Addae’s Writing

There were few times even Ace couldn't expect the unexpected, but here they were, rain drenching him and Rosalyn as they stood in the empty parking lot of Lakeside without an umbrella. Rosalyn looked between him and the nearest school building, which was now closed.

"I don't suppose you have some sort of Ace magic that can get the sky to stop raining, do ya?" she teased with a half grin. Ace seemed too lost in his own thoughts to process the question right away. He looked back at her with a small smirk of his own.

"I'd definitely use. it if I did," he responded. "Out of all the days for my car to be in the shop..."

"I'll just text my dad to pick us up, he's just a few blocks away." Rosalyn pulled out her phone to shoot off a quick text to her father. As they waited for her father to arrive, Rosalyn found herself leaning on Ace's shoulder. She shivered as she felt the wet clothing squish against the cheek, but did not move.

"It's been a while since we've done this," Ace commented suddenly.

"Hm? Done what?" Rosalyn raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing. Like, actually nothing."

"You've been awfully busy since you transferred here," Rosalyn said. "Well, you're almost never NOT busy... I like doing nothing with you."

Ace was silent for a beat.

"I like doing nothing with you too."

"I'm glad you're still here, Ace," Rosalyn said with a hint of vulnerability in her voice.

"So am I, Rosalyn."

She moved her head up from Ace's shoulder to face him directly. Rain continued to stream down her face and clothes, but she was focused on one thing.

"Promise me we can be like this more often. Just the two of us... just being in each other's presence. Without the rain of course," she said.

Rosalyn slumped back in her seat, far behind everyone else in the auditorium as she watched Ace take the stage. As the crowd of students roared with applause, she flinched and pulled her braids against her ears.

“I gotta say, this last month at your school? Magic,” Ace said once the applause had died down. “You welcomed me with open arms, elected me as your Council representative, supported my initiatives…”

Rosalyn felt herself zoning out a little as Ace continued to butter up the student body.

“Psst, Rose! You alright?” Autumn asked, bringing her back to attention.

“But we've got work to do. You've all heard. There have been... problems,” Ace continued with a serious expression.  “Just to name a few? Cafeteria food safety issues. The locker rooms found in violation of the fire code. Fights breaking out downtown, started by students from our school.”

“Our school,” Rosalyn sneered mockingly under her breath. Autumn leaned in close to her.

“Our classmates wouldn't start fights! That can't be true!” she whispered.

“He’s just trying to make us look bad again,” Rosalyn grumbled.

“After that recording leaked, no one really believed Rosalyn about Ace... and he cashed in on that to win the replacement election by a landslide,” Sakura added to the right of Rosalyn.

“Tale as old as time,” Rosalyn sighed.

“The fact that everyone thinks Ace rescued the Hearst trophy sure didn't hurt his cred,” Julian said.

“I still think we should’ve left the trophy at Kepler just to stick it to him,” Sakura huffed. “Now he can make us look bad enough to convince the council to propose to the board that we get shut down.”

Ace continued on, pacing the stage with a restless energy. Rosalyn would’ve found the act endearing if she weren’t so consumed with disdain.

“We have to clean up this school, set things right,” he went on. “We just need the courage to trust and believe in each other... together, we can restore this school to its full potential.”

At this, the auditorium erupted into loud applause. Rosalyn flinched and kept her head down until the noise finally died out. Her classmates started to file out of the auditorium, a few lingering to speak to Ace at the stage.

“I’m gonna go see my boyfriend,” she said, moving away from her group of friends.

“You don’t have to call him that when he’s not here, y’know,” Sakura called after her.

“It’s still so weird seeing them together like this,” she heard Autumn say before she went out of earshot. She fell into step with Ace as they walked out of the auditorium. He broke into a grin upon spotting her.

“Rosalyn, glad you made it to my little press conference after all. I was a little worried when I couldn’t see you in the crowd,” he said, holding her hand in his.

“I left my ear plugs at home and you know I can’t stand loud noises,” she said, fixing him with a blank stare. Ace chuckled before gently rubbing her shoulder with his free hand.

“You should’ve told me. I would’ve gotten you the finest ear plugs money can buy, Rosie.”

Rosalyn rolled her eyes, leaning towards Ace as a few students passed by.

“Stop coddling me. You’ll have me believing you actually care about me.” The last of the student body had finally gone out of the auditorium, but Rosalyn remained by his side. He pulled her closer and slid his hand from her shoulder to the small of her back. Rosalyn allowed the gesture.

Ace took a glance at his watch, a smirk starting to form on his lips.

"You know, I have a couple minutes before I have to get back to Kepler. How about I walk you to your class?"

Rosalyn nodded, and the couple walked together down the hall like any ordinary pair of high school sweethearts. Ace kept her beside him, their arms bumping with a familiarity that she could only pretend not to notice.

They stopped in front of Rosalyn’s classroom, pausing before stepping inside.

"I guess this is a parting of the ways, then." Ace gave her a sly grin.

“Guess so,” she said, heading inside without another word.

At lunch, Rosalyn took her own meal from her locker and made her way to one of the colloquially named “Nerd Hangouts”. When she got there, her friends were already hanging around.

“And the Black Widow has returned from the dark side,” Nishan commented.

Autumn giggled as Rosalyn rolled her eyes at the nickname.

“It’s not like I’m in cahoots with The Devil Himself,” Rosalyn defended.

“You kind of are, Rose,” Nishan said with a shrug.

“Still doesn’t change the fact that you’re dating the enemy, Rosalyn,” Julian pointed out.

Sakura gave Rosalyn a worried look as Rosalyn settled on the couch next to her.

“How did you feel sitting in that audience, watching him give that speech?” she asked.

Rosalyn shrugged as she opened up her food container.

“If I’m being honest, it was kind of nauseating watching him talk about all the ‘good’ stuff he’s done for this school. He’s good at it, though, so I'll give him that.”

“How can you even stand being around him?” Autumn asked.

Rosalyn took a spoonful of some gumbo into her mouth, chewing for a few moments before swallowing.

“It’s kind of amazing what I can put up with when I have an endgame in mind.”

“Well, you keeping Ace occupied came in handy,” Wes said, pulling several papers out of his bag and slapping them on the table.

“Isn't that the city's official letterhead?” Autumn asked as the group peered closer.

“Copied them from the archives. These records show that our school passed health and fire code regulations as recently as a month ago.”

Rosalyn set her spoon down on the table, looking at Wes. “How’d you get a hold of all this?”

Wes smirked, ruffling the girl’s hair. “That is of no importance. The important part is what we’re gonna do with this evidence .There's no way our school went from being just fine to a safety hazard in the span of three weeks. From what I can tell, Ace has been making a lot of interesting phone calls. I'll bet he pulled some strings to get the inspection results changed to his liking.”

“So,” Mia piped up. “What’s the game plan, Rosalyn?”

Rosalyn picked up the papers, looking through them with a smirk.

“We show it to the people.” She sat back down and continued eating her gumbo. “After lunch, though.”

“Everyone's been too charmed by Ace to believe you, but maybe now…” Julian mused.

“Yeah, these records show that all our problems only cropped up after Ace took office. It's the proof we need!” she said excitedly as she finished up her food. She looked out the window of the hangout, seeing some students eating lunch on the quad.

“No time like the present,” Mia said, nudging Rosalyn towards the door. “Let’s get the truth out there.”

Wes stood in front of the door, crossing his arms.

“Hold on, Rosalyn. Be careful about going after Ace. Everyone loves him. He's the new... well, you.”

Rosalyn scowled at the comment.

“What do you mean by that?”

Wes shrugged. "He's this school's biggest hero. He rescued the Hearst Trophy, he saved your reputation when that audio leaked, he won the Council election. He's got a lot of fans, and there's no telling what they'll do if they think you're trying to frame him. It especially doesn’t look good since you’re ‘allegedly’ dating him."

“Fine… no dissing Ace…for now.” she relented as she moved past him and exited the hangout space.

With her papers in hand, she made her way to three students sharing a pizza on the bench. 

“Rosalyn, what’s happening?” a girl said. She pulled off a slice of pizza from the pie and held it out to Rosalyn. “You want a slice? It’s vegetarian!”

“Ah, no thanks, I’m pretty filled up on gumbo actually,” she said with an awkward laugh. “I was just thinking about all the stuff that's been going on at our school. The fire code violations, the cafeteria shutting down, the fights…”

Another classmate  frowned, shaking their head. “Yeah, I can't believe anyone from our school would go around starting fights! What happened to peace and love?”

“I'm sure Ace has a plan to fix things. I mean, he worked out the yearbook budget problems with one phone call!” a guy said with confidence.

“Sounds like him. He secured a venue for our annual jazz showcase the same way. Ace is a real stand-up guy…” the first girl agreed.

Rosalyn’s heart ached to hear her classmates speak so highly of him. 

“Right, I know Ace can work miracles, but...” she began, pausing before continuing to speak. “I think you should look at this...”

She pulled out the health and fire code records and spread them on the table.

"What's all this?" the first girl asked.

"Our school passed these inspection tests just a month ago... But suddenly, our cafeteria gets shut down and our locker rooms are fire hazards? Don't you think that's a little weird? Especially since they came right AFTER Ace became our student rep?"

The classmates stared at the records for several moments. The three students exchanged a nervous look, like they didn't want to believe Rosalyn's claims.

"You don't really think..." the second girl began.

"Ace wouldn't do something like that," the guy said.

Before Rosalyn could respond, someone brushed past her and got in between the small crowd of students.

"Is there a problem?" Ace asked.

Rosalyn's eyes widened as Ace approached them, his charismatic demeanor only growing in presence and intensity. The group of students turned to him, their eyes flickering between him and Rosalyn. Rosalyn gave him a saccharine grin.

“Oh, we were just talking about some stuff I was looking into. I think you might know more about it,” she said.

Ace’s smile only grew as he glanced over the papers on the table. He smirked, taking them into his hands and skimming over the information laid out in front of him.

"Looking into these inspection records, huh? What a wonderful coincidence. Did you happen to uncover anything unusual...?”

“Apparently, our school passed the fire and health code inspections just a month ago,” the guy piped up.

“But now we have all these problems... how did things go bad so quickly?” their other classmate asked, casting a worried glance at Ace.

“Yeah, Ace, how did things get so bad?” Rosalyn said, struggling to hide the taunting tone in her voice.

Ace’s smile flickered as he met Rosalyn’s gaze, holding it for several moments. She could see a flicker of annoyance in his eyes, and he looked away, holding up the papers.

"Well, it's simply put. It's because of me.”

The group gasped, stunned by Ace’s sudden admission. Even Rosalyn was caught off guard by his words.

“I… What?” Rosalyn looked dumbfounded.

“You heard me.” Ace said, putting on his charming smile once again. “ When I assumed office, I did a thorough audit and uncovered a host of issues. Someone was very invested in covering them up.”

He didn't outright accuse her, but the look he gave her was damning.

“Ace, what are you saying?” she demanded.

“Rosie, everything’s gonna be fine,” he assured her, placing his hand on her shoulder. “You’re the heart of this whole place, you were the driving force behind this school's growth! Of course you didn't want anybody to find out about all the problems that come with expanding too fast. No one blames you for letting them fester, right?”

“Rosalyn, is this true?” the girl asked sadly.

“No, I–”

“It’s water under the bridge. All that matters is that we’ve caught these problems in time and can nip them in the bud. We’re going to get this school right on track.”

Their classmates murmured in agreement around them.

“Word. A few hiccups won't stop us!”

“It's gotta be tough work, playing the whistleblower... but I appreciate it, Ace.”

“Yeah, we can't just ignore our problems! We have to fix them, and move forward!”

The three of them cleaned up their table and headed to the nearest trash can, leaving Rosalyn with Ace at the table.

“Rosie, why the underhanded tactics? I’m your boyfriend, we can just chat. You know I always have time for you.”

“You can stop now. We both know who you really are,” she snapped. His grin dimmed, and he gave her a hard stare.

"Watch your step," he said.

“You don’t scare me,” she said, matching his steely gaze.

Ace chuckled, his smirk growing smug.

“You don't scare me either, Rosalyn.” They stood there in an extended silence, eyes narrowed and jaws set.

Their little staring match was interrupted by a voice calling to them from across the quad:

"Hey, lovebirds!"

Ace turned to see Wes approaching.

“Wes,” he said with a tight smile. “It’s been a while.

"Mind if I cut in and steal Rosalyn for a bit?” Wes asked.

“Not at all,” Ace said. “We were just finishing up anyway. She’s all yours.”

Wes pulled Rosalyn back to the hangout , looking concerned as he spoke in a low voice.

“What was all that about?  Did you tell people about the papers?”

"I tried," she said, shaking her head. "As soon as I spoke to the group about them, Ace barged in and fed them all that crap about me."

“Alright,” Wes sighed. “We’ll figure something else out. What’s going on with this ‘relationship’ you’ve got going on with him?”

