Thea was cold, and she couldn't breathe. Every time she tried it was like something was falling in her mouth. Something was smothering her with every breath. She tried to beat it back, but it was binding her hands too. Dirt. So much dirt. In her eyes, in her nose, in her throat. She couldn't push it away. She was suffocating.

There was a rattling gasp to her right. She rolled on her side, squinting to see what it was. Then she screamed.

She rocketed up in her bed, panting and pawing at the sheets that were tangled over her head. The moment her head broke free, she regretted it. It was fucking freezing. Her window was closed, but the chill still seemed to be seeping through the walls.

Thea took a few gulps of fresh air and flopped back down to the mattress. She shivered, and wrapped her blankets tighter around her limbs.

"Just fix the fucking heat—ah!"

She yelped again, pulled her covers up over her mouth. Her voice was far deeper than it should have been. Why was her voice so deep? Why didn't she sound like herself? What was going on?

In dizzying succession, the previous day's events played back in her mind. The storm. The graffiti. The attack. Gary. Tony. Her power. The grave. Ah, yes. Fuck.

She echoed this thought out loud, distressed to find that she was still speaking in Tony's voice. That alone would have been enough to make her sick. Tony was dead, and here she was borrowing his voice. It felt wrong, out of context. That deep voice was meant to be scolding youths, giving rousing speeches about responsibility and redemption—not cursing out the radiator in her shitty flat.

Of course, she had no idea how to turn it off. Before she could even attempt, there was a loud rapping on her door.

"Thea?" Marnie let herself in, hurrying over to the bed. "Are you alright? I hear you scream."

"Hm…"

Panicking, Thea threw herself in a coughing fit. Even that sounded too deep. She hacked and wheezed until Marnie was flapping her arms in a frenzy.

"Oh my God! Oh my God, are you okay? Are you choking? Are you dying? Do you want some water?"

Thea nodded furiously, miming a glass. Marnie hightailed it out of the room.

"Shit," Thea cursed in her new, deeper voice. "Okay, focus. Just don't think about him. Think about you. Think about you."

It was impossible. There was no way she could just stop thinking about Tony. She'd just watched the man die yesterday, and if anyone found out, her life was equally as over. She could not let Marnie hear her like this. There would be no way to explain herself. Marnie would have a thousand questions, and if she ever got the answers, she'd probably go round the twist with worry. Then Thea would be really fucked. Where would Marnie live if she when to jail? What if something happened to the baby? And it was all Thea's fault?

As it turned out, this train of thought was not particularly effective in calming her down. She'd barely been able to stop herself hyperventilating before Marnie was tumbling back into the room and pushing a cup of water into her hands.

She had to slow down. Thea closed her eyes, trying to focus on the way the water felt going down her throat instead of the way Marnie was staring at her apprehensively. She could feel her heart rate going down, feel the breath hovering in her chest. Besides that, she didn't feel any different.

"Crisis averted?" Marnie asked, taking the cup back from her.

Thea held up a finger. Then she opened her mouth and belched.

"Oh, gross," said Marnie, her face scrunching with disgust and delight. "Well job."

"Uh…" Thea tried to hum, testing her vocal chords as quietly as she could. But it seemed that her own voice back in place. Overcome with relief, she beamed. "Thank you. Thank you very much."

"You're alive then?"

"Yeah, for the time being," she sighed. "Assuming I don't freeze while getting dressed."

"Hm, well if you do, make sure you get your knickers on. Want to preserve your modesty when I send your corpse to the Science Museum."

Thea flinched at the word corpse. She did her best to pass it off as another shiver.

"That's rude of you," she jabbed as a diversion. "Are you saying you wouldn't put my clothes on if I passed off stark naked?"

"Nope!" Marnie said brightly, and patted her on the knee. "If there's one thing I've learnt from daytime telly, it's that you don't mess with a crime scene. It'll be straight to the coroner with you. So do yourself a favour and get dressed, alright? Don't want you to be late to service again."

"Whatever, Mum."

They stuck their tongues out at each other, and Marnie returned to the living room. Thea waited until she was out of sight to flop back onto her bed. There were no words to describe how much she did want to be late to service again. She didn't want to go at all. Maybe she could sell enough of her belongings to buy a train ticket instead. She could flee to Scotland, begin her life on the lam. It had to be better than prison, right? Even if they got away with it, it would probably be better than scrubbing paint and picking up litter.

But the daydream was short lived. If she didn't show up to the community centre, she'd been in custody before she could hail a taxi to the train station. And that was before anyone had even found out about the murder.

She did her best not to think as she got dressed. She wasn't ready to face the odd sense of alienation her leather jacket had given her last night. It was too much to deal with so early in the morning. So she threw on the first few things she grabbed, rushed her makeup, and fled out of the room.

