Mori wasn't at school at all that day, or the day after that. Besides the suspicion that she had gotten into some kind of trouble and that Vasilio knew what kind of trouble it was, Liam couldn't make much of her disappearance.

"Well, yeah, I… kinda know," said Chelsea during morning break on Wednesday. "But you wouldn't want me to tell you things I'm not even supposed to know, right?"

Liam granted the point.

"So.. what do you want to do for lunch?"

It was a question with a hidden meaning. They had missed lunch completely on Tuesday—the consequence of spending the entire 45 minute period making out in the stairwell of an apartment building near the school. Liam wanted to make sure he didn't send his girlfriend hungry to fifth period again.

"Let's go to the spicy potato lady," said Chelsea. "Then we'll still have time left to… you know," she finished telepathically.

"Sounds good to me," said Liam.

Liam had spent most of the previous two days either kissing Chelsea or thinking about kissing Chelsea, which was probably the only reason Mori's mysterious absence hadn't been as heavy on his mind. While even Chelsea couldn't convince Liam to come to youth group, he agreed to meet her afterwards, "for shao kao."

They both knew they probably wouldn't make it that far.

"You traitor!"

Liam looked up from his PokeGear. It was Mori's voice—which was much more surprising to him than the voice that answered her.

"Mori, please. I had to. You weren't following the deal. What was I supposed to—?"

Liam heard the sound for two pairs of feet chasing each other down the stairs from the youth group apartment. With a bang, Mori and Vasilio came hurtling through the door into the courtyard.

"Look," Vasilio was saying. "I just wanted to—."

"Shut up!" Mori shouted. "Just learn to shut up. You've ruined enough already. I don't see why you have to—."

"You promised me!" said Vasilio. "If you weren't trying to hide it from me, I wouldn't have—."

"Oh, so it's my fault?" spat Mori. "Always my fault. How about you just admit you screwed up and I'm the one suffering for it?"

Neither of them seemed to have noticed that Liam was sitting on the bench just across from the entrance. There was a creaking noise, and several other students—including Taylor, Liz, and Chelsea—emerged from the dark stairwell. The Sneasel on Liam's shoulder twitched uneasily.

"Why won't you let me care about you?" Vasilio pleaded. "Do you really think that I—?"

"I already know what you think," said Mori. "You try to turn everything against him. Well, guess what: sometimes things just hurt, and it's the only way I know to feel… to feel…"

She shuddered. Vasilio reached a comforting hand towards her shoulder, but Mori recoiled.

"Take this," she said, jerking the ring off her left hand and throwing it at Vasilio's feet. "It's… it's bullshit anyways. It's always been bullshit. You know that. That's what… what's really bothering you, isn't it? You're just like my dad. I just wanna be happy, and you can't accept that—."

"Mori, I—."
"I'm done with you, Vasi," said Mori, as silent tears streamed down her face. "I'm not joking, either. I can't… take this, anymore. You…"
She put her hands on his chest, as if trying to decide whether to shove him away. By this time, Dustin and his crew had also arrived on the scene, but Mori didn't seem to have noticed him.

"Mori," said Vasilio, his voice astonishingly tender. "It's not…"

Mori took a sudden step back.

"Shut up!" she shouted. "Don't you get it? I don't care what you think of me. I don't want your pity. So just… learn to shut up for once."

She spotted Dustin. Without so much as a contemptuous glance at Vasilio, she pushed past him and joined her boyfriend. Vasilio made no attempt to follow her. He stared at the ground in front of him, his hands in his pockets. The bystanders began to disperse. Liam noticed that Chelsea was staring intently at Vasilio as if trying to work out something in her head.

"Hey Chez," said Liam quietly. "What's going on?"

It felt like a strange question to ask in the aftermath of such a dramatic scene, but Liam sensed that it wasn't just what she had seen and heard that was bothering his girlfriend.

"Just things I shouldn't know," said Chelsea evasively. "Hey, uh, maybe you should go hang out with Vasilio tonight. I think he… yeah, go do that."

"Are you sure—?"

Chelsea kissed him on the cheek.

"Pretty sure, bro. I'll see you later."

She linked arms with Marsha and they trotted away. Liam's Sneasel made a small choking noise, as if it were stifling a laugh.

"Oh, don't look so pleased," said Liam. "Of course I'm peeved about… where's Vasi?"

