Poppy whirled her head to Cel. “And who even invited you? Shouldn't you be at home with mummy and daddy—Oh, wait, you ran away from home to join some street gang. You run out of drugs?”

Oh, now she's done it.

Before I could go off on her, Cel's eyes shifted into something amused, tilting her head back. “What's your name?”

Poppy scowled at her. “Poppy.”

“Poppy,” Cel repeated, cupping both of Poppy's cheeks in her hand and pulling her close.

“I do live with psychopaths who would take crowbars and leave them halfway in the skull of anyone who makes me cry.” Her eyes began to well up with false tears, a sudden exaggerated sad expression on her face.

“You don't want to make me cry, do you?”

Poppy's eyes widened and her face paled, no longer angry, now scared for her life. “No, I...” Her voice shook, “I didn't mean–”

“You didn't mean to be rude or force Hyacinth to talk to you?” Cel mocked.

“But I thought— ”

“You thought?” Cel's eyes widened for a moment, her long acrylic nails digging into her cheeks. “No, Poppy, you must have forgotten, right? You weren’t thinking? You’re drunk? This is just a silly misunderstanding?”

Poppy let out a couple of sounds, attempting to nod, but Cel's nails etched her face during the movement.

“You're funny, Poppy.” Cel roughly pushed Poppy's face away from her, the scratches red and irritated. “But I'm too tired to deal with your shit.”

What version of Cel is this?

Poppy gripped onto her cheeks, tears in the corner of her eyes. “Sorry.”

“Why are you still here?” Cel spat at her.

Poppy glanced at me for a moment, before quickly rushing away.

What did I just witness? A side of Cel I had never seen.

How many sides were there? She acted like a playful child sometimes, a shy teenager most of the time, a promiscuous woman other times.

A careless killer when she needed to be and now this intimidating psychopath.

The question is, which one were just masks, and which was her real self?

Or were they all real, and she just doesn't know who she is?

I was so lost in my thoughts and shocked by what had just happened, I wasn't able to snap out of it fast enough as she hopped off the counter and walked away.

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I checked my notification, Lin finally arrived and was wondering where I was. It wasn't hard to find them in the other living room.

“Oi, oi, Cinth.” Jamiel couldn’t stop laughing, “I heard… I heard you–Poppy!” His laugh sounded like a hyena.

There's no way they could have known about the scene with Celestine just yet.

Iri shoved me, causing me to take a few steps back. “I told you to be nice to Poppy!”

“You promised her something I never agreed to,” I snapped.

“Well, I may have exaggerated my promise but, come on, she’s cute. ”

“Not my cup of tea.”

“Why did you even try to get them together?” Lin asked Iri. “You know him and Cel have a thing going.”

“Well, Cel hasn't spoken to any of us for two weeks,” Iri argued. “So maybe she lost interest in him.”

“Anyways.” I rolled my eyes, turning to Lin. “How was tutoring?”

“Oh, Gods.” He leaned towards me and the sweet scent of alcohol on his breath tickled my nose. “These guys I’m tutoring, nah, they’re not going to pass. They’re so stupid, it’s shocking. They make Jamiel look smart.”

“That's rude!” Jamiel snapped.

I chuckled. “Lucky they have you.”

“They should have come to me earlier, there’s so little hope left for them.” Lin hiccuped.

“Are you already drunk?” I thought he just got here.

“I drank while I was tutoring, I knew I was going to need to catch up.” He leaned on me for support, and I helped him stand.

“Iri, go get some water,” I said, walking Lin towards the sofas. “Let’s sit you down.” Iri came back with water, and I forced Lin to drink it.

Lin was the worst drinker, he didn’t know his limits nor did he care for them.

His bloodline of surgeons all expected nothing less from him.

That pressure forced him to study every hour of the day, and the only time he's able to wind down was at parties. It’s why he liked to get drunk out of his mind, so for just those few hours, he didn’t have to think.

He cupped my cheek and slapped it a couple times with a sloppy smile on his face. “Thanks, man. You’re–You’re a good friend.”

“Right. ”

Like a switch, Lin straightened his back and stood up. “Eloise!” Quickly, he disappeared into the crowd.

“He’ll be fine,” Iri said. “How are you going?”

“I’m okay.” I leaned back on the sofa. “Go have fun, I’ll be here if you need me.” I was so exhausted, I needed to sit down.

She nodded and left. I wondered where Jamiel–then saw him, taking body shots off someone and hollering with both his hands in the air.

The crowd cheered for him. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Iri making out with the girl she always hooked up with at parties, but they never talked outside of them.

I felt someone staring at me–or glaring and when I turned there was Poppy and her friends gossiping loudly about me. “Why do you even like him anyway? He’s always getting in trouble!”