"What happened to the fishnets?" Marnie asked, a sceptical eye on Thea's torn jeans.

"Are you joking?" Thea snorted. "I'm freezing. Besides, you were the one who told me to go with trousers."

"Hm. And that's all?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't it be?"

Marnie was considering her quietly. She was leaned back against the wall, looking casual—but at the same time very clearly blocking Thea's path to the front door. Whatever she wanted to say, Thea wouldn't make it out of the flat without hearing it.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Marnie finally asked.

"Marnie," Thea sighed, without missing a beat. "I've told you, I'm fine. Promise."

She smiled, and after a few moments, Marnie smiled back.

"You know we've known each other for more than a decade now? Seven years old. Back when you were helping me cheat maths in Mrs. Burnwile's class."

"I was not cheating," Thea maintained. "I did not realise we were having an exam. I thought I was just being helpful."

"That's what you always say."

"Because it's the truth!"

"All right! Fine, whatever," Marnie laughed, waving her hands. "It doesn't matter. My point is, I've known you more than half my life. Enough to know when you're lying."

Thea opened her mouth to argue, only for Marnie to shut her down.

"It's fine. I'm not trying to mum you into talking to me. We both know you're the mum friend. But…I'm here if you need, yeah? Whatever it is, you don't have to do it alone."

It was difficult for Thea to hold her tongue. She did want to tell Marnie. The fact of the matter was that she probably would at some point or another. She wasn't sure how much, and she wasn't sure when, but it was something of an inevitability. The only thing she did know was that she could not do it now, for her own sake at the very least.

"You're wrong, you know?" Thea said softly. She walked over, poking Marnie in the stomach. "You're going to be the mum friend soon enough."

"Very funny," said Marnie, smacking her hand away. She pulled a bag of cough sweets out from behind her back, shaking them pointedly before handing them over. "Don't forget to take these today. Especially after that scene this morning."

"Thanks, Mum."

"You know, it's a wonder you can even get a cough considering how often you eat those things."

"I don't know, Mum."

"Do ya think they're affecting your throat? Like you had too many and now your oesophagus is all brittle and dry and fucked up?"

"Goodbye, Mum."

The world beyond their flat was exactly as it had been the day before. Grey sky, identical buildings, dirty pavement. Thea couldn't decide whether it was comforting or mocking her. She knew things weren't the same, and she couldn't pretend they were. But in the scheme of things, what did it all matter? The world would keep turning anyway.

She smoked on her walk, doing the best to keep the shakes out of her hands. And when the cigarette burned out, she switched to cough drops. She slipped on hear headphones, but was so distracted that she forgot to press play on her iPod. She'd made it all the way to the community centre before she'd noticed.

Kelly was already waiting outside. Her arms were folded up on the barrier while she looked out over the lake, nursing her own smoke. Thea almost walked past her. But she hadn't had an easy night, or morning for that matter. She couldn't imagine Kelly had it any easier.

"Morning," Thea sighed, stopping a few feet down the railing.

Kelly looked over, offering a small smile. It was a fragile thing, something of a contrast to the brash personality she'd shown off the past few days. It almost made Thea regret stopping. She wouldn't want anyone to see her like that if she were in Kelly's shoes. Fuck pity.

Then she remembered that Kelly could probably hear her thoughts. Thea cursed.

Kelly snorted indelicately, looking back over the water.

"How's ya night?" she asked.

"Um…good."

"Yeah," Kelly agreed. She didn't need to read minds to know that was a lie. "Mine was shite too."

"Your powers acting up? Or just because…"

"All of it. Wot bout you?"

"Same. Woke up sounding like Tony, which was spectacular. Nearly coughed up a lung trying to hide it from my flatmate." That made Kelly laugh, and Thea gave her a wry smile. "Whatcha think? Maybe no one shows up to replace him and we all skive off again?"

"Nah, they're already here," said Kelly. She jerked her head back toward the building. "Some lady unlocked the doors fa us. Everyone's gone in. Guess I jus' thought…"

"Put it off long as possible," Thea finished for her. "Well, I'm all for it."

She dropped her bag on the pavement and hopped up to sit on the railing. Kelly grinned, offering her pack of cigarettes. Thea waved her off, then stuck out her tongue to show the cough sweet she was still working on. Kelly nodded.

"Why ya always eatin' those?" she asked, turning to lean her side on the barrier. "Ya like sick or somefin?"

Thea blinked at her, surprised. But then she remembered. Kelly had been running for her life yesterday. She hadn't been around for that part of the afternoon.

"Around fa wot?" Kelly demanded.

"Nothing," Thea assured her. "While you were…out, we were just hanging in the hallway. Swapping backstories and shit."

"Fa real?" asked Kelly incredulously.