Rosalyn frowned, looking anywhere but Wes.

“Same as usual, obviously. I’m playing him like he’s playing me,” she muttered.

“Does it really feel that way?” he asked.

“Yes, okay?” Rosalyn snapped, avoiding his gaze. “I’m handling it, alright? Everything’s fine…I just need to hold out until we can put a stop to him. And then it will be all over.”

Wes let out another sigh, resting a hand on her shoulder.

“I don’t buy it. And I don’t think you do either. This thing you’ve got going on with him… I don’t like it, Rosalyn.”

Rosalyn scowled, pulling away from his grasp.

“Well, you can drop it. I’m a big girl, I can handle myself.”

“No, I know you don’t. Why don’t you just call the whole thing off?” he asked, his voice laced with concern. “We could make it work in our favor. You dump him, it splits our friend group up because we ‘liked’ him, we have a public fight, and I take the opportunity to get close to Ace?”

Rosalyn scoffed, shaking her head vehemently.

“No! I can handle this. I am handling this,” she asserted. “Stop treating me like I’m all helpless.”

Wes held up his hands in a placating gesture.

”I’m not, I’m just worried about you. This isn’t like you, this charade. You’re just digging yourself deeper.”

A pause.

“You don’t have to do everything on your own, here. You’ve got me. Let me help. It’s my fault you’re in this mess to begin with.”

Rosalyn let out a bitter huff, staring off at the distance.

“No, this is my mess. It's my school. And I am going to be the one to stop Ace.”

She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes, her expression softening. “But… I appreciate it.”

Wes studied her for a moment, still unconvinced. After a beat, he sighed once again and let go of her shoulders.

“Just be careful, okay?”

Rosalyn mustered a small smile, patting his arm.

“I will. Thanks, Wes.”

After school, Rosalyn was in the library studying with Mia and Payton, but between her near-altercation with Ace and her conversation with Wes, she found herself unable to concentrate on her books.

Mia, who noticed Rosalyn's distracted state, leaned over and gave her a nudge.

"Hey, Rosalyn? You okay?"

Rosalyn snapped her head up, startled. She forced a smile to her face, pasting on a false air of nonchalance.

"Yeah, totally fine. Just feeling a little distracted today."

“I still can't believe he has the nerve to act like that!” Mia grumbled.

“Ugh. Ace is like a knock-off Gucci bag. One close look, and you know he's mega fake! Why can't people see the truth?” Payton agreed.

“We need stronger, more concrete proof,” Rosalyn said, gripping her pen rather tightly. “I just need more time to figure it out-”

Just then, Julian and Nishan burst in.  Nishan collapsed to the floor, wheezing. The librarian looked up from his magazine to shush him.

Nishan quickly switches on the TV, turning up the volume on the local news channel. Julian paces around the library study room, agitated.

“This is really bad, Rose,” he said. “He’s escalated.”

As Rosalyn turned her attention to the TV, a chill ran up her spine as she saw a reporter hold out a microphone to Ace.

“Yikes, you guys need to warn a gal before you expose me to his face,” Payton said with a grimace.

Ace looked straight at the camera as he discussed the latest scandal to plague Lakeside.

“Evidence suggests these acts of academic dishonesty have been going on for months. But rest assured…I will do everything in my power to disband this cheating ring!” Ace declared.

Rosalyn clenched her jaw, her frustration growing with each word out of Ace's mouth.

"Looks like he's really enjoying his newfound sense of power, huh?" Payton sneered.

“We hold a zero tolerance policy towards academic dishonesty. I won't let this incident tarnish the good reputation of our school,” Ace continued on screen.

“Bullshit!” Rosalyn snapped, slamming her hands onto the table. The librarian shushed the group once more.

Nishan put a comforting arm around Rosalyn's shoulder.

"Hey, keep it down, alright?" Julian said, shooting a nervous glance at the librarian.

"Easy… I know he's full of it, but you don't want to get kicked out!" Nishan warned.

On the TV, Ace continued to speak with a grave look on his face.

"I have no doubt this problem is isolated and won't expand. We're going to address all concerns and investigate any and all leads."

The news switched to a shot of the adult school board members sitting outside the principal’s office. Rosalyn noticed her father was not among them.

As the reporter droned on in the background, Julian sat down at the table next to Rosalyn, his brow furrowed.

"What’s your dad got to say about all this?” he asked quietly. “I don’t see him in that crowd.”

"I... I haven't even begun to explain everything to him. And now he's finding out at the same time everyone else is." Rosalyn said. “Even if it’s all lies, how could I tell him that things have gotten so bad?”

Nishan patted Rosalyn’s back, an understanding look on his face. “Hey, don’t blame yourself for not telling him everything. Ace has been running rings around all of us.”

The news switched back to focus on Ace.

“As a Council representative, I can confidently say that this school is a treasure. A diamond in the rough…” Ace said, his voice breaking a little. “And I will fight any proposed measure to shut it down!”

“What? Who said anything about shutting us down?” Payton spluttered.

“He’s planting the idea in the board’s minds. He’s pulling an Inception on them!” Nishan exclaimed.

“I can understand our classmates being this gullible… but the board won’t fall for this… right?” Julian asked, sounding a bit less confident than Rosalyn felt comfortable with.

As her friends continued to talk, their voices faded away as Rosalyn focused on Ace on the screen. He seemed to be looking right at her.

“Some say that this school can't be fixed. That its students would be better served at other schools in the district…” he continued. “But I don't think so. This school is meant for greatness!”

Ace flashed a grin and a confident wink at the camera right before Mia turned off the TV.

“That’s enough of that,” Mia huffed.

“He’s putting his final play into motion,” Rosalyn said without looking away from the screen. “I need to stop him.”

“I looked it up, and the Council needs a unanimous vote to pass any measure petitioning the district board,” Nishan pointed out.

“Then we've still got a chance. We just have to get the other Council members on our side,” Rosalyn said. “Ace has Remi under his thumb, and Asher would love to see our school shut down... but I can talk to the others!”

Rosalyn took off the moment school let out the following day. She weaved in and out of traffic as she made her way to the all-boys school of Apollo Academy. There, she found two district council members Zero and Owen shooting hoops on the court.

"Hey, Zero! Owen!" Rosalyn yelled out. “Wait up!”

Both boys looked back at her, sweat trickling down their faces as they jogged over.

“What's up? You wanted to talk, Rosalyn?” Owen asked.

“Sorry to hear about your school. Tough times, huh?” Zero added sympathetically.

“About that... Ace mentioned a proposal to shut down my school. Would the Council really consider that?” Rosalyn asked.

Owen frowned as he said, “I hate to say it, but... because of your school's problems, our district's been getting a lot of bad press. We've been rejected for several programs and grants already.”

“Everything that our district has achieved is being undermined,” Zero continued, shaking his head. Rosayln scowled at the two of them.

“So if my school gets thrown to the wolves it’s alright?” she demanded.

Zero held up a hand. "Woah, woah, woah. No one said anything about throwing you under the bus."

Owen nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we're all on the same team here.”

Zero shrugged, looking back and forth between Rosalyn and the basketball waiting to be dribbled again. 

“Look, we're sorry to hear about your school, but we have our own schools to think about. This is for your classmates' benefit as much as it's for ours,” Zero explained.

"It won't be so bad. Schools close all the time... and yours hasn't even been around that long. You guys would just transfer to other schools! You're always welcome at Twin Branches, Rosalyn! We're cool, I promise," Owen said.

“We'll make sure to really think this through. It'll all work out,” Zero said with a sympathetic smile.

Rosalyn bit back her anger and forced a strained smile. "I... appreciate the offer. But we'll survive. And thanks for the time, I guess..."

Ignoring Owen’s farewell wave, Rosalyn spun on her heel and walked out of the school. She clenched her jaw tightly, silently fuming. She needed to talk to Kara immediately.

Rosalyn tracked down Kara at cheerleading practice on the Hearst football field. When she caught sight of her, she turned away, hiding her face.

"What do you want,  Rosalyn? Don't you have anything better to do than follow me around?" she demanded.

“That’s not– fuck, never mind. I need to know... can I count on you to vote against any proposal to shut my school down?”

Kara gave her a haughty smirk. “Sorry, Rosalyn. But Lakeside isn't exactly BFFs with Hearst. I'm happy to see your school drop off the face of the earth.”

“Christ,” Rosalyn mumbled, before switching her strategy. “Kara, I know we've had our differences. But there's a school full of people I care about that's going to close its doors forever. There's nothing I can do to stop it now, but you can–”

Kara rolled her eyes. "Stop your sobbing and have some self-respect, Rosalyn. I’ve had enough of your pity parties. When are you going to get it through that thick head of yours? Your days are numbered. Your school is finished. And good riddance to it. We’re better off without that stain on our district."

Her eyes were piercing, but Rosalyn could see her slightly tremble as she spoke.

“Kara… does… does Ace have some dirt on you?” Rosalyn asked suddenly.

“I... I don't know what you're talking about. Now get out of here. I have to practice,” she said dismissively.

“Kara, come on,” Rosalyn pressed, but Kara held a hand to Rosalyn’s face.

“I enjoyed our little rivalry, MC. It was fun while it lasted.”

Her next stop was Bridgette, the rep for Athena Academy. After texting Bridgette,  she met her  at the tennis courts. Bridgette easily won a match before walking up to Rosalyn for a break.

“I saw the news about that terrible cheating scandal... Am I correct in thinking that this was orchestrated by Ace?” she asked.

Rosalyn nodded grimly. "Yeah, you’re absolutely right. He’s using this situation to try and shut my school down. And it looks like the rest of the Council is falling for his crap."

“Have no fear. So long as I sit on the Council, I will never allow your school to be shut down,” Bridgette declared.

A little lightheaded with relief, Rosalyn pulled Bridgette into a hug. 

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she gasped.

Feeling a lot better, Rosalyn drove home. But before she could take her helmet off, she got a text from Mia, asking her to get to her house as soon as possible.

When Mia opened the door to her, Rosalyn could hear the sound of sobbing. After Mia let her inside, she could find Bridgette on the couch crying into a handkerchief.

“I called as soon as I heard,” Mia said with a frown.

“Bridgette, what happened?” Rosalyn asked.

“She got kicked off the Council. One of the Athena admins dug up some rule that forbids being on both the student council and the district council,” Mia explained for her crying cousin.

“I... I was certainly not expecting this. It has been quite a shock..” Bridgette sniffled. “I’m really sorry, Rosalyn.”

Rosalyn’s heart sank. “It’s…. It’s okay,” she said, trying to give Bridgette a reassuring smile, but all Rosalyn could feel was disappointment. The only Council member she could count on was gone.

“This has Ace's fingerprints all over it. With Brigette gone, no one's going to block that proposal of his. Now what?” Mia asked.

“I’m gonna get Ace out of power,” Rosalyn declared. “This begins and ends with Ace...Even if you got your seat on the Council back, Ace would find some other way to get rid of you. He won't stop at anything until he’s stopped.”

“It certainly does seem that Ace is adept at pulling the strings,” Bridgette mused, wiping her eyes.

“I'm sorry you got caught in the crossfire of my war with Ace... but I promise to put an end to this. He's played puppeteer for the last time,” Rosalyn.

She suddenly got a text from Wes.

"How are you holding up?" he asked.

"Not great. Bridgette, who I thought was going to be our deciding vote on the Council, just got booted off with some stupid rule." Rosalyn replied.

“Meet me at Wings Atomica in 15 minutes,” he said.

Rosalyn nodded and headed out. When she arrived at the Wing Wing, she found Wes already at a table for two, waving to her. She took a seat opposite him, a bowl of wings in between them. "Well, I’m here," she said. “Will the board really shut us down if the Council asks them to?”

“I don't know. The district isn't happy with us, but shutting down an entire school... that's a last resort. Right now, the board could go either way,” he answered, taking a wing from the bowl.

“I'm not leaving this to chance. We have to stop Ace from even passing the proposal! We'll have to discredit him to break his hold on the Council.”

“All we have to do is prove that Ace is the kind of guy who would frame our school…” Wes said.

“What do you mean?” Rosalyn asked. Wes placed the now meatless chicken wing on a napkin and sighed. She could see an almost wistful look in his eyes.

“Look, Ace didn't just start being Ace when he met you... he wasn't always this good at playing puppet master. He was sloppy. If we can't prove what he's doing now, then we just go back and find a time when he wasn't quite so perfect.”

“Got it,” Rosalyn said, determination in her features. “Leave it to me.”

The next day, she found herself in front of Ace’s office.  Once again, Ace was buried under a mound of paperwork on his desk.

“Hey,” she said softly. “You got a few minutes for your girlfriend?”

"I thought you didn't like the whole girlfriend act when we were alone?" he teased. "What changed your mind?"

She shrugged. “I've been thinking... Maybe things are better this way. Pretending we’re a thing and all...”

Ace raised an eyebrow. “Really now. Why’s that, Rosalyn?” he asked, leaning back into his chair.

