8 years ago...

It was a few months after Cody had began taking martial arts classes. He and Sasha were still meeting every Saturday morning before her dance class started to teach each other what they knew. That morning he smiling in at her through the window as he was about to leave. Just when she smiled back at him with Carmella and Renee standing beside her, Cody heard shouting from around the corner.

"Yeah, teach him a lesson." One guy could be heard shouting.

Cody rushed around the corner to finding a group of older guys beating up a younger boy. The boy looked at Cody with helpless baby blue eyes as the guys kicked him over and over again. Before thinking it through, Cody rushed in to help.

"Hey, leave him alone!" Cody shouted as he ran to the boys aid.

One of the older guys tried to go after Cody but he punched him in the face, knocking him out. Everyone else took off running, leaving the boy there on the ground, wounded.

"Are you okay?" Cody asked.

The boy wiped his mouth  as Cody offered out his hand.

"Yeah, I'm all good." The boy told him. "There was only a few today."

"Does that happen a lot?" Cody asked.

"Sometimes." The boy said.

Cody looked at him in confusion.

"Why?" Cody asked.

"Because they're afraid." The boy told him.

Cody furrowed his eyes in confusion.

"You're saying they beat you up because hey're afraid of you? I don't think that's how it really works." Cody tried to understand.

"I meant they're afraid of who I am. It scares them."  Kenny said.

"And who are you?" Cody asked.

"I'm Kenny... Kenny Omega."  He said.

Cody scratched his head for a moment.

"No offense or anything.. but Kenny still doesn't sound that scary." Cody said cautiously.

Kenny let out a small laugh.

"I'm gay. That's what scares them." Kenny finally told him.

Cody looked Kenny up and down with curiosity.

"How do you know?" Cody asked.

"That I'm gay?" Kenny asked.

Cody nodded in approval.

"Oh, they send you a gay membership car in the mail on your eleventh birthday. It's kind of like a Harry Potter, chosen one, kind of thing." Kenny joked with him.

Cody didn't get the joke and tried to think it over.

"I'm just messing with you. I've always known." Kenny told him.

Cody laughed at himself for a moment.

"You ever try martial arts?" Cody asked.

Present day...

"Are you sure your okay?" Renee asked as she held and ice pack to Seth's lip outside the nurses office.

"I'm fine." Seth told her.

Renee watched him for a moment.

"Should I ask why he punched you?" Renee asked.

Seth looked at her with unfortunate eyes. She looked down uncomfortably and tried to keep her composure.

"Even after Kenny asked you to stay away?" Renee asked.

"Are you really judging me right now?"Seth asked.

"I'm not judging you.. It's just that you guys are friends. You don't lie to each other. And you know how he is about Alexa.. I feel like you should have known to stay away. You should have known she was off limits." Renee told him.

Seth shook his head.

"Can you cut me some slack here? It's not easy to control who you have feelings for." Seth asked.

Renee looked up at him with a sharp pain in her chest.

"You have feelings for her?" Renee asked hopelessly.

Seth's eyes turned apologetic when he saw that she was hurt by what he said.

"I'm sorry." Seth told her.

Renee tried her best to hide the fact that she was about to burst out in tears.

"For what?" She asked him. "It's like you said. You can't control who you have feelings for."

Seth watched her heavy eyes with an ache in his  heart.

That's when Miz walked out.

"Am interupting?" Miz asked when he saw the tears in Renee's eyes.

"No, not at all." Renee said as she stood up.

"Renee." Seth tried to stop her.

"I'll check on you later." Renee told him as she walked away.

Seth looked down at the ground with shame.

"Everything good with her?" Miz asked.

"I don't know," Seth told him.

Miz watched his friend for a moment.

"I tried to help you out man." Miz said.

"Oh really? With fucking Cinderella?" Seth asked.

Miz frozed for a moment.

"That's the first thing that came to my mind, okay?" Miz said.

"Again, I ask.. Cinderella?" Seth said.

"It's a long story, okay?" Miz assured him.

Seth rolled his eyes and sat back down. Miz opened his mouth as if he was going to say something but his phone buzzed before he could get anything out. Seth glanced up at Miz curiousotly as he checked his phone.

"If Kenny is this upset over Seth sleeping with Becky, how do you think he is going to react when he finds out you've got eyes for Alexa? I'd back off if I were you."

-Anonymous

Miz furrowed his eyes in confusion at the text.

"Who's that?" Seth asked, almost knowing the answer.

"Um, Maryse. She's just asking where I am." Miz lied.

In the office, Roman was having a meeting with Chancellor Banks.

"I'm sorry to have to do this but you have missed an enormous about of days this semester." Chancellor Banks told him.

