Winthrop Prep -- 2.01 -- Dirty Little Secret

They say when one door closes another one opens – but on the campus of Winthrop Prep when one juicy secret gets exposed, another takes its place in line, festering underneath its keeper’s skin as it, too, waits to come out in the most damning, most public way possible. Three months after the events at the Reynolds Center, the remaining students found themselves desperately trying to recover … and to keep their new secrets buried for as long as possible.

On the morning of January seventh, fresh from spending winter break with Noel and his family, a well-rested Rebecca left the new Dalton Hall and met Headmaster Mancini’s successor.

Rebecca: Headmistress Davenport.

Beth: Beth, please. I was just coming by to check on the construction. The crew your father suggested have done a superb job of getting the new building erected where the old building was so quickly after the fire.

Rebecca: Yeah, they’re great. I’m actually glad I ran into you. I was hoping we could schedule a meeting. 
 
Beth: I have a few parent conferences  

this morning, but you can come by my office around three. Everything’s okay, I hope.

Rebecca: Oh, yes. It’s just journalism business. I’ve been assigned an interview with the new headmistress. Don’t worry, I’ll keep the hard questions to a minimum. I know the last thing you want to talk about is our psycho former headmaster.

Beth: I doubt there’s anything you could ask me about Roger that hasn’t already been asked by the majority of the parents of Winthrop Prep’s students.

 

Rebecca: Off the record, as a friend…sort of…how is Bianca?

Beth: We haven’t heard anything since she escaped from the Reynolds Center three months ago.

Rebecca: Ted must be devastated.

Beth: We all are.

Rebecca: Franklin’s taking it pretty hard, too.

 

Beth: I know. He spent most of winter break with Ted, looking for Bianca.

Rebecca: Your family is in my prayers.

Beth: Thank you, Rebecca. I’ll see you at three.

Rebecca: Sure. And, don’t worry, I won’t ask about the rumors that you had knee liposuction over winter break.

Sam was exiting the west wing of Dalton Hall when he spotted a familiar old friend. Or, new enemy, as it were. She’d changed quite a bit since he last saw her, but he would recognize her anywhere. And, when she disappeared inside the turret, he followed, as anxious to see what she was up to as he was to give her a piece of his mind.

Sam: What the hell are you doing here?

Alison: Looking for you. Sam, we need to talk.

Sam: Talk? Fine, we’ll talk. Let’s talk about how many lives you’ve ruined.

Alison: I know I made a lot of mistakes –

Sam: Mistakes? You murdered my best friend, you threatened the life of another friend and Bianca is who knows where because of you.

She understood that. Three months might not seem like a long time, but for her, it had been. Her mother had passed away and somewhere along the way, her great revenge on Bianca became something else entirely. And, now she was here, not to beg for mercy she knew she would never deserve, but to try to introduce some kind of peace into all the chaos she had caused.

Alison: That’s been weighing on my conscience.

Sam: Like you have one.

Alison: I do. That’s why I’m here now. There’s something you have to --

Sam: There are still pieces of my best friend in the debris of the old boathouse and Bianca could be dead in an alley somewhere and we wouldn’t know because of you and your sick games you played!

Alison: I know there’s nothing I can do to make up for it. But, there’s something you need to know, you and Bianca both –

Sam: You think if we find her I’m going to be delivering messages for you? Whatever twisted lies you’ve got to tell, you can tell them to the police.

Alison: No, Sam, don’t call them.

Sam: Screw you, Alison.

He wouldn’t listen. Alison hadn’t really expected him to, but she had to try. She was trying to do the right thing, but going to jail wouldn’t help anything. So, when Sam turned to call the police, she hit him in the back of the head, just enough to knock him unconscious, and ran away.

After classes ended for the day, Rebecca met with Beth and got her interview. They talked for almost two hours on the state of affairs at Winthrop Prep, both the academic business and financial business. Beth seemed sure they could turn around the loss in students whose parents withdrew them following last semester’s nightmare.

When Rebecca returned to Dalton Hall, she found new resident and friend, Jane, sitting on a bench.

Rebecca: Hey, you! We missed you in journalism lab today.

Jane: Did we get our first assignments?

Rebecca: Yep. I had to interview the new headmistress and you have the daunting task of a write-up on the tater tot shortage in the cafeteria.

Jane: I can practically feel my Pulitzer.

