"What are you doing here, C?" Maverick says, quickly jumping away from me.

"I followed you here!" Bundty yells back, stomping through the doorway. "What the?!" Soon, she's tripping her way into the living room, suddenly aware of the disaster around her.

"Damn you crazy! Following me like that!" Maverick says defensively.

"I know about your little side piece! Is this some kind of weird SNM thing!" Bundty yells, looking around at the slashes everywhere. "Is that why you're hooking up with this psycho?!"

"DA HELL?" Another familiar voice emerges from the doorway. This time, it's Jaxson's.

Jaxson's eyes dart between Jin holding Maverick and me squirming uncomfortably beside us. Soon, Rina appears, stopping dead in her tracks at the sight of Jin cradling me in his arms.

"Vel, what's going on?" Jaxson begins, stepping over all the crap and shoving Bundty out of his way. "Why the hell are Maverick and Cece here?"

Jaxson walks over and takes me from Jin's arm to sit me down on the couch, then turns to shoot Jin and Maverick the back-off look.

"YEAH Vel," Buntdy demands, crossing her arms. "Care to share why MY boyfriend is here?"

Why is this my life? Can I just rewind, get my kiss before my whole world goes to shit? Can this get any worse?

"It's cloudy, I can't see the stars," a lyrical voice announces as footsteps squeak down the stairs, "We shall need..." Malcolm's words drop off as he, in all his purple velvet glory, makes his way into the living room.

Now it's worse. I forgot about my weird freaking dad, you know, the one who cursed me.

"Who are you?" Jaxson asks, looking over to Rina and Jin for an answer.

"Jin?" Rina says, her face becoming more and more concerned.

"I am Master Malcolm McMurvin," Malcolm says, tugging on his jacket to smooth it out, obviously annoyed that yet another person doesn't recognize him.

"Is that purple velvet?" Bundty's shrill voice laughs, walking over to flick at Malcolm's jacket.

Malcolm slicks his hair back with his hand as he struts past Bundty. I shoot my eyes over to Jin, who looks helpless, obviously at a loss for words just like me.

"Ms. Shamrock, maybe it's not the best time to have guests," Malcolm says with raised eyebrows.

"I'm not a guest, I'm her nephew, who the hell are you?!" Jaxson demands as I watch the wheels turning in his brain.

"Master Malcolm McMurvin. Spiritual adviser and astrology extraordinaire."

Jaxson throws his hands up in irritation. "Vel, what the hell?"

Oh, just your grandpa. No big deal. "He's just Malcolm. Jin's family friend."

"No, he's not," Rina says.

God Rina, shut up.

"Jaxson, I'll explain later," I say discreetly.

"No, Vel, explain NOW! You are supposed to be in a hospital! Not here with Maverick, Cece, Jin, and some random old man."

"This is totally an SnM thing. I knew it!" Cece says, running her hands along the gashes in the walls. "Always knew these people were freaks."

"Whoa! I'm not into any weird shit like that! Vel is the one who invited me after she sent me a tit photo! I didn't sign up to get beat or whatever they do."

If I weren't already a billion degrees, I would have caught on fire from embarrassment as all the judgy eyes in the room dart over to me.

"You sent him a nude?!" Jaxson yells.

"What?" Jin says, looking pissed.

Crap. I think I forgot to mention the whole selfie thing to Jin.

Maverick only winks at Jin, making things worse.

"Homewrecker!" Bundty yells, adding to the growing tension.

I mean, she's not wrong—I do literally wreck homes.

"I'm not surprised given we are nearing a full moon that the pull towards sexual desires would override judgment, especially in teenagers," Malcolm chimes in, rubbing his chin in thought, seemingly unbothered by the cringe-worthy scene unfolding.

"Really?!" I yell at Malcolm, who turns to analyze the stars carved into the walls.

"I'm gonna kill him," Jaxson demands, turning towards Maverick.

"No, Vel's my girlfriend, I get to kill him!" Jin yells back, shoving Jaxson aside.

Holy shit. I'm his girlfriend. I mean, I would have liked a formal request, but I'll take it.

"WHAT?!" Rina, Maverick, and Jaxson all seem to yell at the same time as Bundty lets out a dumb, screeching laugh.

"If she's your girlfriend, then why I got her nudes on my phone?" Maverick says, puffing up his chest in the typical douchbagey way.

"Oh my God, I did NOT send a nude!" I yell over the madness. "It was just a very suggestive selfie..."

"I knew it! You are a total homewrecker!" Bundty yells.

"See, your girl wants me, bro," Maverick says as Rina blocks Jin before he can hurl a punch at Maverick.

So, when I thought this day couldn't get any worse, I spoke too soon.

"In your dreams, BRO. She only did it to have something to piss off Cece so they'd fight and get suspended. Vel does NOT want you."

"You bitch!" Cece yells, her mouth dropping. "You got me suspended on purpose!"

"You didn't really wanna..." Maverick words drop off as a look of stupidity moves across his face.

"Vel, why would you purposely get suspended?" Jaxson demands, dropping his hands from their clenched fists.

"Yes, please explain why you'd want to ruin my life!" Bundty adds.

"I uhh..." How do I even begin?

"She just couldn't be at school, that's why!" Jin says, coming to my defense.

"I'm not asking you. I'm asking Vel." Jaxson says, shoving past Jin to kneel beside me. "Vel?"

Here it is, the moment all my lies catch up with me. Maybe, it's time to stop lying and tell the truth.

"We don't have time for this, Vel!" Jin demands, running over to Malcolm. "Do you know what we need to do!"

"It's hard to focus with all this weird energy," Malcolm says, still rubbing his hands along the walls.

"Seriously? Who da hell is this guy?" Jaxson demands.

"He's my dad. And he's here because I need his help, or I'm going to die."

*Thanks for reading. Don't forget to vote. Thanks.