"Please don't. I will do anything you want, just don't call them." Roman begged.

The Chancellor looked at Roman for a moment, seeing the helplessness in his eyes.

"Please." Roman said again.

Chancellor Banks took a deep breath.

"I need an extra hand to volunteer at the youth center on the Eastside." Chancellor Banks told him.

"I'll do it." Roman assured him.

That day after lunch, Sasha made her way into the bathroom to wash her hands. She looked at herself in the mirror as she turned the water. It was only a few seconds later when she heard sobbing from inside one of the stalls. She shut off the water and paused for a moment. Suddenly, Carmella walked out of the stall, looking at her friend through the mirror.

"Hey." Sasha said uncomfortably.

"Hi." Carmella said as she wiped her eyes.

"Are you-Are you okay?" Sasha asked cautiously.

Carmella stared at her for a moment, not knowing how to respond.

"Of course. I'm perfect." Carmella assured her.

Sasha shook her head in disapproval, knowing that Carmella was lying.

"You know one day you're not going to be able to lie to hide your feelings. Eventually it's all going to build up and explode. It will be undeniable." Sasha told her.

Carmella let out a small laugh.

"You're one to talk." Carmella said with judgmental eyes.

Sasha froze for a moment with disbelief at Carmella's comment. Shame quickly came over Carmella.

"I'm sorry.. I-I shouldn't have said that." Carmella confessed.

"No.. You shouldn't have." Sasha said before storming out of the bathroom.

Carmella slid down to the ground and broke out into tears again.

After school, Roman drove to the youth center on the Eastside of town. He parked out front and made his way inside. Everyone gave him a few glances, knowing exactly who he was.

"Mr. Reigns, can we help you?" The youth center manager, Stephanie McMahon, asked.

"Yeah, I'm here to volunteer." Roman told her.

"Oh?" Stephanie asked in surprise.

"Chancelor Banks sent me from Fitzgerald Prep." He added.

"I see.. Well you need to sign in here and uh I'll take you on back to the center." Stephanie told him.

Roman signed in at the front desk and Stephanie led the way down the hall.

"It's really great that you're volunteering. It's hard for us to get people to come to this side of town but these kids really need all the help they can get. So far we've only had one other volunteer. Without her, we probably wouldn't still be open." Stephanie said as she approached a doorway.

Roman took a deep breath, not knowing what to expect. He followed Stephanie through the door way and into a large room full of young children. Roman froze for a moment, not knowing what he had signed up for. He scanned the room for a moment with his head spinning. Suddenly, he noticed a familiar face in the corner, reading a book to a little boy.

"April, do you mind coming over here for a moment?" Stephanie asked.

April looked up and immediately made eye contact with Roman. The two were both surpirsed to see the other. She got up and walked across the room.

"This is Roman Reigns, he's volunteering with us." Stephanie told her.

April let out a kind smile.

"Roman this is April, the volunteer I was telling you about." Stephanie introduced them.

"Nice to meet you." Roman said as he offered out his hand.

April was a little hesitant but she shook his hand, giving him cautious eyes.

"I have to get back to doing paperwork but I'll let April fill you in on everything and introduce you to everyone." Stephanie told him.

"Thank you." Roman said as Stephanie walked away, leaving the two of them there alone.

April looked around as an awkward silence filled the conversation. Roman just watched her for a moment.

"Um, so.. This is the youth center. A few of the kids come here after school or maybe they're not in school and they just need somewhere safe to be. Our role here is basically just to hang out with them, listen to them.. Help them out with whatever they need." April began to tell Roman as they walked around the room. "That over there is the art center. The kids can go over there to paint or to draw. The science center is filled with sensory toys. A lot of the time the kids will want to ask you questions over there. Jada, for example, she spends all day in the science center and asks questions every five minutes. She's very curious." April told him.

Roman was trying to listen to everything April was saying but his head felt liek it was going to explode.

"The writing center is over here where you can help the kids trace letters or practice the alphabet. The library area is right next to it. The kids love having you read books to them, especially Jack. That's the first place he goes when he gets here everyday." April told him.

"Right, okay." Roman nodded along.

April stopped and looked him u and down for a moment.

"Do you even know anything about kids?" April asked.

"What? Of course. Kids love me." Roman assured her.

April continued with her skepticisim. Suddenly, a young girls tugged on Roman's pants. He looked down in confusion.

"Um.." Roman let out in a bit of a panic, not knowing what to do.

"It helps if you bend down to their level." April suggested.

"Right." Roman said as he bent down to face the child.

"What's uh.. What's up?" Roman asked her.

April furrowed her eye brows in confusion as Roman acted as if he were having a conversation with his friends.

"I'm Lilly." The little girl told him.

