Chapter 4

Alison was lying in the barn in which she and Rafe had had their unofficial wedding. She was whimpering quietly, moaning Rafe's name. "Rafe," she whispered, looking to the sky, "If you can return from heaven once, why can't you do it again?" She looked at the wooden post where she and Rafe had signed their names in a heart. Sighing deeply, she began to cry once again.

Ricky paced back and forth. He decided to call Marissa's cell. He had to call her. He dialed her number, which he only knew because he overheard her telling it to Jamal. Marissa, standing next to Jamal, felt her pocket vibrating. She took out her cell phone. "Be right back, ok?" she said. Jamal nodded and Marissa went outside. Now that Livvie and Jamal were alone, she said to him, "Jamal, I know you and Alison loved each other to death If Rafe is out of the picture, and Alison can overcome him, you guys-" Jamal cut her off and pointed outside. "Marissa's my girlfriend, Livvie," he said quietly. "As much as I love Alison, I can't just dump Marissa." "I know," Livvie said, "but everyone knows you're thinking about Ali all the time. You guys were such a cute couple! Don't you remember all the fun times you, Ali, Jack and I had at the bike shop? The four of us have been through so much." Jamal smiled at the thought of the Chandler charade, the bike races, and the Nurse's Ball. "Yeah, those were some great times, weren't they?"

Marissa heard Ricky's voice. "Hey, Marissa." Her eyes widened. "Ricky?! How'd you get this number? I never told you!" Ricky couldn't think of what to say. "Um, uh. . .can you come over?" Marissa rolled her eyes, noticing Ricky changed the subject. "I'm NOT Casey, for the last time!" she said angrily. "I just wanna talk," Ricky said calmly. "Jamal is so protective of you, I never even see you." "Dude," Marissa said, "yeah, I'm sure all you want to do is talk." "Pleeease?" she heard Ricky say. She made a kind of 'grrrr' noise, and, through gritted teeth, said, "Fine." She hung up without saying good-bye and went back inside. "Jamal?" she said. "Yeah?" "I'm going for a walk, ok?" she lied. Jamal nodded absentmindedly.

Alison cried softly as she looked at a picture of her and Rafe that Jack had taken. No, there's no brainwashing here, Alison thought. Rafe is just the man I love. Or was. . . She began to cry again. "Rafe, I need you!" she yelled.

There was a knock at the door. Ricky answered it and saw Marissa, who invited herself in. "What do you want?" she asked rudely. Ricky walked toward her and gestured for her to sit down. He looked at her fixedly. "Damn, you even act like her." Marissa looked at him. "Let me guess, Casey, right?" Ricky nodded. Once again he told himself this couldn't be a coincidence. "Marissa," he started. But she wasn't paying attention. Her head was turned to the right and her eyes were like those of a child who had just walked into a giant candy store. "You have a drum set??" she said excitedly. Ricky laughed. "Yeah, I do."

Meanwhile, Jamal and Livvie continued to talk. By this time they had sat down next to each other on the sofa. "So, do you have any idea where Spunky, I mean Ali, might be?" Jamal asked. Livvie giggled at the sound of the familiar nickname. "I'm pretty sure I have a good idea," she replied.