FicWad

(Party Poison’s POV)

“Hey there baby!” I yell at her like a crazy party animal. “You wanna get with me?” I ask her, the drugs and alcohol taking over. I wiggle my hips around in a poor attempt at seducing her. My vodka bottle ends up on the floor, still capped thankfully.

“Party, have you been drinking?”

“Yeah! You wanna join the party?” I say, giggling drunkenly. “We can do whatever you like.” I hum to her, expecting a giggle. I expected wrong.

“Party, it’s me. It’s Sun. I’m here to get my stuff, and give you your stuff back.” A box makes a heavy thud, which makes me laugh some more. I’m not even sure why I’m laughing right now, just that everything is funny.

“C’mere baby!” I say to her. “I wanna be crazy!”

“Party!” Sun gasps, and walks over to me. A slap across my face. “Party snap out of it! You know you shouldn’t drink that much! Are you high?” I giggle, and she slaps me again.

“Oh!” I say after the slap. “You want it rough this time? I like it. C’mere, I’ll get you out of those clothes.”

“Party!” Another slap from her, another drunken giggle from me. “Party what’d you take?”

“Nuthin.” I lie.

“Don’t lie to me Poison!” She screams at me. I yank her down so she’s sitting next to me. “Party! That hurt!”

“So did our breakup.” I say to her, she just raises an eyebrow. “But we can get back together!” I tell her. She shakes her head, but in my haze, there is not just one Sun, but three of her, all side by side.

“Gee.” She says. It makes me smile. “You look really stupid right now.”

“Psh!” I wave a hand at her, and try to sit up. Sun puts her hands on my shoulders to steady me. “I’m fine!”

A skeptical look from the Sun’s. “Really?” Sun on the left asks. I nod. “Walk to my bag.” They point to a bag across the room. Brown knapsack. “No falling or stumbling.” The middle Sun instructs. The Sun on the right helps me to my feet, and I try walking towards the bag. I take one step, and my leg feels like it’s made of concrete.

“Wee!” I scream as I fall. I fall with a thud, and it makes me laugh some more. “Up!” I say, putting my arms out for the Sun on the left. She pulls me up. “Woo!” I say, and hug the middle Sun tightly. That Sun pushes me away from her. I hear something clanging around her neck, and I reach for the Sun on the right’s sparkly necklace.

“Pretty!” I declare it, holding it up. I lift it over her head, and inspect it. I, even in my drunken stupor, notice something is missing. “Where’s my charm?” I ask her, getting angry. Why did they take away my charm? It was pretty! With the drugs and alcohol getting it on in my brain, I have the mindset of a toddler right now.

“Because I didn’t feel right wearing your charm when I was with Ghoul. It felt wrong.” She explains, gently taking the necklace from me. “I’ve got it in my pocket.” She withdraws the small charm, and hands it to me. The small mask charm lands softly in my palm. I’d painted it to look just like my mask. All three Sun’s move towards her drawer. Middle Sun starts taking stuff from her drawer, putting it all in an empty box on the floor. The heads turns to look at me.

“Party? What are these?” Left Sun asks, bending down and picking up a small yellow tablet. “What are you on?!? You know you can’t do drugs again.”

“Why? They make the world bright!” I slur at her, stumbling back to my bed. When I hit the mattress with my back, the world starts spinning. The Sun’s walk over, and I shriek at them.

“What’s wrong? She asks me.

I’m unable to do anything but whimper like a kicked puppy. The Sun’s are past, present. and -what I’m assuming is- future. I analyze each of them.

Past is on the left, my left if I was facing her, looking how we found her in the BL/ND labs. White hospital clothes, gauze around her wrists to keep her from attempting to kill herself, hair in a bun, pieces of hair flying everywhere. Cuts and bruises up and down her arms and what I could see of her lgs, probably either from being beaten into compliance, or from an excessively brutal exercise. Eyes grey at this point, sunken and scared looking. She was letting her eyes flick around, scanning the room for escape routes and weapons. Her hands stayed by her side weirdly enough, not up in a defensive position. No smile, no emotion, just radiating fear so obviously I could see it oozing out of her. Literally, the word ‘fear’ was oozing out from her hands. Maybe that was just the drugs.

