"Where the hell have you been?" Sophie said loudly, causing Alice to freeze where she was stood in the kitchen after violently gasping. Her heart raced immediately as her mother, who was in her dressing gown with her hair neatly plaited, turned the lights on, seeing Alice dressed in dark clothes looking guilty. "Whose car was that?" She demanded, pointing out the window as she walked forwards and stared at her eldest daughter angrily.

"I-" Alice began as she tried to search for a logical excuse that would get her in trouble and distract her parents away from the fact she was out in the middle of the night, stealing a body from the hospital so that she didn't end up in prison for a murder she didn't actually commit. "We were just hanging out?" Alice then said, making sure she tugged at her top to pull it down, causing her mother to glance at her hand.

She saw the realisation spread across her mother's face, and she braced herself for the explosion she was about to witness. "Hanging out at four in the morning?! Do you think I was born yesterday, Alice?!" Sophie shouted, her cheeks going pink. "Get upstairs to your room, now! You are not leaving this house again!"

Alice hurried past her mother, silently wishing in her head that she had been having sex in the back of Magnus's car instead of committing a serious and morally disgusting crime. She whipped past her parents bedroom door just as it opened, ignoring her dad's questions on what had been going on because of the volume of her mother's shouting. "She was out with the Johnson boy at four in the morning, Richard!" She heard her mother cry angrily as she hurried into her room and shut the door. "No wonder she looks exhausted the whole time, she's out having sex in cars-!" She could hear mother spitting angrily in a high voice through the floor.

"Sophie calm down-" her father said in a lower voice, but Sophie continued to explode angrily. Alice sat on the edge of her bed, hearing her mother going on and on about Alice needing therapy, and how her sweet little girl is now going out and having sex in the middle of the night. A month ago it probably would have hurt Alice's feelings when she heard what her mother was saying about her, yet now - all she could do was smile to herself. She wasn't happy, neither was she sad, but she couldn't help the small laugh escape her lips when she realised what she had actually pulled off that night.

Alice would happily accept whatever punishment was given to her, since she'd had enough excitement and adrenaline left over to last her for a while...

... less than two hours later Alice was woken by someone shaking her shoulder. "It's time to get up for school," she heard her father say, his voice fairly blunt but also calm. Alice didn't remember falling asleep, and she must've been exhausted since she hadn't even bothered to take off her shoes as she'd laid down on the bed. Lazily, she glanced over to the clock on her nightstand as her father left her room, seeing it just coming up to seven.

Quietly Alice groaned, wanting to pull a sick day but she knew her parents were in no mood for giving her sympathy and wouldn't be in the mood for it for a while. Her body aches as she got up from the bed and dragged herself over to the shower, her body feeling heavier than usual like her muscles were made out of concrete. She showered sluggishly and got out a ten minutes later, her hair dripping heavily as she stepped out into the steam filled bathroom and wiped her mirror clear so she could see her reflection.

Tiredness hung heavily form her eyes and she closed them for a moment, feeling her mind drifting... she wanted to sleep so badly, and was obviously crashing from the adrenaline high from the night before. "Alice, hurry up!" She heard her mother call snappily from downstairs whilst she wandered slowly into her room, feeling too tired to pick an out outfit.

She grabbed another pair of thick black leggings and a black tank top and pulled them on, hearing her mother calling her again as she tugged on a thick brown fleeced zip up jacket that was one of the softest things she owned. Her hair was still wet and she pulled it into a low bun and did her make up quickly, otherwise she knew she'd leave the house looking like a ghost.

"I made you something to eat on the way to school," Sophie said whilst she waited by the front door with Charlotte already in the car as Alice eventually emerged from the stairs, dragging her school bag with her. She said nothing in response and grabbed the packed breakfast from the counter and followed her mother outside.

