༄ 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝖿𝗂𝖿𝗍𝗒－𝗍𝗁𝗋𝖾𝖾 ༄

𝑻𝑯𝑨𝑳𝑰𝑨 𝑺𝑻𝑰𝑳𝑳 𝑯𝑨𝑫 a lingering high when she woke up the next morning, but she knew how to mask it. As she tugged on shorts and a crewneck, Rafe came into her room, uninvited. Luckily, Thalia had hid all evidence of her activities from the night before. "What do you want?" Thalia asked bitterly, sitting on the edge of her bed to strap her brace onto her knee.

        Rafe rolled his eyes. "Dad and I are leaving." he said, a baseball hat backwards on his head.

        "What, you want a hug goodbye? I think we're past that, you psycho." Thalia quipped. She wasn't afraid of Rafe, she never would be.

        "Fine, fuck you." Rafe said before storming away, Thalia rolling her eyes at his dramatics.

        She went downstairs after brushing her hair, leaving it tucked behind her ears. Thalia tucked her flask into her backpack, just in case. "Hey." Rose whispered, beckoning Thalia away from her destination, the kitchen, and into Ward's office.

        Confused, Thalia backed up and walked into the room, Rose shutting the door behind her. "What did I do, now?" Thalia asked in the same whisper as Rose, confused at the woman's secrecy.

        "Nothing that I know of. It's about Wheezie." Rose said, and Thalia exhaled inwardly.

        "Did she finally decide to change her name?" Thalia questioned, leaning against a wall.

        Rose rolled her eyes. "Does she seem okay to you? She's being secretive. Do you know anything?" Rose asked.

        "I fear I would be a hypocrite if I called out the thirteen year old for keeping secrets. You're on your own, Lady Tremaine." Thalia quipped before she left the office, grabbing a quick breakfast and walking out of the mansion.

        But Thalia was met with the worst news possible. "Hi, baby." Whitney Cameron grinned, her fist raised as she was about to knock on the front door of the Cameron estate.

        It took everything in Thalia not to punch her mother in the face. "I don't have time for you right now." Thalia side-stepped and walked around her mother, moving as quickly as she could with her knee still recovering.

        "Honey, I know you're mad at me–" Whitney began, following Thalia as she walked down the long driveway.

        "Oh, I'm more than mad, Mom. There's so much going on that you have no idea about, and I can't believe you even showed up here again." Thalia said angrily, her backpack over her shoulder.

        "What happened?" Whitney said, forcing Thalia to stop walking.

        Thalia sighed, turning to her mother. "Your brother's a murderer. He killed Big John Routledge. Your nephew killed Sheriff Peterkin, and Ward framed John B for the murder. But don't worry, Rafe and Ward are walking free, though, gone somewhere for business. Sarah and John B, they were dating, they tried to escape the cops and died in a fucking hurricane. Your psychotic, drug addict of a baby daddy stole the money JJ and I got for our restitution and beat the living shit out of us. I had to have another knee surgery because Luke hit me with a fucking hammer, and in case you're wondering, no, I still can't play soccer and I never will again. Does that clear everything up for you?" Thalia said quickly, her pure anger coming out as she mentioned soccer. She had been trying not to think about it, but walking past the soccer fields at school every afternoon and seeing a group play infuriated her, and drove her to drugs even more. She couldn't tell her mother about Sarah and John B being alive, and she certainly couldn't tell her about Ward's latest victim.

        Whitney's eyes widened. "Ward's on business?" she asked. Thalia knew her mother was stoned out of her mind, but she didn't care.

        She kept walking, not letting her mother catch her again, Whitney instead following her. "Really? Out of all the things I just told you, you ask about Ward being on business? Why, so you can go steal money from him to buy more drugs?" Thalia snapped, walking quickly.

        The pair left the safety of the property and reached the sidewalk. Pope's truck could be seen across the street, and Whitney stopped Thalia from walking, right in Pope's clear view. Thalia took her arm back. Sudden physical contact, any sudden physical contact, felt just like her father's fists. "Carolina–"

        "That's not my fucking name, Mom." Thalia gritted out, face hot with anger.

        "Thalia," Whitney corrected herself. "I'm trying to be better. I have a boyfriend, he's good to me. He's here in town, and I'd love for you to meet him. I just need some money to get started." the mother said, trying to stay calm. She was a mess, just like Thalia, but Thalia denied that.

        Pope watched the scene carefully, discreetly rolling the window down so he could hear better. "I'm not meeting your 'boyfriend', Mom," Thalia scoffed. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. "This is all I have. Just take it, and leave me alone." Thalia extended the money towards her mother.

        Whitney took the cash happily, reaching to hug Thalia. The redhead daughter responded by ducking away. "Okay, I get it. Just please come home after school. I want us to talk." Whitney said, begging.

"Whatever." Thalia muttered, making her way towards Pope's truck. As she quickly inhaled a few hits from her vape, Pope rolled the windows up equally as fast, neither wanting to be caught. Right at that moment, Thalia made plans for the evening. She needed cocaine, or oxy, or something. Anything, really.

Thalia braced herself before she opened the front door to Pope's truck and slid inside, Pope smiling when he saw her. "Hey." he said, leaning over to kiss her.

        Thalia accepted his kiss, ashamed because she was sure her lips tasted like nicotine and vodka. "Thanks for the ride." Thalia decided to say, pulling away from Pope rather quickly.

        Awkwardly, Pope started driving towards their school. "Anytime," he lightly drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, trying to figure out the best way to question Thalia. "So, your mom's back." Pope stated.

