Disclaimer: I don't own RENT, Jonathan Larson does. I DO however own Jo and others.

Prologue: Remembering a Friend

Jo Emay sat on her bed in her loft in San Francisco, California. She lived there with her friends and roommates whom she had known for almost 4 years; 4 years after she left Scarsdale, New York to find meaning in life. 8 years in total since she'd been home, since she had left at age 17, and since she'd last seen her best friend Mark Cohen. Mark. Jo wondered about him a lot. She wondered if he had accomplished his dream of becoming a filmmaker. She remembered how he almost never put that damn camera down ever since his Bar Mitzvah. He loved filming everything and wrote crappy screenplays to film with it. He'd always convince Jo to star in his movies and as his best friend and number 1 supporter, she never said no.

"Jo?" a knock came on Jo's bedroom door and in stepped Ella, one of her roommates. Ella Burgess was of average size with long sandy blonde hair that reached her hips and curious green eyes whose color consisted of a mixture of jade and emerald.

"Hey Ella," Jo greeted, her expressive seal-grey eyes lighting up.

"What're you doing in here?" Ella asked as she sat on the queen-sized mattress next to Jo.

"Thinking,"

"About what?"

Ella sighed, "You were thinking about Scarsdale, weren't you."

". . . Yeah"

Ella studied Jo whose eyes were downcast. "Do you miss it?" she asked knowingly.

"I don't miss it. I just. . ." Jo trailed off, unsure of how to explain her predicament.

"What?"

"I've never told you about Scarsdale, have I?"

"You've told us that you left when you were 17 but other than that, no, you haven't. Why? What's wrong?"

Jo sighed and stared at her hands in her lap.

"When I was living in Scarsdale, I lived across the street from a boy my age. His name was Mark . . . and he was my best friend. We met in kindergarten. I was just running around when I noticed him sitting on the sidewalk, all by himself. Of course I immediately went over and asked his name . . . and after a bit we became friends." Ella listened quietly. It was an almost unheard of occurrence for Jo to talk about her past. "We were the best of friends, always taking care of each other and talking about everything. He loved to film. He got a camera for his Bar Mitzvah and God forbid he ever put it down for anything other than sleep or school. He honestly filmed anything and everything he could see through that lens. For my 16th birthday he gave me a film filled with memories of the two of us having fun; said it was for everything I had ever done for him like taking the time to introduce myself back in kindergarten. God, he was so thoughtful. He always took care of others before himself. He was the kindest person who had a heart of gold . . ." Silent tears rolled down Jo's pale cheeks, "God, I miss him."

Ella took this as her cue to hug her crying friend. "Oh, Jo." She cooed, rubbing small circles on Jo's back.

"That's my only regret about leaving . . ." Jo hiccupped "I left him there . . . he was so good to me . . . and I left him alone . . ."

RENTRENTRENTRENTRENTRENTRENTRENTRENTRENTRENTRENTRENTRENTRENTRENTRENTRENT

Ella walked quietly out of Jo's room. The poor girl had exhausted her energy from crying and had fallen into a fitful sleep. She had told Ella about her past life in Scarsdale which was big considering she preferred to avoid the subject all together.

"Hey Ella," Ella looked up and was greeted with the sight of Amber Maguire, a tall girl with hazel eyes and chest length red hair pulled into a braid.

"Hey Amber," she responded to her friend.

"You were in there for a while. Is everything okay?" Amber asked, sitting on the couch next to the apartment's last occupants Lena Winchester, a girl with wavy blonde hair pulled into a ponytail whose wise brown eyes were surrounded by the frames of glasses; and Kaila Nallia, a girl with thick, long brown hair and curious chocolate eyes. Lena, who was reading a book, shifted to find a more comfortable position.

Ella sighed, "No," She plopped down between Amber and Lena, causing Lena to shift again and turn her attention to Ella. "Jo told me about Scarsdale . . ."

"She did what?" Lena asked, now intrigued by this conversation and having decided to join it.