In the middle, stood the Sun I knew. Or rather, the Neon Sun I wanted to remember. Shorts and jacket on, laughter in her eyes. The middle Sun had her eyes her natural color, and she was dancing around like she always did to make me laugh. Obviously present Sun, or the Sun I wanted to remember. My Sun, not Ghoul’s Sun. Mine. My Sun had her hair up, actually straightened for once. It was half up half down. She had her necklace on, and my charm was dead center above the hollow of her throat. She was playing around with her mask, making silly faces at me and smiling. I keep looking at this Sun, and she giggles a bit. What was going on? I mean, I know she’s very giggly, but not for no reason. I look to the right of this Sun, and another scream comes from my throat.

Future Sun. This Sun on the right was what scared me most. She was a little older, maybe a year or two from now. She’s still got her trademark shorts on, and the bandanna looped around her wrist was mine, but Ghoul’s was entwined with it, like a braided rope. When I glance at her, I notice her eyes. They’re a lilac shade and I remember that she only gets them like that when she’s in love with somebody. That much I knew. They’d turned that exact color when I told her that I loved her for the very first time. She’s got something on her other wrist, and I look closely at it. I see it’s the numbers 2-14-20, obviously some important day tattooed into her wrist. Her other tattoo was covered by the bandannas. She turns to look at something, something I can’t see. The date on the inside of her wrist bugs me. Other than Valentine’s Day, I can’t see what would be so important about the date. Her left ring finger has a pretty little ring on it, and she’s either married or engaged. It looks to be an engagement ring, but I can’t be sure. A giggle comes from somewhere, and then a burble. Not Sun’s sleepy burble or any other one I recognize for that matter. I yelp when I notice what else is with her. It’s not a what, but a who. It turns to look at me, and I see it has her eyes. Her big, blue-purple eyes stare back at me. The thing looks at me and it scares me. The eyes blink. They change into greenish hazel color. Almost honey colored underneath the flecks. My eyes. I see the mop of slightly curly brown-black hair, and the eyes blink again. Back to Sun’s color. It nuzzles back into Sun’s arms, and I blink quickly when I realize what it is.

It’s a baby.
(Sun’s POV)

“What’s wrong Party?” I ask him again genuinely worried. He screamed once more, and then shut his eyes.

“What the heck?” He asks me. “What the feck?”

“Party, you gotta tell me what you’re seeing.” I calm him, sitting down. He shrieks and scoots close to his wall. I move closer, and another scream erupts from him. “What are you seeing Party?”

“There’s three of you!” He screams at me. “And a baby! Why is there a baby!?!” He screams at me. I look at him, confused. What did he mean there’s three of me? There aren’t three of me. Just me. I mean, my sister was as close as it got to another me, but I hadn’t seen her since she’d died.

“You’re high. Majorly. We need to flush your system out.” I say, more to myself than him. I run to the counter, quickly pulling out a huge pack of water. I’d found some empty plastic bottles and spent a week filling them with purified water.

“Here.” I hand him a bottle, uncapping it for him. “Drink it, you’re gonna need it.” He takes a big gulp, and then throws it at me. The rest of the water bottle splatters all over me.

“Party! Are you kidding me? I have to change now!” I scream at him. It was like taking care of a toddler. Impossible to know what they wanted.

“So? I want vodka, not water. You give me vodka, I won’t throw it.” He says, rubbing his temples. “God my head hurts.”

“That’s because you’re high is ending. It’s called falling babe,” I slip up, using a pet name. “I mean Gerard. Not babe. Gerard. It’s called falling, and it’s pretty crappy.”

“You called me babe!” he says, ignoring my other statements. “We’re back together now?” He picks up his head for a kiss, and I move away from his puckered lips. “No welcome back kiss?”

“No Party.”

