OKAY, I know it would be interesting to hear this story from Will's POV, so, what do you guys think of me writing some, if not the rest, of the story from his perspective? Yay? Nay? Hey? I don't know, but I kind of want to write from him, as it would be very different. So so tell me your thoughts!

"I think we should leave," Dad told me suddenly, after everyone had gone to bed. I glanced up at him, perplexed."Leave as in go upstairs or...?"

Dad gave me a somber look and I knew. It was weird because beyond my collision with the car, I hadn't considered leaving. I didn't want to, and I actually had to remind myself that we weren't one big happy family, just a small broken one barging in on the hospitality of another's.

"We've been imposing on them for too long," dad continued. "You and Will are about to start college next week and I think it's best if you don't become reliant on him. This was always meant to be temporary."

Hurt radiated from my chest, but I wouldn't show it to my father. This was hard, yes, but I didn't want to make it harder. "Okay," I said.

After I hugged him goodnight, I went upstairs, my vision going blurry. How had I managed to forget that living here was short-term and nothing permanent?

I was nearly to my room when Will's opened and he stepped out, just in time to see my face. I thought I saw something shift in his features, but they rearranged themselves before I had a chance to blink.

I quickly cleared my throat, hoping to come off as my care-free self. "Night," I said, upbeat.

"Something's bothering you," he said, words accusatory.

I could never get away with anything when it came to this guy.

There was no sense in hiding what my dad would share come morning. And it wasn't like I was embarrassed at him seeing me upset over leaving his house. I was just more afraid at how he'd react. At how happy he'd be.

I crossed my hands over my chest, trying to meet his gaze. "We're moving out," I told him.

Again, I saw that momentary change in features, bordering on hesitancy and something else I couldn't place.

"Good," he replied, his voice flat. "Maybe we'll finally get some peace around here."

"I'm glad you're happy," I said, but I wasn't being sarcastic. "I know the trouble I've caused here and I get it. You guys never asked for this anyway." More tears pricked my eyes but I swallowed them back, looking away from Will. "Well, goodnight," I said hurriedly, then entered my room and closed the door behind me. I went straight to my bed and laid down, pressing my face into the pillow to muffle the sounds of my crying.

Edith's hug was bone-crushing, but not in a bad way. It hurt in the terms of her hold being too tight, but necessary to keep us both from falling apart. I had to maintain my composure, though. If not for my benefit, then for her's.

"Thank you," I told her when she finally let me go. I wanted her to at least know how much everything she'd done meant. "Thanks for showing me what it would be like to have a mom," I said.

Edith bit her lip to keep from crying but I saw it quiver. She tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "On behalf of your mother, I want you to know how great of a daughter you are."

Well this wasn't making the no-crying-policy easy to follow. I turned to Calvin and gave him my thanks. He told me to visit anytime, for which Lucas didn't bother hiding his scoff at. Then it was his turn. "Thanks for letting me use your room," I told him. "I mean, I know you wouldn't have if you'd had a choice, but thank you for being forced into it, I guess. And not killing me in the middle of the night."

He shrugged and I wondered how many times he'd entertained the idea.

And then it was the most dreaded farewell. I took a breath before meeting Will's penetrating gaze, fists tucked into his jacket pockets. I smiled. "Bye, Will." Simple words didn't seem enough, so I stuck out my hand to prolong our time.

For a moment, he waited. But then his hand wrapped around mine, the warmth of his fingers spreading through me. The dull ache that had been in my chest all morning grew into an agonizing throb. Last time we'd touched, it had been a kiss. This time it was a goodbye.

"Don't visit too often," he said.

Edith shot him a glare, but his words barely stung and I smiled once more before getting into the front seat of the dented truck dad had just bought. I kept the smile in place until the engine started and we were driving. Then the policy expired and I let the tears have the right of way.

"So you're out?" Liz asked me.

I nodded. "Yup."

"Like out-out?"

"Yes."

