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Thunder rumbled loudly throughout the skies as Alice and Fei sat in the library, eating home made lunches as they talked over coffee. It had been stormy like this for a few days now, but as others fussed over the weather, complaining about the rain, a small collection of students barely noticed the chaos. It was almost nothing in comparison to things they'd seen an experienced recently.

"So did she say anything?" Alice asked carefully after a topic of conversation had finished... "-about us hanging out." She added before putting some pasta into her mouth as Fei finished her mouthful of salad and sipped her coffee.

"No," Fei murmured, "She just kind of... I don't know, brushed it off. then didn't reply to my next message." She continued. "I get it, but also... not. At the same time. Like say if you don't like it, don't pretend as if you're fine and mature then ignore me."

"Maybe she got busy." Alice replied quietly, then could almost imagine Magnus's stare if he would've heard her making excuses for her.

"Maybe." Fei mumbled.

"Candice has this tick with loyalty like if she doesn't like someone you can't talk to them... but she won't ever tell you it's not okay she'll just stop talking to you." Alice explained. "It was always like that during freshmen and sophomore year like, she was always in charge of who spoke to who and who did what when, you know?"

"Oh," Fei hummed, "So you guys were like... the cliché popular kid trio?" Fei giggled softly.

"No," Alice laughed softly. "She was popular I guess, I wasn't really. I only had my minor status glow this last year, but Candice always been a low key socialite because of her brother... But no one is ever truly like the shit until you're a senior." Alice replied, furrowing her eyebrows as she realised how superficial she sounded... but she didn't care. "Like for example, Magnus's group? You wouldn't find a junior or sophomore group of that kind of status, if that makes sense." She continued to explain. "They're a weird exception though because they've always had this kind of vibe from since I can remember."

"Maybe it's because of the thing." Fei said quietly, her eyes quietly twinkling with interest. "Like... I don't know if it's just me but people have this way of behaving around them without realising they're doing it. Like even the kids that claim they don't care about the social hierarchy in this school can't look any of them in the eye."

"I did notice that." Alice mumbled, thinking about it deeply. They did have this aura about them that made people behave like they were inferior without realising they were doing it. Even with Noah, who was possibly the runt of the group. No one could look him in the eye for long, even when he was being shy. "Interesting." Alice hummed, wondering if there was some primal instinct that made people subconsciously aware of when they were in the presence of a killer.

"Very interesting." Fei mumbled, watching Alice as she glanced at her phone and began typing a response back to a message with one hand. "Magnus again?" She asked with interest.

"Yeah, sorry, he was asking if I needed lunch." Alice replied, locking her phone again as she looked back to her food.

"That's so sweet that he does that everyday," Fei smiled, her thoughts drifting to Trey for the second time that lunch period. "So... do you think that what they do affects how people see them?" She asked after a few moments silence and Alice reframed from looking at her phone again as it chimed so that she could focus on her lunch and her conversation with Fei.

"How'd you mean?" Alice asked, "As in like... their hobby makes them look more intimidating? Naturally?"

"I mean think about it, when humans come into contact with like... lions, for example, we have a natural instinct to be scared- or even wary of them, because we know they can kill us, even if we've never witnessed them do it." Fei explained. "It's our instinct to be scared because it's obvious they're higher on the natural food chain than us."

"So we're talking about the survival instinct?" Alice asked and Fei nodded, humming loudly so tell Alice that's what she was talking about as she took another mouthful of her salad. "We discussed it psychology the other day and how everything we feel and think is just evolutionary survival instinct... like, I've noticed people either hate, fear or love Magnus, Trey, Charlie and his other friends, right?... and I guess it's because deep down everyone either knows he's a threat to their existence or they have a strong urge to procreate because they're all super pretty." Alice giggled although she was making a genuine point. "But no one just... doesn't care about them. Have you noticed that?"

