Hey! The other day Serenity Falls reached #61 on Teen Fiction :D That's the highest it's ever got, so thank you so much! And hello to any new readers :) I have a feeling you're going to like this chapter, aha. See you at the end!

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"Mr Hammond, I don’t feel so good..."

Alyssa’s ears pricked up suddenly at the sound of the voice behind her. She turned her head sharply, to look at Aiden, who was sitting at his desk, his face many shades paler than usual. She eyed him nervously, hoping that he would not puke all over her back or something equally disgusting.

Mr Hammond’s gaze flickered to the back row, his eyes focusing on Aiden and studying his face, which had now completely drained of colour. He was used to students feigning illness to sneak out of class – it was a fairly recent occurrence in the school, especially in one of the more boring lessons – but there was something about his weary expression that seemed a lot more genuine than usual.

"Do you need to go to the nurse or–"

Before he could even finish his sentence, Aiden had cupped his hand around his mouth frantically and was dashing out of the room as fast as he could.

"What’s up with him?" Kayla whispered to Alyssa, as the class watched the door click shut again.

"I don’t know – he probably just ate a bad taco or something," Alyssa whispered back, rolling her eyes. "You know what he’s like."

The truth was, she was getting more and more tired of Aiden as each day passed. His desperate flirting and constant lust were nothing compared to the spontaneous steamy sessions in the store closet whenever possible with Mr Hammond. It had been difficult lately, especially focusing all of her efforts on making sure Courtney lost the election, but it was worth it.

Against Mr Hammond, Aiden was just some immature school boy.

Her thoughts were interrupted by another voice from the girl sitting at the desk in front of her. "Mr Hammond, I don’t feel well either." She glanced forward, recognising who it was from the back of her head. Abby Davis. A complete nerd who’s never heard of a manicure. Ew.

"Me neither," piped up another voice to Alyssa’s left. Her brows furrowed slightly in confusion. Why was everyone suddenly puking – and all at the same time? Was it something they ate? But they all couldn’t have eaten exactly the same thing, so that was impossible.

Her mind pondered on the fact as another three students were sent running for the bathrooms, hands clasped to their green tinted faces. Glancing at Mr Hammond, she tried to catch his eye, but he was too busy standing at the front of the class looking slightly confused as to what to do.

"Uh... if you’re gonna throw up... run to the bathroom, I guess..." he was saying, scratching the back of his head nervously as two more students made a dash for the door.

"What is wrong with everyone?" Alyssa hissed at Kayla.

"I don’t feel so good either," Kayla said, as a wave of nausea washed over her. She pressed her hand lightly to her mouth, focusing on a spot on the floor to try and calm herself.

"Oh, stop being so stupid, Kayla," Alyssa snapped. "You’re just copying everyone else."

"Seriously, Alyssa, I think I’m gonna puke," Kayla said, as her whole body tensed. The hand on her mouth clasped tighter and she jumped from her seat quickly, sprinting in the direction of the bathroom.

Minutes passed, and soon there were only around four or five students left in the room, including Alyssa, as well as Mr Hammond standing at the front of the class. The bemused look had not left his face – it was obvious he did not have the slightest clue as to what was going on.

Alyssa looked around the classroom, frowning. What was going on here? The only people that were still seated at their desks, aside from herself, were Courtney, Carter and one of the goth girls that never spoke to anybody. She shot a look at Courtney, whom she noticed was staring at her, causing Courtney to turn to Carter and smile smugly at him.

Why was she looking so pleased with herself? What did everyone suddenly throwing up have to do with her?

Mr Hammond’s look of bemusement had now disappeared, and had been replaced by uneasiness. His hand slid slowly onto his stomach, as if forming some sort of protective barrier, and he shot a nervous look at what was left of the class.

"Uh... I think I’m going to head to the bathroom too..." he said, as the wave of nausea washed over him too. Then, without warning, he bolted out of the room, leaving the four of them in the classroom without supervision. Not the brightest of ideas.

"Feeling okay, Alyssa?" asked Courtney sweetly, when the door had clicked shut. She turned in her seat, crossing one of her legs over the other and shot a smug look at Alyssa.

"Yeah, fine, actually," Alyssa responded coolly, although she was still unsure of what role Courtney played in the whole situation. "What about you?"

"Never been better." Courtney smiled. "Anyway, I have a feeling I’ll be okay."

"And why’s that?" Alyssa frowned slightly, but she was determined not to let Courtney see her confusion. She was still none the wiser, and Courtney seemed to know a lot more than she did. The whole thing was definitely suspicious.

"Well, think about it, Alyssa. Everyone’s sick, right? And what do they all have in common? Something they all ate?" She tilted her head to the side, a small smile on her lips.

