"Gotcha!"

Savannah turned around to see Nino behind her. "What?!"

"I heard you were the murderer, so I just caught you," Nino replied with a shrug. "I'm the detective."

"Oh yeah," Savannah nodded. "Cool, I'm caught. By the way, do you want me to tell you something interesting, Nino?"

Nino shrugged again. "What?"

"Do you know about Stephanie having a crush on you?"

Nino nodded. "For quite some time, yeah. So? Is something wrong?"

"Well, I just want to warn you of Alya and Stephanie. I overheard Alya telling Marinette about how she's going to get revenge on Stephanie and get her to stop liking you. I also overheard Stephanie telling Alison and Chloe about how she's going to do whatever it takes to break you and Alya up."

Nino frowned. "But Alya told me she and Stephanie were friends."

"That's what she wants you to believe. Alya is actually pretending to be Stephanie's friend just to bring her down. Don't say I didn't warn you." Savannah waved before walking off.

Nino took the whistle around his neck and blew it as loud as he could. The whistle was to show everyone that the murderer had been caught so they could start a new game.

As they were heading back to the cabin, Nino bumped into Stephanie, just the last person he wanted to see.

"Oh, hey... Hey Nino... Sorry."

Nino shook his head. "There's no need to say anything. I'll just head to my cabin and pretend I never bumped into you."

"Nino, if you're still mad about what happened, just so you know, I'm sorry, okay?" Stephanie sighed. "I never wanted to be a part of it. I just wanted to feel...important, and those girls made me feel that way."

"Those girls also abandoned you when you got caught of what you did, Stephanie," Nino shoved his hands in his pockets as he spoke. "How did that make you feel?"

"Devastated."

"Good!"

"I just want you to know that I'm sorry. Is... Is your mother doing okay?"

"Yeah, thank goodness she's okay, because I swear if she had died in that accident, you wouldn't be alive today!" And with a huff, he started walking away.

Stephanie looked down, feeling her heart torn into pieces all over again. Soon she looked up when she saw Alya walking up to her.

"You okay? Saw Nino talking to you. It seems like you both aren't exactly...on good terms."

"It's all my fault anyway."

"Want to talk about it?"

