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A lot of me didn't want to know what my father had done to Dona Ridgewood. If I uncovered the truth on my own, I'd digest it better-or at least that was what I would like to think. A good majority of me was still reeling at everything that was brought to light since I entered this dreadful town.

Even though I was growing a deep dislike for this place-along with the people who polluted these streets-I knew that I wouldn't trade this life for the life I lived in Maine any time soon. The drama here was at least bearable, unlike the drama in Maine.

"If it was so bad that it became banned to join Segg then whatever my dad did must've been really, really bad." I said, taking the first bite of my pizza. "What does Segg even stand for?"

"Seniors Gag Group. You know, a gag like a joke." Heath informed. "It's a idiotic name to match a stupid group of people. Most of the things they did was way too messed up to even be considered a prank. I think there's a fine line between pulling a practical joke and being cruel. You can't justify being an asshole by calling it prank."

I straightened my back in the booth as a new thought occurred to me. "Wait, if Beth and Xander were talking about there being a Segg group this year, then who's to say there wasn't one last year? Chase could've been a part of it. It all links up to whatever they could've done with either of your sisters."

"Unless they did like a competition or something brutal held under wraps, that would be the only possible case scenario. If it was a prank, everyone on campus would've known about it." Dakota answered.

I picked up my cold glass of soda and sipped it out of the straw. "Do you think this has any connection to who might've impregnated Diana? We should really start at least thinking of possible suspects."

"That Irish guy may know." Heath wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "When's the next time you'll see Pierson outside of school?"

"In Spanish class today, we agreed on being partners for this project. So I'll either see him at some point next weekend. I haven't asked for permission yet from my dad if I can go over there, but I'm pretty sure they'll be okay with it since it's school related."

"You're planning on being alone...with Pierson...in his house." Dakota took a long, drawn out pause in between words. "Is his mom going to be there?"

"I don't know. I didn't really ask him if she'd be there or not. I'm assuming that she will be though." I shrugged. "I was going to offer my place, but he insisted that we used his place instead."

"There's something up with that." Dakota shook his head and sat down his drink, "I don't like the sound of any of this."

"Anything that has to do with Pierson, you're not okay with." I rolled my eyes. "You're at like a ten on the overprotective-o-meter. We need you at like a five."

"She's got a point." Heath supplied. "The fact that you spit in his eye is a sign that you are taking this a little too personal. Anything Silvia does while she's with him isn't real. You need to chill out."

"Fine." He grumbled.

"I think we should take advantage of the fact that you get to be in his house. It's a perfect opportunity." Heath said.

Dakota shifted in his seat at the proposal Heath gave. I was willing to try it out, but Dakota didn't like a bit of it. It involved me getting access to Pierson's laptop and cell phone. I didn't know why Dakota felt so against the plan though- he was against it more than I even was, and what looked to be different reasons.

. . .

After we polished off our drinks and devoured our pizza, Dakota walked me back to school. Heath hopped into his car and planned on meeting up with me the Friday before I went to Pierson's house so he could give me the equipment.

I had left one of the textbooks I need for homework in my locker so Dakota and I snuck back on to campus to retrieve it. Right when I had opened the metal locker door, Dakota began to speak.

"You know, you can back out whenever you want to."

"I'm aware of that." I said, pushing my things around in my locker. "I know what I'm getting myself into. I think it's you who doesn't like the sound of any of it. You'll just have to get used to it."

"I don't want to get used to it."

"You're going to have to. It's only been the first day."

"That should be a red-flag that we shouldn't be doing this then." He raised his hand up to my face, trailing it over my cheek and catching loose strains, softly pulling them out of my face. "How about instead of going to his place next weekend, you come over to mine? Dion is going down to L.A. next weekend and I'll be home alone at the apartment in Boulder Valley."

Lugging out my math book, I shut my locker and shot him a glance. "Keep talking. You've got my attention."

"The night portion of Saturday is taken up by this gig Heath signed us up for. But I could pick you up during the day. We'd drive over to Dion's before the show." He snaked his hands around my waist and drew me in, then pressed his lips to the hollow of my neck. I knotted my fingers underneath the nap of his hair, biting the inside of my cheek when he swiped his lip up to my face and started a path of sweet, soft kisses over my jawline. "I'm sure we can entertain ourselves into the night."

"How do you propose we get away with that?" I mustered to say. "It's not like you can drive up to my house and pick me up."

"Why not?"

It took every ounce of willpower to pull back and look at him. "You can't be seriously that confused on why you can't. Don't you remember the last time you picked me up from my house? If you tried to do that now, my dad would see your car pull up and he'd bolt the doors shut." I told him. "Also, as much as I like this idea of yours, my grades are more important."

