^ because !!! ^

"You surprised me. Not because I wasn't expecting you, but because I had forgotten about you."
—guess who (I know, it's hard)
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H o l l o w s I n
T I M E
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"Kim said it was about something horrible."

"Mel said we'd have to prepare for the worst."

"Jonah said 'you're too young for this'."

"Well, my Guardian told me this is the worst warning she has heard of."

"Lexi told me to put my top back on."

The girls turned to give me confused glances. After Bria and I had our talk, we arrived at Cassie's to find the girls worked up about the current situation, and since then we had been speculating about what could have happened to need an emergency Guardian meeting. Needless to say, we couldn't find the answers.

I ignored their pretty judgemental frowns and instead launched into Investigative Sky.

"Okay, so we know that whatever happened was horrible, which means, credit to Bria, that it can't have happened in the Academy." I began, watching as Bria smiled.

Saph frowned at Bria. "And how do you know that?" Both Bria and I could theorise about that, but I handed it over to Bria. She wanted to be treated like an adult, well here was her opportunity. She wouldn't be overlooked this time.

She cleared her throat. "Surely if it happened at the Academy, that 'something horrible' would be an attack on Special Ones here—right? But as far as I'm aware, there has been no attack. It's like the enemy had a football game away and not at home." Bria explained.

"You really are Jonah's Special One." Saph muttered. I shot her a warning look. "I mean about the football." She told me quickly. For a while since it became obvious that Saph's attitude had been straining the groups harmony, she had become more and more aware of what she was saying, and how she was saying it. Sometimes she doesn't even realise, but someone can take something that she says in a completely different way than what she means.

"Actually, I kind of like football too; it was a family thing." Bria said. Saph tried to hide her surprise and instead nodded. It was quite comical to see her hold back at everything she thought about doing or saying.

"So, who's excited for Christmas?" Avery squealed in a not-so-obvious attempt to change the subject. Cassie, apparently, was so excited that she threw herself across the room, screaming when she launched herself off the bed.

We all stared at her in silence.

"Me too." Saph said comically, causing us to all break out into laughter.

"I think I'm more excited for the Balls." Bria admitted, her voice light as her eyes shone. I imagined that she was picturing it in her head.

"What? How can you be more excited for that than for Christmas?" Avery asked, completely astounded.

Bria shrugged, "I've never been to anything like it."

It suddenly dawned on me. "You'll be attending your first ball at the Academy," Bria nodded, a huge grin on her face. I took her hands into mine. "Well you're going to love it. Everyone is pretty much dressed like they own mansions, and the array of colours on the dresses begs for a picturesque moment." I explained to her. She grew more and more visibly excited by the syllable.

"Are we going to get ready together?" Avery asked.

I thought about this. "Well, last time we didn't, but sure—if everyone's up for it." The girls chorused in their agreement, well Cassie stood their with her thumbs up—but I'm guessing she meant 'yes'.

"I also can't wait for Christmas. This year's Christmas is going to be good—I can feel it." Avery gushed, as the true inspirational speaker that she was. I smiled and listened to the girls' agreements. I could agree, but we never know what kind of sinister acts might occur on a day so full of happiness.

"Next year will be good too." Bria said quietly.

"Alright, Bria, don't get too far ahead of yourself." Saph joked, making Bria stifle a laugh and duck her head.

"It's true though, it's December now and two-thousand-and-eighteen is just a month away." Bria said.

"That's so cool," Cassie suddenly said, her eyes wide with amazement. "That next month is a new year."

Saph started to clap. "Well done, Cassie, you have the calendar all figured out." We all laughed at that.

Our friendship group was so full, in an overflowing kind of way, that it was hard to imagine any changes to it. A removal or addition of one person could cause a detrimental breakdown.

That's what scared me. With my fate completely undecided, it was hard to know if any of these girls would end up in a crossfire, or if they would lose me in an attack.

It was unseeable. But, I guess, if we knew everything before it happened, that it'd be a pretty boring life.

