It was one surprise after another it seemed.

"It's a pleasure," I hesitantly stuck my hand out to Mr. Marelli. He glanced at it and looked back with a certain kind of look which made me pull back and place it where it began.

I made a mental note to bite my tongue when deemed appropriate.

After the limo pulled off, we sat in silence for a minute or two before Scarlett spoke up, "so, something's been bugging me since last night…" Scarlett crossed her arms. "How did you find me?"

"Where'd you think you got your inheritance from?" Ms. Harrington noted. "Don't forget I am well versed in this line of work, moreso than you are."

Scarlett scoffed, "I must've forgot. You're out of town so long it's surprising you actually keep track of things."

I rolled my eyes, already feeling the sense of awkwardness. Looking out the window, I wondered:

What would happen to the body if it was to be forcefully thrown out of a limo in comparison to a car?

"What happened to my property?" Mr. Marelli demanded.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking."

"I didn't ask about you, I asked about my manor."

Scarlett shrugged, "I didn't know Marelli Manor was on Staten Island."

I could see the man's face grow red. His big hairy hands looked like they desperately wanted to latch onto Scarlett's throat. I turned to Scarlett, who definitely had an underlying smile beneath her cold stare towards him. She was clearly baiting him.

Ms. Harrington reached out to Mr. Marelli, but he knocked her hand back.

"This is no time for games! A ferry boat wasn't enough for you was it? You had to set my mansion on fire and for what?! You're too old for these childish tantrums!"

"Tantrums?! Are you dense?!" Scarlett exclaimed.

"Scarlett! That's no way to talk to your father!" Ms. Harrington scowled.

Scarlett was about to snap but I nudged her. She looked at me and I took a deep breath, to remind her what she said before. She mimicked me and calmed down. "I'm sorry. I'm going through a lot right now."

"Not as much as we are. Because of your actions our trip had to be cut short before we were able to strike a deal. The upcoming project is in jeopardy because of you," Mr. Marelli explained.

I took another deep breath. Scarlett copied me, though this time it wasn't for her; it was for me.

My tongue was getting sore by the minute.

"Fortunately," Ms. Harrington said, "The flames didn't completely destroy everything. Yes, the house took heavy structural damage, but your Grandmother has contracted some workers she's familiar with to reconstruct what was destroyed. They estimate a week."

"That's good to hear, right?" I said, relieved to hear.

Ms. Harrington turned to me and I swallowed. "You are Althea's son, correct?"

"Yes Ma'am..." I responded hesitantly. "Did you happen to know my Mother...?"

Her face surprisingly softened and smiled, "We trained together when we were your age. Come to think of it, your parents got together thanks to me."

I blinked. "Wait... seriously?"

She nodded, rather proudly. "Lance was friends with my brother. We both had to jump through hoops to get your parents alone. Lance was always a shy kid, and your mother was indecisive herself. We practically had to trap them in a closet just for them to talk."

I laughed, "wow, I never knew all of that."

"She never told you?"

"Yeah well…she wasn't around much growing up. I mean, not since my Father passed away so…yeah."

The moment of silence allowed Mr. Marelli to interject, "back to the topic at hand. The property will take about a several weeks to be rebuilt. In that time, your mother and I will be returning to Europe to see if we can save this deal. Until then, you are to remain on Avalon Island with the Hawkwood family.

"Or you know, I can stay with Dante and his—"

"You're staying with the Hawkwood family," her mother's cool demeanor flipped back to the overbearing witch in half a second, "There, they can keep a better eye on you and make sure you don't cause anyone anymore trouble."

"So, in other words, I'm under house arrest. Again."

"You can call it whatever you want. The point is to keep you put, and your nose out of trouble until we get back." Mr. Marelli stated.

"And if I don't?"

Mr. Marelli looked over to me and I read it from his glance that he couldn't say it out loud.

Scarlett meanwhile kept silent, I assumed that this is as far as she was allowed to go. The seat between us was growing warm, which made me nudge her again. She took deep breaths, to calm herself down, but the seats remained susceptible to catching fire.

Which naturally, made me feel paradoxically relaxed and anxious during the remaining forty-five-minute ride to school.

