"Too bad I couldn't look nicer for you on our date, babe," I cooed slyly, sneaking a glance at the boy next to me for a reaction as we stood in line waiting for our ice creams.

I was still in my midnight blue sweater and black leggings, but my hair was let down right now as I had taken off the black ribbon earlier. Aka, detention outfit.

Liam cocked his eyebrows at me and rolled his eyes, "The cringe is real."

I dropped my act and punched him on the arm, "I am a very good actor."

"Uhuh mhmm," he hummed, moving up a few feet as the line became shorter, "As good as your art skills."

This time it was my turn to raise my eyebrows.

"Excuse you," I started, gaping in disbelief, "You did not just insult my drawing."

"Eh," Liam responded uninterested.

We reached our ice cream and both ordered. He got a plain chocolate ice cream on a cone while I got mint chocolate chip. When he reached to pay and one glance at the amount in his hand and I stopped him with my hand.

"I'll pay for my own," I said, "I don't like being in debt with anyone."

Liam stared at me for a split second before shrugging slightly and letting me pull out my own money. We eventually both finished paying for our sweets and went over to a bench to sit.

"Usually on dates," Liam began, leaning back on the bench, "The boy pays."

I took a tiny bite of my ice cream before replying, "Vhey?"

The boy turned to me as he stared at me with his head slightly tilted, wanting me to repeat what I had said.

I put up a finger as if to mean, give-me-a-sec-I'm-choking-on-ice-cream.

"'Why?'" I repeated for him after I had swallowed the lump of cold ice cream that I had previously thought was a 'tiny bite.'

Liam seemed to be suppressing a chuckle and only let out a quick amused scoff before saying, "Carlos never paid for you?"

I mentally sighed at the name.

"We never did anything fancy during dates," I answered truthfully, "Going out to practice shooting and watching the sun set was basically it."

Liam eyed me curiously, "Are you serious?"

"Do I look like I'm lying?"

He finally let out a smug smile before turning away from me and eating his ice cream instead.

"Might as well show you a good time before I kill you," he mumbled into his ice cream.

"What," I asked matter-of-factly, my eyes closing as I ate my treat.

"Nothing."

"You sure? You said nothing?"

"Yup."

"Nothing like, 'show you a good time before I kill you?'"

"I would never."

A smile managed to appear on my face as I let out a small laugh. I covered it up as I pushed the ice cream on my lips and felt it slowly melt against my skin.

"I want to try mint chocolate chip," he chimed after a short moment of silence.

We both opened our eyes and turned to look at each other.

"Wait-"

Before I could finish he leaned closer to me and took a neat lick on the opposite side of my ice cream swirl.

I frowned at the boy, "Hey. If you eat my ice cream I eat yours."

I leaned into his cone and took a taste. Yum.

When I sat back up and the new flavor of ice cream in our mouths just melted, I caught Liam cheekily grin at me.

"What," I asked, suspicious of the man.

"We just had an indirect kiss," he let out casually, continuing to eat his cone.

My eyes widened a little before I rolled them.

"Whatever."

_

"There!" I pointed up high, "We have to. You've been avoiding it all day."

I was trying to get him to take me up to the Ferris Wheel.

"Pleasee," I whined. It was getting late and all I wanted to do was sit at a high altitude and rest.

"Roller coaster first before it closes," Liam argued, grabbing my wrist and dragging me the opposite direction.

"Wait, Carter," I protested, "I can't-"

I ended up being strapped down at the very front of the ride next to the boy I detested.

"Liam," I started, turning to him, "I'm going to throw up my ice cream. You don't want to look like a polka-dotted alien do you?"

"Is that my next disguise," he teased, giving me a smug smile before turning back to the front.

"I'm not joking," I pushed, suddenly panicking as the intercom came over saying to keep our hands and feet inside the moving vehicle at all times throughout the ride.

As the ride made its sharp turns, curves, and dips, I held onto my only food that had become upset due to the great amount of motion I had been forced into. After we got off, I tripped suddenly and ended up on the ground with a scrapped knee.