Vasilio had taken Liam's former seat on the wooden bench. Liam noticed that Taylor, who hadn't said a word so far, was trying silently to get his attention.

"You'll talk to him, right?" said Taylor in a whisper. "Rebecca didn't come tonight, and I don't wanna… I think it should be you, ya know?"

Liam nodded.

"Chez already assigned me," he said. "I'll make sure he's okay."

Taylor winked and walked off in the direction of New Court with Liz and some other older students. If he didn't know Taylor so well, Liam would have been a little annoyed with him. But Taylor's intuition was right. Vasilio didn't want a crowd of friends asking him if he was alright. He just needed one. Liam waited until the last of the youth groupers left, then tried his luck.

"Hey," said Liam awkwardly.

Vasilio gave a heavy sigh, but didn't look up. Liam sat down next to him on the bench.

"What, uh… how did that start?" asked Liam.

Vasilio exhaled through his nose.

"Did you notice her arms?" he said.

It wasn't the answer Liam had expected. His friend sounded completely defeated, as if none of what had just happened actually mattered anymore.

"No? What about them?"

"Well, it's not really…"

Vasilio sighed and shrugged.

"It's a lot of things. It always is with her."

Vasilio cracked his knuckles. Liam wondered whether Vasilio really wanted to talk about it, but resolved to wait it out. For a few minutes, they listened to the faraway sounds of passing cars and the occasional whir of leathery Zubat wings overhead.

"She's cutting again," said Vasilio abruptly. "And I only found out because she rolled up her sleeves to wash her hands after PokeChem on Monday. She didn't switch her ring."

Liam noticed that Mori's thin, silver ring was resting on the bench between them. He picked it up and looked at it closely.

"It's her purity ring," said Vasilio. "She's always hated it. Something her dad got her."

"Wait," said Liam, a slight tremble in his voice. "So, she's—?"

"With Dustin. Yeah," said Vasilio. "But that's not what's bugging me, despite what she thinks. Looking for intimacy in the wrong places isn't new for Mori. I just… don't like how this relationship is changing her."

Vasilio sniffed and wiped his eyes.

"I've had Mori pissed at me before. Lots of times. But the way she's so defensive about this—the way she'll throw our friendship under the bus just to protect… "

Vasilio trailed off.

"So was she with Christine yesterday morning because—?"

"Yeah," said Vasilio. "I told her Mori was cutting. Apparently she can't come back to school until she completes counseling at The Arch—that's the counseling center that Taylor's parents work at. It… hasn't been going well."

Liam snorted. He doubted whether the world's best counselor could overcome Mori's obstinacy.

"I overheard her saying something about lying to the counselor to Dustin… which is how that started."

Vasilio gave another heavy sigh.

"Well, it's out of my hands now. Hopefully everything… turns out okay."

"Do you think Mori's gonna get over it and be friends with you again?"

Vasilio shook his head.

"No. At least… not any time soon. She… I don't know. Maybe I need a break. Being her friend is… hard. Exhausting, really. Especially when you're the only person who—."

He glanced at Liam.

"Look after her for me, okay? You don't need to report on her or anything, but just… be there for her. Alright?"

"Sure," said Liam. "Assuming she doesn't blow up at me too."

"Don't take this the wrong way," said Vasilio. "But you're too much of a sucker for Mori to get really mad at you."

Liam felt a little offended, but he still managed to force a chuckle. It wasn't the right time to take offense at Vasilio's obvious lack of faith in him. And besides, he suspected his friend had a point.

"Let's do some battles or something," said Vasilio suddenly. "I don't want to think about—."

"Vasi!"

It was Rebecca, sprinting towards them with cellphone in hand. Her face told them she had heard the whole thing—or at least more of it—probably from Taylor. Liam was glad she was there to take over, but he wondered whether Vasilio felt the same.

"Are you alright?" asked Rebecca breathlessly, embracing her boyfriend. "I heard Mori yelled at you. Was it—?"

"It's okay, Becca," said Vasilio. "I'm fine."

His voice was calm—almost as if he really wanted to convince her that nothing serious had happened. Liam wondered whether Mori was an off-limits topic with Rebecca. Still, he sensed an opportunity to escape.

"I'll, uh, give you guys some space," said Liam.

Vasilio gave Liam a searching look. Liam shrugged, as if to grant what Vasilio's eyes were alleging—he was ditching him to be with his girlfriend. He was lucky Vasi was a better friend than he was. Mori wouldn't have forgiven him so easily.