Reina was furious. No, furious was too light a word. She was bubbling with lava, anger bordering on hatred turmoiling inside of her. This is what she got? Her so-called friends breaking into her house and looking at everything? Was there no privacy in the world anymore? Did they become friends just to do this?

She knew it. Nobody in this Academy could be trusted. And-

“Can you stop searching!?” Reina shrieked, glaring daggers at Angel. She huffed by finally placing the book back in its rightful position.

Reina’s eyes inscrutably darted to the floor. She had to assume they knew the location of that hiding place. It was bad, there were a lot of important things there. She needed to redirect their attention.

“What the hell are you doing?” They flinched at the sharpness in her voice and Reina mildly got some satisfaction. Good, this was their punishment.

“How did you get here?” Monica asked. “What did you do to May?”

Reina leveled a glare at her that made her shut up quickly. “I don’t think you’re in a condition to talk, any of you. But because it sounds like your primary concern is the safety of May, I’ll let it pass.” Reina stepped to the side, revealing May behind her. She could respect somebody who took care of their loved ones. She’d only hoped with time, she could become one of them too. How foolish a dream.

“As for how I got away, May isn’t the best at keeping me distracted. She’s too shy and honest. I figured it out after we went around the tree about 100 times.” Behind her, May hid in her hoodie.

“You were at the tree this entire time?” April asked and promptly shut her mouth when Reina eyed her.

“Yes, I was. And now it’s your turn. Why did I come here to find Dawn guarding my house and you four scouring my room like madmen in a desert searching for water?”

Angel raised a hand. “I’m not with them.”

“I don’t care. Answer the question. It’s clear you thought this out, otherwise, you wouldn’t have had Dawn guard the door and May distract me. So why did you go to all this trouble?”

Reina has the feeling she knew what it was but she required to hear it from their lips.

April glanced askew as she muttered, “You were acting suspicious and we needed to make sure you were safe.”

“Look at me while talking!” she roared, causing her to jolt. “It’s bad enough you’ve broken into my house but you’re not even looking at me while admitting your crimes? What a disgrace.”

“S-sorry!” April squeaked.

“Crime?!” Juliet asked at the same time. Reina snorted and stared at her disdainfully.

“Of course, crime. You broke into my house and rummaged through my stuff. Last I checked, it’s illegal. I highly doubt you work for the government and have warrants, so I could get you sued. You’re too young to go to jail, but who knows? With the way things are in recent times, they may just chuck you in there anyway.”

“You can’t do that!” Monica said.

“Jail? I can’t go to jail! I can’t, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t!” Felicie murmured, quaking in her boots. Reina rolled her eyes. Stop shaking, dang it! They’re making her feel sympathy for them!

“I won’t sue you. Instead, I’ll tell your parents. Students like you who go through people’s stuff don’t deserve to be here. I can tell the Headmistress and it’s bye-bye for you.” There was no way she would talk to her but they didn’t know that, did they?

“Please don’t! We’re sorry!” Felicie begged.

“Sorry? You should have thought of that before breaking and entering. Now, as for you two. . .” Reina faced Dawn and May and grimaced. Leo was dripping drool all over Dawn. “Leo, stop that’s. It’s unbecoming. Drop her.”

Leo obliged and padded away to her bed. Reina viewed the two. “Technically, you should be recovering the same punishment. You knew what they were going to do and not only reported it to me but decided to help them. But since I’m not part of the government and thank god for that, I’ll let you get off easy. You get one warning.” Reina told them. She neglected to add the primary reason she did this wasn’t that they didn’t actually enter her house. The main reason for her choice was that she didn’t think May could handle being kicked out of the Academy and she didn’t want to see her crying face.

Not that she considered it, Felicie would most likely be crying as well. She wasn’t actually going to kick them out of the Academy, not at all. They were bright people who were smart (some smarter than others) and had determination. They could be a real asset to a couple of groups she knew, not that she would ever recommend them. Besides, the number of times she’s had to deal with interlopers in her house was crazy.

