_{In reflection...}

A diminutive shock shot through Alice's spine, making her jump slightly at the sound of someone contacting the door to the art room. She fumbled with her pockets as Augie entered into her site, soon allowing the anxious pangs evaporate from her being as she realized that the intrusion came from one of her close friends. When Augie had made his way into the room, it was clear that Alice already had her cellphone in hand. Perhaps it was guilt that had her face momentarily flushed, though perhaps not. Alice never was one to be so open, even with Augie. Despite that, however, she readily greeted him.

"Oh, what's up? I was just—" Alice found her forced words cut off by Augie's own. In a sense, she was relieved that he didn't find it necessary to immediately mention how she'd so readily left the group. That had been a common start to conversations with a number of Alice's other friends, though she couldn't really blame them for that. At her friend's mention of the website, Alice sent a gaze towards the phone still held in her palm, her cheeks flushing slightly as she failed to maintain eye contact with Augie for a long moment. She didn't waste time placing it in her pocket thereafter, however.

"Yeah... I— Um..." Alice took a step back as she fumbled over her words. Without referring to it, she resumed sorting a number of recently used brushes and paints placed next to a canvas. This was not an uncommon sight, though Alice was well aware that the homecoming dance was no time for her to be tending to her duties as teacher's assistant. Nonetheless, it appeared as something of a habit to her. Perhaps it offered her a sense of comfort and something to do in place of idly interacting with her peers. She sure avoided that much a lot, at the very least. "I saw it. Do you know if Rob's alright? I would have come to check on him, but I just saw it now. I suppose that goes for Ara, too. They've both been dealing with all this..."

Alice trailed off again. What started as a caring and soft-hearted inquiry had shifted. Something in her voice had changed, as if the tone of her words was skewed if only for a moment. If anything was ever uncharacteristic of the background watcher that was Alice, perhaps it could have been recognized in that moment: a second of vexation as something unknown confounded her. The strange tonal inflections remained only for a few words before vanishing once more.

"All this drama. I'm worried. That the group will just keep—" Another missed beat hijacked Augie and Alice's conversation. Alice spent the moment beholding the canvas before her. It was out of Augie's view and it couldn't be placed what, if anything, was painted on it. "—Fragmenting. The site is having a much greater impact than initially expected..."

Augie watched Alice blunder and fluster, saying nothing, giving her time to get her bearings. She was a little odd, what with the art supplies and slight tonal change, but everyone's prone to suchlike when nervous. Not that he knew why she was nervous, just that she was.

When she was done, he said "I don't know how he is. He fucked off with Ara somewhere," he pauses briefly to regret his choice of words, "and Bernie rushed off in a huff."

He folds his arms. That his best friend kept that from him didn't bother him, everyone has secrets. That his best friend didn't talk to him after the secret was outed also didn't bother him. It all made sense. But something didn't sit right. Not knowing what that was did bother him. He scratched his head and looked around the room.

"That fucking website..." he said. He didn't say it loudly, but something outlined those words. A sense of panic, maybe. Maybe impatience. "Some of us will fragment, but I really think that the group will be mostly okay. I don't see many more people pulling a Ron, or Claire."

He kicked at the ground. There was a silence now. It was like honey, pleasant and thick, but sticky. Or, at least, that's how Augie perceived it. Silence didn't have to be awkward, it could be comfortable, and even speak volumes by way of mutual understanding.

"You seem really nervous. Is something up?"

---

---

Isaac watched Bernie leave and pulled his face into a frown just long enough to not be able to stop the brief melee that unfolded before him between Trevor and Deus, and Isaac quickly found himself alone with DJ for a few minutes.

He was... really not sure what was going on. Things had fallen apart fairly rapidly, and not exactly in the expected way.

Once Bernie finally came back, Isaac let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He looked her over and leaned in his chair. "You alright?"

He could tell that something had happened, he just didn't have any idea what. Well, ok, it turned out Rob had slept with Ara first and that was somehow worth causing a ruckus about? Multiple times over? Isaac got it, it was a dick move to spread that kind of shit about people's personal business. But dammit, did it really matter? Isaac was just... confused.

So he took Bernie's hand and after a minute, stood up and smiled at her when the music slowed. "Whaddaya say we go and have ourselves a dance, Berns? Would be a shame if we were here for the dance and didn't bother giving the chaperones something to do." He winked and gave her hand a small tug. "Come on."