“Why?” he whines to me. “Why not a welcome back kiss?” He asks again, huffing impatiently. His eyes glint quickly. “You want more than a welcome back kiss?” He asks slyly. “I think I want more than jus t a kiss.”

“Because we aren’t back together.” I answer, feeling my heart tear a bit when he looks at me with sad puppy dog eyes. “I’m still with Ghoul.”

“Stupid.” He declares the situation.

“Can you talk in complete sentences?” I ask.

“Fine. I’ll use real sentences. Why are you here again?” He asks me, sounding more drunk than high.

“I’m giving you your stuff back.” I start laying the stuff of his he left in my Block into his drawers. All but the last thing. A rough frame I’d had a KIT make, one that was talented at making things. It was encasing a drawing of me. I was looking at it when I was picking his stuff up, and put it in here, thinking I could get rid of it. I couldn’t.

“That it?” he asks me. I nod. Another lie. “You’re stuff is in the drawer.” He points lazily, and then picks up another water bottle, chugging it down. I go and open my drawer, grabbing my stuff quickly. I see the ghost charm, and grab it. I yank my necklace off over my head, and reattach the charm quickly.

“So quick to replace me.” Party mumbles, and I try to not cry. “I guess that means you’ve thought about it then? Us I mean.”

“Haven’t had time. The stunt you pulled back in interrogation didn’t help.” I tell him sadly. “Are you really going to do that to some poor KIT or upper-class?”

“No. I was just angry at Ghoul being all protective over you. Brings back bad memories.” My heart speeds up. So he did still care about me. It wasn’t just a competition. I should let him know. I walk towards him, but then, when I sit on the bed, he pulls me in for a kiss. He fights me the whole way, keeping me in the kiss even though I try to pull back. Eventually, I pull back hard enough.

We pull apart, and I slap him. “You know you can’t pull a stunt like that!”

“Why? Made you and me break up afterall. Why couldn’t it get you to leave Ghoul?”

“Because I love him!” I scream at Gerard, whose mouth drops open.

“So that’s it then? It’s him not me?” he asks me quietly, not looking at me. “You made your choice?” His voice lowers in volume even more.

“No.” I’m quick to try to fix things. I can’t lose him. Not like this. “It’ll always be there Party. I can’t explain it now, but I love you both. It’s hard to explain, really it is.”

“No, it shouldn’t be. It should be me or him.” He says, still not looking at me. “What are you not telling me? Don’t lie.”

“It’s difficult.” I tell him. I’m purposely ignoring his last question. “You imagine being split into three.”

“What do you mean three?” he asks, looking at me again. I soften when I see that he’s about to cry. “Am I not enough?”

“I mean that part of me belongs to myself, a part I’m not giving up. That part got me through the torture, the experiments I barely survived.” That was a lie, that part belonged to somebody else. “A part belongs to Fun Ghoul, because I fell for him first.”

“But you also fell out of love with him first.” Party adds, and I shrug.

“Not completely. Then there’s this third part of me. The part you’ve got. The part I refuse to let go of.”

“Well, I guess that means I have a chance doesn’t it?” He asks me. I nod, and he smiles, blinking faster now. “Stupid sand, gets in the room, makes me tear up.” I hug the redhead to me, patting his back like he did for me so many nights.

“It’s gonna be fine. Thing will end up how they’re supposed to. Now, you good?” I ask him as I stand up, taking the bottles away and putting them in my box.

“I guess. I’m gonna sit here and sketch. See you later for the meeting?”

“No, I can’t make it.” I tell him, and he looks disconsolate at the thought. “I have to deal with some stuff. Dancing Spark needs to talk to me, and she’s young. I’m scared the older boys are harassing her. Will you talk the guys about that?”

“Sure. No problem. Anything for you Sunnie.” He smiles his cute little half grin at me.

“You really can’t call me that anymore.” I tell him and he shakes his head sadly.

“I can’t have your kisses, but I can call you that. I will call you that. Give me my alcohol.” He demands.

“Nope. It’s coming with me. I’d give it back, but I’m scared you’d drink yourself to death.”

