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A Night To Remember, yeah, that was what we called it. Our theme for the Prom. We had no idea just how true those words would become. The prom was held in the gym. That's how it was done in smaller towns. We decorated it with streamers and balloons and all that stuff you can pick up at Party City. We had a local garage band playing sets with a DJ throwing out the some music when the band took breaks or if people wanted to hear something the band didn't know. The entire graduating class was there, dolled up for the evening. Couples danced together during the slow songs while the wall flowers sat there awkwardly off to the side at the tables scattered around or on the bleachers. Cliques were huddled together gossiping and patting each other on the back. You know, it was your typical Prom. That was until everything changed and it truly became A Night To Remember.

"Yes, I have the envelope. Is it time for that already? Okay, get the band to finish the set and I'll announce it," Ada said, speaking to one of the members of the Prom Committee she was head of. Ada, involved in everything as per usual. It didn't surprise anyone when she was elected head of the Prom Committee. She was pretty much friends with everyone. If she wasn't friends with them she at least knew who they were. She was one of the few that was able to bip between the cliques and not get bullied about it. She was just one of those people.

"Alright, I'll be right back," Ada said with that bright smile of hers as she leaned up and pressed her lips softly to Kai's.

"You two are disgustingly cute," Marc chuckled as he elbowed Kai in the ribs slightly once Ada had walked off. Marc didn't mean anything cruel by his jabbing at Kai, he meant well.

Duty called. Gathering the folds of her ebony silk and satin gown in her fingers she walked over to the stage that had been constructed for the night and made her way up the stairs as the band wound down. Stepping over to the mic, she tapped it a few times with her free hand as she pulled out the sealed envelope from her small clutch.

"Evening Grimm High School!" she said in a chirpy voice as she smiled. "It's hard to believe that the year is pretty much over and done with. Tonight is the last night that the entire class will be together other than graduation; after which we will will begin the next chapter in our lives. Some of us will move far away and maybe never look back. Some of us will remain and begin our adult lives right here at home. Either way, tonight will be a night for all of us to remember. We will remember the smiles and the laughter; the loves and the heartbreaks. Somethings we will try to forget, somethings we will wish we could still hold on to as the memories fade; like the way Mr. Black does knee slides down the hall before a prep rally," she said with a little bit of a laugh. Mr. Black standing there and striking a rather over exaggerated air guitar.

"Right, is that something we are supposed to want to remember?" she asked playfully.

"You know you kids won't forget me," he laughed.

"Yeah, or the way you and him both seem to wear the same cologne. Od' De' Dank is it?" March said under his breath to Kai with a smirk on his features.

"Right, okay. Time for what you all have been waiting for, drum roll!" Ada said as she undid the wax seal on the envelope. Her smile brightening even more so when she saw the names on the card. "Our Prom King and Queen for the Class of 2006 is Atlas Sterling and Ashley Cunningham!" she announced as the spotlight fell on the two chosen ones.

"Who actually voted that for prick?" Marc grumbled a bit shaking his head.

"Come on you two, get up here!" Ada said as she waved them over to the stage. Once they were there she placed crown on each of their heads. "Our Prom King and Queen everyone!"

Right then was when everything changed. The balloons were released from the net that hung in the rafters of the gym, the floated slowly to the ground below. Ada stood there clapping for the two but the smile on her face slowly faded as something got her attention, her eyes being drawn to the netting. Her happy features faded quickly to ones of horror and disbelief as a blood cuddling scream came from her lips and she stood there shaking, dropping her clutch in the process as she pointed to the netting.

The spotlight quickly moving to where she was pointing. There with her arms and legs tied to the netting was Simone, half of her skull bashed in flat as drying blood sickeningly clung to her face and clothing. Her dead hollow eyes staring blankly before her. The pink lace gown she was dressed in covered in blood. All hell broke loose at that point. Some screaming, some just gasping in shock, even a few threw up right then and there on the floor. Girls clung to their dates and buried their heads trying not to look. Teachers quickly trying to usher everyone out of the gym.

Marc just stood there looking at Simone, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. He had asked her to prom, she had actually said yes after a lot of protesting. Then when he showed up to get her for the night, she was no where to be found. He figured he had been stood up. No one knew, he hadn't told anyone. It was going to be a surprise. So no one thought anything about it when he showed up stag.

"Kai, get Ada out of here," he said quickly as he began to help usher the rest of his class out of the gym, helping some of them up of the ground as they got knocked down in the middle of the panic.

Cyn just stood there with her arms over her chest looking at the body hanging above her, a few drops of blood dripping down from Simones body and onto the girls arms. "Well, seems she had to crash the party; typical."

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Ada shook her head as she pushed the memory of that night from her mind. That had become a night she wished she could forget. The look on Simone's face still had not faded. She remembered it like it was yesterday. That night seemed to be the night that everything fell apart. The town turned from a small little hamlet where everyone trusted everyone into a place where everyone suspected everyone. It wasn't until Cyn was convicted of the murder and carted off to Shady Pines that things finally started to get back to normal but in truth things had never been the same. The murder still had lingering effects on the place, more so now that Cyn had been released after her conviction was overturned.

Ada thought back to the days that followed the prom. The so called investigation. It was a joke. The bat used was kept in the garage of Cyn's home, anyone could have gotten a hold of it. The blood on Cyn, Ada had seen it drop on her. It wasn't there earlier that night. Yeah, Cyn had motive but most everyone did. Even Ada had had run ins with Simone. The dress was one of the big pieces of evidence but Ada knew Cyn; the girl was brash but she wasn't stupid. She never would have used a dress she had been seen wearing just six months ago at Homecoming. It was too obvious.

Ada had been glad that she was moving for college and excited to start the next chapter of her life. She remembered another night. The night Kai had let her go. That night was like the night of prom in a way. One of those she wished she could forget, one of those memories she wished would fade. Kai said he didn't want to hold her back. Setting her free that night though had tethered her to a world of what ifs.

Taking a deep breath she leaned back a bit and pushed another memory out of her mind. It was time to get to work, duty called. Rising from her seat she adjusted her bag on her shoulder and brushed her hair out of her face as she made her way into the gym to meet up with the rest of the group that was in charge of the reunion. There was to be a dinner tonight, a mixer of sorts. Tomorrow a picnic out at the park during the early afternoon after which there would be the annual fall carnival. The next day would be another dinner and a dance. The Reunion Dance was usually held at the Gym but for obvious reasons it would be held at The Grimaldi Manor instead for the class of 2006.

Stepping into the gym, Ada plastered on a smile, refusing to gaze up at the rafters, as she looked around for the rest of the group. No one was there yet, seemed she was the first to arrive this morning. Dropping her bag on the bleachers she decided to go ahead and get to work; pulling out tables and decorations that had been delivered to the gym the night before. It was time to set up. No use waiting around for anyone, they would be there soon enough.

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It had been ten long years since Jasmin had set foot anywhere near this place. Ten, mostly, glorious years. It was strange to be back but Jasmin felt particularly at ease for some reason. Her mind flitted to the aftermath of the events of the prom that she never attended. Simone, the largest bane of her high school years, had been murdered the night of senior prom.

Jasmin hadn’t attended because, well, why would she? She had one friend that was going and she was loved up with Jasmin’s crush. Why would she want to subject herself to that alone? Never mind the countless assholes and jerks that made it their hobby to make her feel like shit. There was no way that she was going to give them yet another opportunity to poke fun at “Blowhard Jazz”. No way, no how.

She had been looking forward to this reunion since the moment graduation had finished. She had made it her aim to come back better than she was in school, not to show any of them up (okay, maybe it was a little bit for that) but for herself. She had worked and worked on herself for the past decade and she had been through some tougher times than she’d care to admit, but she had made it! She managed to set out and achieve her goals and this reunion was going to be her pay off. Nothing would knock her down!

She quickly pulled a mirror out of her handbag and checked that her hair was still sitting in place, her fingers deftly pulling at stray strands of hair that had escaped and smoothed them back into her flowing locks. Clapping the mirror shut and slipping it back into her handbag, Jasmin pushed her shoulders back and walked forward with purpose in her sophisticated, yet comfortable, LBD that accentuated her hard earned shape. Her heeled sandals clicked on the path as she made her way towards the Gymnasium. She opened the door gently and looked inside. She spotted a familiar face that actually brought a smile to her own. Ada was here already and no one else was. Perfect. Ada is going to be so excited for my silly little idea… Jasmin opened the door fully and sported the brightest, beaming smile across her face as she walked towards Ada, her handbag bounced against her right hip as she made her way towards her old friend.

“Ada! Oh my god I am so happy to see you!” Her voice was silken with a tone of confidence that never used to be part of Jasmin in high school. Ada was used to her voice however, considering their contact about some cases that Jasmin was assigned and needed help researching for. She opened her arms wide and embraced Ada in a warm, but short hug. It was clear that Jas had something important to share.

“Now I know this is going to sound completely insane, but I have a request for you. I want to run a little experiment. Considering the transformation that you were so certain would happen, I know, I know, I should have listened to you. Anyway, I’m thinking of having some fun with some of your old friends.” A playfully, wicked smile crept in place of the beam of genuine happiness that had been on display just moments before. “Here is the plan. My name is Jess and I’m a distant cousin of yours that has offered to help you set things up for the reunion. I want to see how many people actually recognise me after all this time. Plus, it’ll just be fun to turn the tables on some people in a less mentally scarring way. What d’ya think?” She raised an eyebrow, biting her lip in gleeful excitement as she bounced on the balls of her feet. Her hands, clasped in front of her in an almost pleading way.

This was going to be so much fun if Ada agreed. Jasmin had no idea who else was even coming, she knew she had asked Ada to keep her confirmation of attendance a secret without giving much information on the matter but she knew she could count on her to have her back, even if it meant embarrassing some of her friends since it was in an entirely harmless way. She adjusted her silver charm bracelet that was twisted around her left wrist as she awaited her answer.

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our prom king and queen for the class of 2006 is...

really, there was no question about it. atlas had been planning his kingship since middle school. not that being prom king granted you any actual royal privileges in high school other than bragging rights, but what would be the point of his four-year perfect attendance if it didn't end with winning the crown? admittedly, there was always the possibility of the election being rigged. some people just wanted the promenade to get over with, so they wouldn't mind chipping in. others were stricken with hatred/fear/what have you over how atlas treated the majority of his peers, and more likely than not, figured out that what he wanted was total control. some people were rather slow to get that. just pray they're not dumb enough to attend the reunion, he thought to himself cynically, the high school already in sight. just the external fence alone was enough to spark up memories.

not of specific events, no; memories of people, and usually the ones he treated like scum of the earth. take, for example, blowhard jazz. she was so easy that sometimes atlas liked to scour the library for her (that was the only place he ever saw her, after all). 'it's cowardly to pick on a girl,' some might say, as if atlas didn't know that. it was just goddamn entertaining watching such an ugly duckling flounder around - in fact, he wasn't sure she even survived high school. she wasn't at the prom as far as he knew, so surely she didn't receive any firsthand trauma from the little 'incident.' even still, he didn't see her at any point afterward, and that was reason enough for him to believe blowhard jazz had finally offed herself. embarrassing, but it was inevitable. maybe he'd ask someone at the reunion how her funeral went. did they decorate it like loser simone's? nah, too far, he reined himself, although it was still an amusing thought.

in a similar situation was that 'one asian girl,' as he liked to call her, because the only part of her name that he knew was "hi." evidently, despite being one of those he dedicated half his time to bullying savagely, atlas didn't have the head or the heart to learn her full birth name. pitiful, to say the least. she didn't stand out as much as his favourite victom jazz did, but surely being part of the thespian society was another feat all in itself. sure enough, he dedicated a large percentage of his time to making hye-eun's life a living hell, or at least he saw it that way. in fact, being this self-obsessed meant he didn't realise she had an entire group of friends (or that they even had their own stereotypical clique label). throughout high school, he truly thought these kids' lives revolved around him and his tormenting. obviously, seeing as they all seemed to move on to bigger and better things, that was the wrong perception to have. he still carried it, but to a lesser extent.

there were other types of people, though, from the bullied kids. some girl transferred to grimm around his freshman year from god knows where - the more cliché white prep kids liked to feed him false info like "oh sure, she's from honduras" - and immediately revealed her star power. soccer star, that is. atlas, while not a jock in the entirety of the term, still believed he was one of the best athletes that grimm could have asked for. valencia ('or whatever,' he'd say) shot that dream down directly upon her arrival. he played it nice for a while, trying to get on val's good side with promises of a "soccer duo" and inviting her to his team whenever they had mock games, but she turned him down constantly. even his semi-romantic pursuit was rejected, which sent him into a spiral of loathing that lasted until even after high school. hell, on reflection, atlas realised he still felt completely bitter over it. decidedly, he'd be giving her a piece of his mind if she showed up.

furthermore, the best kind of relationships he had were the ones like him and adelaide's. granted, it wasn't exactly the healthiest, because they picked on each other in turn and she called him out on his shenanigans persistently and he tended to scream at her in italian; still, it was as good as you can get with atlas. while any normal person would view their interactions as hostile and likely didn't see them as very good friends at all, atlas adored any memories he had of ada. he'd gone over their history thousands of times over since high school and warped the events so heavily, romanticized them to such a point, that now it seemed like adelaide was his only true friend. it was a one-way street. somehow, he'd forgotten the fact that he constantly berated her boyfriend and likely tarnished his own image whenever he was around her other friends. that's what kind of person atlas is, anyway.

is, in that he is still exactly the same. ...atlas sterling and ashley cunningham!

the spotlight didn't scare him, and all of the eyes on him - fueled by anger, loathing, envy; truly, you could pick an emotion from a hat and it was likely to be somewhere in the crowd - didn't scare him. atlas took it upon himself to hold his hand out to ashley then, although he nearly forgot her presence in his euphoria. they moved to the stage, atlas in a sort of dreaming state, looking around at the faces that surrounded him... in the future, he'd distort the fuming expressions he saw into charmed ones, just as he had with the memory of ada, but no matter. the crown was on his head in moments, and perhaps it would have looked sweeter if he gazed down at his newfound queen with pride or thanked adelaide for the crown or took the microphone to make some big speech, but that didn't happen. atlas just stood basking in the warmth of his self-proclaimed accomplishment, pretending like he'd earned it.

someone else's luck plagued him that night, though. as balloons delicately fell from the ceiling and he watched somewhat entranced, he had no clue they were the forewarning for what would come next. actually, atlas smelled the strong stench of iron before he even saw simone's body. he didn't get a good look at her, either; once that scream erupted from adelaide's mouth, he looked at her with intrigued eyes, as if he'd only just been introduced to the notion that this night could be ruined. that piercing sound alone was enough to kick his senses into high gear, and suddenly atlas felt completely overstimulated. it wasn't a new feeling. this was a panic attack, and the worst one by far. in his hazy vision, blurring because he was suffocating himself through taking no full breaths, he took one fleeting glance up at the bloodied netting. atlas stepped backward slowly, eyes straight ahead, and disappeared into the curtains of the stage, stumbling until he'd finally reached a backdoor. somewhere along the way, his crown disappeared.