“That’s what makes him so attractive,” Poppy sighed. “He’s so strong and I bet he’d get into fights for me.”

Bloody hell.

“You need professional help.”

Yeah, she does.

“He’s not even that cute!”

How dare they.

“You deserve better, Poppy,” another one of her friends said.

“He’s so rude.”

They continued to insult me, knowing I was within earshot, and I couldn’t roll my eyes further back into my head.

“And you know Celestine likes him,” one of them said. “Why would you even try?”

Were people scared of Cel like they were scared of me? Since when ?

Poppy let out an agitated noise. “Iri told me they were done! How was I supposed to know she's still in love with him when his best friend told me that?”

“Celestine never confirmed that, you know she didn't. Don't get on her bad side.” She lightly touched Poppy's cheeks, the scratches still evident. “Or she'll get someone else to hurt you more.”

Would she really do that?

“Celestine may have all the boys in school wrapped around her finger, but we all know every girl who isn't also obsessed with her would—”

“Poppy, let's go get more drinks,” one interrupted, pulling her by the arm away from the area.

I wondered why they suddenly stopped, when I realised there were others watching them with frowns, their stare following the group as they left. Then, they all turned to look at me and I exited the room quickly.

As I wandered the manor of my classmate, dodging people left and right, I stumbled upon a sanctuary. An empty guest bedroom on the ground floor.

Finally, some peace from the eyes and music.

I allowed myself to fall on the bed and was met with a squeak. My heart jumped out of my throat.

Cel pushed me off her and I rolled off the bed.

I groaned as I made impact with the floor. “Oh, thank the gods it’s you. I thought I squished an animal,” I exaggerated holding onto my heart. “What are you doing here?”

“I'm taking a nap, what are you doing?” she asked, shifting on the bed to get comfortable again.

I got up from my position. “I just needed space. Why are you sleeping at a party?”

“I'm tired,” she mumbled, and her breathing became steady.

“Come on.” I pulled the blanket off her .

She opened her eyes. “What?”

“You can sleep at mine.” I didn't want to be here anymore anyway.

She reached her hand up towards me, and when I took her hand she pulled me down, rolled us over, and got on top of me. "Did you miss me, Cinth?" she asked. Still holding my hand and drawing it closer to her face, brushing her lips lightly against my palm.

Yes. "I hardly noticed your absence."

Cel sank her top two fangs into my palm, drawing blood. I didn't flinch or react to the sting. Her eyes were cold as she gently licked the blood clean, her gaze locked onto mine. “Then stop being nice to me.”

“I’m not nice, Cel.”

“You pity me,” she spat. “Don’t.”

I furrowed my brows and shook my head. There’s a difference between pitying and caring. A fine line, but it was there. “Get off me.” I only half meant it.

Her eyes shifted into amusement. “Make me.”

I could quite literally throw her across this city if I wanted to. “Someone’s going to see us here.” I tilted my head back towards the door, which was still open.

She leaned down, planting light kisses on my jaw. “So what?”

“Aren’t you tired?” Just as I asked her, she collapsed on top of me, her breathing slow and steady. Yeah, that’s what I thought. I gently caressed her head. This was surprisingly comfortable and closed my eyes as well.

“Angels above!” someone shouted from the door, and I snapped my head towards them. “Hyacinth and Celestine?” one of our classmates gasped, his words slurred. “I knew it!”

Celestine lifted her head up towards them and I felt the air shift. “You’re drunk.”

He slowly nodded and left.

She rested her head on my chest again. “Gods, that took more energy than usual. ”

I bet. “I’m taking you to my place so you can sleep properly, yeah?” I told her in a soft voice.

“We're not supposed to be seen together, Niko will get mad.”

“No, he won't.”

She pressed her face more into me.

“Let’s go.”

Cel got up and rubbed at her eyes, smudging her mascara. She followed me out and I found each of my friends, telling them I was leaving. Jamiel brushed me off and Lin was too drunk to comprehend my words.

“You two are speaking again?” Iri asked with furrowed brows.

“It's whatever,” I said.

“Sorry, Iri.” Cel's voice was soft, doe-eyed and innocent. “I didn't mean to ignore you as well.”

I could physically see Iri's heart melting. “Are you okay, Cel?” Iri cupped her cheeks in her hands, worriedly, checking her temperature. “You’re so cold.”

Cel nodded with a small smile. “I’m just really tired.”

“I’m taking her home,” I said.

Iri raised a brow. “Didn’t know you liked her enough to do that.”

I rolled my eyes at her. “Yeah, yeah. Stay safe. Call or text if you need me.”