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Walking the halls at school while having people look at you and whisper to the person closest to them is uncomfortable. The last time this happened was when everyone first found out that Nikolai and I were 'engaged'—which I need to talk to him about.

Now, Justina has gotten sentenced to two years in jail with parole for defamation of the character of a royal. Parker's entire organization hasn't been fully rolled up but it's dead. A lot of the important players were found by the FBI and sentenced to prison time. The rest of them have gone into hiding. So while it's not dead, they're not resurfacing anytime soon. And if they do, they'll be leaving Nick alone. He's proven that he can defeat them and since their leader is dead, the only person who didn't fear Nick, they won't do anything.

I focus on the tiled floor as I make my way to Vampire History. I'm sure that Mr. Rick is going to make this entire thing the topic of his lesson today. I pray that he doesn't. I would like to be left alone for once in my life.

Everyone wants to talk to me about what happened. They ask a bunch of questions, ranging from 'Did you know she was faking it?' to 'When are you two getting married?' I need to speak to Nick about our entire engagement. In the end, he said we were going to break up a few months after the lawsuit came to an end but now...I'm not sure.

He confessed that he truly likes me and wishes to date me. Does that mean we stay engaged? Or remove the engagement and go to dating? I could always text him but I'd like to talk to him in person. I should do that tonight after my therapy session.

Nick along with Zeke kept begging me to get a therapist and I caved. I told them that I'd get one of my choosing and I did. They recommended me great websites to find them from and when I came across a lady's website, I knew she'd be a great match for me.

I'll meet her for the first time this evening at five-thirty. I get to Vampire History and I find my seat. Everyone looks at me but I try my best to ignore them. Mr. Rick's eyes follow me and I just know that he's going to bring up what happened this past month in class.

The bell rings and he closes the door after the last few kids squirm in. Now that I look around the room, the class seems bigger than usual. Some students aren't even sitting, they're standing in the corners. That's when it hits me.

They aren't in this class, they came in here because I'm here. All of their eyes follow me and I turn back around. "Good morning kids, I think we all know what I'm going to talk about today." Mr. Rick says and he glances at me.

My heart beats faster and my eyes flash around, trying to find something to focus on. "But I won't do that because I'm rather upset." He says.

Confused whisperings go around the room. "The project was due yesterday and only four people turned it in. This project is worth sixty percent of your grade. If you don't want to turn it in and fail, having to repeat this class go right ahead. I don't care. But because I'm forgiving, I'll allow you to use this class today to finish it. Also, those of you who don't belong to this class, get out." He says.

The random students scurry out of the class then people get out of their computers to finish their projects. I did as I told Nick, I sent it in after I finished reading that book two weeks ago.

—♡︎—

At lunch, instead of sitting by myself on the breezeway, the girls invited me to sit with them at their table. Now that Justina isn't here anymore, the girls seem more open, more...themselves. "I'm just saying, I never really liked her. She always liked having things go her way." Sage says then she munches on her chicken sandwich.

The girls nod. "Same, honestly, I remember we had a sleepover at her house and she was so stingy, we couldn't touch anything." Nyx says.

I stay silent as I eat my food.

"What about you, Adara? What was your impression of her?" Nyx asks and they all look at me.

I swallow my food, "Um, I–I don't really know. She was rude." Guilt weighs on my heart. Gossiping always made me feel like this. I don't like it so I try to avoid it.

They nod, "True." Sage says.

Landon laughs and the girls look at him. "That's what I find so confusing about you girls. You sat and laughed with Justina when she was here but now that she's gone you all say 'Oh I hated her'. You're so fake. Who's to say that's not how you talk about Via or Adara when they're not here?"

My eyes widen but I can't say that he's wrong. He's not. I do like them but I don't think they can be true friends to me. Maybe, people, I talk to occasionally but not close friends. I've been made fun of by Nyx before, it would be stupid of me to do this again so it can happen all over again.

My ex-boyfriend is gone which means for the first time in two years I feel as if I can heal. I won't let them break me. Not again.

Via whispers something to Landon but he shakes his head and stands, "No, I'm not going to apologize. I'm telling the truth and you know it too. Nyx, you bullied Adara so badly in Sophomore year she wanted to die and now you're acting like life-long besties. You haven't even apologized. And even though your friends didn't bully her, they also didn't stop it. You're all disgusting in my eyes." He takes up his food and walks off.

Via follows after him and so do I. As I walk off, Eloise takes hold of my sweater. I look at her and tears glisten in her wide eyes. Her pink lips are set in a pout. "I'm sorry., I whisper then I walk off.

They aren't hurting me now but Landon's right. They didn't stop her from hurting me before. They stood there as she yelled how disgusting and unappealing I was. They stood there when she's push me into my locker and I'd have bruises on my wrists when she'd grab my hands.

None of them apologized, they just expected that I'd forget about it. The victim never forgets. It's the perpetrators who do.

We go under the breezeway and Via and Landon argue. "Guys, stop please!" I say and they stop yelling at each other. "Listen, Via, Landon's not wrong and Landon don't argue with her, they did nothing to her. They don't owe her anything." I say.

"But she's your best friend, why on earth would she hang out with them when she knows what they did to you?" He asks.

Via sighs, "I was upset with her so I did the one thing I knew would hurt her. I continued because I was helping her get info on Justina. After that was done, she ended up becoming fond of them, and...I did too."

I put my hand on her shoulder, "I won't tell you who to be friends with. If I want to keep hanging out with them, that's up to me. Not you."

She nods. We sit on the ground as the argument evaporates. "In other news, how are you and the prince?" Via asks as she eats a fry.

I smile, "Good."

"Y'know, I really thought that you two were faking this entire thing. This engagement came out of the blue. I guess I was wrong." She says.

"Yeah, about that..."

I tell them everything that's happened, including everything with Parker. By the end of it, both Via and Landon hug me. "I'm gonna be fine, guys." I say.

"I had no idea, if the prince didn't do what he did I would've done it myself." Via says and Landon agrees.

"I promise that we'll always be here with you, Adara." Landon says and I nod.

"Thank you guys. I'm so lucky to have you two."

—♡︎—

It's now five twenty-five in the evening and I sit in the lobby of my therapist's office. Just then, a short lady comes out with a clipboard. "Adara De Clare? Right this way." She leads me to the office and then leaves me as I step inside.

I close the door behind me then I sit in the chair. My therapist, a woman who looks to be in her late twenties, or early thirties, sits behind her desk. She has fiery long red hair and green eyes. The dress she wears makes her look ethereal almost. Like royalty. She looks, unlike any therapist I've seen before. There's a large beauty mark right by her lip and she pushes her hair behind her ears.

"Good day, Adara." She speaks.

"Hi, Miss Alisa."