"I have," Fei mumbled enthusiastically, "and I used to be scared of them... but now I'm like- well actually I'm scared of Magnus. But not Trey... that much... and Charlie kind of scares me but like... not at the same time. I lied, I am scared of them still. But it looks like you're not,"

"Charlie is a weird one, I'm not sure with him either" Alice chuckled, "but no... I'm not scared of them anymore..." Alice sighed, smoothing her hand over her hair as her phone reminded her she had a message. She found it interesting and strange to talk so openly with Fei like this about Magnus, his friends and their whole secret life, and wondered discreetly as she watched Fei carefully whilst Fei fiddled with her lunch box if it was the right thing to do.

"Can I ask you something?" Alice asked suddenly. "And you can't lie because I'll know," she smiled as Fei looked back up at her.

"Sure, what is it?" Fei asked, feeling a little unsure briefly.

"Did Candice put you up to this?" Alice asked bluntly, her eyes seeming to pin Fei where she sat.

"No," Fei replied, holding the eye contact. "Why would she do that?" Fei asked and Alice narrowed her eyes and stared at Fei in silence. "That was a dumb question, sorry... I tried to convince her to come and talk to you with me but she wasn't having it. She's convinced she's on some hit list now... but refuses to force a friendship with you just to stay off it. Her words not mine."

"And she told you that?" Alice asked and Fei nodded.

"She told me she just wanted to get on with her life and leave all this behind... she was really freaked." Fei continued and Alice hummed quietly, not entirely believing it. She believed that Fei was telling the truth, but there was something about the situation that seemed a little off... what was Candice up to? She would never just leave it and move on. Alice sighed, attempting to figure it out but she couldn't put her finger on it just yet.

... on the other side of town, at that moment, Magnus sat in the warmth of the local Tim Horton's, with Trey beside him, and Charlie opposite Trey then Noah next to him. Food covered the table, and conversation flowed easily between the four boys, topics of sports, college and spring break bounced back and forth between them all until Charlie decided to change the subject... "Has anyone heard anything about... you know..." Charlie said, looking at Magnus and Trey.

"About...?" Trey asked as Magnus looked down at his phone, seeing a message pop up from Alice. "No. Hasn't made the local news yet."

"Stop talking about it." Magnus muttered, "We were never there, remember?" He added, looking over at Charlie as Noah clocked in to the conversation late... he had just put his phone down, deciding to ignore the long text rant from Olive about how he'd liked Alice's picture on Facebook.

"Where?" He asked, looking around himself at the other three boys,

"No where." Magnus replied bluntly, typing a new message to Alice asking what classes she had that afternoon as he grew bored with hanging out with his friends. "Where are Juniper and Lucy?" he asked suddenly, noticing how he hadn't seen either of them all week.

"Vancouver." Charlie replied, "Until Friday." He added, "They told me before they left on Sunday."

"And why am I only just hearing about this?" Magnus asked, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Uhh... they said they wanted to keep it quiet, said they were celebrating something or? I don't know, I wasn't really paying attention when she called me... sorry." Charlie muttered as Magnus narrowed his eyes and put his hand out for Charlie's phone. He reluctantly handed it over as they sat diagonally across from each other, and Magnus opened his messages whilst scowling subtly, and scrolled down to find Juniper's texts...

He raised his eyebrows at the content of their messages, seeing the borderline explicit selfies and looking up at Charlie for an explanation. "What?" Charlie replied defensively, knowing exactly what he was referring to. "She randomly sends them to me,"

"Let's see," Trey said, leaning over Magnus's arm and seeing the photos. "Did she get hair extensions?"

"That's the first thing you notice?" Magnus asked,

"The first thing I noticed isn't appropriate for lunch time conversation." Trey replied and they both chuckled quietly before Magnus continued scrolling up the messages. "Why does she send you these man?" He asked Charlie directly. "I mean, they're intense," he chuckled.

"We were hooking up for a few weeks over Christmas but I didn't think she wanted to again, I just thought these were hints." Charlie shrugged. "I just opened the messages and there they were."

"Jesus, man." Magnus muttered, squinting his eyes as he scrolled past Charlie's explicit images.

