Mel threw down his daily mail onto his kitchenette counter in frustration, but a particular envelope attracted him. In the top left corner he saw the name Rusty McCarthy. Mel's eyes lit up. "I can't believe it! After all this time ol' Rusty-Boy decided to write me!"

Just as Mel was about to open the letter, he was interrupted by the phone screaming at him from its place on the wall. Mel let the letter float to the ground while he ran to answer his incoming call. "Hello?"

"Hello, Mel," Chantal's voice came across the line, low and dull.

"Ch-Chantal?" Mel stuttered. He shifted the receiver to the other hand. "Is that you?"

"Yes it is. Look, I'll make it quick," Chantal's tone was rather hard. "If I came across as ungrateful today, then I'm sorry. That's the last message I wanted to convey to you. I just...I mean, I was shocked. And when I get a jolt like that it usually turns into anger. I just couldn't believe that you had done something like that."

"I was only trying to help," Mel answered quietly.

"Yes, I know. I know that, Mel. But you have to understand that this is something I have to work out on my own," Chantal's words came jerkily and hesitantly. "Bringing you into this would only make it more complicated."

"Why? How?"

"I-I don't-I don't know, Mel," vulnerability tinged Chantal's voice.

Mel could tell she was fighting against herself whether to tell him something or not. "I can help you. Believe it or not, we could probably both help each other."

For a brief moment, silence on the other end. Then, "What do you mean by that? You have the perfect life, Mel: the grades, the friends, the attitude, and most importantly, parents who love you."

"Parent," Mel accented the T to distinguish the singular form from the plural. "Parent, Chantal. One parent." When he was met again by silence, he continued, "I haven't seen my father in years, Chantal. I wouldn't even really say that I've gotten to know him, but rather just been in his presence. My father doesn't care about me or my mother. All he cares about are his bimbos and hookers over in downtown L.A."

"Aren't you being rather harsh? Since you barely even know him, how can you judge him?"

"I can judge him by his actions, Chantal! He sits up there and thinks a card and a little money will take care of all the pain that he's caused my mother and me. He thinks that everything is fine and dandy because we aren't on the street. What my father doesn't realize is that I need more than that! He can't seem to realize that I need him too!"

Marlo led Shannon into a secluded room on the top floor of the dormitory. The silvery moonlight was being gradually overshadowed by translucent gray clouds sailing through the dark violet sky.

Shannon followed Marlo rather relucantly, for ever since Madison's Ball she hadn't trusted the girl. There was something about the sly smile quivering at the corners of her mouth, or about the devious spark she always had in her eye that warned Shannon away from the woman. Shannon opened her mouth to say something, but quickly clamped it shut.

Though not looking at Shannon, Marlo said, "What's the matter, Shannon? Little edgy?"

"What did you bring me here for? I swear, if this is a trick..."

"You don't have much choice do you? After all, I am the one who holds a certain bit of information I know you don't want to leak out..."

Shannon couldn't believe her ears. She stared at Marlo incredulously. "I know you're not thinking of doing what I think you want to do..."

"You're thinking right, for a change. If you help me in a little matter of mine, no one will ever need to know about your little rampage against Jakoby."

"You are out of your mind if you think I'll help you do anything," Shannon turned to walk away.

Marlo ran up behind Shannon, grabbed her by her elbow, and spun her around. "I'm not playing with you anymore, little girl. You will help me or your dirty little secret will be plastered across not only the local newspaper, but the New York Times as well. I have connections."

"Take your hands off of me now or I'll rip them off and feed them to Fido," Shannon's voice was low and dangerous. "You don't threaten me, do you hear? I do as I please, and no one, especially not someone like you, can tell me otherwise."

Watching Shannon walk off, a sly smirk appeared on Marlo's face. "So we'll see, Shannon."

Savannah quietly made her way into the main lounge area of the dormitory. Clutching her books tightly to her chest, she walked steadily in search of a table to sit at. Her eyes were lowered to keep from having to meet the accusing glares from some of the girls. Nevertheless, she heard their snickering, and she saw a thousand fingers pointing and laughing at her.

Savannah closed her eyes and tried shaking the thoughts from her head. Get it together, Savannah. Don't show weakness. She raised her head and continued walking on. There were not any empty tables, so she shyly walked to a table where two other girls were sitting. Pointing to the empty seat, Savanna asked, "May I sit here?"

The two girls didn't even look up. Instead, they continued doing their homework.

Savannah cleared her throat and asked again.

The girls looked up at her angrily. They scoffed, gathered their books, and left the table, leaving a stunned Savannah behind.

Savannah let her books fall from her arms onto the table. Her eyes stung, but she refused to let herself cry. It had only been earlier that day that Jade had advised her to stay strong. Savannah wasn't going to be the one to tarnish Midway Academy pride and honor. She opened her Pre-Algebra book and went to work on the night's assignment.

She didn't notice the two boys walking past her table. "How'd you get past the border, lolita?" They roared loudly before walking off.

Savannah's eyes began to water. No! Don't let them get to you! They're idiots, all of them!

"The Taco Shack's right down the street, senorita!"

