Marlo Velasquez watched Shannon & Jakoby's conversation from a table positioned near the dance floor. The quabbling twosome were only a few feet away, and Marlo could hear everything that had been said. She quickly turned back to the empty table.

"What on earth is going on between those two? Does Shannon have a secret?" Marlo turned back towards Jakoby & Shannon. When she saw the look that Shannon was giving Jakoby, all of Marlo's doubts were erased. "So the high-and-mighty Shannon Freemont has a secret involving Jakoby Grier. This'll be some spicy news for the girls to hear. In fact, I think it's a hot topic that everyone should know about."

"Marlo, what's going on?" Karen walked over to her friend. When she noticed the wide grin on Marlo's face, Karen immediately became suspicious. "Oh, dear. What 'amazing secret' have you discovered now?"

"You'll see in due time, Karen. All in due time. But for right now, I think it's time to go talk to that Brenda-girl over there. Isn't she a reporter for The Panther Claw?"

"Yesss..." Karen responded hesitantly. "Look, if this is another outlandish scheme, count me out. I've seen what happens when you get into business everyone knows that you don't need to be in."

"Please, Karen. That's trashy gossip," Marlo brushed off the statement.

"That's definetly something you know a lot about," Karen shot back, smiling. When she noticed that Marlo wasn't laughing, she quit. "Sorry, I thought it was funny."

"The only funny thing will be the look on a certain girl's face when I reveal that she's been hiding something dark and terrible for quite some time. Oh, yes. That look will be priceless."

Randall walked into the ballroom with Ariel nearby. Randall's look spelled triumph. He was finally going to have his revenge. After nearly a year of attempts, he was going to revel in his glory. "Are you ready, Ariel?"

Ariel bit down hard on her lip. "I'm not so sure. God, Randall, I really don't want to do this. Let's just forget about it," Ariel turned to exit the ballroom once again.

Randall took firm hold on Ariel's elbow. "Oh, no you don't. Remember what I told you. These people deserve what they're getting to them. Every last pain-filled, heart-ripping moment."

Ariel's eyes drifted over to Gemini, who was in the corner talking with Robin. Her eyes narrowed and hardened. "How could Gemini just drop me off to the side like that? We were best friends. We were the invincible two musketeers. Now, because of everything that went on with her and Rusty, I'm left with nothing," Ariel turned to Randall. "Let's do this."

Randall smiled and nodded. "Let's see, who should we start with?"

"How about we start with Gemini. I think she'd like to know about Sloane's not-so-wholesome past," Ariel smirked. "If I can't have love, then she can't either."

"That's the spirit. And while you take care of them, I think I'll just go have a little talk with Kate about Zach's little obsession with destroying Karen's life," Randall cackled dastardly. "This is definetly going to be a night to remember."

"That it will, Randall. That it will," Ariel walked off towards Gemini and Sloane.

"Time to destroy some lives," Randall took off for Kate.

Kate took a sip of her Ginger Alè. Zach had decided to sit this one out, so Kate only felt it would be right to keep him company.

Kate was startled with a solemn looking butler dressed in a crisp white shirt and black pants walked over to her. "Miss Katherine Dermont?"

"Yes."

"Telephone, miss," the butler said, ushering Kate into the hallway outside of the ballroom.

Kate took the large receiver of the ivory rotary-dial phone. "Hello?"

"Kate, darling! How are you?" her mother's voice burst through the speaker, causing Kate to have to hold it away from her ear.

"Mother, you don't have to speak so loud. I'm fine, how are you?"

"Absolutely divine. How's the ball going?"

"Fine...Mom what's this all about? Why are you calling me after Midnight here of all places?" Kate demanded.

"I just wanted to know how things were going with..." Mrs. Dermont's voice trailed off.

"I should've known! Mom, this is not the time nor the place to talk about this. I'll talk to you later," Kate began placing the receiver back in its place.

