"Oh my God, Liss! You wouldn't believe the summer I've had. It was…amazing." I said to my best friend, Lissa, as we hugged. We'd both just gotten back from summer vacations. It was the first time we'd been away from each other for more than two weeks. Although it sucked not having my best friend around, I'd found a few things to occupy my time and I couldn't wait to tell Lissa about it.

"Mine, too!" she exclaimed, stepping out of my arms. When I gave her a dubious look, she added, "Yeah, I mean, it sucked that it was a school trip, but Italy was beautiful. Christian and I even managed to sneak away from the group to go see Romeo and Juliet's castles. It was really romantic."

I grimaced. "A romantic getaway with Christian; you're dream come true, my nightmare realized."

She laughed, flipping her long blonde hair behind her back. "Say what you want, Rose, but I guarantee you I had a better time in Italy than you did on the Shore."

"You would be mistaken." I laughed. "You may have gone to another country, but I – "

The bell rang for first period, cutting me off. Lissa frowned. "Tell me the rest at lunch?"

I nodded, gave Lissa a hug, and headed off toward my locker to get my books. Lissa and I had been disappointed to find out that we only had one class together this year, but at least we got the same lunch period. I couldn't wait to tell her what I'd done over the summer at the Jersey Shore. As I walked to my first class – English – I thought back on my last night there.

I'd been lounging around the beach house my parents had rented all day long. I'd occasionally gone out to the beach, but it hadn't been any fun without someone to hang out with. I was just about to start packing my things when I got a text from Anthony, this guy I'd been hanging out with all summer.

We'd met when we were put in seats next to each other on a roller coaster on the boardwalk. He'd been with some friends, but there was an odd number of people so he had to ride with a stranger. Luckily, I'd been the one he was seated next to. We started talking while we waited for the ride to start.

"So, you here with anyone?" he asked. I couldn't help but notice how his deep brown eyes glistened under all those lights. He was hot.

I shook my head. "Nope. It's just me. I could have come with my…" I paused, wondering if I should tell him I'd come here with my parents. He looked a lot older than me, so he'd probably think that was stupid. "…roommates, but none of them wanted to come with me."

He laughed. "They sound like an exciting bunch. Why come to the Shore if you aren't going to go out and enjoy yourself?"

I shrugged. "I don't get it, either. But it doesn't matter. I can have fun without them."

"You could hang with us, if you want. I can't guarantee that you'll have the best experience of your life with us, but I can promise you some fun." He smiled at me and my stomach did a little flip. An absolutely gorgeous guy – who I'd just met – was inviting me to hang out with him. I'd gotten plenty of attention from guys before, but most of them were my age and were completely immature.

"Thanks. That'd be great. I'm Rose, by the way." I held my hand out toward him.

He took it, giving it one strong shake before saying, "Anthony. It's nice to meet you."

After that the ride started, so we couldn't talk anymore.

I sighed, wishing I could turn back time. Since I couldn't, I decided I may as well pay attention to my English lesson.

[BREAK]

Three hours later, I stood in the lunch line with Lissa, Eddie, Mia, Mason, and Christian, my friends. I'd known most of them since I started kindergarten, but had only been friends with Lissa since then. I became friends with Eddie in second grade, bonding with him over our love of purple glue. I know, it's disgusting, but when we were in second grade we loved to eat it. Mia and I hadn't seen eye-to-eye at first. In fifth grade, we'd been taking a math test and the teacher took up both of our tests, saying that I was cheating off of Mia and that she was letting it happen. Mia blamed me for getting her a failing grade on a test, so she'd broken into my locker and stuffed it with peanut butter. I'd been so amazed at how she did it that I wasn't even mad. We became fast friends after that, especially with Lissa's help.

Mason was a different story altogether. He'd moved to our tiny town in the seventh grade. My group of friends – Lissa, Eddie, me, and Mia at the time – had invited him to have lunch with us when we noticed he wasn't making any friends. Mason was shy at first, but we made sure we made him feel as comfortable as possible and he soon started to open up, especially to me. It was no secret that Mason had a bad crush on me. We went out once, but I just didn't feel that way about him, so I told him it'd be best if we stayed friends. It was obvious that he didn't like that idea, but he dealt with it. He'd only had one other girlfriend and that hadn't gone well at all. I knew he still had a crush on me, but we never brought it up.