you're medicated now, he reassured himself. take out the key, stop the engine. he was lined up well enough with the white lines on either side of his car after about ten minutes of perfecting his parking job. plus, you know what to do if it happens again. it didn't help. he was still doubting himself. as much as atlas could appreciate an adrenaline rush, having a panic attack felt like someone wrapped a big, dry hand around your heart, and squeezed until it couldn't pump blood anymore. his body was moving mechanically, sending him to the doorway by no will of his own, and some sort of ingrained habit of checking himself in the reflection of every car window he passed was still fully functioning despite the fact that his nerves were strung beyond belief. even if he couldn't calm himself down mentally, he could take comfort in the fact that he looked far better than his high school days. more rugged, if anything.

he didn't need the guiding signs to the gym. he'd memorized the layout of this school a long time ago, and despite needing that space in his head, that damn mental map just would not go away. he knew all the escape routes, and where specific people were going to be at specific times, and whose locker was whose... atlas shook off the abundance of knowledge and pushed his way into the gymnasium, self-consciously shoving his hands into his blazer pockets. the place seemed to be still under construction for the reunion, because only a few decorations were out so far. he knew the schedule planned for the class of 2006 well enough, and still found it morbidly hilarious how the school was avoiding placing them in the gym for the dance. well, why not? maybe we could kill someone more interesting this time around. feeling a spike of anxiety right in the center of his chest, atlas quickly dismissed the thought, realising he was already setting himself up for failure.

and if someone was putting together the decorations, it was likely to be... his gaze landed on adelaide once he'd turned another few degrees, and very quickly fell on someone else with her. as much as atlas knew ada, he was half-certain that she didn't have a sister, or at least not one that looked like this. the stranger - he decided they couldn't have attended grimm while he was there - looked faintly familiar, but not like someone he could pin down very easily. in fact, the duo he was observing now looked mildly similar to one another, what with the dark hair and tanned skin and well-defined facial features. he deduced that the new individual must somehow be related to adelaide, and, for god's sake, she looked well-off. he was almost mad at himself for not noticing her earlier. while atlas was certainly glad to see ada after their time apart - truth be told, he'd neglected his visits as of late, though they were more frequent in the years following graduation - he was more excited to have a chance to mooch off of someone else. maybe not permanently. this girl looked more of the fling type.

loping over with a rather lecherous twist in his step, atlas ran his hands through his hair, touching up as well as he could in the few moments it took to reach them. "ada! long time, no see," he started enthusiastically, seemingly ignoring the fact that she was already in conversation with someone else when he stepped forward to give her a one-armed hug by the shoulders. "completely my fault, by the way... very busy... how's grimaldi going...?" he trailed off after each phrase absently, slowly turning toward ada's 'new friend' all the while, very clearly not caring to hear the answer to his question. atlas smiled fondly at jazz as if he knew her well, although he still had no clue of her identity. "ah, bellissimo; aren't you going to introduce me, ada? nice to meet you, i'm atlas." he was speaking fairly slowly for someone going 100 mph. a hand floated out to take jasmin's, inviting only himself. "you didn't go to grimm, did you? have you been hiding a sister all along, ada?"

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Ten Years Ago...
Riley stood on stage wearing a blue prom dress she had been playing quiet a few songs already, by the time it was time to announce the prom king and queen Riley had finished up the last song for the night and headed off of the stage and waved towards her fellow students. Riley decided to grab herself a bit of punch and went over to hang out with Jae and Hye for a bit. "Hey guys." Riley said with a smile as she stood there with her friends and looked over towards the stage as Ada announced who the prom king and queen were. Of course it was Atlas the douchebag of Grimm High she hated that guy so much she just wanted to beat the crap out of him, and Ashley the two didn't get along that well either well except for music class that was the only time they considered each other friends.

"Atlas must have rigged this shit for him to be the fucking king." Riley muttered to herself, she then suddenly heard a rather loud scream coming from her friend Ada and quickly looked to where she had been pointing. And there it was the body of Simone Carter hanging from the netting above the gym, Riley was shocked and scared covering her hands over her mouth as she quickly looked away. All the staff and faculty quickly ushered all the students outside of the gym, Riley went over to comfort Ada and went to talk with Kai as she walked towards the exit Riley could see Cyn standing there as well. It was truly a night to remember and one that Riley would never forget or get that image out of her head.

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Ten Years Later...

"I don't care i'm already in Grimm right now Connor once this high school reunion is over i'll get on the next flight to Europe okay?" Riley said as she quickly hung up her phone on her producer setting it down on the dashboard and sighed rather loudly. Riley had driven from the airport in her red and black mustang, once she had gotten into Grimm Riley stopped by a McDonalds and got herself a Big Mac and some fries. Riley was actually excited to be back in her home town it was ten long years since she graduated and ten years since she last saw her parents. the last time she saw them was when she was kicked out luckily Hye-Eun let her stay with her and the two had been best friends ever sense.

Riley parked her car right in front of Grimm High School, she sighed rather loudly as she eventually got out of her car she wore a black leather jacket, torn grey jeans as well as a pair of black leather boots. Riley sighed once more as she wondered who was actually going to be there, she then walked over towards the gym, once she was at the doors Riley opened the doors and saw Ada, another girl she didn't know (Jas) Jae and of course the douchebag Atlast.

Riley headed over towards everyone and smiled at them all except for Atlas. "Hey there everyone!" Riley said with a bright smile as she pulled Ada into a hug and then hugged Jae as well, she glared at Atlas and then smiled towards the other girl and extended her hand towards her. "How has everyone been? I missed you all." Riley said with a smile.

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currently at GRIMM HIGH SCHOOL
interacting with NPCS, GYM OCCUPANTS

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Breathe. Just breathe. Sure, you haven't been here in a decade, but some memories never really go away...you know what to do. So breathe and just do it. Three...two...one—

The old goalposts of the Grimm High soccer field creaked as Valencia sent the soccer ball slamming into the corner, right past the goalie's oustretched hands. A chorus of groans went up from the field, but Val only grinned as she planted her hands on her hips, barely breathing hard even after her lightning-quick break down the field.

"Damn, Grey, you've still got it!"

"I do this for a living, Tanner," Val replied dryly, turning to face one of her old teammates as she approached, the other woman panting and red-faced but smiling. "I never lost it."

"Sure, but when else are we going to see Val Grey play for free?" Amy Tanner shot back, clapping Valencia on the shoulder. Val laughed as Tanner moved past her, grumbling about still getting outplayed after all these years. Her old friend went to chat with the other teammates, but Val turned back towards the school building. Her smile faded.

In all honesty, Valencia had been dithering in the parking lot for almost half an hour when she saw some of her old teammates wandering down to the somewhat dilapidated soccer field and had tagged along. It had been a great way to both break the ice with some old pals, and to delay actually entering the school. She wasn't going to break down crying, nothing like that, but even just seeing the gym from the outside made her skin crawl.

Now, though, Val squared her shoulders and set her jaw. After a quick wave and goodbye to the others, she walked to the edge of the unpainted field, picking up her high heels from where she'd carefully removed them at the sidelines. She was still somewhat dubious about her outfit, but then again a few people far more fashionable than she had given it a thumbs up. Val kept her heels in her hand until she got off the grass, then she brushed off the specks of dirt, slipped them on, and held her head high as she strode towards the gym.

Despite her outward calm appearance, she felt like she was shivering inside. The image of Simone hanging from the rafters haunted her, just like, she suspected, every other member of her senior class—but that wasn't what gave her chills. No, just like Cynthia McMillan, Valencia had been standing almost directly under the netting when the balloons were released. Just like Cynthia, she'd been completely unaware of what was hanging over her head...until something liquid hit her.

Sometimes she still thought she could feel the still-warm blood sliding down her skin, unimpeded by her backless prom dress. Those were the worst nightmares by far.

But life moved on, and so, Val told herself firmly, did she. The sun was just going down, making her hair look like it was made of gold around the edges as she approached the building. Only through force of will did she keep her hands from shaking as she reached out and pushed open the doors.

Blinking a bit to adjust to the darker interior, Valencia slowed for a moment as she took in the room, smiling slightly. Adelaide was already there, which came as no surprise, seeing as part of the reunion was going to be at her home. Riley's brightly colored hair shone in the fluorescent lights, and Val's smile brightened for a moment before she saw the other two present. Atlas and Jae. Because of course. She paused for a moment a few steps inside the door, before mentally shrugging. Standing next to Ada was a woman who seemed familiar, someone she'd met before but couldn't remember where...Facebook, maybe? She'd gone on a friending spree once the reunion was announced, there were plenty of familiar-ish half-remembered faces floating around in her head.

Val stepped forward with a grin, one hand raised in a wave as her heels clacked across the floor.

"Dios mio, everyone, your profile pictures don't do you justice," she said diplomatically as she approached. Possibly not the most tactful of greetings, seeing as it just hammered home the fact that she hadn't been back to Grimm or anywhere near it in ten years, but the sentiment was honest.

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"Keep it together, I am Cynthia McMillan, I didn't do it, it is okay, everyone loves me. No, everyone hates me. Why shouldn't they, no they shouldn't. I am me, I am perfect as I am, so what if I spent the last decade locked away next to people who really were crazy. I'm not crazy. Yes I am. I wasn't but I am. I shouldn't be released. Yes I should. I know who did it. No I don't. Yes I do but they'll come for me. They won't believe me. Yes they will. I am Cynthia McMillan. Yeah, I know who you are, stop talking to yourself. You stop talking to yourself. Fine, then stop responding. I only respond when you say something. Oh right, okay. Truce? Truce, for now."

That kept replaying through Cynthia's mind as she wandered the halls of the high school. She had been released a week ago but still hadn't really settled in anywhere. Her parents had taken her in but they didn't want her there even if she was proven innocent in the eyes of the court. They were convinced that their own daughter had slaughtered Simone. Even if they didn't believe that really, they knew Cynthia should be locked up now even if just to keep herself safe from whatever demons she had running through her mind now. That and just the simple fact they couldn't bring themselves to even look at their daughter in the eyes anymore. Was it guilt for abandoning her all those years ago? Probably. The only person that had seen Cynthia over the last decade was Ada.

That was why Cynthia was there now, to see Ada; well mostly. She had arrived early but couldn't stay in the gym. It was empty and brought back memories, like those of hand cuffs but in a bad way. The look in Simone's eyes now haunted her. Those eyes were the reason she had been locked away for all this time. She couldn't go in there alone. But now it was different, she heard voices. Like actual voices that were not a product of years of over medication and electroshock therapy; among other horrors. Peeking through the glass on the door to the gym from the girls locker room she peeked around. There were several there but not who she was looking for, at least at first. Then she saw Ada, looking as she always did and with people around her. Too many people? Well, too many was better than no people wasn't it? Yeah, of course it was.

Slowly she pushed the door open, her left hand clutching to her right arm, clinging to the muscle and fabric almost desperately, her free wrist twitching nervously. She was jumpy and fidgety, her hair disheveled and her eyes darting around madly. "Ada..." she croaked out. No one heard her. Another tentative step forward. "Ada.." she tried again, still nothing. Pulling her hands up to her head and into her hair. The voices were coming back, repeating yet again. They never stopped now, just kept over and over and over again. It was maddening, she was mad; mad as a March Hare.

"Keep it together, I am Cynthia McMillan, I didn't do it, it is okay, everyone loves me. No, everyone hates me. Why shouldn't they, no they shouldn't. I am me, I am perfect as I am, so what if I spent the last decade locked away next to people who really were crazy. I'm not crazy. Yes I am. I wasn't but I am. I shouldn't be released. Yes I should. I know who did it. No I don't. Yes I do but they'll come for me. They won't believe me. Yes they will. I am Cynthia McMillan. Yeah, I know who you are, stop talking to yourself. You stop talking to yourself. Fine, then stop responding. I only respond when you say something. Oh right, okay. Truce? Truce, for now."

"ADA!!!!!" she screamed as she sunk to her knees, hyperventilating.

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Ada shoved a table into place and let out a bit of a huff, maybe she should have just hired someone to do the set up? It would have been easier, oh well it was too late now. Adjusting her top she pressed the back of her forearm to her brow before taking another breath in. Looking around she had to give herself a mental pat on the back, it was starting to come together quickly. The faintest of smiles coming to her lips at the work she had managed to get done, something about a job well done always made Ada feel better. Her smile grew some as she saw Jasmin walk in, it was good to see her friend show up. She always said the girl would blossom into a swan. It was nice to be right about it.

Reaching out she gave Jasmine a sweet hug as she was embraced. "Oh girl, so glad you could make it! Feels like forever since I have seen you, a life time! You look amazing! But I always said you would," she teased playfully as she released Jasmine from the hug. It was great to see her and she was so glad that Jas was one of the first to arrive, it let her have a buffer from others that would arrive that she might not respond so warmly to or even ones that the very sight of them might send her running off to try to keep her composure.

Perking a brow she looked at Jas as if she was a mad as Cynthia but then she nodded excitedly at the proposal. It would serve some of them right. Not that Ada was about revenge, that just wasn't her style but many people had messed with Jas during High School, why not help an old friend get a little bit of non-harmful payback. "Girl I am so in and it looks like we have the perfect first victim."

Motioning over towards Atlas has came waltzing into the place as if he owned it. Of course he did, that was always how he carried himself. Somethings never changed. Clearing her throat she plastered her ever present welcoming smile to her lips and went straight into casual conversation with Jess as she waited for Atlas to get over to them. "You know, I think this will work, if we keep the tables like this it will give people a better chance to mingle than if we space them out more don't you think?"

That was about the time that Atlas made himself known and Ada chuckled as she slipped her arm around the back of his waist and gave him the typical brush off floating hug that they usually exchanged when they saw each other. "Oh my, Atlas taking the fault onto his broad shoulders? I am completely flattered that you would bear the brunt of such a load," she said with a smirk on her lips as she glanced over towards Jess and had to keep from rolling her eyes as he went to make his usual move.

"Actually, I was thinking of introducing her to Marc when he showed up but I guess you'll have to do for now," she said in a flat tone as she crossed her arms over her chest. "My dear Atlas, let me introduce you to Jess Grimaldi, distant cousin on my fathers side. And Jess, this specimen is the Prom King of the class of 2006, Atlas Sterling. Careful, as his name denotes he tarnishes if he isn't given a good rubbing every so often."

Ada was chewing on the inside of her mouth trying not to laugh at the entire situation, if Atlas knew who Jess was he would probably have a panic attack. Granted not that she wanted to see such a thing but seriously, it might do him some good to see his past antics bash him upside the back of the head. Then she heard a familiar voice and her smile brightened even more. Oh sweet jesus, this is too perfect, she thought as she waved over to Jae.