The sun was shining again, giving Summerland its second bright crisp and beautiful day. The breeze was chilly, but the sun warmed the skin in Alice's face when the wind took a moment to breathe in. The short drive to school was silent and tension lingered in the air as Alice ate the bacon and avocado sandwich and glanced several times at her mother discreetly. Sophie didn't know what to say, but she also didn't she want to talk about what happened last night, or rather, early this morning. "Have a good day." She said in a calm, but slightly hostile voice as Alice opened the door to her mothers VW beetle and got out with it saying anything, but waved goodbye to her younger sister who looked confused in the back.

Alice stood at the bottom of the steps, looking up at the school suddenly as it loomed above her. Walking into school felt different this morning... and Alice wasn't sure if that feeling was good or bad, but the feeling strong enough to make her hesitate for a moment.

As usual she went to her locker to gather her books for the up and coming classes before the bell rang, and usually Candice would make some kind of appearance and yet... her usual vibrant presence was missing from the hallways before first period.

Alice tried not to think about it as the bell rang, and she held some of her books to her chest as she made her way to first period, unintentionally passing a group of senior boys who she'd only just been with less than four hours ago. But Alice kept her head down and walked passed without saying anything, suddenly feeling slightly uneasy that her friend wasn't in school yet.

Magnus watched Alice walk past without acknowledging him. He licked his lips, glancing down over her appearance as she walked away from him and up the stairs to take her to the English classes on the second floor... she had dressed down from her usual preppy, eye catching attire and suddenly blended in to the crowd of teens in hoodies, jeans or leggings. His eyebrows furrowed as he thought about the possible reasons for that... wondering if it was something he should confront her on, giving last nights events. "Everything okay?" Trey asked as he collected another text book from his locker and glanced at Magnus, seeing him staring into the crowd with furrowed brows. Both boys seemed to barely acknowledge the slowly emptying hallways of people heading to first period immediately... and enjoyed taking their time when it came to early morning classes and getting to them on time.

"Yeah." Magnus replied, leaning against a locker as he continued to watch Alice lightly jog up the large stair case and disappear around a corner...

... Lunch came around faster than Alice hoped, she'd messaged Candice asking if she was in school since she hadn't turned up to English class that morning. Even though she remembered Candice asking her for space, she couldn't help but feel that giving her what she asked for would only make the situation worse.

Alice sent and wandered reluctantly down the busy hallway back to her locker. The buzz of it being Friday didn't seem to fly over Alice's head, discussions of weekend plans and post-week gossip flooded the hallways as Alice replaced her books for new ones for the next periods.

Out of the corner of her eye, Alice noticed Olive and Georgia walk past, each of them glancing at her briefly before carrying on walking. She rolled her eyes at Olive's bitchy behaviour and decided to skip lunch and go and spend the hour in the library... part of her knew that without Candice, she'd have no one to eat lunch with, considering the third member of their trio decided not to talk to her anymore.

Alice walked into the library and over to its miniature cafe where she bought herself a slightly overpriced sandwich and coffee. She liked how peaceful it was in there, with its white and grey colour scheme and tall bookshelves with neatly organised books. The desks were wide with their own lamps, some spaces taken up by students doing last minute work or actually studying for exams.

She wandered upstairs, wanting to find an empty booth where she could attempt to work on her assignments... which she had been ignoring for the past month and he due dates were staring to get closer. Usually, the work would have been done by now... but it was one of the things Alice's noticed that had changed about her, the sheer motivation to study and work hard at school seemed to evaporate from her personality and she was left day dreaming over boys and their interesting and mysterious lifestyle choices.

As the thought of Magnus crossed Alice's mind, she glanced into the glass 'quiet study' room that him and his friends usually hung around in during their free periods. Her heart jumped with excitement suddenly, seeing the familiar handsome side profile of Magnus himself sat on his own with his hand scribbling something down on paper with books surrounding him.

She was fascinated for a moment, seeing as she'd never actually seen him study... she'd only heard great things about his GPA being stupidly high with colleges lining up to get him to attend. She'd heard he'd even received free gifts and fruit baskets in the mail... his intelligence, his athletic ability, his good looks... it was obviously something they all thirsted for to have at their campus's... Alice related to their desperation slightly reluctantly and bit the inside of her lip as a thought crossed her mind.