"Trust me, I didn't want to. But Alisha and Nathan were taking the mickey out of Curtis until he gave it up. Then Alisha wanted to brag about her DUI, and then Curtis sold me out. Because he's a massive dick."

"Tha's fooked up," Kelly observed. "Sorry I asked."

"It's fine. Don't think there's any point lying to you, right?"

She tapped her temple with a smirk. However, Kelly didn't seem to find it very funny.

"I's not like I do it on purpose, okay? Trust me. If I could stay outta ya foughts, I would. I hate knowin' fings I shouldn't. An it's shite hearing wot people fink about ya."

"No, I know. Sorry. I just meant—you're gonna find out what I did eventually. One way or another. You'd hear it, or someone would blab or whatever. I'm sure Nathan's dying to tell everyone I'm a druggie."

She shook her head, looking out over the lake if only so she didn't have to meet Kelly's gaze.

"Ya in for drugs?" she asked, surprise clear in her voice. "I wouldn'ta guessed."

"Why? What'd you think I did?"

"Dunno. Bopped a bloke for gropin' ya or somefin."

Thea couldn't hold back her laugh. She rocked back on the railing, so far that she nearly toppled back. Kelly jumped for her wrist and yanked her forward again. She flew off the barrier, tripping over her own feet and giggling even harder than she had been before. Kelly just gaped at her.

"Wot's so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing." Thea shook her head, trying to wipe the smile off her face. "That's just…That's exactly what I was going for. So thank you."

Kelly nodded, still looking at her funny.

"Anyway," Thea sighed, leaning on the barrier again, "they got me on pharmaceutical forgery. I was faking scripts for Adderall."

"Tha's one of those study drugs, ya? Make ya mad focused?"

"Yeah, pretty much. But I'm not allowed round the pharmacy anymore, so my flatmate gets me the cough sweets instead. Don't do much, but it helps to have something in my mouth."

"Don' let Nathan hear ya say that."

They snickered for a moment, imagining the disastrous outcome. It died pretty quickly though—Thea grimacing at her own line of thought and Kelly following suit. She flicked the rest of her cigarette out into the water with a heavy sigh.

"Guess we should 'ead in?"

"Yeah," Thea agreed. "Only delaying the inevitable."

She picked up her bag and followed Kelly inside. The others were already dressed and waiting around in the lobby. It was a sure sign of trouble that no one was fucking around. There was no fighting or bickering like there had been the past two days. Instead everyone was standing apart, heads low, mouths shut. Even Nathan wasn't talking. It was almost eerie.

Thea and Kelly changed quietly and walked back to join them. No one said anything, but they all shared a meaningful look. Keep your mouth shut, it said. Stay strong, don't snitch, and we just might get through this.

"Good morning, everyone."

A petite woman stepped out of the office, tell-tale clipboard in hand. She had dull brown hair, pallid skin, and beady green eyes that looked incredibly tired. Thea thought one good gust of wind might knock her over. Gutsy for a woman that frail to become a probation worker. She couldn't imagine any criminal taking her all that seriously.

She waved them into line with the clipboard and hesitantly cleared her throat.

"So…my name is Sally. I'll be your probation worker for…well, for the time being."

There was a long pause. Presumably one of them was supposed to interrupt, demanding to know where their other probation worker had gone. None of them moved. Thea hoped they looked more disinterested than worried.

Sally coughed, looking down at her clipboard again. She managed to get through roll without too much trouble. There was a moment of silence after she called Gary's name, longer than there really should have been. They all knew that he wasn't there. Sally had to know that too, seeing as she'd been called in as a replacement. There were obviously only six of them standing there, anyway.

When she was done she put the clipboard aside, folding her arms over her chest.

"Today you'll all be continuing the graffiti removal on the front of the building. All the necessary cleaning supplies are in the hall, and you'll have an hour for lunch. But…before you get started, I just wanted to share something with you all."

And here it was. Thea tried not to hold her breath, or at least make it look like she was still breathing.

"Gary and my colleague Tony have both been reported missing. Their families are very worried about them. Have you seen anything unusual? Anything at all?"

The silence was unbearable. Thea shook her head a bit, allowing herself a glance at the rest of the group. Kelly was looking at the ground, Alisha glaring a hole into the far wall, Simon and Curtis both trying to look confused while guilt locked their jaws. And then, directly to her right, Nathan raised his hand.

Well. At least Thea could say her surprise was genuine.

"You saw something?" Sally asked.

Nathan nodded, obviously trying not to choke up.

"A few days ago…I go into the toilets. Tony and Gary were in there. They're butt-naked. Tony has Gary by his hair—like this—and he's just doin' him. Doggy style. And Tony's like, 'Oh! Who's your daddy? I'm your daddy! I'm big daddy! Ugh! Oh yeah, you like that? Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah yeah, woah yeah, woah yeah, oh yeah! Oh, I'm daddy cool! Pft!"

