*Hands over a pack of Oreos*

"No she didn't." Lexi gasped, looking at me wide eyed.

"Oh yes she did." Perri grinned, while Mia nodded in agreement.

"You used to sing?" Lex asked, in disbelief as she sat up straight from being sprawled on the couch attached to my bed. "And you didn't tell me?!"

I rolled my eyes, popping another cheeto in my mouth. "It's no big deal, everyone tries to sing when they're kids."

"Oh puh-lease." Perri scoffed, waving her hand dismissively. "She didn't just try singing. She was amazing at it."

"I agree." Mia nodded. "I'm surprised that you stopped."

"I wasn't that good." I shook my head at Lex. "I just did it for fun."

"You know what? I'm gonna stop believing everything you say from now on." Lex grumbled.

"Hey!" I complained. "Alright, I didn't think it was that big of a deal. And I stopped singing after I moved anyway, what's the point?"

Mia shook her head. "You're both so stubborn."

"Both?" Lex asked, confused.

"Yeah, her and Ryder." Mia smiled in sympathetically. "They used to sing together."

Lex gasped before climbing on the bed and crawling closer to the rest of us. "That's so fucking cute."

I rolled my eyes, focusing on my Cheetos.

"I know right." Perri squealed. "Actually it was Ryder who once decided to learn how to play guitar and he asked Em to help him practice by singing along and then they just started harmonizing, out of nowhere, in the most beautiful way possible."

"Yeah and after that they sang together almost everyday." Mia added, grinning. "We used to sit around and listen to them sing for hours."

"Why didn't I get to experience this?!" Lex fake cried, making me shake my head.

"You could." Perri said slowly, glancing at me from the corner of her eye. "I mean, aren't they here now, together?"

"Acting sly doesn't look good on you, honey." I said without even glancing at her.

Mia laughed. "Oh come on Em. Think about it? We could plan something, like the old days."

"Yeah. Like a picnic, or a bonfire." Perri said wide-eyed.

Mia nodded, and suddenly her eyes widened in excitement. "Ooh and your birthday is coming up, isn't Ethan going to visit? We could plan something together."

My hand froze in the packet of Cheetos as my smile slowly dropped.

Lex cleared her throat, noticing that I was getting uncomfortable. "Yeah Em doesn't really celebrate her birthday."

I cringed at that as everyone looked at me bewildered.

"What? Why?" Mia let out first. "You used to love birthdays."

I let out a nervous chuckle. "I don't know. I think I grew out of the phase."

"So you just don't celebrate at all?" Perri asked, making me shake me head with a small smile, trying to act casual. "And Ethan doesn't have a problem with that?"

I opened my mouth, unsure of what to say.

"Well, if he does have a problem, he doesn't say anything about it." I chuckle, before shoving a fist full of Cheetos in my mouth.

"Huh..." Mia started. "That's weird. You were both pretty hyper about your birthday back then."

"Well, it has been a long time." I said, before stretching my arm out, to grab the remote from the side table. "Anyway, what do you wanna watch?"

And then the chaos began, as we couldn't figure out what we mutually wanted to watch.

I was grateful for the diversion in conversation, because I was running out of excuses and lies. And the way my brain and body decided to go numb anytime someone mentioned Ethan, didn't help much.

Lex wanted to watch a horror movie, Mia wanted to watch a rom-com, Perri wanted to watch a Disney movie and I, well, I was okay with anything except horror.

Yeah, I wish I was one of those girls who were badass in every criteria and could watch a horror movie without blinking, but unfortunately, I wasn't one of them.

We, then decided that the most mature way to decide would be, by playing rock, paper, scissors and with that, Perri ended up winning.

She chose Frozen for us to watch and I burst out laughing when I saw the look of utter disbelief on Lex's face.

We settled on the bed, comfortably with a lot of snacks to munch on and turned off the light because, according to Perri, 'Only then can we correctly watch the sacred movie.'

Lex kept trying to pass comments on the lack of logic in the movie, making Perri shush her every five minutes.

We laughed and talked while watching the movie together. I didn't stop smiling the whole time making me feel grateful for the fact that I'm back. Back to a place where I was afraid to step back into.

I'm glad for whatever reason my parents had to move back here and I'm glad I got this second chance.

Everyone was in the middle of belting out Let it go with Elsa, when my phone went off.

I grabbed it from the side table only to see Dylan's name displayed on the screen.

Mia peaked at my phone and frowned, looking at me in confusion.

I waited for the last bit of the song to be over, and then answered it.

"Hello?" I said, grabbing Perri and Lex's attention as they looked at me confused.

I mouthed 'Dylan' to them, making them nod.

"Emily?" He answered in a ragged, almost panicked voice. "Oh thank God!"

I heard shuffling on the line and frowned at the unusual tone in his voice.

"Dylan? Hey what's up?" I motioned for the girls to lower the volume, making them do that and sit up straight, with their eyes on me. "Are you okay?"

I heard more shuffling from his side.

"Hello? Dylan?" I said.