“It’s... easier, when you’re with me,” Rosalyn said. “I got used to it. The... affection and support and stuff. I don’t think I can go without it anymore. And when we fought in the quad over those stupid papers, a part of me was afraid of losing that.”

Ace smirked, letting out a chuckle. "If you're trying to butter me up into not getting rid of your school, you're doing a poor job at it. I thought you were better than this."

Rosalyn feigned shock. "Ace, how could you think that? I just wanted to... spend some time together. We can talk about business later. I just wanted to be... a normal couple."

"And we are...?"

“You’re the one who wanted to ham up this romance to begin with,” she said, an eyebrow raised.

Ace closed his notebook and looked directly at Rosalyn. "Rosalyn, why are you really here? The last time we spoke, we almost fought in public. But now, out of nowhere... you decide you can't live without me?”

"It wasn't out of nowhere," Rosalyn protested. "I just... had some time to think about it. And I realized how much I've been missing, being mad with you. The... the little things. Being able to hug you whenever I want... I just-" She let out a breath. “I missed being with you. Like how we used to before this whole internship nonsense got between us.”

Ace let out a scoff... before letting out a sigh. "Alright... I can see you're not in the mood for games. And I suppose I haven't exactly been Mr. Perfect Boyfriend lately either."

"You haven't," Rosalyn muttered. "That's the understatement of the century. But... I don't want to fight. I'm tired... I've been tired for a long time. Can we just... I don't know, relax for a bit? Just... be normal."

Ace regarded her with a contemplative look. "Okay," he said after a while. "I'll bite. What do you have in mind? What is Miss Rosalyn Brinkwater’s definition of normal?"

Rosalyn sat down on his couch. "Normal... normal is us watching trashy movies, eating pizza, and falling asleep together. Normal is waking up in your arms..."

At this admission, Ace looked almost... nostalgic. "And when was the last time the two of us did anything like that...?" he said quietly.

"The night before we fought. Before you decided to ruin everything," Rosalyn pointed out. "I was so happy to be with you... it hurt so much that afternoon when you..." she trailed off.

Ace's face darkened for a brief moment.  But then, he let out a scoff and stood up, walking over to Rosalyn and sitting down beside her. 

"You really want to keep this up, huh, Rosalyn? All right, I’ll play along. But let me tell you this..."

“What?”

He looked her straight in the eyes. "... this changes nothing. My priorities remain the same. This is nothing more than pretend play. I still have a job to do, Rosalyn, and it won’t stop for anyone, even you. Understood?"

"Noted..." she said quietly.

Ace wrapped an arm around Rosalyn and pulled her into his side. He leaned back onto the couch, letting out a sigh, and Rosalyn leaned her head against his chest. It was all so familiar... the scent of his fancy cologne, the warmth of his skin. It brought back all the memories of their time together. The nights they shared in each other's arms, talking for hours on end, the countless stupid comedies they'd get pizza and watch while they discussed school proposals. The soft thumping of his heart as she fell asleep.

"Now... what movie are we watching tonight?" Ace asked, breaking her out of her trance.

"Anything you want," Rosalyn said, snuggling deeper into his embrace. A pang of guilt hit her. She had to focus on the mission, why she came here to begin with. But it was so hard to think when she was nestled in his arms like this... her head against his chest, his arm around her... she wanted nothing more than to stay like this, just the two of them.

Ace scrolled through his Netflix, and eventually picked out a stupid, goofy-looking horror movie. He leaned back into the couch, pulling Rosalyn's closer to his side as the movie started playing.

As the movie progressed, Ace and Rosalyn spent more time talking than actually watching it. They got pizza and made jokes and commented on everything that happened in the movie... and as the night wore on, it almost felt like time had never stopped. That they were still the same as they were all those months ago...

Eventually, the credits of the movie rolled on the screen and the pizza was finished. The two remained, sitting together on the couch. But Rosalyn didn't want to get up. She wanted to stay just like this... her head on Ace's chest, wrapped up in his strong arms. She knew this was a lie... this love they were playing at was an act... but she found herself not caring. Maybe later.

She didn’t realize Ace had fallen asleep until she became aware of the gentle air blowing in and out through his nose. Rosalyn took a moment to study his face. Even in sleep, he looked calm, relaxed. Gone was the arrogant, manipulative persona he usually wore, and in its place was the face of the boy she'd fallen for a lifetime ago. 

She considered getting up to look for dirt on Ace like she’d come here to do. But the feeling of his soft, slow breath against her cheek was enough to stop her. And without thinking, she closed her eyes and snuggled deeper into his arms, drifting quickly off to sleep.

When she woke up with a start hours later, Ace was gone, and she was left lying alone on the couch with a blanket covering her. She suddenly remembered her mission and shot up from the couch. Silently thanking Wes for teaching her how to pick locks, she went around Ace’s office.

Rosalyn quickly went through Ace’s drawers and computer files, looking for anything that could be even remotely suspicious. But everything seemed completely clean so far. Then, a memo caught her eye…

She quickly shoved the memo into her bag after covering her tracks and headed for the exit, where she ran onto Ace taking a phone call.

Ace was too busy talking on the phone to notice her at first, but the moment he hung up, his eyes flicked to Rosalyn and he raised an eyebrow.

"Rosalyn? Weren't you sleeping on the couch?"

“I realized my dad must be worried sick, wondering where I am,” she said. “I gotta go.”

Ace let out a huff of a sigh, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Fine, you go on ahead. I still got some work to do," he said nonchalantly.

“At 5 am?” Rosalyn asked. “How do you function?”

Ace smirked. “I don’t need sleep, unlike some people,” he joked, before letting out a sigh and running a hand through his hair. "Seriously though, I've just got some stuff that needs to be dealt with. Can’t be helped. Get home safe."

And with that, Rosalyn turned and walked to the door. A part of her screamed to run back and hug him close, to rush back into that illusion they were under hours ago.

She pushed the thought down and exited the building, feeling as if she’d left a piece of her heart behind.

She came home and immediately crashed on the couch without changing into her pajamas. She fell back asleep, thoughts of Ace and what she’d just done filling her head. But by the time she woke up, the guilt was replaced with a sense of determination.

“So where were you, Rosalyn?” her father asked when she staggered into the kitchen.

Rosalyn let out a yawn, fiddling with a braid on her head. “I got busy studying with friends and lost track of time,” she lied.

“You usually text me when that happens,” Dr.Brinkwater said.

Rosalyn bit back a sigh. “Yes, well, I got too absorbed in my notes to remember, I guess. Sorry for worrying you, Dad…”

“As long as you’re focused on your studies, I suppose it’s alright,” he said with a sigh. “By the way, your friend Ace stopped by an hour ago.”

“He… he did?” Rosalyn tensed. “What did he want?”

"He came over with something for you," he said, pushing a box of donuts and a cup of coffee towards her. "I heated up the coffee a little."

Rosalyn stared at the coffee in front of her, a mix of emotions and memories rushing through her.

"That was... thoughtful of him," she said in a neutral tone. Inside, her head was racing with thoughts, trying to decipher the move Ace was making.

“Did he say anything before he left?” she asked.

“He just wanted to be sure you got breakfast,” Dr.Brinkwater said. “You should eat more and drink that coffee, by the way. You’re already too small as it is, and if you stay up all night studying you’ll waste away entirely.”

Rosalyn nodded, still in mild shock from Ace’s actions. He said it himself. That night changed nothing. He was still gunning to shut down Lakeside and she had to stop him. She took a seat, sipping at the coffee and eating the donuts as she mused.

The fact that he stopped by and got her breakfast…  It was something Ace used to do all the time, back when they were actually together. On days when she got too absorbed in her council work he would bring her coffee and treats… she tried to stamp down the feeling it gave her…

"He’s just trying to fool me…” she thought to herself.

But Rosalyn couldn’t shake the feeling that it was genuine. It was such a natural thing, something he used to do all the time… And even worse, a part of her wanted it to be genuinely sweet, like before…

She shook her head. No. She wouldn’t fall for it and lose sight of her mission.

Shooting off a text to Autumn and Wes, she made her way to school and made a beeline for the journalism classroom.

“You said you had good news?” Autumn asked.

“Very good news,” Rosalyn said with a smirk as she pulled out the memo from her bag and slammed it on a desk. “I may have spent the night at Ace’s office.” 

Wes raised an eyebrow at this.

"And what happened next?" He teased, causing Rosalyn to roll her eyes.

"We may have gotten carried away watching a movie and eating pizza... b-but I got what I came for." she stammered, ignoring the heat rising to her face. “Look at this.”

Autumn and Wes peered at the memo.

“Compulsory transfer to Kepler Magnet School for the Gifted?” Autumn read aloud.

“That's the polite way of saying that our buddy Ace got expelled from his old high school,” Wes explained as he read the memo. “Apparently, when his classmate beat him in a science fair competition, Ace took it personally. He forged documents showing that his classmate paid a professional chemist to do his project.”

“Who’s surprised?” Autumn scoffed.

“Pro-tip, you shouldn't try to frame a guy who can bioengineer beetles. He caught Ace in the act. Ace was immediately 'encouraged to transfer',” Wes continued with a smirk. “His expulsion was off the books. This memo is the only proof that Ace has a history of lies, forgery, and vengefulness.”

“That ends now. We have to get him impeached before the Council can vote. Autumn, can you get this into tomorrow's paper?” Rosalyn asked.

“Already working on it,” Autumn reported, taking the memo and heading to her computer. Wes looked back at Rosalyn. 

“What?” she squawked.

Wes raised his hands in surrender. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that you've got what we need… but how are you feeling about all this?" he asked, his tone now genuinely concerned.

Rosalyn paused, caught off guard by his question.

“What do you mean? I got the information we need, didn’t I?” she said, slightly defensively.

Wes gave her a skeptical look. "That's not what I asked. I'm just saying, it's got to be tough to be spending time with Ace, finding dirt on him… seeing the guy you fell in love with and falling into old habits."

Rosalyn felt her heart flutter as Wes said the words. It was hard. Seeing Ace, spending time with him like they used to… remembering exactly why she'd fallen for him, but trying to fight it…

But she pushed the feelings down, masking it with a huff and a roll of her eyes.

"I'm fine," she insisted once again.

"I'm just looking out for you, Rosalyn," Wes said in a firm, but gentle tone. "I know Ace, remember? I don't want to see him pull you back in. Don't let his good looks and charm make you forget what he's done."

Rosalyn felt a pang of indignation at his words, as if he didn’t think she was strong enough to resist.

"I know what he’s done, okay? I’m not a child, I don’t need you to look out for me," she retorted.”We talked about this, Wes.”

Wes held up his hands in surrender. "Fine. Forget I said anything,” he said.

The following day couldn’t come soon enough. Autumn’s paper was out and the entire school was a flurry of confused whispers and murmurs.

“I’d like to see Ace try to spin this,” Julian gloated. Outside, Ace was being hounded by student reporters. A few of their classmates shot him dirty looks. 

Descending the school steps with her friends, Rosalyn meets Ace’s gaze. For the first time, she could see genuine panic in his eyes.

Seeing the fear in his eyes was almost jarring. Ace had always been the one in control, the one who navigated high school politics with ease. Now he looked on the verge of losing his cool.

She felt a pang of… what? Guilt? Concern? She wasn’t sure.

“I almost pity him…” Mia said with a pout. Then she straightened up and laughed. “Ha! Just kidding. He's had it coming since forever.”

“Not that there’s anything to be sorry about a lying cheater,” Julian said in agreement. 

Wes eyed Rosalyn, but she avoided his gaze, keeping her focus firmly on Ace, who was now continuing to fend off the reporters.

“Ha, yeah, he deserves it,” she spoke up. “That’s what he gets for messing with me.He manipulates my own friends and classmates to turn against me, and then tries to get my school shut down? It's high time we got some payback.”

“With Ace’s rep wrecked, they’ll impeach him for sure,” Julian said. “I don’t know how you got your hands on that hit piece on him, but I’m glad you did.”

“Yeah, I’m glad too…” she echoed, her voice losing a bit of its conviction. Her mind was racing. 

Ace was now walking into the school building, followed closely by the reporters. With that he was out of sight.

Several days later, Dr.Brinkwater entered his daughter’s room with a letter.

“Rosebud, it says you’ve been summoned by the student district council,” he said. “Any idea what that’s about?”

Rosalyn felt her heart drop. She had a feeling she knew exactly what it was about. Putting on a mask of indifference, she took the letter from his hands.

“I might have a clue…” she said in feigned obliviousness.

"Mmm, I heard about that Ace boy. A shame, I thought he was a decent young man." Dr.Brinkwater commented.

Rosalyn tensed, feeling a pang of guilt at her father’s words. She wanted to come clean and tell him the truth, but knew she couldn’t. She couldn’t break her father’s heart.

“Yeah, I guess he was…” she said with a shrug.

Her father eyed her for a moment, looking like he was debating whether or not to say something else.