There were not words to express how glad Thea was that she had closed her eyes. Hearing the complete display of idiocy was bad enough. She did not need to witness the enthusiastic demonstration that he was giving. Even when he'd stopped, breathing heavily and pausing like he was waiting for applause, she didn't dare look.

"So," he sighed, "I'm guessing they've run away to continue their illicit, homosexual affair. And I ask you—in this world of intolerance and prejudice, who are we—who are we to condemn them?"

Only when several seconds had passed did Thea peek through her eyelashes. Sally was still glaring at Nathan. She was so livid that Thea could almost imagine someone finding her intimidating. But a moment later she stormed away, not even offering a reprimand.

Nathan looked around at the rest of them with glee, looking for approval and only receiving disgust and revulsion. Thea would've smacked him if she didn't have better things to do.

She broke off from the group, following Sally down the hallway and back to the office.

"Excuse me?"

Sally whirled around, quickly composing her face. "Oh, yes…?"

"Thea."

"Right. Thea. Did you think of something else?"

"No, uh I was just wondering if we could get back our phones?"

"Your phones?" Sally repeated.

"Yeah. Tony confiscated them from us yesterday morning. Which I don't think should be allowed, by the way. Anyway, he disappeared before we could get them back, so…can we have them?"

Sally was just staring at her. It wasn't all that different from the look she'd given Nathan, though why was more than Thea could fathom. Finally, she managed to speak.

"You want your phones. Two men are missing, and instead of trying to help, you want to know if you can have your phone."

It was incredible how fast Thea's sympathy evaporated.

"Yeah, it's very tragic. But we've all got families, and if I don't call my mum soon she'll probably file a missing person's report for me as well. Sorry that I dare to be concerned about my personal property instead of running in circles trying to tell you about something I know nothing about. Now can I have my damn phone or not?"

Sally pursed her lips. She nodded stiffly and turned to the desk, rifling through the drawers until she found where Tony had stashed their mobiles. She offered them back to her, managing to look a bit sheepish.

Thea couldn't have cared less. She snatched the phones and turned on her heel. What a bitch.

She wasn't surprised to see that the others had circled up to watch the confrontation. Thea held out the phones wordlessly. Most of the them just grabbed their phones with a smirk or a nod of thanks. Everyone except Nathan, of course, who couldn't pass up the chance to whistle at her.

"Watch out, everyone! Kitty's got claws! Rawr!"

She slammed the last phone into his chest and stormed past him. Prick.

If there was one good thing that had come out of Tony and Gary's deaths, it was that everyone was keeping their head down. Besides the occasional outburst from Nathan, the group worked quietly on their scrubbing. Thea was actually able to listen to her music. The paint on the side of the building slowly began to fade away, until the red had disappeared and there was merely a ghost of the artwork that had been there yesterday.

Thea tried not to think too poetically on that.

To her credit, Sally did come and check on them several times. Usually it was just a cursory glance to make sure they were actually being productive. Once or twice she added more cleaning solution to their buckets for them. She stopped by to tell them when they could take their lunch break, when their lunch break was over, and when they were free to finally, finally go home for the day.

All of them dropped their brushes instantly. Happy as she was to be free of the awkward and painful conversations, Thea's hands ached. She was excited to get home and watch telly with Marnie. She'd actually have to cook tonight, though. They'd already had too much takeaway this week.

Simon scurried in front of her, blocking everyone's path to the community centre.

"What?" Alisha demanded, unamused.

"There's…something we need to do."

"Which is?" asked Curtis.

"Not here," said Simon, lowering his voice. "Come on."

He walked away without waiting for any agreement or approval, his head swivelling left to right as if he expected an assassin to spring out from any bush or tree. The rest of them just stood there, exasperated.

"Come on! Really, man?" Nathan called after him. "I really wanted to hit the vending machine! I think I know how to rig it now!"

"Let's jus' go," said Kelly, rolling her eyes. "Get it ova with. Then we can go home."

She led the way after Simon, and the rest of them grudgingly followed.

Thankfully, whatever it was they had to do wasn't all that far away. Simon led them down several unnecessary twists and turns—like he really was trying to shake a tail—but finally stopped on a main shopping street. He beckoned them closer to the public phone. Once they were all huddled together, he checked the street again and pulled a slip of paper from his pocket.

"I found the number for the office of corrections, where they assign the probation workers. And this one is for Gary's home."

"And why do you have Gary's number?" Nathan asked, all too suggestively.

Simon blinked at him. "…I got it from the phone book."

"Forget that," Alisha scoffed. "Why do you have either those? What are we even doing here?"

"I thought we could call them."

Every single one of them stared at him—some in outrage, most in confusion.

