this a couple of times, but he stopped a little before Bella came to Forks.

‘Now I know how he affords all those girls,’ Erin pondered, failing to acknowledge that she was briefly one of those girls.

“—but despite all of this…” Jason completed his explanation with a lingering question. “Well, what do you think?”

Brian was trapped in a difficult situation.

Yesmin no longer gently rubbed his shoulder – she slid her seat a bit backward, watching everyone with curious eyes.

She was especially interested in what decision Brian would make; after all, Yesmin was equal parts his girlfriend and his mother.

She was essentially raising a boyfriend for herself but no matter how much effort she put in, at some point, the boy would have to become a man.

This was the first test among many.

“Erin, what do you think?” Brian questioned, using Erin as a measure of what was acceptable in this scenario.

Whichever extreme way her mind worked, it was undeniable that Erin was abnormally brilliant so her suggestions were always based on logic.

‘I just have to weak the extreme idea by 40% and do the opposite,’ Brian complimented himself.

“I think we should utilize our human resources,” Erin proposed. “Actually, this matter is not all too complicated,” She presented the two photos on her phone. “Luis and Greg recently died due to speeding along a sharp curve.”

Sure, that is the reason…

“And?” Yesmin’s eyes narrowed.

“I believe their parents are more than eager to contribute something to enhance their less-than-stellar image,” Erin grinned wolfishly. “I hear they have been denied a couple of times by our dear principal. Does he suddenly have his morals?”

“No go, bro…” Jason finally spoke with a hint of sober consideration. “Greg and Luis did more than rape a couple of girls. They got into the deep drugs with some of the out-of-town gang.”

“Then that’s who we got to…” Brian had an epiphany.

“The gangs?” Erin frowned and grumbled. “Is he crazier than me?”

“No… the guiltiest parties,” Brian revealed.

“You’re going to get funding from Greg’s and Luis’s parents?” Yesmin’s gaze turned cold. “Get them to put a couple of good miles on their souls from Hell?” Did I not raise him righteous enough?

“No, the guiltiest parties are the friends who brought those girls to the club,” Brian voiced. “Greg targeted those girls who you don’t usually see outside of their homes. And in one particular case, one of the best friends was Ada… understand?”

“Millionaire Father, Ada?” Erin’s eyes gleamed.

“And Logging Business Francine,” Yesmin slowly voiced. “They were at the parties but I never looked into them. They are party girls but I didn’t think they brought non-party girls with them, basically bringing pigs to the perverted slaughterer that is Greg.”

“The question is…” Jason smirked. “How much are they willing to pay to relieve the guilt?”

“The guilt will never go away,” Brian felt a bit torn. “—we might as well help them burn the trauma deeper into their hearts. Who knows, they might stop partying altogether.”

After a couple more exchanges, the plan was set… Ada and Francine would be willingly sponsoring the remaining funds for the prom.

As for how they would be convinced, Yesmin had a way with words that no other council member possessed.