“Want me to drive you there? I have a meeting coming up anyways,” her father offered.

Rosalyn paused for a moment, then shook her head. “I think I’ll walk. Take the time to clear my head…”

Truth be told, she didn’t want her father to be anymore involved in this mess than he already was.

“Alright, pumpkin. But do give me a call if you want a ride home.” He gave Rosalyn a kiss on the cheek before leaving her room.

Heading to City Hall, she couldn’t help but smile a little. It was almost all over, and her school would be safe.

But when she opened the doors of the council room, she was met with wary glances.

“Uh, what’s wrong?” she asked.

“Ace, say again what you just said to the Council,” Asher said, barely trying to hide the smirk on his face.

“That memo, I've never seen it before, I swear. I-- I know there's no way to prove it, but you have to believe me. What that memo says... it never happened!” Ace said.

“Are you saying that it's a forgery? Intended to disgrace you?” Zero asked.

“No, of course not! I would never accuse my own girlfriend or anyone at our school of something so awful!” he said, shaking his head.

“This is a very serious matter. We're going to get to the bottom of it,” Zero said. Rosalyn couldn't help but feel a little miffed that Zero seemed to be so much more nonchalant when it came to shutting down her school.

“Oh, come on! Of course he says it's fake! You're really gonna believe him?!” she demanded.

“No, Rosalyn, we aren’t going to believe him,” Zero continued. “We're going to believe the expert we've called in to verify its authenticity.”

Kara and Owen marched in with Nishan in their ranks.

“Uh, hi Rose,” he said awkwardly. He sat down as Owen handed him Ace’s memo.

“This right here is a serious accusation, Nishan. If this is Ace's real history, then it throws into doubt everything Ace has done,” Owen explained.

We brought you in to find the truth. So we need you to tell us nothing but the truth. Your friendship with Rosalyn cannot sway you,” Zero said sternly.

“I let nothing get in the way of my quest for scientific fact! Rosalyn knows that better than anyone,” Nishan said with a smile. Ace leaned across the table, his eyes pleading.

“This isn’t what it looks like, Nishan. You know I would never do this,” Ace spoke up.

"That's enough, Ace. Let him work," Zero commanded.

Ace clenched his teeth, but he sat down and kept his mouth shut. Zero and the others watched as Nishan looked over the document.

Rosalyn stood with her arms crossed, feeling her heart pound. Every now and then, she shot a quick glance at Ace as Nishan studied it. He had a calm, unreadable look on his face as he inspected the memo. 

Nishan's brow creases more with each passing moment.

“Hmm…” he murmured.

“What are you doing now, Nishan? Didn't you already run those tests?” Zero asked.

“What? I mean, yes, but... there's always a margin of error with these things,” he started to stammer.

“Nishan. Just tell us. Is the memo real?” Zero pressed, leaning in.

“Well, you see, ha ha... can, uh... can anyone really determine whether…” Nishan trailed off, casting a panicked glance at Rosalyn.

As Nishan stumbled with his words, Rosalyn’s heart was racing. He was hesitating. Why? Had he found something?

“Come on, Nishan… just be honest with us,” she urged. Her heartbeat raced faster as Nishan continued to fidget nervously.

“The memo... it's a forgery,” he finally admitted. Nishan presented his findings to the Council. With each word, they grew angrier and angrier. “In conclusion, the chemical profile of the card stock, along with the ink brand, all point to this sample being printed as recently as last week.”

“Rosalyn, are you serious right now? How could you sink this low?” Owen said with a scowl.

“You produced a forgery to discredit your school's elected representative,” Zero chided.

“I… I thought it was real!” she stammered.

Ace stared at her with that same dumbfounded expression, but Rosalyn could swear she saw one corner of his mouth turn up ever so slightly. 

“You thought it was real, huh?” Zero asked. “Then where did you get it?”

Before she could respond, Ace cut in. "Whoa, whoa. It's okay. No harm done. Rosalyn was just trying to do what was right for her school. Isn't that right, Rosie?"

Rosalyn’s head whipped around to glare at Ace, her rage bubbling up. 

In a surprisingly calm, steely tone, she said, “Ace, you don’t need to speak for me.”

“I don't know what I did to hurt you, Rosalyn, but I'm sorry you feel the need to lash out at me like this,” he said.

Rosalyn gripped the back of her chair, fighting to keep her cool. He's infuriating... acting like he's done nothing wrong...

“Save the charm for somebody who cares,” she bit out before turning to the rest of the Council members. “Ace has been manipulating the Council since the very beginning! He's trying to get back at my school for winning the Hamilton Internship, and he won't stop until my school gets shut down.”

“By serving as your rep? Sorry, but that's kinda hard to believe,” Owen said, crossing his arms.

“Ha! I knew Rosalyn couldn’t be trusted. This looks more like personal vengeance,” Asher pointed out with a smirk. “It’s not very becoming of you to be so vindictive, Rosalyn.”

Rosalyn turned her attention back to Ace, “You know, Ace, when you're done stabbing everyone in the back, when there's no one left to betray... you're going to be alone. You know that, right?”

“That’s enough, Rosalyn,” Zero warned.

“Now get out before we kick you out,” Asher added.

Rosalyn clenched her hands into fists, but she knew this was a losing battle. She was backed into a corner, and there was nothing else she could do without making a bigger fool of herself.

She gave one last look of fury to Ace, then spun on her heel and stomped out of the room. Ace called after her in the hallway.

“Rosalyn! Rosie, wait up. Listen. I figure you're pretty confused right now,” he yelled out. She stopped but didn't turn around.

“What do you want?”

“Gotta say, last night was… something. A weaker man would’ve probably fallen for your little plot,” he said. “The pizza, the movie, us falling asleep into each other’s arms, just like old times. Then you waited until I was out of the picture to snoop. A bit underhanded, but I probably would’ve done something similar.”

“I almost had you, and you know it,” she snapped. Ace merely chuckled.

“The memo was bait, and you swallowed it whole. You played smart, but you just can't stake your entire reputation on a single piece of evidence,” he said. He put a hand on her shoulder. “Looks like through it all, I’m still teaching you things.”

She glared at him, fuming beyond words. Rosalyn felt a rush of anger at the smug look on Ace's face, at him placing a hand on her shoulder.

She jerked back. "Don’t touch me."

“You understand, don't you? You make friends everywhere you go, loyal ones still on the Council. I wasn't sure I could turn them against you. I had to make you turn them against you yourself. And I just did,” he continued. 

“Well played,” she said bitterly.

“Come now, Rosie. There’s still a bright side in all this. After Lakeside closes down, I’m sure you’d be a shoo-in at Kepler. We could be unstoppable together. Like we should have from the beginning. Maybe this little charade of ours could be real again.”

The feelings Rosalyn had been struggling to keep from boiling over finally erupted.

“You are unbelievable,” she hissed, shaking with anger. “You can’t honestly expect me to— is this a joke?”

“Why would I joke about something like this, Rosie,” he said.

“Enough with the ‘Rosie’! You don’t get to call me Rosie, not anymore,” she growled. “And what, I’m just supposed to let your little plan pan out, join Kepler, and we take over the universe, or whatever grand scheme you dream up?”

“We’d change the world,” he said, as though it was the most obvious conclusion. “You and me. Like it was always meant to be. When everything is right again and we'll never have anyone taking things they don't deserve. Never again.”

She wanted to continue to be angry, but all she could do was laugh. All the stress of the past days was finally taking its toll. “You honestly think I'm just going to turn my back on my school that easily? You think I’m just going to leave Lakeside behind?!”

“Of course not. You love your school, and you’d fight me to the end before you’d give it up,” he said. Rosalyn was shocked by his answer. It was exactly right, which was the most infuriating thing of all.

“Then how can you possibly even suggest I join you, after everything?” she whispered.

“Even if it was just a trick to get one over on me, you wouldn’t have spent the night with me if you didn’t still have feelings,” he continued. "Surely you had other methods of snooping around?"

“I was exhausted,” she lied. “I had to try anything.”

“And your only option was to fall asleep into my arms?” he pressed, clearly not believing her.

"You left a blanket on me!" she retorted. “Maybe you care too much yourself and you’re projecting on me.”

“That night was not one-sided, and you know it,” Ace said . “We both knew it was a farce, and yet…There was a moment between us… a connection.”

Rosalyn knew exactly what he was talking about, and there was nothing she wanted more than to tell him to stop, that it was all in his head. But her heart, as much as she wanted to deny it, longed for the comfort of being with him again.

Her heart was weak where he was involved. But her pride was stronger.

She clenched her fists to keep from screaming, even though some small part of her wanted to. "I wish you had never walked through the doors of Lakeside. I wish I’d never stepped foot on Kepler.  I wish I'd never met you. Whatever this–" she gestured between herself and Ace. “--is, I want no part of it. We’re done.”

She stormed out, blocking out whatever else Ace had to say to her.

Back on campus, she paced nervously in the journalism classroom, a painful lump in her throat.

“So what you're saying is... Ace manipulated us into having our school paper run a libelous hit piece on the one student trying to clean up our scandals,” Wes said, running his hands over his face. “This is so much worse than the cheating ring…”

“He played me,” Rosalyn said shakily. “I thought we had him on the ropes, but he wasn't even in the ring. I got too eager, I jumped the gun. This is all my fault.”

Wes shook his head. “No way. This isn’t your fault. You had no way of knowing… None of us did. This is on him. All of this.”

“No, I should have listened to you. I-I thought I could handle Ace on my own, a-and now…”

He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. “Hey, hey, hey… Don’t do that to yourself. This is not your fault at all. I fell for it too.”

Rosalyn buried her head against his chest, tears stinging her eyes. “What do we do… What are we gonna do now?”

Wes was uncomfortably quiet for a moment, rubbing her back.

“You said you didn't want to leave the board's vote to chance. Well, it's not up to chance anymore…” Wes murmured.

“The Council's next open session is tomorrow. If they vote in the proposal, it's over,” Rosalyn murmured.

That evening, Rosalyn sat alone in the gallery of the auditorium as the Council convened an open session. Wes offered to come inside with her, but she told him she didn’t want him to see her like this. He hung around on the steps, waiting for it all to end. Ace, looking unphased from Rosalyn’s outburst yesterday, brought up the proposal to close Lakeside.

“Now that Asher's put forth this motion, it is with a heavy heart that I forward it for a vote,” Ace said. “I still firmly believe that this school is a great place, a welcoming community with untapped potential. But with the recent cheating ring and the corruption of the student paper, it's clear that the school I represent has lost its way. It must be closed, for the sake of our district.”

“Amen to that!” Asher called out, only quieting down when a council member gave him a glare.

“This proposal requires a unanimous vote to pass. When your school is called, please state your vote, aye or nay. Hearst High…” Ace continued.

“Aye…” Kara seemed…disappointed, almost, as she cast her vote.

As each school was called, Rosayln felt the lump in her throat grow tighter and tighter.

“And finally, representing the school in question, my vote is…” Ace looked into the darkness of the auditorium, finding Rosalyn’s eyes. The corners of his lips formed the flicker of a smirk. “Aye…”

“A unanimous vote. The proposal will go on to the district board for consideration in one week,” Zero said. 

“Now, onto the next order of business..” Ace said casually. Rosalyn got up, storming out of City Hall as tears began to flood her eyes.

“Rosalyn!” Wes ran outside, jogging to catch up with her. “Hey! Don’t go...”

Rosalyn ignored his attempts to get her to slow down and kept running. Her body shook as she struggled to hold herself together. As she ran home, she tried to come with any plan, anything to stop what was already set in motion. Her rage and heartbreak burned through her thoughts.

Her father opened the door before she could unlock it.

"I thought you’d still be at that Council meeting– Rosalyn, are you alright?" Dr. Brinkwater asked. He took one look at her face and immediately wrapped her up in his arms. 

Rosalyn couldn't keep herself together anymore. The moment her father's arms encircled her, her heart shattered, and the tears poured out of her with heaving sobs. Dr.Brinkwater led her inside, helping her onto the couch as she cried.

It felt like an eternity. Every time she thought she was done, a fresh round of tears would erupt from the bottomless ocean of despair inside her. But eventually, the sobs finally faded, leaving behind only hiccups and sniffles. Her father handed her a tissue, and she wiped away the tear-streaked mess that was her face.

“I messed up,” she finally said.

“What do you mean, you messed up?” her father asked. He took her hands into his own, giving them a small squeeze.

Rosalyn took a shaky breath, not lifting her eyes to look at her dad. “I failed everyone. My friends, my classmates, the school… Lakeside is going to close, and it’s my fault. I was supposed to stop Ace… but he got one over on me like he always does!”

“Ace was behind all this?” Dr.Brinkwater asked.

She nodded. “The cheating ring, the scandal, the proposal to shut us down… It was all part of his plan. And he won.”

“Well, there has to be a way to stop this. The board hasn’t made their decision yet, so there must be something we can do.” Her dad said. "That boy forgets I run the board. I'll talk to my colleagues to see if we can shoot the proposal down.”