"Great," I whined, pushing myself up, "Scrapped knee and bruised arms. And dead brain cells. Today's just not my day."

"Hmm?" Liam chimed, waiting for me to get up. He held out a hand and I eyed it weirdly for a moment before accepting it.

"Thanks," I let out tiredly, dusting my pants off.

"Ferris Wheel?" Liam said softly, smiling amused at my unstable state.

I glared at him playfully, "Now you want to?"

We did go on it after a long wait in the line. I was getting tired and it didn't help that the sky was almost pitch black.

Once we had gotten in, I leaned against the glass and watched outside quietly as our seat slowly rose higher and higher. The lights of the amusement rides and city street shone brightly up and illuminated the area below us.

It was beautiful.

My eyes slowly unfocused on the scene before me and they eventually closed for a light rest.

It was peaceful and quiet all of a sudden. I could faintly hear the soft breathing of the boy sitting across me, but I didn't bother opening my eyes to check on him.

"You asleep?" Liam commented calmly across from me.

I let myself breathe out a few steady breaths before I softly replied, "Mm."

I managed to stay awake for a while before drifting off into sleep.

Before that, however, my ears caught a word from Liam, who, I realized had been talking so quietly that I could barely hear him.

"... you."

_

"Jamie,"

I moaned softly in opposition as I felt a hand nudge me against my left arm.

"Jamie Lennon," Liam repeated, "Wake up and tell me where your house is."

I froze in my sleep and confusion took over as I stumbled over the fact that someone was asking for my place. When I opened my eyes, I was sitting on the bench that I had previously sat on earlier today with Liam to my left as support for my sleepy head.

Instead of jolting up, I decided a smarter method and got up slowly and carefully instead to avoid a sudden headache pain that usually followed after a rapid startle.

"My house?" I quietly croaked, running a hand through my hair.

Liam nodded, looking at me gradually wake up.

"Not my house, my dorm," I corrected him, "I stay in the dorms."

"Won't your mother and father be worrying for you," Liam stated.

I slightly shrugged, "Mother's missing, father's missing."

Liam raised his eyebrows at me, "I see."

_

By the time we had gotten back to the academy, I was fully awake.

Liam turned out to be staying at the dorms as well and left me at the girl's dorms before heading off to the boy's. My eyes lingered on the back of his shadowed figure before it was out of sight and I looked away, walking towards my room.

My footsteps softly thud repeatedly on the ground as I headed down the empty hallways.

The closer I got to my room, the stronger the smell of something new caught my senses.

Three steps, five steps.

I gave the air a good two deep sniffs before slightly frowning at the smokey aroma.

Ten steps, seventeen steps.

My body froze as I stared at my door.

There was nothing out of the ordinary physically as thorough as my eyes could see.

It was the smell.

Smoke. Metal. Dust.

It felt heavy on the other side of that room somehow and I was, for the first time since attending this school, afraid of opening my own room door.

My hand traveled to the lock pad and I entered the code to my lock.

01010101 01010101

Yes. It was binary.

What I saw beyond that door made my insides turn uncomfortably and my mind start analyzing the scene on instincts.

It was a black hole in there. Dark and gruesome.

I couldn't make out anything as I slowly entered. The lights were a bit further in and as I stepped in, my feet crutched on a pile of broken wood and metal.

The lights were on.

My eyes widened at the scene.

Everything was gone. Broken. Splattered dangerously on the ground and into the wall.

Even if I didn't know what had happened, one would describe it as if a 'bomb' had gone off inside my room.

But because I knew better, I understood that was what had exactly happened.

Someone had placed a bomb inside my room.

And there's only two people I know who would do such a thing.

I quickly closed the door to my room and took a step back once the lock had clicked into place.

My hand rushed through the backpack I had just swung over to the side to find my phone. When I found it, I opened it up, planning to call Axel.

Instead, I opened up to a new contact that had been saved to my phone recently.

Liam Carter, read the new contact.

But how?

We just went for ice cream...

_