Simon followed Ray. He was doing a lot of following, lately. There, at a booth in the back corner of Pete's Pizza, was Eliora, scrunched into herself. Simon wanted to turn tail and run, because Lucy had curled into herself when she had a problem as well. But he squared his shoulders and watched. With the ease of familiarity, Ray slid in across from her. Simon just stood there, looking forlorn, not realizing that he would seem like an intruder. Eliora shook herself and said, as if from a great distance, "Simon, do you want to sit with us?"

"Uh, sure. Do you mind?"

Ray shrugged. "No," he patted the seat next to him, and Simon sat.

For a while, no one said anything. Eliora finally spoke up, "Ray did you do my house?"

"No, I think Matt's group did."

"Yeah," Simon spoke up. "That was us."

"Oh. Well, don't take this the wrong way, after all, you are new at this, but you guys did a cruddy job on my house."

"Which one's yours?" Simon asked.

"The one across from Barron's."

"Hm. Maybe we did," Simon was forced to admit.

"Don't worry about it, I'm just taking my anger at myself out on you. I'm sorry, I shouldn't do it."

And now she didn't sound like Lucy, didn't seem like Lucy. She certainly had more presence of mind than Lucy did. And yet.William walked into the restaurant, and slid in next to Eliora. "I'm just depressed," she finished.

Immediately, even though he had just walked into the conversation, William pulled her into his arms. "No, don't be depressed. So what you didn't swim as well as you wanted to. You still swam really well."

"No I didn't. And I should have done better. I could have done better. A 1:12 is horrible!"

Ray reached over and patted her hand. "And you're still having a bad run of things?"

"Yes."

"It'll be okay."

"And you'll be okay," William said, stroking her hair. "I know you'll be okay."

Simon again felt like an intruder. He shouldn't have been sitting there, watching her pain spill out onto her face, even if she was like his sister. And yet, the longer he sat by her and the more he watched, the more he could see Lucy in her. Now he didn't want to see Lucy in this other forlorn girl, even one as surrounded by care as Eliora was. And maybe that was it: even in the earliest stages of things, Kevin never just held Lucy. He always kissed her, or made out with her. He never did any of the things Simon had done with Deana, the last girl Simon had felt anything towards. They had never held hands, never merely hugged. But maybe it was just luck, because Ray was being kind and gentle too, and he wasn't even dating the girl!

Finally, Eliora pulled herself up straight. "Thanks guys. And sorry Simon, I shouldn't have broken down like that in front of you. I've probably scared you away."

"Oh," Simon said, shaken. "No, it's not a problem, you just remind me of my sister, that's all."

"Lucy?" Ray asked.

"Yeah."

"I remember her. Don't be insulted, 'Lora, she was pretty nice." And in that comment, Simon began to understand the dynamics of their friendship. He remembered how Lucy had sometimes needed an interpreter for the world and for other people, and how once Matt and Mary moved, no one had taken over that role. Frankly, he had assumed Kevin was doing that.

'I should have picked up where Matt and Mary left off. I knew that she needed that, needed the extra explanation of a world that didn't always act like we were taught it should. I knew that, knew that she was becoming a minister for a reason, so she could try and bring the world around to what she thought it should and could be. So why didn't I notice when she changed so much? Why didn't I see?'

"Okay, so what's this I hear about being on Anna's roof?"

"That was my little brother," Ray said. "You know how he is."

"That was my group. I didn't know we woke her up."

"No, but you scared her mother. Anna's comes into practice and goes, 'They got on my roof!'"

"That's us. Scaring innocent people out of sound sleep to us on their roof!" William laughed, evilly.

"Well," Eliora laughed, "I know that would frighten me out of my wits!"

"You have wits?" Ray asked.

"More than you!"

"Good point."

Simon again watched them interact; realizing that there were three years (at least) that he would never catch on between them. He could feel the inside jokes in everything they said, sliding beneath the words he heard to send all of them into gales of laughter. 'And Kevin and Lucy never did that either. Kevin always had something bad to say, why he wouldn't want to go out with her, or why she should be friends with Roxanne. Maybe it's because I've never had a regular relationship. Maybe it's because Lucy never did either. But even so, how could I have been so blind?"

"When the next time you're volunteering?" William asked Eliora.

"Monday after school. In my glorious practice-free afternoon! I decided to give it some extra time this week. Maybe it'll help me out of my slump."

"Wait, where do you volunteer?"

Eliora looked at Simon. "The Glen Oak Women's Shelter. Why do you ask?"

"Because I start my first day there on Monday."

Eliora smiled at him. "Well then. That's fantastic! I'll see you there." She leaned against William's shoulder, and Simon kicked himself again. 'Lucy never went to Kevin for comfort either.' He shook himself. 'No. I can redeem myself. And I'll find out why Lucy. I will. I will. I will!'