"Hey Jae, still getting into trouble instead of putting that mind and face of yours to work to do some good in this world?" she said poking fun at him. She wasn't being vicious though, she just knew he had so much more potential than he used and that he could do soo much good in this world if he put his mind to it. She doubted he ever would but that didn't stop her from trying. "We're just setting things up. Well we are, Atlas is being, well him. Oh how rude of me. Jae, this is Jess, Jess this is Jae," she said introducing them quickly.

Ada turned around, as she pulled her hair back from over her shoulders. People were really starting to show up quickly. Riley walking in just soon after and heading over to the group and hugging Ada; Ada returning the hug gently and smiling at her. "Why hello there girl, missed you too," she said softly as she let her go. "Hey Val, you're looking stunning as ever," she added quickly as Val stepped over to the group.

Ada wanted to say more but she heard someone scream her name and turned on her heels, her eyes widening as she witnessed Cynthia drop to her knees. "Oh god..." she whispered under her breath. "Excuse me please," she said holding up a finger to the group that had gathered. Rushing over to Cynthia, Ada knelt down next to her, slipping her over shirt off to leave her in a spaghetti strap silk tank that dipped low in the back, revealing the ink work that she had spent the last several years getting. The Eagle covered her entire back.

"It won't stop, it won't stop, they won't shut up, I hear them. Stars, I hear them in my head. They say they are me but they aren't," Cynthia kept muttering over and over again in a panicked voice to Ada as she reached out and grabbed the woman by her shoulders nearly causing Ada to stumble back onto her read end. After a few minutes Ada regained her balance and was able to get her shirt around Cynthia's shoulders.

"I know, I know. It's okay, take a deep breath. I'm here. They won't bother you now," Ada said in a calm and reassuring voice as she smoothed down Cynthia's mess of hair and pushed it back out of her face. Cynthia looked up, trembling towards Ada. She was right, the voices were gone. They were always gone when Ada showed up to see her at the mental ward.

"Yes, yes... Um, Hey, sorry..." Cynthia said in a voice that actually showed shame to it. Something it never had during the years of High School hell she had put so many through. Wrapping her arms around Ada she clung to her hugging her tightly and mumbling incoherently to herself. Ada looked over to the group with a look of pity in her eyes as she hugged the crazed woman back.

"I know you are...." she said softly.

---

---

"It's awesome to see you again Ada." Riley said and then turned her head to hear the doors to the gym opening and heard the clacking of high heels on the floor of the gym and saw that it was Valencia she smiled brightly to her friend and waved as she quickly went over to give Val a rather tight hug before letting go of her. "It's great to see you again Val! How have you been lately?" Riley asked with a smile eyeing her choice of clothes and gave her a quick and playful wink. "Love the outfit that you got on by the way very sexy." Riley said the last time she saw Val was maybe about six months ago when she went to see one of Val's games.

Riley turned her attention over towards the door that led to the ladies room, and that's when she saw Cynthia McMillan the woman who she believed to have killed Simone and one of the many people who made her life in high school a living hell. And man she had changed Riley had not seen her since she was sentenced ten years ago, the girl's hair was a complete mess it looked like Riley actually felt very sorry for the woman. She watched as Ada quickly went over to comfort the girl, she decided to actually do something she never thought about doing and headed over towards Cynthia and knelt down next to her and Ada and smiled softly.

Riley gently reached over to pat Cynthia on the head and brushed a few strands of Cynthia's hair out of her face. "Hey there Cyn, its been awhile." Riley said, she would occasionally ask Ada how she has been over the past few years since she knew that Ada visited her on her birthdays still Riley couldn't believe herself at what she was even doing and being nice to one of the people who bullied her the most, but she was willing to burry the hatchet with Cynthia Riley could tell the woman had been through a lot the last ten years of her life.

---

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It was prom night and it was one of the biggest nights of their senior year. Kai had never thought he’d get a senior prom considering how many times he had been held back and denied entry to it due to his previous behaviours throughout high school. He looked to Ada and smiled warmly at her as she stretched up to kiss him before she disappeared to do the announcements. He buried his hands deep in his pants pockets and grinned sheepishly as he watched Ada walk away.

Usually Ash would have been in the group with Kai, Marc and Ada but considering who she was dating right now she was currently standing across the dancefloor from them. She knew that Kai and Marc weren’t Atlas’s biggest fans and she wanted them to enjoy their night even if she did miss hanging with them. There would be time for that later though, right now she was spending her time with her date.

Kai was soon brought back to his senses after watching Ada walking away by an elbow jabbing his ribs. A smirk crossed his face and he stuck his tongue out at Marc before letting out a deep, belly laugh. “Aaah maan, you’re just jealous since you and Ash decided to just be friends. You could’ve had a date for tonight, if you could just open up to the poor girl.” He slung his arm around Marc’s shoulders and gave him a bro-hug sideways shake. He was just jesting really but there was some truth behind his words. Clearly Marc’s best bud had absolutely no idea that Marc had another lady in mind to be his date for the evening.

As Ada began her speech, Kai watched her from his spot on the floor. He fixed his shirt and suit jacket to make himself as smart as possible for his beautiful girl. She had such poise and presence, he didn’t know what he had done to deserve her but he knew that she meant the world to him. He’d do absolutely anything for her. He chuckled at the comments about Mr. Black, one of his favourite teachers, he’d miss that guy. Snorting at Marc’s comment, Kai muttered right back to him. “I’ll never be as bad as Black-attack. Plus I’m off the stuff now man.” He gave Marc a playful, feigning punch to the ribs for his jesting comment. “A low blow for a low blow!”

Ash grinned and clapped, smiled and laughed at all the right moments of Ada’s little speech she was so happy watching Ada on stage and if Ash won the crown she’d be even happier that it was Ada up there and not someone who was fake and only pretend to care that she’d won. That wasn’t what Ashley wanted from her crowning moment of glory.

Ada began to announce who had won the crown for Prom King and Prom Queen. Kai was torn between applauding as loudly as he could for Ash or to glare stony faced at Ass-tas as he mounted the stage with Kai’s friend walking with him hand in hand. Ashley was ecstatic at winning the crown, Kai could clearly see that. Walking forward excitedly, Ash had to stop herself from crying. She bundled the off-white chiffon skirt of her prom dress and made her way up the stairs towards her best friend. “Hey cutie! Thank you so much…” She beamed at Ada as she took her place on the stage.

“Well it wasn’t fucking me.” Kai rolled his eyes and growled under his breath as he watched Ass-tas dragging Ash up the stage behind him. He had no idea why Ash and Marc had chosen to just be friends before Prom had happened. It would have been nice if they’d been able to come as a foursome instead of the haphazard mess that they were right now. He hated seeing Ash with Ass-tas but she was her own woman and could take care of herself that much he knew.

Ducking down gracefully, Ash let Ada place the crown on her head and she gave her friend an excited and warm hug before she took Atlas by the hand and stood with him, waiting for the netting to drop the balloons and streamers before they gave their thankful speeches and then had their first dance as King and Queen.

That’s when everything changed. Kai watched Ada’s face shifting into something he had never seen before. He took a half step forward and watched her with concern on his face as Ada screamed. He turned to look to where she was pointing and he froze. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Who would do such a thing? Sure Simone had never been the most beloved person in the school but she didn’t deserve this. Once again Marc’s words brought him out of his headspace and he ran to the stage to be by Ada’s side.

The scream was deafening for Ashley and she covered her ears before turning to look at Ada. She saw her pointing behind Ashley and that is when Ashley saw the look on Ada’s face. Reluctantly, Ashley turned to see what had scared Ada so much and that is when she saw her. Simone.

Ash began to scream with Ada and she crumpled to the floor, her legs too weak with shock to keep her upright. Sure she had hated Simone but Ashley had never seen anything like this. She didn’t think anyone deserved this. Kai was by Ada’s side, his hands brushing her hair out of her face as he blocked her vision with his wide frame. “Ada, babe, look at me. Keep your eyes on me, okay? Let’s get you and Ash out of here. C’mon…” His deep, warm tone waivered slightly as he thought about what he had just seen. He kept a gentle hand on the side of Ada’s face and stroked her cheek gently with his thumb.

He reached behind himself, too afraid to turn around in case he was struck with horror again, and grabbed for Ashley’s shoulder. “C’mon Ash, you don’t have to look. We’re leaving.” Ash grabbed Kai’s hand and let him lead her and Ada out of the Gym, away from the ensuing commotion.

---

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Two cars pulled into the Grimm High parking lot at exactly the same time. One was a slightly beaten up, brown coloured Chevrolet C/K pick-up truck that made the odd chugging, cough noise that a car that is close to dying out makes when it’s been forced to drive some distance. The other was a crimson red, 2015 Ferrari California T-Convertible with the roof down and a woman with shades, rosy lips and dazzling blonde hair cropped to just below her jawline. The truck palmed its horn at the Ferrari and the woman simply looked over and beamed a wide smile. They both pulled up, side by side, into vacant spaces before switching their engines off.

A large and lumbering Kai climbed out of the truck, a hand running through his short hair before scratching the back of his head. He adjusted his scarf and jacket collar as he shut the truck door behind him. He beamed and jogged round to the convertible and scooped up his old friend in a giant bear hug. Ashley squealed and giggled, her legs and arms flailing feebly in his strength. “Kai! God damn, put me down or you’ll wrinkle my dress!” She was laughing despite her stern tone.

“Oh sorry, my bad! It’s just so good to see you, Ash! Missed your stupid little face.” He potted Ash on the tip of her nose with his finger and she wrinkled it at his touch. Her smile remained however. She attempted to smooth out her dress and gave Kai a playful punch on the arm when she realised that it was beyond all hope. She gave another light tap on his trunk of an arm. “You said you’d call me when you arrived in town, dummy. What happened?”

Kai screwed up his face, closing his left eye as he avoided Ashley’s gaze. “I-I just… forgot, I’m sorry. Don’t be mad… I need you to buffer for me…” His voice trailed off as his thoughts drifted towards memories of Ada. He hadn’t seen her in ten years and, truth be told, he was absolutely terrified to face her again. He was sure that she hated him, she had to, especially after all these years and how he had ended things. He hadn’t even tried to see if they would work leading different lives but, too little too late.

He swallowed the butterflies away and looked Ash square in her judging little face. She sighed and placed her hands on her hips, shaking her head. “I don’t get how you two managed to not talk in ten years. You both still have the closest friends that you had in school while you were together and yet, still, nothing? It’s just plain unhealthy, y’know?” She rose her hands at her sides and let them drop back down, bouncing against her hips.

She sighed again and shook her head before leaning into her car and grabbing a pair of heels from the passenger seat. She slipped off her sneakers, putting them in place of the heels in her car and slipped her heels on instead. “Shall we get this show on the road then? I’m sure plenty of the others are here already. She gave an encouraging smile to Kai who had been standing looking towards the gym hall with a worried look on his face. “Yeah, sure. Hey, feeling nostalgic?” A playful tone entered his voice and Kai grinned mischievously as he ducked down, patting his back with his hands.

Ashley burst out laughing and nodded, before running and jumping on his back. Her dress was already creased so it didn’t matter what she did now. She grabbed her purse and clicked her key fob to close up her car and lock it as they made their way to the gym hall.
“You aren’t worried some paparazzo will notice you acting like a big kid with an old school friend and misconstrue it for you cheating on your current boyfriend?” He poked fun at her as he carried her towards the doorway to the hardest encounter he had had in ten years. “Pffffft, no. Besides Al knows I’m faithful and true and that’s all that matters. Gossip mags and tabloid papers can’t ruin what we’ve got!” She nudged his head with hers as her chin rested on his shoulder. “Besides, Al has seen the picture of us at Honolulu beach! He know you’re like my brother.” The pair started laughing as they approached the doors.

Ash slipped down from his back and adjusted her dress and hair. She placed a hand on the handle and got ready to open it up. “Ready?” Kai swallowed hard and gave a single nod. Ashley opened the door and stomped inside with a model, runway look that she had perfected over her years in the industry. Kai trailed in behind her, his shoulders back and chest pushed out as confidently as he could fake it. Ashley stopped, legs slightly apart, one hand on hip and the other raised in the air. “I’m back bitches! Miss me?” She gave her usual award winning smile and took in the crowd. She noticed Hye standing quite close bye and she ran over and hugged her.

Kai shuffled off to the side, letting all eyes land on Ash. He wasn’t ready for this. He stood for a moment before shuffling back out the way they had come in right as Ash ran off to cuddle Hye. He was happy to see most of the people here but he needed help. More than what Ash could provide. Once he was outside he grabbed a bundle from his inside jacket pocket and lit it up. He needed something to calm his nerves, he couldn’t do this without it.

---

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---

Jas was ecstatic when Ada agreed to help her and the perfect first patsy arrived within moments. Granted, her blood began to boil but she kept it hidden beneath her wondrous façade like the amazing lawyer that she was. The usual faux-charm oozed from Atlas Sterling as he pretty much ignored Ada and kept his eyes on Jas. She smiled, nodded and giggled in all the right places and right as she took a breath to respond to his inane and irksome prattling, everyone began to arrive.

Jae-Kwoon Park arrived first and Jas gave him a smile and wave in greeting. He’d been pretty decent to Jas, all things considered, during high school so there was no bad blood there. Then Riley Ridgeway entered the room, her pink streaks bright under the fluorescent gym lighting, Jas took her outstretched hand and shook it firmly. Valencia Grey was next, she rolled in looking like a babe despite being a pro-athlete, and she hadn’t lost the ability to dress herself. Jas continued the pageantry motions of smiling and waving to people as Ada introduced her, pretending like she didn’t know them but making sure to not ignore anyone that entered the fray.

Just when things seemed like they were going to settle down some, a scream sounded out calling for Ada from the direction of the ladies’ room. Jas turned and saw someone that she never thought she would see again. Cynthia McMillan. She knew what had happened to her, she knew she’d been released and Ada had warned Jas that she would be at the reunion but she never truly believed that she would come.

Her face registered shock, but there was hardly any concern there. Catching herself, Jas placed a furrow in her brow and gave her best look of worry. She didn’t have a score to settle with Cynthia. Despite her deep seated dislike for the girl, she had suffered enough. There was nothing more that Jas could do to Cynthia that would make her sorry for how she had treated people in high school.
Jas then noticed Hye-Eun Song entering the gym hall and gave another smile and a wave. She was happy to let Ada deal with Cynthia, she had no intentions of getting mixed up in whatever guilt trip that Ada felt towards the woman.

Then, not moments after Hye had entered than Ashley Cunningham made her grand entrance. Of course that woman wouldn’t do anything by half measures and of course she still looked like a supermodel. God, Jas had hoped she’d at least have put a few pounds on or something but no, bitch was looking better than ever. Jas perked an eyebrow and tried not to roll her eyes at the spectacle. That’s when she spotted Kai Malana, her high school crush. He was looking way better than he ever did in high school, waaaay better.