Now, Christian is the really difficult friend to explain. When we were younger, Christian and I used to pick on each other. He'd make a tail of paperclips on the back of my shirt when I wasn't looking, and I'd change his name on his cubby from "Christian" to "Christina". It was all fun and games until he tripped me on the playground, making me scrape my legs and arms up. When our teacher sent me to the nurse, I came up with a plan.

When we lay down for nap time, I waited for the teacher to leave the room. I knew she left the classroom every day when we took our naps because I'd spent the majority of nap time every day awake. When she finally did leave, I grabbed a glue bottle and poured it on Christian's head as he slept. He didn't even wake up when I did it! When he did, though, he ratted me out and got me sent to the principal's office. He had never forgiven me for pouring glue on his head and I had never forgiven him for being a pansy and telling on me.

That all changed last year, though. Christian and Lissa had somehow gotten the same exact schedule our first semester of ninth grade. They started doing projects together after school three days a week. But then it turned to four days, then five, until Christian finally asked her out. I tried convincing her to break up with him – partly because I didn't like him and partly because, I'll admit it, I was jealous of losing time with Lissa to him – but I eventually gave up when she wouldn't. I could see how happy he made her, and that was all I wanted for her. Christian and I eventually learned to get past our differences, but I still liked to mess with him.

"The Trevi fountain was amazing! I took pictures of Christian and I in front of it, and we got some good shots of us making wishes, too. You guys should check them out on my Facebook page." Lissa said, almost jumping up and down with excitement.

Eddie leaned toward me and whispered, "Has she talked about anything since she got back?"

I laughed. "No. But don't spoil it for her. It's been a long time since I've seen her this happy."

Eddie's face fell. "Yeah, I know. It's nice to see her acting the way she used to. Before…" He looked down. He didn't need to finish that sentence. I already knew what he was talking about.

Lissa's mom had died two years ago. She'd been having problems breathing and went to the doctor, who told her that she had bronchitis. When they put her on antibiotics and they didn't work, they ordered more tests to be done. By the time they found out she had lung cancer, it was already too late. There was nothing they could do. Lissa's mom died one month after being diagnosed. The cancer had been really aggressive, leaving Lissa's mom in constant pain. She'd actually called me Lissa once when I'd come over to see her for Christmas. Her dad had been taking care of her and her older brother, Andre, ever since.

"Rose," Lissa called, catching up to me once we got out of the line. "What was it you were going to tell me about earlier? About your trip?"

I smiled, thinking back on my time at the Shore again. "I'll tell you after school. It's something that needs to stay between us."

We sat down at our lunch table, Lissa next to me and Christian on her other side. Mia, Mason, and Eddie all sat across from us. "Well, I meant to tell you…"

I forgot about my lunch for a moment and stared at Lissa. "No. Do not tell me that you can't hang out after school. Again! You never want to hang out with me anymore." I stuck my bottom lip out a little, knowing Lissa couldn't refuse me when I made that face. She had such a kind heart that it was hard for her to say no to almost anything.

"But I…" Lissa looked over to Christian, apparently wanting him to step in. When he didn't, she turned back to me and said, "Okay. But I have something I have to take care of at five."

I shrugged. "I'll take what I can get. So, Eddie, are you going to eat that cinnamon roll?"

[BREAK]

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. When the final bell of the day rang, I met up with Lissa and the rest of the gang in front of the school. "So, what are you guys doing tonight?" I asked.

Mia and Eddie looked at each other for a second before looking away. A bright scarlet began creep upon her cheeks. I wondered what those two were up to, but decided not to say anything…yet.

"I'm heading to the movies with my parents. They want to spend time with me." Mia made a face, showing us all just how delighted she was to have a date with her parents.

Eddie nodded toward Mason. "We're heading over to my place. I'm finally going to teach Mason how to shoot…well, anything." Eddie laughed.

"Hey, I can't help it that I've never shot a gun before. You know how my parents are." Mason exclaimed.

Christian shook his head. "And what exactly did you tell them you were doing tonight? I'm guessing they wouldn't let you go over to Eddie's if they knew the truth." Mason's parents were big-time animal lovers. They wouldn't swat a fly. Literally.

"I just told them I was hanging out over at Eddie's place." Mason shrugged. "It's the truth."

Before anyone could say anything else, Lissa's dad showed up. I was surprised because Liss and I usually walked home. Our houses weren't that far apart; it would only take us two minutes to walk to each other's house. It took us about ten minutes to walk from our houses to the school. From the look on Lissa's face, she was surprised her dad had showed up, too.