Shoving her phone down, the voice of Isaac asking if she was alright was slightly aggravating. He didn't know any of the inner workings of everything so she couldn't blame him entirely, but she gave him a look of defeat in return. A weak smile fell upon her lips, "I always find a way." she spoke, looking around the table to see that most had taken off.

Soon the two would be out on the dance floor, arm in arm as a quick and fun tune brought out their classmates to let loose. Dancing around Isaac Bernie could feel a bit of tension relief in her brow, it was nice to let things go and just enjoy the moment. "I have to teach you some better moves!" she called over the music, her body moving against his- teasing, precise. She had done this before. The song would switch tunes eventually, slowing way down.

The couples and brave came to the dance floor now. Isaac felt warm to the touch as Bernadette rested her cheek against his chest. The two swayed back and forth. Looking up to him for a moment, she giggled- "Don't think about kissing me after this song, that is too cliche even for me." she looked away, another soft chuckle escaping. In reality she didn't care if he dipped her planted the biggest smooch he could muster on her dumb lips. She couldn't let him know that though, it just worked that way.

A hard break in the music would cause everyone on the floor to cease. The principal stood his mouth closer to the microphone causing slight feedback. "I just want to take this moment to tell everyone here tonight that we appreciate the support this student body gives on another! Soon we will be announcing Homecoming King and Queen, so make sure you all are sticking around, it will be so tight!" the cringe of his slang made a few people laugh, while others rolled their eyes. Shifting once more he spoke again, "Go Patriots!" that line got a few actual cheers, as the music came back in full blast.

---

---

Isaac had indeed been considering kissing Bernie at the end of this song, but it didn't really end naturally. Instead, the announcement was made about homecoming king and queen and Isaac shrugged. "Not much suspense when you think about it. We all know how this ends..."

Isaac shuffled his feet for a second and looked at Bernie as the music came back on, leaning close so she could hear him and also to hide his reddening cheeks from her gaze. She didn't need to know how nervous he was to say this. "As far as I'm concerned, Bernie, you're my homecoming queen... how's that for a cliche?"

That was when Isaac decided to lean in and go for the kiss. Nothing too bold, as he was entirely without practice and, well, he was far from being an expert. But kiss her he did, and as the cerebral fireworks faded he managed to speak again.

"I'm... glad you asked me to give you a ride all those months ago... and that you made me take you out for ice cream. And that you were patient with me and my... insecurities. So... thank you, Bernie. You deserve all the affection I can give you."

_{Ordeals and Repeating Patterns...
Who could break the mold?}

Alice hummed a low note as she pondered Augie's words, gaze shooting off into a distant cloud unseen to all outside of her imagination. The whole ordeal of homecoming—the whole ordeal of secrets changing hands and the aftermath thereof— brought something out in her peers. Alice could watch it happen. It had happened before with each prior secret revealed and it was happening now with Rob and his business with Ara. As of yet, Alice was uncertain of her feelings on the matter. It was all so confusing and hectic. She could never understand the rat-race that followed the exchange of secrets. Apparently, there was much more to it than she realized. For now, she could do naught but observe. That was her place.

Alice allowed the momentary silence born between her and Augie to permeate the room for a long while. She couldn't help but ponder the mental archive of those that had been outed with secrets thus far and those who had not. Alice and Augie were on the same side of the paradigm. She had to shake herself from her heavy thoughts as Augie questioned her. Had she appeared nervous? She tried to maintain ignorance to her own mannerisms, but that quickly melted away, and her blank and distant demeanor returned. She caught herself...

"Oh, I'm fine. Just... Not all that interested in the whole scene upstairs. It's a lot to deal with." When Alice had finally finished laying her canvas aside against an obscured shelf, she returned to clean the few supplies that remained out around the art room. It was as though she couldn't stop herself from perpetually continuing her duties even after hours. Perhaps it was more of a nervous thing, though. Alice, once again, wouldn't entirely be cognizant on the matter.

"They'll... Be alright, I think. This repeating process of secrets being traded... I don't think it will bother them forever." Alice maintained her distant trance-like gaze as she spoke, though as she took a long pause once again, her eyes finally flicked to Augie's own. "What do you think?" Alice pulled the canvas before her down from the easel, her mannerisms were nonchalant, though it seemed she was sure to maintain an angle where the subject matter portrayed in paint was obscured to all but her. Alice always was a shy one.

"Of the secrets. Of everything," Alice clarified. Perhaps she was fishing for answers to questions she wasn't entirely sure of. Either way, it seemed by the sincerity of her gaze that Alice's curiosity was genuine, and that was no common factor in conversations with the young artist. "Some may fragment," she repeated before continuing, "But what's it all for? The website... What do you think of it?"

