POV: Rebel Reid

"Wait, wait, wait, dating. Like dating, dating, as in Dillion Smiley is your girlfriend dating?" Bridie eyes me.

"I mean yeah I think so. We've made out so much my lips are sore." I rub my mouth.

"Aww you two make a cute couple," Scooter smiles at me.

"What! Are you even listening to what she said, Dillion Smiley, is her girlfriend!" Bridie whirls on him.

"Look I know she's been a horrible person in the past but that is all behind her now. I swear. She promised me. She's a changed girl now."

Bridie sighs and shakes her head, her braids flopping around.

"I still can't believe your mom wouldn't let you go to the station with her." Scooter sighs.

It's lunchtime and I haven't heard any updates from my mom's. I wish I knew what happened. They went to the station around 8, they should be out by now. I wish I went with them.

"Yeah... that one was my fault. She sort of walked in on us making out and may have freaked out." I trace the spin of my book.

"Rebel! Don't you think things are moving a bit fast?" Birdie says in concern.

I shrug.

She facepalms.

I glance around the school cafeteria, everything seems normal. Surprisingly.

"So how have things been while I was gone?" I ask.

"Not good." Scooter moves closer.

I raise an eyebrow.

"With Dillion "missing" she technically doesn't go to school here anymore. So her G.R.O.S.S. profile has been deactivated. Making Clover Baker the new number one. It's gone to her head." Bridie whispers and leans in to.

"Totally, also Alaska and Flynn got suspended for the stunt they pulled at the pep rally. Apparently, footage shows the two of them setting up the video before the pep rally. Right now there really isn't a number two or three. It's just Clover." Scooter says.

"Really, things look peaceful." I glance around.

"Think again. The smiley alliance is now known as the clover field. It's like a war zone here. Every few seconds girls are challenging each other just so they can claim the third and second spot by Clover's side. It's a madhouse. And no one is even following the rules anymore. They are just making up dumb stuff to challenge people." Bridie glances around.

"True, it's anyone's game out here. We've been trying to stay low so people won't challenge us." Scooter says.

"God, this game needs to end already."

There is an audible gasp in the cafeteria and everyone looks to see. My jaw drops as Dillion strides over to us. She has on a new pink flannel shirt with the sleeves all the way down and buttoned up, black skin-tight jeans, pink sneakers, and her hair is flawless as usual. Her temp pink dye is back.

I quickly get up and walk over to her.

"Hey, what are you doing here? Are you okay? What happened? Where did you get these clothes?"

She giggles at me.

"One question at a time, come on." She interlocks our hands and walks back over to the table.

"I made your mom get me some clothes, admittedly these are cheap Wal-mart clothes but something is better than nothing. I told her no way was I going back to school wearing what you had. I mean I had to make an entrance. It was either this hell hole or going home. So the cops and I worked out a deal. They would talk to my parents and sister and we would go from there." she sighs.

"So everything is okay then?" I ask.

"Hell no. You know they made me strip down and show them my cuts and shit. Some doctor came in to take pictures or whatever. God, talk about feeling uncomfortable. They called C.P.S. the whole nine yards. My sister tried to come and see me, but I didn't want to see her. It was super dramatic and emotional, I'm just glad it's over for now." She runs a hand through her hair.

I look at her, really look at her. Her make-up is minimal. She covered up most of the bruises but the long fleshy scratch on the side of her cheek is clearly visible. She didn't even try to cover it. all the scratches on her arms are covered by her shirt. No one can tell just how bad it is by looking at her. Only Me, Birdie, and Scooter know.

"You ready for this?" I whisper so no one outside our table can hear.

"No, but you're here, so that's a plus." She chuckled nervously.

"Who cares what they think, you are amazing no matter what," I assure her.

"Thank you." she smiles at me.

Then she leans in and softly kisses me. I think it was a big deal for her to kiss me, a girl, in front of everyone. There was another audible gasp. She pulls away and I can feel her shaking.

"Hey, I got you. it's okay." I rest my forehead against hers and interlock our fingers.

"I know." She smiles against my lips.

"Well, Well, Well, look who it is. Dillion the Dike." Clover comes over to our table.

