Elena’s left leg shook violently as she waited in the bland, hospital corridor. She forcefully placed a hand on her thigh but her leg continued to shake anyway. Impatient but fearful of looking insane, she kept her wide eyes fixed on an orange stain on the tiled floor. As she waited, Elena heard the sound of heels approaching her. She tore her eyes off the floor to glance at the new visitor – Sutton Von Clair?



“What are you doing here?” Elena scoffed. This had to be a joke.

“I’m here to see Noel. I heard what happened, he’s okay right?” Sutton asked, with a look of genuine worry.

Elena decided to set her negative feelings towards Sutton aside for a fleeting moment. She had to admit that Sutton did care for Noel too.

“They won’t let me see him,” Elena replied quietly.

Sutton took a seat beside Elena and opened her mouth to say something but couldn’t find the words. The girls sat in silence, the only sound being the persistent buzzing of the overhead lights.

Detective Lahey sighed as he closed the door to Noel’s private room. It was unlike him to have so many unsolved cases. He was positive that there was a connection between Noel and Alaska Hale’s disappearance. He was just missing one crucial detail. The detective looked up from his spiral-bound notepad to find two pairs of hopeful eyes peering at him.

Sutton was the first to speak, “Is he okay?”

“He’s going to be fine,” Detective Lahey replied gently, gazing at Sutton.

Sutton blew out an air of relief through her plump lips.

“That’s all I wanted to hear,” She replied, lifting her hazel eyes to meet the detective’s.

Detective Lahey’s phone vibrated in his pocket, reminding him of his impending duties.

“How well do you know Noel?” Lahey asked the girls casually.



The two girls looked at each other before Elena answered, “I’m his girlfriend.”

“Can I speak with you, over here?” Lahey asked, gesturing towards a secluded corner.

Elena stood up too quickly. She took a moment to steady herself before following the detective. Seeing her unsteady state, Lahey decided to start off simple.

“Would you happen to know the name of Noel’s previous school?”

Elena pondered this question for a moment. Her eyebrows formed a crease in the middle of her forehead as she tried to recall the name.

“He hasn’t told me that…” she trailed off.

“Oh, that’s fine.” Lahey replied, scribbling quickly in his notebook.

It was now Elena’s turn to ask a question.

“Why is he under federal investigation?” Elena asked bluntly, eyeing Lahey’s golden badge.

“That’s private information,” The detective answered, giving Elena a sincere smile.



Sensing that Elena hadn't the slightest clue of Noel’s past, the detective stuck his notepad into his pocket.

“Is that all?” Elena asked, politely.

“That’s about it. Thanks for you cooperation, Elena Adams.” He said with a look of knowingness.

Elena stared back into the detective’s steel blue eyes. She was positive that she hadn’t mentioned her name. With a feeling of weariness, she returned to her seat beside Sutton, waiting for the moment she would finally be able to see Noel.

~

[2 Weeks Later]

Noel sat hunched in the corner of his bed, staring out of his bedroom window. Sutton gazed at the counters of his face, noticing that the scars from the accident had finally begun to fade.

“The scars are starting to fade,” Sutton noted.



Noel continued to remain silent as he twirled a stray string on his comforter. Sutton reached for his face without hesitation. Noel closed his eyes slowly at the touch of her small hand. He nestled his face into her hand slightly. Sutton felt Noel tense up before turning away.

“Sutton…” Noel began, unable to meet her hazel eyes.

“What? We’re not doing anything here. And on top of that, you’ve been ignoring Elena for what, a week and a half now?” Sutton fumed.

“I’m giving her some space,” Noel replied slowly, choosing his words carefully.

“You’re giving yourself space, Noel. You can fool her, but you’re not fooling me.” She stated, gazing at him intently. Her eyes were begging him to challenge her.

Noel was the first to look away. For such a small girl, Sutton was extremely intimidating. This was a feeling Noel rarely encountered.



“You always look so poised,” Noel observed, trying to take the attention off of himself.

“What do you mean?” She asked, falling for his ploy.

“You’re poised, Sutton. The way you look, act….the way you dress,” He stated as his eyes swept over her body.

Sutton squinted in confusion.

Noel reach over and slipped the strap of Sutton’s midnight blue dress over her shoulder.

Sutton laid a firm hand on Noel’s.

“Are you now telling me that you’ve had a change of heart?” She questioned.

“What if I have?” Noel questioned, looking at the tiny mole on Sutton’s neck.

Sutton laughed briskly, “You’re horrible liar.”

With defeat, Noel retreated to his corner of the bed. Had he, Noel Tobais, just get denied of sex?



Sutton curled up into a ball at Noel’s feet.

“Can’t we just talk?” She purred, reminiscent of a Persian cat.

“About what?” Noel asked, playing along.

“Tell me something about yourself. I should know at least something about who I sleep with.”

“Hasn’t stopped you before…” Noel trailed off.

“A mistake on my part,” she admitted quickly.

“You can start off by telling my why you haven’t introduced me to your mom yet!” Sutton joked.

“She left us…when Serena and I were about 12.” Noel replied casually.

“Oh,” Sutton replied as she bit her lip.

Noel noticed that a droplet of blood had formed on Sutton’s bottom lip. He leaned over and wiped it with his thumb, leaving a smear of dark red.

“Seems like I just made things worse,” He replied.

Sutton knew that he wasn’t just referring to her lip. She ran the tip of her tongue over her bottom lip, tasting the bitterness of her blood.

Sutton sighed and turned around so that her back faced Noel. She knew she was giving him exactly what he wanted.

“Unzip me?” She asked boldly.

