Monday morning, another day, another alarm almost completely obliterated by my swinging fist. It bounces off the table and clatters to the floor as I rub the sleep from my eyes with a yawn. The rumblings of Anon add to my own as he cracks his back and blinks at the sunlight trying to burn a hole in his retinas.

“Fuck me,” he groans out as he swings his legs over the edge of the bed. “How many more days until school is over? I never want to hear another alarm for the rest of my life.”

My eyes tiredly scan my phone before it slips out of my fingers and falls on the bed as I shift to look at him. “Only three weeks left, Anon. Three more weeks of dealing with this shit until then.” I sigh as I roll out of bed and hit the floor with a tired groan. “Ow…fuck you, ground.” I dig my claws into the carpet and push myself back up and groggily stumble my way to my dresser, pulling out clothes for the day.

Anon sighs with exhaustion as he grabs his pants and jacket up off the floor. “Just three more weeks then we never have to go to Volcano High ever again, can’t fucking wait.” He grumbles as he slips on his pants before failing to get his arms through his jacket and struggling to pull it over his shoulders.

He struggles in vain as I walk over and help him get it on properly and kiss his forehead. “At least it’s almost over, Anon. Not like this year has been good for either of us…I’m pretty fucking eager to put all this shit behind us and fuck off from it forever.”

He nods as he scoots off the bed. “We finish up this school year and off to whatever life we end up living here in Volcaldera. Not that I really got much of a plan—my dad’s ultimatum to send me to the military always seemed like something I’d have to do but I guess with your dad’s help, I suppose I’m college bound…whatever the fuck I end up doing.”

“Well…” I slip in behind him and drape my arms across his shoulders. “We already know that we are going to college, we are going to move in together and probably work for Moe until we graduate. I think that’s all we need to worry about for now, right?”

He nods with a warm smile as he kisses me on the lips. “Right. Don’t need much else in my life besides you, Fang. Everything else is just a bonus.” I blush a little as he runs a hand through my hair. “Though we best get ready, we don’t need to be late. Spears could still cancel the whole thing if we step out of line.”

I nod as we head down the hall to the bathroom. Not like we got time for separate showers as we both squeeze in for a quick wash and I spend a couple minutes drying out my hair. A few moments later, after a quick snack provided by my ever-present mother, we step out into the blinding sun. Fuck off, summer, can’t wait till fall kicks your ass and I don’t feel like I’m stepping into an oven every fucking day. After we get a decent distance away from home, I flip open my pack of cigarettes and offer one to Anon, who sticks it in his lips as I light up both his and mine.

He takes a quick drag, tapping off the ash and puffing out a wisp of smoke. “So, what does your mom think of your smoking habit anyway?”

I burn up a good chunk, rolling my eyes. “She doesn’t know how much I smoke. She just thinks it’s something I do to look cool or some shit.” The smoke lingers in my lungs for too long and I have to pull away as a couple of wracking coughs punish my stupidity. “Fucking lung…it really needs to hurry up and fix itself. I’m getting really tired of having to be so damn careful with these.”

He takes another drag, looking over at me with worry in his eyes. “I mean, it might be a good idea to kick the habit, Fang. I don’t know if your lung will ever fully recover if you are nuking it with smoke on the daily.”

I shoot him a glare that could punch through steel as I flick ash at his shirt that he quickly swipes away. “Tell me that after school is over. Or maybe after we play the most important fucking event in my life. Perhaps after I’m through therapy and don’t feel like every fucking day is a goddamn struggle just to get out of bed.” I snap at him before sucking in the rest of my cigarette and violently stomping the butt into dust as I breathe out a huge cloud of smoke. “Until then, don’t fucking tell me to stop, okay, Anon?”

He sighs with a shrug before he finishes off his cigarette and flicks it into a storm drain. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to upset you—just worried about your health, is all.”