Dillion doesn't even look phased. She pulls away and stands up to face her.

"Well, Well, Well, if it isn't Clover the Klepto. How's that community service coming along?" Dillion smirks at her and crosses her arms.

I stand and also face against Clover. Scooter and Birdie do their best to look small and not be noticed.

Clover narrows her eyes at Dillion.

"What's wrong Clover? Did you think you could break me? Did you think with me gone you could just become the new me? Well here's a news flash for you, no one is better than me. I may have bent but I didn't break and baby I'm back and I'm stronger than ever. So why don't you go run along to all your fake pals and whine about how mean I am." Dillion makes a whiney baby voice at the end to mock her.

"Dillion, Dillion, Dillion. You are so fake it's almost pathetic. You know Dillion is a boys name maybe you should grow some balls and finally admit who you are. You are nothing but a coward. Too afraid to take the heat so you ran away. Who's the baby now? You think you can just come back and have your lesbian bodyguard protect you? Here's the real news flash, nothing is going to protect you from the storm coming your way. You burned all your bridges baby and now we the students of Sunder High refuse to let you go on. There's a tradition here, a way for the school population to deal with people we don't like. You better be ready."

Dillion narrowed her eyes.

"You remember it don't you? I mean, after all, it was you and me who took down Kelly Wesner."

A chill runs down my spine. Kelly Wesner? Kelly moved away after she cracked under the pressure. She made her mom move away, she refused to come to this school anymore. At the time there were even rumors that Kelly would show up one day and shoot up the school. That was an awful time to be a student here.

Something like remorse and fear crosses Dillion's face. Clover drinks it all in. She is no longer a tiger shark she's a megalodon and she is ready to eat Dillion whole. She takes a step closer to her, too close. Her nose is almost touching Dillion's.

"What's wrong? You're not scared, are you? I told you I already have everything I need to take you down, that stunt at the pep rally, that was just a warm-up. Now the real game begins. I wonder, does your new little girl toy know what you did to Kelly?" she smirks.

Dillion takes a step back, gone is her cocky attitude. Fear is written all over her face.

"You promised," Dillion whispers to Clover.

"And you promised not to tell my parents about everything. I guess promises don't really mean much between us." She shrugs.

Just as Clover was about to turn around and leave Dillion grabs her by the hand.

"Wait, don't... don't show anyone. You win okay. I'm sorry. I'll back off. I don't even want to play the stupid game anymore. please." Dillion whimpers.

"It's a little late for that. Be ready Dillion, be ready." Clover cackles as she walks off.

"Dillion," I call her.

She flinches at my voice.

"What's she talking about?" Birdie asks before I can.

"N-nothing." Dillion stares off after Clover.

"Kind of sounds important," Scooter says.

"Well, it's not, get off my ass!" Dillion snaps at them.

"Hey, easy. We just want to—"

"If you say you are trying to help me right now Rebel, I swear to god." She puts her hand in my face to shut me up.

"Dillion." I grab her hand.

"Fuck, why the fuck did I come back here? Damn it." she plops down at the table and uses her free hand to cover her face.

Birdie, Scooter, and I share a look. I sit next to her.

"What happened to Kelly?" I ask.

She shakes her head and moves her hand to cover her mouth. Tears come to her eyes. I swear she looks a little green. She glances over to Clover who is smiling at Dillion.

"Dillion."

She flinches again.

She looks at me and for a second I thought she was about to say something but then she gets up and runs over to the trashcan and vomits.

"Jesus," Bridie says.

"Dillion." I quickly get up and walk over to her.

She pushes me away and then runs off just as the bell rings.

What the hell was that all about? I glance over to Clover who is laughing now. Bridie and Scooter walk up beside me.

"Well whatever it is, doesn't sound good," Scooter says.

"Sunder High Tradition? Never heard of it." Birdie says.

"Me either." People push past us to leave the cafeteria.

"We better get to the bottom of this, and fast," Scooter says.

I nod in agreement. Then we each go our sperate ways.

I don't see any trace of Dillion for the rest of the day. It's not until I am walking to my car in the parking lot that she is waiting there for me. I unlock the doors and let her in. Then I start the car.

"Can you take me home? I have to get some stuff." She says quietly.

