Chantel was wondering whether she should grab a drink from the canteen or have the green smoothie she brought from home. Her thoughts were interrupted by Gia, "I think purple is my colour these days, what do you say?" The girl made a smooching sound as she reapplied her lipstick.

"You look retro," Chantel agreed with a nod.

"Hey," Peter tapped Chantel's shoulder, she turned. "Hi Pete."

"See ya," the brown girl waved and left as soon as she saw Peter.

The gypsy leaned on the lockers, "you got my text?"

"Yep," Chantel murmured. "You sure about it?"

He exhaled, "a thousand percent."

Peter had decided to leave the Order of the Dragon, because he had everything to lose and after Roman's little act back at the steel mill which lead to his arrest. Peter realised that it was not worth the risk anymore. And he was going to be a father very soon, he couldn't mess things up. But confronting Roman about it, was going to be a task.

Roman appeared as if in agreement. "Hey, sweetheart." He put an arm around Chantel.

"Hey," she smiled at him.

"We need to talk," Peter mentioned.

"We do." Nodded Roman.

They headed towards the school storage room, away from the eyes and ears of the other students. Roman lighted two cigarettes and handed one to Peter.

If smoking was a sport, he'd be the champ every single time. Chantel thought.

"I have a lead," Roman told them. "I think something's going on the White Tower. I don't know if it's connected or not but I can get us in."

Peter and Chantel just stared at him. Chantel knew what Peter had on mind and she really didn't know how Roman's going to react to it. Fingers crossed.

"What?" Roman looked at them confused.

"No." Replied Peter.

"What do you mean no?" Asked Roman taking a puff of the cigarette.

Peter took a puff and said, "it's over."

"What is he talking about?" Roman asked Chantel.

"This is over. We're done." Responded Peter.

Roman eyes trailed them. "You mean the cops? I got rid of them, what's the problem?" He took another puff of the cigarette. "Ok. Ok. It was stupid. It was really stupid. I'm an asshole. I'm sorry, ok?"

At least he's sorry about it.

"Come on. Think about what you're doing." Roman looked at Peter. "You can't walk away over a stupid thing like that. You can't walk away from this."

Chantel bite her lips in frustration, she just wanted this conversation to get over asap.

"Say something?" Roman looked at Chantel.

"You should go. There's no good for you here. You should get away from all this death...this town and your name. Make it all clean. I don't know...figure it out from there." Peter said inhaling the cigarette smoke deeply.

Roman threw away his cigarette irritably. "I bet you'd like that. I bet you'd find that very convenient, you gypsy piece of shit!"

"Rome," Chantel's mouth agape.

"You knew this all along didn't you," Roman moved towards her.

Chantel didn't respond, this was inevitable.

"All those secrets, all those deceptions." Roman said annoyingly, "you guys were planning this from the very start?"

"It's not what you think," she told him.

Roman grabbed her arm, "I don't like secrets."

"It's not her." Peter cut in. "It's me. I have my own shits to deal with," the boy admitted.

"What shits?" Roman asked him irritably.

Peter was silent, he just didn't know how to say it.

"What the fuck is going on with the two of you?" Roman's patience was at an end. "I'll fucking kill you, if you don't answer me now." He advanced towards Peter. The gypsy took a step back, clearly intimidated by Roman's behaviour.

"Stop!" Chantel said, "Pete's gonna be a father."

Roman's expression turned dark in a breath, "you fucked her?" He fumed at Peter.

Peter just froze there unable to move. Shee-it! What a twist. Roman's gonna kill Peter.

"No!" Chantel yelled. "It's Letha's."

Roman turned to her, confusion flooding his elegant features.

"Letha's pregnant with Pete's baby," Chantel spat out the truth.

Roman ran a hand over his face in utter disbelief. "And you knew it all along?"

"Rome it's not_" before she could even complete her sentence, Roman interrupted. "How could you do this to me?"

"I...I..." she didn't know what to say.

"Fuck! Fucking liars!" Roman cursed as he hurled a piece of furniture furiously.

Chantel nodded Peter towards the door. The gypsy left the room as quickly as possible.

"How could you choose that gypsy scum over me?" Roman looked at her, his expression heavy.

"Rome, it's not what you think." She put a hand on his forearm.

"I'll fucking kill him," he said poison dripping from his words.

"You're not going to do such a thing," she said perplexingly. To what extent Roman would go to extract revenge, she doubt even Roman knows.

"It'll always be you and me, Chantel, always." His sharp gaze caught hers, something flickering in those captivating eyes. "no one will ever come in between us."

Chantel felt suddenly that: the center of this boy's attention was a very bad place to be.

"I can't deal with this shit," she muttered as she left the room. But she couldn't shake the look she saw in Roman's eyes.