"Like not living with Will anymore, out-"

"Yes! That's exactly what I mean. Two separate households. Two irrelevant housing departments," I said, then took a calming breath.

Today was the first day of college, and as much as I'd wanted to be excited, my enthusiasm was wilting. On instinct Id sought out Will, only to realize I didn't have a substantial reason to speak to him. That reminder hurt and I was forced to catch him from a distance, entering the school. I'd also spotted the life-sized Barbie figurine tailing behind him which had made my mood doubly cloudy with a high chance of rain.

Liz clucked her tongue audibly. "Sad thing," she mused. "I can see the symptoms already."

"What symptoms?" I asked as I pulled the door open, stepping outside. It was a free period for the both of us and I wanted to at least enjoy the sun some.

"Environmental withdrawal," she said.

I narrowed my eyes in question. "Huh?"

She sighed, exasperated. "Environmental withdrawal. Irritably, mood swings, discomfort, dietary changes. Are you suffering from any irregularities?"

"None that I feel so inclined to share with you."

"Ah, Friend," she said, grabbing my hand and whirling me around. Her blue eyes stared deeply into mine, wide to the point of scary. "Stop seeing this as a bad thing. Take a breath! Do you smell that? The purity of it? It's the lack of Will Trenger's cologne snuffing up your senses."

"Will doesn't wear cologne," I pointed out.

She paused. "Wait, he naturally smells that way?"

"How close have you been standing to him?"

A pause. Then Liz shook her hands, discarding my inquiry. "Doesn't matter. The point, Lewis, is that you are free. You don't have some pompous narcissist sleeping from across the hall anymore. You don't have the dictator and junior dictator-in-training waiting around for any chance to knock you down. That house was the cocoon to your caterpillar, but now you've broken your chrysalis and can finally spread your wings."

"Can you omit some of that analogy, please?" I asked, taking a seat on the grass. "It's a bit overwhelming. And largely disturbing."

"Fine," she raised a finger. "Just stop being Polly the Pessimist and move on. Find a nice guy. One that's healthy and not emotionally detrimental, okay?"

"It's fine anyway," I said, some hostility spiking in my voice. I started pulling up grass. "Someone else has already taken my place as Will's puppy."

"Who?"

"Stacy Saltzman."

Liz's eyes went wide again and she nodded. "I can't say I'm surprised. Ugly personalities attract other ugly personalities."

I suddenly felt interested. "What you mean by ugly?"

My friend cocked her head from side to side, as if weighing her words. "She's not a bad person, but that doesn't mean she's tolerable. I know she was the smartest kid at her school, an all-girls academy, and had a few other scholarships but chose this place."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Like I said, ugly personalities attract. She came for Will. I have a theory that their superior brain cells were calling out to each other," Liz shrugged.

"He was her only motive?" I asked, somewhat appalled. At least have some sense of priority.

Liz shook her head. "I don't know if he was the only the reason, but I think he was one of them. I mean I'm all for maintaining high standards, but I think this chick's digging a bit too deep."

"So I guess in simplest terms, my shot is, well...nonexistent."

Liz gave me a sympathetic look and stroked my hair. "Look in the bright side; there's always Daryn."

My glare made her quickly retract her hand.

When lunchtime came, I resumed my search for Will. And then I realized what I was doing and quickly stopped. I tried to not look for him, but it was hard to avoid that throb that took up residency in my chest when he actually did walk in, with the blonde bimbo clinging to him like gum on your shoe.

I clenched my fists together. He didn't like to be touched, by anyone. Or was it different with me? Was I the only one who didn't get Will-touching privileges?

How unfair.

I quickly took a seat, successfully spilling my water. I pulled out a few napkins from the dispenser on the table and soaked up my mess. To my luck, I heard the chairs behind me being pulled out, silently praying that it wasn't Will.

On the bright side, It wasn't. On the ever gloomier side, It was Stacy. I bent my head forward, hoping to go unnoticed like usual. I assumed some didn't recognize me without the red mess that was my outfit last time, and if they did, they made no move to show it. All in all, I wore my social cloak of invisibility and no one really even looked at me.