"If you hang up on me you'll regret it, young lady!" Marie Dermont's voice boomed across the lines.

Kate winced. "Mother, please."

"You are going to stay away from Zach, do you hear me? I told you once, I won't tell you again. You've never disobeyed me before, so don't start now!"

"You're not being fair, Mom!" Kate shouted helplessly. "Isn't it my happiness that matters, not some past problems you may have had with Zach's parents. After all, this is Zach, not Zach's parents."

"It's in those middle-class genes of his, Kate. Trust me," Marie whispered.

"His social background has nothing to do with this! That was uncalled for and you know it!" Kate snapped at her mother, loyalty to her new boyfriend swelling up and taking control of her.

"I'm stating facts. Back in high school, his father dated me just because of my social position and what I could get him. Who's to say that Zach won't do the same to you?"

"That is enough, Mother! Quite frankly, I am sick and tired of your whining and griping about my relationship with Zach. I'm dating him and will continue to date him as long as we're both happy. If you don't like it, then that's just your problem. Deal with it! Now I have a ball and a wonderful boyfriend to get back to you, and don't call me again until you can treat my boyfriend civily."

"If you're not going to listen to me, then there's only one thing to do."

"Oh, and what's that?"

"It looks like I'm going to have to come down there and straighten things out myself. I'll be in touch. Bye."

Kate gaped in horror as she heard the click of the telephone. She placed the receiver on its hook with shaky hands. "This cannot be happening. Mother's going to ruin everything!" Kate drew herself up quickly. "Not if I can help it. It's time for that woman to be stopped."

Amber loomed around near the door once more. Her date had disapeered to somewhere on the dance floor, but seeing as how he was just some random guy on her list, she didn't mind.

She had been frazzled over her conversation with Francesca earlier and was now trying to pick herself back up. Come on, girl, pull yourself together. Your parents wouldn't be happy with this, she thought to herself. Then she chuckled to herself at the amazing plan she had concocted for the reigning Miss Midway. Of course, she hadn't expected it to go this far, so she was playing it by ear.

She played with the beading on her dress and popped her knuckles impatiently. Where is he? she thought. He was supposed to show up over an hour ago. Something's going on.

Just then she spotted a very muscular, handsome Spainard walking towards the door, looking very lost.

Finally, she thought.

Adrienne made her way over to where Chloe & Melanie were sitting. "Hi, girls," she greeted softly.

Chloe smiled her warmest greeting. "Hey, Adrienne! Glad you could join us!"

"Yeah," was all Adrienne responded with. Her eyes drifted to the entrance to the ballroom, where Francesca had just reappeared.

Melanie frowned. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing important. How are your nights going?" Adrienne inquired, attempting to change the subject.

"Considering the circumstances, pretty well," Melanie replied bubbly.

"The 'circumstances'?" Adrienne's forehead wrinkled in confusion.

"Well, let's see: it's late, the music is a drag, and we're dateless. But we're still alive, so that's something to be grateful for."

"Don't listen to her," Chloe said quickly, nudging Melanie in the ribs. "We're doing just fine. But Adrienne, I know something's wrong. What's going on?"

Adrienne faced Chloe with eyes that were sparkling with tears. "Have you ever thought you really liked someone, and you thought that the best medicine in the whole world would be for you to be with him? Have you ever wanted that so much, knowing that you can't have it?"

Chloe's gaze faltered before she looked away sharply. She couldn't imagine how Adrienne had spelled out her situation exactly. "I...well..."

"Have you ever thought that there was a possiblity that you could love someone?" Adrienne continued, not bothering to find out why Chloe hesitated.

"I...see...Adrienne, are you falling for someone?" Chloe quickly found something to say to avoid discussing her own private matters.

"I don't know, that's the thing. The only thing is that...well...he's taken," Adrienne explained helplessly. "What am I going to do?"

"The only thing that there is to do," Melanie said frankly.

"Which would be to..."