"Wow, that's a beautiful name. I'm Roman." He tried his best.

"Read this?" Lilly asked as she handed him a copy of Toy Story.

"Wow, you know what? This is actually my favorite movie." Roman told her.

"Movie?" Lilly asked.

Roman looked to April curiously.

"I mean I've totally read the book though. It's my favorite book too." Roman tried to explain.

Lilly gave Roman a confusing look.

At Kathleen and August's house, Becky walked upstairs to find Kenny's door cracked open. She approached his room and looked inside to find him sitting on the floor by his bed. There was a blank look on his face, almost as if he wasn't there.

"Kenny?" Becky asked.

He hesitated to look her direction as she walked in the room.

"Are you okay?" Kenny asked her.

"I feel like I should be asking you that." Becky said as she sat down across from him.

"I'm fine."Kenny assured her.

Becky raised her eyebrows, showing Kenny hat she didn't believe him. The two sat there for a moment in silence before Becky spoke up again.

"I know why you do it." Becky told him.

Kenny furrowed his eyes in confusion.

"I know why you push him away." Becky went on.

Kenny kept his eyes on her, waiting to hear what she had to say.

"You're protecting yourself. You think if he gets too close he'll hurt you. You just don't want to get hurt, right?" Becky asked.

Kenny shook his head in disapproval.

"No.. I'm protecting him." Kenny corrected her.

Now Becky looked at him in confusion.

"I don't want him to be the one that gets hurt." Kenny confessed to her.

Becky watched Kenny for a moment, trying to understand his logic.

"Him? What about you? What if you get hurt?" Becky asked curiously.

"I couldn't care less what happens to me. He is all that I care about. As long as he's okay, that's all that matters." Kenny told her.

Becky was a little surprise by what Kenny was saying.

"You really love about him, huh?" Becky asked.

Kenny let out a painful smile.

"I love him more than anything.. I would do anything to make sure that he is happy. That's all I care about.. is his happiness." Kenny said.

Becky watched Kenny as he began to tear up. Never had she met someone so willing to sacrifice their own happiness for someone else's.

At the library, Kota and Cody were in the middle of their tutoring session. They were both reading the next couple of chapter of The Kite Runner but Cody kept looking up from his book at Kota, who was clearly stressed about something.

"Come on." Cody said suddenly as he got up from the table.

Kota looked up at him in confusion.

"Get up, let's go." Cody said as he began putting on his jacket.

Kota laughed.

"I'm not going anywhere with you. And you're supposed to be reading." Kota told him.

"Do you even know what the hell you've read the past hour?" Cody asked and waited while Kota thought to himself. "Didn't think so. Let's go."

"I'm good." Kota said.

Cody let out a sigh of frustration and pulled out his wallet.

"Here's five hundred dollars. Come with me and I'll give you another five." Cody bribed him.

Kota got up and grbabbed his things.

"You know you can't just bribe people into doing what you want, right?" Kota told him.

"Why not? It's working isn't it?" Cody asked as Kota began to follow him upstairs.

Kota shook his head at himself for accepting Cody's bribe. The two of them made their way upstairs and outside where Cody had a car waiting.

"Where are we going?" Kota asked with caution as Cody opened the door for him.

"Don't worry about it. Just get in." Cody told him.

"Says a charming Ted Bundy." Kota commented.

Cody looked at Kota for a moment.

"Did you just compare me to a serial killer?" Cody asked.

"Sure did." Kota said casually as he got into the car.

Cody laughed to himself and got in behind Kota.

"Take us to the studio." Cody told his driver.

Kota couldn't help but be a little curious as to where Cody was taking him. The driver drove them down the street and parked on the side of the road. Cody got out and opened the door for Kota. He got out and looked at the abandoned building with confusion.

"This way." Cody directed as he walked around to the side.

Kota followed Cody as he approached an old door along the side of the building.

"What is this place?" Kota asked.

"Take a look for yourself." Cody said as he opened the door.

Kota looked at him with curiosity before making his way inside. There were a few broken mirrors around the walls of the large room. On the floor were a few bottles, ceramic plates and other breakables.

"This is the old dance studio." Cody told him.

Kota looked back at him.

"You were in ballet?" Kota asked in surpirse.

"No." Cody told him unfortunately. "But I really wanted to be."

Kota looked Cody up and down, not understanding.

"Sasha was in dance. I sued to watch the classes through that window over there but I never would have been allowed to join." Cody began to tell him. "But when I met Sasha, she helped me out. Her parents didn't want her to take martial arts classes so I signed up for those. We started teaching each other what we learned because we new we were never going to be allowed to be who we wanted to be." Cody told him.

"You guys were each other's cover?" Kota asked curiously.