Noel tried to conceal his grin as he unzipped her.



He pulled the rest of her dress off roughly to reveal her matching pink underwear.

“Nice,” Noel muttered as he immediately began to kiss her neck.

Sutton moaned with pleasure as he pinned her forcefully to the bed.



No sooner had they began when a loud cough interrupted them.

Noel and Sutton immediately looked towards the door. There stood Serena with a look of disgust.

Noel hopped off of Sutton and swiftly threw her a blue plaid shirt that hung on a nearby chair. Sutton smiled at Serena as she draped the shirt over her exposed body. Noel grabbed his sister’s arm and forcefully led her out of his room.

“You’ve been alive for 17 years and still haven’t managed the concept of knocking?” Noel asked with narrowed eyes.

Serena rolled her eyes slightly, “If I had, you wouldn’t have opened the door anyway.”

Noel scoffed, “What do you want?”

“How can you do this?” Serena questioned, “That whore was blackmailing you less than a month ago! Not to mention that Elena’s waiting for you to call her and you’re off sleeping wi-with that thing?”



“Firstly, her name is Sutton. Secondly, we’ve resolved that issue. Lastly, we haven’t slept together…today at least,” Noel added as a smirk began to form on his lips.

Sutton slapped her brother across his smug face. The impact of her hand against his cheek echoed through the empty halls.

“You’re wretched, Noel. Completely wretched!” Serena screamed.



Noel held the left side of the face in utter disbelief. As his eyes narrowed into tiny slits, Serena was suddenly afraid of what her brother would do to her. He started towards her, backing her into a corner. Serena tried to grab for something, anything to protect herself. Noel slammed both of his hands against the wall inches away from Serena’s face and stared at her menacingly. He roughly grabbed her jaw and leaned in towards her ear.

“Slap me one more time, and you’d wish you were dead.” He snarled through clenched teeth.

Noel let go of his sister’s face and walked towards his bedroom with rage. Hot tears began to form at the corners of Serena’s eyes as she fell to the floor. She cupped her tender jaw in her hands as she cried silently in the corner.



“You need to leave,” Noel ordered Sutton, who had been admiring the almost-complete painting of the unknown woman.



Sutton looked at Noel’s expression and averted her gaze quickly. She slipped into her dress and didn’t bother asking Noel to zip it as she hurried out of the room. Noel slammed the door shut behind Sutton. How was he to blame for Elena’s misfortune when it was her own father who had forbidden Noel to contact her. Noel realized that he would always be seen as a degenerate, it was now time he started acting like one.

~

“We’re going to go with that?” Beau asked with a hint of distaste.

“It’s a classic,” Colton smiled as he brought ‘The Lord of the Flies’ to where Beau was seated.



“What’s so good about a group of boys stranded on an island?” Beau questioned.

“Exactly that,” Colton smirked.

Beau let out a laugh and leaned over Colton’s shoulder as they analyzed the novel for its deeper meaning.

“Colton, do you mind watching Ethan for me, I’m going to the store,” asked Colton’s mother as she walked into the study room.

“Oh, why hello.” Ms. Hayes addressed Colton’s visitor.

Colton stood up quickly.

“Mom, this is Beau…” Colton trailed off, unsure of what to call him.

Beau arose slowly and gave Colton’s mom a warm smile, “It’s very nice to meet you, Ms. Hayes. I’ve heard many good things about you.”



“A sweet talker aren’t you,” Ms. Hayes replied, laughing slightly. For a mother, she barely looked over 30. She was dressed in a black sweater adorned with sparks of grey, dark fitted jeans, finished with a pair of black heels.

“Some might say so,” Beau replied, smiling once more.

Ms. Hayes noticed the novel on the floor.

“Classic choice,” she noted, “I’ll leave you two to study. Yell if you need anything.”

Beau’s eyes trailed after Mrs. Hayes as she exited the room.

“In all honesty, if I wasn’t into guys, I’d be all over your mom.” Beau confessed as soon as Colton’s mother was out of earshot.

Colton glared at Beau before tackling him onto the carpeted floor.

“What did you say about my mom?” Colton asked.

“You have to admit, she’s a babe.”

“I’m going to kill you,” Colton threatened, unable to keep a straight face.

Beau kissed Colton’s nose playfully and suddenly froze. Colton followed Beau’s gaze to find his mother standing at the door.



“Colton, can I speak to you?” His mother asked sternly.

Colton cheeks flushed red as he rearranged himself and followed his mother to the kitchen. Before making her way over to Colton, she picked up Ethan, his younger brother, from the feeding chair.

“Colton, is Beau more than just a friend?” His mother asked, uneasily.

Colton kept his eyes fixed on his white socks. He could feel the condescending gaze of not just his mother but of his 3-year-old brother as well.



His mother tried again, “Hunny, look up. I don’t care who you choose to like. I just want you to be happy. We all know how your father and I’s marriage turned out…”

Colton swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.

“I think I do,” Colton confessed.

His mother gave him a reassuring smile, “That’s perfectly fine Colton. You know it’s going to be tough…some people aren’t going to be as open.”

“I know.” Colton said as he looked at a drawing that was plastered onto the fridge.

“In no way am I telling you to hide who you are or how you feel. I just want you to be careful,” she finished.

Colton’s mother reached out to give him a one-armed hug with Ethan nestled in between them.

As Colton embraced his mom, he realized that his mom was correct. Suddenly, Colton’s mediocre life had been transformed to one plagued with secrecy.

I am so happy to say that I'm done school for the year! You know what that means...more chapters! Wooohoo. Sit tight kiddies, next one should be up soon.