We said our goodbyes and hopped into the car. I made small talk with Lissa's dad, telling him about how much fun the Shore was and how I was excited for my new classes – even though I wasn't, but it never hurt to tell an adult you like your classes. When we got to Lissa's house, we made snacks and ran up to her room, locking the door behind us.

"Okay, tell me everything." Lissa said with a huge smile on her face.

So I did. I told her about how Anthony and I had met, how we'd hung out almost every single day together, and gotten to know each other. "He's really great. He's over six feet tall, with dark brown eyes and hair. And, man, does he have muscles." I shivered in delight just thinking about it.

"Did you hook up?" she asked, clearly excited that I'd finally found a guy I really liked.

I shook my head. "I mean, we made out a lot and stuff, but it never went any further than that. I really, really like him, but I don't want my first time having sex to be with someone I'm never going to see again. I want it to be special."

Liss frowned, clearly not getting the answer she'd expected. "But that would be special. Think about it: you meet a really hot stranger, get to know each other a little bit, have adventures on the Jersey Shore, and have hot, passionate sex before you have to leave each other. Sounds kind of like a romance novel, minus the drama."

"Sorry, but I don't want my first time to be like that. I mean, I'm all for hot and passionate stuff, but I also want…it to mean something."

Lissa's face softened and she smiled. "Yeah, I get it. Too bad this Anthony guy doesn't live anywhere near here. Where did you say he was from again?"

"His family is from Russia, but he's lived in Colorado almost his whole life. I don't know if he's still there or not. He said he'd just graduated and was looking for a job out of state."

"Wait." Lissa paused, her forehead scrunching up in thought. "He isn't going to college? Did he say why?"

Uh oh. I'd forgotten about a couple of details that Lissa might not find so exciting. "Uh, well, that's the thing… He kind of graduated from college in the spring."

"What?! Oh my God, is he some kind of super genius or something? Think you could get him to tutor me?" she laughed.

I laughed, too, but it wasn't the same kind of laugh as Lissa's. Mine was nervous. I honestly had no idea how she would react to my next bit of information, but I was dying to tell someone about what had happened. I didn't want to spare a single detail, even if she looked down on me because of those details.

"No, not exactly. See, the thing is…" I smiled sheepishly.

"C'mon, Rose! Just tell me already."

"He's twenty-four."

Liss stopped bouncing, keeping her face blank. She was eerily silent, making me feel uneasy. Just when I was about to tell her to say something – anything – she spoke. "And he kept this…flirtation going on with a seventeen-year-old because…?"

I got up off Lissa's bed and turned around, walking to her vanity. I pretended to fix my hair as I answered, "Um, because…I told him I was eighteen?" I squeezed my eyes closed, hoping she wouldn't yell at me too loud.

"Rose!"

"I knew that was coming." I said quickly, turning around as I did. "Look, it's not that big of a deal. Like I said, all we did was make out a little."

"No." She shook her head. "No, you liked him. I can tell. It wasn't just about his looks, was it?"

I shrugged. "So what if it wasn't? Look, I'm never going to see him again, so it doesn't really matter. No one will ever find out what happened, especially since I kept it a secret from my parents, who were there the whole time. It…it was just a fling, that's all."

She shook her head. "I still don't think it was right for you to lie to him like that…but I guess you're right. You didn't do any real harm."

"See? Now let me tell you about how he kissed!"

We talked about our different experiences over the summer for about an hour. I told Lissa about how safe and warm I'd felt snuggled in Anthony's arms on the beach. She told me about how she and Christian had had a picnic on a vineyard, and how they'd fallen asleep in each other's arms while watching the sunset. We were so caught up in our romantic tales that we both nearly fell off the bed when Lissa's phone started ringing.

As she got up to answer it, my phone started going off as well. We looked at each other, curious. I can't say how Lissa felt, but I had an ominous feeling in the pit of my stomach. When I got my phone out, I saw that I had three new text messages instead of a missed call. I opened them as Lissa stepped into the hallway to talk on her phone.

How was your first day back home? That was from Anthony. The ominous feeling in my stomach was replaced with butterflies. I'd been wanting to text him all day, but I didn't know if he'd wanted to keep in touch after summer or not. I decided not to reply to that one, just in case the other two messages were from him as well.

Can you send me your address? I got you something I think you're going to like. That one was also from Anthony. The butterflies increased and I felt a blush creeping on my face. Okay, this was starting to get ridiculous. Why couldn't I feel this way about someone who actually lived nearby and who was my own age? I sighed and opened the last message.

