"Okay, so let me do most of the talking," Carsyn announced. She, Evan, Six and Tate had reached the closed door of the Geography classroom on the second floor.

"How about you and Evan do most of the talking?" Six meekly suggested.

"Yeah, with Eva's budding persuasive charms, and your assertive charisma, Charlie won't even dream of saying no," Tate agreed.

"What? Are you guys saying I'm not persuasive?" Carsyn questioned.

"We're saying that sometimes your 'persuasiveness' comes off as more of an 'in-your-face demand," Tate mockingly replied.

Carsyn stalked closer to Tate, her pace unhurried and threatening as she glared at him, but Evan swiftly intervened, taking hold of Carsyn's shoulders.

"Hey, remember two years back, Mrs. Ramah's class? You and I partnered up for a persuasive presentation on why 'boxed water' was better for the environment," she told Carsyn.

"...yeah. We got an A," Carsyn said, her vexation easing beneath Evan's clutch.

"The best grade in the class for that project," Evan agreed. "Now it's finally time for the two of us to make a comeback. You know what Mrs. Ramah always said."

Carsyn rolled her eyes, but a reluctant smile crept onto her lips. "Teamwork produces the best results, yeah yeah. Fine — you and me — let's do this."

Carsyn led the charge as she thrusted the door open, striding defiantly into the classroom. No one else was inside the room except for six individuals all sitting together. Five of six heads seated at the largest round table at the center of the room, swiveled to the doorway in irritated shock. The sixth head hadn't realized what was going on, his eyes never leaving the pages of his textbook.

"Excuse me," called a girl at the round table with perky brown curls. "This room is reserved. No one else can come inside. You have to leave."

Carsyn ignored her, instead sparing a quick examination of the five other heads seated. "Charlie," she said, spotting him perched in the chair next to the curly haired girl, all his attention seemingly on his textbook.

Finally Charlie lifted his gaze. "Huh? Oh...it's you guys. What are you-"

"We need to talk," Evan cut in. "Just you and us."

"Which means the rest of you smarty-pants need to step out for a while," Tate advised.

"You can wait right outside the classroom and come back in when we're done. We'll try not to take long," Six backed.

"Excuse you," complained a boy at the table, his head shaved into a buzz. "How dare you barge in here and then try to toss us out during our scheduled time, you...you miscreant! I hear what people say about your little posse, but in all honesty, I don't think any of you are that tough without your ruffian of a leader nearby-"

Slam!

The sound echoed throughout the room; Carsyn slamming her hand down against the smooth metal top of the round table. The six bodies seated recoiled in their seats as if they'd actually been struck. And they shuddered where they sat, too unnerved to move, vigilantly watching the illegible Carsyn's illegible look, which soon molded into a death-dealing glare that stared at five of the six table heads. "Except for Charlie, all of you, go and wait outside the room till we're done."

For a moment, the table heads remained horridly still, only awkwardly glancing at each other in hopes that one of them was brave enough to refuse the demand. Finally, the boy with the buzzed head had enough of the suspense, hastily gathering his books suddenly before scurrying out of the room. By then the four others had also pulled themselves together as well as their own books, and fled the room all in mere seconds.

Tate grinned as they had all taken off, gently shutting the door afterwards. Carsyn stole the seat closest to her, one that was also directly across from Charlie. Evan went and took a seat that was beside Charlie, while Six sat on his other side. And Tate remained stationed by the door, on lookout for any possible interferences.

Charlie anxiously scanned his surroundings, seemingly searching for a possible way he could make a hasty retreat if things went south. "W-what's going on? Did I do something-"

"No no, you didn't do anything, Charlie," Evan generously chimed in. "But you will, when the time comes."

"What?" Charlie nervously demanded.

"Here's the deal," Carsyn started. "That green notebook of yours, we know what's in it. We know what you've been writing in there."

Charlie was silent for a moment, but almost instantly broke out into a nervous giggle. "W-what? Y-you mean my Science notebook? What about it?"

"Save it," Carsyn said. "Six saw for herself what was really inside it, back in the auditorium. Now listen, you're going to give us that notebook, and then you're going to Principal Heimes to tell her all about it — the dealings going on at school; Nick's hand in the conniving venture, and how he recruited you to start doing some of his dirty work. Oh, you're also gonna have to tell her that Nick's responsible for the notebook, and used you to keep score of everyone that bought from him."