"Talk to him about it. Tell him how you're feeling and go from there," Melanie advised. "Look, nothing will ever get done unless you do something about it."

"What would he think of me?"

"He'd think that you were an honest, smart gal. That, if I'm not mistaken, is something that guys value in a girl."

Adrienne looked back towards Allan and Francesca. "Maybe you're right. Maybe it's time to take things into my own hands."

Francesca wiped away the remainder of her tears and looked at Allan from across the floor. Allan was gazing at her with confused and sorrowful eyes. That hurt her even more. She knew that she had hurt him. She knew that she had caused him the pain that was now embeded in those eyes. Francesca made her way over to Allan, who was seated at a small table off the left of the dance floor.

"Hi," her voice was soft and barely audible.

"Hello," Allan replied simply. He kept looking at Francesca, asking many nonverbal questions that he knew she wouldn't answer.

"I bet you're wondering why I ran out of here a little while ago."

"It wasn't a little while ago, Francesca," Allan countered. "It was over an hour ago. Where have you been?"

"I had to go for a little walk to sort things out."

"What's there to sort out? I thought that I loved you and you loved me. Isn't that what matters?"

"I don't deserve your love!" Francesca blurted out before she could stop herself. She quickly turned away.

"What do you mean, you don't deserve my love? Francesca, you have done nothing but bring me happiness since the day I met you. That is more than enough reason for me to love you."

"No, no, no. I don't deserve all of this," Francesca picked up the small velvet box on the table and waved it around. "It's too much, Allan."

Allan looked at her stupidly. "You're losing me. What are you talking about?"

Francesca shook her head lightly and put the box down. She looked up at him with sparkling eyes. "Could you do something for me, Allan?"

"Anything."

"Hold me," Francesca said, and took comfort in Allan's strong and securing arms. "Just hold me."

Eve walked over to Kim, who was seated off of the dance floor while Trace used the restroom. "Hey, girl. What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing," Kim said blankly. Her eyes were glazed and her expression was bleak.

"Are you sure? You don't look so hot."

"I just have this feeling that something's going to go wrong, terribly wrong," Kim prophesized in doomed tones.

"What could go wrong? You're here with Trace and having a good time. It's about time that you have a little happiness in your life, don't you think? Don't spoil it with these 'feelings.'"

"I wish I could get rid of it, Eve. God knows I've tried. But," Kim was startled to find her eyes floating over to Randall, "I have a feeling that there are many terrors yet to come."

Ariel walked stealthily over to Gemini and Sloane. The two were deep in conversation, and hardly noticed her walking over to them. Ariel smiled politely, all planned and well-rehearsed, to Sloane and asked sweetly, "May I speak with Gemini for just a minute?"

Sloane looked towards Gemini, while Gemini only shrugged her shoulders in response. "Sure, I guess," Sloane said, walking off.

"Well, you move quickly don't you?" Ariel got straight to the point.

"Excuse me?" Gemini was stunned by Ariel's bluntness.

"I was just thinking about how quickly you found Sloane after your breakup with Rusty. One would almost think that you'd been pining after him before you even broke up with Rusty," Ariel explained innocently.

"That is a lie, Ariel! It is not your place to judge me or my actions. My business is just that: my business," Gemini snapped, appalled by the gall Ariel had at questioning her motives.

"Are you sure that you know this Sloane-character well enough to start a relationship with him?"

"Who said I was even starting a relationship with him? I barely know him!" Gemini cried in defense.

"Well that's a good thing. You wouldn't want to get involved with someone like that."

Gemini caught on to the innuendo. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, I don't know. I just found out a few things about Sloane that were quite disturbing. But since you're so bent on defending him, I'll just keep them to myself," Ariel pretended to stroll away nonchalantly.

Gemini quickly caught up to her. "OK, Ariel. I'm sorry for snapping at you. What is it that you know?"

"Weeeellll, since you asked," Ariel smiled, facing away from Gemini, "he's not as golden-boy-ish as he may seem."