"Are you going to run away again?" I ask.

She looks at me and shakes her head no. I sigh and pull out of the parking lot.

"What happened to Kelly? What is the tradition Clover was talking about?" I ask.

"The tradition is a secret most students don't know about. Someone made it up years ago. If you are popular enough someone will come and tell it to you. Usually an upperclassman. Siblings pass it down to the next-gen and so on. Someone once said it's written in a locker somewhere in the school but no one knows which locker. There used to be this upperclassman, Ingrid Muffet, Ms. Muffet was her nickname. It was the beginning of my sophomore year I was the only freshmen to survive unscathed by the game. I was already in the 20 best players. Clover and I became a force. Ms. Muffet approached me. It was on a Tuesday after P.E. Clover was about to audition for cheer, I was supposed to audition with her but Ms. Muffet pulled me away and made me miss it. She said that I had what it took to carry on the tradition. That I was cold and ruthless. That I could be the next big bitch if I worked hard enough. I should have just walked away." Her voice shakes as she stares out the window.

"What's the tradition?" I grip the wheel tighter.

"Ms. Muffet she said I had to pass a test to know for sure. So I said what? She made me sabotage Clover's tryouts. She wanted to see how ruthless I was. So after Clover auditioned I went to the cheer coach and told her Clover wasn't right for her squad. I told her Clover thought cheer was a joke. That I made a bet with Clover and she only auditioned because she lost. I said that Clover asked me to withdraw her audition. It worked. Ms. Muffet told me to meet her at school after hours around midnight. By the bleachers. So I did, little did I know she had told Clover too, she made Clover watch me ruin her chances. That was Clover's test, to see if she could keep her mouth shut and no blow her lid. We both got there and a group of masked seniors led us to the field house. That is where we learned the tradition of sunder high."

"You still haven't told me what it is." I snap at her.

"You don't want to know, it's awful." She closed her eyes tightly as if she was trying to forget the memory.

"Dillion, what did you do to Kelly?"

"The tradition... it breaks you down to your core. It strips a person of everything. They strip you naked, tie you to a chair, and just attack you verbally until you can't take anymore. They write words on your body, brand you literally and make you the bitch of sunder high, and not in a good way. They leave you alone for 24 hours to break you. If you can survive it, you become the sunder high bitch and do anything the reigning three tell you to do. You can't argue, or resist, because the video of the forced confession they get out of you will be leaked everywhere. That is what I did to Kelly Wesner last year." She finishes.

We pull into her house and sit there for a moment.

"I understand if you hate me now. If you are disgusted by me. Even I was disgusted right after I did it. It haunted me for months. I told myself that if Kelly came to the school with a gun I wouldn't make her look for me, I would find her and I would let her shoot me. I did most of the heavy lifting, Clover recorded the whole thing. She promised me she'd never show anyone. Oh god, what I did was awful. So bad. The tradition is supposed to scare people into either moving schools or killing themselves. It's vial and cruel and brings out the worst in everyone involved. I hated it, I hated every last second of it. Sometimes I still get nightmares. Clover and I promised to never do it again, that we wouldn't pass it down. A few weeks after Kelly left, I called her. I guess I wanted closure, forgiveness for what I did. She was in the hospital; she had tried to kill herself. Her mom wouldn't let me speak to her. She had told her mom everything I d. Her mom said if I ever tried to talk to Kelly ever again, she wouldn't call the police, she would just kill me. I pushed the whole thing out of my head. I tried to forget it. I pretended it never happened. Oh god, oh god, oh god." She curled up in her seat and ran her hands threw her hair she was crying now.

I felt sick to my core. Disgusted to even be in the same breathing space as Dillion. I gripped the wheel tightly to hold back my own tears. in her driveway in front of me were the cars of her parents, I assume at least, and the car of her sister, as well as her car.

Dillion quickly unbuckles and gets out of the car. I watch her run-up to the door she opens it and her mom is right there. Not even a foot in and the woman slaps her silly. Dillion falls on her butt. I flinch at the scene. Dillion isn't phased she gets up and pushes past her mom to get in the house. The woman chases after her and slams the door behind her.

I stare at it.

Then I put the car in reverse and I drive home.