"W-what! I have no idea what you guys are talking about, but why would I do that? Why would anyone do that?"

Evan reached her arm over to gently squeeze Charlie's shoulder, the action startling him. "This isn't about anyone. Charlie, you've literally got everything to lose if you keep this up. Eventually this whole secret v-dust operation going on at school, is gonna blow up and sink fast. Secret's have a way of coming out, and it'd be better for you to control the narrative while you still can. Nick will just throw you under the bus anyways."

"Wh-why would he do that?"

"I don't know if you've noticed, Charlie," Tate said, his back idle against the wall, "but Nick Pierce is pretty much the embodiment of condescension and treachery."

"No, I haven't noticed. Why are you guys so against him? Nick's seems like a nice guy," Charlie replied.

"I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that, and just tell you that Nick Pierce, is a two-faced rat," Carsyn state through clenched teeth.

"...what did he do to you guys to make you hate him so much?"

"It's not our place to get into detail," Evan started, "but I'll just say that Nick tried to suck one of our friends down his black-hole of v-dust, and left another friend emotionally distraught. We aren't letting any of that go, so we're taking him down in probably the best way possible. Charlie," Evan reached out both her hands, sliding them over to Charlie's and giving them a light squeeze, the action startling him again. "We're not judging here. Anyone in the business of drugs has their own reasons — good or bad. We were hoping maybe you could tell us yours. We of course, would never say a word to anyone outside of our group."

Charlie inhaled and exhaled, awkwardly returning the squeeze to Evan's hands, as it took a few tries for words to escape him.

"I just did what people like me do when they're desperate," he finally managed to say.

"People like you?" Six asked.

Charlie sighed, "I'm the polar opposite of people like Nick Pierce, or Ziro Acera. I don't have the money to get whatever I want. My parents don't have the money to give me whatever I want."

"Is that why you joined up with Nick?" Carsyn questioned. "Seriously? Why not just get a normal minimum wage job like any other teenager?" Across the table, Evan shot her an accusatory glare, but Carsyn rolled her eyes in response.

"I had a job..." Charlie said. "A normal one...but I got fired because I couldn't keep the pace with everyone else. I tried looking for another one, but no one else is hiring in town and other places they say I don't have enough experience. But one day...I saw Nick dealing with someone in the boys washroom. I didn't want anything to do with the drug world or whatever, but I had no choice. I had to start saving what I could..."

"Saving for what?" Evan asked.

"...Nauvest..."

"Nah what?" Carsyn questioned, at the same time Six said, "pardon?"

"Nauvest," Tate answered instead. "That huge, fancy university all the way in Ontario?" Charlie gave a timid nod. "So you're doing this to save up for a school across the country?"

"Oh, but Charlie," Six jumped in. "You know there's student funding available to apply for, even for students planning to study in different provinces."

"Yes, I've looked it up, but it's not enough...not enough for me to live there on my own. And I want to live there on my own. I've never even been on a plane let alone another province. And Nauvest...It's basically my dream school. If I don't try whatever I can to move there by the fall, I'm afraid I'll never leave Vancouver. But then..."

"But what?" Evan softly questioned.

"Yesterday...my friends told me about this scholarship, a full ride to Nauvest, actually. All it takes is an eighty-five in the majority of your classes in your last two years of high school."

"Charlie, that's great!" Six cheered. "You're already one of the top students at school, getting amazing grades and all. So you're a shoe in!"

Colour flood Charlie's cheeks at the praise, and he slinked one of his hands out of Evan's clutches so he could try to wipe away the redness.

"But wait," Carsyn said tersely. "If you get the scholarship, which I have to admit is likely, then you don't even need to work for Nick. Even with the scholarship you could still apply for some student funding."

"Yeah...which is why I've spent the better part of last night thinking of how I was going to tell Nick that I wanted out, before it got to be too late to ever do that."

"You were already planning to stop working for him?" Six asked in a relieved tone.

"I was going to attempt to dig myself out of a hole before it got too deep, yes. But then you guys brought up this...plan? Which I have to say, no offense, makes absolutely no sense."