Rebecca: You okay? You look a little pale.

 

Jane: I’m fine, just not feeling well.

Rebecca: Then, you should go to your room and get some rest. What are you doing out here?

Jane: Hiding?

Rebecca: From what?

Suddenly, Jane tensed and Rebecca could feel stark, raw fear wafting off of Jane in waves. When she looked up, she saw Jane’s terrified gaze locked on Brian Carlisle.

Rebecca: Or, should I say who?

Jane: I have to go.

Rebecca watched Brian watch Jane run away, and she didn’t like how much he seemed to like her fear.

Later that evening, Brian came back. Rebecca found him on the front stoop, about to go inside.

Rebecca: Need something?

Brian: I was just on my way to Jane Littleton’s room.

Rebecca: I don’t think so.

Brian: What are you? Hall monitor?

Rebecca: Jane’s not feeling well. She needs her rest. If she wants to see you, she’ll come find you.

Brian: You know, I’m not sure I like your tone. I suggest you cool it with the attitude.

Rebecca: Or, what?

Sam, who’d gone to swim practice despite the infirmary nurse’s advisement to avoid activity with his head injury, came upon Rebecca and Brian.

Sam: There a problem here?

Rebecca: No. Brian was just leaving, weren’t you, Brian?

Brian: Tell Janie I’m thinking about her.

Rebecca: Creep.

Sam: You okay?

Rebecca: Fine. Can’t say the same for Jane. She’s scared to death of him.

Sam: Why?

Rebecca: I don’t know. I was with her earlier this afternoon and when she saw him…I could feel the terror radiating off of her.

Sam: Speaking of terror, you should let Noel and Franklin know that I saw Alison today.

Rebecca: Why didn’t you call the police?

Sam: I was distracted by the concussion she gave me.

Rebecca: Are you okay?

Sam: I’ll live.

Rebecca: What did she want?

Sam: I don’t know. She said there was something she needed to tell me, but I didn’t want to hear anymore of her lies. It’s not like anything she could say could bring Jasper or Bianca back. I just hope wherever she is, she’s okay.

She was. Sort of. In Bridgeport, Layla was living it up, as she had been since Bianca let her take the wheel. There’d been boys and booze and more boys and more booze, and while three months of dormancy was making Bianca a little cranky, Layla could care less. She liked being out. No love, no pain, just fun, as life was meant to be.

On the dance floor, she caught the eye of some guy.

Lucas: Dance with me.

Layla: You ever ask nicely?

Lucas: Never.

He was cute and smelled nice and wasn’t old enough to be her grandfather, so she thought maybe she might take him home with her tonight. Or, maybe she would go home with him. Home for her was a seedy motel room, not the best place in the world but the most she could afford on her very limited income.

She was having a good time with him when the effects machine in the background went off and a burst of fire sent Layla back in time. Suddenly, she was at the boathouse and everything around her was exploding and Bianca’s heart was shattering inside their chest and …

No. She didn’t want to remember this. So, she headed for the bar. The guy followed, multi-tasking banter with getting the bartender's attention.

Lucas: Are you even old enough to drink that?

Layla: Want to see my ID?

Lucas: I saw your ID. It’s as fake as your … name.

Layla: There’s no part of me that’s fake, including my name.

Lucas: Come on, who names their kid Layla?

Layla: My father.

Lucas: Who’s your daddy? Eric Clapton?

Layla: You’re very obnoxious. If you’re hoping I’ll sleep with you, your chances are diminishing with each idiotic word that comes out of your mouth.

Lucas: What makes you think I want to sleep with you?

Layla: Have you seen me?

Lucas: Gentlemen prefer blondes.

Layla: You don’t strike me as much of a gentleman.

Lucas: Then, I hope you’re not expecting me to buy your drink.

Layla: You already did. I lifted your credit card out on the dance floor, opened a tab and now I’m set for the night. Thanks, by the way.

Layla got up and left with her drink, leaving a bewildered Lucas to wonder … who was that girl and where had she been all his life?

Back at Winthrop Prep, Rebecca found Noel.

Rebecca: You are a sight for sore eyes.

Noel: Guess who’s interior decorating design got chosen by the Winthrop Prep construction board for the reception room in the east wing of the new and improved Dalton House?

Rebecca: That’s wonderful! It’s about time you got recognized for your talents.

Noel: Last I checked, you were recognizing me quite emphatically.