        "Don't, please. I don't want to talk about it. And please don't tell JJ and Kie. She'll be gone by the time she wants to talk to me, I'd put money on it." Thalia said quickly, looking out the window.

        She expected Pope to be upset with her, to push her into talking, but he knew better. He lifted his right hand from the steering wheel and reached over, pulling Thalia's hand from her lap and into his grip. She smiled lightly, the violent voices in her head quieting whenever Pope held her hand. At school, Thalia trudged along, her fingers shaking. She knew what she needed and she knew who had it.

So, Thalia met Parker, her dealer, outside the school, discreetly purchasing what she needed, ensuring that no one noticed. "Nice drugs." Kie scoffed, walking down the hallway at the same time Thalia tucked the bag in her shoe.

Thalia knew she had to act quickly. "Kie, please just do me this favor. Please don't tell anyone. It's a one time thing." Thalia said. Pope and JJ couldn't know about this.

Kie nodded. "Sure, if it's just a one time thing." Kiara mocked, walking away. At least Thalia was in the clear.

        Apparently, they had a history test that morning, and Thalia figured she was high when Mr. Sunn told them. Thalia and Pope met up with JJ and Kie, JJ also having no recollection of being told they had a test. They all started taking the test, the classroom quiet. Thalia wasn't even trying, instead just picking random letters, drinking from her flask when she was sure Mr. Sunn wasn't looking.

        A man entered the classroom out of the blue, wearing a suit. "Mr. Sunn, can I borrow Pope for a minute?" he asked, and Thalia looked up.

        "We're in the middle of a test." Mr. Sunn stood from his desk with a whisper.

        "I'm from the Vanderhorst Foundation." the man said, and Thalia knew what this meant. This was about Pope's scholarship.

        "Mr. Heyward, it's for you." Mr. Sunn spoke, and Pope looked at Thalia. She shrugged, so Pope left the classroom with the man.

        Thalia pretended she was working on her test, when in reality she was just waiting impatiently for Pope. "Chill out." JJ whispered harshly, noticing the repetitive bouncing of Thalia's leg, the heel of her converse hitting the linoleum.

        Pope came back a few minutes later. "What was that?" Thalia asked instantly, able to tell that something was off with Pope.

        Pope slid into his seat and held up an envelope, the same wheat symbol that decorated all the gold stamped onto it. Thalia's eyes widened. "Is that the wheat symbol?" Kiara asked in shock.

        "Yeah." Pope nodded.

        "What the f–fu... fudge?" JJ stuttered, Thalia inhaling sharply at his horrendous cover.

        As soon as their test was finished, Pope bolted out of the classroom, not answering Thalia, JJ and Kie as they asked him where they were going. "This is ridiculous." Thalia muttered, walking closest to Pope, annoyed.

        They walked into the library now. Thalia didn't even know this school had a library. "Is this a game of tag?" JJ asked, pulling up the end of the group.

        "I don't know." Kie responded.

        "Am I gonna have to beat you with your protractor, Pope? What's going on?" Thalia questioned, enunciating her second question, her aggravation showing. Thalia was shushed by the librarian and she rolled her eyes.

        "Seriously, Pope, you are driving me insane." Kie said with a sigh.

        They made it to a computer, Kie down, Thalia and JJ standing beside her. "Okay, so that guy was from the scholarship committee. Take a look at this," Pope extended the letter towards Thalia, but JJ took it. "Read it." Pope instructed seriously.

        JJ was quiet for a second. "Out loud." Kiara said.

        "I can't read cursive." JJ whispered, embarrassed.

        Thalia snatched the letter from him, trying to read it herself. "Neither can I." she frowned.

        Kiara took the letter from Thalia's hands. "'Dear Mr. Heyward, I am reaching out because I have material evidence that can exonerate John B. Routledge. It is of vital importance that you come and meet with me in person at my offices at 27 King Street, Charleston at 8:00 p.m. sharp tonight. Please come alone. Regards, C. Limbrey.'" Kiara read the letter, Thalia's eyes widening. There was a lot to unpack.

        "What the hell?" Thalia asked quickly, the librarian shushing her.

        "Charleston?" JJ stated.

        Pope was pacing now. "It's like an eight-hour drive, plus the ferry. How will we get there tonight?" he questioned in a lowered voice.

        "We'd have to leave right now." JJ said after doing some quick math.

        "I have a free period." Kiara said, Thalia thinking her statement was irrelevant.

        "'Material evidence'? What does that even mean, 'material evidence'?" JJ muttered.

        Thalia furrowed her brows. "It means he can clear John B, dumbass." she responded, JJ rolling his eyes at her.

        He looked up at Kie and Pope. "Then we're going to Charleston." he decided.

        Kie sighed. "I gotta tell my mom. Look, if we get it this time, we are not giving it to Shoupe." Kiara said, Thalia remembering once more that her mother was waiting for her when she got home.

        "Yeah. No duh." JJ stated.

        Pope started looking things up on a computer, sighing as he looked between the screen and the letter. "What's wrong?" Thalia asked, moving closer to Pope, putting her hand on his shoulder.

        "I'm not sure, but I think whoever this Limbrey person is, they might be related to the captain of the Royal Merchant." Pope revealed, and now they knew they had to go to Charleston. There was no doubt about it, because if they could clear John B's name, then both he and Sarah could come home. Thalia needed Sarah, she needed her cousin to finally come home.

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