Alice pondered the repeating pattern that seemed to trap Sterling High in a loop. She watched the effects, but none she had met could envision the cause. The whole secret revelations issue was a repeating pattern. The homecoming dance, its processes, and the whirlwind of emotions that followed— a repeating pattern... Her confiding in Augie must have been telling, as her palpable confusion on the matter seemed to show a certain degree of naivety.

When Alice broke the silence, Augie looked up into her eyes. She was saying how it was too much up there, to which he just nodded.

"They'll be... alright, I think---", she was saying.

When she was done, Augie didn't hesitate in replying. "They won't be okay for a while, and then they'll grow past it. They're strong, in it together, and kind. Y'know? Unity." he said, tone shifting slightly for the next words, "But doubtless there'll be pain before they're alright. It's always like that. Life is the intermission between shitshows. I think... I think this is just the next shit show for all of us,"
There was faith in his friends in his words, but there was also a rawness which coloured his words with a sense of unease, though it was her next words that truly gave him pause. What was it for?

He sat, staring at her a moment. Taken off kilter by the moment. Fiddling absently with the cord to his ear buds.

Stuttering and blinking, he said "I... don't really know. Maybe some kind of power trip? I- I think it helps to think that... maybe. It... it kinda gives you something to root against. People like that… need that? People need that. Or maybe... could be that- that someone wants to prove a point about helping friends out. I... I really don't know, Alice. What... what do you think?"

He didn't normally stutter.

Dribble once. Dribble twice. Breathe. Focus.

The synthetic leather ball spun very slightly in his hands as he held it. Deus' eyes were glued to the back of the rim. His dad used to tell him all the time about stories that circulated about Kobe Bryant. About what made him great. Kobe made 400 shots in under an hour. Though, Deus wouldn't spend a whole 45 minutes out here. He couldn't afford to get sick. In this pocket of time that he had, Amadeus managed to get up 34 shots from the free throw line. He made 28 of them. The he had made nine straight in a row currently.

It was weird. He came out here to sulk a little, if he was honest with himself. Yet somehow, it actually did manage to clear his head to some extent. Why was he getting all worked up about this now? She was never his to begin with. In fact, to keep it 100, it was actually terrifying how she could inadvertantly control his thoughts at any given moment. 'That isn't healthy', his aunt would tell him about his habits. Maybe, just this once, did he actually believe those words.

There was no way in hell he was gonna let his friendship with Rob or any of the others be tarnished by some weakass shit like this. They'd been through too much. They overlooked his secret and still accepted him befor this happened...So, no matter what his heart was bashing him to think, he wasn't going to let it control him. They needed support through whatever they were going to do or whatever was gonna happen.

With that in mind...-- his phone vibrated in his pocket. He had turned off all the other notifications from his other social medias, so the only one that was going off, was from the group chat of the 'Sinners'. Deus exhaled, and in a fluid motion, raised the ball above his head, took his final free throw. As a satisfying swish cracked against his ears, he pulled out his mobile device.

Apparently the homecoming king and queen were gonna be announced soon. It'd be some hilarious shit if the quarterback got picked after the team's poopoo platter performance. Dude was responsible for their first homecoming loss in a decade. Deus had to be there for such an event. The thought made him chuckle. Retrieving the ball, he looked back up to the rim, and shook his head some with a smile.

~~

Back inside, walking back down the halls, Deus noticed the art room. A thought of checking on Allie passed through his mind, but he had a better idea. He'd scare the hell outta her real quick. How would he do that? As he got closer to the door, his fingers rapped on it fast and hard. If done correctly, it'd shock her outta her art world that she got sucked into. Though, Amadeus simply kept walking. It wasn't a true prank worth seeing through. Just a little lighthearted jest.

Moving on though, Amadeus put the ball away, to much no one's surprise as to where he went. He caught sight of Bernie and the beard dancing. A small smile recurred as he passed them by as well, lightly jabbing Isaac's shoulder. Ol boy better do his Bernie right. Giving the couple their space though, he only managed to grab more pizza before randomly taking a seat in an open chair.

What happened then didn't matter now. What did, was what happened now, and how they moved forward with it. Deus still had a lot to figure out but for tonight, he'd have fun.

Her words caused his eyes to well up as the sweeping wave of happiness overloaded his senses. Out of nowhere Robert pulled her in tight and kissed her with all the love that he had for her. The two continued to kiss until the sound of an opening door in the distance disturbed them.

