The first few days after the trial, Max wasn't at school which made life a whole lot easier for Athena. But then, he came back. If Max was going left, Athena went right. If Max had the same lunch as Athena, she would sit in the library with Lacey and do homework or just talk. Athena did everything she could to avoid him.

When the final bell rang for the day, Athena went to her locker to put some of her books away before meeting Jane at the car. When she slammed her locker shut, standing there next to her was Max.

"Jesus Christ, Max. Don't sneak up on me like that." Athena stepped back a little away from him.

"I needed to talk to you." He reached for her hand but she pulled away.

"What the fuck could you possibly want to tell me? That you're sorry? Yeah, I heard that plenty of times already."

"I know you've been seeing CC. But I want you to know that I still love you. I always have. I'm better for you than he is. Come on, Athens. We've been best friends since first grade. That's like a whole ten years. You can't just throw it all away like this."

"But you already did, Max. Best friends tell each other everything. You kept a lot of things from me. How do you expect me to trust you?"

"You kept something from me, too. Eric?"

"Max, that is a completely different situation! No one knew about that until recently. That is not something you can hold against me." Athena turned on her heel and stormed off down the hallway away from Max.

"Athena!" He called out after her but she ignored him. All she wanted was to get home.

"It's about time. What took you so long?" Jane said when Athena got in the car.

"Sorry... Max stalked me in the hall and made me talk to him." Athena slumped down in her seat.

The car ride was silent except for the sound of Rise Against gently pulsing through the speakers. When they arrived at the house, Jane let Athena out and told her she was going to Eric's house. Athena walked up to the house and let herself in.

"Hello? Mom? I'm home." Athena called out. She walked a little further into the house but no one seemed to be here. "Mom?" She called out again.

Her mom's car was in the driveway so she had to be here somewhere. Athena took another step and a hand snaked around over her mouth. She started to scream and then felt cool metal against her neck.

"Try screaming again and I drag this knife across your throat." A man's voice threatened.

The hand was removed from her mouth and replaced with a piece of cloth that he tied around her head like a gag. The man forced her hands behind her back and tied them together before returning the blade to her neck. He spun her around—being careful she didn’t see his face—and forced her outside. On the street in front of her house was a maroon van that hadn't been there earlier. The door opened and Athena was pushed inside. The door slammed shut and everything inside the van went dark.

Athena began to see another silhouette forming at the back of the van as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She managed to crawl towards the figure and she saw her mom's grim face looking back at her. She sat there tied up, just like Athena.

"Athena?" Her mom asked.

Athena nodded. She couldn't speak because the cloth was still tied around her head.

"Oh, honey, I'm sorry about this. It's all my fault..."

Athena looked at her, confused. How was this her fault? All Athena knew was that she was in the back of a van, tied up and unable to move.

The van came to an abrupt stop, causing Athena to tumble backwards. The door slid open and all the daylight poured in, fighting off the darkness.

Athena was pulled out of the van and her mother right after her. She didn't see the man who was holding her and she didn't recognize the man gripping her mother. Once again, the blade was placed against her neck. She saw her mother's eyes widen in fear.

"No!" She called out.

Athena's eyes widened just as much as her mother's when she saw the strange man place a gun to her mother's head.