Alissa

NO MORE HIDING

Kevin darts towards the administration office, running past Megan without even noticing her. She calls out to him from behind, "Kevin!"

He skids and stops to a halt, turning around. "Megan. I was looking for you. Was the internet working when you used the computer?"

She nods. "Yeah, why?"

"Nothing. I'll see you back at the auditorium." He steps inside the administration office, stopping partway. "Megan." She turns around. "You're really strong for doing this."

At the auditorium, Megan was welcomed with hugs and consolations that started with 'I'm so sorry...'. But Megan didn't care about the money, she never did. The reason she inked her body with tattoos and became everything that was opposite to her father's image was because she wanted to step out of his shadow. She didn't want to live a secured life with assets worth a couple million dollars to her name before she even stepped out into the world. She didn't just want to be known as the Anderson's daughter for the rest of her life. Sure, she wanted money and fame and everything else that comes along with it, but she wanted to do it herself. So, giving away all of her money for a good purpose, was not something that made her sulk, even if she did it because someone calling himself HEL asked her to do so. Along with the pride of donating her money away, the guilty satisfaction of not getting a task that tore her life apart, washed upon her.

Pulling herself out of Sarah's hug, she turns to Alissa. "Why did Kevin go running to the administration office? Did I miss something?"

"Wait, what?" Derek says in confusion. "Why did he go to the administration? Alissa, did HEL send a new message for Kevin while we were all sleeping?"

Alissa shakes her head in a no. She's equally confused as the others.

A while later, Kevin finally comes back, his face twisted in a tight knot. "Kevin, where were you? We were worried ab—" Derek is interrupted.

"I needed some fresh air, so I sat for a while at the basketball court," he says.

He then holds Alissa, his palm circling her forearms, gently pulling her out of the circle. He whispers, "I need to talk to you." Taking her to the audience stands, Kevin lets out a deep breath. He's cracking his fingers one by one, looking blankly at the ground as if in deep thought. He finally says, "Your dad hated Felix Brown didn't he?"

Alissa narrows her eyes in doubt. "Yeah, he did...but what does it have to do with all this?" Before Kevin could even say a word, Alissa spoke again, her voice loud and stern enough to not only be heard by the two of them. "Kevin, if it's again about if Felix killed my brother—"

Kevin jumps up in his seat, then hushes her with his fingers on his lips, asking her to keep her voice low. "Here's the thing, he probably did it. Alissa, just listen to me," there was something in his voice, as if he was almost pleading her to listen to him. "I don't just think he killed your brother, I also think that he's HEL."

Sweat trickles down Alissa's forehead, even though it was cold enough to make her cross her arms across her chest. "How? Do you have any proof?"

"I've heard the story. About how Felix got in a fight with Brian on his birthday. I know your dad hated him, he was the one who started the petition, and he was also the one who threw a party when Felix left town for good. Please tell me you're aware about the petition and the party."

Alissa shakes her head reluctantly. She remembers how Brian was even the star of a party that was taking place for the wrong reasons. Her mom and dad celebrated the fact that they ruined the life of an innocent man, while her brother was being awarded with bottles of wine and expensive watches for trying to rape a girl. Everybody told him how brave and strong he was for 'fighting back', when in reality, he couldn't even throw a single punch, and deserved every ounce of beating that he took. Alissa only showed up to the party for half an hour because apparently, it was her responsibility to be present there for her father's achievement and her brother's bravery. But soon, she felt a wave of nausea, rising up in her throat when she saw the bright and cheerful faces of her parents and her brother. She ran upstairs, back to her room, changed out of her attire, then read herself to sleep.