"Wait, so is Kira the sword, or the devil?" Ephram asked Orrie. Orrie was at his locker, exchanging his coat for some books. He sighed, closed his locker and turned to Ephram.

"Both. He's the reincarnation of the sword, but made a deal with the devil as a kid to save his life," Orrie explained.

"That's a little selfish, isn't it?" Ephram asked him. Orrie shook his head.

"Actually, no. You see Kira wanted to save his life because he had lost his mother some time before."

"So?"

"So, Kira didn't want his father to become any sadder, which Kira's death would have caused…"

"Oh."

"Actually, Kira also wanted it so that his father would hate him, so when he did die, his dad wouldn't be sad," Orrie went on. Ephram nodded in respect for the anime character.

"Who, Kira? He's cute, with the glasses," Jig said appearing suddenly next to them. The two boys turned to her and found something different than they expected. Instead of the normal Jig with her long brown hair tied behind her head and several thousand layers of clothes, they found something more, or rather, less. Her hair was short and flared around her face, the parts that showed out from under the cowboy hat that sat on her head. She wore a denim jacket over a red turtle neck shirt, and a pair of actually form fitting jeans with black combat boots. She noticed the two gaping mouths and breathless boys so she laughed. She did a little turn for them.

"How do I look, cool, huh? Desi cut my hair, she did a good job," Jig asked them. Neither of the boys said anything. Desi walked over to them giggling excitedly.

"Isn't she cute?" Desi asked them hugging Jig's shoulders.

"I… I…" Ephram uttered and Orrie nodded in agreement. Desi looked at her watch.

"Oh, Jig, we have to go show Amy before homeroom," Desi said dragging Jig away from the two boys, neither of which had moved anything from the first sighting. Once Desi and Jig were gone, Ephram turned to Orrie.

"She's beautiful!" Ephram sputtered. Orrie turned to him.

"I told you she was!"

"Yea but I never actually believed you!" Ephram told him. Orrie blinked and laughed, shaking his head.

"Just don't touch," Orrie warned him.

"Oh, right, never touch. Eh…" Ephram said and cringed. Orrie hit him slightly.

"Hey…"

"What? Oh come on, she's, she's Jig."

"Yea, and Desi is Desi."

"She sure is…" Ephram said with a fond smile. Orrie laughed and shook his head.

"You are so gone, Ephram."

"What? I love her…" Ephram told him.

"And it's so cute…" Orrie said and Ephram elbowed him, laughing.

Ephram was walking solitarily down the hallway. He was on his way to History where he would sit between Jig and Desi. He used to sit in front of them both, but he and Jig switched places so he could be closer to Desi. Of course today Ephram would get to pick on Jig's new haircut. Ah, of course Desi was the one who cut it… So he couldn't make fun of her for that. The hat! He could make fun of the hat!

"Ephram! Ephram Brown right?" a girl asked him. Ephram turned around to find a Japanese girl jogging over to him. He nodded.

"Hi! I'm Mayumi Kasshoku," she introduced herself. It took Ephram a few moments to place it.

"Murasaki's sister!" he said and she nodded smiling. She reached in and pulled a folder out of her bag and handed it to him.

"Could you give this to your sister, for me?" she asked him. He nodded and took the folder from her hands.

"Yea, sure."

"Okay, arigatou! Sayonara! I'm late!" she said running down the hallway the way she came. Ephram was right in front of his class so he opened the folder. Inside was a picture of Delia and Murasaki sitting in kimonos on a bench in front of a pond. Ephram smiled. It was very good. The bell rang so he scooted into his classroom.

Star walked out of her office and over to her secretary. The woman, whose nerves were slowly being accustomed to the overbearing shrink, handed Star the mail from the morning. She flipped through them, hoping she wouldn't find a piece as interesting as the one from Raymond. Well, she got no mail from quitted spouses, but she did have a summons.

"Aw damn…" she said taking it into her office. She locked her door and slumped down into her green shaggy chair. Well she wasn't the defendant, so that was good. Actually, one of her old patients in Buffalo was being accused of murder, and they needed her to say what she thought. Like they could stop her. It was this weekend, which meant she'd have to leave the boys alone. For two days. Orrie would be okay, but maybe she should take Cory with her. No, taking Cory back to Buffalo would just renew his protests, and he was just now beginning to shut up. Oh, maybe Cory should spend the weekend with Andy. Yea! There was nothing wrong with that plan!

