Aria flinched at Jack’s yelling, shaking her head when he asked if she’d been hit. He startled a laugh out of her with his comment about the screwdriver instruction manual. She gave him a rather watery grin. “I’m going to just go find a Kleenex or something or I’m going to bleed to death.” She said, pointing at her bloody nose. 

She picked her way through the crowd and went into the bathroom, grabbing a wad of paper towels and plugging her nose with them. As she was in there her phone flickered and died, and suddenly she was left without any sense of direction.

She gasped, for she hated the dark… hated the dark… And curled into a ball, clenching her eyes tightly shut. If she had her eyes closed she couldn’t tell it was dark.
A pounding on the door, and she flinched. But then the person spoke. “Aria, are you alright?” The sound was muffled.
“N-no…” she choked out. In a second the door was open and a flashlight shined on her; her eyes watering in the sudden light, she looked up to see the twins, each with their pocket flashlights out. She lunged to her feet, trying to calm her shaky breathing, the terror of being in the darkness.
“You’re alright, Aria. What happened?” Connor asked. He put his arm around her shoulder in a comforting way.
“We heard you crying from all the way in the auditorium. The Monkeys are about ready to head for whatever Jack’s crazy plan is. And being we’re the least likely of all of them to trigger a panic attack from you, we came to find you. Phone die?” Adam said.
“Yeah… It was full battery this morning, I don’t know how it drained so fast.” Aria took a shaky breath and coughed, thankfully not spitting any blood out. Her nose had stopped bleeding, finally.
“Come on, let’s get you out of here. Use my flashlight; I’ve got another one in my backpack.” Connor handed her the light, bracing her upright until she got her feet under her. She gave him a watery grin and mentally re-organized herself.
“Don’t tell anyone I’m scared of the dark, okay?” she asked softly. Both boys chuckled.

Aria forced a smile onto her face and led the way out of the bathroom, re-entering the auditorium. She came up beside Jack and Braden, smiling apologetically. “Sorry guys. It’s hard to think when your nose is bleeding.” she said. “Are all the tutors going too? And what’s our project, anyway?”