SOS! CALL ASAP! That was from Eddie. An icy chill went down my spine. Last year, we all went with Mason's parents to Galveston for spring break. They'd had some sort of event going on all week for people interested in saving animals. They'd wanted us to go with them, but Mason had finally talked them into letting us do our own thing while they were at the meetings. But we all had to agree that if anything went wrong, we would send an SOS message to them. Ever since, we'd been using that same system so that if anything ever happened to one of us, we would all know immediately and might be able to get help.

I hopped off the bed as fast as I could and went to open the door, but Lissa came back in before I could. I was about to tell her about the message from Eddie when I noticed she was crying. "Lissa, what's wrong? What happened?!" I asked, grabbing her shoulders and looking her in the eyes.

She shook her head. "Mason's in the hospital. He had an accident while he and Eddie were hunting…" Lissa broke off into sobs again.

I grabbed her arm and began leading her out the room. "Come on. We've got to get to the hospital."

[BREAK]

Thirty minutes later, I stood in the ICU waiting room with Mia and Lissa, who were crying hysterically, and Eddie and Christian. Eddie was devastated. He'd told us that he and Mason were on their way back from the woods to Eddie's house when Mason lost his grip on the gun he was holding. He didn't know how it happened, but the gun went off and shot Mason.

I sat down next to Eddie and put my arm around him. "Hey, stop being so hard on yourself. It was an accident. It could've happened to you."

"That's the thing…" He shook his head before looking at me. "If it was me, it wouldn't be as bad. My parents know I go hunting; they know there's a risk that I could get hurt. But Mason's parents had no idea what he was doing. If they did, they wouldn't have wanted him to take that risk. But I talked him into going hunting without getting his parent's permission. This is all my fault."

"No, no it's not." I tilted his head so that he was looking at me. "Mason didn't get shot because he didn't get his parent's permission. He got shot because of an accident. It's something that could've happened even if he did get his mom or dad's permission."

Tears fell out of Eddie's eyes and I wrapped him in my arms. I hated seeing him this way. Eddie was usually a very happy person, so seeing him like this made my heart ache. "It's my fault. I did this. It's my fault…" Eddie murmured.

I didn't try to talk sense into him again. I knew it would be a pointless endeavor. Instead, I rocked him back and forth in my arms and let him get it all out of his system. I don't know how long we stayed like that. It felt like forever. We couldn't do anything but wait, wait, and wait some more. At some point, we all wound up in a circle on the floor.

Christian had Lissa's head in his lap. He stroked her hair as she silently cried. Every now and then, she'd close her eyes and I would think she'd fallen asleep, but then she would hiccup or another sob would escape her lips and her eyes would snap open. I couldn't tell what Christian was saying, but he was whispering what sounded like soothing things in her ear.

Mia sat on Eddie's right and I sat on his left, both of us taking each of his hands in our own. We didn't say anything, but we didn't need to. At least, until Mason's parents showed up.

"How dare you?!" Mason's mom, Rebecka, shouted at Eddie, sticking her finger in his face when he stood up. "How could you do something like this, Eddie? We thought you were Mason's friend!"

"I am!" Eddie gasped. Tears flowed freely down his face. "I'm so, so sorry. I didn't think – "

"That's right!" Mason's dad, David, joined in. "You didn't think, and now our boy has to pay for that."

"Excuse me."

The hard tone that Lissa's dad, Eric, used was unlike him. It was so unlike him that everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him. "I realize that you're upset right now, that you're worried for your son. But taking it out on Eddie isn't going to do anything except make him feel worse right now and make you feel worse later. Eddie is human, like us. He can't see the future. How could he know that something would go wrong when he's gone hunting without something happening so many times before?"

Rebecka looked like she might burst, but she never got the chance to.

"Mr. and Mrs. Ashford?"

A doctor had suddenly appeared in the doorway of the waiting room. He was dressed in green scrubs, gloves, and a cap. I noticed he had blood on his gloves. We all watched as Mason's parents walked over and talked to him.

We couldn't hear anything from where we were, but we really didn't need to. Mason's mom collapsed in a heap on the floor. As David's arms went around his wife, she let out a loud, horrible wail. After that, things happened so fast that they were a blur.

Eddie started whispering, "No, no, no," over and over again. Lissa sat up and let Christian hold her as she sobbed. Mia's face was completely drained of blood, turning her skin the color of glaciers. There was no emotion on her face; she just stared at the floor without really seeing it.