"Lu!"

Except for one.

Cover blown, I shifted in my chair, just enough to meet Stacy's startlingly blue gaze. I really hated prejudice, but it would be dishonest of me to lie and say I liked this woman. I didn't. I really, very-not like this woman.

I tried to smile as best I could. "Hey. Nice to...to see you."

Lie.

She beamed falsely at me, exposing her polished teeth that could make even Barbie herself a bit envious. She glanced at my empty table. "Aw, sitting alone today?"

I bit the bottom of my lip to prevent insulting this person. "Yup. All alone. By myself. Just me."

"Bummer," she shook her head mournfully. "I'd offer a seat here, but we have no room."

At that, my eyes flickered to Will who met my gaze for a moment before skirting away. "Guess I lucked out," I said.

Stacy nodded again, before patting my shoulder. "Well, enjoy your lunch!"

I would've, if my appetite hadn't already been ruined. I took a swig of my water and pushed my tray away from me, hunger replaced by a gnawing annoyance.

"William!" Someone suddenly screamed, and I quickly looked over to a man, perhaps in his early twenties, racing over to the table behind me. He was decent-looking enough; sandy blonde hair, built physique, brown eyes. He wore a jersey of some sort and I would've thought him pretty normal, had it not been for the beach shorts he wore that were a bright green. But after my red-suit event, I wasn't about to judge someone for their clothing.

He took a seat by Will, leaning in closely. I watched from the corner of my eye, interested in this new person who, for once, wasn't female.

"So are you game?" He asked.

Will didn't even look up. "No."

As little as it was, I felt consoled by the knowledge I wasn't the only one he refused.

The man wasn't having it. "Please," he begged, draping an arm around his shoulders. Will sent him a look that had him quickly pulling away with a cough. "Man, I'm telling you, you'd be great."

"I know," Will admitted, not very self-deprecating. "But I don't want to."

"Do you know what kind of players I could get if your name was on the registered form?"

Players? I was intrigued. I tried to lean back a little to hear him more clearly.

"I'm not into that," Will said, in his usual empty voice. "Find someone else."

"I'll join," piped up Barbie-I meant Stacy. This wasn't surprising to me and judging from his lack of enthusiasm, to Will either. "Have fun."

Ha-ha.

"How about this," the man said, setting up for negotiation. Or bribery. "You only have to show up for events. Any other time, you can come and go as you please."

I smirked. Bribery it was then.

"So you'll just be using my name as propaganda," Will said.

A beat. of silence passed and the man cleared his throat. "Yes. No. Well, yes and no. Yes, your name would benefit me, no in that you would still be part of the group but without any obligations."

"Just for tournaments?"

"Yes. Tennis tournaments aren't even that frequent. I'm very flexible."

Tennis? Will was signing up for Tennis? Now I was surprised, but more so when I heard him say, "fine."

I sat there with my jaw open, completely taken aback. What was so attractive about tennis? Or had I been wrong in assuming Will wasn't excited about Stacy joining? Did Will even do excitement?

I didn't even realize when lunch had ended, too caught up in my own thoughts to realize a half hour had breezed by. But the bell went off and I gathered my things, food still untouched. So Will was going to join a club. A tennis club. It sounded about as appealing as golf, the only difference being a racket to a...well...club. Did that make it a club club then?

I shook my head, disbanding from that trail of thought. Maybe it was best if I joined a club, too. Not the same one, though. No, most definitely not the same one. That would be bad. And very obvious. I didn't need obvious. I needed aloof and cool. Not wet-puppy mode. No. I would not even entertain the idea. Not for a single second. I would not picture Will's arms around me, instructing my swing to perfection. I would not. If I chose that, my life would be endangered.

I took a breath, resolute in my choice.

But then again, if he couldn't legally kill me for it, was it really that bad of a decision?