India burst into the room with the power of a train, going a million miles a minute.

"GUESS WHAT!"

I looked up from my book (All the King's Men to be exact), taking in her perfect silhouette.

"What?" Ivy offered with a shrug.

"I heard whispers of what Gemma and her squad are doing for halloween," India played with the curled ends of her silky brown hair.

I rolled my eyes with a grin, intrigue enticing me, "Oh come on, spill!"

"Angels," India gushed, and then added quickly, "Or school girls, but they were aiming towards angels."

I flipped over another page of my book, "Could they get any more basic?" I scoffed.

OK, I probably shouldn't judge them, that's probably rude of me, but... it's Gemma. That's not really an excuse but still.

Ivy's eyes light up with mirth, "You know what that means we have to be?"

The lightbulb went off in my mind, "Oh my god, you're a genius!"

Holy shit, it's like they laid it out for us. It was like bait, fishing in a barrel.

"Is it obvious? We have to be Devils."

A smirk and realization dawned on India's face at the same time, painting it in the perfect image of "scheming" that you could find.

"Oh without a shadow of a doubt- and we will be hotter than hell."

I squealed, throwing down the book and reaching for my laptop to pull up trendy shopping sites to search for our costumes, we had about a week until halloween.

As soon as I opened my laptop, the plane tickets filled the screen, and I quickly swiped out of it before India or Ivy saw.

I hadn't told them that I was going home for fall break- that I couldn't spend one more day here or I'd burst. Instead, I feigned content and shrugged off their questions about what my plans were. Maybe I was a bad friend for it- but I knew deep down they'd know why I was leaving- fleeing. And shame and pride prevented me from admitting that I was running from Westwood school like the coward I was.

Maybe I was selfish- but I needed time to pull myself together. I need the famaliar streets and parks and stupid bachelorette tourists in cowboy hats to remind me of who I was.

Two things made me feel... true. Right. And one was singing, and one was Nashville.

India and Ivy and I gather around, piling extravagant, definitely not dress code approved outfits for halloween into the baskets excitedly. For now, I would distract myself with halloween and the tests leading up to fall break. But after... after would be a soul detox and a social battery charge.

After a good bit of shopping, we laid sprawled on the floor of India and I's dorm, talking through ideas for songs to perform for the party.

Ivy rolled onto her stomach and sighed, "is it bad I am tired of all this music that is full of emotion? I want some like... bad bitch music."

India nodded assuredly, "Also- come on, we are gonna be devils, we can't go up thier and sing some soft rock."

I closed my eyes, going through the thrall and catalogue in my mind of all the music I knew, "OK I have a couple ideas."

The girls perked up, two pairs of brown eyes looking at me attentively, both framed by dark lashes.

I whispered my ideas, and the three of us schemed together plotting it all.

***

The week went by quickly, I aced every text and quiz. Thank god my grade didn't reflect my emotional state. How would I describe myself? A train-wreck. I had resorted to getting through the day by absurd amounts of caffeine.

Those stupid whisperings surrounded my mind, reminding me of Rowen, but I pushed them all away. It was embarrassing to me that I was so dependent on a guy. But whatever.

I finished class on Thursday early before India and Ivy, and I packed my bag as quickly as I could, keeping it as light as possible. We had tomorrow off, tonight being Halloween.

I'll be gone before anyone wakes up from their sleep because of their undoubtable hangover and exhaustion.

I hoped they wouldn't be mad- but I cried at night, or I simply laid in bed, staring at the ceiling, not sleeping the entire night.

The amount of times the record company had tried to contact me was actually insane, but about two days ago they stopped calling, hopefully one of the boys pulling strings with their influence and money handling it.

I missed my boys.

I pushed that idea out of my mind as I slammed the lid onto the suitcase and pushed it under my bed, just as Ivy and India stumbled through the door.

"Hey," I said nervously, and no doubt suspiciously, but if India or Ivy noticed, they didn't say anything as they excitedly ripped open the packages of their costumes. They were raving about the party tonight.

Honestly- I was excited. Nothing felt better than dancing in a sweating pile of people. I loved to dance, almost as I loved to sing. The only difference was the only skill I had been blessed with dancing were my hips. I could roll my hips and body like a belly dancer. #hidentalents.

"Come on! Let me do your makeup!" India yelled as she dragged me into the bathroom right behind her.

Music blasted not only in our room, but down all the dorms on our hall and floor. Everyone and their brother was going tonight- and I was beyond ready.