SPECIAL CHAPTER: CAMILA AND AUBREY

"LEWIS," the teacher called Zoey's last name.

Camila looked behind her and saw that Zoey was not in her seat.

Aubrey was admiring Nova's beauty. She had no idea Zoey was missing.

"Lewis?" the teacher inquired once more. Everyone in the room is now staring at Zoey's seat. It was deserted. "Scott, did you see your best friend? Where has she gone?"

"I'm not sure, teacher. Perhaps she's in the restroom. You know, answering nature's call," Nova tried to laugh, but she was getting nervous. She has a bad feeling about Zoey's absence.

"Perhaps," the teacher replied. "Okay, let's go back to our previous lesson. Lewis can catch up later."

The teacher continued the lecture, but Nova couldn't concentrate because her best friend hadn't arrived yet. Aubrey and Camila are worried because Zoey is not the type of student who skips class.

Nova couldn't take it any longer and begged the teacher to let her look for Zoey. When the teacher agreed, Aubrey and Camila asked to accompany her.

"No. You're staying here. You two," the teacher stated.

"I'm sorry, teacher," Camila said as she exited.

"Please excuse me, Mr. Teacher. I'll look for Zoey," Aubrey went outside right away. The teacher could not do anything but only call their names.

"Cam! Let's go our separate ways and look for her," Aubrey called Camila, who was walking down the left side of the hallway.

Camila simply nodded in response, then searched every nook and cranny for Zoey. Aubrey looked around for the nerd on the right side and checked to see where Nova had gone.

They were still unable to locate Zoey after some time had passed. Aubrey, too, is unable to locate Nova. So the two decided to return to the hallway. They noticed Olivia and Nova conversing there. Camila was perplexed as to why Olivia was outside, but she approached the two quietly.

Aubrey made her way over to where Nova and Olivia were.

"Coney, did you find her?" Aubrey enquired of Nova. As an answer, she simply shook her head. "How about you?" This time, Aubrey asked Olivia.

"No," the cheerleading captain replied.

"Oli? Why are you here?" Camila couldn't help but be curious, so she asked her friend.

"She's my step-sister, Cam," Olivia revealed. Camila's eyes widened, and she shook her head in disbelief. "I'll explain everything later, but let's find her first," Olivia added, and the group just agreed.

They know that the most important thing right now is to find Zoey.

They speculated on where Zoey could be. Nova mentioned that Zoey was acting strangely after lunch. Olivia called her mother and inquired about Zoey's whereabouts, but her mother stated that she was not at home either.

Camila revealed Zoey's secret club, or dance club. Only Olivia was unaware of it.

The group realized one place they hadn't checked out yet after checking every part of the school where they could find Zoey.

They all went to the roof. They called Zoey's name, but no one answered. They kept looking until Olivia discovered the lifeless Zoey, covered in blood, on the ground.

"Zoey!" Nova yelled and dashed to Zoey's side. Olivia was paralyzed. "Call 911!"

Aubrey and Camila both rushed in and called Zoey's name. As if what they were doing could rouse Zoey.

Aubrey dialed 911. They responded immediately and arrived at school on time. The paramedics escorted Zoey to the ambulance. Olivia and Nova accompanied her to the hospital.

Following that, there was quite a commotion in the school. Fortunately, the teacher was able to keep the students inside the classroom as if nothing had happened.

"Cam, let's go to the hospital," Aubrey said to the girl next to her.

"No. Later," Camila said as she walked away.

"What? Where are you going?" Aubrey inquired of Camila as she pursued her.

"I want to know who did this to Zoey," Camila replied, still walking quickly to a location that Aubrey had no idea about.

"How? What? Let's leave that to the cops."

"No. I can't let this go."

Camila's determination to achieve her goals is evident to Aubrey. So Aubrey accompanied her to ensure that Camila would not make any foolish decisions once they discovered who had beaten Zoey.

They went to the security room. They examined the CCTV footage there. The security guard tried to refuse to cooperate, but Camila was a scary fellow and threatened the guard. Because he knows how powerful the "Smith" is, the guard has no choice but to comply with Camila's request.

Camila and Aubrey had checked the CCTV when Zoey went missing, and they had found the culprits.

Camila used her connections to get the phone numbers of the two boys who assaulted Zoey. Camila asked the two to come to the rooftop quietly, or else Camila would drag them outside the school and reveal what they had done to Zoey.