He scoffed. "You're ditching me for homework?"

"What?" I exclaimed, moving away from him. I started to make my way to the student porch. "I'm actually passing my Spanish class with a B and I'd like to maintain that passing grade for as long as I can manage. First semester grades are important for when I apply to colleges."

"Yeah, but I'm a hundred percent sure that you'll have a lot more fun with me than with Pierson, learning about how to cognate your words." He set his hand on the small of my back and pecked my cheek, but he didn't move right away. "Plus, I'm in a very giving mood. If you know what I mean."

I brought my hand up to his face and moved him away from my ear. "You're trying a little too hard to get me to Dion's. Calm down your teenage hormones."

He shrugged. "I always get what I want any how."

"We'll see about that," I said with a laugh and pushed the main doors open. Evelyn's car was just pulling in. I noticed Dakota step back and stay inside the school as I hurried down the steps toward the car. I hated pretending like I didn't talk to him around my family, I knew I'd only hate it even more to keep up that façade at school as well.

The moment I got into the car, I asked Evelyn about the Spanish project over at Pierson's house. She was instantly impressed with my friendship with him and was perfectly okay with me going to his house. Apparently she hung out with his mom a lot over at the snobby country club.

"What are you going to wear?" She asked, eyeing my current outfit. "I hope you're not wearing something like that."

I had on distressed blue jeans with a graphic T-shirt. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing now?"

She cleared her throat and looked ahead at the road. "Uh. It's a little trashy. Not that it's bad," she quickly added. "I could lend you one of my nice blouses."

"No thanks."

The rest of the drive was painfully silent. I turned on the radio and drowned her out. I didn't want to hate her, but she was making it extremely easy right now. "I'm actually going to do the project with Pierson for most of Saturday."

"That's okay."

"I'll leave pretty early and get home kind of late. He'll drop me off though," I lied, creating a story for her to consume. I didn't know where the desire to feed her a fable had come from. All of a sudden though, I wanted to go to that gig Dakota was talking about.

"I'm okay with that. I'm quite sure I can get your father to agree to have you stay for the weekend to get the project done. With his mother's supervision, of course." She said. "As long as you guys are working, I don't mind however long it takes to complete that project."

"Oh, you can assure we'll be hard at work."

. . .

My plans for the following weekend were set. I'd go to Pierson's house, stay for a bit to do the project, and then before Dakota's gig, I'd leave with Heath to the venue. I'd spend the rest of my weekend at Dion's vacant apartment, hoping that my dad didn't know about my actual whereabouts. I had fed everyone the right amount of lies before the actual day of the gig, making sure that I covered my rear-end well enough.

The Friday before my weekend with Dakota, I woke up earlier than I usually did. Using a rusty bike my dad had stored in the garage, I peddled to school. There was a lot of things piled up in my head, adding on to my stress level. I hadn't quite gotten it off of my chest or truly digested it all. I needed something to help me push past this. The first solution that came to mind was going on a run.

Laying down the bike at the opening of the track, I left it there and began my stretches. Each limp I pulled, I shrugged off a different pestering issue that was rattling inside my mind. I hushed the chattering whispers and calmed my nagging subconscious.

By the time I started doing laps around the track, I had filed all of problems into a quiet region of my brain. I loved the feeling of the pavement, slamming against the sole of my shoes and the air that wisped across my face. I didn't know how long I was running, but I certainly sensed a set of eyes on me at one point. I slowed my pace and came to a stop.

Lifting my hand up so the sun didn't blind me, I gazed over at the entrance where my bike was placed. A few cars had pulled into the parking lot and I saw a handful of students sitting on the steps out front. Coach Walker was sitting on a bench, looking at his stopwatch. I really was starting to hate this guy. I could already tell how our conversation would go. Reluctantly, I made my way over to where he was sitting.

I picked up my small duffle bag that I'd brought with me. It had spare changing clothes and a water bottle inside. After a few gulps, I walked over to Coach Walker. He went back to his usual routine, telling me why I should join his lame track team and why I'd want to join. One thing was different about his speech though.

"...and I know you said in the past that you weren't interested, but I assure you, Silvia, you'll want to join. It looks good on college apps. Also I'm sure there are many pointers your dad could give you."

"My dad?" I echoed. "Oh, right. He was on the track team."

I'd forgotten the senior year book Dona Ridgewood had shown me. It had pictures of my father in running shorts and a jersey, jumping over hurtles. I couldn't really see how he did that though with the limp he had whenever he ran fast. I only ever noticed it when I was a kid and he'd playfully chase after Lenard and I.