"Emily. Listen, we fucked up." He said, panting.

"What?" I asked, my voice increasing by an octave automatically. "Dylan what's going on?"

"Today, after school, we came up with a plan to get back at you, for the prank you did on Ryder." He said, still panting in panic.

"We were on our way to get Ryder's bike fixed and get some extra greese for the prank on you and-" He stopped as I heard, light choking sounds.

My eyes were growing wider every second and my heartbeat slowly increasing it's pace. "Dylan? I need you to breathe, okay?"

At this point, everyone in my room was on alert as they heard the growing panic in my tone. They were all gathered around me, trying to hear the voice from the other end.

I shook my head before putting my phone on speaker. "Breathe and tell me what happened."

I could hear him gulp and I could hear faint yelling in the background. "Dylan? You there?"

"Y-yeah." His shaky voice came. "Ryder was testing his bike after getting it fixed but I think someone tampered with the mechanics of the bike..."

His voice lowered to a whisper by the end and my hands began to shake.

My head began to spin as unwanted memories flashed before my eyes.

"Emily stay back!" Alec yelled, as he saw me trying to crawl towards the stretcher in front of me.

No one was holding me back, because I had stopped struggling two minutes ago.

With a hand on my bleeding shoulder, I slowly crawled towards the stretcher and laid my hand on the white cloth, slowly pulling it down, as a sob erupted from my throat.

"Ryder was..." He trailed off, as we heard more shuffling behind him.

Everyone exchanged looks of panic but my eyes were fixed on the phone as my head hadn't stopped spinning.

"He was..."

Don't say it.

Please don't say it.

"Ryder got into a bike accident."

I feel like a piece of me died at that exact moment.

I heard gasps echoed through the room but I couldn't move, I was frozen.

I was shaken out of my trance and my eyes focused on a wide-eyed Lex, looking at me in panic holding my shoulders.

"Em? Emily? Are you okay?" She said, making everyone turn to me in panic. "You need to breathe, okay?"

I nodded, trying to breathe but my lungs somehow felt constricted.

The sympathy in everyone's eyes made me shake my head and grab the phone that had slipped out of my grip, without me noticing.

"Where are you?" I asked, jumping to my feet and walking out the door.

I could hear multiple footsteps following me downstairs.

"We're at my place." He said, making me frown as he continued. "I panicked when it happened. I didn't know what to do, so I just brought him home and called my doctor here."

His words were rushed, making me increase speed.

"How bad is it?" I asked, my voice just above a whisper.

"He-" He started, but he was cut off by sudden commotion in the background.

"Dylan?" I asked, reaching the end of the staircase.

And then the call got disconnected.

I stumbled on the last step but Perri grabbed me by my shoulders before I could topple and fall.

"Emily, be careful." She said, as everyone looked at me, worried.

She glanced at her hands on my shoulder, before frowning. "Oh God, you're shaking."

Lexi's eyes widened. "Em, you need to settle down for a bit."

"Yeah, we can go and check on him. I'm sure he's fine." Mia said trying to sound soothing but her voice was shaking.

I avoided eye contact with everyone and stood up straight on my feet before running a hand down my face. "I'm fine. Let's go."

My vision was blurry due to the layer of tears in my eyes, as I refused to let them fall.

That's just a sign of weakness.

I reached the front door when a hand latched on to my arm, making me halt and turn.

"Em, please." Lexi pleaded, worry lacing her voice. "You're not fine, you need to calm down."

"I can't." I shook my head, finally meeting her gaze. "You know that. I need to go to him, right now."

She looked at me for a moment, as Perri and Mia reached us with essentials that we might need, along with our phones that we left behind in a rush.

"Em? You don't look so good." Mia said, raising a hand to touch my forehead, which I knew had a thin layer of sweat forming already.

"She's fine." Lexi sighed, looking at me with a mix of worry and understanding.

I took a deep breath and rushed towards the door. "Let's go."

Lexi reached the door to the driver's seat before I could and motioned for me to go to the other side.

Having no energy or stability to fight over this, I just walked to the passenger side and got in.

On the way to Dylan's place, I had a hard time breathing. My head was swirling and my heart felt really heavy.

I got a terrible feeling of deja vu, as I had my head in my hands hoping for Ryder to be alright.

I couldn't help but feel like this happened because of me. I brought in a professional to mess around with his bike and who knows what he actually did, when I wasn't looking.

If something happens to him, I don't know what I'd do with myself.

"Alec, I'm scared." I said between hiccups.

"I know." He held my head against his chest, stroking my hair. "It'll be okay. You'll be fine."

"What about him?" I asked, sniffleing.

Just then a phone went off, making Alec pull it out of his pocket.

He glanced at me before answering it, hesitantly. "Dad?"

Alec tried to lower the volume of the phone but since he was hugging me I could still hear some words.

My brain refused to let anymore information in, as I drowned in the shock of what I made out of their conversation.

I noticed how Alec had tensed up even more than before and his eyes were red from holding in his tears as he was trying to stay strong for me.

My tears had dried up and I was in too much shock for new ones.