Cody nodded in approval.

"We still are." Cody confessed.

Kota knew exactly what Cody meant by what he was saying.

"Why are you telling me this?" Kota asked.

Cody took a deep breath and thought to himself for a moment

"I honestly don't know. But that's not the reason I brought you here." Cody said as he picked up a bottle from the floor and walked over to Kota.

"What's this?" Kota asked.

"Throw it at the mirror." Cody told him.

Kota looked at him in confusion.

"It feels good." Cody said.

Kota hesitated but eventually held the bottle up and threw it at the mirror as hard as he could. He let out a laugh and looked at Cody.

"Told you." He said.

"Wow." Kota let out.

Cody picked up a bottle of his own and threw it at the mirror.

Back at the youth center, Roman was helping April hand out meals for the kids.

"Where's the rest?" Roman asked as she handed everyone a juice and crackers.

"The rest of what?" April asked.

"The food." Roman told her.

"This is it." April said.

"Juice and crackers?" Roman asked.

April let out a laugh.

"No offense but this isn't Fitzgerald Prep. This is how things things work on the eastside. Not all of had the privilege of growing up the way you did. " April said a little judgmentally.

"The way I grew up?" Roman asked in confusion.

"You know what I mean." April assured him.

Roman shook his head and laughed to himself.

"You think you've got me all figured out, huh?" Roman asked her.

"Maybe not.. But I know you're not a good person." April told him.

Roman looked at her in confusion, not understanding her bias against him and his family.

Once all the kids left for the day, Roman and April were walking out of the youth center, one behind the other in silence. April was ready to get as far away from Roman as possible. Just before he got to his car he stopped.

"What's your deal with me? You don't know anything about me." Roman asked her.

April stopped for a moment before turning around.

"Your family ran nearly everyone on the eastside out of business. They're the reason we're struggling so hard and you of all people have the audacity to align yourself with a gang that terrorizes us? You're worse than them." April spoke truthfully.

Roman felt a rush of anger and guilt come over him as he walked towards April.

"Don't pretend like you know me. You don't know me. If you did,-" Roman began to tell her.

"What? I'd be afraid of you? I don't think so." April said fearlessly.

Roman looked at her for a moment with disbelief in her honesty. She turned around and began walking home, leaving Roman there, completely dumbfounded.

That night at Kathleen and August's house, the doorbell rang.

"I got it." Becky said as she made her way downstairs.

She opened the door to find Sasha standing on the doorstep.

"Sasha, hey." Becky greeted her.

Sasha stood there for a moment before saying anything.

"Are you sleeping with Seth?" Sasha asked out of no where.

Becky froze for a moment, remembering her conversation with Kenny earlier. She watched Sasha's eyes with an growing ache in her heart. She was feeling something she had never felt before.

"Yeah.. We slept together." Becky told her honestly.

Sasha took a second to herself.

"So when we kissed last night..?" Sasha tried to ask.

"I really like Seth." Becky blurted out.

Sasha kept a straight face, not letting Becky see her real feelings.

"I think we're better off as friends." Becky said.

"Okay, good. I agree." Sasha told her.

"You do?" Becky asked with a bit of disappointment.

"Yeah.. That's what I came here to tell you." Sasha said with a bit of hesitance.

"Oh. Well that's good. We're on the same page then?" Becky asked.

"Yep." Sasha said with a bit of a crack in her voice.

"Do you you um.. wanna come up for a bit?" Becky asked.

Sasha looked down at the grown and tried to keep herself from tearing up.

"I actually have to get going." Sasha told her.  "See you around."

Becky watched with disappointment as Sasha walked away. That's when Becky's phone buzzed.

"Trust me, you're better off without her."

-Anonymous

Across town, Maryse was walking around a bookstore when she stopped in the classics section. She skimmed over the books, hoping to find something new to read. That's when she saw a copy of War and Peace on the top shelf. She reached up and grabbed the book.

"War and Peace. That's a good one." A handsome ginger told her.

"You've read it?" Maryse asked.

"It was required to get my master's." He said.

"Oh, I see." Maryse let out with a bit of a nervous laugh.

"I'm Sami." He introduced himself.

"Maryse." She said as they shook hands.

On the eastside, April was preparing her father's dinner for him.

"Sora, I need a glass of water!" Her father yelled.

April brought her father the glass of water and his food. He gave her a polite smile as she tried to act like everything was okay. That's when a knock was heard at the door. April rushed over and opened the door put no one was there. She looked out at the empty street before seeing the small white card on the doormat. It was a business card labeled "Attorney at Law, Sora Ibushi."

"Sora?" April asked herself curiously.

She flipped the card over to find it signed in permanent marker, "-Anonymous."