Hello everyone! Hope you all had a good Christmas :D I did! As a surprise my Mum and Dad got Serenity Falls printed out as a hardback copy, so now it's on my bookshelf! It's not quite getting published but hey, it's close enough for me :-) Anywayyyyy, here's the next chapter!

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Alyssa pulled up to the entrance of her house, reaching out of the sleek black convertible to press the button on the gate which would grant her access. As she did so, she heard the crackly voice of their security guard, John, through the speaker.

"It’s me," she said coolly, in the same way she did every day when she returned from school, although today had been far from ordinary. She leaned back in the soft leather seat, rested one arm on the edge of the car’s door and waited for the gates to open.

"Good afternoon, Miss Taylor," the voice on the speaker crackled, as the gates gave one loud creak and began to move apart, allowing her to push down on the accelerator and begin cruising up the long driveway in the direction of the garages where all her father’s cars were kept.

She barely noticed the long stretches of lush green grass and stunning greenery that embellished the grounds of their estate. The gardener had been hard at work for the past few days and the area was looking better than ever, but this was not something that Alyssa noticed. She passed them every single day and never showed any interest, and plus, after the day she had had, all she wanted to do was go up to her room and try to forget everything that had happened.

Still, she should’ve known that wasn’t going to happen.

As she walked up the stone steps and through the front door of the house, shortly after parking her Jaguar in the garage, she could hear her father’s voice in the sitting room.

That’s strange, she thought. I didn’t think he would be back from the business trip so soon. After all, when he went away from home, he was usually out of the house for weeks at a time, travelling directly from location to location without even bothering to return home.

"Daddy?" she called, throwing her bag down and walking across the entrance hall in the direction of the lounge. The door was open, so she walked straight in.

She was greeted by the sight of her father stood in the middle of the room, talking to Tiffani who was perched on the edge of the couch. This room was rarely used, despite its beauty and incredibly large open log fire that provided more than adequate warmth, and she had not visited it in a while. In fact, there were many of the rooms in the house that she did not visit, being so many of them anyway.

"Alyssa." His voice was sharp, and his eyes fixed on her as soon as she entered the room. He did not look happy, to say the least.

She froze, immediately realising what this was about. How could he have known what happened today? She had only just returned home, having spent a long day in Mr Delmar’s office and then in isolation. They hadn’t trusted her to be in the school with Courtney in case they started fighting again which, to be honest, was likely. She had expected Mr Delmar to phone her father, but she hadn’t foreseen that he would fly home today.

"I didn’t know you were coming home today," she said, forcing a slight smile on her face in an attempt to lift the mood, but Mr Taylor looked far from happy.

"I wasn’t planning on it," he responded. "That was, until I got a phone call from your principal."

"Oh, yeah, um... about that..." Alyssa started, before she was interrupted by him speaking again.

"So you recall it then? You recall fighting on stage with Courtney?"

She bit her lip, unsure of how to react. She honestly wasn’t prepared for an interrogation at this point – her father had never flown home this quickly before, even when she got in trouble at school.

She also couldn’t help but notice that he hadn’t mentioned anything about the Mr Hammond situation. Did this mean that he didn’t know about it, or was he tackling the other issue first? Well, she wasn’t going to bring it up if it wasn’t necessary. There was no point getting in trouble when it could be avoided.

"I know it sounds bad, but–"

"Bad? Bad?!" He shot her an enraged look. "Alyssa, when you’re at school, you are representing me as well as the whole of Sync. Industries! How do you think this makes me look, when you are getting into fights on stage at the school elections?"

Alyssa resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She should’ve known that it would revert back to him in some way. There was no way that he could simply just care about his daughter without it affecting him. She didn’t quite understand his statement anyway – how was her behaviour at school going to somehow tarnish the reputation of her father’s company? It didn’t seem likely, but when Mr Taylor was as worked up as this, she wasn’t about to contradict him.

"And I haven’t even got started on what’s happened with Mr Hammond!"

Her body froze. Okay, so maybe he did know. Well, why wouldn’t Mr Delmar mention it? It was a serious offence, for herself as well as Mr Hammond. The thought of her father being aware of the things she had been doing with him – her teacher – made her feel sick to her stomach.

"Are you even going to try and explain yourself?"

He was looking at her expectantly, but she averted her gaze to the floor. There was no way she could make eye contact at this moment.

"A teacher, Alyssa?" His eyebrows were raised disbelievingly. "I don’t even want to know what was going through your mind when you were..." his voice trailed off as he tried to think of a suitable choice of wording, "doing things with that man."

"Richard..." Tiffani said softly, suddenly making Alyssa aware of her presence. She reached out her hand and touched his arm gently, looking up at him with a sickeningly sweet expression that made Alyssa want to puke. "What about what we talked about?"

He glanced back down at her, as if speaking through his eyes. After his head tipped in a small nod, he turned his gaze back to his daughter.

"What were you ‘talking about’?" Alyssa said, placing a hand on her hip as her usual air of confidence returned to her. So she had just been exposed hooking up with a teacher in front of the entire school, and her father was insanely angry at her. That didn’t stop the irritation burning up inside her at the sound of Tiffani’s simpering voice.