 

Rebecca: To the point the neighbors complain. Speaking of, I need to go check on Jane.

Noel: Yeah, I should go check on Franklin, too.

Rebecca: Tell him Alison’s been lurking around.

Noel: Seriously?

 

Rebecca: Mm-hmm. Sam told me. Alright, I’m going to go see Jane and then, when you get done with Franklin, maybe you can stop by my room and I’ll recognize you some more before curfew.

Noel: Mmm. I love you.

Rebecca: I love you, too.

Franklin was upstairs, watching the news, in hopes there would be some update on Bianca, when Noel came in.

Noel: We’ve got pizza down in the dining hall if you get hungry.

Franklin: Thanks.

Noel: How are you holding up?

Franklin: Just got off the phone with Ted. There’s been no word.

Noel: Well, you should get to work on redecorating this room. When Bianca comes back she’s going to be pissed there’s no red. At least get a few throw pillows.

Franklin: I just wish she would come back. I know it won’t be enough to help, but I wish I could tell her that I don’t blame her for what happened with Alison.

Noel: Speaking of, Sam saw Alison on campus today.

Franklin: He should’ve brought the bitch to me.

Noel: At least we know she’s in town and the police can renew the search for her.

Franklin: I should get to work on that reading assignment we got in first period.

Noel: Alright. If you want to talk, my door’s always open.

Franklin: Thanks, man. 

Noel: Hang in there.

In the weeks after Bianca’s disappearance and Beth’s acceptance of the headmistress position at Winthrop Prep, Ted bought a house in Sunset Valley near the campus. It wasn’t much, certainly not the best they could afford given his money and Beth’s, but it would do. Beth had picked it out, told Ted once Bianca came home they would buy a bigger house, one with plenty of room for her, too.

He was at his computer when Beth came out, already ready for bed.

Beth: Any news?

Ted: No. There was a posting on the Twinbrook news site that said they saw someone fitting Bianca’s description, but it wasn’t her.

Beth: I’m sorry. Maybe you should get some sleep?

Ted: I haven’t slept since Bianca left…since Layla left.

Beth: We’re going to get her back, Ted. We’re going to find her and bring her home and we’re going to take these two pieces of her and make her whole again.

Ted: What if we can’t? What if Bianca is gone forever?

Beth: You have to have faith, in her and your love for her.

Ted: But, what if I’m not enough? What if there’s no one out there who can get through to Bianca?

If only Ted knew…

Alison went inside her house and dropped her keys on the table. She put the groceries away and went to the sink to wash her hands. 

She didn’t hear the person sneaking up behind her until he put his hands on her back and she almost jumped out of her skin.

Alison: You scared me. What have I told you about sneaking up on me like that?

Jasper: Sorry. I thought you heard me. I was in the bathroom working on that pipe under the sink.

Alison: It’s leaking again?

Jasper: Don’t worry. I wrenched it into submission, for a few days, at least.

He’d been quite the handyman, which was good since their landlord refused to fix anything. But, rent was cheap and no one asked questions when she paid in cash each month, so it would do. It was getting harder, though. None of this had gone as she planned. She’d thought she would set things up, let Bianca mourn Jasper like she mourned Pete and then, after a while, send him back, give Bianca the second chance she never got. How was she to know Bianca would have a complete breakdown? That she would run away? Or that the drugs she’d given Jasper to keep him complacent the night of the abduction would erase his entire memory?

Or that she would fall in love with him?

Alison: You should go get cleaned up while I make dinner.

Jasper: Why don’t you ever let me cook?

Alison: Do you remember how to cook?

Jasper: Good point. Okay, you can cook tonight, but, when I get my memories back, I am going to make you the best dinner you’ve ever had in your life.

She hated when he said things like that. Every day she lived was a day spent in fear that she would come home to find his memories back and he would recall what a monster she was. Then, he’d leave her for Bianca, he would go home where he belonged. That’d been why she went to Sam this morning, her heart defying her head, trying to do what was best for Jasper. But, Sam hadn’t listened and if Jasper didn’t remember Bianca, wouldn’t that just do more harm than good?

Alison: Let’s not make promises we can’t keep. You might want to be elsewhere when your memory returns.

Jasper: I intend to keep it. Alison, you saved my life, you took care of me and nursed me back to health after the car accident. I love you. Nothing can change that.