When they arrived on the rooftop, shaking and almost peeing their pants, they saw Camila standing in front of them, crossed arms and poker face.

Aubrey was just behind the girl and couldn't stop giggling as she looked at the two guys, whose faces were as pale as a radish.

"Kneel," Camila said, and the two automatically did so.

"Whoa. Thrilling," Aubrey chimed in. Camila didn't seem to mind.

"C-cam... we were just told to scare Z-Zoey," one of the guys said.

"Y-yeah... Please, Cam, spare us," Almost crying, the other guy said.

"Scare her? You almost killed her," Camila said quietly. Aubrey walks close to Camila to prevent Camila from taking this matter into her own hands.

Aubrey was also enraged. But she needs to calm down because she may do something she later regrets.

"It was just a whim. Z-Zoey had gone insane. When we tried to scare her, she smiled," one of the guys stated.

"You fucking son of the bitches!" Camila yelled and was about to charge the two men when Aubrey intervened.

"Cam, please pause. They are not worth it. Relax. Zoey will be upset if we get into trouble," Aubrey reminded Camila. The latter appears to take the singer's advice, so she slightly backs down. "Would you mind letting me handle this?" Aubrey added. Camila, whose face was tomato red from rage, nodded.

Aubrey faced the two men who were still kneeling. Aubrey smiled and said, "Let's get this over, guys. We need to check on Zoey. Just hope Zoey didn't sustain any serious injuries as a result of what you did, or else..." Aubrey's smile became creepy this time. The boys were terrified, especially when Aubrey whispered, "I'll kill you. I don't care if I go to jail. I'll include your family as well and make them suffer..."

The boys who had been kneeling before were now sitting on the floor. "Please spare us... We can't afford to lose our scholarships... please..."

"Of course, we don't want that to happen," Aubrey said again, her voice becoming lively. "Now tell us who ordered both of you to do this to Zoey."

"It was Will," the boys said immediately.

"Will who?"

"William Will Randol. The basketball boys team's captain!" The boys said it all at once.

"Well done, young man..." Aubrey taps the boy's head as if they were dogs. "Did you get a video of that?" Aubrey enquired of Camila.

"Yeah. Clearly visible," Camila, who is now holding her phone, said. Earlier, she was filming the two boys while Aubrey was interrogating them. They got a recording of the confession of the two men who beat Zoey.

"Awesome! I suppose both bad cops and good cops do their jobs, right?" Aubrey said as she high-fived Camila.

"Yeah!" Camila was now wide-eyed and beaming.

The two boys realized at that point that they were screwed up.

Camila then told the two boys to drop out or transfer to another school because she didn't want to see them at school. Camila told the two boys that she would make sure the police knew about their involvement if they would not leave the school.

Will, Camila, and Aubrey went to the principal's office and presented the evidence. Will was quietly expelled from school, but he mentioned another name, the mastermind of "scaring Zoey a little."

It was Stella. Camila informed the principal that she would be the one to contact Stella. Camila persuaded the principal to give Stella some time until the cheerleading competition. The principal agreed and didn't have much choice because Camila Smith had asked for a favor.

Camila and Aubrey did not confront Stella yet, allowing her to act high and mighty even after Zoey was released from the hospital. But after the cheerleading competition, Camila confronted Stella and told her about Will's confession.

Camila was heartbroken as she did this, but she had no choice because Stella needed to face the consequences of her actions.

Camila continued to reach out to Stella, but the latter's heart had already been hardened by jealousy and vengeance.

"Is that friendship over?" Aubrey inquired of Camila following her heartbreaking conversation with Stella.

"No. I'll continue to make an effort to befriend her. I know Stella was just carried away by her emotions," Camila explained.

"Miss Smith, that's incredible. But for the time being, let's return to the gym because the champion is being announced," Aubrey smiled.

Camila smiled as well when she saw Aubrey's smile.

"Thank you, Aubrey."

"You're welcome, my partner in crime."

Camila and Aubrey became friends. They are both open books. The greatest secret of the two was the identity of the perpetrators of Zoey's incident and why Will and Stella were expelled from Clover High.

Since then, the two of them have ensured that no one will ever hurt their friends again. They collaborated behind the scenes to ensure that Zoey and Olivia's romantic relationship progressed smoothly.