"What?! I was returning the favour!" Charlie replied defensively again as Trey laughed.

"Let's see," he grinned, and laughed as Magnus turned the screen towards him. "I... regret my decision to look at that." Trey continued and sat back in his chair and sighs.

"Hey..." Charlie murmured. "As if you guys have never sent dick pics before."

"Mine are tasteful." Magnus replied bluntly. "Nothing like whatever the hell you just did."

"Gotta be in black and white." Trey added, and Magnus nodded. "Get the lightning right, the background, you know?"

"And clean up a bit too." Magnus continued and Trey nodded to agree as if they were having a wise conversation.

"Wait, seriously?" Charlie asked and Trey and Magnus looked over at him expectantly. "You don't just take a picture and send?"

"I take mine as if I expect them to be sent to a group chat." Magnus replied, "it's logical."

"Do you think Alice would do that?" Charlie asked and Magnus shook his head. "Why not?"

"She's too secretive." He replied. "I read her group chat messages the other day and she barely shares shit, all they talk about is the college fair next week and tv shows."

"That's disappointing." Charlie murmured.

"I know." Magnus huffed, thinking back to how he'd picked through Alice's messages with a fine toothed comb looking for something juicy about himself... but found nothing. She was loyal, and respectful of their privacy, and barely seemed to mention him. In fact, she never mentioned him at all. And the reality of that infuriated him.

"Can I have my phone back?" Charlie asked and Magnus shook his head, causing Charlie to sigh and sit back in his seat. "So... you guys exchange nudes?"

"What?" Magnus asked, looking up at Charlie pointedly as Trey laughed and continued to eat his lunch.

"You guys send each other nudes," Charlie replied, and Magnus scowled, refusing to answer suddenly as he looked back at Charlie's phone to read his messages... Trey smirked even more. "Are they hot?"

"Charlie." Magnus snapped, growing annoyed since he did want to talk about it but knew he shouldn't. Since it was only a recent activity that they'd investigated together, and they weren't the full thing just yet, just suggestions... even though Magnus already knew where everything was and what everything looked like. Charlie and Trey watched Magnus intently with playful smirks and he glanced between them, feeling the urge to show off like a pre-teen rising.

"Let's see." Charlie grinned excitedly, reading Magnus's silence like a book... a tense, excited silence hung between them all as they waited for Magnus to get his phone out. He pulled it from his pocket slowly... as if to taunt them...Then stopped.

"As if I would fucking show any of you bastards Alice naked." Magnus snapped suddenly, putting his phone away. "Ask me something about her nudity again and I'll gouge your fucking eyes out with a spoon."

"Fine." Charlie huffed angrily and leant back, feeling genuinely disappointed that he wouldn't be able to witness Alice naked. "So you guys get to look at my nudes but I don't get to see anyone else's, I don't see how that's fair."

"Life isn't fair, Charlie." Magnus muttered bluntly, "You shouldn't have replied to her nudes, with nudes of your own. It's common sense."

"But I thought June was dating Lucy... why would she be sending nudes to you?" Noah suddenly said, looking confused as he glanced between Magnus, Trey and Charlie. "Why would..." Noah trailed off, seeing the other three boys turned to stare at him in silence, evidently showing him that this was information they weren't aware of. "Oh... you didn't know that..."

"And how the fuck do you know that?" Charlie asked,

"Olive told me..." Noah murmured, glancing between them all warily. "She said she saw them kissing the other week in the locker rooms."

"Your girlfriend tells you gossip?" Charlie asked, and Noah nodded slowly. "... I want a girlfriend now." Charlie mumbled, thinking of one person in particular. "Does Alice tell you gossip?" He asked Magnus suddenly, causing all three boys to look at Magnus again now. He sighed loudly, annoyed that they were so interested in Alice and his interactions.

"Sometimes." He murmured. "But it's just petty shit like who slept with who and..." he stopped, and looked up, wondering why there was such a silence. "What?" He asked, seeing Trey smirking at him.

"So your girlfriend tells you hot junior's gossip. That must be juicy." Charlie replied, causing Noah to sit up a little more.