Hours passed as we amused ourselves with the prospect of the two Balls we would be attending—we also raided Kim's secret snack cupboard.

Finishing a bag of crisps, I wiped the grease on my jeans before checking the time on my phone with a sigh. It was almost dinner time and my stomach craved an actual meal.

I unlocked my phone as the girls talked about sumo wrestling and opened the messaging app. I wasn't sure which Guardian to text, so texted the first in my contact list: Alexi.

'Is everything okay?'

I pressed send, not knowing if Lexi even had her phone on, or if she was allowed to use it.

'Fine. Jameson and I are busy. But we sent backup to keep you company. Don't share this message with anyone.'

I frowned at her reply. Why was she being so secretive all of a sudden? Jameson and I are busy. Well, that stung. But it didn't really make sense. Don't share this message with anyone. If Alexi and Jameson were...busy, why would Lexi tell me and only me?

I composed a message quickly, afraid I would lose her attention if I waited too long.

'That sounds dangerous. What's going on?'

I sent back, gnawing at my lip as I impatiently waited for a reply. The anticipation would kill me before I even received the message.

'Head to the warehouse. At takeout, ask for a meal under your name. Enjoy; we got you BBQ. That's where you'll meet your guest—so be patient and nice. Love you.'

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. I'm assuming by 'warehouse' she meant the massive shop, and by takeout she meant the place where we receive food from outside catering services or fast food restaurants, such as Pizza Hut, or Pizza a small, simple, single-storey house or shelter.

The suspense that surrounded the idea of a mystery guest made me very suddenly jittery. Who could it possibly be? I had all of my friends here—aside from Jameson and Alexi, who were off on another mission.

I quickly told the girls that I had to leave, and they all got up to bid me goodbye. I wouldn't see them until the Ball, but I had a terrible feeling that the possibility of that was slim—and I just couldn't rid myself of it.

I left feeling completely dejected, as if I was about to step out into the wilderness and lose everyone and everything. Again.

I took a deep breath. No. Jameson would never let that happen. Again.

So I kept walking.

I reached the warehouse shop and approached the cashier at the takeout service.

With the cashier looking at me expectingly, I fumbled. "Erm...Sky Forest..?" The lady smiled and told me to wait a moment.

I gnawed at my lip and fiddled with the zip on my coat as I waited for her to come back. I couldn't stop the burning anticipation from turning my blood into molten.

As I was scathed from the inside out, the woman placed my order on the table and typed it into the computer before smiling and telling me to have a nice day.

I was happy when I saw a big box come out. But I was surprised when another did. Followed by a smaller box. Who was this mystery guest?

"Thank you."

As I stood, unable to even process words, someone behind me had spoken only two that I needed to say, before reaching out and taking one of the big boxes and the small side box.

I turned slowly, and my eyes met the face of the mystery guest as they spoke again. And I recognised both their face and voice in that moment.

"Hi, Sky." I stared dumbfounded at the guest. "Aren't you going to take your pizza?"

Side swept dark brown hair. Leather jacket, and jade eyes, that were very nearly blue. Or maybe they were blue, and very nearly green. That was always the trick of his eyes; if you were close enough, you could tell that they weren't exactly green, but they weren't exactly blue.

It was Jace Clarke.

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are you sure babe bc sometimes eyewitness testimonies are unreliable ???

I'm just saying like were there no other witnesses because the court won't exactly just believe you

BUT ANYWAY

TF

JACE BE BACK

WHO ELSE PREDICTED IT LMAOOO

I NO LONGER HAVE THE ELEMENT OF SURPRISE

-I took it

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Next update: Friyay
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CHAPTER NINETY-TWO SPOILER:

Who is Jace Clarke outside of his office when he's eating pizza with his blonde-haired client?

Can Sky forgive Jace?

Does forgiveness matter anymore?

Especially when you're starting a new journey.

THE FINAL CHAPTER IS:
11 chapters away