"I feel your faith always."

-Taste, Rhye

________________________________

I'm woken in the morning- a Sunday- by a short knock on my door. I crawl out of my bed and try to stop the thoughts of last night from coming back to my mind. Running my fingers through my hair, I open the door.

Seth is standing there awkwardly, shifting from one foot to the other. He isn't smiling, which is odd on his face, like his entire face was made to have a smile planted on it. He's wearing a signature black leather jacket and dark jeans with black vans on his feet.

Running his hand through his golden blonde hair, he says, "I'm sorry for waking you up so early."

I smile and shake my head, suddenly feeling self-conscious in my black shorts and loose white top. Subtly pulling at the hems of my shorts, I reply, "It's alright. Can I help you with something, Seth?"

He fidgets uneasily, making an effort to avoid my questioning gaze. "You see, the fight yesterday. There was an agreement..."

I had completely forgotten about that. "Right."

"You-um...I think you should come with me," he says, finally meeting my curious stare with an awkward one.

I frown, confused. "Is everything alright?"

He nods quickly. "I'm sure it will be, doll."

I smile and motion to my room with my thumb. "Give me five minutes."

***

Once I'm dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans and a black top with black boots, I run a brush through my hair and tie it up in a ponytail.

Swinging open the door, I follow Seth down the stairs.

"I thought you were really cool in the fight yesterday, doll," he says, looking down at me cheerfully. "I just wanted you to know that."

"Thanks, Seth. Let's just hope it doesn't catch up to me," I reply, keeping my eyes trained on the floor.

"Alec really scored with you, that's for sure," he says with a laugh.

It eases the tension, but I can only release a humourless laugh.

Once we make it down the stairs, we head across the corridor and towards the library. It's eerily silent, many of the other students still fast asleep. It's a Sunday, meaning no one should be awake for a long time since breakfast starts later than normal.

We stop outside the closed door, and Seth turns to face me, expression serious. "I just want you to know that I don't think you deserve what's going to happen."

I frown, only becoming more confused.

He presses his lips together and opens the door, revealing a library full of Fighters. The librarian is nowhere in sight, but I guess it's too early for her to be down here anyway.

When they hear the door swing open, squeaking on its hinges, the Fighters stop speaking and turn to stare me down.

"What have I gotten myself into?" I mumble to Seth, giving him a sideways glance. He shakes his head. The students are standing in a large semi-circle around the door.

"Olivia Mitchell."

I look away from Seth and towards the owner of the voice. It belongs to a small girl, standing at the front of the crowd. She has a tight brown braid and light blue irises, something that should be cute but isn't with her angled eyebrows and sharp eyes. Alec is nowhere in sight.

"Speaking," I say, taking a few steps into the room. If they think they can scare me by looking all aggressive, then they need to think again.

I walk into the centre of the circle, and Seth doesn't leave my side.

"My name is Bailey."

"You going to tell me why I'm here, Bailey?" I ask bluntly.

"You put one of our own into the infirmary. You beat her when she couldn't hurt you anymore," the girl says firmly.

"I wanted to win. Fighters should know what that feels like."

"But we don't hurt someone when they can't hurt us anymore. That's not part of the code," she snaps. Some Fighters mumble in agreement to one another.

"Well, news flash, Hailey-"

"Bailey."

"Same thing."

She rolls her eyes.

"I'm not a Fighter. Naomi said so herself. What I did was an accident. And I'll do whatever I have to to make it right."

Seth shoots me an uncertain sideways glance, like he knows it was not the right thing to say.

Bailey smirks and folds her arms. "I'm glad you feel that way. Because your punishment has already been decided."

"What is it?"

"You won the fight. So you do get your part of the deal. Naomi will tell you what she knows about Jacob's death."

"And that's my punishment? Giving me what I fought Naomi to get in the first place?"

"That's not all. You'll also be serving Naomi's part of the deal."

I freeze.

Seth stays silent, staring at his feet uneasily. I turn back to Bailey and murmur, "I have to steal something from Rosa's office?"

She's about to respond before the door swings open abruptly. I spin around to see who has entered, and a sense of relief floods through me.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Bailey?" Alec snaps, his harsh tone commanding the entire room despite its incredible size. Every pair of eyes is on him, and suddenly the Fighters don't seem so brave anymore.

He steps in front of me and pushes me behind him protectively. There's a triumphant smile playing on Seth's lips, the carefree boy I had met yesterday returning the second of Alec's arrival.

He looks like he hasn't slept, the bags under his eyes darker and more pronounced than normal. But there's still that wild look in his brown eyes.

"Discussing a matter you're too afraid to discuss, Alec," Bailey hisses, her courage against her leader baffling not just me but everyone else in the room. Apart from Alec. He remains threateningly silent. "Your girlfriend's punishment."

Alec's furrowed brow deepens further, if that is even possible. "I think you're forgetting who's in charge here," he grunts, voice low and husky.

"See, the thing is, I don't think it's supposed to be you. It's not just me who thinks you're not pulling through. You're a little biased," she replies casually, gesturing to me. I stand there helplessly, not really knowing what I can do to be of use.

"I'm the leader here. Don't ever speak to me like that," he growls.

"Things have changed while you've been disappearing to make out with your girlfriend. I'm the new leader. It's decided."

"You know Seth is the second-in-command. It should be him if anyone," Alec says, his voice not as confident as before.

"He's too loyal to you. Like a little dog, really."

Seth grimaces and flips her off. "You can go to Hell, Bailey," he yells, to which a few of the others laugh.

I've had enough. Alec is not losing his leader position just because of me. I'm not having it. I know how much it means to him.

I step around Alec and face Bailey sternly. "If you're gonna listen to anyone, listen to me."

"Liv," Alec starts, but I ignore him.

"I'm listening," Bailey says dryly.

"If I steal whatever you want me to from Rosa's office, and whatever else you need me to do, Alec remains the rightful leader. If he doesn't receive his position back, then I'm not doing anything for you."

"Liv, you don't know what you're getting into," Alec says.

Seth adds, "You don't want to do this, doll."

I ignore there pleads to rethink.

"Are you blackmailing me?" Bailey asks darkly, raising an eyebrow in shock.

"Maybe."

Bailey considers it for a moment as the crowd mumbles quietly. After a moment of deliberation, she says, "Okay, Alec is the leader if you steal something from Rosa's office."

"Good." I'm about to turn around to tell Alec 'see, everything is okay'. But the world doesn't work like that. Nothing ever ends up okay.

"And."

I frown at her.

What else could this girl possibly want, a voice says.

Everyone falls silent. I fiddle nervously with the necklace Alec gave to me.

"And what?"

She smirks. "Naomi can beat you up. Just like you did to her. And you're not allowed to fight back."

The room erupts in an explosion of voices, some yelling, some cheering. Alec's eyes widen, and Seth is shaking my arm to tell me to refuse. Alec stands in front of me, and puts his hands onto my shoulders, eyes pleading with mine. I've never seen as much fear in his eyes as there is right now. "Liv, please. Don't do this. You can't get hurt because of me!"

I lean in to Alec and wrap my arms around him, a brief but meaningful embrace. But then I pull away before he can protest, and approach Bailey.

I shake her hand.

The deal is made.