All the couches and chairs have already been claimed, because everybody is locked in here.

Tristan speaks what I'm thinking. "Guys, we're never going to be able to get a chair or a couch. How about we head over to that corner there. It's quiet and no one will bug us."

Quinn nods, and in unison, Aria and I say okay.

We sit down in the corner, me leaning up against one of the walls with my legs pulled up to my chest, Tristan beside me, sitting with his legs stretched out. Aria and Quinn are up against the other wall, Aria leaning on Quinn.

We talk for a little while, about trivial matters, trying to take our minds off of the situation at hand. I'm not really sure about the others, but it's really not helping me.

Aria starts to doze off, all cuddled up against Quinn. They look so cute.

Why are all the doors locked? And why could we get back into the common room if all the doors are locked? This is all so confusing.

So, so confusing...

I'm in a small room with four bright white walls. One part of the wall has a window, but the other side must be mirrored, because no one on the other side can see me. There's no way out. I pound on the walls, but no one can hear me. I scream until my voice goes hoarse.

"Help me!" I scream at the top of my lungs. "Help me! I'm trapped!"

Through the window, I see Tristan, Greyson and Ty. Also with them is Paige. Paige is standing in front of them, a gun in hand. She is saying something to them, making threats, maybe.

She holds a gun to Ty's head.

"No!" I scream, but they can't hear me. Not my little brother! Please!

I can hear a voice calling my name now.

"Amber," the voice says, "Amber. Amber."

"Stop!" I scream. "Help!"

Paige pulls the trigger, and Ty crumples to the ground.

"Noo! Do something!"

"Amber."

The white room starts to shake. I can still hear my name being called. My shoulders are shaking. "Amber!" the voice calls, with such intensity now.

Then everything looks normal again.

There's the common room, and Aria and Quinn, asleep, leaning on each other.

"Amber?" I look over to see Tristan's face, creased with worry. "Are you okay?" he asks me. "You were screaming in your sleep. I'm surprised you didn't wake anyone up."

"Ah-I-I think I'm okay now. A little shaken up, it was a pretty bad nightmare."

He nods. "Want to talk about it?"

"I was trapped in a white room, and-and- through a window I could see you and Paige and Greyson and my little brother. And-and-and Paige-sh-she had a gun-"

"Shhh Amber. It's okay, I promise. It was just a dream." Tristan wraps an arm around my shoulders protectively and I lean into him.

"She shot my broth-" my voice breaks, and I can't finish the last word. I sob into Tristan's shoulder, and he holds me, letting me cry.

A few minutes later, I've calmed down. My face is stained with tears, but I don't feel quite as terrible now.

I wipe the tears off my face.

"Ya know, if this was some sappy romance movie, I'd be wiping the tears off your face for you."

I giggle.

Tristan gives me a hug. "Feeling a little better now?" He asks. "I know how bad it can be. I had nightmares when I first got here too. It's something about this place."

"Yeah." I pause. Tristan still has his arm draped over my shoulder. "Has anything like this ever happened before? You know, being locked in here?"

"Not that I know of," he says uncertainly.

"Has it always been weird like this around here?"

He shakes his head slowly. "Things are changing."

"So we came here, and screwed everything up?"

"Just changed things, Amber"

"For the worse?"

"I have you now, so it can't possibly be all bad."

I smile. That was so cheesy, but still made my heart melt. I lean into him a little bit, instead of awkwardly sitting like a stick. We sit in silence for a moment, but I have to break it.

"What's gonna happen Tristan? They didn't feed us breakfast, it doesn't look like we're getting lunch. People are going to get grumpy."

He looks sad, but gives me the answer I was expecting. "I really don't know Amber. But your brother is here, and Mitchel, and Kendra and lots of other people. We're going to be okay."

It isn't much, but it reassures me a little.

"Do you miss your family?" I ask.

"Of course I do."

I must have a thoughtful look on my face or something, because he looks at me and asks, "Whats wrong?"