Were they friends now? Or even close enough that she could approach him? She'd already begun to make her way towards glass door as she thought about it...

Knocking lightly, she gained his attention as she opened the door carefully. "Hi," Alice said softly, causing Magnus to raise his right eyebrow a little. "Can I sit here?" She asked, seeing the wide table in front of Magnus completely empty.

"Do you see anyone else sitting there?" He asked and Alice edged into the room further as she shook her head, and even though his tone was fairly snappy she felt delighted that he was talking to her. "Then sit down."

She beamed and couldn't help it. Her warm, cute smile made Magnus stare a little longer than he should have as she sat down opposite him and began to unpack her stuff after placing her sandwich and coffee down. Annoyed at the affect her presence had on him suddenly he moved one of his text books away from hers and exhaled sharply. "Sorry," she smiled, adjusting the arrangement of her books and then reaching for her coffee. It was obvious she had no intention of working, and began to scroll through social media on her phone after she'd taken her hair down intentionally and let it fall around her shoulders in a wavy blonde mass. Magnus licked his lips, looking her hair then caught himself falling for a well known flirtatious trick.

She kept glancing at him, admiring his relaxed appearance and rubbed her lips together in approval after she applied another coat of her subtle pink lipstick... he wore a baggy grey, yet obviously expensive sweatshirt and the olive green skinny jeans again that Alice liked on him. Covering his hair, he had a vintage black nike baseball cap, placed backwards, to hold his hair out of his face as he wrote what looked like an intense essay. "You write your essays by hand?" She asked suddenly and raised her eyebrows.

"I prefer it that way." He mumbled, losing his train of thought suddenly and grew annoyed at how he was so quick to respond to her question. "I type them up later." He mumbled a little quieter, not sure why he felt the need to justify it.

"What's the subject?" She asked and he lifted his right hand to tap the text book next to him. "Oh," she breathed, seeing some of the upside down words relating to a history topic as she took another sip of her coffee, the smell of it now wafting towards Magnus's nose and distracting him.

He thumped his pen down and looked up at Alice, outstretching his hand. "Give it to me."

"The coffee?" She asked and he motioned his fingers towards himself aggressively. She handed it over without hesitation, feeling her heart beginning to jump with excitement at his intensity as he snatched off the lid and took several long gulps. "Tired?" She giggled and the sound made Magnus hum grumpily because he liked it. "When's your essay due?" She asked as he, surprisingly, gave her the coffee back, even though there wasn't much left.

"Last period." He muttered as his eyes suddenly landing on the sandwich Alice bought that had been sitting idly on the table, untouched.

"Do you want it?" She asked, feeling giddy that she was helping him in some way. "It's just chicken salad, but it's actually kind of nice."

"Ye-" he stopped himself and sat up a little straighter, "If you don't want it, then I'll have it." He then said, causing Alice to laugh gently and pass him the sandwich. He was confused at why she thought he was being funny, but took the sandwich anyway and tucked in without giving it another thought. Alice bit her lip and admired him eat with one hand and write an essay with the others. It was obvious his mind worked quickly, and worked efficiently too. His writing, although rushed, was neat with no words crossed out.

"I like your handwriting." She blurted, sounding bashful which only caused her to blush as Magnus paused and looked up at her without moving his head.

"... My handwriting?" He asked, finding it interesting that she would be admiring something like that. "Why is that?"

"It's neat, I just like neat handwriting." She shrugged, leaning her chin in the palm of her hand as her elbow lent against the top of the table. Magnus furrowed his eyebrows a little and glanced down at his writing and then back at Alice. Was she flirting with him? He wondered to himself if it was normal for her to choose such a random way to maybe distract herself from what had happened the night before. Or maybe she'd chosen not to think about it at all. She seemed fine, happy, flirtatious... normal. It confused him, but also grabbed his attention instantly and didn't let go.