"She told me about Scarsdale." Ella stated again. "Apparently she had a best friend that she met in kinder care and stayed with until she left. She was crying for a while, and kept asking herself why she left him there . . ."

"Him?" Amber questioned curiously. Jo usually preferred not to deal with the male species if it involved actually trying to get in a relationship. This, of course, bothered the very flirtatious Amber who couldn't bear a life without romance.

"Yeah, 'him'; apparently they were really close."

"How close?" Kaila asked, "I mean, she's really close to us. . ."

"Apparently, they were thicker than thieves."

The door to Jo's room opened and in walked a calmer, more composed Jo.

"Hey," Amber greeted warmly, "How're you feeling?" Jo looked at the 4 friends and sighed.

"I'm guessing Ella told you." She said, directing the statement to Amber, Kaila and Lena.

"Yep," Lena replied indifferently, "She told us about your friend."

"What's his name?" Amber pried, always one looking for details.

"Mark. His name's Mark." Jo sat down on the armchair next to the couch. "He used to call me 'Josie'."

"Josie?" Kaila asked.

"Yeah, Josie; but I don't go by Josie anymore, so don't start calling me that." Silence filled the apartment for a few moments before Jo spoke again. "I need to find him."

The girls looked at Jo. "What? You mean, go back to New York?" Lena inquired almost sarcastically.

Jo nodded. "Not Scarsdale, just New York. Knowing him, he probably left Scarsdale after High School . . . Mark always talked about spending his life filmmaking so maybe that'll help me find him."

Kaila stared hard at Jo. "You've made up your mind haven't you?"

Jo nodded again. "I need to do this."

RENTRENTRENTRENTRENTRENTRENTRENTRENTRENTRENTRENTRENTRENTRENTRENTRENTRENT

"Okay, so you'll call us when you get there, right?" Amber checked.

"Of course,"

"You do realize it will be much easier to fly there, plus you'll save money from gas." Lena pointed out.

"I know, but I need my truck and bike with me. It makes me feel better."

"Alright, and you'll be careful, right? New York is a dangerous place . . ." Ella trailed off.

"I'll take a self-defense class as soon as I can." Jo reassured.

"And you'll call us every week right?" Kaila asked.

"I promise"

Satisfied, the 4 looked at their friend. She was all packed. Her suitcase and motorcycle were in the bed of her black Ford truck while snacks and drinks were in the cab. She was dressed in a t-shirt and sweats to ensure comfort while she drove cross-country.

"Jo, don't forget: if you need us, we're always a phone call away." Ella said, handing Jo her chunky mobile phone.

"And if you don't call, we'll get on the next plane to New York, find you and drag your ass back home." Amber teased. Jo laughed heartily.

"Don't worry, I'll call."

"You better." Kaila mock-threatened; Jo laughed again.

Silence passed between the five friends. This would be the last time they would see Jo for who knows how long. Sure, she promised she'd call but that wasn't the same as seeing the unique yet so familiar grey eyes light up during an interesting conversation. She hadn't even left yet and already they were missing each other.

"Okay," Jo said, breaking the silence, "I guess I'd better get going." The sadness was evident in her eyes and tone of voice but she knew she had to do this.

"Be safe." Ella said, giving Jo a final hug goodbye."

"Don't forget to call." Lena said, following Ella's hug with one of her own.

"Make sure you take care of yourself." Kaila said, being her usual mother hen self as she hugged the petite girl.

Amber's turn came and she hugged Jo tight. "Remember we love you, okay?"

Tears started falling from Jo's expressive eyes, "Okay . . ."

Amber let go of her friend, satisfied.

The friends said their final goodbyes and Jo finally stepped into her truck. Giving her friends one last smile, Jo drove out of the parking lot and on to the open road where she would hopefully meet an old friend.

A/N: okay pplz, you need to bear w/ me read the next chapter it gets better.A/N2: Plz review. this is my first story so plz be nice! I want to know if people are actually reading this!