"All of this is tearing us apart."

-All of This (Stripped), The Naked and Famous

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Her footsteps are getting louder, and more outcomes of me getting expelled are flashing in my mind. I've been here for a week, and I'm already about to be expelled?

That must be some sort of record.

I'm about to come up with a reason for why I'm hiding underneath her desk with my student file in my hands, when there's a knock at the door.

Rosa stops and says loudly, "Yes?"

Someone enters the room, and when I hear their voice I swear my stomach unravels. "Miss Rosa," Seth says warmly.

My lungs finally fill with air again, my heart beating at a slower pace.

"What can I do for you, Seth?" Rosa asks. I hear the desk creak a little so she must be leaning against it on the other side.

Why is Seth here? I'm glad he is, sure, he's saving my ass by being here. But why?

Seth moves around a bit while replying smoothly, "Just wanted to ask you something."

"And that is?"

His footsteps get closer to the desk, until he walks past it. When his eyes briefly meet mine, he smirks and winks, before looking up at Rosa and saying, "I wanna know when I can see my parents again."

"Christmas, you know that."

"They didn't show up last Christmas, or the Christmas before," he reminds, moving away from the desk.

"Maybe this year, Seth," she says reassuringly. I sit up a little and bob my head over the desk to see what is happening. I can see Rosa's back and Seth pacing around, trying to bring Rosa subtly away from the desk so I can make a break for it.

Seth nods, and I can see worry form in his eyes when she begins to round the desk. I duck down again quickly.

After a split second consideration, he sighs loudly with distress, obviously catching Rosa off guard since she has stopped in place again.

"What's wrong?" she asks with a hint of exhaustion while I carefully crouch to see above the desk again.

Seth sighs again, before heading towards the right wall which is filled to the brim with books. "I've finished reading all my books, and if my parents don't turn up and bring me some more, I'll have to reread the ones I've already read."

"Seth-"

"Do you know how many times a person can reread Twilight? Do you?" he presses, raising an expectant eyebrow.

She breathes out, stepping towards the bookcases. Seth shoots me a smirk, before following her.

Rosa is looking up at the books with Seth copying the motion, occasionally throwing me side-ways glances. "How about Alice in Wonderland?"

"Absolutely not, Miss Rosa, I swear I saw my cat smile at me once. It brings back bad memories," he says, and it takes every ounce of strength I have not to burst out laughing.

"What about that one?" He points at one at the top, and Rosa narrows her eyes to see what he's pointing at exactly. With his other hand, Seth makes a waving motion to me behind his back. I inch out of the other side of the desk and dash towards the door, stopping for a fraction of a second behind a leather seat, before slipping out the door that Seth left open.

I stumble into the corridor just after hearing Seth say quickly, "You know what? Twilight is sounding very appealing now. I'll show myself out."

He appears beside me in an instant, shutting the door behind him quietly.

When it is closed, I breathe out heavily. We share a look, before bursting out laughing.

Seth's eyes brush past the door, and so we hurry away, down the corridor and out of earshot of Rosa's office.

Once we're far enough away, we turn to each other and laugh again.

"Brings back bad memories?" I chuckle. "Did you also manage to fall down a rabbit hole?"

Seth makes a face. "Doll, that's ridiculous, of course I didn't." He pauses. "The rabbit with the waistcoat would never have allowed that."

I laugh again, Seth joining in as we make a slow walk back to the library.

When my laughter softens into a smile, I ask, "Seriously though, how did you know to rescue me?"

Seth shoots me a short glance and admits, "Alec told me what was happening. He wanted to make sure Rosa wouldn't catch you, but obviously Bailey wouldn't let Alec out of her sight while you were in the office. She wouldn't want him helping you. So, he asked me to watch the office while you were in there, and if Rosa came along, to create a distraction and get you out."

I guess Alec was still looking out for me when I was doing something to look out for him.