Stephanie sighed. "Sure. I'll tell you everything about what happened."

~~~

"Stephanie, look at him. Look at how weak he is. Go get him!"

Stephanie looked back to the guy her friends were pointing at, before turning back to her lunch. "Nah, I'd rather spend my time eating than getting my hands dirty."

"Awe you're no fun anymore," Maye Simone chuckled. "You've went a week without hurting anyone. Are you changing?"

"No, I'm not. I've just been so busy these days," Stephanie sighed. "I mean, 7th grade is almost over and my parents expect me to do 'much more' in 8th grade."

"Parents can be a pain in the butt, can't they?" Another one of her friends, Theresa May, spoke up, nodding her head. "I got too many adults living with me now. It's annoying."

"Hey, how about we go have a little fun after school," Maye suggested. "I have the perfect idea. See, that friend of yours, Nino, has been annoying these days. He needs a taste of his own medicine."

"He's not that bad."

"He's no fun at all. He keeps telling you that you should stop hanging out with us," Zola Tempeste rolled her eyes. "If he was really your friend, he would want you to be happy instead of telling you what to do!"

"Don't forget about all we ever did for you," Theresa said. "Nino is probably just jealous because he doesn't get to have as much fun as you do."

Stephanie chuckled. "Maybe, but I don't care. He's still my friend. So, what's this about teaching him a lesson, Maye?"

"Oh, you wanna go along with it?" Maye laughed. "It will be dangerous."

"I... Maybe a little fun wouldn't hurt."

"That's what I'm talking about," Maybe patted her back. "You girls meet me behind the school after school. I'll tell you about my sweet plan."

"But... It's not going to hurt anyone, right?" Stephanie asked getting up as soon as the bell rang.

"No, of course not. We're just going to have a bit of fun is all. I'll tell you all about it. You know what? Even better." Maye got closer to them and whispered. "Let's skip the last class and meet up at Nino's place. There the fun will begin."

-

"Alright, we're all here," Theresa turned to Maye with a smile. "What do we have to do?"

"There's no one inside the house, right?" Maye looked around.

"Nah, there isn't. Nino told me before that his parents went to work and won't return back until 7o'clock. His brother is still in school, so..."

Maye reached inside the bag she was carrying, walking up to the house. She pulled out two bottles.

"What are in those bottles?" Zola asked, pointing at the bottles.

"Eh, I don't know, I just found it on my counter in my house. I didn't bother checking what it was," Maye shrugged.

"It looks like... Gasoline," Stephanie frowned. "Maye, what are you planning? If it's that dangerous, then we better not go along with this."

"Oh, you wuss, gee." Maye giggled. "Listen, I just want to play a little prank is all."

"You want to make a fire?" Theresa frowned. "I'm not catching on."

"We'll ruin their backyard."

"Won't people see us?" Zola looked around, though she didn't see a single person other than themselves.

"Kids would be at school. Most adults would be at work," Maye rolled her eyes. "Some of Nino's neighbors are barely even at home. That's what I love about this house. We could play all the pranks we want, and no one would be there to catch us."

She opened the bottle she was holding and poured some of the liquid on a bush. "See, no harm done." She lit a match and threw it at the bush again.

"Don't you think this is a bit too much?" Stephanie asked again, looking unsure.

"Like I said, what a wass," Maye rolled her eyes. "It's just setting bushes on fire, ruining their backyard and putting all the blame on Nino."

What scared Stephanie the most was that the bush was awfully close to the house. Maye didn't look worried though, showing that she knew what she was doing.

"Here, you guys start ruining the garden," Maye ordered.

Stephanie didn't move out of her frozen spot, but Theresa and Zola headed towards the garden, yanking the flowers out.

"Oops, I poured a little too much."

With those words, Stephanie widened her eyes and ran towards Maye.

"Stephanie, back away!" The red flame flew up, burning anything it could.

"But the house!"

"Stephanie, the house or you!" Maye yelled. "So, I accidentally started a huge fire. Let's see if anyone is at home so we can ask for a fire extinguisher."

Maye seemed awfully calm about this. "Don't worry, I've done this before," Maye laughed. "We were able to get the fire to calm down, and I put all the blame at my older brother so I wouldn't get in trouble."

Stephanie clenched a fists. "Well this isn't funny, Maye." She backed away even more, staring in horror at the fire. "You might have done this before, but-"

"Steph, stop worrying," Zola patted her shoulder. "If we get in trouble, we'll be together no matter what. We'll get all the same punishments and whatsoever."

"Hey! What are you girls doing?!" An elderly man came out of his house. "Get away from there. House fire! I'll call 9-1-1."

"It's actually worse, worse than I thought," Maye was beginning to shake now. "This is has never happened before. I caused an actual house fire."

"You've never done this before, have you?" Stephanie glared at her. "You only pretend to be cool, you bit-"

"Hey! Fighting isn't going to get us anywhere!" Theresa glared at Stephanie. "Don't blame Maye. Remember you are in this too. You allowed us to do this. You never stopped us."

"I... I told you to stop!"

"Whatever."

"Hey," They turned around to see an elderly woman. "Someone is still in there!"

The girls' eyes widened at the words.

"Nino's mother came back to make some lunch because she forgot it," The woman yelled. "What have you girls done?!"

Stephanie's eyes started to water. "I'm sorry, I..."

"She did it!" Maye's finger was suddenly pointing at Stephanie. "She gave us the address to Nino's house and told us to burn it down. It was all her fault."

Stephanie couldn't believe her ears.

"We didn't want to, but she threatened us," Theresa exclaimed.

"It was all Stephanie!" Zola chipped in.

"What?" Stephanie could feel her heart beating faster. "What happened to always being there for each other."

"Well now you're going to be alone for what you did," Maye smirked. "Stephanie, I never really did like you. Hey, you never know; maybe I caused a  house fire on purpose to put the blame on you."

Stephanie clenched her fists. "You!" She raised her hand and slammed it across Maye's face. "I hate you! You did this!"

"A bunch of 7th graders causing trouble. You four are in trouble no matter what!" The elderly man that had called 9-1-1 walked up to them. "Someone has gone in there to try to get Nino's mother out!"

One tear fell from her eyes, and when she heard the sirens and the firefighters, she covered her face and fell to her knees.

-

"Nino, I can explain-"

"I don't need your explanation!"

"Nino, I'm really sorry," Stephanie covered her face. "I don't know what I was thinking!"

"You weren't. You weren't thinking at all, Stephanie." Nino spoke to her with a bitter smile. "Now look what you've done. I told you to stay away from those girls."

"I know, Nino. I'm really, really sorry-"

"Stop apologizing. It's not going to fix anything. Not only have you lost those girls as friends, but you've officially lost me as a friend as well. When you see me, walk away like you don't know me, because that's exactly what I'll be doing with you!"

Stephanie didn't watch him walk off, but she could hear his footsteps leaving, until it died away.

❣❣❣

"And just like that? You were kicked out?" Mask Man widened his eyes, not believing the story that had just been told to him.

"Just like that. It was all that woman's fault!" Andy gritted his teeth as he looked down. "One day I'll get back at her. She would come begging for me to forgive her once she sees the amount of money I have."

"Alright, let's start planning what we're going to do after we receive the money," Mask Man already had a paper and a pen out. "We're going to be receiving €100 million in total. Ill have €40 million. You and your other friend will have €30 million each."

"Wait, it's kinda not fair. I mean, my...friend... He barely did anything," Andy smirked. "I should also receive €40 million, and have my friend get €20 million. I'm sure €20 million will be alright with him."

"But then you would have the same amount of money as me," Mask Man realized. "I need to have more as I worked harder. I did most of the jobs; I kidnapped the twins, and I'm the one who met up with their parents and told them about trading their kids with money!"

"Alright, how about this? You get €50 million, I get €40 million and then my friend gets €10 million," Andy suggested.

"Alright, it's done," Mask Man shrugged. "Your friend deserves the lowest as he came just at the end of the whole thing. The only reason he's getting some of the money is because he promises to keep the secret."

Andy nodded.

"So... How long are you planning on staying over at my house?" Mask Man folded his arm. "My house is very small, the more reason why I need that €50 million. I have two kidnapped kids that I take care of. This house won't be enough for all of us!"

"It's just one more," Andy looked at him with hope in his eyes. "Listen, I'm homeless now as I was kicked out of my former house. I need a place to stay, and you're the only one I can go to. Don't worry, I'll leave once we get the money!"

Mask Man looked unsure, but nodded anyway. "You'll leave next Tuesday!"

Andy smirked. Next Tuesday, I can officially have my hands on those money!

~~~

Word Count: 2169 (excluding this)
- Edited -