"I already knew that."

"But there's more! You see, Sloane has a reputation for stringing girls along and then breaking their heart."

"Wha'?" Gemini nearly choked.

"Oh, yes. What would you expect from a child born out of wedlock and who grew up in the ghetto?" Ariel sniffed, snobbery oozing out of every word she spoke.

"You have no right to speak of him that way, Ariel!" Gemini shouted, rushing to Sloane's defense despite the accusations that had been made. "Regardless of what he does in his relationships, that was just cold."

"I'm just speaking the truth, Gemini. You're looking for trouble if you get caught up with Sloane. Why would you want to date a player, a boy who's been caught breaking-and-entering, and who stole something. He stole something, Gemini! What would your family, especially your sister, think of you if they found out that you were dating a thief?"

Gemini was stunned and shocked beyond belief. "No, you're lying."

"Try me."

"That can't be true. You're just making it up because you're jealous," Gemini sputtered frantically.

"Why would I try and make something up about Sloane just because I'm jealous? I've moved on, Gemini. You know deep down in that little heart of yours that I have."

Gemini spun around to look at Sloane, who was leaning up against the wall in a corner of the room. She dropped her eyes furitively downwards. "You fool, Gemini! You fool!" Gemini yelled in a whisper to herself. "How could you believe that Sloane was different from any of the other jerks in this school?"

Randall smiled at Kate and Zach. "Do you mind if I borrow your girlfriend for just a few minutes, Zach?"

"That depends. Planning on telling her some of my secrets?" Zach put on a fake angry face. Noticing Randall's shocked face, he then smiled and laughed. "Just kidding, dude. Sure you can talk to her." Turning to Kate, he said, "I'll be back in a minute."

Kate smiled in response. She then turned to Randall. "So what's up?"

"I just thought I'd talk to you for a little bit. How are things?"

"Great! Never been better! I think Zach and I are really getting somewhere," Kate gushed.

Randall donned an upset look and clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "I was afraid that it had gotten to far."

"Excuse me?"

"I knew that eventually you would fall for Zach's manipulations like the rest of them."

"Just what are you talking about? Zach's your friend, you shouldn't talk about him that way!"

"Dear Kate, I'm just trying to protect you. You see, there are a lot of things that you don't know about Zach."

"I don't think so! Zach and I talk all of the time that we're together. I've found out more about him than anyone else," Kate retorted defensively.

"So you know about his attempts to destroy Karen's relationship with Carson?"

Kate glanced into Randall's eyes. She stared at him for a while before responding, "What?"

"Oh, yes. Zach went out of his way to make Karen's life miserable and to ruin her chance at happiness," Randall made the accusations coolly and calmly.

"You must be mistaken," Kate attempted to find a reasoning for why Randall would make such accusations, but couldn't find any. "Zach didn't do that!"

"He wrote letters to Karen, pretending that he was Carson just so that he could lead Karen on and hurt her. He even went so far as to threaten her, Kate. Do you want that to happen to you?"

"That will never happen to me! He's a nice guy!"

"You're in denial, but that's OK. Karen's not the first case either. Ever girl he's broken up with has a story to tell about Zach's rampages from rejection," Randall explained casually. "Do you want that to happen when you and Zach break up?"

"Zach and I haven't made plans to break up!"

"I could see why you wouldn't want to. I'm sure you wouldn't want the same thing to happen to you." Noticing the unbelieving look on Kate's face, he continued, "If you still don't believe me, why don't you go and ask Karen yourself. I'm sure that she'd be glad to tell you all about Zach and his little psychotic obsession with revenge. Go ahead, Kate. Ask her."

Kate felt sick to her stomach. The room spun around her. She became disoriented. "This cannot be happening to me! This can't!"

Randall laughed triumphantly.