Rosalyn shook her head. "Ace might try to get you out of the way too," she sniffled. “He’s done it before.

Rosalyn grimaced at the reminder. “I guess you heard about me resigning,” she muttered, sitting at the table.

“Gotta say, it was a bit shocking to have to find out about it from a colleague showing me the newspaper during our meeting yesterday,” he said, cooking up some pancakes for himself. 

“I was gonna tell you, it’s… it’s just been a lot going on within these past 48 hours and I–”

“I understand, Rosebud,” he said. “Juggling everything that goes on at Lakeside AND dealing with the district council must have been too much for you.”

“What?” Rosalyn looked up from her pancakes with indignation. “That’s not why I resigned!”

“Oh?” Dr. Brinkwater started to work on his own pile of pancakes as he listened. “Well, I want to hear the full story from you. What happened?”

Rosalyn struggled to figure out how she could even begin to explain things to her father. After a long pause, she said, “My anger got the better of me. I was frustrated and stressed with the fact that my own classmates are just… so damn ungrateful!”

“Language, Rosalyn,” Dr.Brinkwater warned.

“I said some stuff that was never supposed to get broadcasted to my entire school, and they wanted to get me impeached, and that would’ve meant my school wouldn’t get a vote while they go through the proceedings. So I had to resign.”

“I’ve heard,” her father said, taking a bite out of his pancakes. “So, did you mean what you said?”

The question caught Rosalyn off guard a little. She took a deep breath and steeled herself. “Yeah. I did. Can you imagine working your butt off to build a school from the ground up and help everyone with even the dumbest requests and they still have the nerve to say you’re not doing enough?”

Dr.Brinkwater did not respond for a while, simply chewing and nodding along as Rosalyn began to rant on about her classmates for a few minutes. 

“Between you and me, Rosebud?” he finally said. “You’re absolutely right. Some of these kids are outright jackasses.”

She nearly choked on her food hearing that. “Are you supposed to say stuff like that?”

Dr.Brinkwater chuckled and replied, “Not in front of the kids’ parents, no. But this can stay between us, right?”

Rosalyn recovered and gave her father a small smile. “Yeah, I guess so. But what am I gonna do now?”

“From my understanding,” Dr.Brinkwater explained. “Now there’s a vacancy for the school district rep at Lakeside. I’m hoping they’ll make the right decision and pick someone they think will best represent them.”

“Yeah, because apparently I wasn’t good enough for them,” she muttered.

“Either way,” he continued. “You still have a lot of responsibilities at home base. You’ve been doing great so far. Don’t let a setback like this keep you from being your best you.”

“Thanks dad,” she said as she finished her breakfast.

As she began to leave the table, she heard her father say, “I was wondering, are you and that Ace guy still in touch? Sure, you might not be on the council anymore, but I figured you and him must have discussed other ways of being able to help your community.”

Rosalyn stiffened. 

“We’re working on something,” she said after a pause. “Ace always has a plan.”

“Well, that’s good to hear, sweetheart. Lakeside’s always been in capable hands.”

She said nothing more as she grabbed her bag for school and headed outside. She was surprised to find Ace’s car in front of her. The windows rolled down, revealing Ace at the wheel as he looked straight ahead.

“I have my own motorcycle, you know,” she said.

“Figured I’d give you a ride today,” he replied. “After all, we’re a couple as far as anyone else knows.”

As she reluctantly got into the shotgun seat of the car, she said, “There’s no one else around, who are you doing this for?”

“You think so little of me, Rosalyn,” he said, feigning hurt. “You’re right. There’s no one watching. No one to impress. This is for us.”

Rosalyn looked down at him, her expression softening a little. She sighed and asked, “Alright. But only because I don’t want to be late for class.”

The drive to Lakeside was mostly silent. As they drove, Rosalyn looked through the notifications on her phone. She’d gotten several individual texts from Payton, Julian, and Annie, as well as numerous group texts. After she got home last night, she’d been so drained from the night’s events that she’d collapsed into her bed moments after changing into her pajamas.

Most of the messages were about her and Ace at the party last night. She sighed and placed her phone in her pocket. She’d deal with them when she showed up to school.

“We made quite a splash last night, hmm?” she heard Ace comment. She looked up to find him still staring at the road ahead. “By the end of the week the whole district will know about us.”

“Yeah,” she said with an eye roll. “We’re all anyone will be talking about for weeks.”

“They’ll probably even forget about your little morning slip-up,” he said.

The mention of the morning announcement incident made Rosalyn’s shoulders stiffen, but she forced herself to remain calm.

“Oh, fuck off.” she grumbled.

"Relax, Rosie," he said, noticing her reaction. "It's in the past. Everyone will move on to the next big drama soon enough. But in the meantime, we can play up our little love story. Make it the talk of the town."

Rosalyn said nothing more as they pulled up in the parking lot of Lakeside, where clusters of students were hanging around and chatting.  Ace pulled into a spot and turned off the car. Rosalyn could feel a few eyes on her already, and she mentally braced herself for the inevitable barrage of whispers and stares. Ace was the first to get out, walking around the car to open Rosalyn’s door for her.

“My knight in shining armor,” she said with as much sarcasm as she could muster.

"Ready for our performance?" Ace whispered into her ear as he offered a hand to help her out.

Rosalyn steeled herself. She took his hand and stepped out of the car. As they walked across the parking lot, Rosalyn felt as if all eyes were on them.

Ace, on the other hand, seemed unfazed by the attention, enjoying the show. He had his hand on the small of her back, guiding her to the school entrance. Rosalyn rested her head on Ace’s shoulder as they entered the building. Ace responded by wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him.

The first person they run into is Wes. He grinned. "I was wondering when you two would've gotten together."

“I figured there would be… complications with her being on the council and me being her advisor, but since Rosalyn’s resigned, we don’t have to worry about that anymore. Isn’t that right, Rosie?”

Rosalyn gave a warm smile as she nuzzled closer to Ace. “That’s right. No more council business to get in the way of our relationship. In a weird way, that recording getting leaked was the best thing that happened to me.”

“You’ve always had a way of finding a good thing out of a bad situation,” Wes commented. “Well, I’ll leave you lovebirds alone, wouldn’t want to make you guys late for class.”

As Wes walked away, Ace looked at Rosalyn with a raised eyebrow.

“What?” She asked. Ace chuckled.

 “Just admiring your acting skills,” he said, still wearing a smirk. He stepped closer, his voice dropping to a low whisper. “You’re a natural, Rosalyn. You almost had me fooled, for a second there. Just a testament of how far you’ve come in this game.”

"ROSALYN!!!" The girl in question looked up to find her best friends Mia and Payton practically stampeding up to them.

"Rosalyn, we heard about what happened last night," Payton said.

"Blink twice if you want us to get you outta here," Mia said, eyeing Ace with a scowl. Their classmates surrounding them continued to watch the spectacle unfolding before them. Ace simply flashed a charming smile and held his head up.

“Mia, I’m fine,” Rosalyn spoke up. “Things have been a bit crazy lately but Ace and I talked things out, and we’re better than ever.”

She leaned in on the tips of her toes and gave Ace a kiss on the cheek for emphasis. He planted a kiss on her forehead in response, keeping his lips there for just a second too long before pulling away.

“Looks like we’ve sufficiently scandalized everyone,” he said, a hint of a smirk playing on his lips.

He looked back at Payton and Mia.

“Rosalyn, is this really what you want?” Payton asked. 

“Trust me, if I’m in any trouble here, you’ll be the first to know,” Rosalyn assured them. Before either of the girls could retort, the bell rang. 

“I better get Rosalyn to her class before she’s late,” Ace said. 

Rosalyn gave a small wave to her friends, and then Ace began steering her through the crowded corridor.

As they walked, Rosalyn couldn't shake the feeling of Ace's arm around her waist, his hand firm. They walked side by side, the hallway bustling with activity as other students made their way to class. Ace's touch at her waist was both comforting and unsettling. She couldn't forget that it was all a part of the charade, and yet, a small part of her couldn't help but feel... a little flustered.

She cast a sidelong glance at Ace, wondering if he felt it too.

“Aren’t YOU gonna be late to Kepler?” Rosalyn asked, casting a sideways glance at him. “I get that you wanna keep this devoted boyfriend charade up but I never figured it’d come at the cost of your academics.”

He turned his head to cast her a sly smirk. "You're not getting rid of me that easily, Rosalyn."

“Looks like I am now,” she commented as they arrived at the door of her AP Biology class. She gave him a wide smile as she pulled away from him. “Bye!”

The morning classes went on as usual, just with more whispering and pointing directed at her. She caught up with Julian to get lunch together. When they went to sit down at a table, the other students seated there got up to sit at another table. Rosalyn scoffed.

“They’re still mad, apparently,” she said.

“It'll be okay, Rosalyn. They just feel like you look down on everyone. They need time,” Julian assured her.

“Time is the one thing I don’t have right now,” Rosalyn sighed.

“Because of Ace?” Julian asked, his brows furrowing. “Speaking of which, what the heck happened at the party last night?”

Rosalyn picked at the lasagna on her plate. “It’s…Ace and I are dating.”

Julian choked on his broccoli. “You’re what?!”

Rosalyn shushed him. “Not here!”

“But why would you--?”

“It’s complicated, Julian, okay? I’ll tell you about it later.”

“Didn’t he swear revenge against this school and is trying to get it shut down?”

“Julian, shush!” she hissed. “I said we’ll talk about it later. And don’t go around talking about it to the others. Not until I’m ready.”

Julian stared down at her with concern. Behind him, Rosalyn saw the cafeteria doors swing open, and Max storms in with the entire football team.

“Julian! Where's Julian?! I want answers!” the rival football star roared. His eyes zeroed in at Rosalyn’s table and he made a beeline for them.

“What do you want, Max? Threatening us on our turf is getting a little old at this point,” Rosalyn said with a glare.

“Don't play dumb, Rosalyn. No one messes with Hearst and gets away with it! Especially not Julian.”

Julian stood up, getting in Max’s face.

 “What are you talking about? I didn't do anything!”

Max didn’t back down, jabbing a finger in Julian’s chest.

 “Admit it. You stole our state championship trophy!” he accused. “Right now, my dad is meeting with your principal. Your faculty is searching the whole campus for the trophy, and when they find it… You're toast, Julian.”

He emphasized his last sentence by slicing his thumb across his throat with a wicked grin. Rosalyn got in front of Julian, facing off against Max and the entire Hearst football team.

“You think Julian stole your trophy? Why?” she demanded.

“Julian said it himself! He said, and I quote, our trophy case will be empty!”

“Yeah, but-- I didn't mean-- we didn't do it!” Julian spluttered.

“Really? Then why did it say 'Hearst Sucks' on our lockers in red and gold... your school colors?”

“Hell if I know,” she scoffed. “But hey, whoever did this might have done you guys a favor making your school look less drab.”

There was a smattering of laughter in the cafeteria, but a sharp glare from Max silenced them.

“Get out of here, Max. You're not welcome.” Julian crossed his arms.

“Nah, me and my guys are gonna stick around. We want to be here when the trophy's found,” Max said, leading his football buddies out of the cafeteria. Rosalyn’s eyes narrowed as she watched the boys file out.

“This is not good,” she murmured.

“You gotta admit, it's pretty funny... they lost their biggest trophy! Props to whoever stole it,” the school’s basketball captain said with a chuckle.

“Be serious, we’re being searched!” Rosalyn chided.

“Ah, don't worry. I didn't steal their trophy. No big deal,” Julian said, crossing his arms over his head and stretching.

“It's not that simple. The trophy's one thing, but the graffiti points to us too. We’re being framed!”

“By who?” the captain asked. Rosalyn’s mind went back to the party, and how Ace got in between Julian and Max’s argument. How he watched Julian get dragged away into the crowd with an imperceptible look in his eyes.

“I have an idea…” she said with a scowl. Rosalyn rose to her feet. Julian glanced at her.

“Wait, where are you going?” he asked.

“Come on,” she commanded without answering his question. Once they were alone in the hallways, Julian rounded on her.

“Okay, you can’t just say you have an idea and then drag me around without giving more details. What’s going on?” Julian protested. "What the hell is this whole thing you've got going on with Ace?"

Rosalyn sighed and turned to face Julian. "I'll explain as we walk. Right now, we need to find that damn trophy and deal with Ace later."

“Whoa, slow down,” Julian said. “You think Ace is behind this?”

“This has to be. He stole the trophy from Hearst, and I'm betting he planted it somewhere on campus. And once the faculty finds it, we'll be blamed,” she said.

“But I thought you two were dating?”

“I told you, it’s complicated,” she huffed.

“I don't get it. What does Ace think framing us will do besides make us look bad?”

“That's exactly what he wants.  Ace can’t use the Council alone to shut down our school. But what he can do is have the Council ask the school board to vote on it.”

