The thing about what made disguises work that most idiotic bitches didn't realize was that it was only forty percent about the disguises.

The real deal came from acting like your disguise.

Bella Blake Donna walked with uncaring stride. Her shoulders were straight and broad, yet her eyes never seemed to gaze up. Her lips were always pursed down, and her eyes, heavy. It gave her more of that 'fuck off' attitude, along with her dark-themed and darker-colored clothes.

People stayed away from her. And for good reasons.

Random Starbucks Hippie Girl, on the other hand, wasn't anything like Bella.

This bitch had her hair dyed bright pink, and didn't wear glasses. Her eyes, bright blue, were painted with green and purple mascara and long lashes. She wore too much blush because she wanted to look cute. She wore a cut-off jeans and a loose sleeveless hoodie, with nothing underneath it but a sports bra, and she had a couple of 'exotic imported' bracelets she said were from India and Bali and Thailand but were actually from Chicago.

Random Starbucks Hippie Girl didn't walk, she skipped. She didn't order just any drink, she ordered the most pretentious, weirdest mocha/espresso/frappuccino blend with all kinds of juices.

Random Starbucks Hippie Girl didn't get to take the drink because she had some hippie stuff to do, so, she ran outside before Claire could look at her.

Bella, during all of this, slipped a message in the counter, telling Claire to hurry the fuck up and meet her behind the Starbucks building right when her shift had ended.

Claire's shift ended at exactly 4.

It was already 4:27, and Claire hadn't gotten out of the store yet.

That bitch.

Didn't she know they only had a few minutes, now? The spies- they would regularly check up on Claire every forty minutes, never to do anything, just to observe, in case the bitch goes haywire.

If they saw Bella with Claire - a disguised Bella, nonetheless - even though Bella wasn't assigned to do her own check-ups on Claire, then...

Bella checked her watch as soon as Claire emerged from the building, with her hair tied, resting on her right shoulder.

Four minutes. They only had four minutes.

She better make this count. No diddle-daddling. No pitter-patter. No bullshit.

However, when Bella really looked at her, she couldn't help but snort. "Christ, you look horrible as fuck."

And Bella really meant it.

Claire's eyes had bags, and she looked disheveled, surrounded by the dirty walls and the plastics surrounding them that no one bothered to pick up. She reminded Bella of Garcia whenever the orphanage was dealing with some kind of problem, or if the kids were making a huge mess that cost huge chunks of money.

Those same tired eyes, dulled down as though someone had lowered their saturation. That mouth, curling down right at the edges, looking like it'd always been there, like it didn't know what a smile was.

Claire glared at her. And even without the bitch's super telepathy mind reading shit, Bella could tell that Claire was on edge, unease. Her shoulders, rigid. Her posture, stiff. Her jaw, pulled back. Lips, pursed.

Yeah, Claire was suspicious. Mad, even. Mad at what, exactly? Mad because Bella wanted to talk to her? Because Claire owed her, big time, and now that Bella finally wanted to get even, Claire couldn't accept it?

Ugh. So self-centered. All of them were like that.

The weight of the shitty polka dot watch on Bella's wrist reminded Bella that time was of the essence.

"It's about you finally doing something for me for a change."

Claire's eyes widen, her lips pursing tightly. It was amazing how expressive she could be, considering that she was a mute introvert.

Bella kept her body still and her tone flatly dry as she said, "I wanna get out of this shitty town, and you're gonna help me." Whenever she thought of it, the prospect of escaping, caused a giddiness and a weird nausea to form at the pit of her stomach. Those weird mixes of feelings tripled whenever she said it aloud. "It'll happen tonight. It can't be anywhen else. I've made sure."

Two minutes.

The deed was done. The message was sent. The gunshot rang.

Bella felt light, as though chains had been whipping her to the ground the entire time, and now those chains had loosened and she could walk, talk, move, breathe freely.

An escape from this nightmare that had been her life since the age of ten. A nightmare brought to her by the people who worked for the mayor, or the government, she supposed. A nightmare Bonnie let happen to her when she'd promised to keep her safe, to keep her happy, to protect her from all of the monsters.

If only Bella knew Bonnie was one of said monsters.

Now... This nightmare would be no longer.

And Bella found a funny thing; growth and wisdom.

She turned to Claire again, who'd been an overwhelmingly polite bitch. She still hated Claire, no doubt. The bitch thought she was better than 'The Watchers'. All she cared about was Roxanne.

She was selfish, and she pretended to be selfless, and the world had, for a moment, thought of her as a hero.

Thank God that whole shenanigans only happened for, like, a day. It was all thanks to Bella's boss - well, since Bella, alongside everybody else worked for the mayor, he was technically their boss, right? - that society wasn't exposed to the secrets of the dark and of the night.

And now things were back to normal.

Again.

Like nothing happened.

Why was it that Bella found a twinge of disappointment in it?

"You know... You know I didn't actually want you to kill Roxy, right?"

Claire looked at her as though Bella had hugged her and kissed her on the cheeks and - insert shudder - smiled, and, yeah, maybe Bella could've phrased that better so it sounded more... bitchy. More Bella.

Bella forced a frown on her face. It didn't faze Claire. "I was just pissed. I wanted you to intimidate her, not befriend her. Be a demon, and not a fucking angel. It was your fault. Not that anyone seems to care, now."

Claire, seemingly on instinct, looked away from Bella and up, into the city, into their city. Bella wondered if she should call it home. She wondered what home should feel like.

Her gaze, tired and lonely, yearning for something that was taken away from her, yearning for someone who took her away from the safety that was normality, drifted to Claire. You have no idea how lucky you are. To have a mother loving you more than she loves her own daughter.

Bella sighed and rested her head against the unkempt bricks, its strength weathered down and color dulled down due to age. Everything in this city was like this. Weathered and dulled down. Yet it still made her nervous, the prospect of leaving. "No matter how bitchy she is, I..." A withdrawn sigh, uncharacteristic for a brute like Bella. The mask of apathy rested, just for a moment. "Ugh, she's the only one stupid enough to want to be my friend."

"Same."

Bella looked at Claire, surprised to see her gentle eyes and her gentler smile.

It was times like these where Bella was reminded yet again why people liked Claire.

"Huh. So you do talk."

Bella wanted to shake Claire by the shoulders, tell her to grab Roxanne and leave along with her so they could finally escape this shithole, because no matter how shitty everything was, Bella had known these two idiots for five years and the reason she acted like she never cared was because she cared too much.

Bella wanted to yell and hit Claire - really hit her - because how dare she steal Bonnie's love for her without ever having to meet the woman. How dare she made everyone care for her, and took Bella's everything away.

Bella wanted to burn this city, this wretched place, the only place she'd ever known for turning her into who she was.

But there was only one minute left, and Bella would not risk anything for the one thing keeping her sane these past few months.

"Listen, when we leave the road, there's still that possibility that someone will find out about it, and if that happens, you'll be my guardian angel, for once. Kapeesh?"

Bella didn't wait for an answer. Why should she? She left Claire, and disappeared into the busy street, into the crowds, and into the Random Starbucks Girl persona again.