"It's just that, like, my brother is here. I have family here, and another person I grew up with is here. But I still miss my family and friends. A lot. And it makes me feel bad, because I already have more than most people here."

"You can't feel bad about missing your family Amber. Everyone does. People go to a sleepover at a friend's house, where they know and trust everyone there, and they still miss their parents. Yes, you are lucky that people from you life are here, but that doesn't mean you aren't allowed to miss your family."

I nod. "Thanks. One more question. Where did you come from?"

"BC."

Judging by the short answer, I'm guessing he doesn't want to talk about it.

---

Both Tristan and Quinn are sleeping now.

"You guys are so adorable!" Aria whispers, sounding super excited.

I stick my tongue out at her. "Says you. You and Quinn are way cuter."

She giggles. "We are, aren't we?"

I join her quiet laughter. "So Daniel's finally out of the picture?" she asks.

Just as she says it, I see him walking toward us. "Speak of the devil," I whisper.

"Literally," she hisses under her breath.

"Hello ladies," Daniel says. To Aria, he says, "May I steal Amber away from you for a moment."

"Hmmmm," she says. Anyone else, including Daniel, would think she's just teasing, but I can tell that she's honestly thinking about saying no. "I guess if you must, then you can take her. I don't like you though."

He laughs, thinking that this too is a joke. I get up and follow him a little ways a way, where we can talk in private.

"What?" I ask, wanting to get this over with. I feel nothing with him. Tristan on the other hand...that's another story.

"Jeez. So rude. Nothing like the Amber who kissed me in the courtyard."

Ohmygosh! I didn't kiss him! He kissed me! Is he going to spin it around like this? Piece of crap.

"Excuse me?" I ask. Full on sass queen mode.

"Ya know, when you grabbed my face and forced a nasty kiss on me?"

"Excuse me? You little-"

"Oh Amber, don't be like this. Feisty doesn't suit you. You can't have me, sweetie. But, you can go back to itty bitty baby Tristan, knowing that I was your first," he pauses and kisses me roughly, "and second, kiss."

I am going to kill him.

I try to kick him where the sun don't shine, but he anticipates it and pushes my foot away as if he's swatting away a fly. I spin around on my heel and head back to our corner fuming.

As I return, Aria looks puzzled, but that's not what makes the situation worse. Tristan is awake, and looks incredibly disappointed.

Aria gets up and walks toward me, a mix of concern and confusion on her face.

"Amber? What the heck happened over there?" She's not using a mad tone; good to know someone isn't mad at me. She just sounds so confused.

"Come, let me explain," I say, and we head back to where Daniel and I were, just mere moments ago.

"So?" She asks expectantly.

"I'm going to kill him!" I rage.

"K. Amber," she places a hand on my should. "Calm down. We can murder him later."

I smile at that.

"But really," she says. "Tell me what happened."

"When we got over here I was like, 'what do you want,' and he said how rude I was, and that that's nothing like the Amber the kisses him in the courtyard. But I didn't freakin kiss him! He kissed me! So I said 'excuse me?' and he went on and on about how I kissed him and how nasty it was. Then he said that I could go back to Tristan, and I'm thinking 'finally. I can get away from you now' and then he adds that I can go back to Tristan knowing that he was my first kiss. And then, as I'm assuming you guys saw, he kissed me, and then pointed out that he's my second kiss too."

"That little-"

"Aria. Please. Did Tristan see?"

She nods slowly. "From our angle, Daniel made it look like you were kissing him too. Tristan's pretty hurt. He really likes you Amber."

I'm devastated. I want to scream. "I'm going to kill that piece of crap!!"

"Oh Amber. We'll fix this. Tristan's a good guy. Daniel's a douche. Come on. Let's go back right now and talk to Tristan."

"How can I face him right now, Aria?"

"I know it's hard Amber. But if you ignore him, then he might believe that you kissed Daniel, not the other way around."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Let's go."

---

😂

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