The guilt settles in as I lock my arm with his, resting my cheek against his shoulder. “Sorry…I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. It’s just hard. Every day I’m worried I’ll do something stupid and fall right back into the pit. It’s like I’m barely standing on the edge and anything could just shove me into the dark again. I can’t wait till graduation, then we start our new life together and screw off from this drama bullshit.”

He nods slightly as his hand interlocks with mine. “Not too much longer. Then we do whatever we want, with nothing and no one to get in our way again.”

I smile softly as I scoot closer to him. The rest of our walk is in comforting silence as we make our way to school. The muted sounds of students milling around the stairs greet me as I open my eyes. I nearly fell asleep hanging onto his arm the whole way…don’t get much sleep these days with all our practicing into the late hours of the night. Reed is busy hiding in a corner smoking what I know isn’t a cigarette. He catches sight of us and waves us over with a grin.

“Yoooo, how’s my favorite dude and dudette doing today?” He takes a deep drag of whatever he is enjoying as the pungent smoke wafts around him. His eyes are barely half open and his dopey grin only grows with every breath.

I swipe at the air, shoving aside the smoke as we get closer to him. “We are doing pretty good, Reed. Fucking tired as shit, but every day is one more down before we are out of here. I’d ask how you are doing but with all the smoke, probably pretty damn well.”

He smirks with a nod before taking another hit, puffing the smoke up above us as it drifts away in the wind. “You know it. Just doing my thing while avoiding the fuck out of Trish.” There is a touch of vitriol to his words as clarity almost returns before he slips right back into his dream world. “Not that it matters much. We got one show and we are out of here, then we don’t got to do shit ’cept get rich.” His eyes dart between us as his smile gets wider. “You guys want in on my pharmaceutical plan? Carfe for everybody, dude!”

I sigh with a chuckle as I shake my head. “No Reed, you can do that on your own. Anon and I are going to actually try to stay out of prison after we graduate.”

He shrugs with a sly smirk. “Sure, sure, suit yourself. I’ll still buy you guys shit when I’m the richest raptor in the world!” He drags out the last word for a long time before his arms fall to his sides. He takes one last hit of his smoke before putting it out and stuffing it in a bag. “No evidence, I can’t get in trouble.” He answers my internal question before I even ask it.

“Yo, Anon!” Reed finally says something to him, or maybe just now remembered he was even here. “How’s practice going, bro?”

Anon smiles with pride, giving him a thumbs up. “I’m fucking killing it, Reed. I’ll be ready for the show, don’t you worry. Fang has been an amazing teacher and that song of hers is going to knock ’em dead.” Anon pats my shoulder with a beaming grin as a tinge of red grows on my snout.

Reed’s smile grows into a toothy grin as he punches Anon in the arm. “Niiiice dude, I knew you could handle it.” Life seems to disappear for a second as Reed stares at nothing before coming back to reality. “Dude, I’m fucking starving. Is it lunch yet?”

“Reed…” I sigh while running my hand across my face. “It’s fucking seven in the morning. It’s five hours before lunch.”

“Oh…well shit, guess I gotta break into my emergency snacks.” He spins around and opens his bag, tearing out a sandwich and devouring it in one bite. He pats his stomach with a satisfied sigh. “Ahh, that hit the spot…” He blinks a couple of times before smiling and hugging us both. “Anyway dudes, gotta get to class before I forget where it is. Catch you bros later!” He waves in entirely the wrong direction before grabbing his bag, walking into the wall, and then finally figuring out where the door is.

Anon and I both stare in amazement as the train wreck plays out before us. “How the fuck is he both the dumbest and smartest person I’ve ever met?” Anon says as he shakes his head.

“I…don’t know. I don’t think any version of science could ever explain Reed in a way that would make sense.” I sigh before tightening my grip on his arm. “Come on, let’s get the day over with so we can get home later and practice. We’ve still got a lot of work to do before graduation.”

