"I guess he stole your heart, but I see he broke it too. That's something I would never do. If only you would walk away and be without the shadows left by him. He never loved you anyway. I wish that you would break and let me in." —Darin.

••

Harmony quickly types the message before pressing send, hoping Blaze will see it soon enough. Kite showing up had thrown off her entire mood, and she is no longer interested in the concert. She believes spending time at the dorm with Blaze will be more appealing than being around envious stares and a guy who does not know when to give up.

Lately, things have been going so well with Blaze, and she does not want to mess it all up.

Opening her silver laptop, she begins skimming through Netflix for a movie. She finds herself contemplating horror films, something she wouldn't normally do, but Blaze likes them, and she enjoys watching his amused facial expression while the horrifying scenes play out.

Maybe she's slowly becoming a Sociopath as well?

Her stomach roars from hunger, and immediately she begins to regret rejecting Yuna's fried chicken offer. Being the kind-hearted person she is, she just did not want to be a bother to them.

She postpones her search and gets up from the bed, making her way to the small kitchen in the room to get herself a snack.

She settles with a bag of Doritos and a glass of Lemonade. The red snack only pulls her mind back to Blaze, and the sour drink reminds her of when he had kissed her under that maple tree earlier.

Her face colors to a deep scarlet. She misses him already.

Instantly, there is a knock on the door, and with a broad smile on her gentle face, Harmony puts her meal on the bedside table and eagerly gets up to answer it.

It has to be him.

She encloses her hand around the knob and pulls the door open. But it isn't who she wants it to be.

To her complete dismay, Maddie is standing at the door with an uneven smile dangling on her round face.

Her terrifying second visit flashes before Harmony's mind, and she clutches onto the door tightly, pulling it closer to the side of her body.

"What-what do you want?"

Maddie beams and lifts the bottle of liquor she's holding in her hand. "To celebrate."

Harmony narrows her eyes untrustingly. "Celebrate what?"

The slimmer girl shrugs her shoulders, whipping her hair from her eyes. "To celebrate the fact that I am finally getting over Blaze Xander."

Harmony blinks her eyes in confusion, not uttering a word, and Maddie takes the opportunity to continue.

"Yeah. I know it sounds impossible but I met a guy recently, and he likes me a lot. I told him about my past and everything about Blaze. He wants to help me through it all. We have been friends for a while now, and he just confessed to me today." She half-smiles.

Harmony is not sure if she should believe that, but even if it's the truth, why does she feel the need to come here and tell her that? After what happened the other night with her forcing her to try that sharp hairpin, Harmony prefers not to be around this girl. Clearly, she is a little unstable.

"Can I come in?" Maddie points the bottle behind her, and she shakes her head in disapproval.

"Actually, no. I am busy right now."

"Doing what?"

"I am actually in the middle of—"

"Hey, it's okay. I just want to talk; I won't take long." Maddie quickly pushes past her, and Harmony staggers to the side as the girl enters her dorm room unwarrantably.

She's like a stubborn bee that just won't go away no matter how many times you hit it. Letting out a deep sigh, she decides not to close the door, just in case this girl begins to behave psychotically. She hopes Blaze will be here soon, seeing that Maddie only listens to him.

"I really am busy." Harmony turns to her, trying her luck again. "Maybe we can talk some other time?"

Maddie sits on the bed despite her efforts. "I don't want to bother you...but it's just that I don't have anyone to talk to about this..."

Her expression saddens while she stares at the bottle in her hand. "I know everyone thinks of me as a freak. I know you all think I am this psycho that is madly obsessed with Blaze. But I am not like that." She meets Harmony's watchful eyes.

"I am not like that, Harmony. I just loved him, that's all. I have now finally found someone who will care about me without having to chase behind them. I am no longer interested in Blaze, so you all can stop treating me like I am insane now."

Harmony chews on her lip. Her forgiving and caring heart is slowly softening at the girl's proclamations. "I am not treating you like you're insane; I just—"

"You're uncomfortable around me," she interjects. "You think I am a psycho, don't you? That's what you all think of me. But I am human, alright? I am human just like you. I was just going through a phase. I am not some germ. I know it, I can see it in your eyes; you think I am nothing but some freak."

Thick tears slip from their dwelling places, rolling along her pale cheeks.

Harmony stands motionlessly, watching as she cries, and then the small tremors in her heart finally become too much, and she walks over and sits beside her.

She takes a deep breath. "I...I don't think you're a freak. I just can't talk right now because—"

"Because Blaze is coming over?" She inserts while using the back of her hand to dry her eyes.

Harmony nods. "Yeah, I am expecting someone, so maybe we can talk tomorrow."