"This," was Mr Taylor’s response, as he snatched up a brochure from the glass coffee table he was standing next to. From where she was standing, she couldn’t quite make out the words, but whatever it was advertising, it didn’t look appealing.

She frowned, squinting as she attempted to get a better look at what was printed on the front.

"What’s that?"

From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the small smirk that found its way onto Tiffani’s face. It only lasted for a mere second, but there was no denying that it had existed. Whatever her father was about to announce to her, it couldn’t be good. Especially if Tiffani was happy about it, then it was a definite negative.

"I have been considering this for a while," he stated, meeting Alyssa’s gaze. "But I didn’t think it was appropriate, especially since you were doing fine at Serenity Falls."

"I still am," she said pointedly, regretting it immediately as she noticed a glint of irritation in her father’s eyes. It was probably best to keep on his good side, especially in a situation like this.

Ignoring her comment, he continued. "As I was saying, Tiffani and I have been talking about this for a while now. But I had always said no, since I knew you would not be happy with a decision as drastic as this. But now... after what has happened, I am beginning to reconsider."

"What are you talking about?" Alyssa folded her arms defensively, although inside she was panicking. Was he talking about taking her out of Serenity Falls? As much as she didn’t like many of the people there, she still didn’t want to leave. She had complete control over that place, with everyone wrapped around her little finger. But if she had to move... it wouldn’t be the same.

"I’m talking about this," her father answered, holding the brochure in his now outstretched hand.

She narrowed her eyes at him, before unfolding her arms and snatching the paper away from him. Turning it over in her hands, she let her eyes scan over the printed text before they widened in horror.

"Westmount boarding school?"

"Yes, we think it would be a great opportunity for you, especially to focus on your studies."

"Westmount boarding school?"

She was unable to do anything other than repeat her previous words. It was all a complete shock to her – okay, she had expected her father to be angry when he found out, but she hadn’t expected him to take measures as drastic as these. Sending her to boarding school?

Sure, there were a lot of people at Serenity Falls that she didn’t really like, but there was no doubt that he had complete control over the whole school. She had everyone, even most of the teachers, wrapped around her little finger. If she went to some other school, a posh boarding school somewhere in the countryside – where there would almost definitely be no cell phone service – there would be another leader, some other girl that everyone looked up to. Quite frankly, she didn’t know if she would be able to cope without that sort of power in school.

She caught a sideways glance at Tiffani, who had an unmistakeable smirk hidden under that concerned expression of hers. That bitch, Alyssa thought to herself. She was probably the one who set this whole thing up, just to get rid of me.

"Since you have been attending Serenity Falls, I am sure your school work has deteriorated," Mr Taylor said, shaking his head slightly in disapproval. "I am not quite sure why this is, especially considering the school’s outstanding academic record."

"What? I’ve been doing fine!" Alyssa protested.

"My best guess is that there are too many distractions. That boyfriend of yours, for one. Carter, isn’t that his name?"

"He’s not my boyfriend, Dad, and he hasn’t been for weeks now. If you paid any attention to my life, you’d know that!"

Mr Taylor pursed his lips, clearly irritated by his daughter’s argument. "I think Westmount would be a good opportunity for you to get the most from your schooling..."

Alyssa rolled her eyes, not even wanting to listen to his spiel. She turned the brochure over in her hands, opening it so it spread onto the first page. Eyes widening in disgust, she studied the picture at the top, which showed the school’s main building and front grounds. The whole place looked ancient, as if it should be the set for another Harry Potter movie. At the bottom of the page, underneath a long chunk of text, was another picture of two students in uniform, smiling forcefully for the camera.

Ew, she thought to herself, her nose wrinkling slightly. Their uniform is even worse than Serenity Falls!

She let her eyes scan over the paragraph of information about the school, but it was mostly tedious information such as the name of the founder and the excellent education that it provided. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she was almost about to throw the brochure to the floor, but froze when one word caught her eye.

"It’s in England?" she screeched, as the paper slid out of her grasp and fluttered to the floor, landing face down on the plush white carpet beside her feet. "You’re sending me to boarding school in England?"

Her father inhaled deeply before responding to her high-pitched voice. He held a hand up for a second, motioning for her to calm down, although at this point that was an impossible task for Alyssa. "I’m not saying it’s a definite decision yet, but it is certainly a strong possibility, considering the way you have been acting recently."

"It’s not my fault Courtney was being a pretentious bitch!"

"But it is not Courtney’s fault that you decided to have that sort of relationship with a teacher."

She opened her mouth to respond, but shut it quickly when she realised that her father was right. Although she had let herself get a little too caught up in competition with Courtney, the election had nothing to do with her feelings towards Mr Hammond. Although that had been her primary motive, after experiencing the emotions that being with him had surfaced, she had realised that it ran a lot deeper than that.

"I’m not going to England," she said finally, folding her arms over her chest.

"You will go wherever I decide," Mr Taylor said simply. "And at present, Alyssa, you are not helping matters with your attitude."

"I said I’m not going to England," she repeated, her teeth gritted. "You can’t force me."