“Right.” He nods as we walk through the door. We part ways in the hall as he splits off to his class. It’s been weird…not once has Trish tried talking to me after what went down. I had expected she’d try some shit like she always does, but it’s like she’s actively avoiding me at all costs. She never looks up from her desk and if I even look in her direction, she stares at the floor, desperately avoiding my gaze. I can’t say that I mind it—after what she’s done, I don’t think I ever want to talk to her again.

Homeroom goes by quickly, only another boring test and a pile of homework I’ll probably ignore till the last minute as usual. My next class is another fucking situation entirely. Naomi hasn’t tried to speak to me at all since I got back. I would guess that Naser told her what happened, and I’d hoped that for the first time in her life—or at least since they’ve been dating—she might be staying out of my fucking business. I really don’t want to talk to her; I still fucking hate her for what she’s done, but today is different than every other day since I returned. She’s been staring at me since I walked through the class door. It looks like my days of evading her are finally up.

I take my seat at the back of the class, hoping her brown-nosing ass wouldn’t dare give up the front seat she always takes to be as close to the teacher as possible but nope, here she comes. She sits beside me, and I do everything I can to build an imaginary wall between us, but she breaks it down in an instant with her diabetes-inducing voice.

“Hello, Fang!”

Raptor Jesus, shoot me now. I stare blankly at the classroom in front of me; maybe if I ignore her, she’ll go away?

“How have you been? Your brother told me all about what you went through. I am sorry that prom went so badly for you. I’m also sorry about what happened to you after. I can only imagine the pain you’ve been dealing with.”

Yeah…the pain you helped cause, you pompous prick. I nearly pop a blood vessel as I struggle to keep myself from showing her the inside of her own throat. “Thanks.” I gruffly reply as I pull my phone out, doing my best to show I have zero interest in this conversation.

It doesn’t work as she continues to use that plastic smile of hers, pretending she gives a damn. “Is there anything I can do to help you out, Fang? Homework help, perhaps, or maybe a list of a few good self-help books on depression?”

“Naomi.” My words seethe with barely contained hate as I turn to glare at her. “I don’t want help from you. I will be fine. I have plenty of support from Anon and Naser. I really do not need anymore. Please, leave me alone, this isn’t going to help.”

“Oh, come on, Fang,” she scoffs as she rolls her eyes before her smile returns. “We’ve done plenty of things together before. This will just be another challenge to overcome! Plus, I know how much Naser would want to help you and I want too as well. We might be family someday, who knows!”

Family? Rage bubbles in my mind as I grit my teeth. She wants to act like family to me after trying to manipulate my entire life to make me what she wanted me to be? So that she could have Naser all to herself and not have him worrying about me at all? At this point everything she says is an insult; after what Anon told me, I’ll never be friendly to this bitch.

“Naomi…” Even saying the name makes me feel sick but I keep my face steady as I stare daggers into her eyes. “You might one day marry Naser…but you’ll never be family to me.”

“But Fa—”

“Shut the absolute fuck up, Naomi!” I snap at her. “I know what you did.” I can see the color drain from her face as she gasps. “Anon told me everything. I will never ever fucking trust you again. You nearly killed me with all the shit you pulled, trying to make me into that perfect sister for Naser.” My pencil splinters into pieces in my hand as I grip the edge of my desk. “Don’t ever fucking talk to me again. If you do, I can’t promise that I’ll be able to keep my claws to myself.”

Her jaw snaps shut as she trembles in fear, hurrying out of her seat before sitting back up in front. I can see the terror in her face as she glances back at me from the side of her eyes. I can’t lie, I enjoy how scared she looks right now. I can only imagine how good it would feel to tear into that bitch, to make her feel like I did when my world collapsed. I wonder if she would have enjoyed a bullet to her—

I cut the thought off as I grip my head in my hands. No…don’t think like that. I am better than this. I’m not a monster…I don’t want to hurt anyone. My hands shake as I try to calm down. I can’t fall apart now—we are making such good progress and are only a few weeks away from escaping all of this. I just need to hold it together a little while longer. Fuck, I really hope this doesn’t bite me in the ass. Naomi has a lot of pull as student president. Hopefully for the sake of not losing her relationship with my brother, she’ll keep her fucking mouth shut.