"Here," Mack offered. Bright reached into the bag of peanut M&M's and pulled some out.

"Thanks man," Bright said and Mack nodded. The two were walking down one of Everwood's streets. They had only been cousins for two years, but the two had been somewhat friends before that. Mack placed a few M&M's in his mouth and looked across the street. He saw a boy he had never seen before walking with the mayor's daughter.

"Who's that with Quincampoix's daughter?" Mack asked motioning across the street. Bright turned and frowned. As happy as he was that Ephram and Amy were no longer a possible equation, he still didn't care much for the former New Yorker.

"Ephram Brown. His father moved them here after his wife died…" Bright told him. Mack nodded.

"Brown, right, I remember hearing that…"

"Yea, well… He's also Jig's best friend," Bright added, knowing Mack would know who Jig was. Mack frowned.

"She's a pill, isn't she?" Mack asked him. Bright nodded.

"With a good right hook…" Bright said rubbing his healed nose.

"What?"

"Never mind," Bright said with a sigh.

"Okay, well, anyway… I brought that poster you wanted me to bring for you."

"Oh, hey, thanks man. How long are you here for?"

"Hm, I leave next Friday."

"That's too soon," Bright said. Mack nodded in agreement.

"Sorry coz. Think, though, a few more years and you and I can get an apartment together!" Mack told him. Bright chuckled.

"What, and leave all of this?" Bright asked him. Mack chuckled this time.

"Though, you know man, there are some things about Everwood you will miss."

"Oh, name one thing?"

"The people."

"That's the one thing I won't miss…" Bright said. Mack shook his head.

"No, you see, I don't mean specific people like your mom or dad, I mean like the general attitude of the people here in town. It's very different than the people in Seattle."

"What, duller?"

"No, not dull, warm," Mack corrected him. Bright smiled a little and took a handful of M&M's.

"I don't believe I'm doing this…" Dr. Abbott said silently to himself. He was walking through the drugstore on his way home. He placed two flashlights, several pairs of batteries, and some trail mix into the red basket slung over his arm. He rubbed his hands together and headed to the mitten aisle. The idea of purposefully getting lost, it was silly. It was ridiculous. But Rose liked the idea. She would, she probably saw it as the equivalent of a peaceful walk in the woods, but it wasn't. It was getting lost in the cold and in the dark. That will of course only lead to them fighting, which will lead to him sleeping in the guestroom. A divorce might even come from this. If it did, Dr. Abbott was going to sue Star. He searched the contents of his basket and realized there was one thing he should probably get. He stopped a woman as she walked past him. The red vest and nametag she wore designated her as an employee.

"Where can I find the flare guns?" he asked her. She gave him a questioning glance, but, knowing Dr. Abbott, decided not to voice the questions.

"Aisle three," she told him. He nodded and walked off. He should probably get more than one, three maybe, possibly floor. It depends on how much they cost. He should probably buy some extra warm socks as well. His hiking boots were good even though they had been dormant for some time. His coat was warm. But his socks… he could use a new pair of warm socks. Maybe two. He may be forced to do something stupid, but he wasn't going to go into it stupidly. Friday was going to be a horrible night.

"What! No! Star! NO! Why? We don't have room for him. No! Yes! Star, listen, why can't he and Orrie just stay home together? Star! I have it hard enough time keeping my son alive and you want me to-!" Dr. Brown yelled into his office phone. Dr. Brown had enough trouble keeping his only semi-delinquent son out of trouble, but Star's son was a complete delinquent! There was no way he could handle Cory for an hour let alone a weekend! Star was crazier then the person she had to go speak for in Buffalo. Not that idea of Star being completely nuts was new to Dr. Brown. It was a fact he knew better than most. Oh wait a minute. Wait just a minute now… If Dr. Brown could handle Cory for a weekend as well as Ephram and Delia, maybe, just maybe, Star would realize Dr. Brown could handle being a single father, and leave! That if anything would get her to leave! And it'd be easy too! All Dr. Brown had to do was explain to Cory that Buffalo was at stake here. If Cory was good, he might be able to get home! That seemed to be his goal more than anybody else's!

"Star, hey, Star! Listen for a moment. I'll do it! Tell Cory to pack enough things for a weekend. We do have a spare room for him. Okay? Yes, fine, good bye," Dr. Brown said hanging up the phone. He let out a long sigh and ran a hand through his hair. This was going to work.