“Nah, that’d require much more alcohol. Besides, I have drugs.” He points to the box in the corner, and then his eyes widen. We stare at each other for a moment, and I let my speed kick in as I race for the box in the corner. He makes it there seconds after me. I dive for the box, sweeping it away from him as I land on my back. By the time I get there, my brain is already searching for the pills. They weren’t out in the open, but I did see a cigarette box. I pick it up, and notice it’s weighted differently than it should be. I throw the top open, and push Party Poison away with my feet as he tries to snatch the box from me. I dump the pills into my hand, watching a box full spill out in a rainbow of colors. I shove the pills back in the box, and push Poison away again. I put the box down the front of my shirt.

“You act like I won’t go and get it.” He growls as I shove him back again. God this was exhausting. “You know I will. Maybe that’d get us back together.” He considers this option.

“Do you value parts of your anatomy?” He looks at me. “You won’t try to retrieve the box from its current location unless you wanna face full of pissed off and protective boyfriend. You know how jealous Fwankie gets.” Woops, another pet name. He nods his understanding, and I dig through the rest of the box, checking for an extra stash. After ten minutes of fighting Party off and looking, I stand. I’m satisfied with my search, which yielded no more drugs. I move to my box of stuff, and see one last thing I meant to give him. His mask. I toss it to his bed, and walk towards the door, carrying my box under one arm.

“Please, just stay. You can end it over the radio. Please, I’m begging you to stay.” A drunken red head begs me from behind me. My heart pulls, begging me to listen to him, to tell him now. But I can’t, it’s too early. I needed to get to my Block before Infernal Heartbreak got there, that way me and her and Violet Rage could talk. I needed to get their advice on some stuff, and then I had to talk to Dancing Spark. God I was worried about her. I was never this attached to a KIT, or any other student. It made me wonder what was with her that made me so protective. It was her age, I decide. She was so young.

“Bye Party.” I say, waving to him and walking out the door. I hear him throw something at the door after I leave. I walk back towards my block, and even as the sun is setting, I see bright purple hair flopping into my Block, followed by some black fringe. I run quickly speeding up to my full momentum and stepping just after Heartbreak does. I plop my box on the chair I have, usually used for barricading my closet when the lock doesn’t work.

“What is it you needed to tell me?” Heartbreak asks in her monotone, and I sigh heavily.

“Sun, when I asked about the scares, you seemed nervous. What’s going on?” Violet asks.

Another sigh from me. “Heartbreak first. You’ve heard him too?” I ask her.

“Yeah, he’s constantly analyzing my thoughts and actions. It’s horrible.” She says, a tiny bit of inflection.

“I hear him too. He was with me after the fight. Talking to me like my thoughts were a part of a conversation.”

“You fed into it? You know you aren’t supposed to do that!” Heartbreak tells me, and I look down. I didn’t like it when she was upset with me. “Sorry, it’s just, you’re still a kid to me still ya know? Not even twenty yet. You’ve seen so much that most 19 year olds shouldn’t have. It just bothers me that he’s getting to you too.”

“Who is he?” Violet asks, sounding rather annoyed. “I know her better than you do Infernal, and you guys need to let me in on who this mystery voice is.” She huffs.

“He, well, it might be a he. Sounds like a he.” Hearbreak starts.

Cutting in, I look to Violet, and we all sit down on my bed. “He is a voice me and Infernal both hear sometimes. We both hear him. It’s never just one or the other. He talks to us. But it’s only on occasion.”

“I have other voices that are specifically mine.” Infernal says, the inflection returning for a moment. She sounds proud.

“He’s the only voice I hear. He’s either my voice of reason, or the voice pushing me to my edge. We both have agreed that we think it’s from the BLI guys messing with our brains. For me it was the experiments. I remember them putting a tiny little incision behind my ear, and then something cold. Like metal, but not really. Then they knocked me out with gas. All I know after that was that he’ll occasionally feed me little bits of conversation, or BLI manifestos. Sometimes I’ll get just a word from him, and then he’s gone for months at a time. It’s rather annoying. I need to get rid of him.”

