"Sydney McCall", the guidance counsellor, Miss. Monroe, mumbled as she read over my records, her eyes trailing down the page.

I nervously played with the strings of my hoodie, waiting for her to finish. I was dreading what she was going to say to me, terrified that she would tell me there was no way college was on the table.

She finally looked up at me with a small smile, "What are you plans after high school?"

I hated that questioned. It was something that I had thought about, obviously, but I still felt like there was so much time before then.

I shrugged, pulling my hands back into my lap, "College...I hope"

Miss Monroe nodded as she glanced back down to the paper for a moment, "What are you hoping to take?"

"I think I want to go into the medical field." I could almost feel myself cringe as the words left my mouth. I was embarrassed, thinking that it was some pointless goal that I would never be able to achieve.

A warm smile spread across her face as she folded her hands on top of her desk, "I think that's a very attainable goal for you, Sydney. This year won't be easy, and I've noticed that your grades began to fall at the end of last year, so you will need to work hard. And, remember that I'm here to talk. I know times can be tough, but that's what I'm here for."

I gave her a tight smile, a sense of discomfort washing over me. There was something about Miss Monroe that wasn't sitting right with me, "Thank you," I muttered, reaching for my bag.

"Anything you need to talk about, I mean anything." Her voice was lower now, and I had a feeling she was eluding to more than just my classes.

I threw the strap of my bag over my shoulder, giving a small nod, "I'll keep that in mind."

As I exited her office, making my way to my first period class, I couldn't shake a feeling. I wasn't entirely sure what the feeling was, but I knew it wasn't good.

---

Twenty minutes into first period math and my mind was already elsewhere. I couldn't help but think about the fact that Scott would be gone when I got home that night. For the first time in my life my big brother wouldn't be there after my first day of school.

I was so distracted that I barely noticed the occurrence that was seconds away from happening. It was the screaming that tore me from my thoughts, and within seconds I was in panic mode. Crawling at my feet were at least 50 rats, and more were coming from the air vents.

My screams meshed with the others as I pulled my feet up, rushing to stand atop the desk. Everyone was screaming, the teacher scrambling to get to high grounds.

Now, if it wasn't obvious, I was terrified of rats. I could do Ghost Riders, Werewolves, Berserkers and every supernatural being in between, but I could not do rats and spiders.

I clamped my eyes shut, trying to convince myself to be brave and do something. We couldn't all just stand here screaming without doing something about it.

Lucky for me, my knight in shining armour arrived, saving me from having to step foot on the ground when those things were crawling all over.

"Liam!" I yelled, never so relieved to see his face. My boyfriend looked at me in confusion, he and Mason both in shock.

"Where did they come from?" Liam questioned, stepping over the rats so he was standing in front of my desk.

"The vent," I answered, nodding to where they had scurried out of. I let out a shaky breath as Liam turned around, allowing me to jump onto his back without saying a word. It was times like this that I loved him a little extra

"Get me out of here." I demanded, tightening my grip on him, "Please."

---

The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully, but I could not get the rats off my mind. I felt like every time I turned a corner they were going to come rushing toward me. So, you can guess how excited I was to hear that we were going to track down where they came from.

I contemplated telling Liam and Mason that I had homework to do and couldn't join them, but Liam would be able to tell I was lying, and by the way his big eyes looked at me, I couldn't say no.

"If one rat- and I mean one rat touches me, so help me God, Liam Dunbar I will lose it." I threatened as the three of us made our way through the tunnels. I was practically glued to Liam's side, ready to jump the minute one of those little devils came into view.

Mason stifled a laugh as Liam took a hold of my hand, "Come on Syd, they're just rats. Why are you so freaked out."

I didn't have to answer his incredibly dumb question (why wouldn't I be freaked out, I mean come on), because Mason answered for me.

"It's not as irrational as you'd think. There's actually an evolutionary advantage of having an innate fear of spiders, snakes and rats."

I let out a small laugh before gesturing toward Mason, "Thank you!" I exclaimed, sticking my tongue out at my Liam.