I knew I was strong. After all, I was always the one to hold the group together when it looked like inevitable disaster was heading our way. But, at that moment, I no longer felt like Rosemarie Hathaway. I saw the walls that I'd built up to keep myself from becoming an emotional mess so that I could take care of my friends come crashing down. A sob made its way up my throat and through my lips.

A million thoughts ran through my head at once. I'm never going to see Mason again. I'll never see his smile, hold his hand, or tease him about liking me ever again. We won't graduate together like we'd planned. We won't get to go to prom together. Mason is gone.

I'd never experienced pain like that before. It was overwhelming. I didn't know how to make it stop, but I desperately tried. I fought so hard to get a hold of myself, but nothing worked. I couldn't block it out.

I guess that's why I passed out.

[BREAK]

My alarm woke me up promptly at six in the morning. I couldn't remember coming home last night. My body ached and my mind was fuzzy. Oh, God, I didn't drink last night, did I?

I sat up and rubbed my eyes, willing the last of my sleepiness away. I took my time stretching, allowing my body to get used to moving. I guessed that I hadn't drunk anything alcoholic last night because I didn't have a headache, but I did feel like I'd been under the influence of something. What the hell did we do last night?

I got up, took a quick shower, and got dressed. I decided to pull my long, brown hair in a ponytail. Even after the shower, I still looked horrible. I had bags under my eyes, even though I felt like I'd slept for days. My skin was pale and my cheeks looked caved in. Again, I asked myself what had happened. I couldn't remember anything. For some reason, I felt like there was something my mind was trying not to remember.

When I went downstairs, my mom looked at me as if she'd seen a ghost.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked, going to the cabinet. I definitely needed breakfast this morning.

My mom – Janine Hathaway, best real estate saleswoman in three counties – put down the orange juice she was most likely pouring for my dad, Abe Hathaway. I'd always thought it was weird that my dad had taken on my mom's last name, but it's actually not that uncommon. My dad was a truck driver, but I sometimes felt like he and mom were keeping something from me about his job. He'd stay gone weeks at a time, which was normal for a truck driver. What wasn't normal was how he always came home with a ton of cash. I'd never asked them about it, though, because I honestly didn't want to know.

"Sweetheart, don't you think you should stay home today? Take it easy for a little while?" she asked, getting the milk out for me.

I had absolutely no idea what to think about that. "Mom, are you okay? What happened last night?"

She'd been pouring the milk into my cereal bowl, but stopped when I asked her that. She slowly put the milk down on the table and sat in the chair next to me. "Honey…" She seemed at a loss for words and put her hand on my leg. "Last night – "

"Janine!" my dad yelled from upstairs. "Can I speak with you for a moment?"

My mom looked upstairs for a moment, then back at me, then back at the stairs. She sighed. "I'll be right back, okay?"

I nodded and she left. What was up with her today? I decided I would play detective. I slowly crept up the stairs, hoping they wouldn't squeak too much. I'd just started to hear what they were saying when I came across one of my mortal enemies: the top stair. That stair had gotten me in trouble so many times, it was hard to count. Every time I tried to sneak into my room, it would give me away. It didn't help that my dad was the lightest sleeper in the world.

"I think we should take her to a…specialist." My mom was saying.

"I don't know. I think it's a good idea, but how do we get her to go without telling her why she's going?"

"Maybe we could get her to see the school's counselor." Mom suggested.

"The school has a counselor? Since when?" Dad replied.

"Well, he was actually supposed to start next week, but the school sent me an email saying that he's going to start working earlier because of…well, what happened."

What the hell? I started to think that maybe I shouldn't have eavesdropped on my parents. I was even more confused now than I'd been all morning.

"I guess that's as good a plan as any. She's going to remember what happened as soon as she gets to school, anyway." Dad said.

There was a pause. "I just hope that it's not too hard for her today."

My dad sighed. "Of course it's going to be hard for her. What happened… It's very traumatizing, especially for someone at her age."

"Well, I know that, Ibrahim. I meant that I hope the kids she goes to school with aren't gossiping too much about it. You know kids are."

I'd gotten so engrossed in their conversation that I hadn't even realized I'd taken a step. The top stair squeaked, but it might as well have been a scream in the silence that followed. I quickly and quietly went back downstairs and slipped into my seat.

"Rose?" Mom called from upstairs.

"Mmhmm?" I was trying my best to make it sound like I was eating.

"Don't worry about walking to school today. I'll drop you off."

[BREAK]

"I can't believe you came to school today. Are you okay?" Lissa asked, hugging me.