“Oh shit!” While Rob had tried to keep the words to a whisper it was more like a muffled shout. “Follow me.”

Once again Robert was pulling Ara along but this time their fingers locked tightly together. As the young man looked for somewhere they could hide he was distracted by Ara’s giggling. “I’m glad you find this so funny. We’re going to have to have a serious conversation about your behaviour later.” Ara playfully slapped the metalhead on the backside, giving him a suggestive wink. There was no way Robert could stop the wide grin stretching across his face.

The pair soon found themselves at the back of the gym, distant footsteps slowly getting closer. Rob hurried across the gym to the far doors leaving Ara by the way they had came in. With both hands he tried to push the double doors open, presumably to freedom. Unfortunately for him they were firmly locked. He turned to see Ara walking across the gym without a care in the world. While the guy was panicking the lady was as carefree as could be.

The only other option was a nearby storage cupboard where the gymnastics teams mats were stored. Hurriedly Rob twisted the handle and a satisfying click filled his ears. He quickly pulled Ara in and closed the door firmly behind themselves. He pressed his back up against it and felt his heart skip a beat as he heard the door at the far end of the gym open.

Heavy footsteps, presumably security, could be heard walking the towards them. As the footsteps grew closer Rob could feel Ara get closer and closer to his body. As soon as the footsteps were outside the room they were hiding in their chests were touching. He felt Ara’s hands around the nape of his neck, pulling his head down towards her. Soon enough they were kissing once more. The sound of the locked double doors rattling soon followed and the footsteps began to fade away into the distance, back towards where they had come from.

Robert and Ara separated. As his eyes began to adjust to the darkness he could make out Ara’s mischievous smile. Her hands soon had a firm grip of his shirt and with a determined strength she dragged Robert over to a nearby pile of gym mats. She threw him down onto them before taking a seat on his lap facing him. Rob tried to speak, only managing a few syllables before Ara placed her finger over his mouth.

“You’ve said more than enough tonight Robbie…” Ara leant down and began to kiss Rob once more.
In that room they stayed until the music of the dance had long since ended.

Annoyed by the announcement, and Ara's quick response in the group chat Bernadette Blackwell wanted nothing more than to drink until she got so drunk that the taste of vomit lining her tongue would be the only memory of what unfolded tonight. "It's just the perfect amount of cliche, I think." she commented to Isaac. She felt bad for him instantly. This whole time she had been so selfish, thinking of only herself to the point where she wasn't enjoying the moment with the boy she had spent all summer trying to get.

Why was it so often that you spent so much of you life hoping for something, and then the minute you got it, you didn't know what to do with it and ended up losing it? Bernie was distracted, slightly by her own thoughts but not distracted enough to see Isaac leaning in, his eyes closed and his lips darting for hers. They exchanged a soft kiss, despite the lack of practice between the two of them- it was perfect.

"You deserve better than me."

The words felt wrong coming from Bernie's lips, but she meant it in response to his "You deserve all the affection I can give you" but it came out more harsh, flat- like she wasn't grateful for the time they had these past months. She looked away for a moment, before looking back up at him- "I'm just happy to be here, with you." she didn't want to ruin the conversation any more, knowing that if she explained to him everything that was going on that she would paint herself as the fool everyone thought her to be. She knew that sometimes things were better left unsaid. "Let's get out of here, I just want to go home." she pleaded, hoping Isaac would comply and take her home.

On stage from the principal's mouth soon came the winners of this year's Homecoming coronation.



The murmurs and commotion from the crowd and knowing staff came to the principal's aide as he corrected himself, "Oh it looks like I made a mistake here." he chuckled as a student council member whispered in his ear, the name of the couple that had been the talk of the night, "Those names are awfully close don't you think.." he said grumbled into the microphone to the girl as she shrugged, he spoke loudly one more "ROBERT CADOWAY- CADOGAN, SORRY! ARABELLA JENNINGS, YOU STILL WIN. Jesus Christ.." he trailed off as he got off the stage, the spot light that lit up the thrones now searching the crowd for the two winners to come forward...

They could not be found.

---

The dance had been eventful, surely for more than just the losing football team.

The weekend after the dance had came and went, and the month went by just as fast. It is now the day right before the start of Winter Break, every one of The Sinner's is in their SENIOR MATH classes. Only a few more classes left in the day until they would be free from the grasp of daily homework and the lull of Mr. Dawson's math class. He was the only teacher not assigning a project of some sort over the break so he did have that going for him.

