On the way to school that day Alisa informed Avery that she had a gala this weekend and an NFL game, on top of this Alisa declared she must begin media training which i mistakingly laughed at prompting Alisa to inform me that I must as well. 

When we arrive at school I wait for Avery while she catches up with me until I see Thea approaching her. I take this as an opportunity to ditch Avery and make my way anywhere else. I don't know Thea well enough to dislike her but something sort of seems off about her.

There is still around 15 minutes before school begins so I have quite some time to kill. I approach a science lab and make my way inside, hoping Xander will be there to offer some entertainment.

When I arrive in the classroom i find it completely empty and decide to just roll with it. I take a seat on the table and remove my phone from my pocket. I haven't seen the media since yesterday when Danny's interview went viral. 

2534 Instagram notifications

11 messages

3 missed calls 

Since news came out about Avery's inheritance I've had people I thought were my friends dm me subtly asking me to hook them up with money. I don't think I have one friend from home anymore. 

I check the messages; two from Avery last night telling me to get up, four from Danny telling me that i would be nobody without him and all that bullshit, four from Jay trying to beg for my forgiveness and finally the one that i really payed attention to.

Someone claims to be my Mother and says 'I'm still here Riley you just need to look further and you'll find me' my hands shake a little as i process the words. I hear the door tO the class creak but my eyes are locked to the tiny screen in front of me.

"Paris? What're you doin' in here?" Xander asks in a bubbly voice. I don't respond. "You alright?" He asks a little more somber this time. He walks towards me and looks down at my phone and frowning.

He slides himself on top of the table next to me which proved to be a lot more of a challenge for me considering how tall he is. "I got one like that when i was little" he says. I turn my head at this and look at him with shiny eyes.

"Yeah, almost believed it, told me he was my dad and I had to meet him in a parking lot. I packed a bag and everything but thankfully Gray caught me and explained that it was not in fact my dad" he laughs reminiscently. I laugh as well thinking about a much younger Xander Hawthorne and Grayson Hawthorne having a talk about online safety's. 

He gently slips the phone from my hand and deletes the text chain before it can progress. "Danny, thats the guy who cheated on you right?" He reads my recent texts. "Not so much guy as 'incurable disease'" I smile. He types something on his contact name and passes it back to me. My jaw drops open when I see what he wrote, I burst out laughing and he starts typing a lot more with a grin. 

When I receive my phone back from him I see a couple other contact names have been changed. I smirk when I see Jameson has been changed to 'Raging alcoholic' and Xander's is 'Hottie'. He also added the numbers of Nash and Grayson. Nash is 'Woody' which makes my eyes brows scrunch together for a moment before I realise its referring to toy story. Grayson's is 'James Bond'. Likely because of the constant suits.

 "Your my favourite Hawthorne" I wink with a joking grin. "I'm everyone's favourite" he says in a mock-vain way. I laugh and stand up noticing the time, as I'm almost at the door Xander says "I'm team Jamis".

"What?" I ask in a tone that accurately expresses my confusion. "Jameson and Paris" he justifies. "What are you on about?" I laugh, "did a vampire bite you or something?" He teases exposing his neck gesturing to mine knowing exactly what is beneath the bandage. I walk out of the class shaking my head with a grin.

Later that night Avery decided to enjoy a fancy dinner with the Hawthorne's in honour of Thea who was apparently visiting for the night. I am bunched next to Xander and Avery. We are enjoying roast beef made by Mrs Laughin with mash and asparagus.

"Thea," Zara says with a forced elegant voice, "how is field hockey?" She asks. "We're undefeated this season." Thea replies quickly before turning to Avery, "Have you decided which sport you'll be playing, Avery?" She asks.

I smile and look down at my food to hide it, the thought of Avery Kylie Grambs playing sports "I don't do sports." She replies with a polite smile.

"Everyone at Country Day does a sport," Xander informs us, he stuffs a large amount of food inside his mouth before rolling his eyes bag with satisfaction. "It is an actual, real requirement and not a figment of Thea's delightfully vindictive imagination." Xander says. 

"Xander," Nash warns from across the table. "I said she was delightfully vindictive," Xander defends innocently. "If I were a boy, people would just call me driven." Thea replies. "Thea." Constantine warns her.

"Right." Thea smiles wiping her face delicately with a napkin. "No feminism at the dinner table." Avery lets out a snort and i somehow manage to conceal one with a gentle cough.
"A toast," Skye declares out of absolutely nowhere, holding up her glass of wine andslurring every word which clarifies she had been drinking well before dinner."Skye, dear," Nan says firmly, "have you considered sleeping it off?

"A toast" Skye insists. "To Avery." She slurs. I frown slightly at her state, the four brothers being raised by this state. She says nothing else, Zara raises her glass and one by one every other glass at the table goes up, even Grayson's which I'm slightly surprised to see. 

"To you, Heiress," Jameson murmurs from two seats along from me, next to Avery. I see Avery glance at him and yet again I feel that stab of jealousy that I can't seem to control but always seems to happen when they have a little cutesy moment.

"To Emily," Thea adds suddenly, her eyes cruelly rested on Jameson. "May she rest in peace."
Jameson's glass is quickly lowered, his chair is pushed roughly back from the table and I watch him walk out, desperately wanting to follow every nerve in my body pulling me to follow him. I notice Grayson's fingers tighten around the stem of his glass. 

"Theadora" Constantine says sternly in a warning tone. "What?" Thea asks innocently.
I wait a few moments my thoughts arguing loudly to determine if I should follow him. I finally decide to excuse myself and hunt him down however right as my mouth begins to open Avery beats me. She excuses herself and leaves hurriedly. 
She won this time.

Once Avery was gone Grayson made his escape shortly after. I decide to make my own way out despite having already missed my opportunity to talk to Jameson alone. Once I leave the dining room I witness Grayson and Avery conversing, Jameson nowhere in sight. I slip passed them thinking I may still have a chance of finding him, I go to the place I know he'll be.

In the black wood i scan my eyes around every tree until i find him standing in front of one tree. He doesn't move, almost as if he's too numb to move. That is until not even a second later i watch him swing his fist at the tree over and over again as if the tree is his worst enemy. 

I run towards the far away tree yelling his name, it's as if he can't hear me as he keeps punching. I reach him "Jameson" he keeps punching "Jamie" I say more firmly and this makes him stop. 

I look at his bloody knuckles and grimace, "You put up a good fight but I think the tree won this round" I sigh sarcastically. His eyes meet mine, expressionless. He looks down at his hands and grins "Nah I think I took quite a toll on him" he plays along. Avery joins us moments later. 

"What happened to your hands" she asks. "He got in a fight with a pretty nasty guy but I'd say he won" I reply with a smile, Jamie lets out a small puff of air with a smirk trying not to fully laugh. Avery doesn't even ask any further questions.

We start searching through the wood and have no luck so far. "What are we even looking for?" Avery asks. "Your guess is as good as mine heiress" Jameson replies. I keep my head down and continue searching.

You skipped school to do something" Avery points out "you have a clue" she insists. "Four middle names. Four locations. Four clues—carvings, most likely. Symbols, if the clue on the bridge was infinity; numbers, if it was an eight." He explains.

"Do you know how many trees four acres can hold, Heiress?" Jameson asks. "Two hundred, in a healthy forest."

"And in the Black Wood?" I prompt from a little farther behind the two.

"At least twice that." He turns his head to me momentarily.

"Here."  Jameson bends down and picks up a roll of glow in the dark tape. "I've been marking off trees as I check them."

"There has got to be a better way," Avery says. Jameson grins, "Got any suggestions mystery girl?"