“...and they'll do it if our school is ruining the district's reputation, whether we're being framed or not,” Julian added.

“He was at the party last night. He saw you and Max go at it. He knows every kid in the district would believe it was us after that.”

“This is crazy,” Julian grumbled. “Why the hell are you even with him?”

Rosalyn let out a frustrated sigh. "I know it's complicated, and I have my reasons," she said evasively. "Just trust me, okay? But right now, we need to focus on finding that trophy."

They spotted a group of teachers checking Julian’s locker before moving on.

“There's no way we can search the whole campus faster than our teachers,” Julian said.

Think. Where would Ace put the trophy if he wanted to blame you…”

“Dude, we just saw them search it-”

“Not that one. My other one! In the locker room, where I keep my football gear!”

“Shit, we’ve gotta get to your locker room.”

Julian took Rosalyn by the hand and led her across the basketball court towards the boys locker room. A few teachers were found looking around for the trophy as a group of boys played a game of basketball.

“Ace hid that trophy in my locker. I just know it,” Julian grumbled as they walked through the court.

“You're the perfect fall guy, after that public fight. Everyone knows there's no love lost between you and Max,” she agreed.

“I just hope the faculty hasn't looked there yet... come on.” Julian pulled Rosalyn into a storage closet. Rosalyn listened carefully until the clacking cacophony of the teacher’s heels was no longer too close.

"If they see us looking for the trophy, we'll get stopped. How are we supposed to sneak across the basketball court?" Julian whispered

Rosalyn’s eyes darted around the dim storage closet, taking in the sports equipment and supplies. An idea came to her.

“Follow my lead,” she commanded. They continued to make their way across the court. When the P.E coach looked her way, Rosalyn swiped the basketball and took a shot at the hoop. The ball went in with a clean swish! The coach looked away, prompting Julian and Rosalyn to dash the rest of the way across the court.

When they burst into the locker room, Julian rushed to his locker and jammed in the locker combination. It opened, revealing a big, pristine trophy in all its glory.

"Found it," Rosalyn confirmed, her voice a low whisper. "You were right, Julian."

“This is unbelievable,” Julian said, shaking his head. "What do we do now?"

Rosalyn carefully lifted the shiny trophy out of the locker, glancing around the room.

"Now we have to make it off campus without getting caught," Rosalyn said.

“I’ll tell everyone to meet us at Pizza Shack,” he said, whipping out his phone as Rosalyn snatched the trophy. The two of them snuck outside into the parking lot, where there were teachers patrolling the area. Rosalyn was about to motion for Julian to follow her to her motorcycle before realizing something. 

“What’s wrong?” Julian asked, noticing Rosalyn’s hesitation.

“Ace drove me to school today…” Rosalyn groaned. “Which means I don’t have my motorcycle.”

“Crap,” Julian grumbled. “What are we supposed to do now? Run all the way there?”

“I guess. Just wait for the coast to be clear.”

“Great…” Julian groaned. Rosalyn tucked the trophy under her arm and proceeded to book it all the way to the pizzeria.

At the Pizza Shack, Rosalyn paced about with her brows furrowed as her friends discussed what to do with the trophy.

“So, we’ve got Ace to thank for this mess,” Nishan grumbled.

“More or less,” Rosalyn muttered. “We've got to get this trophy back to Hearst without anyone noticing…”

“We could do that…” Sakura said. “... or we could plant it at Kepler and get Ace caught!”

“I like that! Let's really stick it to Ace!” Mia agreed. “Sorry Rosalyn, but your little boyfriend needs to go down.”

“This isn’t about my… whatever it is I have with him,” Rosalyn interjected, exasperated. “Right now, we need to stick to the plan and get the trophy back where it belongs.”

“Taking the trophy back to Hearst is the safer option,” Nishan said. “We know the layout of Hearst pretty well, so we can probably bypass the faculty, even if they're on high-alert after the theft…”

“Hey, I don't mind making Max look stupid for trying to blame us for the missing trophy,” Julian said with a chuckle.

“It’s settled, then,” Rosalyn said. “We’re leaving the trophy at Hearst.”

“We better hurry, then,” Wes said.

Within a few minutes, the group snuck back to Hearst High. While Nishan distracted a group of teachers with a conversation about black holes, Julian, Rosalyn, and Wes snuck the trophy back into its case.

“Rest assured, Max. When I take a trophy from you, it'll be on the gridiron,” he said with a grin before following Rosalyn and the others away.

Rosalyn and her friends regrouped on campus.

“I’m still not sure why you’d decide to protect Ace after he just tried to frame us,” Mia said, placing her hands on her hips.

Rosalyn let out a frustrated sigh. “Look, I’m not protecting Ace. Trust me, I’m just as pissed off about this as you guys are. But we have to think this through rationally.”

“Oh, don’t give us that bullcrap, Rose,” Wes said, eying her suspiciously.

“I… what?”

“Rosalyn, come on. We know there’s something up with you and Ace suddenly dating after he showed you his true colors,” Wes said. Before Rosalyn could retort, he continued. “You didn’t honestly think I bought the lovey-dovey act between you two? Does he have dirt on you?”

"No, he doesn't," Rosalyn said defensively. "Look, I know how it looks, but I know what I’m doing.”

“Then explain it,” Julian said, crossing his arms. “Why on earth are you dating Ace?”

She huffed. “If you must know. We are dating, but not really.”

“Come again?” Nishan said incredulously.

“As far as the student body knows, we’re in love and everything’s fine,” Rosalyn explained.

“But in reality?” Julian led on.

Rosalyn let out a long sigh. “In reality, I’m only with him so I can keep an eye on him and figure out how to stop him,” she admitted. "And he wants to do the same with me."

“You’re dating him to spy on him?” Nishan said. “That’s so… Machiavellian.”

"In a way, yes,” Rosalyn said with a hint of guilt in her voice. "He knows I'm onto him as much as he's onto me. It's just a matter of who gets the upper hand."

"What a tangled web you weave," Nishan mumbled, shaking his head. Wes looked amused.

They get interrupted by an uproar of disappointment. Rosalyn and her friends turn to find the school’s principal talking to Max and the Hearst football team.

“What? That's a lie! I know Julian and Rosalyn took it! Check again!” Max demanded, fixing Rosalyn and her friends with a hard sneer. “Mark my words. We're gonna find that trophy.”

“Oh I’m sure!” Rosalyn called back.

The following day, Rosalyn texted Ace in advance that she would be driving herself to school from now on. He respected her wishes.

After an hour of calculus, Rosalyn stepped into the hallway to find a group of students gathered around the entrance and talking excitedly.

“What's going on over here?” she asked.

“We're planning a welcoming party for our newest classmate. You're just in time!” one classmate said. At least some people weren’t still mad at her.

“I'm thinking gold-encrusted abalone salad for the appetizer…” another murmured. Rosalyn fought back an eyeroll.

“As long as it comes with a side of school spirit, I'm in!” the third one added.

“Awfully extravagant for a new student. What’s their name?” Rosalyn asked. 

“Hm, the paperwork here says his name is... Bartholomew,” the first classmate said.

Rosalyn accidentally let an “Oh, fuck!” slip from her mouth. All three classmates looked at her with bewilderment. “I-I mean. I… I can’t believe it!”

The crowd of students parted, revealing the new student adjusting his cuffs.

“Rosalyn,” Ace said. “Aren’t you going to say hi?”

Ace strolled through the crowd of students welcoming him as he made his way to Rosalyn.

“Ace…” she fixed a grin at him. “You’re here.”

“I’ve missed you, Rosie. It’s been too long.”

“It’s only been less than a day,” she giggled, falling back into the role of devoted girlfriend as Ace took her hand and kissed the back of it. He pulled her close, and with everyone watching, Rosalyn moved in to kiss him on the lips.

Ace deepened the kiss for a brief moment before pulling away as the students around them whooped and hollered. He put his arm around Rosalyn as he looked around, the smile on his face not quite meeting his eyes.

The crowd let out a chorus of “awws”. Rosalyn pulled away and gave Ace a gentle smile.

“What are you doing here?” She asked.

“I hear this is the best school in the district. You just won the Hamilton Internship, didn't you? Why wouldn't I want to be here?”

Her smile dimmed and she moved in closer to Ace. “What's the deal, Ace? I know you're planning something.”

“It's not nice to accuse someone without proof, Rosalyn. I thought you would've learned that yesterday after Max Warren's visit,” he taunted. “Funny how that business with the trophy turned out, isn't it?”

“Not really. Someone found it at Hearst. It got misplaced. Big deal.”

“Mmm… that’s not the story going around,” Ace said. 

Just then, the previous three classmates surrounded Ace! The second classmate clapped him on the shoulders!

“Ace, my good man! You're not just the consummate politician, you're a hero, too!” he cheered.

“Yeah, the way you negotiated with that thief to return the trophy to Hearst was so cool!” the first classmate added.

Ace shot Rosalyn a wink.

“You've got to be kidding me.” she said. 

“I never kid. I happened to uncover proof that a classmate of mine at Kepler... a good friend in fact... had been the one who stole the trophy,” Ace continued. He then fixed his eyes on her, a fire in his eyes unseen by anyone else. “He was a very close friend of mine, Rosie. I really hate that I had to turn him in.”

“You're a true captain in choppy waters, Ace,” the third classmate said.

“You flatter me. I just did what needed doing. Couldn't let your school take the fall,” he said before pulling out a freshly minted ID card. “Or should I say... our school.”

Still smiling, Rosalyn pulled Ace away from her classmates. “Well, that’s awesome, let me show you around!”

Rosalyn led him away from the crowd of students. In a secluded spot, she spun him around until his back was against the lockers. The look on her face was stern and determined.

“Okay, what’s your deal?” she asked. “Why the hell would you leave Kepler?”

“I didn't. Not entirely,” he answered. “Your esteemed school offers a pottery class open to any student in the district. I just enrolled.”

“Here? You... you can't do this.”

“But Rosie,” he said. “You always said everyone was welcome here. Time to see if you mean it. Besides, I thought you’d be happy to see me around more often?”

“Oh cut the bullshit, Ace,” she snapped.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said with a smirk. “Maybe… I’m just here because I missed you.”

“Whatever you have planned, Ace, you know I'll stop you,” she warned him.

“I know you'll try. You still have that fire I saw in you that very first day,” he said with a smile. He closed in, cupping her face with his hand. “It's a shame. We could've accomplished such great things together, you and me....”

Rosalyn looked away, trying to ignore the way just one touch from his hands made her heart flutter. She pushed his hand away.

“Spare me the dramatics. If we can’t be something great it’s because YOU made it that way.”

“Anyways, they say if you want something done right, you just have to do it yourself,” he said with a sigh. Ace walks away, his footsteps echoing in the deserted hall.

“Ace…”

Without turning around, he said, “You know, I heard your school has an open Council seat. Maybe it's time I used all my political experience to run for office myself…”

With that, he walked into the pottery class, the door slamming shut behind him. Rosalyn looked beside herself and saw a poster of her face branded with a red X with the words “Take back your school!”

Rosalyn’s hands gripped the steering wheel even tighter as she pulled up in front of a bright house booming with music. She sat there in the car for a few minutes staring ahead as she steeled herself to go inside and face her Brutus.

The sound of Julian clearing his throat jolted her out of her stupor.

“Uh, Rose? You ready to head inside yet?”

“Yeah, yeah, sure. I just… I’m getting myself ready.”

Julian reached out and placed a steady hand on the girl’s shoulder. “If you want to go home instead, I’m sure Payton will understand.”

Rosalyn looked up and shook her head. “No, I’m fine. I need to do this.”

Rosalyn and Julian entered the house and were instantly surrounded by a cacophony of music, laughter, and shouting. Rosalyn’s face tightened slightly at the noise, but she continued to shake it off. Payton spotted the two of them and ran over with a wide grin.

“Rosalyn! Julian! You came!” She said excitedly.

“We're not here to party, Payton. Where is he?” Julian asked bluntly. Payton’s smile went out like a blown candle as she sobered.

“Ace? Right over there by the punch bowl. I've been working up the nerve to dump the whole thing over his head.”

The mental image of her boyfriend sopping wet with punch made one end of Rosalyn’s lips quirk up slightly, only for them to drop once her eyes locked in on Ace sweet-talking a group of students. For a split second, his eyes met hers and everything else around them was blocked out. Ace resumed shaking hands and chatting, shattering the immersion.

“Wait here, guys. I'll be right back,” she said, making a beeline for Ace. Julian stopped her.

“Careful, Rosalyn. If there's anyone who can handle Ace, it's you... but you've been burned before. If you want me to back you up, I'm there.”

He emphasized his point by joining his fist with his palm together. 

“Thanks, but no thanks. I have to do this myself,” Rosalyn assured him, squeezing his hand. She took a deep breath and kept walking towards Ace. This time, when he spotted Rosalyn in the crowd, he lit up.

“Rosalyn, How's it going? Heard you're having trouble in paradise.”