The rest of class goes by quietly. Naomi hasn’t so much as turned in my direction again, thankfully, but I decide to text Anon.

Fang: Anon, I might have fucked up…

Anon: What happened, Fang? Did someone mess with you?

Fang: Naomi tried to talk to me during class…I miiiight have threatened her with physical violence a little bit.

Anon: Shit. I mean, I’m not surprised after what she did but we gotta be careful. Naomi has messed with our lives before and I can easily see her doing it again. Just cool it around her alright?

Fang: Yeah…I’ll do better next time. She just fucking ambushed me and I snapped. See you at lunch?

Anon: Of course. Cafeteria right, since Trish has been living in the auditorium?

Fang: Yeah, see you then. Love you.

Anon: Love you too.

As I click my phone off, the bell rings. Students who were barely paying attention as it was quickly grab their bags and stream out the door. Naomi practically sprints out the door to get out before I even stand up. Shit, I really did scare the crap out of her. Nothing I can do about it now, I guess. I shrug as I pick up my stuff and head to lunch. A nice juicy steak will help calm my nerves down. Anon and Reed are by the cafeteria door and I make my way up to them.

“Hey guys!” I wave as they move away from the wall they were leaning against and walk up to me. “Let’s get something to eat…I’m fucking starving.”

“Yooo, yeah, I need like…a lot. Let’s get in line.” Reed opens the door for us and we quickly jump into line. Anon and I each snag a freshly grilled sirloin steak with a side of sauteed mushrooms as Reed grabs a burger and fries, inhales it, and grabs another as we look for a table. I see Naser and Naomi in the corner, but it seems like her faux personality is back in full force as she shows none of the fear of just moments before. I guess it takes more than that to rattle her for long. We find an empty table and settle in. Half of Reed’s burger is gone before he even sits down.

I poke at my steak for a second before slicing off a chunk and chewing it. A thought crosses my mind and I look between them both at the table. “So, has Trish been avoiding looking at you guys, too?”

They look at each other and nod. “Yeah,” Anon says as he takes a bite of his steak. “Reed and I sit next to each other in math class now and she huddles at the furthest desk in the back. She doesn’t even respond when the teacher calls her up. He’s given up at this point.” He takes another bite with Reed looking on.

“Yeah dude. She got shit on after the school found out what she did.” Reed shoves the other half of his burger down his throat before sipping on what I know isn’t water.

I raise an eyebrow at him as I chase a bite down with a swig of soda. “What? Found out? How in the world would they have figured anything out?”

“Some dude musta heard me yell from the hall, bro. Didn’t take long and the rumor mill spread it everywhere. Nobody talks to her anymore. Not really wanting to be friendly with some chick that treated the girl who nearly committed suicide like she was just some box to stand on, dude.” He shrugs as he swipes a handful of fries and tosses them in his mouth.

I idly stab a few mushrooms onto my fork and twirl them around. “Huh, can’t say I really feel bad about it getting out. Still, I didn’t think she’d end up a fucking pariah. Not like the students were really nice to us either when they booed us off stage…twice.”

He shrugs as he finishes the rest of his food before standing up to get more. “Fucking up a music show is one thing, dude. Trying to use someone as a doormat who almost died is a whole fucking different kind of shitty.” He disappears for only a moment before appearing again with a full plate.

“How the fuck do you afford all that, Reed?” Anon says as he stares at Reed’s third helping.

“I make a lot of sales, bro. Not the only dude here that likes a little carfe in the morning.” He flashes a wad of cash before stuffing it back in his pocket. Shit, maybe he will be the richest raptor in the world.

