I woke up late. Understandable to any human seeing as I spent most of last night brainstorming how I was going to deal with Scarlet. But I can't afford to sleep in. This new threat is not something I can take lightly. She's powerful, cunning and, most importantly, willing to use any means necessary to achieve her ends. But if I'm smart, her ambition will be her downfall. I am no one's reward. She will not own me when this is over. If Scarlet is in town then no one is safe. Why I care I honestly don't know. But this is my territory now, and that she-demon is trespassing.

I've been so absorbed in my thoughts the entire walk to school that I didn't notice the small crowd on school grounds until I literally ran into it. The person I walked into turns to me and asks if I'm alright. I give no response, I don't even know the kid's name. Instead I search the crowd for its source. That's when I see it, or her to be exact.

Suddenly I'm filled with happiness and relief, a sickeningly unfamiliar feeling for me. I push through the crowd and tackle her in a big hug, lifting her off the ground as I squeeze her small body.

"Can you put me down please? That actually really hurts." She whispers to me. Her hands are gripping my upper arms so tight I can feel her nails digging in and I know her knuckles are white. On hearing she's still in pain I lower her gently and loosen my grip.

"Are you alright?" I ask, suddenly serious. I scan her face for any sign of deception or pain as she slowly nods her head. I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. I didn't realize how worried I actually was until I felt the relief flood my body.

She seems startled by my reaction. She squints at me suspiciously, "Are you alright?" I simply nod. When she opens her mouth to inquire further Tony jumps into the conversation. She glances at me and I mouth "later" to her, indicating I have something I need to share with her, which is true. We turn our attention to Tony after she nods her understanding.

"Wait, when did you two get so friendly?" Tony asks confused and slightly hurt. Why would he be hurt?

"We didn't." We both answered, very confused as to what he's talking about.

"Right, okay. And the two of you meeting up in empty classrooms while I'm at practice has nothing to do with this?"
Now he sounds more than hurt, he sounds angry. This situation is deteriorating quickly, and with witnesses, fun. If this is going to continue to work then I need to stop this, now.

"Look man, just calm down. You don't want to get into this here. You don't want to start something." I try a calm tone. Which is strange for me. Unfortunately little miss halo decides to cut in.

"Wait wait wait, you think me and him..." she points between the three of us as she starts to put the pieces together. She can be so slow in human things sometimes.

I roll my eyes at her cute little innocence. "Well he doesn't think we've been studying Miss Goody Two Shoes." I quip. This feels slightly more in my wheelhouse.

I smirk as I watch her immediately get disgusted at the idea. "Ew!" She cries.

I slap a hand over my heart faking hurt. "Ouch! Am I really that repulsive to you?" Definitely more my element. I don't know if she's doing this on purpose or if this is her actual reaction. Either way this is somewhat fun.

"Actually yeah, you are." She says. Alright that actually did hurt, but I don't show it.

"Wait!" Tony cuts back into the banter. "If it's not that, what are you guys doing?" He seems to have calmed down some during out little side banter.

"Studying!" Seraph blurts, probably the first thing that came to her mind. Great job Angel! Brilliant. Because that doesn't sound suspicious at all after our little argument.

Me being my typical self tell her this. "Yeah, because that's believe Angel."

Realization hits her and her eyes grow wide. "Oh, oops." She sort of shrugs. I roll my eyes.

"It's not what you think man. I mean we still hate each other. We just talk. It's not exactly pleasant conversation either." I tell him, chancing a quick glance at Seraph, daring her to contradict me. One of the things us Fallen are good at it lying. Humans believe that the best told lies contain a kernel of truth, I don't need truth to lie. But Halo girl might. It's easier this way.