I was surprised, but I didn't pull away from her. For some reason, it felt nice to be hugged. More than nice, actually. It felt…comforting. "I'm a little achy, like I worked out too much, but other than that, I'm fine. How about you?"

Her eyes suddenly grew wide. "Rose – "

"Lissa!"

My mom called Lissa over to our car. I started to walk over there with Liss, but my mom gave me a glare that said, "Stay where you are or so help me, God." So I stayed put. They didn't talk long, but something about them talking in private made my stomach do somersaults, and not in a good way.

When Lissa came back, she wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "We have to go to the office. Don't worry, we aren't in trouble."

We didn't stay in the office long. As we walked in, Mrs. Stepp – the school secretary – nodded at us. I had no idea what that meant, but Lissa apparently did because she led me to a hallway in the back of the office. I'd been back here plenty of times before, mostly when I was in trouble. There were three rooms to the right of the hallway, which I thought were used for keeping student records. There was a door at the end of the hallway, the principal's office. I knew that room like the back of my hand.

On the left side of the hallway, there was an open room – a waiting room. There were couches built into the walls so that people could wait comfortably until it was their turn to be seen. Once you went into the room, you could see another door on the left. That used to be the nurse's office, but they'd moved it last year.

"Let's sit and wait." Lissa said.

I glanced around. The sign above the door said, "Counselor's Office". "What are we doing here, Liss?"

"Um…" She glanced down, trying to hide the fact that she was tearing up, but it wouldn't work on me. I knew her too well.

"Hey." I whispered in a soothing tone. "Whatever it is, it's all going to be okay. I promise."

To my surprise, this made her cry harder. "I-I'm sorry. I'll be…right back. He'll call you in in a minute."

She got up and ran off before I could say anything else. Having absolutely no idea why I was here, I glanced around, taking in my environment. They'd changed the waiting room since I'd last been here. Instead of hard, leather couches, they now had soft, fluffy couches that I could easily fall asleep on. I instantly began coming up with ideas on how to sneak over here when I was tired.

I thought I was next in line, but Mrs. Stoner – the sophomore geometry teacher – brought a girl into the waiting room who was bawling like a baby. I thought her name was Sophia, but I didn't know for sure if it was or not. "Sorry, Rose. You don't mind if Sophie goes ahead of you, do you?"

Close, but no cigar. "I don't mind."

Mrs. Stoner gave me a kind smile, which was odd. She always seemed so…indifferent to me. She knocked on the counselor's door and waited a moment. I guess she heard something that I didn't because she opened the door and brought Sophie into the room.

"I'm so sorry, Rose." Mrs. Stoner said before slipping out into the hallway.

Sorry for what? That I was having to spend so much time waiting in a waiting room for some reason that I didn't know? Hey, if it was getting me out of class, I really didn't mind.

I looked around the waiting room again, taking in the flower posters on the wall. I thought they put those posters up to help soothe people, but they never made me feel comfortable. They actually did the opposite. I knew that when I was faced with really colorful flower posters, I was in for something bad. A feeling of being hollow enveloped me for a moment. A memory suddenly came to me.

How could you do something like this, Eddie?

I shook my head. Where had that come from?

I didn't have time to process it because Mrs. Stepp came into the waiting room with what looked like a name plaque in her hand. She slid it into a slot beside the counselor's door that I hadn't even noticed. She gave me a small smile before leaving again.

I read the plaque. Dimitri Belikov. Whoa, he definitely wasn't from around here. I had to admit, though, the name peaked my interest. I had no idea what country the name Belikov came from, so I found myself imagining all sorts of different looking men with different accents. It's going to be too easy to mess with this guy… I thought.

Suddenly, the door opened. Sophie stepped out, wiping her eyes with a bunch of tissues. "He said to send you in." she told me before bolting.

As I stood up, I realized that I was nervous. My heart had started beating faster and my palms were getting sweaty. I knew that there was a reason why I was here, and it wasn't a good one, either. Either something was wrong with me, something was wrong in my life, or both. I took a deep breath and entered the room.

"Please shut the door." he told me. He was sitting in a really tall chair, facing the opposite direction than me, which meant he was facing a wall. I did as he asked and waited for further instruction. When he didn't give any, I scanned the room. There were three places for me to sit. A straight-backed wooden chair, what looked like a mini recliner, and a small sofa made out of the same material as the couches outside. I sat on the sofa, deciding to make myself comfortable.

But when Belikov turned around, I was anything but.

"Anthony?!"