"Call them?" Alisha echoed blankly.

"Are ya fookin' mental?" Kelly demanded.

"Sounds about right," said Thea, shaking her head.

"What happened to laying low?" asked Curtis. "You just want to call them out of the blue?"

"What're you gonna do?" added Nathan. "Apologise?"

"I'm not going to do anything," Simon explained. "Thea will."

"Um, no," said Thea, glowering at him. "Thea will not."

"It has to be you. You can use your power to sound like Tony and Gary. All you have to do is leave a message. That way the police will think they're still alive."

Thea's jaw dropped in outrage. When she noticed the looks of consideration everyone else was sporting, it dropped even further.

"Oh! Oh, alright! How about this? Why don't you turn invisible and I'll get right on that, Simon. You disappear right now and I'll make that phone call."

Simon withered.

"Ah, that's right," Thea sighed with mock realisation. "I forgot, you don't know how to control your powers. Well, neither do I. None of us do. We spent the last twenty-four hours trying to stay out of prison. Let's not fuck it up now."

"He's right."

Thea grit her teeth, turning to Curtis with a deathly glare. "Why am I not surprised you agree with hm?"

"It's the truth," he said, unfazed. "The longer our probation worker's missing, the worse the investigation's gonna get. What happens when they decide he's dead? That makes us the last people to see him. You said it yourself, no one's gonna believe we don't know anything."

"They won't be able to prove that we don't," Thea countered desperately. "There's no…"

"Evidence?" asked Alisha snidely. "Yesterday you said it didn't matter. Now that you've got to do something about it, it suddenly does. Which is it?"

"I—I don't know, alright? I just don't think we should risk it. I might not even be able to do it."

"Yeah, ya can," said Kelly. "Ya said so this mornin'."

Thea's heart dropped. Well, so much for whatever quiet alliance she'd thought she'd been building with Kelly.

"Said what?" Nathan asked, looking between the two of them.

"She woz talking like Tony all mornin'. She can do 'is voice."

"I woke up from a nightmare like that," Thea growled at her. "I didn't do it on command. I don't know how to control it."

"Ha," Nathan scoffed. "Seemed to work just fine yesterday when you wanted to make fun of me."

"Just try," advised Simon. "Please, Thea."

She was quite ready to tell them all to fuck off and storm down the street. But the others had taken it upon themselves to form a loose circle around her. She wouldn't make it very far if she made a break for it.

With a groan, Thea closed her eyes and tried to focus. She tried to remember the way she'd felt that morning when she woke up, the speech Tony had given them on the first day, his stupid track and field t-shirt. She breathed deeply through her nose, and balled her hands into fists at her sides.

"This is stupid." She opened her eyes again, surveying the others in irritation. "See? Can't do it. Not today."

"Yeah, but are you really trying?" Nathan asked. "Or are you pretending to try while you're not trying because you don't really want to do it."

"I tried, Nathan."

"I don't believe you. You," he said, gesturing to Kelly, "was she really trying?"

"How tha fook should I know?"

"You're the mind reader! You should know if she's thinking about the probation guy or what kind of pants I'm wearing!"

"I don't remember what he sounds like," said Thea with finality. "Sorry, everyone."

"Maybe you should try repeating him," Simon suggested.

"Hm, good one, Simon. I would, but he's dead. Not saying much anymore."

But Simon was reaching into his pocket again. He pulled out his cell phone, and after clicking a few buttons, held the screen up for her to see.

She recognised the dark, ominous cloud instantly. It was a video from their first day of service. It could only be minutes before they were stuck by lightning, maybe less. So much had been going on, she hadn't even noticed that Simon was recording.

He was quick on the draw—she'd give him that. The video started barely a second after the first chuck of hail had fallen from the sky. The camera shook violently as Simon struggled to get a handle on it, making the rest of them appear as orange blurs. But she could just make out Tony, and then his car behind him.

"That's my car!"

"Classic!"

More screaming.

"Okay! So I'm a little freaked out!"

"What is that?"

"That is not normal…"

"Ya think?"

"You recorded all of this?" Thea grabbed Simon's wrist, pulling the phone closer to her eyes. "Jesus Christ, Simon. We said we weren't going to tell anyone about what happened, and you've got video footage of the storm?"

"Just the beginning," he said nervously. "The clip ends with the lightning."

"And you didn't fucking delete it?" asked Alisha.

Simon pulled his phone back and nervously flattened his hair.

"Just try and focus on Tony's voice," he said, rewinding the video. "Listen to what he says."

The video started over from the beginning, as all seven of them stared at the car wreck.

"That's my car!"

"That's my car," Thea echoed. Her voice had dropped several octaves, and she deflated. "Motherfucker."