“So now that we’ve established that Sun isn’t crazy.” Violet starts, and Infernal cut’s in.

“And we already know that I am.” She says, making me snicker a bit. It was cool that she could make jokes about her problem.

“We need to get down to business.” Violet says. “I asked you if you’d had any scares lately, and you didn’t answer me. At all. Just a blush.”

“Yeah?” I ask. Violet makes me look at her, holding her hands against the side of my head.

“Answer me now.” She demands. “Now.”

“Yes!” I scream at her. “I’m having one right now!”

“What the hell are you two talking about?” Heartbreak asks us, and Violet moves her hands away. “oh.” She says, seeing the look I give her.

“You know for sure?” Violet asks me. I shake my head. “Figures. I remember the last time this happened.”

“Yeah, the past three times.” I mutter. “I don’t really know why this keeps happening.”

“Because it does sweetie. Sorry, but you need to be more careful with yourself.” Violet says. “Thankfully, I thought ahead when you and Poison ended up together. So, I’ve got something for you.” She reaches into a bag by the side of the bed, something I hadn’t noticed yet. You’d think with all the instincts BLI had given me, they’d make me super observant on and off the battle grounds. But no, that’s the ONE thing they overlooked. Typical.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” I ask her. Violet shakes her head, and I groan. “Do I have to?”

“Have you told Party yet?” She asks me.

“No.” I say, which was honest. “But I need to.”

“Not if you’re not you don’t. Go find out.” She hands me the bag, and I walk to my bathroom. I unwrap the box, and follow the instructions. Leaving the bathroom, I walk back out to Violet, who has a timer set.

“So, if you are,” Violet says during an awkward silence. “Do you think you’ll tell Party?”

“I’ll have to won’t I?” I whisper. “I mean, it is his afterall. Only one that would make sense. Not like I cheated on him. I wouldn’t do that to him.” Instead, I’d just dump him for his best friend. Not much better really. “What if he’s upset with me? That’s what scares me. I mean, what If he freaks out on me?” I’m starting to panic and get an anxiety attack. My breaths are becoming short and shallow, and I’m starting to sweat and shake. The voice takes this moment as it’s cue to pipe up. “he won’t help you, but we will. Come to the BLI people, let us help you. You can have a nice job, a safe life, a happy one. You’ll find a husband, have a few beautiful children, settle in….” It coos fake promises to me, and I shut it out, mentally constructing a box around where I thought the voice was, keeping it imprisoned.

“We’d always joked about it, but never actually thought about it. Oh my god, I’m so nervous. Do you think he’ll be happy? What do I do if he isn’t?” I ask, starting to get even more anxious.

“Yeah. I’m sure he’ll be happy.” Heartbreak says to us. “I mean, really, nothing to worry about there. He loves you after all you know? I don’t think he’ll be angry. And, honestly, he can’t blame you for this. Not entirely. Takes two to tango.” Another uncomfortable silence that lasts a good 15 minutes.

My hands are shaking. “I’m so nervous.” I say to them. Heartbreak rubs my back comfortingly. I’m trying not to cry, just out of sheer nerves. The breaths are becoming shorter, more shallow. “What color are my eyes?” I ask them, knowing they’d change.

“Green. With blue around the center.” Infernal Heartbreak answers me. Good, I at least had some control.

“I’m nervous for you.” Violet says. A timer buzzes. I stand up shakily. “Go, you need to know.”

“Well, I guess we’ll find out in a second won’t we?” Heartbreak says to us. “Go on Sun, you have to go check it.” I walk to the bathroom, look at the little test thing on the counter. I pick it up, walk out to Violet Rage and Infernal Heartbreak, and sigh heavily.

“Yes!” Heartbreak says, popping up and giving me a tight hug. She’d had some inflection, telling me just how excited she was. “Knew you weren’t!” Violet comes up and hugs me to. The hugs are suffocating me, squeezing me tight.

