Mary Anne was already in bed when Kristy got back from the bathroom. She stood by the light switch and glanced at Mary Anne who gave a slight nod of her head. Mary Anne started to scoot over so Kristy could get into bed. But Kristy just climbed in between her and the wall. They both settled down in the bed, facing the window.

"I hope those two will be okay" said Mary Anne.

"Me too. Em."

Now that they were alone, the awkward stared to settle in between the former best friends. They both stared out the window thinking their own thoughts. After a few minutes Mary Anne tried again.

"So… when did you decide to start calling me 'Em'?"

Mary Anne heard Kristy's quiet giggle. "Just tonight. If you don't like it…"

"No. No. That's fine. I do kind of like it. To tell you the truth I am getting a little tired of 'Mary Anne'. I'm not 12 anymore. I'm sort of hoping everyone else will pick it up."

The silence marched on and after a bit Kristy was sure that Mary Anne had fallen asleep but then she shifted and turned to face Kristy. The moon had risen and was shining brightly through the big window lighting up Kristy's face. Mary Anne looked into Kristy's unblinking eyes and spoke the one question she needed an answer to. "When did you know."

Kristy closed her eyes and thought. The answer was simple enough but then the can would be open and worms would be everywhere. She opened her eyes. "From the first day." Kristy blinked again "From the first day he yelled at you, I think." Mary Anne waited. "I had come over to see you and he was leaving when I walked up. I waved at him and he gave me a look like he hated me." Kristy knitted her eyebrows "No. not hated. Loathed. Like he wanted to kill me. I went in to see you and you were babbling about… something. I don't remember. But you wouldn't look me in the eye. I knew that you had been crying but… You made up some excuse about how you had to get tigger to the vet and you ran off. I knew something was wrong. That this wasn't just one of your usual arguments. Something very real and very bad had happened."

"I was running already" whispered Mary Anne. "Pushing you away from the first day."

Kristy nodded. "After that it just got worse. You started wearing long sleeve shirts and I knew why. I kept asking"

"And I kept pushing" said Mary Anne.

Kristy knitted her brow again. "It was like being in a ball game that is going horribly wrong. You try and you try but no matter what you do the score just keeps getting wider and you know you can't win. Its like a nightmare. The game never really ends but after what seems like forever you're on the bus going home." Kristy paused again. Trying to reason out for herself why things had gotten so bad. "One day I woke up and I realized that I hadn't talk to you in over a month. And that seemed okay. It shouldn't have been. I should have gotten back in the game. I didn't"

"Its okay Kristy. You can only bang your head against a wall for so long."

Kristy remained silent for a bit and then said almost to herself. "I didn't let him get away with it though. That rat-bastard."

Mary Anne stared at Kristy but she was done talking. Mary Anne thought about that last day. When Logan had broken up with her. She remembered how he just ended it. No explanation no excuses. Just, "We're done". But there was something else. His left eye looked as if someone had hit him with a baseball bat. It was black and blue and half swollen shut. She had just assumed that he had had an accident on the football field. It happened sometimes. Mary Anne searched Kristy's face. Her hair was pulled back and her face was scrubbed clean. In the bright moonlight Mary Anne couldn't help but notice the crescent shape on her cheek. It was a scare she had picked up somehow. Normal Kristy hid it with makeup but tonight it stood out sharp against her smooth cheek. Mary Anne's eyes went wide. She remembered now. She remembered because it seemed like such a coincidence at the time. Kristy had come to school with 6 stitches in her cheek on the same day that Logan had broke up with her. Her fingers automatically went to the scare.

Kristy intercepted her hand with her own. "What the hell, Em" but her voice was not unkind. Curious, but not unkind.

"You did it." Mary Anne said in an incredulous voice.

Kristy let go of Mary Anne's hand and slowly, tentatively she reached out and gently touched the scare. "You did it." Mary Anne repeated. She dropped her hand onto Kristy's and took it into her own. "You hit Logan with a baseball bat."