She had to stop her jaw from dropping but she spied him leaving just as quickly as he had entered. She wondered what had caused him to leave suddenly but maybe he was just taking a call or something? She shrugged and turned back to Atlas, smiling once again but a little more subdued this time after Cynthia’s outburst. She hadn’t said anything since anyone had arrived but she had no real need to do so just yet. Sure, Atlas had asked her a question but considering the disturbance he no doubt forgot what he had even asked or that he had even been speaking to her.

---

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Marc took a deep breath as he pulled up to Simone's house. Tonight was going to be the end to a lot of things in his life but he hoped it would be a new beginning for Simone. They had been dating off and on for years, never letting anyone know they were an item. It wasn't his choice but hers. She had problems with a lot of the people at school, most of them she created herself. She had a lot of problems at home, none of which were her fault. Marc had hoped that by them going to the prom together she could let people see what he had seen over the years. Yeah, she had her issues but beneath it all she had just been a very troubled person and when she felt safe she could actually be a very caring and kind person. She just kept that hidden behind the bitch facade so people would think she was tough and not mess with her.

Looking at the house he felt bad for her; the place was run down, no upkeep done on it. The grass was brown and over grown, the paint peeling. It was like no one cared if it fell in on those that lived within it. Things were going to change though, they had both applied to the same college and both had gotten accepted. They were going to go together and see where it went. Even if their relationship failed, at least it would get her out of this hell hole in his mind. It was worth the risk. Stepping out the car he adjusted his bow tie on his tux and strolled up the broken pathway to the front door, knocking several times and taking a step back; standing there waiting. As the door opened her father gave Marc a look that nearly made him run away.

"Good evening Mr. Carter," Marc said respectfully.

"What do you want?" he sneered

"I am here to escort Simone to our prom," Marc said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"She ain't here," he stated flatly, stumbling a bit before catching himself on the door frame. Marc raised a quizzical brow, confused.

"Are you sure sir?"

"I ain't daft boy, she left an hour ago, climbed into some car and off she went, now get off my porch," the man snapped before slamming the door in Marc's face. Marc cleared his throat and stood there for a moment dumbfounded. Why had Simone already left? They had been planning this night for months. Sighing he dropped the corsage he was carrying on the porch and walked sullenly back to the car. Climbing in he made his way to Kai's, they were supposed to meet up there before picking up Ada. Looks like he was going stag after all. Least no one would know he was stood up.



Once they got there, Marc tried to keep his mind off of Simone but he kept an eye out for her and began to get worried as the night dragged on without any sign of her. When Ada wandered off he forced a chuckle at Kai's remark. He was right, if he had opened up to Ash things might have been different but there was nothing he could do about that now; plus she was there with Jackass. Last thing he wanted to do was to make a scene at the prom and ruin things for Ash. So he kept his mouth shut around her when they passed and simply made cordial speak before stepping off again.

"Yeah, yeah, well not all of us can land the perfect girl or wear dreads with such flair," he teased. As the announcement began he couldn't help but making this off handed comment about Atlas getting named prom king. That was all the guy needed, more hot air for that ego of his.

I know I know," Marc laughed as he pretended to block the feigned blows. "Think Ada preformed a miracle getting you off the stuff, she might be up for sainthood for that," he said smirking as he crossed his arms over his chest. He enjoyed the tit for tat's that he and Kai shared. The two had become best friends over time. At first he wasn't too keen on Ada dating Kai, didn't think they would work well together but in the end he was happily proven wrong. Ada was like a little sister to him and Kai had become a sort of big brother. The two were good for each other. She seemed to give Kai the drive he always lacked and Ada had become much more relaxed and less stressed out because of Kai.

Things were going great for the evening, even though he had been stood up. It hadn't been a bad evening and the trio had been having a lot of fun just hanging out. He didn't even feel like a third wheel, he never did around them. Then all hell broke loose and as soon as he saw Simone up there the world seemed to pause around him. He had to choke down his terror and feelings right then to keep from breaking down. It wasn't the time or place. Once Kai had taken care of Ada and Ash and got them out of there he kept helping to get people out of the gym; even pulling Cynthia out from under the dripping blood and ushering her outside.

That night was supposed to be magical and one to remember; it turned out it was but in the worst way possible. Marc never could shake the look in Simone's eyes out of his mind after that moment.



Marc sat down on the grass in front of the tombstone and began to pull away the weeds and overgrowth in front of it. It was clear that no one but him did anything to keep up with the care and he was only able to make it out there once a year. Resting a bouquet of flowers on top he shook his head as he continued to work. It was Simone's birthday, or would have been if she was still alive and each year he made sure to visit no matter what was going on. It was time for their yearly talk.

"Hey sweet heart... How are things going where you are? Hope better than how they were when you were here. Has to be right? Only solace I can take these day is thinking that you are free from everything that haunted and tormented you when you were here. Me? Working as usual. Out of the service now, working for the FBI but I don't know how long I will stay there; thinking maybe I am tired of the action and want more of a desk job. Can you picture that? Putting the life away for something more calm. I dunno, maybe it was time I slowed down and tried to have a family you know? No, things with Ash aren't happening anymore. You know how it goes. People drift apart and well I still just can't seem to open up to her. I know, I know. I just need to open my mouth and let the words come out but I can't exactly speak about work you know? Yes, I know, I don't have to talk about work but anything outside of that it hard for me, it always has been. Well I opened up to you because you were relentless. More stubborn than me, I didn't know that was possible. I miss you."

Sighing he rested his hand on the tombstone and shook his head. Even now he could still open up to her. Hearing a twig snap behind him he spun around and his eyes widened as he saw Ada standing there with a small potted plant. Rising up he dusted his hands off and walked over to her, hugging her tight. How long had she been standing there? Why was she standing here? Leaning back from the hug he gave her a confused look and Ada pursed her lips somewhat.

"Wasn't expecting to see me here were you? I didn't mean to interrupt," Ada said sympathetically as she stepped around him and rested the plant in front of the tombstone.

"No, it's okay. The plant is beautiful, I am sure she appreciates it."

"It's not from me. It's from Cynthia...." she said and Marc became even more confused as he looked over to the plant and then back at Ada. While he didn't think Cynthia had killed Simone it still didn't make any sense to why she would have sent Ada to do this for Simone. The two hated each other in high school.

"Why..."

"Let's just say that the woman in Shady Pines isn't the same one we went to high school with," she said, giving just a vague explanation but it was enough for Marc, himself giving a brief nod of acceptance. "So, how's the talk going this year?"

"Same as always. How about you?" he asked as he gathered his things and the two started wandering through the cemetery together. He might not open up much to Ada but he was always there to listen. Ada shrugged slightly.

David passed away," she said looking down at her wedding band. Marc looked to her stunned and wrapped an arm over her shoulder.

"Oh Ada, I am so sorry.... what happened?" he asked but then thought twice about it, maybe it wasn't his place to make her talk about it.

"It's okay," she said looking over at him and noting the look of regret in his eyes. "It was an IED."

"How are you holding up?" he asked concerned.

"Not bad, I lost a friend so that hurts but it... well it isn't hitting me as hard as some... well you know.." she muttered as she took the ring off and shoved it into her pocket. Marc understood what she was saying. David and Ada hadn't been in love. They cared about each other but more like Marc and Ada cared about each other. They had dated and eventually just decided to get married because it was either break it off or take the next logical step. That was all Ada was about these days, the next logical step. She didn't let her heart get involved with things. She had basically shut herself off from people in that manner since Kai had broken things off with her.

Marc remembered the day it happened. Ada had shown up at his window in the middle of the night, drenched from the rain and crying her eyes out.....

"Ada.... what happened?" Marc asked as he pulled her inside and grabbed a blanket to wrap her up in. Ada just sat there balling her eyes out. He had never seen her like this, Ada was always so composed.

"Kai..." she whimpered.

"Kai? Is he okay? What's happened?" Marc asked worried. With the murder of Simone, his first thought was that someone had attacked Kai. The town was on edge since the murder a few months back.

"He... Ended us..." she sobbed before dropping her head into her hands.

"What? He dumped you? Why?" Marc couldn't believe it. They were so good together and Kai seemed happy with Ada, hell more than that. Marc was sure the man loved Ada and not in that silly high school puppy dog manner but that real love and he knew Ada felt the same.

"Said it was better this way. That he didn't want to hold me back..." she managed to get out.

"Ada.. I don't know what to say. What did you say?" he asked as he knelt down in front of her and handed her the box of tissues.

"I tried to explain he wasn't holding me back but his mind was made up. I thought he was joking at first but once I realized he wasn't I just broken down. I just couldn't think straight, I should go back. Try again right? What do I say? Marc... help me."

Marc didn't know what to tell her. He wasn't one for opening up about feelings and such, just wasn't easy for him. He wished Simone was there right then, she would have known what to say. Sighing he sat down next to Ada and listened to her as he spoke between the sobs. The woman looked broken. Marc was angry that Kai had broken up with Ada, it just didn't feel right. He had decided to go talk to Kai himself but in the end it was Ada that help him from saying anything and actually gotten him to calm down. They talked all night but the longer they talked the more Ada convinced herself that Kai had done right thing. Not for her but for him. That if she didn't end up going as far in life as he thought she should he would blame himself. That maybe he didn't care about her the same way she did him. That it was an excuse because he just didn't want to be tied down by some high school sweetheart when he went out into the world. Marc didn't believe that but once Ada made up her mind about something there was little anyone could do to convince her otherwise.

"Maybe you should talk to him Ada. Tell him what you just told me. Make him see you are a better person because of him just like he is when he is with you. Come on, I'll go with you." Marc was convinced if the two just talked this out and really opened up that they would be able to work through this. Ada just shook her head. She had finally stopped crying but the look of just absolute abandonment in her eyes broke his heart; he didn't like seeing his little sister in pain, not like this.

"No, this is what he wants... I just want him to have everything he wants... If he ever wants to speak to me again he will..." she said hanging over the blanket to Marc and climbing out of his window. Marc just sighed as he watched her climb down the tree and walk off. The next morning she was gone, off to college.

That was five years ago and there they stood, wandering through the cemetery. Ada held true to her words. She hadn't spoken or reached out to Kai all those years. The first year was the hardest for her, she just lost herself in her studies. Year two had been a little better. Year three she had met David and Marc had hoped she was actually beginning to heal. She hadn't, David was just a bandaide. They dated about a year and then got married. Marc was there, as well as a few other close friends. Marc hadn't had the heart to tell Kai about what Ada had been going through. That and he knew if he did Ada would have killed him.

Even though she hadn't spoken to Kai she did ask Marc about him.

"How is Kai doing?" she asked, she always asked.

"He's good. He moved back to Hawaii."

"I heard about his mom, visited her grave yesterday," Ada admitted sheepishly. Ada had always liked Kai's mother, she was a good woman. She knew Kai must have been devastated to lose her. She almost reached out to him but felt it was better to stay away. She had come into town for the funeral when her parents called her to let her know but opted to stay at home. It wasn't until the day after the funeral that Ada had gone to pay her respects. She left a small token on the tombstone, a Uli-Nana-Pono.

It may have seen odd since Ada was no where near a Hawaiian but when she and Kai had started dating all those years ago she had learned everything she could about his culture. His mother was great to speak to about it, especially the religious aspects of it. Ada had always been one that loved to read and his mother had let her borrow a lot of books. She had learned a lot and respected the woman deeply. Every year since then when she visited Grimm she made sure to visit the grave and leave another Uli-Nana-Pono. Ada didn't believe in religion, but had a great respect for the spiritual aspect of things. It was her way of telling his mother she still remembered everything she had taught her.

"I was wondering where the little trinket came from, looked familiar," Marc said as they continued to walk. Ada nodded as her hand came up to her chest and began to fiddle with something beneath her shirt. "You still have it don't you?" he asked as he glanced over to her. Ada stopped walking and nodded as she pulled it out. It was a worn hemp necklace with a Ke Ao-Ulaula strung on it. Kai had given it to her while they were dating, she still hadn't taken the thing off. She kept hoping it would do what he told her it was supposed to do, heal a broken a heart; among other things.

"Never take it off unless I need to fix the hemp," she said as she looked at it, her fingers running over the symbol carved and burned into the little wooden coin. A depressing smile coming to her lips as she touched it. It was one of the few things she still had of her and Kai. She may have kept her distance all these years but she never really gave up hope that one day he would at least call her. She knew it was naive and now knowing he had moved back to Hawaii that hope was all but crushed but hope was all she had anymore. She didn't want to try the dating thing again. It just made no sense and wasn't fair to anyone else she got involved with. She still loved Kai, she doubted that would ever change. Only thing she had now was the memories and knowing he was alright thanks to Marc and Ash kept her going. In the end that was all she wanted, him to be happy. Seemed even through everything he was doing well in life. She hoped she played a small part in that.

"Should call him Ada, I could give you his number. You know, just to say hi. I am sure he would love to hear from you," Marc said as the two started walking away and Ada began to make her way to her car. Shaking her head slightly she gave Marc a hug.

"No, he seems to be doing fine without me. I don't want to disturb him. He has better things to do than have an awkward conversation with an ex he wants nothing to do with," she said before telling Marc goodbye and driving off.

March just nodded and watched her go, muttering under her breath as she drove off. "Five minutes, I need to lock those two in a room together for five minutes..." Shaking his head he looked back over to Simone's tombstone. A quick inhalation of breath and he ran back over to it. Stomping on the now burning flowers and plant in front of it. "What the fuck!" he yelled as he looked at the tombstone, part of it now beaten off and crumbling on the ground. Spinning around he noticed a figure running off in the distance carrying a baseball bat. Marc took off after the figure but was never able to catch up, they had too much of a head start. All he was able to tell the police was that he saw a flash of blonde hair from under a baseball cap. They never found out who did it, he suspected they never even tried.

---

---

Cyn sat there, twitching as Ada tried to calm her down and she was to some extent. Ada sighed to herself, the girl was obviously a wreck. This probably wasn't the best place for her to be right then but there really was nothing that could done about it now. She was there, so was everyone else; well almost everyone. So she would just have to try to get Cyn through it with as little bit of a scene as possible but that really couldn't be helped at this point. The woman entering the place and screaming her lungs off had kind of thrown things for a loop.

Riley coming over surprised Ada, that anyone would come over and try to help Cyn at this point surprised Ada. Granted they didn't know what Ada knew but she had kept her mouth shut all these years. Cynthia begging her to not let anyone know what she told her, that she would when the time was right. Seemed right then it was time for at least part of that. Cyn looked over to Riley, wringing her hands and pulling at her own fingers as she tried to look the girl she had tormented so relentlessly through out high school.

"Yeah... Riley.. I um, well I need to tell you, that um, well and this is from me, and not the voices. Yes it is, not it isn't. Now hush. Fine, do this on your own. You'll just screw it up. No I won't. Yes you will. She doesn't want to hear what you have to say, no one does," Cyn began, talking more to herself than to anyone else and carrying on a rather confusing conversation. Ada shook her head as she looked over to Riley and bit her bottom lip slightly.