“Guys.” I say, and they hug me tighter. “Guys stop, you’re squishing me.”

“Not like we’re hurting anything!” Violet says. “I knew it!”

“Violet, stop hugging me!” I demand, but she squeezes tighter.

“No! You aren’t pregnant, this deserves a hug.” She says. Ah, Vi had been drinking a bit, I could smell the tequila on her breath.

“Violet you’re going to squish me and the baby to death!” I scream at the both of them, and they snap back.

“What?” Violet asks me. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that the test came out positive.” I say to her, and promptly start crying. Another hug from Violet.

“Sh, it’s gonna be okay. No need to be sad.” She tells me. “It’ll be okay. Party will be happy.”

“It’s not him I’m worried about, it’s me. Look at me!” I scream at them, and they do. “I’m too skinny! I haven’t eaten in days!” A gasp from the both of them, and a disapproving look from Violet sends me into even more tears. I hated making her upset with me, she’d been so nice, making sure I was nice and safe, making sure I was a proper KillJoy when I met her.

“Then you need to eat so you don’t starve the baby.” Violet instructs, moving to her bag. Out comes a protein bar thing, and some kinda of drink.

“I’ve been drinking to. Oh my god.” I start freaking out. “Just small sips, but still. Oh my god. Oh my god. I have to go tell Party Poison. Now.” I say, but Vi shoves the food in my hand. I unwrap it quickly, start shoveling it down my throat. My hand goes to my stomach. “I’m sorry.” I whisper, more to the baby than anybody else.

“You need to wait until you aren’t hysterical.” Heartbreak instructs. I nod my head, eating the rest of the food. “You also need to talk to Dr. Death Defying. He’ll get you stuff you’ll need.”

“Okay.” I say, and the door opens. Great, just what I needed. The test in my free hand quickly get’s shoved in a pocket of my shorts, safely concealed. The three of us were the only ones that needed to know.

(Fun Ghoul’s POV)

The first thing I noticed was that Neon Sun was crying and eating. Eating, that’s good. Crying, that’s bad. Next thing I saw was Violet Rage, in all her purple haired glory, patting Sun’s back. Infernal Heartbreak turned to look at me, looking more than a little sad.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, walking towards Sun. “Did Party do something to you?”

“You could say that.” Violet muttered, and I glared at her. “Well it’s true! Sun, you don’t have to tell him.”

“I’m just getting sick. Nothing big you know? My body is so used to not eating it’s rejecting the food. And we all know how I feel about vomiting.” Neon tells me with a weak laugh. “It’s nothing. Go to your Block, I’ll be there later for us to talk for awhile before I go to sleep.” She says, and I kiss her on the cheek and leave. Weird. Wonder why she was acting that way. As I meander back to my Block, Violet comes racing out after me.

“Ghoul!” She calls, and I stop. Infernal Heartbreak is right behind her.

“What? Is Sun sick again?” I become very worried, very quickly.

“No. But you can’t tell Party Poison she was crying alright? Things are about to get very complicated around here.” Violet answers as I continue moving to my Block. “You have no idea of the mess this is going to create.”

“What’s going on?” I’m even more worried now. Was Sun sick? Like, actually, truly sick? “Why won’t she tell me what’s going on? I know she was lying to me, about the food.”


Violet rolls her eyes. “You know her. It’s Neon Sun; she’ll tell you when she feels ready to. You can’t rush her into anything. Just expect some changes around here. She’s sick, just not how you think.”

“Whatever. Why won’t she just tell me?” I ask her.

“Because it’s Sun, and she’s dealing with it on her own right now. Just give her time. She’s got some big stuff in her brain right now. I expect you’ll know by the end of next week. It’s Friday, so that gives her 9 days to tell you.”

“Whatever.” I huff, walking into my Block and shutting them out.