"Where are your friends?" He asked, turning his pen over and over in his fingers as the last of the sandwich just sat in his other hand, waiting to be eaten.

"One hates me I think, the other isn't here." Alice shrugged, leaning back from the table and bringing her legs up to cross them underneath her. "She probably hates me too."

"You did ask a lot of her, but I don't think she hates you." Magnus said and Alice's wandering gaze suddenly focused on him steadily. "You can't deny that." he added, noticing the hostility flash across her eyes but it didn't faze him, instead it made the edge of his lip twitch with a smirk.

"Whatever." She muttered, her bashful mood disappearing now as she reached over the table and snatched the rest of the sandwich back and popped it into her mouth before she looked back at her phone. Magnus's eyebrows raised, but he decided not to comment on her behaviour anymore since, if Veronica was right and they were more alike than they realised, Alice wouldn't want to talk about the subject any further, especially if she knew she was in the wrong. He watched her discreetly as she looked through her phone, analysing her face and her body language... Maybe they were similar, in a way. But she was quiet, with a innocent good-girl exterior that she used to communicate with most of the time didn't seem to be there when she thought she wasn't being watched so intently. She couldn't hide the subtle confidence from Magnus, he could see it in her posture. It suited her, the mix of personalities, that was for sure, with her big blue eyes and pouty pink lips, her high neck tops and short skirts... Underneath all that was something a lot darker... Maybe something a little twisted if he chose to look hard enough.

Time passed as the two stayed in each others company in a comfortable silence, which wasn't comfortable to begin with but as the minutes passed by, neither of them continued to care. Magnus continued working on his assignment and Alice wondered about her own, knowing she'd have to get around to her Psychology essay soon since the deadline was just over the horizon. "Can I interview you?" Alice asked suddenly, they had been quiet for just over fifteen minutes. Which may not have been a long time in reality, but for each of them to suddenly feel comfortable enough to be silent around each other said a lot more than they did.

"What?" Magnus asked, looking up from his work again.

"For my assignment, we have to write an essay on what its like to be a... um, psychopath." She whispered the word so quietly Magnus might not have heard it if he hadn't been watching her lips. His eyebrows instantly furrowed, and he sat up a little straighter. "Don't get mad," she said quickly, "It would all be anonymous,"

"What makes you so sure i'm what you're saying I am," Magnus shot back, "I could just be crazy." he smiled, but there was no amusement in his voice or expression which made Alice sigh heavily.

"Magnus," she mumbled, "Bullshit me then, I just need someone to interview."

"Interview Noah," he smirked, holding eye contact as she rolled her eyes and then pursed her lips as she stared at him. "What? I thought you liked Noah,"

"We already talked about that." Alice mumbled, reluctant to drop the subject since she was set on interviewing Magnus now. She wanted to know all the little details, how it began, where it began, why it began... she was almost vibrating with the anticipation as Magnus released a low chuckle and licked his lips again.

"Fine." He agreed, not sure why he did as he looked at each of her eyes before he looked back down to his essay before he could see her smile again, "I'm free tomorrow, from two until four then I have shit to do."

"Oh- Okay," Alice replied quickly, "Where do you-"

"I'll come to your house." He said, speaking across her as he finished the final paragraph and put his pen down before he adjusted the papers to make them neater. He began to pack away his books into a neat pile and picked them up, his eyes moving over to Alice who was watching him. "Two," he reminded, and she nodded, mumbling a goodbye as he cleared his throat and glanced at her lips, before he turned around, leaving the quiet room and Alice on her own.

She exhaled heavily and decided not to watch him leave to save her heart the yearning sensation and looked back at her phone aimlessly... she felt nerves pool in her stomach as she thought about what kind of questions she wanted to ask him tomorrow but also couldn't deny the heavy feeling of excitement settling into her bones... Magnus Johnson, at her house for two hours tomorrow afternoon.