Shannon slowly picked up the knife and smiled evilly. "Well, well, well, Jakoby. Now who has the control?"

"Shannon, you're out of it. Don't do something that you know you'll end up regretting. If you kill me they'll come after you with tooth and nail and they won't stop until they've killed you too," Jakoby warned.

Shannon's mouth contorted into a mixture of a frown and a smile. "And just who are 'they'? Your little buddies? I'm not afraid of you nor of your kind. If you haven't been able to tell, I'm through playing games. You have hurt me more than you can imagine, and I think it's only polite to return the favor!"

"You ruined it for yourself," Jakoby spat out in disgust. "You were the one that came to me. Have you forgotten that already?"

Shannon's hand that held the knife became shaky. "No, Jakoby. You lured me in. I wasn't even looking for any drugs. Some girl told me that you'd be able to help me. When I went to you, you claimed to be the leader of some youth Christian group. The only crime I'm guilty of is the crime of trust, Jakoby. I trusted you enough to believe that you would actually help me. Instead, you gave me so called 'anxiety-killers' and ended up getting me hooked on cocaine!"

"You're delirious. No matter what the cause was, you were the one that kept coming back to me for more. I could've done like most do and left you out in the cold because you didn't have diddly-squat to give me, but I knew how much you were hurting so I kept giving it to you! You claimed to be my friend and said that you'd help me build a better life for myself, but instead you left me high and dry. You betrayed me, Shannon, and that is why I did what I did! You're nothing more than a lying, manipulative, back-stabbing b**** and you know it!" Jakoby shouted.

The two were so busy arguing that they never noticed someone had opened the door. "What in the he** is going on here?"

Jade swung her right leg over her left impatiently. Her fingers tapped the office chair as if trying to find something to do. Jade's blue eyes had darkened into a violet storm. The wall clock ticked slowly, almost seeming to slow down with each second. She ran a hand through her shoulder-length blond hair.

The door to the principal's office flew open. A serious-eyed Kendall stepped out along with Brent. As soon as he could get past Kendall, Brent stormed out of the office. Kendall spotted Jade and gestured for her to go into the hallway.

As soon as she was out of the office door, Jade put her hands on her hips and turned on Kendall. "What is wrong with you? Can't you keep your hands to yourself long enough to stay out of the principal's office on the first day?"

"I'm not in the mood, Jade," Kendall's tone was warning.

"I don't care. I'm sick of going to the principal's office to pratically plead and beg on your behalf to keep you out of AEP or worse: suspension! You'd think someone of your intelligence would learn by now."

Kendall grabbed Jade's arm. "Shut up and listen! I didn't want to get in a fight. That heathen attacked me first. If any of the administrators over here had half a brain, they'd realize it. But they're too busy trying to stick up for their own kind to care about the truth. Don't you understand, Jade? We're the enemies here! They'll do anything and everything to tear us down. The slightest little thing and they're all down our throats. I, for one, am not going to take it. I'd suggest you follow my lead." Kendall walked off towards the large crowd that was now forming at the bottom of the stairwell.

Jade watched him go as what he said sunk in. Despite inner protests, she was beginning to understand what he was saying. She drew herself up and walked proudly after him. No one was going to get the better of Jade Callaway without a fight.

Amidst all of the confusion, Zach made his way over to Kate. He didn't say anything. He just stood by her.

Kate felt his presence anyway. She shrank away from his body and faced him. "What do you want?"

Zach's gaze faltered under Kate's blazing eyes. He cleared his throat before saying, "I wanna talk, Kate."

"I could care less what you want. I'm through talking to you and I'm through with you, so why don't you leave me alone!" Kate wheeled around and began running through the raging crowd.

Zach silently pursued her, pushing past screaming kids and shocked administrators all crowding around Randall's body. "Please, Kate!"

Kate shook her head emphatically. Keep it together, Kate. Don't listen to him. Don't let him hurt you. Kate didn't trust herself to listen to Zach's pleas.

Zach's tread slowed down. After a few moments, he came to a complete stop. The distance between him and Kate grew, but he nevertheless called to her, "I love you."

Kate stopped abruptly. She closed her eyes and bit down fiercely on her lip. It's happening again, Kate. Come on, girl. You can do it. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"I'm not doing it to you. You're doing it to yourself. Why are you standing in the way of your own happiness?"