The limo jumped onto the FDR Drive and took it all the way downtown until we approached the Battery Park underpass. The chauffeur continued through the illuminated tunnel until a sign appeared midway, leading into an exit. He veered off to the right of the tunnel, taking the exit and continuing to ride through.

Whenever we would have reasons to come into the city, it was pretty rare for us to really drive, due to the immense traffic. It was always easier to take public transportation. In the rare moments we did drive, I always noticed this exit but never went through it. So cool, I get to see where it goes.

The tunnel continued on for another few minutes until the light at the end began to come through. The car began to escalate upward, where the light became more visible. Once we reached the opening, the darkness was replaced by bright sun, crystal blue sky and Avalon Academy, which stood like a beacon in the distance. We drove on the shorter bridge and onto the main road where the strip malls and students started to appear. Distance-wise we appeared at the south end of the island, not too far from the underground docking area which was more southeast ward.

"You can let us out here Matthew." Scarlett called out to the driver. Acknowledging her request, he pulled over and unlocked the door.

"Let's go CJ." she said sternly, as if it was an order.

I nodded, opened the door, and turned to her parents, "it was a pleasure."

"Likewise," Ms. Harrington said. Mr. Marelli on the other hand, held onto that subtle look and I nodded respectfully to him.

"Pleasure to meet you as well," I answered for him and got out. I closed the door behind Scarlett and the limo pulled off. I finally exhaled.

"Well, that was—hey where are you going?!" I saw Scarlett was leaving me behind, forcing me to catch up.

"Sorry you had to endure that," she apologized, sounding embarrassed.

I shrugged, "yeah…I get it. Being rich isn't it's all cracked up to be. But what can you do right?"

She shot me a glare, similar to Mr. Marelli's. If she wanted me to stop talking, then she could use words.

"I hate them…" she admitted.

"Well…your mom's kinda cool…"

Scarlett scoffed. "Yeah, it's funny he let her say as much as she did."

Wow. Okay, this conversation took a sharp left. "I…well, can I ask…?"

"He's my stepdad," Scarlett said. "My mother was already pregnant when they married."

"Right…guess that would explain why you don't share a last name with him."

"Yup. Though, they act more like business partners than husband and wife; arguably so. My mother was the heiress of Harrington Pharmaceuticals, and my father was a prominent shareholder. They got married not long after meeting. To the world, they seem like the ultimate power couple in the business world. In reality, my mother found a man to help her bear the responsibility of the company as well as her soon-to-be broken mess of a family. He, on the other hand found a way to satiate his greed at the expense of expensive baggage.

"And you?"

"Oh I as well need to play up the stereotypical "happy successful family" image for the world. God forbid they learn about the years of stress and abuse they've inflicted upon me over the last decade," she laughed off. "Did you know? People will pretend things are good if you wave a blank check in their face."

"I don't—!"

"Or even better," she interjected with a chuckle, "Imagine you have a detective uncle who can't do a proper investigation because legally, he can't set foot on the premise due to baseless accusations and corrupt cops."

"Regardless—!"

She stopped walking and I stopped to turn back. "Before I was born…Marelli dictated my fate. I kept silent. I played my part. Every role I was given, I've always kept quiet and played the part…." her hands fell to her sides, fists clenched and smoking. "…and I still got screwed in the end…But you know, I'm not gonna stress…!" Her breathing was turning into sobbing and the cold air around us was warming up. "gonna keep a cool head…and…" tears started to drop.

I reached out to her, but she whipped her arm back, flames rising between us and making me jump back, even startling some students who also jumped back. I watched her bend down and curl up with her face dug into her knees. I was completely dumbstruck by the sight, and the students all stood around looking as clueless as I was, treating this as some sort of spectacle. Some were even murmuring between themselves.

I knelt and attempted to calm her down, because the last thing I need are rumors spreading that I assaulted the Queen of Hearts on campus.

Just then, someone whistled, pulling the budding crowd's attention. "Alright people, make way, nothing to see here!" Soon after, a boy approached, dropped his bag and casually walked up, kneeling alongside us. He took control of the situation, making me back up while he helped Scarlett up. He held her steady, as Scarlett looked at him. I stood quietly the whole time.

"Saved me the trouble of finding you two," Dante said turning his attention to me. "Hawkwood wants to see the both of you. Now."