"Hey, nice one, Weird Kid," Nathan praised, slapping Simon too-hard on the shoulder. "Who knew your being a voyeur would come in handy?"

"Go on," ordered Kelly, shoving Thea toward the phone. "Call it in! Before ya lose it!"

"What? No!" Thea looked around at all of them in mounting panic. "What if my voice comes back in the middle of the call? What if someone picks up? What am I supposed to say?"

Simon reached into his pocket one last time, pulling out a piece of paper covered with eerily neat handwriting. Thea scanned it quickly. It was a script.

"The phones are closed this time of day," he said. "All you'll get is the machine. Just leave a message."

"Jesus, Simon. When did you even write this shit?"

"Last night. I just…um…You're not the only one who had nightmares."

He looked at her pleadingly with his creepily large blue eyes. And before she could stop it, Thea felt herself soften. This was fucked up. So, so fucked up. But it wasn't her problem. It was everyone's problem.

She huffed, grabbing the receiver and angrily punching in the number.

It was a relief when the answering machine kicked in. A recording of some raspy old bat told her that the office would be closed for another hour, and to leave a message if her situation was urgent. Thea pursed her lips and glared down at Simon's notes.

The line beeped.

"Hello. This is Tony Morecombe of the Wertham district. I'm calling to resign from my post as probations officer at Wertham Community Centre. I…apologise for the delayed notice, but regretfully there are urgent personal matters that I must attend to. I don't know at this time when I will return, but…I feel that this is something I must do… Thank you."

Thea dropped the receiver back on the hook.

"That sounded like a load of bollocks."

"It doesn't matter," said Alisha, shaking her head. "It's proof of life. That's all they need."

"Can we hurry this up?" Nathan complained. "I only had a Crunchie for lunch, and I'm actually getting hungry."

"Piss off, Nathan."

"Can you drop the voice?" asked Curtis. "You're supposed to be calling Gary."

"Ooh, or," Nathan interrupted, "you could call Gary's mum in Tony's voice and tell her that you're runnin' off together! His urgent personal matter was putting his cock up Gary's arse!"

"I don't know how to drop it," Thea said to Curtis, ignoring Nathan entirely. "This morning I had to—OW! That fucking hurt, Kelly!"

"Ya welcome," she said smugly, shaking her fist out. "Pick up tha phone. I wan' some chips."

"Ooh, chips," Nathan groaned.

Thea rolled her eyes, turning back to Simon. "Don't suppose you've got a stalker video of Gary as well?"

Simon had already queued it up. This one was harder to hear—a video of their squabbling after roll call. Gary was screaming obscenities, but it was tough to make it out over Nathan's gleeful laughter and Tony's bellowing. Thea repeated the fragmented threats until she was sure she had a hold on Gary's voice. Whether or not she'd be able to sell her take on his gangster slang remained to be seen.

She dialled the number, quickly reviewing the lines Simon had written for her. It wasn't far off from what Thea had originally assumed was the truth. Gary had gotten into some trouble and had to lie low. He'd call when he could, but he was fine. That would be easy enough to sell.

The line did not beep.

"Hello?"

Thea froze. She looked to Simon, the rest of the group, anyone for direction. They stared back at her in confusion. Obviously they couldn't hear the weak voice of the woman on the other end of the line.

"H-Hello? Gary, is that you?"

"Um…"

She jabbed her finger at the receiver frantically. Simon was the first to put the pieces together, but offered her absolutely no help. He waved his hands indicating for her to keep going.

"Uh—yeah. Yeah, Mum, it's me."

If Thea hadn't already despised herself for what she was doing, the woman's rattling gasp of relief would've stamped her ticket to Hell.

"Oh thank God! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lord! Are you alright? Gary, where are you?"

"I—I can't talk long."

"Did something happen? Are you hurt? Tell me where you are so I can come and get you!"

"No! No, don't—I can't."

"Gargar, baby, please tell me where you are. I promise I won't be mad. Let me get my keys and then I'll…"

"I said I can't, Mum!" Thea pressed a hand over her face, struggling to keep herself together. "Look, I'm alright. I just…I ran into these guys and…I've just gotta lay low for a while."

"What guys?" she demanded. "Who were they? Should I call the police?"

"No! Don't—Don't call no one! I'm just…I'm gonna stay with some mates. Wait until it blows over."

"No, no, no, Gary, no…"

She was sobbing now. Thea was sure she would vomit again right there on the street.

"Why—Why can't—I just don't understand why you can't come home! I've been worried sick! We all have! Your father, your sister…"

"I know. I'm…I'm sorry, Mum."

The sobbing stopped immediately. Thea's panic doubled, and she clamped a hand over her mouth. Obviously that had not been the right thing to say.

"Gargar?" His mother was whispering now. "Are you…Are you sure you're alright? You're scaring me, sweetheart."