'This is all my fault.'

I didn't notice I had said that out loud.

"No it isn't." Alec said, pulling away to look at me. "Stop saying that."

I looked away from him and tried to get up.

"No. Em, you need to be treated first, don't move." He said holding me down on the hospital chair, as we waited for the doctor to get my would checked.

"I need to go." I sniffled, looking at him in desperation. "I need to go to him. I- I'm sure he will understand. I know- I know he will make it okay."

He looked at me, worried, before he looked back at the reception area as a tear finally fell from his eyes.

"He's my best friend." I said.

He slowly let go of my hand, and I gave him a small smile before rushing out of the hospital.

The car came to a stop, pulling me out of my trance as I ripped the seatbelt off of me and jumped out of the car.

I didn't even look back to see if anyone followed as I ran towards the front door which was unlocked for some reason.

My eyes stung and my mind was swirling as I tried to hold back the dam of tears in.

As soon as I stepped inside the house, there were loud popping sounds, making me flinch and shut my eyes.

"AND CUT!" A loud voice, echoed through the entire room, making me open my eyes.

Footsteps skidded behind me as silence settled between everyone in the room.

I couldn't believe the scene in front of me as I stood there in the most vulnerable state I've ever been, breathing heavily.

There stood Cole, Dylan and Ryder, safe and sound, with party poppers in their hand and a small banner behind them that said 'MEGA STRIKE'.

My eyes focused on Ryder's figure as I scanned him to see, not even a single scratch on him.

I looked at him, still shaking from all the panic that my mind and body had gone through, as he sported a proud grin.

I found it hard to breathe as I felt even more suffocated because of this sick joke, my head was spinning and I felt a bile rise up to my throat.

"Woohoo we got you so good." Dylan cheered patting Ryder's shoulder. "I gotta say, this was one hell of an idea."

Ryder grinned, looking over at us while my eyes struggled to focus on anything.

"Ryder! You can't do that!" Perri said, exasperated.

"We were so worried." Mia said, in a shaky voice. "This is plain evil."

Cole shook his head. "I know. And I had nothing to do with it."

"Because you're just boring." Dylan rolled his eyes.

A hand landed on my shoulder.

"Em? Hey, you okay?" Lex asked in a low tone.

I blinked several times, before nodding and taking a shaky step back, towards the door we entered from.

I need to get out of here.

This is all too much and a little too familiar.

"Em?" I heard Lex's voice from behind but I was already out of the door and going down the steps.

I was blinking continuously for my eyes to focus but I just couldn't.

After taking about ten steps out into the front, I felt the world turn as I was spun around by someone.

"Where are you going?" Ryder said, looking at me with a frown.

I avoided looking at him and tried to pull my hand out of his grip. "Anywhere, but here."

His grip tightened. "What? Why?"

"Because I want to." I snapped, looking up at him.

"But this is the part where you yell at me and threaten me to beware or something." He said, and I noticed the rest of the group at a little distance, behind him, looking at us.

Lexi had a pained expression as she knew exactly what was going on in my head.

"Ryder, let go." I said, struggling to pull away.

"Come on, Miles, it was just a prank." He rolled his eyes.

Something inside me snapped at that. At how casually he was talking about what happened a few minutes ago.

How he was still oblivious about what he had put me through.

My jaw clenched as I refused to break in front of him, as I knew that would do me no good either.

"I said. Let. Go." I said through, clenched teeth.

"Seriously?" His frown deepened. "You're that mad at me over a prank. What happened to the spirit of the prank war."

"Ryder, trust me, you don't wanna do this right now." I said, still shaking, as my head continued spinning.

"You know what? I do. I do want to do this." He scoffed. "I do want to know why you're acting so unreasonably. You don't get to be upset over something like this."

I froze in my spot as I heard a sharp intake of breath from somewhere behind Ryder.

"What?" I asked, shakily.

He looked at me confused.

"I don't get to be upset over this?" I asked, letting out a dark chuckle, as I looked up at him with my eyes, red and probably brimmed with tears.

I snatched my hand out of his grip before digging my index finger in his chest. "You listen to me, Green."

"You don't get to tell me what I get upset over or don't." I said, menacingly as my throat felt like it was on fire because it hurt so much just to speak.

"I get to be upset over this goddamn prank of yours okay? Because you have no right to make me feel so vulnerable and then laugh at my face." I gritted out.

"I get to be upset about it, because last time I got a call like that," I choked, before continuing. "I lost Ethan."

His eyes widened as I sensed his whole body tense up.

I noticed that piece of metal somewhere on my right and glanced at it. "Yes, I hate it. I have every right to hate it."

I took a shaky step back as I felt my head spin and my eyes lose focus again.

"I lost my brother to that damn thing." I whispered to no one in particular as dark spots hogged my vision.

I felt drops of water on my cheek but they weren't my tears.

I guess even the sky decided to mock me for my tragedy as it started to rain heavily but none of us moved, except for me swaying as I lost my footing yet again.

And then, everything went black.

*Author's note*