Alison: I wish that were true.

Jasper tried to kiss her, but she didn’t let him. She never did, because she knew this happy little life of theirs was a lie and that the boy who Jasper used to be would never want to kiss her. Instead, she turned away from him and went to start dinner.

Back at Winthrop Prep, Rebecca headed for her room to turn in for the night. But, on the way, she stopped off at Jane’s room.

Rebecca: Hey, just thought I’d stop in and see how you’re…

A grisly sight waited for her there. 

Rebecca: Oh, God!

Rebecca rushed into the room, but it was much, much too late. Jane Littleton's dirty little secret had already caught up to her.

Winthrop Prep -- Episode #10 -- Breaking Point

Things change.

Caterpillars tuck themselves away in nice little cocoons, but do not emerge again as they were. Instead, they’re butterflies. Not necessarily beautiful butterflies, not always colorful, not always bright, but butterflies, nonetheless. People aren’t all that different. Push them too far and sometimes they build cocoons of their own, a place they can retreat to when they get too close to the breaking point. But, what comes out, it’s not always what went in. Sometimes the person has changed … but, sometimes, it’s a different person all together. Not necessarily a good person, not always a nice person, not always a kind person … but a different person, nonetheless.

                

So was the occurrence at the Reynolds Center on the thirteenth night in October.

                 

Ted Bishop was beside himself. For two long weeks his daughter had been locked away. She refused to see him, refused to see anyone but her therapist. Once, he passed her room and saw her, curled up in the corner. She was crying for Jasper.

Beth: Is there anything I can get for you?

Ted: No, I’m fine, I’m just –

Beth: Worried. I know. I spoke with Dr. Fitzgerald this morning.

Ted: Has there been any change?

Beth: No. Bianca is still very fragile. But, the good news is she hasn’t mentioned Layla since she was admitted. She hasn’t said much of anything, though.

Ted: I hate seeing my little girl go through this.

Rachel: How do you think I feel?

Ted: Rachel?

Rachel: Were you even going to contact me?

Ted: We tried you at the hotel in Antigua.

Rachel: Why is she here?

Ted: Beth is my fiancée, Rachel. She belongs here.

Rachel: Fiancée? Our daughter is on the verge of mental collapse and you’re getting engaged?

Ted: We got engaged before – you know what? I don’t need to explain myself to you. I’m glad you’re here, for Bianca’s sake. She needs all the support she can get. Our daughter was just abducted and her boyfriend was killed in an explosion. The last thing she needs is for you to turn this into how it’s impacting you.

Inside her room, Bianca was overwhelmed with thoughts of her lost love. She knew she had to stop thinking about him. Thinking about him brought the pain and the pain brought …

 

Her.

Layla: Stop thinking about him.

Bianca: I can’t.

Layla: You have to. Thinking about him is too painful. You hurt, I hurt, remember? I don’t like to hurt.

Bianca: I love him. I didn’t tell him.

Layla: Eh, I was Team Sam anyway. Your love for him was a shallow, schoolgirl crush compared to what you allowed yourself to feel for Jasper. He could never truly devastate you that way. But, I think you knew that deep down.

Bianca: What can I do?

Layla: You can close your eyes. Promise I can make it stop hurting for both of us.

Bianca considered it for a moment. She was fighting, she knew what would happen if she surrendered, if she retreated inside herself and allowed Layla to make things better. But, how long could she be expected to fight? Her soul had grown weary and her strength was almost all gone. 

Still, she didn’t give in. Instead, she turned away from Layla and went back to the painful place. Maybe it hurt so bad she couldn’t stand it, but Jasper was there.

Layla: Fine. But, you’re going to need me soon. When you do, just close your eyes and I’ll be there.

Dr. Fitzgerald met with Ted, Rachel and Beth in his office.

Dr. Fitzgerald: I’m glad I could meet with all three of you today.

Rachel: How is she, Doctor?

Dr. Fitzgerald: Exhausted. Her grief is overwhelming her. The nightshift nurses that handle her floor reported to me twice this week that they’ve had to sedate her because she was crying out for Jasper. When they went to check on her, she became violent, calling them Alison, telling them she was going to kill them.

Ted: Has she said anything else about Layla?

Rachel: Layla? She’s talking about Layla again?

 

Beth: She asked for Layla in the aftermath of the explosion.