"Yeah," Thea chuckled feebly, leaning her head against the base of the phone. "I know, Mum. I'm just…I'm sorry. And I love you."

She could hear his mother crying. Not frantic wails anymore, but a deadly, sinister sniffling. That was pure, raw despair. Thea's eyes were beginning to water as well.

"I've got to go," she said abruptly.

"No! No, Gary, please! Don't go, just tell me…"

"I'll call when I can, Mum. Love you."

She slammed the phone down and ended the call.

It was silent. God. She was so fucking sick of silence. No, she changed her mind. She didn't want everyone to keep their heads down and their mouths shut. She would take the loud, distracting bickering over this frozen stillness. This was unbearable.

"Thea, I'm…"

"Don't, Simon."

Thea squeezed her eyes shut. She never wanted to hear that stupid voice again. She wanted it gone, erased from her memory. It was hard to stop her shoulders from shaking. She held a finger up to Simon's shocked, nearly terrified face. When she spoke next, it was in her own voice.

"Just don't. It's done."

This time she blew through the group before they could stop her.

She stopped just short of sprinting. That would be undignified. And if she started running for a release, she might not stop. She'd either run until she left the Estate or until she started crying so hard her legs gave out. Neither was an appealing option.

But her guilt and angry were making her reckless. She felt them swirling and bubbling up in her chest, and did everything she could to neutralise them. She ripped open the package of cough sweets, popping two of them in and pressing them together until they broke. She even tried to swallow one whole, just to relish the feeling. It didn't help.

She rounded a corner, smacking the wall with her hands. It felt good—the resistance, the sting of the brick. She did it again, hitting whatever was sturdy enough as she passed. The wall. A tree. A rubbish bin. Lamp post. Bench. Table. Barrier. Rotten wooden siding that had previously been drenched in blood-red spray paint.

It wasn't a solution. But it prevented her from exploding.

Thea stormed through the community centre. She meant to go to the locker room, to rip the orange jumpsuit off and sprint home as fast as she could. But her logic seemed to have evaporate with her sanity at the end of that phone call. Instead, her feet tried to go on autopilot, and took the most familiar path. All the way up the stairs until they reached the roof.

It was cleaner than her roof. Clearly, she was not the first troubled youth to find her way up here. Some couches and chairs had been dragged out to furnish the space. They were probably all stained with cum and diseases, but they still looked comfier than milk crates. There was even a floor lamp in the corner, plugged into the electricity with enough extension cords to be a certain fire hazard. By that alone, it was obvious none of the staff knew what was up here.

Thea ignored the couches for now. She plopped down onto the cold ground, her back pressed up against the lip on the edge of the roof. She riffled through her bag until she found her lighter and her pack of cigarettes. If ever there was a time she needed to control her breathing, it was now.

Sucking down the smoke like therapy, Thea let her head loll back. Grey sky below her, grey concrete below. It was all so depressing.

She took the chance to tip her head farther back. She leaned back and back, until she could see the surface of the lake above her head. Her hair hung in her face, mixing in her vision with the ripples of the water. It made them look pink too. For a moment, she let herself believe it. An early sunset at two in the afternoon.

The door slammed open, and Thea sat up so quickly that she immediately keeled over onto her side. There was way too much blood in her head. She'd been upside down for too long.

"Guess what we gooot," Nathan sang, practically skipping over to where she lay in a huddle. "Chips! And beers! Eat up, Biker Girl."

He dropped the box in front of her face, and placed the can none too gently by its side. Thea rolled onto her back, taking the last few hits from her dying cigarette.

"I don't want your chips, Nathan."

"Why not?"

"Because I have a sneaking suspicion that you'll tell me I owe you for them later, and I'm not interested."

"Well that's just rude," he huffed. "Anyway, I didn't by them. Curt did."

"Do not call me that," Curtis snapped. Thea peeked up at him with narrowed eyes, and he scoffed. "Don't make it weird."

"I don't want your pity."

"It's not pity, alright? They're just chips. Geez…"

He stormed off, collapsing onto one of the couches without a second thought. Thea considered warning him about the cum stains, but it was too late anyway. She wouldn't bother annoying him. She sniffed at the chips container and slowly sat up. Food couldn't hurt, she supposed. It wasn't healthy, but it was like Marnie always said. If her stomach was going to turn traitor and make her hurl, it was better to have something to chuck up.

As she ate, she cast a look over at the others—all hanging around the chairs, poking fun at the different pieces of furniture, complaining about whatever they'd eaten for lunch. It was the kind of scene that, under normal circumstances, would've made Thea put on her headphones. If not to drown it out, then at least to avoid it. But for the moment she just watched. It wasn't silence, and that was something.