A tear escaped Savannah's closed eyes. Another one. Another one. Soon, a creek of tears was streaming down her cheek. "God help me," she whispered.

"Get away from her now!" Jade's voice boomed over the boys. "Say another word, and so help me God, I'll rip your voice box out of your throat."

"Ooo, Jake, she's a feisty one!" one of them joked.

"I wonder how feisty she is under the sheets," Jake laughed back at his friend.

Jade promptly walked up to Jake and slapped him so hard he fell backwards. "Don't you ever talk like that to me."

"Say, who do you think you are, hitting him like that?" the other boy stepped up to Jade.

She looked him squarely in the eye, never flinching. "I'm not afraid to do it to you too," she responded, her eyes mere slivers of ice.

Jake raised his hands. "I'm not looking for trouble," he walked off.

Jade turned quickly back to Savannah. "Are you okay."

Though she was still shaking, Savannah replied quietly, "I'm fine. It just jolted me, that's all."

"Remember what I told you earlier!" Jade whispered fiercely. "They're no better than you are. If anything, they're worse, as evidenced by their stupid remarks. Don't pay them any mind, Sav," her voice softened.

Savannah nodded her head, but inside she knew that it was easier said than done.

Francesca eyed Eve curiously. "Why not? I'd think you'd be willing to do anything to patch up your relationship."

"I am, but...well..." Eve's voice trailed off hopelessly. "Just forget about it. It's a waste of time trying to put it into words."

"Look, I know what you're saying, but-" Francesca's sentence was cut off by a loud knock at the door. "Excuse me while I get it."

Francesca got up and opened her door. Her tranquil expression melted into fury when she saw the face of her visitor. "What do you want?"

A taunting smile was plastered across Amber's face. "My, my! Is that the way you greet all your guests?"

"Either tell me what you want or get out of my face, Amber."

"I just thought I'd relay to you a message."

Francesca waited for Amber to go on. When she didn't, Francesca shot at her, "Spit it out, Amber!"

"But I thought you'd want a message from your dear old friend, oh what's his name?" Amber's eyes floated upwards as she pretended to be in deep thought. "It was A...Albert...no, it couldn't have been him. Amsterdam? No, not that either? Amphabio? No...oh, I've got it! Amante!"

All of the blood rushed out of Francesca's face. "What did you say?"

"Amante! Amante Aldovar! Do you know him?" Amber pulled the invisible rope tighter around Francesca's throat.

Francesca moved to close the door in Amber's face, but Amber blocked it with her leg.

"You didn't actually think I'd give up that easily, did you. Yes, your little tub-buddy is here and ready for more action, Francesca. I told you not to mess with me."

"Get the he** out of my face right now. Don't you ever come near my room again!" Francesca shouted wildly.

"I'll leave now, but by no means am I going to go away. You dug your grave, now it's time for you to lie in it. I will have my revenge by the end of this summer in time for the next contest, you can be sure of that," Amber let her words hang between them before turning and walking away.

Francesca slammed the door but still faced it. She couldn't look at Eve. Amante was in town.

"What was that about? Who's Amante, and what did she mean by tub-buddy?" Eve's tone was suspicious.

"Um...an old friend from back in our pre-school days. His parents and my parents were good friends, so we were around each other a lot. And yeah, once he stayed the night and we had to take a bath together."

"Ewww!" Eve cried out in disgust. "Spare the details, I'm not in the mood for regurgitation."

Eve continued talking, but Francesca did not hear. Her eyes were glazed and pointed in the direction of the window that looked out upon the black night. Somewhere out there was Amante. Somewhere out there was the end for her.

"Mel, I-I never knew," the words tumbled from Chantal's mouth as she searched for the right words.

"No, you didn't. Nobody does! Nobody will ever understand the feelings that rip me apart inside because of that monster! No one will be able to comprehend the emotions that I had to deal with years ago when I cried myself to sleep because I hadn't had a dad to be at my baseball games! Sure, he lived with us for a year or two, but he never was there! No, he was off banging up some sl** from downtown, or off at the strip club with his buddies! He was never there when I needed him, Chantal, and for that I will never forgive him."

Chantal took a deep breath and waited in order to choose her words carefully. "I understand your pain, Mel, I really do. But do you realize that you're doing the exact same thing to him that he's doing to you? You're shutting him out. What if he wants to start over again, to make another go at it? But every time he does you stop him in his tracks, never letting him get close enough to you to even have a chance at a relationship."

"I don't need you to psycho-analyze my behavior!" Mel snapped. He immediately regretted his outburst. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it," he muttered.

"Under the circumstances, I'll let it slide. But Mel, listen to me. Seriously listen to me. Don't let the chance to have a father in your life pass you up. Things could be a lot different if you open up your mind and your heart."

Mel smiled into the receiver. "Okay, Dr. Joyce Brothers. But I can't guarantee anything!"

"Watch it, now!" Chantal laughed. "I can't guarantee results, but it'll definetly help. I know these things."

"And just how do you know it?"

"Without my realizing it, I've gotten to know a lot about you over the past few months. I know that you would never purposefully cause pain, either to yourself or others. It's just your defense mechanism, and I can totally understand that. But there comes a time when the walls need to come down, and that time is now."