"Olive is a junior, too."

"I said hot junior, Noah." Charlie replied blankly as Trey nudged Magnus.

"Girlfriend, huh?" He asked and Magnus furrowed his eyebrows tightly, suddenly feeling like he was under a spotlight.

"I didn't say that." Magnus muttered.

"You didn't correct him either." Trey smirked and Magnus frowned intensely as a message from the devil herself popped up on his phone that vibrated in his pocket, now demanding his attention.

"Shut up." Magnus grumbled as Trey smirked more, watching as he pulled out his phone to reply whilst purposefully hiding the screen from Trey's curious gaze. He thought about their topic of conversation silently in his head after he put his phone down again... wondering how it would feel to give Alice that title...

But just as he was about to hand Charlie his phone back, a new message dropped down from the top of the screen. Magnus kept his face calm and unreadable, as he opened the message on Charlie's phone... once he saw who it was from...

He couldn't stop the quick involuntary eye narrow as he read a message from Candice complaining about Alice and Fei hanging out together and began to scroll up carefully, scanning for Alice's name again... Magnus discreetly began to screen-record the messages so he didn't have to screenshot and move his fingers too obviously whilst Charlie and Noah argued in the background. He scanned the whole conversation for just a few seconds, since it was evident they'd only been talking recently, before sending the video to himself and deleting the evidence from Charlie's phone. "Here." He muttered, passing the iPhone back to Charlie, who thanked him before putting his phone back in his pocket.

Magnus sat quietly for the rest of lunch, not bothering to talk as he replayed what he'd read. He didn't like Candice much before, but now... she just seemed to be handing him reasons to make him hate her. He knew, rationally, he couldn't act on it. Because her brother was also his best friend. But what she was doing infuriated him... he could almost feel his blood boiling as he thought about how things could have gone if Candice decided not to pick a fight with Alice on prom night.

"Hey man, you okay?" Trey asked as they gathered up their things to leave.

"Fine." Magnus replied bluntly, needing to find a way to calm down since his fists were clenching and releasing too much. Trey continued to watch him, wondering if it had something to do with what he'd said about Alice being his girlfriend... but didn't ask, since he didn't want to face the explosion if he brought up a topic Magnus didn't want to talk about again.

They drove back to school, arriving with ten or so minutes left of lunch, it was rainy and cold again, and the rain blew diagonally into their faces as they walked from the parking lot into the main building. Magnus vanished from the presence of his friends fairly quickly, making his way to Alice's locker where he knew she'd be getting her books ready for her next class. He felt some of the anger lift as he saw her through the sea of students now collecting in the hallways, and moved past and through them to get to where she was stood by herself, taking some large text books from her locker.

She was dressed on tight black and white patterned pants with a long sleeved velvet ribbed shirt on... her outfit complimented her figure perfectly, and Magnus watched as Alice tied her hair up to hold it back out of her face with half of it up in a bun, and left the rest to hang lazily down her back. "Hi," He said as he came to stand next to her, smelling the pleasant waft of sweet perfume that he'd grown to associate with her.

"Hey," Alice replied, glancing over at him as she held her books to her chest and closed her locker. "How was lunch?"

"Fine," he replied, glancing at her lips as he noticed people watching them interact whilst trying to be discreet about it. "Can we go somewhere... else... to talk." he murmured, holding the eye contact.

"I've got a study period now so we can go to the library?"

"Sure." Magnus agreed, liking her calm nature and the softness of her voice as she turned away. They walked together to the library, and Magnus listened as Alice told him about how she had a presentation in psychology coming up that she needed to do some research for.

"It's just five minutes," she continued, "but we need to briefly speak about a topic we've covered this semester and turn it in to be approved by the end of the week."

"What topic are you choosing?" Magnus asked, glancing over at her as they entered the library, and walked underneath the large entrance way that had Johnson's library over the top of it.

"The survival instinct and how it's evolved," Alice replied, "I think. Either that or nature vs nature. I'll see what I find."