"It's okay Cynthia. I am sure Riley will be happy to listen, go ahead. I'm right here," Ada said in an understanding voice.

"Right, um... Riley. I'm sorry. I was a bitch, no a cunt and you didn't deserve that you know? Yes she did. No she didn't! No you didn't. I um, know that well like you won't forgive and that um like okay cause like I know um that I wouldn't if I were you, just um know that yeah, I am sorry," she muttered, stumbling over her own words. Ada slipped back some. She knew Cyn meant it even if it was coming out a jumbled mess. It was the best the cracked woman could manage right then. Cyn slowly looked over to Ada, chewing on the inside of her cheek. "Did I do that right?"

"You did fine," Ada said before hearing her phone go off in her back pocket. Looking down at it she perked a brow. It was Marc, he was supposed to have been there an hour ago to help her set up. "Riley, can you sit with her just a minute I have to take this," she asked as she stood up.

"Hey, where are you? Oh, um I'm in the middle of the gym with Cyn and the rest of the group. Oh, okay, yeah, give me a minute to step out," she said before putting the call on hold. "I'll be right back," she said and Cynthia nodded over and over again as she sat there pulling at a strand of her hair and rocking slightly. Standing up Ada began to make her way towards the door and saw Ash. She smiled and darted over to the woman, hugging her tight.

"Bitch! About time you showed up!" she exclaimed as she kept hugging Ash before her phone beeped; reminding her she had a call on hold. "Crap, it's Marc, I'll be right back, I promise," she said before darting outside of the gym. She hadn't made it more than a few steps outside of the gym before the scent of something all too familiar hit her senses. Turning she followed the smell. Maybe Mr. Black had shown up to say high to everyone.

Then she saw him and froze in her tracks. It was Kai... Of course it was Kai. She just stood there with her phone in her hand, hitting the unhold button without thinking. She felt a lump grown in her throat as she looked at him. He was as devastatingly handsome as ever even without the dread locks. The look on her face was anything but hatred though; the look that came over to her was the same mix of love, disbelief and sadness that had overcome her the night Kai had broken things off with her. The same look that had been the last time they had seen each other was there as if all those years hadn't passed; as if they had just been frozen like that all these years.

"Ada!" March chimed in from the other side of the call and Ada snapped out of it, blinking a few times as she tried to regain her composure. Clearing her throat she walked over to him and snatched what he was smoking right out of his hand and tossed it to the ground, crushing it under her heel.

"You're better than that Makana," she said quickly, not even realizing that she had called him by the nickname she had called him while they were dating. She had started calling him Makana at times after she had read about the word in one of the book his mother had let her borrow. It meant gift in Hawaiian and she wanted to remind him that he was a gift to her in her eyes and to never sell himself short.

"ADA!" Marc chimed in again, this time with much more force. Ada narrowed her eyes at Kai and shook her head as she stared at him, taking the phone and placing it to her ear.

"What?" she nearly growled.

---

---

Marc had arrived in town the night before; late. Settling in he tried to get some sleep but not before visiting Simone's grave once again and having a heart to heart with her like he always did when he visited. He didn't sleep well that night, wondering what just was going to happen at the reunion but thinking things out did nothing to help him get an rest. He had finally passed out well into the wee hours of the morning and by the time he stirred his phone had been ringing for sometime with a slew of voices mails on it. Groggily he reached over and picked up his phone.

"Special Agent Tinder," he muttered as he tried to wake himself.

"Marc, hey it's Timothy Grayson. Listen, can you come down to the library?" the voice at the other end asked. Tim was part of same graduating class as the rest of them. He was a bit of a stoner back in the day but now was a member of the sheriffs department and would call Marc from time to time if he was stumped.

"Why, someone have a late fee?" Marc asked as he sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes.

"I wish it were that simple, just get over here. You need to see this," Tim said before hanging up after Marc agreed to come over. Getting dressed quickly he opted to wear what he was going to wear to the mixer that evening in case he didn't have a chance to change before hand. He was no longer the gangling kid of his youth. His shoulders had broadened and he had filled out nicely in all the right places; years of being in the military and working for the FBI had done his stature well. He no longer walked with his head held low but high and looked people right in the eye as he passed them. He had gained a confidence he hadn't had in his youth.

Quickly he made his way from his parents to the library, stepping out of his car, adjusted his tie and made his way into the building. He was perplexed to what was going on, the place was surrounded by law enforcement and taped off. Marc flashed his GBI badge and was let in by some wet behind the ears new comer. Tim was standing inside the door waiting on him and shook Marc's hand as it was extended to him.

"Is this how you always dress for work?" Tim asked with a smirk.

"Pretty much but we do have the mixer tonight," Marc reminded Tim.

"Yeah, I don't know if we will make it, come take a look at this," he said as he lead Marc through the library to the reference section and pointed up to the second floor. There, tied to the iron railings in a net was Jessica Flaggstaff, one of the librarians. Her head was crushed in the same was Simone's had been the night of the prom and she was dressed in the same dress that Ada had worn that night so long ago. Marc cupped his hand over his mouth. He had known Jessica. She was a bit of a bookworm back in high school and was voted most likely to to write the next great American Novel.

"Oh god, when did it happen?" Marc asked as he lowed his hand.

"Time of death looks to be between five and six yesterday afternoon," Tim told Marc. Marc furrowed his brows as he pulled out his phone and pulled out some files he kept on it. "What is is?"

"That's the same time of death the coroner put for Simones death. This can't be a coincidence," Marc said as he doubled check.

"Yeah, I doubt it is either. Same type of murder, same set up, same time of death, even down to the prom gown. Well the dress is different but it's still a dress," Tim said taking his hat off and running his hands through his hair. "Probably another one of Cynthia's. It's got to be her, she was released, is back in town."

"I don't think it was her. That dress I know," Marc said as he pulled up his photos and scrolled through them. Eventually he found what he was looking for. It was a picture of himself, Kai and Ada at prom. In the picture was Ada in the black dress.

"That was Ada's dress? You can't think she did this can you?" Tim asked and Marc shook his head.

"No I don't but I think whoever did this is trying to send a message," he said flipping through his contact and pulling up Ada. "Give me a second," he said as he stepped to the side. Tim nodded and went back to work as Marc made his call.

"Ada, are you at the gym alone? Okay, then step outside, we need to talk," he said quickly and waited for Ada. It was a while and then he heard the phone go off her hold music. "Ada?" he said trying to get her attention. Then he heard it. Ada was talking to someone and soon as he heard the nickname he knew who she was speaking to. Not a good time but it couldn't be helped.

"Ada!" he yelled into the phone.

"What!?!" she snapped back.

"What happened to your prom dress?" he asked quickly.

"Why do you want to know that?" she asked, still looking at Kai and turning her heel to crush what was beneath her heel even more.

"Just answer the question."

"Should still be hanging up in my closet at my parents house. Why?"

Marc didn't answer as he looked back over to the body of Jessica as the local law enforcement started to cut the body down now that enough evidence and images had been taken for later. "Marc? What's going on?" she asked as she finally broke her gaze from Kai and looked down, biting her thumbnail slightly.

"It's Jessica... She was killed yesterday," Marc said as he paced about the library and leaned back against one of the racks of books.

"Jessica's dead???" Ada asked in shock as she slunk down and crouched there. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "What does that have to do with my dress?" Ada asked in a shaky voice.

"She's dressed in your prom dress..." Marc replied and Ada's grip on her phone went loose, the phone dropping to the ground at her feet.

---

Atlas didn't bother trying to hide the fact that he was rolling his eyes at Ada's response - always the snarkier, more clever one out of the two of them. Not that he was just being self-deprecating... she truly was more well-read and intellectually able than him, and it was the worst. Atlas was able to maintain a four-point-oh average throughout school simply because he either copied off of her or sucked up to his teachers (and, hey, some of them didn't mind basic favours). He did smile at her, though, upon mention of his so-called broad shoulders. God knows he'd lost some of the muscle he caught during high school. The newcomer, on the other hand, seemed to have no words at the moment, and in an attempt to urge them from her, Atlas fastened his gaze on her. Nothing still. Maybe she was just normally intriguing - that'd make things a tad more difficult.

He pretended to spit at the mention of Marc, glaring coldly at Adelaide, such to say why are you trying to piss me off, before the stranger's name was finally spoken. He straightened up and, while he felt it appropriate to kiss her hand or some other pleasantry, it seemed like a strange gesture when your company was practically mute. So, Atlas settled with verbal greetings alone, despite his physical charm being his point of strength. "Jess Grimaldi," he pronounced pleasantly, repeating after Ada like some sort of ventriloquist doll. His eyes flitted over Jess's figure purposefully, making his intentions rather obvious, and he finally registered how Ada had chosen to introduce him. "How juvenile. Really, I thought she wouldn't be so aggressive this time around. Sorry about your cousin, Jess." He was raising an eyebrow at Ada threateningly, but mostly to amuse his newfound company - in fact, he was used to his back-and-forth and it took all of him not to respond with laughter.

Distant footsteps caught his attention, but he held off on turning around until words were spoken. And they were. Fuck. Atlas froze up, feeling his heartrate pitch abruptly before he took a sharp breath in to soothe it; this was none other than that fucking gangster from high school. Really, you'd think someone so diminutive in size would partake in more productive pastimes, like, dunno, actually studying, but Jae was not that sort of person. In fact, he was just the opposite of his appearance, always hitting on young women and usually returning with good results. Atlas didn't know how that was possible. He wasn't polite or even likeable - hell, he'd beaten the shit out of Atlas back in 2006. Atlas could prove it - there was still a faint scar over his chest from where one of Jae's pals got a bit too excited. He thanked God he wasn't wearing a V-neck today and turned ever so slowly, catching a glimpse of the pale-haired man just in time to catch the growing smirk on his face. Go figure. "Pleasure," he said hesitantly, his lip rising slightly in a scowl. Yonks. What-the-fuck-ever. He decided to disregard the statement, seeing as it made no sense.

Another figure emerged and Atlas was not so prepared to see her. After hearing Riley at that iconic promenade, he'd taken a liking to her music, and even followed her after high school to hear more of it (not to her knowledge, hopefully; he liked to think he was secretive about it). He forced a nervous smile her way but wasn't lucky enough to catch a reciprocated expression. It seemed she was being generous to everyone but him today... not that he was all that surprised. Sometimes, when Riley released a more hateful song, he suspected it could have been about him and his behaviour during those pivotal four years. And maybe she dressed so darkly today just to look vengeful in his presence. Of course, more selfish thoughts from yours truly. He ignored the fact that she hugged/regarded everyone but him, and chose to answer her inquiry anyway. "Lovely," he said absently, voice quieter than usual out of basically hurt pride, and let his chin rise slightly, expectantly, as the door opened once again.

At this, he wondered if anyone who actually liked him would come along to the reunion. Valencia was possibly the worst to tread through those doors. He faintly remembered asking her out and subsequently being rejected outright - multiple times. It's not his fault he couldn't distinguish sexualities, but shit, those were all huge strikes to his ego. Atlas frowned at her openly, feeling the fire already burning in his eyes. Really, there were a myriad of people who thought he was at least okay in high school, and even more who liked him because he was good enough at hiding his horrific personality from them, but everyone in the room so far had at least seen some little aspect of said persona. Except for the stranger, he thought, but even from her he got that cold shoulder and no kind words. To others, Atlas had given a rather short greeting or some miniscule response, but he had nothing to say to Val. Instead, like some butthurt schoolboy on the playground, he stared at her coldly and ignored her remark. Good thing he had no personal social media.

Ada was, as usual, playing the middleman, welcoming everyone no matter who they were. It seemed like she was on good terms with everyone - no surprise there. He'd been ignoring the faint muttering that could be heard if one listened closely enough (just thank his observational skills for that), but when a scream erupted suddenly, he whipped round to find the source. Good lord, had the years taken everything from her. Her skin, once youthful and glowing, was now dead and tired, like it was taking everything to stay on her nearly skeletal figure. Her hair, once pollen-gold and seemingly taken straight from rays of sunshine, was now a weak colour that hung in limp strands over her shoulders. Cynthia McMillan. They were never truly close, honestly, maybe artificially if anything; oftentimes, Atlas would seek her out purely to suck up to her, try and get into her high social status. Didn't always work, and now he didn't like her at all, as opposed to the slight distaste he had at the mention of her name back in the early 2000's.

Now, though, she simply grossed him out, and that entrance did her nothing good. Of course, Ada didn't seem as bothered by it as Atlas, who shuddered at such a loud noise, and she was even offering some warmth to that fucked up girl. His ableist, stigmatized thoughts were never spoken, but if one looked at his face they could easily find a flexing jaw from tightly clenched teeth and even more burning eyes. Surprisingly, Riley joined the two of them with jut as much generosity, and he resisted the urge to spit on them then and there. He felt almost jealous of Hye, who arrived just in time to miss that ugly, showstopping entrance Cynthia had made. "Hi-Hye," he muttered, and would normally find amusement in his own wordplay if not for the situation at hand. "We've got a guest." He smiled cynically, acting like Hye was some sort of old friend, like he'd forgotten the hell he'd put her through back in the day. He hadn't.

Ashley's arrival was almost as ugly as Cynthia's, but just in the next league over. He plastered on an artificial smile that must have looked genuine to those that didn't know him very well. Watching her take Hye into an embrace, he faintly recalled hearing about her new line of work simply because of how radiant she appeared naturally. It was no surprise. His gaze drifted to another figure behind her and his smile flinched, threatening to leave him, when he noticed none other than Kai. Short hair now. Good for him. It took all of his willpower not to make a snide comment about that fact, but he was still set on making good second impressions - or first, he thought, in the case of Ada's so-called cousin. "Just in time, Ash, Kai," he spoke, starting in a sweet tone for his ex-girlfriend, and descending into a half-growl for his ex-victim. It was a little scary to think of Kai that way now, though, considering that fucking stoner currently outweighed him by over fifty pounds and was taller by a whole head. In fact, despite his nasty tone of voice, Atlas stepped back as discreetly as he could as if to avoid getting punched outright. Self-obsessed as ever, he took no notice of either of them after his greeting; just sent another half-assed compliment Ash's way. "You look radiant." Christ, he thought. You sound like one of those bitchy teen cheerleaders.

He turned back just in time to hear Cynthia apparently arguing with herself. Idiot. For someone suffering from his own disorder, Atlas had no sympathy for the mentally ill - take that as typical spoiled male behaviour. He wanted to cut in and agree with whatever voice in her head told her that no one cared, but Ada was quicker to comfort her. It sounded like apologies were being passed around, and frankly, he turned away so he didn't have to witness it. Surely they'd just expect him to join the pity party. He followed Adelaide's figure as she moved across the room, whipping out her cell, and tried to decipher exactly what was going on, but no Sterling ever was that perceptive. She disappeared outside quickly enough, though. Out of sight, out of mind, he decided; Atlas moved towards Cynthia, scrutinizing her more deeply with each step forward. His eyes flicked over her wrists, trying to find some sign of those old handcuffs (or, he bet, cuts by her own accord), but to no avail. He let out a short, sardonic laugh, then crouched to meet her level. "Hey killer, how's Shady Pines?" Of course, everyone knew she wasn't actually the perpetrator, and that she'd been released from Pines some time back, but he seemed to want to take advantage of her confused thoughts.