"I'll talk to you later. I've got to get some stuff together for a project I'm working on with Gia."

"What project?" a note of suspicion entered Chantal's voice.

"I'm too tired to explain it to you now. Good night, Chantal."

"Fine, but you will explain this project to me later, Mel. Good night."

Mel cracked a smile as he put the receiver back on its hook. He sat down in a chair and leaned backwards, groaning. Sitting back up, he leaned forward and said, "Who knows, Chantal could be right after all. But one thing's for sure, it's going to be a long road to forgiving and moving on. An extremely long road."

Shannon leaned back on the door as she closed it behind her. She tucked her hair behind her ears before walking into the back room where Chloe was watching TV.

"It's about time you got in," Chloe said, never taking her eyes off the television set.

"I had to take care of a few things. Anything interesting on?"

"Unless you enjoy reruns of Smackdown, I don't think so. Man, I hate that we have to go back to school tomorrow!"

"Amen to that. It's going to be tough, though. I mean, I didn't really know Randall that well, but he was still one of us. I wonder who did it."

"I'd like to know that too so I can steer clear of them. I've been hearing rumors that they may close down school for the next two or three days while the police investigate. I sure hope so. I'm pooped."

Shannon plopped down on the floor. "I'm so scared, Chloe."

Noticing the weary tone in Shannon's voice, Chloe turned towards her sharply. "Is something going on Shannon?"

"God, yes!" Shannon was mere seconds away from bursting into tears. "Everything is wrong, Chloe! My life is falling apart bit by bit and I can't even stop it!"

Chloe switched the TV off and patted the empty space on the couch beside her. "Wanna talk about it?"

Shannon got up and sat down next to Chloe. Resting her head on Chloe's shoulder, she began, "I never knew I had made such a big mistake. I mean, I knew it was wrong, but I never knew it would ruin my life this much."

Chloe knowingly nodded her head. "It's all in the past now. What we need to do is get you some help."

Shannon jerked forward. "What do you mean? I'm not getting shipped of to some rehab center."

"Shannon, it's the only way..."

"No it's not! I'm not about to move away from the people I need to support me the most! I can't do it...not now, anyways," Shannon settled back down onto Chloe's shoulder.

"Well we're not going to do it for you," Chloe's voice was unnaturally harsh. "You've got to get off your butt and get some help if you want to beat this, Shannon. You can't just sit there and hope it'll go away. Addictions don't just do that!"

"I'm not addicted! I haven't had one in days!"

"Days, Shannon? Days is no time in comparison to weeks, months, even years. It's going to come back to haunt you and it's going to come back to haunt you fast. Either you go of your own accord now or you could end up in a detention center. Do you realize its illegal for you to do drugs?"

"Yes, of course I do!" Shannon spat out at Chloe. She sprang off of the couch. "You know, I expected you to be there and help me, but you just want to see me fail like the rest of them!"

"Excuse me? What are you talking about?"

"I'm not stupid, Chloe. I may be a lot of other bad things, but I'm not stupid! I thought you were my friend."

"I am, Shannon! That's why I'm trying to help you. If I didn't care, I'd leave you like road kill. But because I do care, I want you to get help as soon as possible," Chloe's voice gentled a bit.

"No, that's not what you want at all! You know what, I'm through talking to you. I'm out of here," Shannon grabbed her purse and walked out of the room.

Chloe half stood up. "Shannon, wait! Shannon!"

Her cries were futile. Shannon was gone.

Savannah gathered her books and began walking upstairs with Jade. "I never knew it would be this tough, Jade," she confessed silently. "I never knew it would be such a fight for survival."

"Well believe it, hun, because this is the way it's going to be for a long time. They don't want to accept us, and that's okay."

Savannah stopped. "That's okay? How can you say it's okay? Two boys just threw some pretty hurtful slurs, and you say it's okay?"

"No, that's not what I mean...well..." Jade searched for the right word. "It's natural for them, I should say. We're not exactly supposed to expect to come in here and be the best of friends. Our schools don't hold platonic histories together."

"No, but that still gives them no right to say those things. I understand them not liking me because I'm from the Academy, but saying those things because I'm Hispanic? That's inexcusable, Jade, and you know it," Savannah hissed.

"I'm not saying it isn't! I'm just saying that in a way I can understand their anger. By no means will I ever excuse their actions, though. Some of them can be such pigs. But some of them are okay, you know? There's this girl in my science class. I think her name's Chloe or something. She's pretty nice. And then there's another girl in my history, band, science, and math class that seems pretty cool as well. Karen was her name, I believe. So you see, not all the people here are rude. Just the vast majority."

"Well, it's that 'vast majority' that I have to worry about then, don't I? Look, let's just forget about this and enjoy the rest of the night, okay?" Savannah resumed her climb up the stairs.

Jade paused a little before joining her. "Yeah, okay."

As the two made their way up the stairs together, both realized that by no means were things to go back to the way they'd known them to be before they arrived at Midway Academy. But what they didn't realize was that things were only going to get worse...

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