Rosalyn kept her steely gaze focused on Ace, ignoring the stares and whispers of other students. She beckoned for him to follow her, and soon she could hear his footsteps trailing behind hers. Rosalyn and Ace found themselves outside, where it was much quieter and open.

“It’s been a hell of a week,” Rosalyn finally said, not looking at him.

“So I’ve heard. I have to say, I'm stunned you resigned. Dodge the impeachment, make sure your school still has a vote on the Council, even if it means throwing yourself under the bus…” 

She could feel his gaze against the side of her face as he spoke.

“I did what I had to.”

“Smart play. In fact, I've never been more proud of you,” he said. At this, Rosalyn scowled. She fixed her face before finally looking up to meet his gaze. Her expression softened, seeing the boy, who put his jacket over her sleeping frame on the nights she spent hours going over hundreds of proposals, silhouetted in the soft moonlight. 

“Ace, listen. Whatever went wrong between us, I'm sorry. I know as well as anyone how hard you worked for that White House internship-”

“No, you don't know. You couldn't know. That's the point. Nobody at your school has a clue how hard I worked. You think you can show up on an empty lot and win everything,” he hissed venomously.

“I don’t think that, but-”

“See, it's not you I have a problem with, Rosie. It's your whole school. It's what you all represent.”

“Don’t interrupt me, Ace,” she cut in darkly. Ace’s eyes widened, but he remained silent as long as she spoke.  “I came out here because… despite everything, I wanted to try and make things right with you.”

“I told you. Your school is finished. The Council is mine. Your resignation doesn't change a thing.”

Rosalyn mentally cursed herself as Ace took a sip of his punch. 

“Ace…we were friends…more than that,” she said softly. Ace looked away from her, his face conflicted. “You can act like you were just manipulating me, but it's not true. Maybe you needed something from me too, but that belief you had in me was real. It meant something. I know you still care. For what it's worth, I'm sorry we hurt you. I hope it's not too late.”

Rosalyn stepped forward and placed her hand on his chest. She could almost see Ace's heart beating under her fingertips. She was sure he felt it too, that connection they could never quite shake. He pulled back, closing his eyes.

“Don't start that. You don’t get to talk about 'what we had' as if you weren't the one who tore it all apart. It doesn't change anything,” Ace bit out again, but there was much less heat behind it this time. He looked down at her, the hard lines on his face starting to soften. “It is too late…”

He turned away, rubbing a hand over his face. The sound of music and laughter from the party inside felt painfully distant. For just a second, Ace looked lost. Rosalyn stood her ground, refusing to let him get any wiggle room.

“Maybe it is. But I'm not giving up. On you, or this school. You can try and destroy us, you can try and tear everything down...” she said firmly. “But I'm not giving up on you. Not until I’m forced to stop.”

He closed his eyes again.

“I’ve always admired your fire,” he said after a long pause.

“Then you know I won't let myself get burned again. I won't let you win.”

“Maybe not,” he said, a hint of a smile at the corner of his lips. As he started to walk away, Rosalyn called out to get his attention one last time.

"Wait!"

He turned back around, looking at her expectantly.

“What is it?”

Rosalyn froze, unsure of what to say. There was still so much left unsaid between them. She took a step closer to him again. The words died in her mouth, a graveyard of unspoken words on her tongue.

They get interrupted by a voice at the front door.

“There you are, Rosalyn!” Rosalyn and Ace turned around to see her friend Annie leaning on the door. She looked between the two of them standing at the porch. “Everything alright?”

“Everything’s fine. Just a little chat,” Rosalyn said quickly. She was thankful for the interruption, but not happy about the questioning look Annie was giving her.

"I... alright. I'm just surprised to see you and... Ace out here together. When he showed up all by himself I figured you two umm...broke up.Because of... y'know...."

"Broke up?" Ace repeated. He almost laughed, but caught himself. Rosalyn shot him a warning glance.

“We didn’t break up,” Rosalyn found herself saying before her words registered in her brain. It was technically true. In the midst of everything that had happened these past few days it never occurred to Rosalyn to officially end things.

"We didn't," Ace echoed. Even his carefully composed voice had a hint of surprise in it this time.

Annie looked between both of them again, as if searching for something more to say, but she appeared to be tongue tied. A few long moments went by in awkward silence, but thankfully, she left without saying anything further.

Rosalyn looked back at Ace, who had a grin starting to form on his face.

“What?” she asked with indignation.

"You were just so quick to correct your friend and say that we didn't break up. I'm touched." Ace smirked. “Well now we have to keep up the act.”

"An act? What do you mean?" she asked, a mixture of confusion and suspicion on her face.

"You know, for the sake of appearances. Keeping up the act of still being together," he said breezily. Rosalyn's eyes were still narrowed at him.

“You said it was too late for us, Ace. Why do you suddenly care now?” She asked. “What’s in it for you?”

He leaned back against the railing. His demeanor was easygoing, but Rosalyn knew there had to be an angle to his suggestion. There was always a reason behind his every move.

“Appearances. Like I said, it’d be a shame to let people think our relationship ended on a sour note after a scandal,” he said. “It looks bad for me, and it looks bad for you.”

Rosalyn considered his words for a moment, still suspicious of his intentions. She considered her options for a moment. Ace obviously wasn’t going to let go of his goal of destroying Lakeside, so she’d have to find another way to stop him. Maybe staying close to him as his pretend girlfriend would put her at an advantage…

"Alright," she said slowly. "But just one thing."

“Hmm?”

“I’m still going to fight against whatever you have planned for Lakeside every step of the way,” Rosalyn stated flatly. If anything, Ace's smile only grew wider.

"I didn’t expect any less."

Suddenly, Rosalyn heard shouting. Looking back inside the house, she spotted Julian and Max squaring off, students surrounding them, egging them on. Ace quickly dropped from her mind as she rushed over.

“You know I'm right, Julian. Rosalyn has always been a loser, but now your whole school knows it,” Max jeered.

“Walk away, Max, if you know what's good for you,” Julian warned, crossing his arms across his broad chest.

“Yeah, you don't know what you're talking about!” Payton added.

“Really? So Rosalyn didn't resign from the Council because everyone turned on her?” Max taunted, his eyes fixated on Rosalyn as she approached. At this, Julian steps forward in front of Rosalyn with his fists balled in anticipation. Rosalyn moves in front of him, fixing a steely gaze on the bully.

“That's enough. Max, you got something to say, you can say it to me,” she said.

“Rosalyn! You actually showed your face in public. Didn't think you'd have the guts. How's it feel to be an outcast in a school full of nobodies? Seriously, your school is for kids nobody else wanted... and now even they don't want you.” he smirked, looking down at her.

Rosalyn gritted her teeth, her anger starting to get the best of her.

"You don't know anything," she said, her voice quivering slightly. Before Max could respond with another scathing taunt, someone crossed in front of them.

“I think you underestimate Rosalyn’s value to Lakeside,” she was surprised to hear Ace say.

The room seemed to go silent, everyone's attention now focusing on Ace. He was now standing tall beside Rosalyn.

He took a step forward, drawing closer to Max. The smirk on his face was gone, replaced with an intense gaze.

Max seemed unphased. "You're Ace, huh? I'm surprised you'd even want to be around Rosalyn now. Kinda seems like it’d be bad for your rep."

"I don't let other people make judgements for me," he said simply. "Rosalyn’s worth doesn't diminish just because you say it does."

Max rolled his eyes.

"What, are you her boyfriend or something? Gonna go down with the ship?" Max mocked.

“I am, actually,” he said firmly, taking Rosalyn’s hand in his own. Out of the corner of her eye, Rosalyn could see Julian tense up. 

“She called her own classmates ungrateful and entitled. Guess she wasn’t as goody two-shoes as she made everyone believe,” Max said. Rosalyn bristled at the reminder. Ace's fingers tightened around Rosalyn's, a silent reassurance.

"People make mistakes, but that doesn't define who they are,” he said, his gaze still fixed on Max. "Rosalyn has principles and she sticks to them. Those are admirable qualities, not signs of weakness.”

Max huffed in annoyance. He eyed Ace and Rosalyn’s joined hands with disdain.

“Whatever,” he muttered. He then smirked and straightened up as he turned his attention to Rosalyn in particular. “ Your school's falling apart, all because of you. That'll make beating you at the next football game even easier.”

“Say that again! I dare you,” Julian warned, stepping forward. Rosalyn reached out to pull Julian back  as the students around them started to cheer and yell for a fight. Max smirked at the two of them.

"I'm thinking we need to make some room in our trophy case, with how much we're going to dominate you this year," Max continued, mocking Julian.

“Go ahead! Your trophy case is gonna be empty!” Julian shot back. Some of Rosalyn’s friends stepped in to pull Julian away from Max. Rosalyn noticed Ace was fixated on Julian’s rapidly disappearing figure. There was something in his eyes Rosalyn had a hard time picking up on. She shook her head and made her way back outside. Ace soon appeared beside her.

As they stepped out into the night air, the quietness seemed almost deafening after the raucous noise inside. Ace stood beside Rosalyn silently, the shadows casting dark shapes on his face.

There was a tense pause as they both caught their breaths. Rosalyn looked over at him, her gaze uncertain.

“You can let go of my hand now," she mumbled.

Ace looked down at their joined hands as if surprised that he was still holding onto her. He slowly let go, but not before his thumb grazed her knuckles lightly. He seemed lost in thought for a moment before speaking.

"You alright?" he asked, his voice softer than before. Rosalyn didn't respond right away. Her mind was still reeling from the events that had just unfolded.

"There's no one here, Ace. We can stop pretending now."

Ace paused for a moment, and Rosalyn was certain she saw a flicker of disappointment in his eyes before it was quickly masked by an emotionless look.

"Right," he said, his expression unreadable. There was a pause before he added, "You know, we're going to get an Oscar for that performance in there."

Despite her feelings being conflicted, Rosalyn couldn't help a small smile forming on her lips.

"You're getting a little too much into this fake boyfriend thing," she commented.

Ace shrugged casually, but the corner of his mouth curled up in a sly grin.

"When I commit to something, I commit fully," he replied. "It's all in the details."

“So I’m told.”

“You were told correctly.”

A hint of amusement flashed in his eyes before he looked away, his expression returning to a neutral mask. They stood in silence for a few moments, the night air growing colder around them.

Rosalyn shifted awkwardly, the silence between them stretching on. She couldn't help the nagging feeling that there was something Ace wanted to say, but he was holding back. Finally, unable to bear the tension anymore, she broke the silence.

"Why did you step in back there? I thought you wanted me to look bad with that recording you leaked at my school."

Ace glanced at her, his gaze unreadable. He took a moment before responding, choosing his words carefully.

"I told you. It was never you. I want your school to fall. There’s a difference," he said bluntly. "But watching you get verbally kicked around didn't sit well with me. Fake girlfriend or not."

"Oh," Rosalyn mumbled, surprised by his honesty. She hadn't expected him to admit that. The silence fell between them again, but this time it felt less tense, more contemplative. Rosalyn wrapped her arms around herself, slightly shivering. Suddenly, she could feel someone slipping something around her shoulders. Looking down, she saw that Ace had draped his jacket over her.

"You look cold," he said, his voice still nonchalant, though his eyes betrayed his concern. Rosalyn pulled the jacket closer around her, the warmth instantly soothing the chill she hadn’t even realized.

“Thanks…” she murmured, her heart stirring.

Ace just nodded in response, shoving his hands back into his pockets, his gaze returning to the distance. The silence that followed was less uncomfortable this time, almost comfortable.

"You need a ride?" he asked suddenly.

“I came here in my car. I’ll be fine.” she assured him. Ace didn’t push the subject. 

"Suit yourself," he said with a shrug. He stood there for a moment, as if uncertain whether to leave or say something more. Rosalyn gave Ace back his jacket and headed back to her car.

Her thoughts were a chaotic jumble with the night's events replaying in her mind. With Ace out of sight, she was able to bring herself back down to earth and process what had happened.

Rosalyn’s hands gripped the steering wheel even tighter as she pulled up in front of a bright house booming with music. She sat there in the car for a few minutes staring ahead as she steeled herself to go inside and face her Brutus.

The sound of Julian clearing his throat jolted her out of her stupor.

“Uh, Rose? You ready to head inside yet?”

“Yeah, yeah, sure. I just… I’m getting myself ready.”

Julian reached out and placed a steady hand on the girl’s shoulder. “If you want to go home instead, I’m sure Payton will understand.”

Rosalyn looked up and shook her head. “No, I’m fine. I need to do this.”

Rosalyn and Julian entered the house and were instantly surrounded by a cacophony of music, laughter, and shouting. Rosalyn’s face tightened slightly at the noise, but she continued to shake it off. Payton spotted the two of them and ran over with a wide grin.

“Rosalyn! Julian! You came!” She said excitedly.

“We're not here to party, Payton. Where is he?” Julian asked bluntly. Payton’s smile went out like a blown candle as she sobered.

