The halls were unnaturally quiet as Valie stepped into the sea of students. Everyone whispered as they looked at their phones trying to see if a picture of the body was on display or attempting to find more news on the incident. Valie maneuvered herself in and out of the halls and at a distance caught Rosie's eye. Rosie quickly sprinted towards Valie, her eyes red, cheeks pinker than usual, and a bit of mucus running down her nose. "Valie!, You Moron! I told you to text me when you got home. Why The Hell Did You Go Home Alone!?", Rosie's cries seemed to echo off the walls but no one paid attention. Rosie sunk into Valie's shirt and she could only smile at her friend, patting her head and comforting her." I'm sorry, I really am. I was tired, I guess I just fell asleep", Valie looked at Arela and Alex and motioned them to come closer. "That could have been you on the news", Rosie's cries became softer as Arela comforted her as well. Alex was hesitant to join the girls as his guilt had not yet dissipated. Rosie yelled at him for leaving Valie all by herself, and in a sense, she was right to be angry. However, his eyes met Valie's one more time, and, she smiled. The guilt began to fade as he saw her there, she was fine, it was all okay for now, and he hoped it stayed that way. He quickly joined the girls in comforting Rosie, but, he felt this moment would have been better with Lily.

Each class felt like a broken record for the students, the teachers kept repeating the same warnings about staying out late and being in groups. It was then time for homeroom and the students all felt like they could relax for the time being. "For the loooooove of all that is blue, can they stop repeating the same shitty sentence", Arela growled as she planted her face on her desk. Rosie laughed as she saw Arela complain, but she felt the same, it was uncomfortable and the warning just made her restless. Then, an awkward sound shifted their attention to the corner of the class. Long caramel hair, large dark eyes that were surrounded by a red, almost blood-shot gleam, and a laugh that would be more charming if she were doing something nicer. The girl was teasing and attempting to bully a student as they were reading an assignment for the next class. She blocked and even scribbled on the paper, obstructing the students until they had enough and just up and left. The girl decided she did not have enough and decided to follow the student out of the class. Thus, she circled to grab her bag and passed through Rosie's row. Rosie quickly lifted her leg and almost tripped the girl. The girl attempted to stare the girl down, but Rosie was no pushover. 

"That's enough, leave them alone, Giselle", Rosie growled.

Giselle gave a death stare to Rosie and rolled her eyes, her body turning as well to exit in the opposite direction. As Giselle left, Valie entered and Giselle couldn't help but glare and hit Valie with her bag, but she made it seem like an accident. Valie felt mild annoyance, but it left her body as she saw Arela and Rosie. Valie quickly jumped on both of them and leaned on Rosie, both girls laughing and happy to see her. However, Valie saw their faces a felt something was wrong. 

"You guys seem agitated", Valie said, concerned. 

"Well, Giselle, the girl who just left... she was being an ass", Rosie hesitated. 

Arela chimed in as she saw Rosie struggle, "I remember she was really pretty back when we were first years, it seems you can just almost see a little of it now". Rosie agreed but there was pity in her eyes as well. "We use to be friends. When I see her now or talk to her, I can't see the person who-", Rosie was interrupted as Valie hugged her even tighter. Rosie talked about her past friends and her past 'issues' with Valie before, and the Giselle part of it was the most painful. Valie understood. The bell suddenly rang for lunch and the girls all stood in unison. 

"Oh, you two can go ahead, I need to go to the bathroom", Valie said, almost blushing. The other two girls just smiled, "K, we'll save you a seat.

The students all left the hallways, the emptiness was something Valie always liked. Valie reached the bathroom, however, she heard voices disputing something. As she leaned in she saw Giselle being shouted at by two other girls. " It's time to pay up already, were you always this useless", the girl spat as another laughed at Giselle. "I-I...I have it, just give me until tomorrow, I can give you the rest, just give me until then", Giselle almost pleaded, as if she was about to get thrown away. The main girl just looked at Giselle in disgust and the laughing girl motioned for Giselle to get out. Giselle obliged but then collided with Valie. This infuriated Giselle which caused all her frustrations to be inflicted on Valie. "Get The Hell Out Of My Way!", Giselle yelled, her hand now in a fist aiming for Valie's head. However, the main girl saw this and immediately shoved Giselle, causing her to collide with the wall and lose her balance. Giselle dropped to the ground and immediately covered her face as she looked up at the three figures above her, almost as if she was expecting to be beaten. Valie could not help but feel something for the girl, but she couldn't quite make out the word she wanted. It wasn't something like empathy. Nor was it as simple as pity. It was something much darker and laughable. The main girl then scoffed, "Why are you just sitting there. If you have time to sit on your ass, then you have time to get moving!". Giselle nodded rapidly, picked up her things, and scurried off. Then, as Valie saw Giselle tremble and run away, she finally found the word. 

Revulsion.

The main girl looked at Valie, and Valie could only stare at the main girl. The tension was high until all three girls burst out in a chuckle. "Ha!, sorry you had to see that Valerian. Hmmm, you're nice to someone one time, and they think you're a friend, idiot", the main girl exhaled. Valie smiled an innocent smile and agreed. "Anyway, what do ya have for me today." Valie reached into her bag and took out two letters that had a black sticker seal. " There are no cameras in these areas, also, there is talk that police can be bribed, so, just be careful if you encounter them", Valie explained as the laughing girl also passed an envelope to Valie. 

"Is that enough?", the main girl questioned with a smile.

"It's a little more than last time's payment, is it a tip?", Valie said as she counted the money.

"It is, you're a ton of help so, yea, it's like a tip.", the main girl giggled.

Valie nodded at the two girls and they went their separate ways. Valie felt a sort of kinship with the girls, but not even they knew what she was up to. But if they found out, she would make sure to ruin everything for them. She giggled thinking about it and thought it would be funny to give them the wrong information one day. But, the money that she gaining was too good to sabotage right now. Anyway, there was a new project that she felt had potential, and her name was Giselle.