I walked into Mitch's living room. It was draped in banners saying "Congratulations," and balloons floated everywhere. In my opinion, it seemed childish, but I wouldn't complain.

For the party, I wore a purple dress with ruffles on the top, and floral sandals. They suited me well. My hair was slightly curled but hung down by my shoulders.

Jason and Adam were the first ones to approach me.

"Hey guys." I smiled.

"Hey, Ray, what's up?" Adam said, "How you liking the party?"

"It's nice."

"Did you hear?" Jason interrupted.

"Hear what?"

"I got into the University of Pennsylvania! And Adam's with me!"

"You both got accepted there, and you're going?"

"Yeah, I got into a couple others too," Adam told me, "But Jason wanted me to join him in Pennsylvania, so I said to myself 'Why not?'"

"I'm happy for you two. Good luck. Also, it seems like you're going further than me, and this is supposed to be my going-away party."

"Well, maybe it's for everyone."

"Maybe. I don't know. I'll ask Mitch when I see him."

"Bye!" Jason waved. He found someone who I thought looked like Kermit and pulled Adam over to him. I rolled my eyes and bumped into Jerome.

"Biggums!" He wrapped his arms around me. I returned the hug.

"Not so tight!" I giggled.

"Sorry." Jerome let go of me and wiped his hands on his pants.

"Did you get accepted to any colleges?"

"Oh yeah… University of Washington."

"So you're staying local."

"Yep. And Mitch is going to Washington State, so we'll be pretty close."

"He is?" I glanced down at my sandals, slightly shuffling them.

Jerome nodded and grinned, but lost his smile when he noticed how down I was, "Ray, you okay?"

"Yeah." I sniffled, "Can I talk to you privately?"

"Sure, sure, of course," Jerome led me upstairs and into one of the rooms. I could tell it was Mitch's. He sat on the bed and motioned for me to sit next to him. I obeyed his request.

"Jerome… I'm going to miss you and Mitch… a lot."

"I know."

"I don't know if I can leave."

"It's a great opportunity, Ray. You gotta."

"What about you…"

"I'll be fine. And I will make sure I take care of Benja for you. Don't worry."

I gulped and wiped away tears, "Okay. Do you think Mitch would mind if I slept up here for a little bit?"

"I'm pretty sure he won't. Go ahead. If he says anything, I'll be there to back you up. Just you wait and see."

I smiled and hugged Jerome, "Thank you. You're the best friend that anyone could any for."

"I'm glad to be your bacca."

I glanced over at him, confused, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Just get some sleep. I'll be downstairs."

I nodded and laid my head on Mitch's pillow. It was soft and comfortable. I closed my eyes and felt my tears vanish one by one.

Mitch POV (Yep, another POV has returned.)

I noticed Jerome come downstairs. He had a soft smile on his face and ran over to me.

"Hey biggums," he lightly elbowed me.

"Where's Ray? Is she here yet?"

"Uh… I haven't seen her."

"Jerome…"

"I'm serious. I haven't."

"Okay," I smirked and walked away. Ty tapped me on the shoulder. I spun around to face him.

"I want to apologize formally."

"Ty, we've been over this."

"But I want to say it at least one more time, before I go off to New York."

"New York?"

"Yeah. Columbia University."

"Wow. That's good."

"So I wanted to say that I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me."

I sighed, knowing that this was the one-hundredth time Ty had done this, but it would be the last, "I accept your apology, Ty. I hope that we can still be friends."

Ty smiled and sighed a breath of relief, "Is Ray here?"

"No. Jerome told me that he didn't see her."

"Oh okay. I'll see her later then."

As Ty exited my line of vision, I spotted Adam and Jason and pulled them aside.

"Have you seen Ray?" I asked them.

"Yeah," Jason told me, "We were talking about colleges. Speaking of colleges, where are you going?"

"University of Southern California, USC for short, why?"

"Just wondering. Adam and I are going to Pennsylvania!"

"Cool! You're gonna tell me how it is out there."

"You have to come to see."

"Sometime."

"I saw Ray with Jerome," Adam mentioned.

I glared at him, "You did?"

"He told her that you were going to Washington State. I don't know why…"

"Interesting. So she was here."

Adam nodded, trying to look for someone, most likely Jerome. I remembered Jerome coming from downstairs and lightened up. Saying my goodbyes to Adam and Jason, I crept upstairs and started to look inside the rooms, searching for Ray. Out of nowhere, something hit me on the head and knocked me out. Everything went black.

Who knocked out Mitch? Why is Jerome all of the sudden acting strange? What is he hiding? Try to figure it out.

But I bet you won't… cause I'm the author of this story and I can change the plot whenever I want. Mwahahahahaha!

No, I'm not that evil. I have a plan, and I will stick to that plan.