Dr. Fitzgerald: I was hoping you could tell me a bit about Layla.

 

Rachel: She was Bianca’s twin sister. Layla was always fiercely protective of Bianca, but she died in a boating accident when the girls were seven.

Dr. Fitzgerald: What happened?

Ted: I took the girls out on our boat. They used to love Sunday nights spent out on the lake. I had the anchor down and I was cooking on the grill and the girls were playing. Layla got up on the railing and she slipped. I heard Bianca screaming and I jumped in after her, but it was so dark.

Rachel: I should have been there, but I had a spa appointment I couldn’t miss.

Ted: It wasn’t your fault. I should’ve been watching them better.

Rachel: I could have helped you look. Maybe we could have found her and saved her. They never recovered the body, Dr. Fitzgerald.

Dr. Fitzgerald: I’m very concerned about your daughter’s mental health. She’s had all the mirrors removed from her room, the door replaced with non-reflective glass and there are incidents where the nurses have overheard her carrying on conversations, both sides.

Ted: It’s happening again?

Dr. Fitzgerald: I believe so. She’s fighting it, hence the removal of the mirrors, and she hasn’t fully fractured yet, but beneath the weight of her grief and the memories she’s recovered of the first time she retreated into her Layla persona, she is most undoubtedly splintering. I believe in time, we can mend the damage to her integration, but if she experiences another trauma, another threat on her life, I do not know if we’ll be able to stop her from fully splitting.

Rachel: Then, what will happen?

Dr. Fitzgerald: If she splits, Layla becomes an identity separate from Bianca with her own goals, her own needs and her own desires. Integrating Bianca with her defense mechanism was one thing, integrating her with an entire new personality will be a far more difficult task and something I’m not sure she will ever truly recover from.

Later that afternoon, the nurse fetched Bianca from her room. The walk was careful, Bianca trying to avoid mirrors. She saw Layla in the mirrors when she first arrived. Not that it mattered. She saw her everywhere now.

Dr. Fitzgerald: Did you sleep well?

Bianca: I haven’t slept since I got here.

Dr. Fitzgerald: I prescribed you a sleeping aid.

Bianca: It doesn’t help. I close my eyes and I see … I see Jasper in the cabin, bound and helpless and the bomb going off.

Dr. Fitzgerald: Do you want to talk about Jasper today?

Bianca: No.

Dr. Fitzgerald: You told me you recovered your memories of the night your stepfather died.

Bianca: There’s something wrong with my memory. I’m remembering more and more every day, but I’m remembering wrong.

Dr. Fitzgerald: Wrong how?

Bianca: I remember the attack, but I remember Layla being there. I remember her telling me to just lay still and let her handle it and then I’m standing there, looking down at Pete’s body. She couldn’t have been there, though.

Dr. Fitzgerald: Tell me about Layla. What was she like?

Bianca: There was a time when we were children that I was so weak and sensitive. Kids would pick on me and my headbands and Layla would defend me. She was always protecting me, it seemed. I remember one time, there was this boy she liked. His name was Jonathan. Jonathan was making fun of my headband and Layla slugged him. She knocked one of his teeth out, but in 

her defense, that tooth was already loose. She told him if he ever wanted to share her juice and cookies again he’d apologize and he did, because Layla could be scary when she wanted to be. I asked her why she did that, and she said, ‘You hurt, I hurt.’ Then, when he was gone to the nurse, she turned to me and said, ‘It is an ugly headband, Binky.’

Dr. Fitzgerald: Why do you think you saw Layla that night?

Bianca: Because, I was scared. I needed her again, just like I needed her when I was little. He was hurting me. She made it stop.

Dr. Fitzgerald: Have you seen Layla since the night Jasper died?

Bianca thought. She could tell him the truth, maybe he could fix it. But, what if Layla was right? What if Bianca did need her to make the pain stop again? Suddenly, she wasn’t so sure she could walk this tightrope without her safety net beneath her, so she lied. She said she hadn’t seen Layla or even thought much about Layla since that night. Then, she returned to her room.

At sunset, Bianca was in her room when she saw a dark figure pass by her door. It whispered her name and told her to follow.

She did. She followed it out into the rec room, to the lobby, to the dining hall, always one step behind. 

Bianca: Is that you, Layla?

Layla: No. We should go back to the room. This isn’t right.

But, she heard the voice again, the whisper telling her to follow. And, she did because the voice sounded like Jasper.