Seriously, you wouldn’t believe it.

This type of thing wasn’t anything new to her. If she let this make her so angry, Reina needed a better handle on her emotions. No, she would let them squirm for a while and when she was sure they wouldn’t do the same thing again, she would let them go.

Besides, if she were being 100% honest, she would have done the same thing without hesitation. The only difference was that she wouldn’t be caught.

Some rummaging noises drew her attention from the dejected expressions on her former friends’ faces. Angel was on her bed with Leo, going through her bed sheets.

Reina groaned. “Angel, I told you to stop that.”

Either Angel didn’t hear (yeah right) or she didn’t listen (totally) because she continued ripping apart her bedsheets. Massaging a headache forming on her forehead, Reina made her way over to Angel.

“None of this is making me less mad at you,” Reina assured the girls standing behind her as she clutched Angel’s collar. Right as she was about to drag her across her house and dump her outside, something caught her eyes.

A trinket, a necklace with a purple ball hanging. On the ball were the carved etchings of the constellations that resembled the galaxy. Reina had used to gaze into its seemingly never-endingness for hours on end.

The key word was ‘had’.

Reina hadn’t let this thing see the light of day since her parents had died. Something snapped inside of her and she hauled Angel off her feet and into the air. The necklace dropped to the ground and Reina immediately snatched it up. She palmed it, feeling the comforting weight before tightening her grip on Angel’s collar.

“You-you-“ Reina stammered, unable to come up with coherent words. Angel smirked.

“What? Having problems with-!” Her head snapped back when Reina punched her in the face. She was sent soaring backward and crashing into the wall, where she slid down onto the ground in a slumped position. Hanging above her was a crater where her head had been.

Slowly, the former friends turned from the body of Angel to her. Reina observed as their faces changed from guilt to terror. To them, she was just confirming their fears of her being evil. Being a murderer.

Bastards. She wasn’t the murderer here. She wasn't. She wasn’t. She wasn’t! It didn’t matter she couldn’t remember, they told her she wasn’t!

But they’d also told so many other lies. . .where was the proof she hadn’t? Where are the pictures?

“. . .Reina?” Felicie whispered in hushed tones.

“Leave. Shut up and leave. Now.” Reina warned.

“What is the-“

“Leave! Leave, leave, leave, leave, LEAVE, LEAVE, LEAVE!” Reina shouted. “Don’t tell anybody what you saw here! It’s not your business! I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it! Shut up, I didn’t do it! This is mine, not yours! You can’t have it! You can, can’t, can’t, can’t, can’t! I swear to god, they wanted me! Me, me, me, me! Not them! They were safe but they weren’t! It’s all their fault, not mine!” Reina collapsed and curled up. “Their fault, not mine. Their fault, not mine. Their fault, not mine.” she murmured.

Images of two figures appeared in her mind. She always accompanied them with this warm, glowing light. Because that was what they were, the light in her life. But then there was red. And her hands. And the house.

And the light disappeared.

When Reina came to, she discovered she was all alone with Angel gone too. Something soft in her side made her turn to find Leo cuddling her. On her lap was Rabbit doing the same.

Reina gazed out the window. Their fault, not mine. Their fault, not mine. It’s what she said nowadays to keep herself sane but who was she kidding? They were all the same.

Reina focused on the glass, watching the tears roll down her face. She registered a sharp pain in her hand and unclenched it to reveal bleeding, coating the necklace in blood.

Sighing, Reina got up and entered her bedroom. Turning on the faucet and placing the necklace underneath the steady stream of water, Reina grabbed the sink. She was still for a few seconds before it hit her and ragged cries tore themselves from her chest.

“Why? You said I would have friends. . .why?” Reina didn’t notice the water flooding and cascading onto the ground. Throughout the night, the word ‘why’ haunted her. For the first time in forever, the necklace was around her neck.