In the morning, Seth was woken up in a much less horrid way than the previous morning. Crystal was leaning over him when he opened his eyes.
"Good morning! Its 5:30 a.m. and if you don't get up now, you'll never be ready for school on time," she smiled.
Seth sat up, scratching his head and rubbing at his eyes.
"Nnngh, how is your arm?" he asked as he tried wake up.
"Oh, it's fine. You did a great job patching it up last night."
Seth grinned at her praise.
"What time did you get up? You're dressed already."
"Only thirty minutes ago. I'm making you guys breakfast so we wouldn't have to be on a diet of cardboard," Crystal said, walking towards the door.
"Crys!"
"Hm?"
Seth had gotten up and went behind her.
"I'm…going to be out after we get home today. And…I'll probably miss a class. So…I just thought you should know. I don't want you to…I mean, just so you…"
Crystal smiled put a hand on his arm. Seth looked at her hand, then back at her.
"I'll try not to worry."
Seth smiled as he watched her disappear downstairs.
--
Crystal found out on the way home after school that Zoe and Seth had been called to the office. Zoe had crashed a car used for driving instruction. Seth on the other hand was very upset. Murney had found an armband with the Nazi symbol on it. During sixth period, he had skipped class to dye his hair blond. Shane followed Seth out of the van as he headed inside. Seth cracked and told Shane that he hated the wrestling team and only joined because his father wanted him to.
"Look, I know you're just trying to help, but don't. I can take care of myself," he shouted as he went inside.
After making sure everyone was inside the house, Shane went to try and talk to Seth. Crystal followed, just in case either one of them went overboard with the arguing. When they reached his room. They found he wasn't there. The window was open and his locator was on the bed. Shane went to the window and saw Seth running down the street. Crystal noticed a refrigerator magnet on the alarm that Shane had set on the window.
"Crystal, we're going after him."
Grinning, she dashed out of the house, getting a head start on her uncle who was telling Zoe to hold down the fort. Finding a bicycle in the garage, Crystal followed Seth, who was boarding a bus. Her uncle was right behind him on Lulu's little pink bike. She shook her head at that interesting image. They followed the bus into downtown. After getting off the bus, they saw Seth meet up with three guys before going into the building they were standing outside of. Shane and Crystal quietly followed them inside. Once inside, they saw Seth singing and dancing to a song they both knew from "The Sound of Music". Exchanging a glance, they both smiled and watched until Seth dropped the girl when he was supposed to catch her. The director got mad as he went on stage. He started ranting about how bad everything was until he fell through the mountain prop. Crystal couldn't help but giggle.
"Obviously I quit," he said, after he got up.
Stepping over Seth, he left. The woman Seth dropped went over to him.
"I quit, too, before you actually hurt me and I have to sue you."
Once she left, Shane went over to the upset teenager sitting on the stage.
"Are you okay?" Shane asked.
Seth got up quickly.
"I'm fine."
Crystal watched as Shane talked to Seth about how it was okay that he wasn't going to quit.
"Do you think girls will think I'm weird?" Seth asked.
"I think they probably already do, Seth, but I think there is one that thinks you're actually pretty cool."
He nodded towards Crystal, who could be spotted watching them. Seth smiled as she waved at him and made her way towards the stage as Shane and Seth continued talking. When she made it up there, Shane was addressing everyone and was preparing to become the new director. Once everyone agreed, Shane turned to Crystal.
"Mind taking someone's spot?" he asked, grinning.
"What?" she asked her uncle, in surprise.
Seth went over to her and gave her a pleading look.
"I can lift you," he said, quietly," Please? It would be really great if you'd do this."
Crystal looked at him, Shane, and then everyone else. Looking back at Seth, she smiled.
"Alright. You've got your Liesl."
--
That night, Peter was making a fuss about going to bed. Seth tried to quiet him, but it didn't work. Crystal went into the room and stood next to him.
"What's going on? He'll wake Lulu up. My uncle was telling her a bedtime story, but now he is just talking to himself about the past."
Seth shook his head.
"Your uncle is going to have to do the panda dance."
"The…what?"
Once Seth got Shane and wrote down the panda dance for him, he and Crystal stood in the room watching as Shane did the panda dance for Peter. It was very entertaining. Seth had brought popcorn for the small event. After Peter was asleep and Shane was downstairs, the two teenagers sat in Seth's room. Seth sat on his bed, while Crystal was lying down on it.
"I can't believe you did this to your hair," Crystal said, sitting up and fluffing his freshly dyed hair.
He swatted her hand away, laughing.
"You don't like it?" he asked.
"I didn't say that. It's so different, though. Not bad different!"
"Yeah, right," he said, poking her side.
He laughed as she jumped into the air.
"Hey!"
"Crys, thanks."
"Hmm? For what?"
Seth lay down on the bed as Crystal looked at him curiously.
"For…I guess a lot of things. I mean…the last thing I expected was us becoming friends. This…being able to do this is so much fun, you know? You get me, you're cool about me being a play, you're in the play with me, and you're taking care of all of us."
"Well…I suppose your welcome."
"I hate to think of it but…I don't really want things to change. I know it's only been…what? Three days? It feels like so much longer. I want mom to come back of course, but…when she does…and everything is settled…you'll be leaving."
He looked at Crystal, both their faces completely serious.
"Can't you…stay?" he asked, sadly.
"I have to go where Uncle Shane is. He is my guardian, after all. My parents are gone, so I don't really have anywhere to go or have anyone else. I'd love to be able to stay here, but…"
Seth sat up as he saw tears threatening Crystal's eyes.
"I didn't mean to upset you," he said, sadly.
Crystal squeezed her eyes shut before opening them and giving him a smile.
"You didn't, its fine."
Getting up off the bed, she made her way towards the door. Seth got up after her.
"Crys, remember that I'm here, too. You'll always have someone else, not just your uncle. And…you can always visit. Both you and Shane. Well…if you'd want to come back here, that is."
Turning to her new friend, Crystal couldn't help but let a tear fall. Seth wrapped his arms around her in a comforting hug.
"Thanks, Seth. That's means a lot."
