Isabelle paced back and fourth, flattening a path in the carpet. Harper had been acting strangely the last few days, and today she'd hit a fever. The poor 4 year old. Isabelle had put her to bed, but she wasn't sure what more to do. Whenever Bailey got sick, she got better right away, never with a fever over 100. This was different. This was Harper. Special, science experiment Harper.

Not that she didn't love Bailey. She did. She also didn't worry that she'd have a weak immune system. But no one knew what would happen to Harper.

Isabelle stopped pacing and sighed. Harper had been quiet for a long time. Slowly, she walked into her baby's room. It was completely dark besides the light from the moon outside. The faint light cast dark shadows over everything in the room; the chair, the mirror, dresser, and the small bed where-

She ran over. Harper wasn't in the bed. Jerking her head to the window, Isabelle watched a light wind blow across the curtains and hurried over to the windowsill. Frantically looking around, she spotted a very familiar car parked along the road. It wasn't on, which meant they were either inside or weren't there yet.

A muffled scream from above caught Isabelle's attention. Quickly, she stood up on the windowsill and gripped the roof as best she could. An old shingle broke off in her hand, causing her to briefly lose balance, but she dropped it and readjusted her grip. Carefully, she pulled herself up, keeping an eye out for anyone. She scanned the roof until she found Harper, who was silently crying and holding her arm.

"Oh, sweetie!" Isabelle gasped, drawing Harper's attention. The girl immediately turned to her voice and shakily stood and waddled over. The two of them embraced with Isabelle softly comforting her crying child. Isabelle glanced up at the wide expanse of stars above them and only realized she'd stopped whispering to Harper when she felt her shift her gaze up as well.

"It's pretty," Harper said softly, pressing her head against Isabelle's chest.

"It is, isn't it?" Isabelle replied, gently stroking her baby's hair.

"... the man said that they'd be safe again."

Isabelle looked down at her daughter, "Who said that?"

"The man. Daddy."

Isabelle resisted cursing in front of her daughter, "Did daddy say why he was here?"

"He said he had to make the stars safe."

"Aren't you safe from the stars here?"

Harper shook her head, "They're scary. Pretty and scary. They take me away from you and Bailey."

Isabelle frowned, "And how would they do that?" She put the back of her hand against Harper's forehead. No fever.

"When I sleep. They take me away."

Isabelle's eyes widened. "Astral projection," she whispered, "Did you make any friends where they take you?"

Harper frowned, "People. They aren't friends. They're mean. They call me names. They hurt me."

Isabelle paused. Most of what Harper was saying was starting to make sense - Harper uses the stars to find Ashley and bring her back - but being mean... that didn't sound like Ashley. "How do they hurt you?"

"Sharp things. Shots. They yell at me."

"I'm sure they won't-" someone knocked on the front door. Quickly, Isabelle glanced back towards the road. Corin's car was still there. She sighed, "Let's go inside and give you a bandaid, ok?" Harper nodded, and the two of them made their way back inside as Corin relentlessly knocked on the door.

______________________

"Get away from me, pervert." Harper muttered as the bell rang, instinctively moving closer to Logan and kicking Jayden's chair away. It screeched as it slid across the floor, drawing lots of attention to Jayden.

Mr Davidson, who was collecting his science materials to get ready for his math class, looked up and shook his head in disappointment, "Jayden Wolbrink, that's the 4th time in a row you've slid your chair across the floor after class. Detention." He went back down to his papers.

"But I didn't do anything!" Jayden protested, glaring at Harper for a moment before grinning.

"Mr Davidson!" A girl, Megan, spoke up, "It wasn't Jayden's fault this time! Harper kicked his chair!"

Mr Davidson sighed and looked at Megan, resting his elbows on his desk, "Megan, Harper is a good student. She does well in this class. Jayden, evidently, does not." That gained a few snickers around the classroom, though Evie just looked more "in love," or however else you may describe a hopeless romantic, "If you were in my situation, who would you believe."

"It's true, Mr Davidson!" another girl, Maya, agreed, "Harper kicked the chair!"

Another sigh from Mr Davidson, "Do I look like a fool to you? Have you seen Harper? I doubt she could slightly move the chair at all, much less push it that far. Physics." He shrugged, "Besides, it's Jayden's chair, is it not? His chair moved, he gets detention. End of discussion. Now, some of you need to hurry off to your next class. Go!"

As students stood to leave, Harper sighed in relief. Logan leaned over an whispered, "Did he not see you kick the chair away?"

Harper grinned, "Well, he already embarrassed you in front of the science class, so I guess it's safe for you to come with me to thank him."

"For not getting you in trouble?"

"For putting Jayden in detention." She stood and motioned for him to follow.

"Hey, Mr Davidson!" She exclaimed as she reached his desk, helping him gather his papers, "Thanks for... well, that."

Mr Davidson chuckled and took the papers out of Harper's hands, "He deserves it. Creep." He chuckled again before clearing his throat,

"Anyways, I talked to the principal and counselor. Neither of them believe me, or you, for that matter. Mrs Hollen is convinced that, if Jayden were really... well, being a creep, more people would've come to talk with her. And Dr Kolas believes that this issue would be brought up by the other teachers if anyone noticed it. So, unless you can get the other victims to admit to what happened, I don't think the issue will be addressed. Sorry, Harper."

"It's alright. Thank you for trying."

"Wait, you told him?" Logan asked.

Mr Davidson smiled, "Ah, the visitor! How'd you like introducing yourself?"

Logan's face flushed, "Um... well, you definitely make people feel awkward."

"That's the point," he laughed, "And Miss Harper isn't the first one to bring this up. Many girls have come to me about this in the last two years. It's gotten worse since summer, though."

"And no one believes you?"

Mr Davidson shook his head, "I guess the school board thinks our town is too small to have a pervert. Hopefully we can solve this issue before it becomes Jayden's lifestyle."

Harper shuddered as the bell rang again, "Let's hope. Thank you again."

Mr Davidson nodded and smiled, "If things get worse come and tell me, ok?"

"I will."

They walked back to their seats. Luckily, Mr Davidson had quite quickly picked up on Jayden's... issue... and had moved him across the room during this class, but he wasn't allowed to change the seating chart until Christmas for science. School rules. For some reason.

"Why don't you just talk to the counselor?" Logan asked.

Harper laughed, "You can't even call her a counselor. She just tells you to 'suck it up' or to 'go to a doctor if it's that bad'. It's no surprise nobody goes to her with their problems. I'd talk to Mr Davidson over her any day."

Logan shook his head, "This school is insane."

"Just like all of us. Shh, class is starting."

I did it!! I'm a few days too late, but I did it!! Sorry for the mostly filler, but I kind of wanted to expand on Harper and Mr Davidson's relationship. Idk why, it just made me happy, so I did it.

Jayden finally kind of got what he deserved!!! He definitely deserves worse, but what else can a single science teacher do? Ah well. At least he got detention.

Are you more like Evie (hopeless romantic) or Harper (not interested in relationship at all)? I think I'm more like Harper, but I'm honestly not sure. I've only had a crush on one person in my life, but I often think about what it would be like to be in a relationship (not with a specific person. Just a relationship in general)

Well, I think that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see y'all later! Bye!!