Kristy snorted. "No. No, I didn't hit anyone with a baseball bat."

"But you did hit him. Didn't you?"

Kristy kept silent while trying to figure out what to reveal. "Ah, what the hell." she might as well say it all. "I heard him and some of the other boys on the football team standing outside the boy's locker room. I was putting some equipment away under the bleachers. We couldn't see each other but, I heard him. He said," Kristy looked away. "He said he nailed you. That you finally 'gave it up' to him."

Mary Anne's eyes went wide with shock. "I didn't… I never… My God Kristy, we were 14. Fourteen!."

"What did you expect Em. The guy was a complete tool. A full on asshole." Kristy Sighed. "Anyway I stepped out and laughed at him. I told him I didn't think he could get it up for girls. At least not unless he was beating them."

"Kristy!"

Kristy push on. "I said… I don't know what I said. I just wanted him to take a swing at me. I needed him to swing at me."

"Kristy! No! why?"

"Look Em, most guys aren't jerks. You know my brothers…"

"Your brothers are different"

"No, Em. No, their not. They are just nice guys. Most guys are. Most guys won't swing at a girl no matter how much you provoke them. It just isn't done. Most guys just won't cross that line.

"But he swung and you."

"Yeah, he took a big swing. But he's kind of a lumbering hulk of a jackass. I ducked and stepped inside his guard and BAM! BAM! BAM! I got in three good ones right on his eye." Kristy looked a little embarrassed. "But… he got me a good one before I stepped back."

"What the heck were the other guys doing"?

"Oh. I think they were kind of in shock. You know? Caught off guard. It happened so fast. But when I hit the ground three guys grabbed him and had him against the wall. Cary Retlin was there. You should have seen him, Em. He had his forearm under Logan's chin. I thought he was going to choke him to death.

"I never heard any of this. Not a peep."

"Yeah, I know." Kristy sighed again. "The rest of the guys there, Cary and the others. They're nice guys but, they're still guys. Part of a pack. They keep each others secrets. But… they discipline there own. They saw him, they saw the monster. They knew him for the ass he really is. I think they had as much to do with his breaking up with you as I did." Kristy looked into the shadows surrounding Mary Anne's face. "Anyway. I went to the emergency room and the next day Logan broke up with you." Kristy shrugged. "End of story".

Mary Anne didn't say a word for a long time she just squeezed Kristy's hand and sniffed back the tears. Finally in a small voice she whispered. "You saved me. If you hadn't done that. If you hadn't shown him for what he is." Mary Anne shook her head. "My God Kristy. I might still be with that creep." Mary Anne sniffed more tears. "You are my story book hero."

"Yeah, well. Best friends. You know?" Kristy waited while Mary Anne remained silent Finally, "Your going to hug me now, aren't you." said Kristy.

"Yessss" Mary Anne sniffed and threw herself at Kristy.

Kristy got her arms around the little brunette and held her while she cried. After a while she untangled herself. "Okay Em. Okay" Mary Anne lay back down. "Its going to be different Em. We're not those people anymore. I'm, Uh, I'm going to need some time. But we're done with this chapter now. Okay?

"Yeah, okay. Okay." Mary Anne gave Kristy one last long look and then gave her hand one last squeeze. "Goodnight Kristy." Mary Anne shifted back to the window.

"Goodnight Em."

The wind had picked up and Mary Anne watched the branches of an old elm dance in the breeze for a few minutes. "Kristy?"

"Yeah?"

"Are we going to be okay?"

Kristy moved closer to Mary Anne and put her arm around her waist. Not quite spooning her. "Yeah we're going to be okay".

"When did Kristy Thomas get so touchy feely." Mary Anne found Kristy's hand with her own.

"Just for tonight Em. And if you tell any one…"

"Bam? Bam? Bam?"

"Yeah." Kristy said sleepily "Goodnight Em".

"Night".