🏴🏴🏴

Letha had texted Peter and Chantel to meet her after Bio. They put their books back into their lockers and headed towards the empty classroom, down the hall where Letha was waiting for them munching chocolate Oreos. She'd brought a family size pack of Oreos. Chantel haven't acquired the taste of chocolates like most people, she wondered if she'd enjoy it if she ever gets pregnant. Because people get weird pregnancy cravings.

"The little man asks for chocolate flavoured Oreos so, he gets them." Letha chuckled as she took another bite of the Oreo.

"If he's a fan of chocolate, I'll bake him some chocolate chip cookies." Chantel suggested.

Letha put a hand on her belly, "he says okay."

Chantel chuckled as she took a seat next to the pregnant girl, "anything for the baby."

Peter pulled a chair and sat down. "So, what did the soon to be mama find out?"

"That adulthood is just like high school with mortgages." Letha said as she pulled out a piece of paper from her coat pocket and handed it to Peter.

"When did you learn about mortgages?" Peter asked her teasingly.

"Shut up," Letha let out a soft chuckle.

Peter's eyes scanned the paper for a good minute, then he said. "Shit! So your dad and Olivia were..."

"Doctor and patient." Noted Letha. "J.R really lost it."

Chantel had no idea that Olivia Godfrey visited Dr Norman too but she wasn't surprised, that Olivia needed therapy after losing a baby. Therapy helps. Now thinking about it, she might be needing Dr Norman help pretty soon.

"In other news," Letha nodded at Chantel, "that man you and Roman found on the road...stabbed himself on the brain last night."

"Sheet-it." Chantel pressed her lips. "That's tragic!"

He was acting like a lunatic the night they met him but she never thought, he'd stab himself to death.

Letha said out of the blue. "Roman seemed weird today."

"Yeah he's pissed at me." Peter crossed his arms.

"Why?" She asked curiously.

Peter scratched his head. "Because there's a giant shaped blind spot in the way that Roman sees things."

Peter was right, Roman sees things the way he want to see things.

"What happened Saturday night?" Letha looked at Peter. "We're you there when he was arrested?"

Peter leaned back. "Ha! Your mom using the sheriffs department as a timeout isn't the same thing as getting arrested."

Chantel giggled, that was funny.

"Were you there?" Letha blinked amused.

Chantel gave her a small nod.

"What are the things you guys are leaving out?" Letha cradled her belly, "you guys don't need to leave stuffs out just because I'm pregnant."

"You should focus on the baby, and nothing else." Peter gave her a little wink.

"I should sock you," Letha frowned.

Peter laughed, "ok."

Chantel got a ping on her phone. "I gotta go, Gia's waiting for me."

Peter handed her the note, "you should keep it."

Chantel asked. "What's this?"

"JR's note to Norman," Letha informed.

Chantel took the note and waved them goodbye as she walked out of the classroom. She read the note:

Norman. It's a funny thing how you can look at something a thousand times without really seeing it. This happened to me recently when I saw the word "gentleman" in print, and for whatever reason, for the first time...really saw it. Gentleman. I thought...that's my brother. A gentleman is my brother, Norman. She won't let that stand. She will bring out all the worst in you. By the time you realise it, it's too late...because she's already destroyed the best. I could see the look in your eye the last time we talked, but under the circumstances, I hope you will understand how seriously I mean this. Do not let her destroy you.
-JR

Roman had left school after their little quarrel, Chantel wasn't even surprised, he was Roman Godfrey after all and he do all kind of crazy things. Chantel caught upto Gia who was waiting for her outside the main double doors, the girls were heading to the saloon after school. At the school parking lot, a familiar figure caught her eyes. She stopped on her tracks. Was she seeings things?

"What happened?" Gia asked following Chantel's gaze. "Zach!" She sounded quite surprised. "What's he doing here?"

"You see him too?" Chantel asked hesitantly.

"Duh!" Gia nodded.

Zach Dearing, her ex-boyfriend was waiting for her leaning on Chantel's suv, a smile appeared on his face as he saw her.

"Go," Gia gave her a little push.

Chantel took a deep breath as she moved towards the car, Zach stood up straight and embraced her warmly. "How are you?" He asked.

"I'm great, Zac, what about you?" She asked surprised, this was the last place she thought she'd see him.

"Good to know," he gave her a small smile. "I'm actually here to see grams."

Chantel looked at him, "Oh."

Zach scratched the back of his neck, "that's not the point...the thing is, if you'd be free...I wanted to invite you over for dinner."

"Tonight?" She blinked surprised.

"Yeah," he said softly, "it's cool if you've other plans."

"I'd love to," she gave him a small smile.

"Really?" He beamed, "that's awesome, I'll pick you up?"

She let out a soft chuckle, "I'll drive there myself."

"Sure, anything," he nodded. "I'll see you then."

"Absolutely." She said as Zach gave her a cherry waved and walked towards his car which was an Audi Q2 in metallic silver.

At least she'd not have to think of Roman Godfrey and his violent, uncontrolled temper, which send him literally insane when he was annoyed, but he was good-looking.