Carsyn leaned forward, her forearms crossed over each other on the table. "That's because you haven't heard the whole deal yet. In exchange for your testimony and giving us the notebook, Ziro promised all he could to protect you from Nick — in and out of a courtroom if it comes to it."

"W-what? Really? Why would he do that for me — for anyone that wasn't part of your group?"

"Come on, Charlie. What do you take us for?" Tate quipped.

"Just because we keep to our own doesn't mean we're cold to everyone else," Six added.

"Charlie," Evan chuckled. "Ziro's really not the guy you must've thought he was. He knows this is a lot to ask of you. He knows what you're risking if you do this for us, for our friends."

It was another quick breath in and out before Charlie spoke again. "S-so...about the notebook, it was Nick's idea but I wrote out the whole thing. Won't that get in me in a lot of trouble, school-wise, I mean."

"Re-lax, Charlie," Carsyn said. "Much of the accountability usually goes to whoever's 'idea' it was in situations like this, and you were clearly a pawn in Nick's scheme. That's what you'll tell Principal Heimes. Besides, you're one of the top students at Somber Ridge, right? It's your first major fuck-up so I doubt you'll get that harsh of a punishment. Even if you get a little suspension time, colleges and universities can be understanding, maybe even overlook that as long as you tell the truth. Trust me. Trust us."

By now Charlie had pulled away from Evan, still nervously rubbing at his cheeks. His anxious glance went around the table, even sparing one over at Tate by the door, before quickly shifting to his lap. He inhaled again, exhaling much slower than before.

"...O-okay..." he whispered.

"Okay? You'll do it?" Evan asked. Charlie nodded his agreement, and flinched when Evan leaned in for a quick and unyielding hug. "Thank you, Charlie. Seriously."

"N-no problem, I guess...So, when should I go to Principal Heimes to tell her everything? Now?"

"Actually no," Evan said. "After school. Text when you're about to go do it. Six, give it to him."

Six stood and tugged her bag over to her side before unzipping a small pocket and pulling out a smaller, folded piece of lavender sticky-note paper that had a number on it. She slid it halfway across the table towards Charlie.

"After you've sent the text, delete it and get rid of that paper," Evan continued. "And now we'll take the notebook."

"Oh...oh yeah, hold on a second." Charlie grabbed his backpack from under the table and hauled it onto his lap. He unzipped it and pulled out his green notebook. "Don't I, um, need to show this to Principal Heimes too?"

"She'll see it, but first she's going to find it somewhere else. Don't worry about that, Charlie," Evan assured. "And try steering clear of Nick for the time being."

As soon as the notebook was in Evan's hands, Carsyn pushed off the table and stood to stretch out her limbs a bit. She glanced back at Charlie, her expression lackluster as she said, "if you wanted, you could also try working at this café place down in Moonhaven, if you still thought you would need the cash. It's called Halcyon. Things aren't as fast paced there as one might think, and you can totally make your own schedule."

"W-woah, really? Moonhaven's that town west of the city, right? Alright, I think I'll check it out. Halcyon it was called, right? Do you go there often?"

"From time to time," Carsyn chaffed. "I heard one of the owners is a little odd though, but the other one is so beautiful that you won't notice that other oddball. Let's go already guys, I'm getting hungry."

When Tate twisted the door open, the four were met with five semi-stern glares and crossed arms. There was some hesitation and weariness emitting from too them, their vexed gazes directed right at Carsyn, who's expression was still nonchalant.

Tate grinned back at the five as he led the way out of the classroom. "It's all yours. Enjoy studying the world!"

The five heads reluctantly cleared a path for the four, but continued to glare even as they sauntered down the hall.

"Hey, what was that back there?" Evan asked as she nudged Carsyn's elbow.

"Yeah," Tate agreed, "you went from severe and demanding, to benign and considerate."

"It was really kind of you to offer Charlie a job at Halcyon," Six added, "but it was also really unexpecting. Where did all that come from?"

With a proud grin Carsyn strutted ahead of the three. "Almost seven years and still you guys underestimate me. Sure you've got a knack for persuasion, Eva, but at the end of the day I bring it all home. Now can we hurry, I really am hungry."