“Ace? Right over there by the punch bowl. I've been working up the nerve to dump the whole thing over his head.”

The mental image of her boyfriend sopping wet with punch made one end of Rosalyn’s lips quirk up slightly, only for them to drop once her eyes locked in on Ace sweet-talking a group of students. For a split second, his eyes met hers and everything else around them was blocked out. Ace resumed shaking hands and chatting, shattering the immersion.

“Wait here, guys. I'll be right back,” she said, making a beeline for Ace. Julian stopped her.

“Careful, Rosalyn. If there's anyone who can handle Ace, it's you... but you've been burned before. If you want me to back you up, I'm there.”

He emphasized his point by joining his fist with his palm together. 

“Thanks, but no thanks. I have to do this myself,” Rosalyn assured him, squeezing his hand. She took a deep breath and kept walking towards Ace. This time, when he spotted Rosalyn in the crowd, he lit up.

“Rosalyn, How's it going? Heard you're having trouble in paradise.”

Rosalyn kept her steely gaze focused on Ace, ignoring the stares and whispers of other students. She beckoned for him to follow her, and soon she could hear his footsteps trailing behind hers. Rosalyn and Ace found themselves outside, where it was much quieter and open.

“It’s been a hell of a week,” Rosalyn finally said, not looking at him.

“So I’ve heard. I have to say, I'm stunned you resigned. Dodge the impeachment, make sure your school still has a vote on the Council, even if it means throwing yourself under the bus…” 

She could feel his gaze against the side of her face as he spoke.

“I did what I had to.”

“Smart play. In fact, I've never been more proud of you,” he said. At this, Rosalyn scowled. She fixed her face before finally looking up to meet his gaze. Her expression softened, seeing the boy, who put his jacket over her sleeping frame on the nights she spent hours going over hundreds of proposals, silhouetted in the soft moonlight. 

“Ace, listen. Whatever went wrong between us, I'm sorry. I know as well as anyone how hard you worked for that White House internship-”

“No, you don't know. You couldn't know. That's the point. Nobody at your school has a clue how hard I worked. You think you can show up on an empty lot and win everything,” he hissed venomously.

“I don’t think that, but-”

“See, it's not you I have a problem with, Rosie. It's your whole school. It's what you all represent.”

“Don’t interrupt me, Ace,” she cut in darkly. Ace’s eyes widened, but he remained silent as long as she spoke.  “I came out here because… despite everything, I wanted to try and make things right with you.”

“I told you. Your school is finished. The Council is mine. Your resignation doesn't change a thing.”

Rosalyn mentally cursed herself as Ace took a sip of his punch. 

“Ace…we were friends…more than that,” she said softly. Ace looked away from her, his face conflicted. “You can act like you were just manipulating me, but it's not true. Maybe you needed something from me too, but that belief you had in me was real. It meant something. I know you still care. For what it's worth, I'm sorry we hurt you. I hope it's not too late.”

Rosalyn stepped forward and placed her hand on his chest. She could almost see Ace's heart beating under her fingertips. She was sure he felt it too, that connection they could never quite shake. He pulled back, closing his eyes.

“Don't start that. You don’t get to talk about 'what we had' as if you weren't the one who tore it all apart. It doesn't change anything,” Ace bit out again, but there was much less heat behind it this time. He looked down at her, the hard lines on his face starting to soften. “It is too late…”

He turned away, rubbing a hand over his face. The sound of music and laughter from the party inside felt painfully distant. For just a second, Ace looked lost. Rosalyn stood her ground, refusing to let him get any wiggle room.

“Maybe it is. But I'm not giving up. On you, or this school. You can try and destroy us, you can try and tear everything down...” she said firmly. “But I'm not giving up on you. Not until I’m forced to stop.”

He closed his eyes again.

“I’ve always admired your fire,” he said after a long pause.

“Then you know I won't let myself get burned again. I won't let you win.”

“Maybe not,” he said, a hint of a smile at the corner of his lips. As he started to walk away, Rosalyn called out to get his attention one last time.

"Wait!"

He turned back around, looking at her expectantly.

“What is it?”

Rosalyn froze, unsure of what to say. There was still so much left unsaid between them. She took a step closer to him again. The words died in her mouth, a graveyard of unspoken words on her tongue.

They get interrupted by a voice at the front door.

“There you are, Rosalyn!” Rosalyn and Ace turned around to see her friend Annie leaning on the door. She looked between the two of them standing at the porch. “Everything alright?”

“Everything’s fine. Just a little chat,” Rosalyn said quickly. She was thankful for the interruption, but not happy about the questioning look Annie was giving her.

"I... alright. I'm just surprised to see you and... Ace out here together. When he showed up all by himself I figured you two umm...broke up.Because of... y'know...."

"Broke up?" Ace repeated. He almost laughed, but caught himself. Rosalyn shot him a warning glance.

“We didn’t break up,” Rosalyn found herself saying before her words registered in her brain. It was technically true. In the midst of everything that had happened these past few days it never occurred to Rosalyn to officially end things.

"We didn't," Ace echoed. Even his carefully composed voice had a hint of surprise in it this time.

Annie looked between both of them again, as if searching for something more to say, but she appeared to be tongue tied. A few long moments went by in awkward silence, but thankfully, she left without saying anything further.

Rosalyn looked back at Ace, who had a grin starting to form on his face.

“What?” she asked with indignation.

"You were just so quick to correct your friend and say that we didn't break up. I'm touched." Ace smirked. “Well now we have to keep up the act.”

"An act? What do you mean?" she asked, a mixture of confusion and suspicion on her face.

"You know, for the sake of appearances. Keeping up the act of still being together," he said breezily. Rosalyn's eyes were still narrowed at him.

“You said it was too late for us, Ace. Why do you suddenly care now?” She asked. “What’s in it for you?”

He leaned back against the railing. His demeanor was easygoing, but Rosalyn knew there had to be an angle to his suggestion. There was always a reason behind his every move.

“Appearances. Like I said, it’d be a shame to let people think our relationship ended on a sour note after a scandal,” he said. “It looks bad for me, and it looks bad for you.”

Rosalyn considered his words for a moment, still suspicious of his intentions. She considered her options for a moment. Ace obviously wasn’t going to let go of his goal of destroying Lakeside, so she’d have to find another way to stop him. Maybe staying close to him as his pretend girlfriend would put her at an advantage…

"Alright," she said slowly. "But just one thing."

“Hmm?”

“I’m still going to fight against whatever you have planned for Lakeside every step of the way,” Rosalyn stated flatly. If anything, Ace's smile only grew wider.

"I didn’t expect any less."

Suddenly, Rosalyn heard shouting. Looking back inside the house, she spotted Julian and Max squaring off, students surrounding them, egging them on. Ace quickly dropped from her mind as she rushed over.

“You know I'm right, Julian. Rosalyn has always been a loser, but now your whole school knows it,” Max jeered.

“Walk away, Max, if you know what's good for you,” Julian warned, crossing his arms across his broad chest.

“Yeah, you don't know what you're talking about!” Payton added.

“Really? So Rosalyn didn't resign from the Council because everyone turned on her?” Max taunted, his eyes fixated on Rosalyn as she approached. At this, Julian steps forward in front of Rosalyn with his fists balled in anticipation. Rosalyn moves in front of him, fixing a steely gaze on the bully.

“That's enough. Max, you got something to say, you can say it to me,” she said.

“Rosalyn! You actually showed your face in public. Didn't think you'd have the guts. How's it feel to be an outcast in a school full of nobodies? Seriously, your school is for kids nobody else wanted... and now even they don't want you.” he smirked, looking down at her.

Rosalyn gritted her teeth, her anger starting to get the best of her.

"You don't know anything," she said, her voice quivering slightly. Before Max could respond with another scathing taunt, someone crossed in front of them.

“I think you underestimate Rosalyn’s value to Lakeside,” she was surprised to hear Ace say.

The room seemed to go silent, everyone's attention now focusing on Ace. He was now standing tall beside Rosalyn.

He took a step forward, drawing closer to Max. The smirk on his face was gone, replaced with an intense gaze.

Max seemed unphased. "You're Ace, huh? I'm surprised you'd even want to be around Rosalyn now. Kinda seems like it’d be bad for your rep."

"I don't let other people make judgements for me," he said simply. "Rosalyn’s worth doesn't diminish just because you say it does."

Max rolled his eyes.

"What, are you her boyfriend or something? Gonna go down with the ship?" Max mocked.

“I am, actually,” he said firmly, taking Rosalyn’s hand in his own. Out of the corner of her eye, Rosalyn could see Julian tense up. 

“She called her own classmates ungrateful and entitled. Guess she wasn’t as goody two-shoes as she made everyone believe,” Max said. Rosalyn bristled at the reminder. Ace's fingers tightened around Rosalyn's, a silent reassurance.

"People make mistakes, but that doesn't define who they are,” he said, his gaze still fixed on Max. "Rosalyn has principles and she sticks to them. Those are admirable qualities, not signs of weakness.”

Max huffed in annoyance. He eyed Ace and Rosalyn’s joined hands with disdain.

“Whatever,” he muttered. He then smirked and straightened up as he turned his attention to Rosalyn in particular. “ Your school's falling apart, all because of you. That'll make beating you at the next football game even easier.”

“Say that again! I dare you,” Julian warned, stepping forward. Rosalyn reached out to pull Julian back  as the students around them started to cheer and yell for a fight. Max smirked at the two of them.

"I'm thinking we need to make some room in our trophy case, with how much we're going to dominate you this year," Max continued, mocking Julian.

“Go ahead! Your trophy case is gonna be empty!” Julian shot back. Some of Rosalyn’s friends stepped in to pull Julian away from Max. Rosalyn noticed Ace was fixated on Julian’s rapidly disappearing figure. There was something in his eyes Rosalyn had a hard time picking up on. She shook her head and made her way back outside. Ace soon appeared beside her.

As they stepped out into the night air, the quietness seemed almost deafening after the raucous noise inside. Ace stood beside Rosalyn silently, the shadows casting dark shapes on his face.

There was a tense pause as they both caught their breaths. Rosalyn looked over at him, her gaze uncertain.

“You can let go of my hand now," she mumbled.

Ace looked down at their joined hands as if surprised that he was still holding onto her. He slowly let go, but not before his thumb grazed her knuckles lightly. He seemed lost in thought for a moment before speaking.

"You alright?" he asked, his voice softer than before. Rosalyn didn't respond right away. Her mind was still reeling from the events that had just unfolded.

"There's no one here, Ace. We can stop pretending now."

Ace paused for a moment, and Rosalyn was certain she saw a flicker of disappointment in his eyes before it was quickly masked by an emotionless look.

"Right," he said, his expression unreadable. There was a pause before he added, "You know, we're going to get an Oscar for that performance in there."

Despite her feelings being conflicted, Rosalyn couldn't help a small smile forming on her lips.

"You're getting a little too much into this fake boyfriend thing," she commented.

Ace shrugged casually, but the corner of his mouth curled up in a sly grin.

"When I commit to something, I commit fully," he replied. "It's all in the details."

“So I’m told.”

“You were told correctly.”

A hint of amusement flashed in his eyes before he looked away, his expression returning to a neutral mask. They stood in silence for a few moments, the night air growing colder around them.

Rosalyn shifted awkwardly, the silence between them stretching on. She couldn't help the nagging feeling that there was something Ace wanted to say, but he was holding back. Finally, unable to bear the tension anymore, she broke the silence.

"Why did you step in back there? I thought you wanted me to look bad with that recording you leaked at my school."

Ace glanced at her, his gaze unreadable. He took a moment before responding, choosing his words carefully.

"I told you. It was never you. I want your school to fall. There’s a difference," he said bluntly. "But watching you get verbally kicked around didn't sit well with me. Fake girlfriend or not."

"Oh," Rosalyn mumbled, surprised by his honesty. She hadn't expected him to admit that. The silence fell between them again, but this time it felt less tense, more contemplative. Rosalyn wrapped her arms around herself, slightly shivering. Suddenly, she could feel someone slipping something around her shoulders. Looking down, she saw that Ace had draped his jacket over her.

"You look cold," he said, his voice still nonchalant, though his eyes betrayed his concern. Rosalyn pulled the jacket closer around her, the warmth instantly soothing the chill she hadn’t even realized.

“Thanks…” she murmured, her heart stirring.

Ace just nodded in response, shoving his hands back into his pockets, his gaze returning to the distance. The silence that followed was less uncomfortable this time, almost comfortable.

"You need a ride?" he asked suddenly.

“I came here in my car. I’ll be fine.” she assured him. Ace didn’t push the subject. 

"Suit yourself," he said with a shrug. He stood there for a moment, as if uncertain whether to leave or say something more. Rosalyn gave Ace back his jacket and headed back to her car.

Her thoughts were a chaotic jumble with the night's events replaying in her mind. With Ace out of sight, she was able to bring herself back down to earth and process what had happened.