Mr. Dawson greeted the class with a few announcements:

"Good afternoon everyone." he chirped, his wiry glasses sinking to the tip of his nose as he looked over the printed out piece of paper he held. Rumor had it that Mr. Dawson had been teaching here since the school had began, and possibly was standing in that spot before construction even started. "The principal has sent us faculty an email about the string of vandalism that has been occurring on campus. It appears that the latest was found under the bleachers, right after the homecoming game." he licked his finger as he turned the page over to another printed sheet, looking up to the class before looking back down. "If the person comes forward now, their punishment will be not nearly as bad if they are caught later. This person faces suspension and possibly will not be able to graduate if they are a senior this year." a few conversations spouted from this comment, as the class contained all seniors.

"Well that's a shame, back in my day we could do whatever we wanted in school- sure we could drink, smoke, hold a steady job. Did I ever tell you guys about the time I .. " Mr. Dawson continued to speak as the class tuned him out, began speaking among themselves and their plans for the winter break.

"I don't know what the big deal is, this place needs a new coat of paint anyways." Bernie chirped to her friends that sat at her table, her eyes rolling as her head fell into her hands. She wanted to be home just as much as anyone, wishing this day could go by a little quicker.

Augie was rocking back in his seat and tapping his pen on his thigh to the beat of whatever song he had stuck in his head. Everyone else was zoning out, and anyone else may have said he also had, but the way he saw it, he had zoned into his own thoughts. Credit must be given where it's due. Some of these thoughts were of lyrics and rhythms, some were of memes, some of the washing he forgot to hang out, and some were of the homecoming dance. Or, rather, homecoming "everybody cool either sits awkwardly or disappears and does their own thing, because it's really just free time that could be spent better than dancing", he thought.

And the conversation he had with Alice. He was thinking about that, too, but he didn't want to admit that to himself. Nor hid he want to admit that he didn't want to admit that to himself.

It was when Bernie piped up that he was startled, train of thought crashing. He found out for the hundredth time why people tell you not to swing on your chair, but caught himself before he hurt himself. He only looked like an idiot.

After righting himself and pretending that nothing had happened, he said "Better yet, let the arts students paint the walls. It'd look way better than a uniform coat, cost less, and maybe it'd get us known for something other than football."

Wall paint was overrated.

"Oh, I think we already are known for something other than football, Augie. How many schools you know have a website that has dirt on every single student and staff member?"

This comment casually slipped from DJ as he doodled in the margins of his math notebook. While there were mostly notes (DJ was a class clown, not a slacker), there were also a few little sketches of stick figures and various patterns and that weird S thing everybody drew for some reason or another.

"You guys know what's bullshit?" he asked, setting his pencil down and leaning in close to whisper. "I overheard a couple of sophomores making bets on who the site was gonna hit next. I just wanna state for the record that that was MY idea first, alright?"

DJ exhaled, looking around the table at his friends.

"Four of us in a row...which one of us is next?"

_{In chasing thoughts the future...}

"Unity," Alice repeated after her friend. She had appraised most of Augie's statements with momentary scrutiny that soon faded into agreement. The thought of all her friends surmounting the difficulties brought by the whole ordeal with the website granted hope to a woman who once thought of the future, the site, the school all as omens for some worse fate. As Alice finished tidying the stray materials and paints that seemed to surround the easel before her and those adjacent, she listened intently to Augie in between his own stutters.

When Augie had finished, however, Alice gave a long pause. Her absent gaze into a distant nothingness seemed to explain that she was unable to immediately answer his question. After a moment of silence, Alice once again locked eyes with Augie, delivering but one final thought:
"I'm not sure either. I can't imagine I'll ever understand the motive behind something like this, but I don't think it will just go away either. I guess we just have to wait and—"

Alice's speech was cut off as she jerked towards the door. A momentary banging sound had caught her attention, and it seemed to pull her from her thoughts. Shaking herself off, she stepped from behind the easel towards the exit.
"We should probably get back to everyone else before they notice we're gone.

---

_{But not catching up...}

The announcement had Alice wide-eyed for a moment. She hadn't reported the markings she'd seen below the stadium, but someone else apparently had. The teachers at Sterling High had eyes everywhere anyways. Despite the news of vandalism, Alice seemed rather at peace in her usual trance-esque state maintained whilst staring at her notebook and making random notes and sketches all throughout its pages. She hadn't bothered to comment on it, but DJ's words did give her pause.

"I'd rather avoid the thought of who's next. We shouldn't joke about it at least... Right?" Her uncertainty was palpable, but was it ever unexpected?