(Neon Sun’s POV)

I lay down on my bed, staring at the ceiling. My hands lay on my abdomen, and I couldn’t stop thinking. What was going to happen to me if I didn’t lose this baby? Only once had this actually happened, and I miscarried about a month and a half in. I hadn’t told anybody, but I was sure they all knew, as much as Frank and I were together. If I do have this baby, what was going to happen to the Academy? Would I sacrifice the Academy for this baby? Would I sacrifice this baby for the Academy? What was Poison going to tell me? Was he going to be mad? Would this make us get back together? Oh God, I wanted to be back with him so badly. It was what was best for me. I was happier with him in the few minutes I got to see him than I ever was with Ghoul. That was horrible to think, horrible to know I’m leading Fun Ghoul on. He was a sweet guy, but it just wasn’t like it used to be. Maybe, if what had happened between me and Frank hadn’t gone the way it did, then ‘d be happily married to him right now.

What about Ghoul? How would I tell him I was pregnant with his best friends’ baby? How would he take that? What about what happened earlier? With the drinking, the fact that Party had hit me and kicked me? What if the baby was born sick or hurt? Would we be able to take care of it?

Who the heck is we? I ask myself. Who said anybody was going to support me through this? Who said Party would help me out with his kid? Maybe I could convince Ghoul it was his? No, I didn’t have the means to do that. This baby was going to be Gerard’s and I would ask that he help me raise it.

Another thought popped into my brain, and it cleared all the other’s. What was I going to do when BL/IND came and raided? Or if the neighboring KillJoy’s came? If I got hurt, I wasn’t just endangering [my/] life, but that of my unborn child’s. Maybe I needed to leave the Academy. No, I couldn’t do that. They needed me to teach. If I don’t stay, things would go crazy. I just couldn’t teach Fight anymore, well, not as a demonstrator. Ghoul would have to pick up the slack there. A knock on my door keeps me from crying.

“Come in!” I yell, trying to sound happy. As I stand, Dancing Spark walk’s in. She takes one look at me; shut’s the door and runs over to me, throwing her arms around me in a hug.

“What’s wrong? Did Poison hit you again?” She asks, and I release her. “What’d he do to you?”

In my mind, I answer with a very curt answer…got me pregnant, that’s what he did. Out loud, I respond differently. “Nothing. We fought a little, that’s all. No hand to hand stuff, thank God. Don’t wanna bruise him up too bad.” I say, making us both laugh.

“So, I needed to talk to you remember?” Dancing Spark tells me, and I nod.

“Oh, if you wanna look at my necklaces, I have them over in the corner.” I point. “I hang them up. So I can see them and they don’t get tangled.” I explain, even though I didn’t have to.

“Oh, cool.” Spark tells me, and she walks over. I see something bouncing on her neck, a chain. Her’s is gold, unlike the silver and bronze around my neck. I palm the peacock necklace, holding up the pendant. “So, that peacock one…does it connect with any of the other necklaces in here?” She asks me, hand moving to her chain.

I look at it. I’d seen where it could connect with another necklace on the pendant, but never tried any of mine. I had a few that were split down the middle, but I’d never found the other half.

“Uh, not that I’ve found.” I say to her, she turns to look at me, still playing with the chain. “What’s on yours?”

She pulls the chain out, and then covers the pendant. “I need to tell you something.” She says quietly, and I see her starting to cry.

“Did one of the older boys hurt you? Which one was it?” I ask, suddenly getting worried. Oh, I knew letting her stay was a bad idea. She’s gotten hurt. I hope they didn’t hurt her sexually. A few slaps or kicks I could deal with. We’d never had a sexual assault at the Academy. There’d be a lynch mob if word got out that the youngest girl here had been raped. I’d kill the kid who did it, that’s how serious it was. No that wouldn’t be a good idea. That was the hormones from the baby talking; they were making me highly emotional. I had to learn to control that.

“No. It’s bigger than that.” She moves closer to me, and then looks up at me. “It’s really important you keep an open mind.”

“Are you a spy?” I ask, getting worried.

“No. Stop asking, just let me finish.” She says and takes a deep breath. A minute of silence while she composes herself.

“Spit it out!” I say, getting anxious.

“I’m your sister.”