"Oh, I think I can," he answered calmly. "The way you have been acting recently, I am not sure I want to have you living in this house. Making up lies about your own step mother, when she is soon to be a real mother herself. And now this... you have overstepped the line."

"I don’t give a shit about the line!" Alyssa shot back, her face twisting into a glare. "I told you, I am not going to some crappy boarding school in England. Do you know how much rain they get there?" She rolled her eyes, as if the whole country’s climate was utterly ridiculous. "Uh uh. No, I am not going there."

She leaned back slightly, feeling somewhat triumphant as she studied her father’s disbelieving expression. After all, he couldn’t use physical force to get her to England – she had her lawyers on speed dial and she was not afraid to contact them. Admittedly they all worked for her father but she doubted that they would dare disobey Alyssa Taylor.

There was no way that she was going. An all girls’ boarding school in the middle of nowhere? Was he trying to turn her into a nun or something?

"This is a good thing for you, Alyssa. Why can’t you see that?" Mr Taylor was seemingly oblivious to his daughter’s rude outburst. "I know you are settled in to Serenity Falls, but that school is not helping your overall performance. Don’t you want to succeed?"

"I’d rather fail here than succeed in England," she said plainly, as if this was obvious. "Who wants to spend most of the year soaking wet? Not me."

"Alyssa, I think you should do as your father tells you," Tiffani chipped in, turning her attention to the fired up blonde. Her face was plastered with a concerned expression, with underlying tones of smugness. "He knows what’s best for you."

Alyssa rolled her eyes. "Oh just shut the fuck up," she said, her voice dripping with spite. "No one asked for your opinion, you little slut. You’re just Daddy’s lap dog, and you know it. But wait, you’re pregnant with someone else’s baby."

She sensed the room tense up – something which she had not been expecting. Did Tiffani not know that she had told her father? A smirk found its way onto her face. Glancing sideways at her step mother, she took in the worried look that had now overtaken her smugness.

"W-what do you mean?" Tiffani asked in a quiet voice, feigning innocence.

"You know perfectly well what I mean, so don’t even try to deny it."

"Richard..." she began, looking up at him nervously in an attempt to see his expression. But to her surprise, he didn’t seem fazed by Alyssa’s accusations at all.

"Alyssa, you’re not going to start all this again, are you?" Mr Taylor folded his arms. "I know you and Tiffani have your differences, but that is not a reason for you to go and make up lies about her – especially accusing that she has cheated on me! It’s preposterous."

Tiffani relaxed a little, sinking back into the soft material of the couch. She was obviously relieved that her husband thought Alyssa was lying, especially since both of them knew that her accusations were actually true. Even though she had put up a confident front about it when talking to Alyssa, there had still been a niggling doubt in her mind that he would find out.

"I told you before, I’m not making it up!" Alyssa shouted, unfolding her arms in time to point a finger at Tiffani. "Tell him the truth, you little slut! We both know you slept with this Damien, so there’s no point even trying to deny it!"

"I don’t have the faintest idea what you’re talking about," Tiffani said, widening her eyes. "Why would you make up something like that, Alyssa?"

"Oh, go to hell, Tiffani!" she screamed. She was coming extremely close to slapping her in the face, but with the prospect of being shipped off to an English boarding school already on the horizon, it was a bad idea to anger her father any more. "You’re just a slutty lying bitch!"

"Alyssa!" Her father shouted suddenly, his voice so loud it silenced the whole room. Seconds passed and his voice was still echoing off the bare walls, only increasing the tension even further.

Alyssa stopped, unsure of what to do. The only sounds that could be heard in the entire room were her quiet breaths. Her head tilted, her eyes focusing on the floor as she waited for someone else to speak. She knew she had gone too far, but she just wasn’t able to stop herself – not when Tiffani infuriated her to breaking point. The sight of her sickly sweet expression made her want to punch her in the face.

Even after the echoes of Mr Taylor’s voice had ceased, the silence remained. What felt like several eternities passed and Alyssa was still standing there, gazing intently at the carpet as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

When the silence became unbearable, she forced herself to look upwards, just to get a better assessment of the situation. She was completely unaware of the severity of her father’s expression, but this changed when her eyes locked onto his. Immediately a deep sensation of anxiety spread through her as she finally came to terms with the consequences of all her actions.

"I think the decision’s been made for me now," said Mr Taylor eventually, his voice shattering the tense silent atmosphere.

"Please," Alyssa whispered, but her speech was inaudible.

"I’ll make the calls and get you started there as soon as possible."

"No, please..." Alyssa said, the desperation clearly evident in her voice.

Mr Taylor looked up at her, his eyes narrowed still but now showing signs of disbelief. He had expected her to protest, maybe even throw a tantrum, but the last thing he had thought that Alyssa would do was beg. It was too undignified, didn’t give her enough power over the situation.

"I’m sorry."

His eyes widened slightly in disbelief, but tried hard not to let this show. His daughter, Alyssa Taylor, apologising? The whole thing seemed surreal.

"My mind is made up," he responded simply, before stepping forwards and exiting the room.

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Hehe! Remember to vote :D There's only seven chapters left of this story! It'll be so weird to stop uploading it :P