Maddie turns to face her, and her eyes are red and swollen. "I am sorry, but I won't take up all your time." She wipes her nose. "I just want to talk to someone...or I can't trust what I will do. Do you see these lines on my skin?" She turns her hand over, displaying the cuts streaked across her slender wrist.

Harmony sighs.

"I haven't been cutting myself only because of Blaze. The truth is...my parents are physically abusing me, and I have no one to turn to."

Harmony narrows her eyes, dumbfounded. "What?"

"Yeah...they beat me, and my dad does horrible things to me." She takes her hand in hers and lowers her head as she cries. "I just want to talk...that's all."

Harmony lets out an exhale and stares at her quivering figure for a while. Maddie's eyes and cheeks are already puffy from crying, and she looks like a mess. Harmony begins to feel awful about turning her away when she needs assistance. She would be nothing but a heartless person if she were to send her to her room in this state.

What if Maddie ends up cutting herself again? She's not fond of her, but suicide isn't something she wants to be responsible for.

She takes a deep breath. "Okay, tell me, I'll listen."

Maddie lifts her head and smiles a little, pushing hair away from her face. "I-I am just so broken, and it's not only because of Blaze. My parents don't love me."

Harmony twists her lips thoughtfully. "But you said your dad paid extra for that room next door...he seems to care for you."

"No." She pules, shaking her head. "It's all a trick. A trick to get me away from them. They don't want me around; they hate me. I am telling you, Harmony. I tried telling everyone, but they just won't believe me. They hurt me so much, and that is one of the reasons I tried killing myself."

Harmony's gaze softens. She grew up lovingly sheltered, so she cannot even imagine what it feels like to be a victim of abuse. It must be painful.

"I am sorry about that." She mutters truthfully.

"It's okay." Maddie sniffs. "But the guy I met, he's willing to help me through it. He's majoring in Psychology at Jaxton University. He cares enough to hear me out; no one else does."

"Well, if he's willing to be there for you then see where it takes you." Harmony shrugs, though she does not entirely believes her.

She nods. "Could you have a drink with me?"

Harmony's eyes fall to the bottle of liquor in her hand, and she rejects the offer quickly. "No, sorry I don't drink."

"Oh." Maddie slumps her shoulders in defeat. "I tend to feel so much better whenever I drink with someone."

Harmony purses her lips, and she frowns. "Just one drink? Please? It's just comforting...knowing I am sharing my pain with someone."

Nipping on her lower lip, Harmony thinks deeply about the offer. It's just one drink, right? What's the worse that could happen?

She finally decides and nods her head. "Okay...I'll get us two glasses then."

Maddie smiles brightly. "Thanks, Harmony."

Harmony goes to the kitchen to get two containers. When she returns, she hands one to Maddie and keeps the other, noticing how the girl lifts the cork off as if the drink was already open before now.

She pours some of the red liquid in Harmony's cup and then does the same for herself before sitting the bottle on the mat.

She raises her cup. "Let's toast to me letting go of the past."

Harmony smiles a little, and Maddie clinks her cup against hers.

She watches Maddie as she lifts the drink to her lips, then she does the same. With her eyes closed, she gulps down the liquid in one go, and it is so strong that it scorches her throat during its passing. She scrunches her face up, and Maddie chuckles.

"Yeah it's strong; you might get drunk really fast."

Harmony massages her throat with a hand. "Yeah...it is." She realizes that Maddie's cup is still full despite her putting it to her mouth a second ago, but before she can say anything about the untouched liquor, the girl speaks first.

"Want some more?"

She shakes her head. "No, one drink is enough. I'm fine. I'll talk to you another time; I should get back to what I was doing..."

As soon as the words leave her lips, her eyes become foggy, and everything in her field of vision becomes a blur.

Harmony finds it impossible that the small dose of liquor would have such quick effects on her. She's not a drinker, but she knows that one little shot is not enough to have her seeing things so abnormally.

She grips her forehead, and Maddie looks at her with what appears like concern. "Are you alright?"

Harmony blinks her eyes and inhales a breath. "Y-yeah, it's just..."

"Oh damn, I should have warned you before that this liquor is very very strong Harmony..."

Her voice sounds distorted and faded, and soon, Harmony's head is spiraling in circles as the room becomes even hazier, closing in on her.

"You should get some rest," Maddie says, as she clutches her head, struggling to keep her eyes open.

Unable to withstand the vertigo, she falls back against the bed. The ceiling rotates, and her eyes roll to the back of her head before she is pulled into absolute darkness.

Maddie's innocent facade falls, and her lips spread in a deranged smirk.

"You fucking idiot." She mumbles.

Footsteps enter the room, and she looks back to see Kite stopping in his tracks, staring at Harmony's unconscious body in shock. He shoots Maddie an anxious glare.

"What did you do to her? I thought I told you not to hurt her."