"Because I'm tired of getting hurt by boys! I'm tired of listening to an endless parade of excuses. Is it too much to ask to have a good, honest relationship?"

"Of course not," Zach came up behind Kate.

"You're just like the rest of them! I thought you were someone special, but now I learn about your little post-relationship tantrums. When were you going to tell me, Zach?"

"I didn't feel there was any need to. That was in the past, Kate. When I found you, everything changed. Can't we leave that behind us and focus on the future?"

Kate couldn't help but to chuckle as she recalled Sharon's similar advice. Her laugh soon turned into a sob as the sudden pain of the possibility of losing Zach hit her. "I'm going to lose you, Zach."

Zach came up behind Kate and wrapped his strong arms around her waist and put his head in her hair. "I'm not going anywhere, babe. You're stuck with me," he whispered into her ear.

With Zach's arms enfolding her, Kate's cries soon quieted. Occasionally her body shook, and soon she was quiet. "I love you too."

"We'll get through our problems together. You'll help me and I'll help you. If we work hard enough, we'll get past the roadblocks standing in the way."

Kate wiped her eyes with the back of her creamy hand and smiled. "What an insecure twit I must sound like. Please excuse me for going on like this. I should know better. Just understand where I was coming from, Zach. The last thing I need right now is to be in a stranded relationship. With so many other things going on, I can't afford that, okay?"

"Understood. But also understand that I need you as much as you need me. You mean a lot to me, Kate, and you bring a lot of light into my world. Sometimes I need someone to lend me some support every now and then when I'm in short supply."

"Well," Kate's smile widened, "I just so happen to carry a nice big sack of support with me wherever I go. If you ever need me, just ask and I'll let you borrow some."

Zach laughed, turned Kate around, and drew her close to him. "Together we'll stand."

Kate repeated softly, "Together."

Shannon wheeled around, knife still clutched tightly in her right hand. When she registered the visitor in her mind, her eyes became slits. "Who told you to come in?"

Marlo looked around the room in horror. It looked like the city dump. Shelves were overturned, furniture was flung everywhere, drawers were hanging out of their holes, and cabinets swung helplessly by their hinges. She turned to Shannon. "What did you do?"

"I decided to pay Jakoby here," Shannon gestured towards Jakoby with the knife, "a little visit."

"Is this what you call a visit? And you wonder why people never invite you over," Marlo muttered.

"If you breathe a word about this to anyone, I'll give you the same pleasure that Jakoby here is having."

"Don't you dare threaten me!" Marlo flipped her long dark brown hair out of her face. "You don't want to mess with me, Shannon. I'm through doing things your way. You'd better tell me what's going on and what's going on right now!"

Shannon got down on her hands and knees and searched through piles of broken CDs and bits of old lasagna before digging out the wrinkled, faded newspaper article. "Better sooner than later. This is why I'm here," Shannon flung the paper at Marlo.

Marlo caught the paper. Her eyes skimmed the lines before widening. She looked up at Shannon unbelievingly. "So this is what you two were talking about..."

"We talked about it before, but now? Now I'm giving him the payback he deserves, so if you'll excuse me," Shannon turned back to Jakoby.

Marlo grabbed Shannon's arm. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Shannon looked over her shoulder furiously. "Oh, and why not?"

"If you value your freedom at all, you'll put down that knife and come with me."

Kim ran past all of the endless classrooms, past the restrooms, and to the back stairwell. She hopped madly down the stairs before bursting out of the doors. She paused only for a moment to shade her eyes from the blinding, pulsing ball of yellow light in the sky. Gray clouds loomed on the horizon. They seemed to be stationary, but they were slowly making their way across the sky to trap the sun. That was the way Kim felt about her world. The clouds were going to come and blot her out, trap her for all eternity.

I killed Randall. I killed Randall. The thoughts pulsed through her brain steadily. She heard a roaring within the confines of her skull. It started low at first, but it was now becoming louder. She shook her head and ran down the sidewalk. Still, the roaring became louder. Kim covered her ears and ran faster. Soon, the roaring became so intense that Kim could no longer bear it. She ran out into the street blindly. Kim never noticed the speeding blue Viper racing down the street. She never noticed, that is, until it came into screeching contact with her body. Kim was finally sent headfirst into a quiet blackness where reality could not touch her.

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