---

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---

Riley looked towards Cynthia hearing the poor girl muttering to herself and then eventually apologizing for how she treated her back in high school. If Cynthia never went to the went to the nut house and came to the reunion then she would most likely not apologize to her or something like that. Riley could tell that she was actually being genuine, she was willing to forgive Cynthia for making her life hell back in high school and sighed softly. "It's fine I've been through worse things honestly, and sorry for treating you the same way back in high school." She remembered talking to some of her own friends behind their back about Cyn or even just getting into heated arguments with her over something stupid.

Riley looked towards Ada for a second as she got up and told her to stay with Cynthia, she bit her lip for a moment and nodded towards her friend. "Sure thing, i'll be here." Riley said as she instantly lit up seeing Hye-Eun and then shortly after that she saw Ash and Kai coming in through the gym. But then she raised an eyebrow as she watched Kai heading back out either probably seeing Ada again or he went to get a quick smoke. But Riley leaned more towards him getting nervous at seeing Ada again she remembered hearing about the breakup, but she didn't poke that much due to it being between the two of them.

Riley waved her hand over towards Hye and Ashley. "Hey you guys!" Riley said as she sat down next to Cynthia and gently gave the girl a pat on the back. Riley then watched as Atlas the biggest douchebag in all of Grimm approached them, though mainly aimed towards Cynthia. Riley glared at him as she stood up in front of Atlas. "Well if it isn't the high and mighty Douchebag of Grimm already picking on someone after ten years. I actually thought you'd grow up, but I guess I was wrong and you are still the douchebag I remember back in high school." Riley said crossing her arms over her chest. "Maybe I could get Jae here to kick your ass again. Or maybe you'd rather get beaten up by a girl which would probably be more embarrassing hmm?" Riley said gesturing towards Jae.

---

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---

The relief he felt just from stepping outside of that crowded gym hall was euphoric. He walked down the wall length a little to keep his smoke from hitting the doors to the hall and found a comfortable spot to rest his back against as he lit up. He took a deep breath and held it, letting the smoke slip out between his lips slowly at first, savouring the calming feelings washing through him before he exhaled completely. He rose his right foot and planted it flat on the wall behind him, he wouldn’t have looked out of place in a god damn clothing catalogue right then.

He leaned his head back, closed his eyes and let the sunlight soak into his skin as he calmed his nerves. He was terrified if truth be told, he hadn’t seen her inside but he knew she was already there. Why wouldn’t she be? She was the most organised person he had ever known, there was no doubts in his mind that she was organising all of this too. Especially since part of the reunion was inside her home, a place he hadn’t set foot inside for ten years. Damn, he felt old. This was insane, maybe he should just leave and apologise to Marc and Ash later. He absently flicked the end of his doobie, letting the ash fall to the ground. He heard a throat clearing and felt a soft hand grabbing the blunt from his hand. He opened his eyes and turned his head to see who it was.

It was Ada. His mind went numb and he gaped as his eyes took her in. Ten years was a long time but Ada seemed exactly the same except maybe a little sadder, so pretty much exactly how he’d left her a decade ago. His chest panged at the thought of that night and a frown formed on his face at the memory of it.



After everything that had gone down at Prom, Kai hadn’t been the same since. He’d kept the front up for everyone when he was out in public but when he was alone, he was a shell of who he once was. Sitting on his bed in his bedroom, the curtains drawn and nothing but a tacky little lava lamp that his mother had bought him, Kai watched the molten wax blub and blob in the heat of the lamp light beneath it. It was surprisingly calming.

Kai had never faced mortality and to see someone that he had known in such a way had shaken him to his core. He began to think about what he wanted out of life and he realised that he didn’t know. He had no idea what he actually intended to do with himself. His mind drifted to Ada and he realised that she deserved more than an overgrown child like him could ever give her. She needed someone with a life plan, with drive and ambition. Not him.

His heart ached as he thought about the thought of no longer having her in his life but he knew that he had to let her go, she deserved every chance she could possibly get and he would only hold her back. He knew that he would be hurting her and it killed him inside but he couldn’t consciously stay with her when he knew that he would only prevent her from getting the most out of her life. He decided to make her as happy as possible from this moment until it was time for her to leave for college. He wanted as many memories as possible with her before he lost her.

As time moved on and graduation approached, Kai never wavered in his resolve. He loved Ada enough to set her free and let her get the most out of life without him. If they came back together after he had found something to do with his life then that would be great, if not? Then they were never meant to be more than high school sweethearts.

The talk had been difficult and Ada had tried to convince him that they didn’t need to be apart and that he wouldn’t hold her back. He believed that she really felt that way but he knew that she was wrong. When she broke down, he had to keep himself from comforting her, he didn’t want to hurt her any more than he already was. He must have seemed so cold, but it was the way that it had to be. When everything was said and done, Kai watched her leave in the rain. He was numb and dumb. He should have done this at her place.



Blinking, Kai had to wonder if he’d heard her correctly. Makana… That was a name that he hadn’t been called in forever. He smiled at the sound of it, he hadn’t realised just how much he had missed it. She was right, and he felt shame as he realised how much she must be judging him for smoking the green stuff again. He then realised that Ada was holding her phone and that the phone had Marc shouting her name out of it as loudly as he could through the speakers.

I should speak… why aren’t I speaking? God damn, Malana just fucking talk to her! He opened his mouth to speak but she was growling at Marc on the phone now. Her eyes kept staring at him though, a growl clear on her face and her head shaking at him. Well he thought he felt shame not even a moment before but now he felt downright horrible. His gaze faltered and he looked down at his shuffling feet. He spied her heel crushing his former smoke and he began to chew the inside of his mouth and ran his fingers through his hair, scratching behind his left ear just for something to do instead of looking at Ada. He didn’t want to interrupt her call with Marc so he remained silent.

That’s right Malana, just you stand here like a wounded puppy, that’ll obviously make her happy. She’s absolutely not going to get mad at you for not even looking at her, no sir. She’ll probably thank you for being a mute idiot. Abso-fucking-lutely. He hazarded a glance over to her as she continued her conversation with Marc, she was looking down and chewing on her thumbnail. Uh oh.

Kai turned towards her, taking a step forward as he heard her exclaiming that Jessica was dead and she began to crouch down towards the ground. He thought the name was familiar but he couldn’t put a face to the name. He was very curious as to what was going on about her closet at her parents’ home and her dress but he knew better than to interrupt her conversation.

At the moment she dropped her phone on the ground though, Kai was by her side quicker than a flash of lightning. He dropped to his knees and tried to look Ada in the eyes. “Ada? Ada what’s wrong? What’s going on? Are you okay? Talk to me.” His eyes bore into hers and it took all he had to not cup her cheek like he used to do in high school.

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Cyn looked over towards Ada as she left, nearly lunging at the woman and tackling her to tell her not to leave her side. The voices always returned when Ada left. Why that was she didn't know. Maybe it was because after all these years she felt that Ada was the only true friend she really had, ever. Maybe it was because Ada was the only thing she was sure was real anymore. Either way it didn't matter. She knew things were clearer for her when Ada was near. She wanted to go after her but the words Riley spoke caused her to stop. Someone else was willing to sit with her? Someone she was hoping wasn't something from her mind. It couldn't be right? Or could it? Cyn wasn't sure but at least the words that Riley was speaking were not tortuous. Maybe they were really, maybe the girl actually forgave her for everything she put her through? Maybe she just pitied her? Once again it came down to an either way scenario in Cynthia's mind. It was the best she could hope for right then.

The more people around the more that Cynthia felt uneasy. She always felt uneasy, especially when alone. The voices screamed then but now there were so many people piling into the gym as everything was getting set up for the evening. Reaching out she clasped Rileys hand in hers, her free hand running along the back of it slowly as if she was mapping out something on the hand but in the end she just kept tracing a star pattern on her skin, over and over again. "Stars, so many stars. Bright stars, faded stars, new stars, old stars. Points, see the points," she said holding up Riley's hand to face and showing her the back of it before pulling it back down and tracing the pattern over and over again. She might have stayed there for hours if left alone but a voice snapped her out of it. Not, it wasn't the voice. It was the words. Killer, Shady Pines" Those words made Cynthia release Riley from her fingers and her head started to turn slowly as Riley unleashed her words towards Atlas.

A smile came to Cynthia's lips, curling the edge of them like a cheshire cat as her eyes both widened and narrowed together; creating this demented look to come over her features. "Hello Atlas," she said in a cheery voice, a little too cheery. Then it happened. Cynthia snapped and the full crazy came out. She leapt up from her crouched position on the ground and tackled him with a mad laugh creeping out of her lips. "Let Killer make you pretty!" she chortled as her fists balled up, straddling the man as she pinned his shoulders down with her knees and began to pummel into his face as if she was beating bread dough down for a second rise. "Pretty! Pretty colors! Pretty Face! Reds and blues and blacks!" she cheered as she her fists contacted with skin and the blood began to splatter.

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Ada held where she was, crouched down with her knees to her chest as she stared at the concrete in front of her. She couldn't believe what Marc has just told her on the phone. Jessica was dead? In her prom dress? What did it mean? What was going on? Her mind searched through the cloud of fog that was forming in it; going through everything she had read, everything she could remember. It was what Ada did every time something happened in her life. Something she hadn't planned on dealing with, when things blind sided her she went into place. She always had, even back in high school. She would get this glazed look on her features as she contemplated every last detail trying to work it out for herself. She had not had this look for sometime. It was the first thing to really make her mind swirl like this in years.

She had just spoken with Jessica yesterday, she had had lunch with the woman. They talked and caught up on what all they had been up to since graduation. Jessica had never moved away from Grimm except to go to college. The woman had majored in Ancient History and Literature. It had been nice to catch up with someone who held similar interests and thankfully Jessica had no want to know what all had happened between Ada and Kai. So she had not had to delve back into that painful memory. It had given her a bit of a break from questions she had had with others she had spoken with since returning to town and ones she knew would come up as the group started to get back together during the reunion. But now all that was shattered and there she was, glazed over, in thought, frozen like she had been after she had screamed the night of the prom.

The prom... Simone... Cynthia's dress. Oh god, was it happening all over again? If Jessica was killed and was in Ada's dress was this the beginning of all that once again? Ada wasn't sure but her gut told her that was what was going on and she knew she needed to know more, she needed to think more but the fog of the moment was set in and she felt lost unable to focus on anything. That was until Kai came to her side and began to speak. She had not heard his voice in so many years but without even looking she knew it was his. His voice had always been like a beacon calling to her, able to pull her out of her thoughts no matter how dense the fog that clouded them became. Slowly her eyes trailed up and there his were. Those deep pools of jaded greens and ambers staring right through her, piercing her soul.

She just held in her place, looking into his eyes as her lips trembled, trying to find the words to explain to him what was going on. She could feel her fingers flexing and clenching, shaking as she tried to catch her breath; trying to keep from reaching out to him like she had so many times so many years ago. Trying to keep from wrapping her arms around him and sinking into his chest for comfort. To bury her face against his frame like she had the night of the prom to find peace. Time seemed to slow, her lips parted; pearly teeth shining from beneath the dusty rose. It was moments before she finally blinked and cleared her throat, looking away from him. Averting her eyes before she did something she might regret; no, before she did something she wouldn't regret but would be surely pushed away from. From him.

Clearing her throat she fumbled for her phone, picking it up, the screen now cracked and the call having gone dead. "I... Um... That was Marc... Jessica Flaggstaff was murdered last night..." she said quietly as she reached up and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to compose herself. Using the back of her fingers she dotted away the tears forming at the corner of her eyes. Her large chocolate brown doe eyes glistening as she tried not to cry right then. She had sworn after Kai had broken things off with her that he would never get to see her tears again. She wasn't about to break down the first time she had seen him after that night. She wouldn't let him have that gratification.

Slowly she looked back to Kai and held her breath. "She was dressed in my prom dress Kai..." was all that she could manage to say. After his name left her lips she went silent, she didn't know what to say; she didn't know what to do. Why this? Why now? Why did he have to be there? Why couldn't he have been there so many years ago? Why did he have to be the one to be by her side when the world began to fall apart again?

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"Ada? Ada?!?" Marc yelled into his phone as the line went dead. "Shit," he muttered as he looked at the call end screen. Why had the line gone dead? Maybe they just lost connection. Marc tried redialing her several times but it went straight to voice mail. He couldn't leave the scene right then, Tim needed his help and even if he didn't Marc wouldn't have left. Another one of his classmates had been murdered, that meant there was a killer on the loose and he wasn't about to go running off to the reunion to check on people and have fun right then when there could be a clue lurking about that the local PD might miss. They were not used to murders in Grimm, the one at prom had been the first in decades and there had not been one since. He was not even sure if they had an homicide detectives there.

Looking back down at his phone he sent a text to the one person he knew for a fact was there with Ada right then, Kai. "She's gonna kill me for this..." he grumbled as he sent a text through to Kai.



With that he hit send and went to work as he slipped his phone into his vest pocket. It was going to be a long day.

---

Watching Riley attempt to comfort Cynthia, even after all this time and the cliques that stayed intact after high school, Atlas was reminded once more how much more compassionate his peers were than he was. Didn't bother him much. Sometimes you have to tell yourself that people as a whole need some character diversity - suppose being the jerk of this gathering equated to being unique. Her kindness was inspiring somewhat; perhaps he could make amends himself.... no, that didn't seem quite like an 'Atlas thing' to do. Plus, there were too many people to count. That Blowhard Jazz girl might have been his first stop, seeing as she was one of the most hard gone through students from Grimm, but she wasn't anywhere to be seen as far as Atlas was concerned. He wasn't her only bully, and you couldn't say the same for most of his victims. Many of them just didn't meet his personal standards and were hurt thusly. Jasmin, however, was unfortunately tortured because of the universally "bad" traits she carried. Kai was one of those who no one else had reason to victimize, but was sadly pestered by Atlas. He was here, too... briefly, the former prom king considered stepping out to just apologise, but his timing was poor. Riley had shifted her attention to him.

