TEN

After cutting a couple of holes through the white ice, Scarlet Sapphira removed her clothes, then gracefully dove into the black waters beneath.

Bubbles of life escaped her nostrils as she swam through the waters, then resurfaced for air about a minute later, cold most rising from her skin and hair.

She dove back down and spent several minutes within the water, ignoring the phone she could fully hear ringing.

After about three quarters of an hour, she went to see twelve missed calls from the triplets, so called them back.

She casually lay on the snow, listening to her Aunt's daughter as she spoke, slightly nodded, then stood up, it was time to leave...

***

When Jack Johnson had clicked that button through the hole in the floor Luis himself had never realised, he showed us her collection and I dropped my jaw to see the only amount of money she had taken from me was twenty dollars...I totally realized when she did though, just kept it to myself.

It seemed that she only took a proportional amount to the amount of money you actually possessed and of course mine was twenty dollars and even Junior had more, typical.

I realized she didn't only keep money, she kept photos of intricate balancing and engineering mechanisms she had made before, in a grass filled environment, and none of us had realised, she also had drawings, songs, her own hair for some reason and even...her stunning original best results.

I looked at everything before me till someone asked,"Found anything interesting yet?"

We almost jumped for fear, not all of us though, myself mainly, then looked back at Scarlet Sapphira and I asked,"Scarlet Sapphira, did you do all this?"

"Yes, including making the secret lock to keep them private."She said, emphasis on the last word.

"B...but why didn't you ever tell us?"Rose asked.

"Because I didn't want any of you to make a fuss over it, which you are doing right now dad."

I stopped stuffing the pictures in my pockets then smiled nervously as she sighed then said,"You can take whatever you want, everything in fact, just leave me to sleep."

She pushed us all out of the room, then banged the door and slumped to the floor and sighed.

There was a gentle knock on the door and she looked through the peephole to see Ruby.

She slightly opened the door as Ruby said,"I'm sorry we never listened, I hope you'll forgive us."

Scarlet Sapphira nodded then closed the door and slumped on her bed...

Later that evening, Jack Johnson was writing in his twelfth journal when he looked to his side and saw his sister.

Fear gripped his heart as she casually sat beside him and asked if there was enough room on the bed, he urgently moved over and she sat beside him and reclined on the back of the bed.

"I'm sorry for telling on you... again."

She didn't respond and he squinted his eyes for a few seconds, after realising he wasn't going to find anything, he just gave up then continued to write as she spontaneously asked,"Do you think I'm on drugs?"

He was silent till she said,"I'm not mad Jack."

He shook his head and said,"I trust you."

She looked at him then asked,"Then why didn't you tell them? You're a terrible liar."

"I'm sorry, I...we were just so worried about you since we didn't know where you were more than half of each day, I don't know what came over me."

"...the Mathalon is tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, but you said you wouldn't come."

"I said I wouldn't play, I didn't say I wouldn't come, why should I miss it?"

"Because it's filled with freaks like me?"

"Dude, look at me, if anyone saw the two of us together, I will be the first declared freak, don't take it to heart, and I will not miss any of your competitions for the world."

"Honest?"

"Honest."She spoke,"So do you need a sleeping partner again?"

"...nah, I'm good."

She gave him a sweet smile, then walked out through the window.

***

Akane spoke with someone on the phone in ultimate seclusion, saying,"Really? Again? ~sigh~What about next month? Oh, alright...next year...again."

She heard a noise then hung up and pounced on Jack Johnson and was about to knock him out when he begged her not to hurt him and when she realised whom he was, she sighed, dusted his clothes and asked,"Jack, what are you doing here?"

"I saw you going into the underground parking lot and felt your anxiety and hope, I just wanted to check on you."

"I'm fine, you don't need to check on me, don't you have a sister to trail behind or something?"

"You're mad...whom was it?"

She was silent for a few seconds and knowing full well that he couldn't keep a secret, she spoke,"My manager, he said a relative of mine I haven't seen in years was coming to live here, three years ago, but everything bad in the universe decided it would be a good idea to rain on my parade, every time."

"I'm sorry and believe it or not, but I could not in any way imagine how it must feel being let down again and again like that, it happens in my home too, my sister feels it, my parents feel it, my aunts and uncle feel it and even my cousin feels it, and though I feel it too, I haven't experienced it before, so it's just a hollow representation of what they're going through with no significant meaning, but you'll get through this and the person will come soon."

She smiled then hugged him with a thank you then they heard clapping from behind.

Jack Johnson gasped when he saw Scarlet Sapphira jeering for them, then spoke,"So you couldn't get to me, now you're going for my brother? That's rich."

"Scarlet, it's not what it looks like."Jack Johnson said.

"No, fraternise and frolic all you want, but if you dare hurt my little brother in the least, I will hunt you down and hurt you and hurt you bad, no matter how much you beg, no matter how loud you scream, I'll make you regret ever messing with me."

Scarlet Sapphira then walked away and Jack Johnson apologized to Akane then ran after Scarlet Sapphira, trying to explain, but when they were out of reach, she turned to him and yelled,"Do you know how worried I was when that Garden snake dude told me that you weren't in the bus?! I searched everywhere for you only to find you doing your little love and lock with the likes of her! You could have literally picked anyone, anyone else!"

"But what is your problem with each other? She hasn't ever hurt anyone...maybe no one but you."

Scarlet Sapphira shook her head and stormed off then he felt a heavy pang of guilt and regret fall of his shoulders as he fell from the impact.

He cried on the floor till Akane came to help, but he yelled at her to leave him alone, after all, she was the reason his sister had, for the first time ever, become mad at him.

She still tried to explain, but he ran away from her, crying alone in the Mathlete club hall, he looked up, seeing Scarlet Sapphira with an outstretched arm, who morphed into Akane.

He wiped his tears and was about to leave when Akane spoke,"Scarlet Sapphira and I used to be friends..."

He looked back at her and asked,"What?"

"Long before you started schooling here, Scarlet Sapphira was the queen bee, then I enrolled and she took me under her wing, we did everything together and she was literally the nicest person I had ever met, till I one day caught her hurt some students and leave them to hang upside down from the ceiling by their own shoelaces..."

He remembered that, he remembered, it was about him...

"...I didn't want to lose my old friend, but I didn't want her to lose herself even more, so I told on her, she took the punishment and didn't seem mad at me in the least, till one day...she cut my hair..."

Jack Johnson asked again till she said,"She cut all my hair and burned it, and she kept doing it for months, till I began to wear a wig and contacts~sigh~after that, she lost more and more control and everyone got scared of her, her crown remained, but it was only of fear that she ruled everyone."

Jack Johnson couldn't believe her, not until she removed the wig...