Nathan nicked one of Kelly's cigarettes from over her shoulder, causing her to smack him in the stomach. He laughed, and must've thought something truly vile, because Kelly yelled and smacked him again. Thea snorted into her beer as Kelly stormed over to her.

"I swear," she huffed, struggling to get another cig out of the pack. "Tha next body we bury's gonna be 'im."

"Careful," Thea warned. "We've only got one dump site. And he's lanky. That hole would take ages to dig."

Kelly snorted. She took a breath of smoke, then offered it down to Thea. "Trade ya for a chip?"

"Yeah, go on."

They swapped back and forth for a while, the others trickling over to look out at the view. It wasn't until the chips were gone—when they were all standing in a line and looking out over the horizon, Curtis with his water, Thea her beer, the rest either smoking or staring—that anyone realised they were not alone.

Down on the sidewalk, Sally was looking at the lake too. She seemed restless, moving her arms from her hips to her torso to swinging at her sides. She looked around and caught sight of them on the rooftop, and quickly went on her way. Thea wasn't entirely sure what to make of it. She didn't seem suspicious so much as wary. There was no way to guess how much she knew. Had anyone found the voicemail yet? Had anyone bought it? Could the police trace the call?

She knew Sally was probably worried about her friend. Still. Didn't stop her from being a bitch.

Nathan nodded down to the sidewalk with a cheeky smile as Sally walked away.

"Huh. Well I think we got away with it."

"Do you actually believe that?" Curtis asked dryly. "Or are you just really dumb?"

"I actually believe that!"

"He believes it because he's really dumb," Thea corrected. She smirked when Nathan stuck his tongue out at her.

"Maybe I am dumb! At least I don't go around parading some party trick like a superpower."

"Hey," Alisha snapped. "Her 'party trick' just saved all our asses. So why don't you shut the fuck up for a change?"

Her outburst took Thea by surprise. She couldn't help the small laugh of disbelief that bubbled up through her beer. Alisha rolled her eyes, but it was the same kind of expression she'd had after the water bottle affair. There was no real edge to it.

She'd managed to shut Nathan up, at the very least. Or at least forced him to change subject.

"I mean, I was there, right?" he complained—no context was necessary. "I should have one of these bullshit powers."

"Ya can have mine," Kelly said curtly. "Wanna hear wot people're finkin' about you?"

"Not so much, no," he replied, blowing smoke in her face. "I want somethin' good. You know, somethin' from the A-list."

"Telepathy is the A-list, you shithead," Thea laughed. "Name one group where there isn't someone who can read minds."

"Easy," Nathan said airily. "The Brighton Bells."

Thea accidentally laughed. "You—You are such a fucking moron."

"Maybe you can fly," Simon suggested, putting an end to the argument.

"He's not gonna be able to fly," said Alisha flatly.

But Nathan's face lit up like Christmas.

"Yeah! There's always someone who can fly! Check it out!"

"Don't," Kelly warned, to no effect.

Nathan scrambled up on top of one of the chairs. He teetered for a moment, bent his legs, then jumped up into the air with his fist held high. He immediately plummeted to the concrete, his knees buckling under him in what looked like a very painful angle. Nathan yelped and limped back over to them.

"Ow, ow! Ah, nope, that's not it."

"Learn that on Brighton Bells, did you?" Thea snickered.

He promptly held up two fingers and snarled at her.

"So what happens now?" asked Curtis. He was still looking out over the boring, grey buildings, brows knitted in frustration. "Is this it? We're gonna be like this forever?"

"What if we're meant to be like…superheroes?"

"Simon, you have got to stop," Thea sighed. She drained her beer and tossed the can at him with a giggle. "You watch way too many films."

"You lot, superheroes," Nathan scoffed. "No offence, but in what kind of fucked up world would that be allowed to happen?"

"Sounds like someone's pissy they're not on the team," Thea shot back.

"I don't want to be on your stupid team!"

"I did not sign up for that," said Alisha with a tony of finality.

"Superheroes," Nathan was still grumbling. "I love this guy. You prick."

Simon took a sip from his fizzy drink, clearly regretting his suggestion.

"Wot if they's loads of people like us all ova town?" asked Kelly.

"No," Nathan dismissed. "That kinda thing only happens in America. This will fade away. I'm tellin' ya, by this time next week, it'll be back to the same old boring shit."

Thea looked out over the lake. It really was turning pink now, reflecting the sky as the sun edged closer to the top of the stupid, uniform buildings that surrounded them. More grey on grey on grey, but now splashed with a bit of colour. She'd never seen the sunset from this angle. It was a nice change.

Maybe that's what had made her so stupidly optimistic. She was actually dumb enough to hope that Nathan was right. They'd been through enough shit the past forty-eight hours. The last thing she wanted was more shit to worry about.

Funny how things like that always turn out.