When she stood, Atlas did, too, getting up from the condescending crouch he'd gotten into in order to see Cynthia. He tilted his head at the blonde as the spoke, one corner of his mouth twisting upward challengingly. Douchebag of Grimm. That was something of flattery, in his opinion; after all, the nickname implicated that he was the best of all of them. Atlas laughed shortly, rolling his eyes and breaking the contact they had made with Riley's. It was a wonder why he even came, because all of this attitude was predictable, but what else could be expected from the prom king - or, now, the Douchebag of Grimm? He locked eyes with her again at the mention of Jae, surprise flashing through his expression, and his shoulders almosg flinched at that name alone. No way this bitch knows. Unbeknownst to him, pretty much everyone did. Atlas sneered at her nastily once he'd recovered, playing it off as if he was over the 'incident,' and threw one arm out at Riley threateningly like he was going to shove her. "What-the-fuck-ever, Ridgeway, it's none of your business. Not like you're such an angel yourself." Jae seemed to be excited to jump in and add his own two cents to the bucket, so Atlas threw him a cold glare (although if one looked closer, his fists clenched just slightly at his sides in preparation). "Step off, dickhead, we're not in high school anymore. We can have a rematch sometime." He hadn't moved on. It's the exact reason he chose not to address Jae directly earlier, but it's not like Atlas would admit that much.

He might've forgotten about Cynthia if he didn't spy that sickeningly slow head turn out of his periphery, and, bemused, Atlas turned back to her, his chin raised and forcing him to look down through lidded eyes. Her smile read like some creature from Wonderland, and he was unable to take her seriously, apparently taking no notice of the fact that the mentally ill should definitely be. Her voice was sweet when she greeted him, and Atlas was momentarily tricked into believing that perhaps she only remembered the times he showed faux-kindness to her, but no such luck existed in his life. She was flying at him in moments, and, with none of the reflexes he had in, say, 2006, Atlas couldn't fend her off. For such an emaciated young woman, Cynthia was strong. If he had the time to think, he'd have attributed it to too much time wrongly locked up in an institution, stuck in a place that didn't allow very much mobility and that forced all of its' patients into both a physical and metaphorical box. Her bony knees were digging into his shoulders, and despite a thin layering of muscle and fat over his own body, she was too angular to ignore. That wasn't the worst part, though - her little fists came down, over and over again, unfaltering, like Cynthia had been working up to this moment. Atlas, with all his selfishness, figured that must be the case: she must have been planning this little episode all along. Against him.

Unable to control his breathing like he'd been taught to in therapy because his senses were just that overloaded, Atlas began hyperventilating, throwing his chin back and trying to roll over to catch his breath. Of course within just thirty minutes of arriving he'd have a panic attack - and because of a physical altercation, nevertheless. Atlas felt blood fly from his nostrils, and then from his gums where his teeth came down on his tongue and the insides of his cheeks. Disorientation only set in fully when the back of his head came crashing down against the not-so-soft gymnasium floor, and he dazedly stopped struggling, arms falling from their hooks around Cynthia's waist and draping over her thighs. Ignoring the repeated contact made to his skull, Atlas's head gradually rotated, turning so that he could rest his abused cheek against the floor and spit out the blood-and-saliva mixture that filled his mouth. It was a strange combination, panic and physical trauma-induced confusion; while his heart was pounding and his pupils were dilated and he was sweating and he knew he had to get out, it's not safe here, Atlas could only see vague shapes and colours, maybe some of the flying golden strands of Cynthia's hair.

He faintly heard her voice, cheery and sweet and out of place in a situation he deemed very stressful (reasonably so). He couldn't quite make out what she was saying - it was like someone had taken a meat tenderizer to his brain and made mush of it. Atlas wasn't exactly concussed, it would take much more beating from Cynthia to accomplish that, but he was overreacting somewhat and that resulted in a bit of hardship. His eyes were slitted at this point, like that could protect them from any more damage, but his gaze moved around in search of help. Cynically, he realized no one in this room would care much to assist him... unless, he hypothesized, it was Cyn they had to help, and they were forced to separate former cheerleader from former prom king. Resolutely, Atlas's trembling hands went up to her waist again, moving further upward until he reached her neck, and he found the strength to tighten his fingers round her neck, attempting to strangulate the much smaller blonde. He recognized well how imbalanced this battle was, but it had always been that way, even in those four years of Hell. After all, Atlas had a habit of picking on those smaller - mentally or physically - than him. Take Hye for example, one of the smallest in immediate company; he was practically unstoppable around her back in the day. This was nothing new for him.

Laughter from a voice even deeper than Cynthia's scared him, just slightly. For a moment, Atlas thought it could be him; he tended to get a bit manic once situations grew to this level of intensity. But, upon forcing some self-awareness, he discovered he was far from laughing - in fact, Atlas, Douchebag of Grimm, was still hyperventilating, in the most attractive way one could (really far from it, actually; his fingers were going numb around Cynthia's neck). So, he tore his eyes from where they were fixated on the glowing blonde mass that could only be "Killer" and turned them to the source: Jae. Of course. Atlas was just self-conscious enough to spit the mouthful of blood he'd been building up at the other man, spiting the finger that pointed at him quite weakly. Just his luck that his voice didn't come out and help him, so Atlas was left muttering an inaudible "Fuck you," punctuated by a thin stream of blood slipping from the corner of his mouth.

---

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When her eyes rose up to meet his, Kai lost all sense of himself. He froze in place like he was in high school again, his hands were numb and his breathing was nearly non-existant. His eyes darted from one chestnut coloured orb to the next and back again, over and over again as if he were seeing her for the very first or very last time again. It took a good mental yelling inside his head to bring him back to reality before he got lost in the depths of her soul like he had all those years ago.

Clearing his throat, he pushed his shoulders back a little as he prepared to talk again but Ada began to speak. "I... Um... That was Marc... Jessica Flaggstaff was murdered last night..." Jessica Flaggstaff had been murdered? That couldn't be right. He caught the face in his mind now, she'd been so quiet and dedicated to her studies. Who in their right mind would target Jessica? Kai's mind was reeling as he saw the pain in Ada's face, her fingers running through her hair and her eyes began to glisten. He averted his gaze as the memories of their last encounter flooded into his mind. No, this was not the time to get lost in memory, he had to be here for Ada right now. It was the absolute least that he could do.

When he looked back to her face, her eyes had shifted away before flicking back to him. "She was dressed in my prom dress Kai..." His jaw tensed as it pushed out in anger and fear. He chewed his bottom lip, a crease forming between his eyes. "I don't know what to say... Ada..." His thoughts and words were interrupted by his phone beeping in his back pocket. He stood up but kept his eyes on Adelaide; her own eyes following his form as he stood up before she looked away quickly and stared at the ground. He glanced at the sender and saw that it was Marc. Opening the message up, his ears pulled back and his left brow rose as his eyes narrowed at the message. Cunning bastard, but Kai knew that this was no ploy to get the two of them to talk. This was serious.



He slipped the phone back into his pocket and crouched down in front of Ada again. He wanted to reach out to her and comfort her even more than he had moments before but he knew that it was not a wise move. Ada just blinked a few times as she turned her head and kept her eyes averted from Kai's. She couldn't bring herself to look directly at him, she knew she would get lost again, and him being so close made her nervous. It didn't matter the years that had passed, nothing had dulled over time. Not her feelings for him, not the pain remembering that night which kept flashing in her mind. Shaking her head she stumbled a bit in her heels and ended up falling onto her rear end, twisting her ankle slightly in the process. Kai started forward to try and grab her before she fell but his reactions were too slow, just like his mind right now.

"Damn it.." she grunted in a frustrated voice as she pulled her leg out from beneath herself; pulling her knee to her chest as she rubbed the sprain and picked out pieces of gravel and such that had pressed into her skin. Lowering her head, she closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip as she felt her breathing stagger. Jessica was murdered, she was injured now and Kai was so close. The feelings were fogging her mind, swirling together. Her hair covered her face as she tried not to cry but her shoulders started to bob gently; showing she was trying to fight from crying. "I just want to lay here and forget the world," she said under her breath and from behind her clenched teeth.

He couldn't help himself now, he had to do something, the words rung something in his mind that made him need to act. Kai crouched down on Ada's right side and rested his left hand on her shoulder, his eye caught sight of the hemp hanging around her neck and all words left him. Ada felt herself stiffen up slightly as his hand touched her; she hadn't felt his touch in so many years. She had nearly forgotten how it felt but right then everything came rushing back to her. He just crouched there, staring silently at her neckline with a mild look of confusion on his face as his left hand sat limply on her shoulder from the shock. It was only a moment but it felt like forever in her clouded mind till she suddenly snapped out of it. Her hand coming up and and ripping his from her shoulder, shoving it back away hard. Shame erupted across Kai's face and he took an unbalanced step backwards in his crouched position, his hands holding onto his knees.

"Don't touch me!" she snapped at him, her head coming up and her eyes finally coming back to his. They were swirling with anger and pain as she brought her hand up, a single finger pointing directly at him. This hurt, it really fucking hurt. Kai didn't know what to do, he remained there in his submissive position as she let loose on him. "You lost the right to touch me a long time ago. You haven't given a damn about me in all these years, don't you fucking try to pretend you give a shit about me right now. You wouldn't stop the pain then, don't try now." Her voice was so cold as she spoke, the memories of that night flooding her mind.

Ada smiled to herself, biting on her thumb nail as she stepped over to the CD player and put on Their Song. The song just seemed to fit them so well and fit the moment. Tomorrow she would leave for college and as much as she probably should have been scared she wasn't. She was excited and it showed in the way she swayed her hips to the music and the smile that played on her lips. Spinning around, her hair fanning out around her, she danced her way over to Kai who was stretched out on the futon in his room. Tonight was going to be perfect and in the morning she would start a new chapter. She wasn't afraid because she knew she wouldn't be doing it alone. Sure they would be apart some but they loved each other; they would make it work, she knew that in her heart.

Laying on his futon, his eyes tracing every crack and crease in his ceiling, Kai winced when he heard the song that Ada had chosen. The melody caused his heart to race and he began to chew the inside of his cheeks as he listened to the telltale sounds of Ada dancing. He hazarded a glance in her direction and he couldn't help but smile at her. She was everything to him, he had to keep telling himself that fact. That was the reason that he had to do what he was building up the courage to do.

Giggling at how goofy she must have looked she slunk down onto the futon, straddling him as she leaned over; her hair cascading down about them. Gazing into his eyes she let out a content sigh; every time she looked into his eyes it was like the first time. "Smile, everything is going to be great. I promise," she said in a cheerful voice. Resting her hands on his chest she came closer and brushed her lips against his; savoring a slow lingering kiss. As her lips peeled away from his she whispered, "I love you Makana."

Kai pulled himself away, a small smile betraying the joy he felt at their kiss. He shuffled his weight backwards, shifting himself away from being beneath Ada but not pushing her off completely from him. He leaned back on the palms of his hands and he looked into her sparkling, deep brown eyes. Ada's brow arched deeply as he slowly sat up, her hands still resting on his chest; fiddling with the soft cotton fabric of his shirt. That moment was one that he wanted to drink in completely, before he continued on with his plan. He swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat and he gently nudged her body from his so that they were sitting side by side on his futon, her hands slipping away from him as they rested in her lap. He rose his right hand up and cupped her face, his thumb lightly stroking the soft skin of her cheek which caused her eyes to drift close and enjoy his touch. Could he do this? He didn't feel like he could do this. His face was mostly blank but there was sadness in his eyes that caused concern to flash across Ada's as she opened her own and looked at him.

He cleared his throat, his deep voice cracking slightly as he began to speak. "Ada... I... I have something we need to talk about..." His voice trailed off as it threatened to crack again. His gaze shifted down to stare at his plain, threadbare bedding. He had to do this, there was no choice. She deserved the best and he wasn't it. He steeled himself, no emotions betrayed his face now. He was shutting himself off from it all, he had to in order to get through this. "You're going off to college tomorrow. You're about to start the rest of your life and you deserve absolutely everything amazing in life. You should have and will have the best of everything you could possibly imagine."

"I have the best, I have you silly," she said reaching out and resting her hand on his knee as she looked at him. What was going on with him?

He took another deep breath and let his hand and eyes fall from her face. "I've got no plans for my future. I don't know what I'm going to have for my breakfast tomorrow nevermind what I'm going to do to keep food on my table for the rest of my life. I'm irresponsible, unprepared and, to be perfectly honest, pretty god damn dumb." His jaw was set in a stubborn line as he continued trying to say the hardest sentence that he would possibly ever say in his lifetime. He continued to hesitate, his resolve wavering for a second as he looked into her beautiful eyes once again.

Ada's leaned back slightly and shook her head, squeezing his knee lightly. "You are not dumb, stop saying that Makana. You graduated. Sure it took you a bit but you worked hard for it, you earned it. You are a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for," she said in a soft and caring voice as she reached over and pushed his dreads back. "And tomorrow you are having pancakes with bacon with me before I leave remember? So breakfast is taken care of," she joked, trying to cheer him up a bit; he seemed so sad and it worried her. Maybe he as just worried he wouldn't get to see her as much as he wanted, she was worried about the same thing but she had it all planned out; every weekend trip, every holiday for the next semester. It would be great.

He frowned at her response and shook his head. She didn't understand because he wasn't being clear, he knew that but he felt mad. Not angry exactly, just regular old, immature mad. "No... No!" His voice rose slightly and he shoved her hand off from his knee as he shuffled off of the futon. Ada jumped back slightly, he had never acted like this around her and it startled her. She wasn't afraid though, she knew in her heart of hearts that he would never do anything to hurt her. His feet thumped on the floorboards and he ran his hands into his dreadlocks, gripping them in sheer frustration with himself. He couldn't bear to look at her and he paced back and forth until his ridiculous mood calmed. It took a good ten seconds but he felt it ebbing away. He took deep breaths and licked his lips before stopping his pacing. He turned, standing in front of the CD player and looked to Ada.

"Kai... what's going on?" she asked nervously as she slowly stood up, running the palms of her hands down her thighs, pressing down to smooth out the wrinkles in her pants.

"Anela, you know you're my guardian. It's the reason whole reason why I call you Anela. You're my own angel." He threw his hands up as if praising whatever powers that be for sending her into his life. He sighed and let them slap back down against his sides before continuing on. He couldn't hold her gaze again as he spoke. He was too weak to bear her scrutinizing look right now, he had to keep his resolve for this. It was the best option for both of them. This isn't how I planned for this to come out. I can't keep my words straight. I need to stop just pussy footing around it and just say it. He tried to get his words together in his head. "Ada, we're at a turning point in our lives and you're set for so much more than this small town. You're off to Yale, for crying out loud! You have everything ahead of you, a whole fresh start after this disastrous end to your high school year." He was almost there, the final line before she hated him forever.

Biting her bottom lip she stepped over to him, timid in her actions but taking a long breath as she reached out to him. He needed to calm down, what ever was bothering him was really eating at him; she could see this. "Yes but we got through the year together. We can get through me going off to Yale. I promise, don't worry. I have it all planned out. Sure, it's a turning point but that happens in life. Turning points make thing happen. They brought us together. So they aren't always bad. It's a new chapter, for the both of us. Together," she chimed in as she took his hand and ran her fingers over the back of it as her free hand reached up and palmed the small medallion he had given her that hung around her neck. "Right?" she asked as she stepped in front of him and looked up; searching his eyes for an answer. She still couldn't figure out why he was acting like this, they had talked about all of this, about how it would be okay.