That was the moment when it hit her. The sudden realisation... slapping Alyssa in the face like a wet fish – or something equally as shocking. How could she have been so stupid to not realise it before? It was obvious, but to tell the truth, Alyssa hadn’t really thought even Courtney would stoop that low.

"You!" Alyssa said, her tone raised.

"What?" Courtney asked, her voice feigning innocence that was as transparent as glass. Alyssa had known her much too long to be fooled by that. She wasn’t that stupid, even if Courtney was.

"You did something to my cupcakes, didn’t you?"

"Me?" Courtney placed a hand on her heart, pretending to be offended. But the smirk playing on her lips gave everything away. She had done this, there was no doubt about it. Who else would’ve? No one else would have the nerve, and there was no other possible reason that everyone in the class would suddenly get sick at the same time.

"What did you do to them?" Alyssa demanded, standing up from her desk and marching over to Courtney. She stood above her, looking downwards with a threatening look plastered on her face. Anger boiled inside her, and she felt ready to punch Courtney’s face in. It was only the little voice in her mind, telling her to be mature about the situation, reassuring her that she could get revenge, that she was better than this, that was stopping her fist colliding with Courtney’s nose.

She definitely wasn’t afraid to do that. After everything they had gone through, after everything that Courtney had done, it was what she wanted. Courtney, who was supposed to be her friend, had gone behind her back with Carter, practically destroyed her life. And now she was running against her, determined to ruin her campaign as well. At that moment, she despised Courtney more than anyone else.

"Why are you blaming me?" Courtney glanced beside her at Carter, smirking slightly. "I haven’t done anything."

Alyssa’s eyes narrowed further. "Just cut the crap, Courtney, and tell me what you’ve done. You’ve made it pretty damn obvious that it’s you, so just tell me."

"I never said I did anything..." Courtney replied calmly. "But you know, you really should be more careful where you leave those cakes. I mean, anyone could do something to them. And who would want that?"

"Oh my God, Courtney," Carter said suddenly, inhaling deeply and clasping a hand to his mouth. "I think I’m going to puke too."

"What the fuck, Carter?" she turned her head sharply, shooting him an irritated look. "You ate one of her cupcakes? What the hell were you doing? Supporting the enemy?"

"It was free cupcakes, wasn’t it?" Carter said, as his face slowly draining of its usual tan colour. "How was I supposed to know you sabotaged them or whatever the fuck you did?" He lurched forward, bolting from his seat before running out of the room. "Oh shit..."

The door clicked open and shut once again, and Alyssa felt the anger rising inside her once more. "So you did do something to them," she said. "You seriously want to stoop that low?"

Courtney smiled, chuckling to herself as she watched Alyssa’s glaring eyes bore into her. To tell the truth, she was enjoying seeing her opponent this angry. It gave her a sense of power over Alyssa, and that was not something she experienced often. "Alyssa," she said calmly, watching the blonde’s expression grow even more pissed off with her smug attitude. "I’m just doing whatever I can to make sure I win the election, okay? Is that a crime?"

"It’s a crime to sabotage someone else’s cupcakes!" Alyssa shouted in her face.

"Babe, are you feeling okay?" Courtney asked calmly, as she watched Alyssa’s face begin to lighten in shade. "You don’t look so good."

"I’m fine!" Alyssa insisted, determined not to let Courtney get the better of her. "I feel great, actually."

"Are you sure? Maybe you should sit down."

Nausea was rising through Alyssa’s body and she was well aware of what was going to happen. Why had she eaten one of those cupcakes? She silently cursed herself as she felt her stomach churn. "I’m fine," she repeated, although her breathing was getting shallower with every second. "I’m... fine..."

"Are you sure you don’t want to run to the bathroom?"

"No, no..." Alyssa swallowed. "Like I said, I feel great..."

Her stomach gave one last churn and before she was aware of what was happening, she had vomited all over Courtney. The vile discoloured substance covered the front of her shirt, dripping down onto her skirt and the shiny white floor. Her face froze, and then crinkled in shock and disgust as she realised what was happening.

And then she screamed.

A loud, gut-wrenching, ear piercing, high pitched scream as she leapt from her chair. "You bitch!" she screeched, still looking down in anguish at her stained shirt. Her nose wrinkled in disgust as the vile smell entered her nostrils. "You did that on purpose!"

"Nope," Alyssa answered calmly, a smirk returning to her face. "That was just pure luck. But it was great, don’t you think?"

"You’re disgusting!" Courtney screamed, as loud as her throat would allow her. "I can’t believe you!"

"Oh, and you might want to change that shirt," Alyssa sniggered, her eyes flickering downwards. "I think you spilled a little something down it."

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Haha ;) Gotta love this chapter. There's not long left in this story, only like 17 more chapters! I will be uploading my NaNoWriMo story soon, so I'll let you know when that's up too. In the meantime, remember to vote! <3