Liam just rolled his eyes as he looked back over at Mason, "How do you know they came from here?" he asked, instantly changing the subject.

Mason shone his light further down the tunnel, "Well they came from the vents, and those pipes lead directly down here..." he trailed off as we entered an opening in the tunnels. The minute we stepped in there, a rancid smell hit my nostrils. I pulled my sleeve over my hand, bringing it up to cover my nose.

"What is that?" Liam questioned, shining his light toward something in front of us.

We all took a few steps closer, trying to get a closer look, and once we did I realized where the smell was coming from. A gag escaped my lips as I spun around, taking large steps to distance myself from whatever that was.

"What the hell!" I shrieked, the image of bloodied rats still stuck in my head.

Mason let out a breath, "That is a rat king". He was referring to the huge pile of dead rats all tangled together that was sitting a few feet in front of us.

"I'm leaving!" I announced, already marching back down the tunnel.

Liam let out a groan as he ran after me, "Syd, come on, just wait! We should call Malia and see what she thinks."

I didn't stop walking, "Good idea, I'll call her and wait for her outside."

"Can't you just stand away from them, they're not going to bite." he teased, cracking a small smile.

I scoffed as I stopped walking, "You're right Liam, they won't. But I would rather not contract the bubonic plague, so I will wait for you outside." I replied, cracking a grin as his face fell.

"You think they have the plague?" He called as I made my way out, I could hear the worry in his voice.

A small smile spread across my face. No matter what situation we were in, that idiot could always make me laugh and I loved him more and more everyday.

---

Malia had come, and left within a matter of minutes, claiming she had a plane to catch, even though we all knew it had been delayed. Liam had said that all Malia could tell them was that the rats were scared, and according to Liam, so were the ones in the math class.

So, for reasons I can't really explain, Liam and Mason had decided to pick up one of the rats, and bring it back to the car with them.

"What the hell are you doing!" I yelled as they entered the vehicle, Liam cringing as he held the held the rat by the tail.

Mason started the car, turning back to look at me, "Pass me that box." he ordered, nodding toward a take out box sitting in the back seat. I gave him a look before grabbing the box and slowly handing it to him.

"Drop it." he said to Liam, causing him to let out a sigh of relief as he let go of the tail, causing the carcass to fall into the box.

I pushed myself further into the seat, trying to distance myself from the rat, "Looks like I'm never eating take out again." I muttered, my eyes locking on the box in Liam's lap.

Both the boys ignored me, instead they decided to tell me what our plan was. "We're taking this to your mom." Liam told me, turning to look at me.

"Aw," I cooed, "She'll love that, she's always wanted a dead rat."

Mason let out a chuckle as Liam rolled his eyes, "We just want her to take a look at it."

"Okay then." I nodded, leaning up against the window. I had a feeling my mother would be less than thrilled to have a bloodied, dead rat delivered to her...but what did I know.

---

Turns out I was right.

"Mom!" I called, pulling her attention away from the paperwork she was filling out. The emergency room was full, apparently due to a ten car pile up on the interstate. We weaved our way through the crowd, arriving in front of my mother.

"You brought me dinner?" she said in awe, a smile coming to her face.

I winced as Mason shook his head, "Not dinner." he corrected. I watched as my mom looked into the bag, he face immediately dropping. "Definitely not dinner." she muttered.

"We were hoping that you could take a look at it for us" Liam asked nervously, his eyes studying my mom's face.

She took a step away from the bag, shooting all three of us a look, "I was hoping that someone would bring me dinner." she grumbled, looking directly at me, "Now is not the time for a rat autopsy, so get this," she said, handing the bag back to Mason, "And yourselves out of here."

"But mom-"

She held up a finger, cutting me off, "Out." she whispered, motioning to the door.

I looked to the two boys in defeat, all three of us giving up. When Mama McCall said no, she meant no.

"Alright, alright." Liam muttered, putting his hands up in surrender, "Let's go guys."

I gave my mom a quick kiss on the cheek before joining the boys back by the elevators, "Well, " I started, clapping my hands together, "Told you she would love it."