While I hate Trish for what she did, I still didn’t want her being shunned by the entire school. Though, I mean, she kinda deserves it…I nearly die and all she wants is to push the band to make money. I need to see what she does during lunch.

“Hey guys, wanna check out the auditorium?” They both raise their eyebrows with concern. “No, we aren’t going to talk to her. I just want to see what’s going on…make sure she isn’t going to do something stupid like fuck up our show.”

“Alright, Fang.” Reed dumps his food into his mouth. “Let’s go see what she’s up to.”

Anon and I quickly eat the rest of our food before heading out and sliding up to the door. All three of us barely fit as we look through the glass window of the door into the auditorium. Only a handful of lights are on but we can see the distinctly purple shape of Trish on the stage. She’s looking at a pile of band stuff. One of the aprons she was trying to sell, a few CDs with her attempts at cover art, and the band poster she used to advertise our first show.

It’s a somber sight—she looks so broken. There are a couple photos of us mixed in as well. Tears stream from her eyes as she chokes back silent sobs, her fingers lingering over my face on the photo as she slides it away. She gently holds up a photo of Reed, a new pain altogether in her eyes as she slowly brings her lips to it and gives it a soft kiss. We both look at Reed who stands there dumbfounded before shrugging at us. She puts it down and continues to sort through the scattered belongings before her. The look in her eyes is one I know too well, it’s close to the same one I gave myself that day when I felt the whole world had fallen apart. Trish quietly sobs to herself, gathering up her things and putting them back in her bag. She doesn’t move after that, she just stares off into space.

We all pull back from the door together and walk away, not wanting her to catch sight of us. We are dead silent as we slowly make it to the end of the hall as we all take in what we just saw.

“Shit guys, I shouldn’t fucking care but I’m worried about her,” I say as I lean against the wall.

Reed nods but still looks unsure of himself. “Me too, but, I mean…come on. Why does she get to act like her world has broken to bits after everything she did? All the shit she would have done if we hadn’t stood up to her? Fuck…I dunno, Fang. I don’t know if it’s not just another trap to hook you in again.”

“Yeah…” Anon speaks up as he rubs his chin. “She’s always been crafty. I mean, all she knew was a name and she found all that shit out on me. We can keep an eye on her but we gotta be careful. One wrong move and she’ll have us under her boot again.”

I sigh quietly and look down the hall. “You’re right. I’m just worried. I know that look on her face. It’s not a good place to be. If she looks like she’s going to do something dumb, I’ll tell the principal. Spears will be able to handle her better than us.”

They both nod, agreeing with me as the bell dings, signaling the end of lunch. The rest of the school day is a blur as my thoughts drift to Trish constantly. She did some fucked up shit to me, but I still don’t want her hurting herself or anything. No one deserves to go through that pain, especially not alone. As school ends, Anon and I walk home together, arm in arm and talking about plans of what we might do after school. He still doesn’t know exactly what he wants to do and neither do I. Us floating the ideas of him being a sound engineer and me possibly considering something in teaching.

We get home and have dinner with my parents, Anon and my dad talking about anything we might still need for the show while my mom peppers me with questions about our future. She’s just happy I’m still here to plan a future with after everything. I don’t want to think about what she would have gone through had I died that day.

After a few movies with the family, Anon and I crawl into bed. The welcoming comfort of my sheets and pillowtop mattress sooth my tired body. We’ll get some practice in tomorrow; too much was on my mind the whole day for me to have thoughts about anything other than Trish. She has me worried. I don’t want to think about her doing something drastic or stupid. No matter what she has done, I don’t want her dead…or worse, doing something terrible at school. Anon and I cuddle up together under the covers and I kiss him good night. Maybe I can give Trish a second chance…but not yet. She still needs to apologize. Perhaps all of this shunning will help make her realize that she fucked up. From what I saw of her on that stage, it may already have gotten through that thick skull of hers.