When she stepped out onto the bridge connecting the Reynolds Center towers, she realized why.

Because, the voice belonged to Jasper’s father.

Roger: Hello, Bianca.

Bianca: Why are you here? I thought you’d be in jail by now.

Roger: I was. But, in my experience with the Sunset Valley Police Department, I’ve found them entirely inept. It was very easy to escape from the officers transporting me to prison. Then again, I suppose it was hard for them to think with bullets in their brains. Same for the nurse on your floor. Hope you weren’t too attached to her.

Dr. Fitzgerald had told her everything. Alison took Jasper on his way to the police. He’d called them, told them he had proof Franklin was innocent. Ted’s efforts to get the bail denial overturned had worked, and so they released Franklin, which was when Alison found him. Then, she locked them both in their respective cabins and she rigged the explosives and waited for Bianca to wake up.

Bianca: What do you want from me?

Roger: Vengeance. I lost my son because of you.

Bianca: You lost your son because some girl from Kansas got a little too huff-happy with the corn fertilizer.

Roger: You made him think he loved you and that girl used it to punish you. If you hadn’t killed her father, none of this would have happened.

 

 

Bianca: If her father hadn’t attacked me, I wouldn’t have killed him. Probably.

Roger: Attacked you? Yeah, I heard about that. I bet that was just a story you told to get out of the charges. ‘I was a poor, innocent little girl and the big bad man had his way with me.’ You probably came onto him and screwed with his head the same way you messed up my poor Jasper. But, I can see why he fell for it. You’re quite beautiful. 

 

Bianca:  Stay away from me.

Roger: He had Cynthia, only fair that I get a piece of his girlfriend, don’t you think? And, you aren’t quite as used up as she was.

Bianca: I told you to stay away.

Roger: Did you know she was pregnant? It was in the Medical Examiner’s report. Cynthia was carrying my baby. Or Jasper’s baby. Or Franklin’s or the milkman’s or the chem. teacher’s…that’s why she was 

blackmailing Rebecca. She was going to get money from her, enough to live on for a while, go somewhere, raise the baby. She honestly thought she got to be happy after making everyone around her miserable. You and she have that in common.

Bianca: Do I look happy to you?

Roger: No, but I can make you happy. I’m sure I can do everything Jasper could.

Bianca: Stop it!

But, he didn’t stop. He put his hands on her, and reflexively … she closed her eyes.

Roger stood, bewildered as the caterpillar slipped into her cocoon … and a vicious butterfly emerged. A butterfly that was most decidedly not Bianca.

Layla: Do you know how old you are? Do you even leave fingerprints anymore? And, you think that this wants any of you? Pete, he was bigger than Bianca was, but you? You’re a knit catheter cozy from the old folks’ home and I’m pretty sure I can take you.

Roger: Why are you talking about yourself in the third person?

Layla: Bianca’s not here right now. Leave a message after the beep and she’ll get back to you … BEEP.

Before Roger could say anything at all, Bianca … or whoever … grabbed him and threw him from the bridge. His body landed in a crumpled, broken mess on the ground. Dead.

Layla: Told ya.

Ted, having heard the commotion, came running out onto the bridge.

Ted: Bianca, honey, did he hurt you?

Layla: Of course not, Daddy. He tried. He fell. Very sad.

Ted: Thank goodness you’re alright.

Layla: Never been better.

That night, once the police were gone and everything was squared away, Dr. Fitzgerald went to Bianca’s room to check on his patient.

Dr. Fitzgerald: Ted, I’m afraid there’s a problem.

Ted: What is it?

Dr. Fitzgerald: Your daughter, she’s gone.

He had no idea. At Aquarius, Layla used her considerable charms to get past the bouncer, went inside and ordered a WooHoo on the Beach.

Barkeep: That’s your third one tonight, lady. You just get out of prison or something?

Layla: Or something.

Barkeep: Haven’t seen you around here before. I’d remember a girl like you.

Layla: Special occasion. Today’s my birthday and tonight is the last night I plan to spend in Sunset Valley.

And, as Layla went to chat up the cutie in the hot tub, she heard Bianca screaming for Jasper … and shut her down. This body was Layla’s now and she knew how to keep it safe. No love, no emotions, no pain. Just lots of drinks and lots of cute boys and lots of fun.

And, Ted would never, ever see her again.