He pulled his hand away and silently shook his head, his eyes holding hers. He was past the point of no return now. He took a deep breath and swallowed the last remnants of his emotion. This was it. "I'm going to hold you back if we stay together. Our turning points aren't going to be leading us down the same path after tonight." He let his words hang in the air, hoping that was all he had to say. He would take any slaps, hits, kicks or screams in his direction. He was expecting them and he deserved them but he was doing this for her. It was the best thing that he could ever imagine doing for her.

"Of course they're not. We're turning down a different path starting tomorrow. Sure it is a road we don't know but we'll have each other so we'll be able to lean on each other and discover whatever lay ahead together. You've never held me back, you never will. Now will you please explain what is going on? You're making me worry. Do you want me to ask your mom if she can make us some tea?" she asked as she gripped the medallion. Something in the back of her mind poked at her but she refused to let it come to the front of her thoughts. She was just worrying over nothing, wasn't she?

His heart sank into his stomach when he realised he was going to have to say it bluntly. He had hoped that she would realise what he was saying, that maybe she'd even agree to it on some level but that wasn't going to happen. He breathed in and exhaled slowly through his nose as he stared her down. He had to stop himself from biting his tongue and just going back and ending things with her once she had left. No, he wouldn't do that to her. It had to be now. "No, Adelaide," He never used her full name, hopefully this would show her how serious he was. "We need to end this. Us. We have to travel different paths in life. Alone. Not together." His hands sunk into his pockets and formed into fists. He was angry at himself but this was right, he knew it in the depths of his heart.

Ada took a step back from him as he spoke, shaking her head slightly. She couldn't believe what he had just said, the words cut into her like a knife; a hot blade burning into her chest and trying to rip into her heart. He couldn't be serious, she couldn't; she wouldn't believe the words that he had just said. He had to be joking, it had to be some sort of set up. Some stupid joke he came up with when he was hanging out with Mr. Black. Something he thought would be funny at the time. That had to be it. "Don't joke around with things like that, it's not funny," she said quickly, her breath shaky as she spoke; she could feel her face warming in anger and her body begin to tremble.

Kai walked away from her then, he was growing more and more frustrated that she wasn't getting this. He walked past her and stood by the window. The rain was lashing down now, the water trickling down the glass and pooling on the ledge. He stood there, staring out into the darkness as he shook his head, his dreads shaking with each movement. "I wouldn't joke about this. We're over." His hands were still balled up in his pockets but his fingers began to pick at his nails to get rid of this irritated energy that was flowing through him now.

Ada felt her heart drop into the pit of her stomach, the cut of his words severing it finally and she stood there in a daze for a long moment as she tried to process what he had said. They were over... It didn't make any sense. At least not to her. Everything between them had always been wonderful, why this? Why now? Slowly she turned to look over to him, his back to her. "W...Why?" she whispered, her voice cracking in pain as she forced out the single word over the dry pain in the back of her throat and the numb feeling in her mouth.

"I already told you. I refuse to hold you back in your future path. We are two different people who helped the other to grow..." He trailed off and slid his hands from his pockets and leaned on the windowsill. He rolled his neck and cracked it, unsure how else to continue. The words came to him slowly and surely. "We've grown so much that we'll only hurt each other if we stay together. I'd rather we have the happiness that we have had to remember than to remember us growing ever further apart. This is the best choice. Right here, right now, to end things. You deserve better and I absolutely refuse to be the reason that you don't reach your future goals."

"Stop saying you are going to hold me back!" she snapped towards him as she stormed over and slipped under his arms, placing herself between the windowsill and Kai. If he was going to do this she sure as hell wasn't going to let him keep his back to her. "Goals? And what if those goals include you? What am I supposed to do then? Just forget them? I'm just supposed to walk away and go it is better this way? Forget that I love you? Forget all the times you told me that you loved me? I'm just supposed to take this in stride and let it go? Let you go? No, that's not how it works Kai. When you love someone, you get through the bad times. You try for fucks sake! You don't just throw it away as if it meant nothing because you are too afraid to see what might happen! Maybe we will grow apart but damn it, at least give us a chance! What if we don't? What if we have that happily ever after you read about in fairy tales? The debutante falls in love with a lowly servant and despite everything working against them they live the rest of their lives together deeply in love? Why can't we try for that?" she demanded to know as the first of the tears finally began to roll from her eyes and down her cheeks one at a time.

He pushed off from the windowsill and faced her from a small distance, showing the lack of emotion that he was showing. He crossed his arms over his chest and breathed as calmly as he could despite the daggers piercing into his chest and head. The anger was bubbling up inside him too, they always did this to one another. He tried and tried to keep his uncaring demeanour but he broke when he saw that the tears were still rolling down her cheeks. She shouldn't be doing this to him! HE WAS DOING THIS FOR HER! "You really want me to say it, don't you?!" His voice growled as he controlled the volume of it. Despite it coming out no louder than his usual speaking volume, it resonated around the room as the music played on behind them both.

"I want you to say you didn't mean it. I want you to change your damn mind. I want to hear you love me. I want to know I haven't been deluding myself this whole year. I want you damn it, fuck Yale. Fuck goals! They don't mean shit to me compared to you Kai! Rich, poor. A life in a shack or in a mansion. I don't give a damn! Money doesn't buy happiness, it doesn't buy love. It... it doesn't buy you..." she screamed at first, her words rising over the music, till they trailed off. Her face was red and the tears fell heavier than the rain outside the window. She felt like she was in the middle of the storm, wings clipped and she couldn't fly. She felt lost and she knew she always would if he ended things like this.

Her words should have made him happy but they just wound him up even more. This was it. He had to do it the hard way, he didn't want to but there was no other choice. His voice was low and steady as he said the words that he knew she was dreading to hear. "I do mean it. I am not changing my mind. I don't love you anymore." It was a downright lie and he hated himself for it. He watched her face as he let the words sink in. It was the only way she'd believe him.

She didn't believe him or at least she didn't want to believe him but she had never heard his voice so serious, so stern, so.. cold. Whatever anger had been rising within her dropped away and in its place fell the simple look of a woman whose heart had just been broken. What could she do now? She couldn't think, the pain in her chest was too overwhelming. Her lips parted to say something but no words came. He had rendered her speechless.

His words had done precisely what he had intended and it killed him in as many ways as he imagined that they would. His hands were in fists, his nails digging into the palms of his hands as he watched her lose the fight within herself. He didn't want to be the one that was responsible for breaking her like this, he despised the fact that this was because of his words and actions. But this is what had to happen, so she would be able to make the most of her life and be happy. He wanted her to be happy not just for now, but forever. He didn't feel that he could provide forever happiness for his Anela. This was how it had to be even if he did feel dead inside.

Slowly she turned and headed for the door, picking up her purse as she went. All the fire within her was being doused by the tears. Her fight gone, the wind knocked out of her by his words. Her hand fell to the knob of the door and she stopped. Her head turned, just revealing her profile to him. She couldn't look at him then. "I.. I'm sorry..." she choked out. "I'm sorry for what ever it was I did to cause this. For not being good enough for you. For not being the Anela you deserved. I'll never darken your door step again..." she said quietly, trying to stop the tears. Turning the knob she pulled the door open and stepped out into the storm. It was nothing compared to the one raging inside of her.

Kai almost lost his conviction as she said her last words to him. If he bent now, this would all be for nothing and she would never get what he wanted for her in life. He simply remained stoic and still in the middle of his room, his mind was reeling despite the calmness that appeared on the outside. He didn't understand precisely how much he had broken her until she began to apologize to him. His Anela never apologized for something that was not her doing. The knot in his chest dropped into his stomach as he watched his kuuipo leaving his life.

Ada moved like she was on auto pilot at that point, just walking as the rain that poured down seemed to try to wash away her tears but even for the storm it was a futile battle that it lost. Slipping into her cherry red Lotus Elise, a gift from her parents on graduation, she pressed the starter button and the engine purred to life. The radio was on and Ada just sat there as the tears continued to fall; listening to the lyrics. They only fueled the pain in her chest and the last sound of Ada as she left was the squealing of spinning tires on the wet concrete as she tore off into the night.

As Ada left, the anger and sadness inside him bubbled to the surface. As he walked to the window, watching her walking to her car, Kai gripped the curtains just for something solid to hold onto as he watched his life walking away from him. As he heard her car engine starting up, the CD Player changed tracks and begun to play a song that was far too fitting for Kai's liking. It pushed all the wrong buttons as he screamed out along with the squealing tires outside, his hands yanked his curtains from their railing on the wall. The wood clattered against the windowsill and landed on the floor behind him as he stormed over to the CD player and unceremoniously threw it to the ground as his legs gave way. He knelt on the floor, tears unwilling to brim in his eyes as he stared at the broken circuitry and plastic strewn out in front of him.

Flinching at her raised voice, Kai's hand recoiled for fear of being bitten. He stood up and folded his arms across his chest defensively. "You know what, you're right. I don't have any right to touch you but you can't tell me what I have and have not felt for all these years. You don't know me anymore, Ada. Same as I don't know you anymore. The one thing that I do know is that you're shaken up and need someone to be here for you now. I might have been a dick to you a decade ago but now is not the time for you to be alone. We can go get Ash to mediate if it'll make you more comfortable, but you're not getting rid of me just yet." He pinched the area between his eyes with his finger and thumb as he debated internally for a minute. Marc was going to hate him for this... "Besides, Marc would kill me if I let you out of my sight right now. Especially after what he's dealing with right this very second." He kept his eyes on her face, refusing to back down on this.

"I doubt I even knew you back then, I doubt I ever knew you," Ada hissed through her clenched teeth.

Slowly standing up, she put her weight on her good foot and wobbled slightly as she shook her heel at him. "What I know is you didn't love me back then, those words came from you're own lips. I seriously fucking doubt you have had a wealth of feelings spring from within for me since then. So take your guilt trip and shove it right up your Hawaiian ass! And I am just fucking fine alone, been alone the last ten years, what makes you think I need you now? So go meditate on that. If Marc kills you, so be it. He's been wanting to stomp a mudhole in your ass for ten years," she said as she hopped to turn around and began to hobble away from Kai. After about three pathetic hops she turned, revealing that same profile she had all those years ago.

"And for your information, I am the same woman I was the night you kicked me out of your life. The very same woman." Her voice cracked the same way it did that night, the same pain and agony crawling over each syllable that slipped over her tongue. Turning she continued to hobble away from the gym and Kai.

His jaw clenched and his fingers cut into his arms through his jacket sleeves. He snorted at her words derisively and he shook his head as he actually laughed, a gentle but angry chuckle that emanated from his throat. "Clearly you didn't listen to me back then and only heard what you wanted to hear. I said I didn't love you anymore. I d-did love you." He almost said it out loud but he managed to catch himself just in time. She'd never let him near her if she knew. Maybe she deserved to know, after all these years though? Nothing had changed with him really, he was just a little older and a little more mature even if he wasn't showing it right now.

Ada spun around and chucked her heel at him, it connecting right above his groin; a bit too close for comfort but she didn't care. She was furious and it showed as a fire lit in her chocolate eyes. "I didn't want to hear it then and I don't want to hear it now! Those words have held me back from everything I ever wanted in life! I remember them clear as crystal! They haunt my dreams and chain like Jacob Marley," she screamed as she pulled the medallion out from under her top. "And they'll never let me go."

His winced at the thrown heel but it wasn't as bad as some hits he'd had. He grimaced and then froze as his eyes connected to the medallion. He thought the hemp had looked familiar. That was it then, that was the sign he needed. He didn't care about her anger right then, he bent down and picked up her heel that was laying at his feet and walked towards her with purpose in each step. He bent down and grabbed her, fireman lifting her onto his back without a single word and walked her towards the parking lot.

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Jasmin was a little disappointed in the reactions from people but she wasn’t too surprised. She looked nothing like she used to in high school and a lot of these people didn’t even know her back then. She felt like those penguins out of Madagascar; just smile and wave boys, smile and wave. It seemed like all she had been doing since she got here. Well time would tell if anyone realised who she was and if they still didn’t get it by the end of dinner, she’d ask Ada to break the news in her grand way. Jas watched Ashley from afar, not wanting to be too close to too many people that she didn’t like all at once. Atlas was enough to deal with in that moment. A playful smile and light laughter was all the sound she made in response to Atlas’s “apology” about Ada.

Ashley hugged Hye tightly and only let her go when her best gal, Ada, came walking on over and gave her a hug before darting out of the room on the phone to Marc. “You better hurry back, I have lots to tell you girl!” Ash was quite looking forward to seeing Marc again under some slightly less stressful settings. They’d lost touch over the years but she still held a little soft spot for the guy, even if the feelings weren’t in the same level as they used to be. They’d both grown up and moved on which was nice. Their break up had been far more amicable than Kai and Ada’s so that was always something she treasured. This was going to be fun, despite the awkwardness that was bound to ensue with Cynthia being here and then, obviously, Kai and Ada.

Everything was fine until the moment that Atlas made the super smart decision to provoke Cynthia. Jas watched on in silence as Cyn began to beat the ever loving shit out of Atlas. She couldn’t move and she felt pretty much in shock at the spectacle. Ashley called out in shock and ran forward in her killer heels. “Cyn! Stop it! You’re going to hurt him really badly!” She wasn’t sure what to do. Jas raised a brow at Ashley’s attempts to stop the fight. What was she even thinking? Jas slipped back a few steps, watching on from the backlines as everyone stood helplessly about. She ended up close to where Val was standing.

Ashley couldn’t watch this any further, she heard Cynthia saying something about pretty colours and painting pictures, at least that’s what she thought she had heard. Ash couldn’t take it anymore, she moved forward and, nudging Jae out of the way as he actually laughed at the situation, Ash grabbed hold of Cynthia by the upper arms and dragged her off of Atlas as best as she could. It took a lot of effort but she finally managed to get her off.

Jasmin had to stop herself from laughing as Ashley dragged Cynthia off of Atlas, a grimace formed on her face and she chewed on her lower lip for a second, waiting to see if Cynthia would kick off at Ashley too. Things seemed to be okay, for now. She glanced to Val and raised an eyebrow. "Welcome back, Class of 2006..." Her voice was a little dry after having not spoken since people had began to arrive.

“Cyn! Look at me! It’s me, Ashley! You painted a lovely picture with the pretty colours but it’s time to clean up, okay? C’mon, let’s get these pretty colours off your hands and we can go find Ada. Is that okay with you?” Ashley rubbed Cynthia’s arm from the shoulder down to her elbow, as if warming her body up from a chill. She wanted to comfort her but she wasn’t sure if Cyn would accept it really but it was worth a try. She knew mentioning Ada would help to calm her down.

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