Maddie wipes the fake tears from under her eyes and stands from the bed. "Relax, you're getting too worked up. This is why she doesn't want you, Kite. You need to be more unbothered, more like Blaze."

The muscles in his face tighten as he glares at her.

"Blaze." She smiles dementedly. "My sweet Blaze." She turns to look at Harmony. "Poor stupid bitch. Thought I would give up on Blaze for her. I will never give up on him. Even after I die."

"Don't call her a bitch. What did you do to her?"

"I just slipped something strong in the liquor."

"You mean you fucking drugged her? Are you freaking insane?!"

She turns to him furiously. "Stop being a coward; it will just be like she's drunk. She's not going to die...even though I secretly wish she would."

Kite runs a hand over his face. "This is crazy...I am going to fucking hell because of you. What do we do from here?"

The corner of her lips quirks up in a smile. "Do you know what Blaze hates the most? Lying, cheating, pretentious, sneaky women. We just have to let him see Harmony that way, and he'll want nothing to do with her. Then he will come to me, and she will be all alone, and that's where you will come in and sweep her away in her pitiful heartbroken state. Are you in?"

Kite rolls his eyes. "Whatever. What do I do now?"

"Blaze is coming by her dorm soon, so take her up and bring her to my room. I will tell you what to do from there."

Kite shifts his eyes to Harmony, and his face washes with remorse.

"Harmony..." He mutters to himself. "What the fuck am I doing?"

Maddie notices his indecisiveness and waves her hand in front of his face in annoyance. "Look. I don't work with cowards, so if you're in, you're in."

Kite hisses and pushes her hand away from him before he struts over and lifts the unconscious girl into his arms. He gives Maddie a cold glare as he adjusts her against him. "This better fucking work."

She smiles and crosses her arms against her chest. "Oh, it will."

••

I wake up with a splitting headache, the scorching sun projecting onto my face worsening the pain. I hold my forehead with a grimace as I try to sit upright in bed. My eyes feel weighty as I slowly open them, groaning under my breath.

"April?" I call out, wondering how I ended up under the covers. I cannot seem to recall anything past the moment Maddie came to my room last night. The memory is foggy, and the harder I try to think back, the worst the throbbing in my skull gets.

"This isn't April's room."

My head snaps in the direction the voice derived from, and I stiffen in place when I see Kite standing at the door, shirtless and wearing just his boxers.

I blink my eyes. "Wh-What is going on? Where am I?"

I glance around the room as my pulse begins to race. I don't know whose dorm room I'm in, and I have no idea why Kite is standing half-naked in front of me. This doesn't feel right. Something is wrong.

"You don't remember?" He asks with narrowed eyes as he studies my overwrought expression. I don't respond, and he speaks again. "You took us here, Harmony."

I raise my eyes to him in shock. "I-I took us here?"

"Yeah...you said you wanted to be alone with me, so you asked Maddie to borrow her dorm room," he answers. "You were pretty drunk, and I was too, but you said you wanted to talk to me, so I agreed."

"What?" I shake my head. "No, I don't think I would do something like that...I need...I need to get to my dorm."

No matter how drunk I may have been, I am not a slut to come to Maddie's dorm with Kite and spend the night. I am not that sort of person. I am far different than those girls who sat by the beverage section yesterday.

I remove the covers but almost get heart failure when I realize that I am only wearing my bra and underwear. I quickly wrap the sheet around myself with wide eyes of despair.

"God, why...why am I not wearing my clothes?"

My eyes immediately become limpid, and I can feel my entire body shaking.

Kite's gaze softens at my pitiful, green eyes while he moves closer to me. I raise my knees to my chest in a protective manner and shift away in fear as he sits beside me.

"Harmony...last night...we did something we shouldn't have, and it's okay."

Something we shouldn't have? What does he mean?

I shake my head in denial. "No...no, what did you do to me?"

His forehead puckers. "I didn't do anything to you. I mean anything you didn't want, Harmony."

I stare at him with wide, glassy eyes, and he sighs and inches closer. "I won't tell anyone, not even Blaze."

Blaze. Oh God, Blaze will be so mad if he sees us in a room together. I can't be here; I can't be here right now.

"Give me my clothes." My voice quivers and my limbs are trembling.

"Don't be so scared...okay? I know it's shocking for you considering we were both drunk, but I promise, I won't tell anyone, I swear."

I narrow my eyes. He keeps saying that he won't tell anyone, and I refuse to believe that he means what I think he does.

"Tell anyone what?"

He swallows. "What we did."

Oh, God.

"W...what do you mean, what did we do?" Tears well in my eyes because I know the response will be painful.

He sighs, and his eyes crinkle with a sullen emotion. "We had sex, Harmony."

~