"It was just really sudden," the blond girl cries into her sleeve

"It was just really sudden," the blond girl cries into her sleeve. I pass her the box of tissues.

"Was she killed on impact?" Tyler asks.

"No, she made it to the hospital, but she was dead before I got there." The girl continues to cry, "It was just a mistake. She only ran one red light."

"Lucas, you had a similar experience." Greg states. This means it's my time to talk.

"Um, yeah. She had a brain aneurism." I mutter. I still don't like talking about what happened to my mom.

"How did you find out?" Greg prods.

"A social worker pulled me out of school." I say looking at my feet.

"What about your dad?" Tom asks.

"I live with him now, but I didn't know him before." I shrug.

"That's so cool, like you were reunited," the blond girl perks up. She's new, and I know she said her name when she first came in, but I forgot, and am too embarrassed to ask.

"Not really, he was married his new wife before I was even born. I don't think he exactly planned for me." I answer.

"Maybe he didn't know about you." Daryl says.

"He lives two miles away." I say pulling at the sleeves of my sweatshirt.

"Jackie how is life with your grandparents?" Greg asks finally moving on. Group therapy is like that. The heat's turned on you and it's really intense for about two minutes, but then your done. Now it's the next sucker's turn.

"They don't have cable." Jackie says leaning back in her chair.

"Ask for it for your birthday." I shrug.

"They don't approve. They think drug, sex, and rock and roll all emanate from basic cable." Jackie rolls her eyes.

"What do they think about your hair?' the blond girl asks.

"They haven't seen it yet," she smirks as she runs her hands through her purple hair.

"Jackie, I think you should try to compromise with them, but go against them." Greg says glancing at his watch.

"Our sessions up, but I'll see you all next week." Greg says standing up. We all shuffle out of the room, and outside. I see Dan's sports car waiting for me. Without saying bye to anyone I go get in.

"How was it son?" Dan asks. I shrug. I don't like how he's started calling me son. I've only lived with him for a week, and he's certainly not 'dad' in my eyes.

We drive back to his house in relative silence. Dan puts a basketball game commentary on the radio, and he seems relaxed. I still sit on edge, not comfortable in this fancy car.

I'm not a Scott. I don't belong in the big house that we pull up too. I don't belong in the jaguar that I'm getting out of, and the boy playing basketball in the front yard is not my brother.

Only he is, and this is suddenly my life.

"Nathan, you're going to have to get all of those shots if you expect to make varsity next year." Dan shouts as we walk past Nathan towards the house.

"Dad, no freshman has ever made varsity." Nathan says as he wipes the sweat from his forehead.

"Well, no Scott has ever tried out in his freshman year." Dan says before he unlocks the door.

The second it's open I rush past him to go upstairs into my new room. I lock the door behind me and pull out the stupid diary that Greg makes everyone in therapy write.

I pull out a pen and balance it between my thumb and fingers. What should I write about? How tonight's the one-week anniversary of my moms death? How Nathan and I haven't exchanged one word, or how loud Deb and Dan yell at each other when they think I'm asleep?

I scribble down some bullshit about how I'm so excited that summer starts in two weeks, and how I'm going to be in high school. Maybe I'll try out for basketball too. I used to play all the time, but I haven't since my mom died. I wonder if my friends at the river court know what happened? Probably, I told my best friend Haley who talks to some of them.

Twenty minutes later I have seven full pages, and my hand throbs. But I do feel better, maybe Greg knows what he's talking about. When I first came to group therapy I thought he was another bullshitting psychologist, but I kind of like him now.

"Luke, dinner!" Nathan bangs on my door.

"Yeah, I'll be down in a second." I call back. I shove my notebook in the drawer next to my bed, and then unlock my door.

"Lucas, have you been crying?" Deb asks me as I take a seat at the table. I put a hand up to my eyes, and sure enough it feels damp. I quickly wipe them, embarrassed that I hadn't realized that I was crying.

"Men don't cry, Deb." Dan smiles at me as he puts a large helping of potatoes on my plate.

"It's okay for everyone to cry, Dan." Deb says with a forced smile.

"Its okay, I wasn't crying." I lie as my face burns with shame.

"You don't have to lie," Deb says looking at me as if I was seven.

"Can you even hear yourself? This is such bullshit." Nathan says with a mouth full of steak.

"Nathan, don't speak with your mouthful." Deb says ignoring him. Nathan swallows hard and puts his fork down.

"You're such a hypocrite." Nathan says powerfully. Deb and Dan both jerk their heads towards him.

"We don't do family dinner, mom you're not usually even home for dinner, and now we're some family. This is crap." Nathan says picking up his plate and disappearing up the stairs.

"I'm sorry about that." Deb says squeezing her eyes shut.

"Should-" I start to ask pointing up towards the stairs where Nathan disappeared off to.

"He'll calm down." Dan says harshly. My mom would never have let me just run off.

"I'm sorry," I say. I feel responsible for all of this. Their marriage is obviously crumbling, and probably because of me, the accident Dan thought he had left in the past.

And I just miss my mom.

"Lucas, you didn't do anything." Deb says looking a little anxious. I give her a small smile, and go back to picking at my food. I'm suddenly not so hungry.

"So, Lucas what are you thinking about doing this summer?" Dan asks.

"I thought I'd try out for high school basketball." I say. Dan's eyes brighten.

"You play?" He asks looking at me with more interest than he has since I got here.