"Well, that was some distraction," I remark, and he chuckles. "And Twilight? Really?"

He stares ahead, cheeks reddening, and admits, "I like it, don't shoot me."

I pat his shoulder and shake my head. "You're cool, Seth. In return for saving my ass, I won't say anything about Twilight."

He breathes a sigh of relief. "Great, because Alec won't let me hear the end of it."

I chuckle.

"Good luck for tonight by the way," he says quietly.

I'd almost forgotten about that. "Maybe something could save me from that," I mumble.

"Don't stress, I'm rooting for you," he replies.

"You know it's a one-way fight, right? I literally can't win or protect myself in any way."

"I know. I still believe in you though."

We make it to the library door, where Seth says a final quiet goodbye, and jogs away as not to be spotted by Bailey.

Before he can disappear completely from sight, I call, "Seth?"

He turns around.

"My parents won't show on Christmas either. You wanna spend it together?" I ask.

His face lights up and he nods cheerfully, before grinning one final time and disappearing from sight.

I take a moment to make sure my heart rate is back to normal, and then push open the door. All eyes fall on me.

I hold up the file, and the initial silence turns to claps and cheers, apart from Bailey, who is scowling.

I hand her the file confidently, while I'm surrounded by Alec and Jasper and the others, who pat my back heartily.

She snatches it out of my hand and flips it open, her eyes brushing across the information. After a moment, she looks up and glares. "It doesn't say anything."

"Sure it does." I lean forward and point at my profile. "It says I was born in London and my parents are-"

"It doesn't say anything about what you did," she snaps, slamming the file shut.

"That's not my problem."

"It is."

"No, it's actually not," I say calmly. "It's yours. I'm not the one who wanted to see my file. You and Naomi are. And if you can't handle what you've found, then don't make a scene about it."

Jasper snorts a laugh, and even Alec can't help smirking.

Bailey shoots a stern look at Alec. "You find this funny?"

"A little," he admits.

"Well then, you won't mind me telling Naomi not to hold back on your girlfriend. She can hurt her as much as she wants."

Jasper tenses and Alec takes a step forward, no humour evident on his features anymore. "You won't live long enough to tell her," he hisses, and his tone sends chills up my own spine. His jaw clenches, making my heart skip a beat.

"Oh yeah? You know that you can't interfere."

"Then what if I take her place?"

Bailey stops. Everything stops.

"Alec," I manage to release, gripping his muscular arm. His gaze doesn't waver from Bailey, who is smirking darkly. "Don't do this. You can't do this."

"You'd seriously take her place?"

Alec responds resolutely. "Yes."

"Naomi can't hurt you though. You're much stronger than her," Bailey points out and I sigh in relief.

"Get Jace to do it, he's the strongest Fighter there is," Alec says firmly, ignoring the fact that he knows it's pointless.

Bailey considers it, before shaking her head. "The point is that Naomi can do to Olivia what Olivia did to her. It's the punishment. It's the rules."

Jasper speaks out for the first time in a while, "There's something seriously wrong with you."

"There's something seriously wrong with all of us! That's why we're here!" she yells, throwing us all off a bit. There's a crazy look in her eyes.

Before anyone can disagree with her or protest anymore, Bailey turns to the boys and girls behind her and instructs, "Take Olivia to the pit. You know what to do."

They nod and two boys grab my arms. I try to resist but they only grip harder. Jasper yells and jumps to help me, but a girl and a boy pull him back. Alec stays silent, staring at the floor with empty, disbelieving eyes.

Jasper tries to fight against them, yelling, "You can't do this!"

"Shut it, pretty boy," Bailey snaps, turning to the boy and girl holding his arms. "Take him to one of the Fighter dorms and lock him in. We don't want him doing anything stupid while everyone is at the pit."

They nod and drag Jasper out of the room while he yells my name.

And never have I heard someone say my name with the same amount of pain and fear as Jasper does now.