Coach huffed. "He wasn't just on the track team; he was a legendary member. They've got photos of him in sports case out by the gym and his jersey number is up in my office, along with a few other outstanding athletes this school has seen. He brought countless state championships into this school. He was the best...well, until the accident."

"What accident?"

He dropped his stopwatch, a grim expression gracing his usually happy face. "I was only really a freshman by the time your dad was a senior back in the late 80s. He ended up pissing off some pretty dangerous people over at Boulder Valley High. I'm kind of know what caused it, but I'm not completely certain." He said. "Your dad ended up getting jumped by one of the members on the Boulder Valley team before a big match against them. It nearly paralyzed him. Thankfully with enough physio therapy and support from the school, he was only left with a slight limp-from what I remember."

Something in my head clicked, aligning to what he'd said and what other's had once told me. The theory that sprung to mind explained the limp and school rivalry."Did this attack have anything to do with what my dad did to Dona Ridgewood? Did he...by any chance...anger someone that was connected to Dona that happened to go to Boulder Valley High?"

Slowly, but surly he nodded. "I believe so."

Numbly, I told Coach Walker that I needed to leave. I also added that I would consider joining the team--or at least I think that was what I said. My mind was going a million miles a second, trying to process everything. I had just gotten to cope with everything else I knew, and now I had new information to deal with. Was I ever going to get a break?

. . . . . . .

Just as she had promised, Evelyn dropped me off at the Redmond manor around noon on Saturday. Before we had left, I'd stuffed some clothes-alongside my textbooks-for me to change into once I got to the venue with Heath. Friday night, he'd stopped by at my place to deliver the things I needed for my Saturday visit to Pierson's house.

Sheepishly, I gave Evelyn a wave goodbye as I walked up the large steps in front of their home. I knocked approximately three times. I counted. After fifteen seconds, the door was yanked open. A slender, thin woman with loose fitted jeans and an untucked buttoned up shirt greeted me at the door. If she was Pierson's mother, she didn't meet my expectations on what I expected to see. Evelyn had written her off as a woman who wore evening gowns and rows of pearls, even when there weren't guests coming.

"You must be Silvia." She stretched out her hand and took mine, firmly shaking it. "I'm Siobhan. Come on in, we were just about to have some lunch."

I stepped over the threshold and started to follow her into the dining area. "I hope I'm not intruding."

"Oh, you aren't." Pierson said from his seat at the dinner table. "I want you to intrude. Anything to get me away from being alone with that women would be a godsend."

"Hey, watch that tone or I'm going to cut some of your inheritance. Maybe I'll give this entire house to our gardener. Perhaps even let the cat have some of the house as well since you'll be cut out of the will."

I could tell they was only teasing, but it felt weird standing in between their conversation, not able to say anything or doing anything besides sit down and shut up.

Without a large cluster of teenagers roaming around the house, I could finally see this place clearly. At the party, I hadn't really paid much attention to what was inside the home, but now I surely did. The only question I kept thinking of while shamelessly snooping around was that I could not see any sign of Pierson's father in the family photos they had. There was a young girl beside Pierson in a few photos, but no father whatsoever. He never talked about his dad, I realized.

Something placed near the dining table caught my full attention though. It was a sports picture. From the equipment they had, I could tell they were members of the lacrosse team. I got up from my seat and unknowingly found myself picking up the picture from where it sat on a shelf.

"How old is this photo?" I asked.

"It's from the end of sophomore year." Pierson answered. "The members, in all, have stayed the same. Besides for the ones who graduated. It was back when Dakota was still playing sports."

"Oh, Dakota Ridgewood?" his mother chimed. "Aren't you friends with that boy? You never have him around anymore. You should invite him over some time. It's been so long since he slept over."

"Mum, I already told you." Pierson sighed. "I'm not friends with him anymore. He quit the team, got all of those stupid tattoos, and turned into a complete prick."

"That's no way to speak about a friend." She snickered. "You should ring him up."

"No, mum. I will not." He pushed himself out of his seat and walked up to me, taking the photo from me and setting it back where it belonged. "I don't know why you look so shocked. Didn't you already know that he was on the lacrosse team?"

"No," I said feebly. "I didn't know that at all."

"You must not know a lot about him then."

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a/n: I'm not really good at making banners but I try lol I made one with Ash Stymest and another with Andy Biersack since those are the two top Dakota's you guys commented for in the cast section. Please vote and comment.

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Song for the chapter: You Don't Know Me by Ben Folds

Lyrics: ❝We're damned by the existential moment.❞

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