Dani stood at the door and saw Elise gently soothing Monica like she was her own child. At first, she was simply humming a tune, but that soon became her singing.

How can I repay you brother mine?

How can I expect you to forgive?

Clinging to the past, I shed our blood

And shattered your chance to live.

Dani couldn't help but wonder if she made up that song or not. If she did, what terrible thing could've happened that caused Elise so much pain and guilt. Was there any way she could help her?

Though I knew the laws, I paid no heed

How can I return your wasted breath?

What I did not know has cost you dear,

For there is no cure for death.

Laws? Did Elise break a law on her world? What happened to her brother? Elise was slowly becoming more and more of a mystery to Dani as she continued to associate herself with the strange girl.

Beautiful mother, soft and sweet

Once you were gone, we were not complete

Back through the years we reached for you

Alas, twas not meant to be.

Elise's story seemed to involve a broken family. A lot like her own in fact. A mother who was gone, a brother who obviously wasn't okay, but where was the father?

And how can I make amends

For all that I took from you?

I led you with hopeless dreams

My brother I was a fool.

At that part, Elise had tears welling in her golden eyes. It was obvious she cared so much for her brother. Was Elise only living for her brother? Was that how deep her guilt festered?

So where do we go from here?

And how to forget and forgive?

What's gone is forever lost

Now all we can do is live…

After that final line, Monica was asleep, and Dani retreated before she could be caught listening in. Unfortunately, she was about to learn just what happened to people who pry too deep into Elise's torturous past when a strange looking guy skipped over to her.

"Elise! You sing so pretty!" the boy squealed in a fashion that made Elise look more than a bit annoyed.

She rolled her eyes and groaned, "What do you want, Randal?"

"About the song, it said you broke a law." Randal asked with a stupid looking grin, "What kind of horrible deed did a pretty lady like you do to earn such nasty repercussions?"

Bad idea. Elise gave him a venomous glare and stepped on his foot causing him to yelp.

"None of your damn business you idiot." Elise hissed in a tone that demanded respect and walked into the elevator with Nate to begin a shift.

Tiffany, who happened to be walking by, groaned at Randal trying to soothe the pain in his foot.

"God, she doesn't want to be bothered with you, Randal. Leave her be." Tiffany yelled.

Randal's reaction was not quite what Dani expected, and not in a good way. He looked absolutely elated about the whole exchange.

"I love it when she gives me the cold shoulder," Randal rambled, "I'm gonna go to my room to look at the bruise she gave me. See ya!"

And with that, Randal was gone. Dani couldn't help but think he was gonna be a pain. Tiffany looked rather embarrassed when she turned to Dani.

"I'm so sorry about Randal. He's kinda Elise's weird little fanboy." Tiffany explained apologetically.

Dani giggled a bit and answered, "Nah, it's fine. Randal was acting like a weirdo."

"He's going to his room to fawn over the bruise he earned himself just because Elise was the one that gave it to him," Tiffany ranted, "I mean, that's just gross."

Dani then asked, "Should I tell her?"

"Oh, trust me, she already knows and has made her disgust very clear." Tiffany sniggered, "It's just he's too creepy to notice."

Suddenly, Elise came out from the elevator and chimed into the conversation.

"That wackjob would probably be on the floor crying like the lunatic he is if it wasn't me that did it." Elise said with a certain edge to it.

"Oh, hey Elise. I thought you were working?" Tiffany asked surprised at Elise's sudden return.

"Nate said that the phones were down, so they have to be repaired before I can use them," Elise nonchalantly explained, "He was nice enough to still pay me even though I couldn't work."

Dani smiled and told her, "Nate seems like a really cool person."

"He really is," Elise smiled, "Nate gave me and Monica a place to go when we had nowhere safe."

"He is an awesome guy; Nate took me in after I had survived off of the streets and small jobs." Tiffany reminisced.

The three continued their conversation until it was 7:00 p.m. and they had to retire to their dorms for the night or return to their homes. Dani tried to relax in her dorm, but she couldn't help but think about Elise. Elise would only reveal little bits and pieces of her past, but then keep the deeper details a giant secret. But Dani didn't want to pry no matter how curious she was. Elise was obviously a girl who was traumatized by the world she lived in. Unlike Dani's home which was peaceful if not a pretty lonely, Elise had clearly lived in a place where horrific and unfair things happened all around her. Dani thought the world had been so cruel to people like Tiffany and Elise. She even started to think her lonely life was nothing compared to Tiffany having fight for survival every day or Elise being tormented by such festering guilt.

It made Dani glad she joined. Just that first day of being a world jumper opened her eyes to people whose lives weren't as easy as hers. It made her feel grateful that she barely had to experience pain in her life. Thinking about Tiffany's sad smiles when remembering her days on the streets or Elise sobbing whatever the hell was torturing her so much hurt her heart. Dani decided that even if she didn't know what was up, she wanted to help Elise. The only problem was that it was difficult to know what to do if her past wasn't even clear. But maybe something would change if the right person came along.

A/N

Elise has a fanboy now. Yay! That first day with the group was a strange one indeed. Especially with Randal running amok and doing nothing but being stupid.

Next chapter, we're gonna be in Elise's point of view. We're gonna take a look at what's been happening with her and Monica throughout the last couple of months.

Thanks for reading!