Francesca settled down next to Allan, allowing him to put his arms around her and hold her closely. She smelled his cologne and closed her eyes, trying to concentrate of the magic of the moment, but she could not keep her mind off of Amber or Amante. She realized that Amber's little emotional breakdown earlier had probably been planned to make Francesca feel sympathy for her, but she saw straight through it.

She looked up at Allan with adoring eyes and thought to herself how she could have screwed things up so badly. She should have told Amante about Allan during the summer, but she knew deep inside that she also loved Amante. Or had at one point, making it hard to break his heart.

Allan held Francesca closely, thinking of how he could have enjoyed himself during the dance contest when his girlfriend was not there with him. How could he have felt the way he did with a girl he hardly even knew? Where had Francesca been? Why had she acted so weird earlier that night? Millions of questions ran through his head as he watched a few scattered couples dance to a slow, roamntic song. He would have asked Francesca to dance, but the moment did not feel right.

Francesca, on the other hand, scanned the crowd, looking for no one in particular when she spotted Adrienne. She was about to get up and talk to her, but she disapeered behind a group of girls having a gossip fest. And that's when she saw it.

No, it can't be, she thought. You're just imagining him.

She shut her eyes, hoping that when she opened them, he would be gone. When Francesca finally did open her eyes, she didn't see him anymore, but Amante Aldovar was far from being gone.

When Shannon attempted to walk away from Jakoby, he grabbed her arm and brought her ear close to his mouth. "No, Shannon. You're not going to tell anyone about me, do you hear? If you even think of doing such a thing, I will make sure that your little scandal is front page on the school and town newspaper. Think about it. Who will get the most heat, you or me?"

Shannon attempted jerking out of Jakoby's grasp, but couldn't. She decided to go about it another way. "Please, Jakoby. Don't do this. We can both get off smooth if we just keep both of our mouth's shut."

"I don't think so, Shannon. You're little angelic image needs to be shattered. You need to be brought back down to earth before it's too late," Jakoby sneered. "That time is now." Jakoby began walking towards the reporter.

"Jakoby, no! Don't do this, Jakoby! NOOOO!!!" Shannon screamed at him, not taking into consideration that people could hear her.

Jakoby walked up coolly to Brenda Pearson, the school newspaper reporter. "Hello, Brenda. I believe I have a headline for you?"

"Oh, and what would that be?" Brenda inquired with raised eyebrows.

"'School actress turns to drugs after devastating accident.'"

Mr. Kellogg, Midway Prep's principal, tapped lightly on the microphone. He stood on the platform in the center of the floor, his bald spot gleaming in the dance light. "Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention."

All of the talking was brought down to a hush. For Mr. Kellogg to stop the dance out of nowhere meant that something important have come up.

"I have some important information than I would like to share with all of you."

Everyone looked at each other, confused. No one knew what Mr. Kellogg could be talking about.

"The list for students departing for Midway Academy has arrived," Mr. Kellogg announced.

The students all began talking at once. This was unexpected. They had thought that the administrators would wait at least until the end of the school year, but to do it at that time!

"Please quiet down while I announce the list. Everyone listen up, for if you're name is called you will need to see me as soon as I finish up with the list. Here we go...Marla Abbott, Kenneth Adamon, Kayla Alderhorf, Anthony Ammons, Charles Amison," Mr. Kellogg's voice droned on and on, listing names that many students didn't even recognize. Soon, though, he came to names that were familiar.

"Randall Bentley...Jake Bradley...Zach Carter...Meredith Coe..."

"No!" All three of them cried simulatenously.

"Carrie Emerson...Jessica King...Mark Kwan...Carson Love...Melanie Rivera...Ariel Winchester..." Mr. Kellogg continued on, but for many, time had ceased to exist.

After he'd read through the departure list, Mr. Kellogg announced, "Everyone who's name was announced, please see me. Arrangements will soon be made for you to transfer to Midway Academy. That's all, thank you."

The room was silent. Everyone was in shock. The threat of separation was finally upon them. They were going to be split in two. Life as they knew it was now drastically changed.

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