Riley lies down with his arms crossed behind his head as he leans against the short headboard of his bed. His room is small and bland, except for a few posters of alternative rock bands and video games. Muted on the television mounted above his game collection is a news reporter as she stands outside Cesar's apartment complex, the scene still surrounded by caution tape.

He can hear the shower running, and turns his head to see steam slithering into his room from the cracked bathroom door. Staring at it, he reminisces about the fire. He pictures the black smoke as it fills the bus, slipping out through the broken windows as the fire spreads across the undercarriage. Garrett's hand slams against the front windshield, slowly smearing blood as it drops behind the dashboard. Screams fade out as sirens grow louder.

The shower turns off and he snaps out of his daze. He can hear someone step out of tub and, a few seconds later, Casey steps out with a towel wrapped around her. Her skin is still moist, glistening in the dim light, and she dabs at her wet hair with a small towel.

He smiles. "Hey beautiful."

"Hey." She smiles back, leaning down to kiss him. As she pulls away, she can tell by the look in his eyes that something is on his mind. She glares over at the television. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah."

"I still can't believe this is happening. First Julia. Now Cesar and Randy." Dismayed, she shakes her head as she continues to dry her hair with the towel. "I don't understand why someone would do this. I mean, they weren't saints but did they really deserve that?"

"No one deserves that." He says, flicking the television off with the remote.

A few weeks ago, Riley and Casey had made a deal that each one of them would have their own drawer in each other's room. That way they could store their clothes whenever they spent the night at the other's house.

She looks at his dresser and grabs at the first drawer, pulling it outward. "Now, where are my clothes..."

He nearly knocks the sheets off as he jumps up from the bed. He quickly slams the drawer shut before she can fully open it and turns to her, smiling nervously. "Third drawer down."

Looking at him as if he's crazy, she reaches for the third drawer. "Ahh. Thanks."

He backs away, but keeps standing nearby, so she can pull out the drawer of her clothes. As she picks out a shirt and pair of jeans he turns around to allow her privacy to get dressed. It's not like he's never seen her naked before, quite the contrary actually, but he wants to be nothing less than respectful. Especially when he's around Casey.

He hears the towel drop to the floor and waits patiently, staring at the wall ahead of him, as he waits for her to finish dressing.

"Hey." She says softly.

Riley spins around to see Casey, standing bare nude, with the towel on the floor behind her ankles. She flips her wet hair over to the side, smirking flirtatiously.

"Uhh, hi." He stutters anxiously.

She steps forward to lightly run her fingers against his arm and gazes into his eyes. "You know I love you, right?"

"I lov—"

Casey cuts him off as she leans in to kiss him, grabbing his neck as she gently shoves him back onto the bed.

Paige reluctantly eases down to sit on the mattress, acting as if she were descending into the fiery pits of hell, and glares over at Kira and then back to the bed.

Clearly neither of them has seen the news report, as yesterday's murders are the talk around town.

"What?" Kira asks. "Is something wrong?"

She shakes her head. "Nothing."

"Is your bed better?"

"Actually—" Paige bites her tongue, her usual attitude on the verge of rolling off of it. She's been putting on a front for so long that being a bitch comes as a second nature to her. "No. Far from it actually. Your bed is really comfortable."

As she runs her fingers along the comforter, she gazes around the spacious room, mostly decorated in a dark shade of purple and pink. Kira is a girly-girl and clearly isn't afraid to show it off. "And you're room. It's beautiful. I wish mine was half this size."

Kira cocks an eyebrow. "Are you messing with me?"

"No, for real. I'm being serious."

"You see what I mean." Kira, more than intrigued, moves her computer chair in front of the bed and spins it around to sit on it, facing Paige. "You can be a really nice person. Why do you act so mean sometimes?"

Paige stares at her, not sure of how to respond. For some reason, she is seeing Kira in a new light, and she's not sure whether or not she likes it yet. She sidesteps her question. "So, why did you invite me here? I'm assuming it's not to give me moral advice. If that's the case we would probably be here all weekend."

Kira laughs. "No, sorry. I don't mean to tell you how to act. You should be yourself. But the thing is, I think the way you portray yourself is nowhere close to who you really are. But anyways, there I go again. To the point. Yeah I invited you here to see if you could help me with something."

Cupping her hands, Paige sits up attentively. "What's up?"

Scooting the chair back, Kira stands up and walks over to her open closet. She reaches into it and pulls out what looks like a rolled up poster and a small plastic toolbox. "The boys are all anxious about the football game. I got other things on my priority list."

She sets it down on the floor and unrolls it to reveal a banner. It reads 'HOMECO' unfinished in elegant cursive letters. The corners of the banner are painted with dark purple swirls bordering the edges. She slides the box next to it and opens it to reveal brushes as well as small canisters that contain various colors of paint.

"Homecoming." Paige smiles as she reads it. "Kira, you can't be serious."

"It's our senior year! We have to make it something to remember." Kira continues to unroll the banner and places a book at each corner to keep it from rolling back up. "Besides, Mrs. Krueger put me in charge of the homecoming committee and nobody wants to help me decorate. It's my butt if I don't at least finish these banners by Monday."

"No, I mean... you've seen me in art class. Drawing, decorating, whatever craft-related is not my strongest suit."

Kira shrugs. "It doesn't have to be perfect. Just put your personality into it."

"You sure you want me to put my personality into it?" Paige gets off of the bed and kneels down on the floor on the opposite side of the banner, facing her. "You may regret that."

Kira flashes an innocent smile as she hands her a paintbrush. "Nah. I doubt it."

Taking it, Paige smiles as she watches Kira take a brush of her own and dip it into a small canister of light blue paint. Paige reaches over and dunks her brush in the bright red container, following Kira's lead as she watches her gracefully swipe strokes onto the banner.

♫ ᴛᴇᴍᴘᴏʀᴀʀʏ ʟᴏᴠᴇ / ᴛʜᴇ ʙʀɪɴᴋs ♫