When Erica finally awoke the next morning she was alone in the room. She

stood up slowly,unsure of how steady she was, and walked towards the door. She hadn't

thought to check the clock before she'd left the room but it must have still been early. All the

doors in the hallway were shut.

Shakily she made her way down to room 346. Suddenly it wasn't Sunday morning. It was the

previous night again and Erica was following the moonlight down the

hall. She knew that when she opened the door she would see Todd's still body. But the room

was empty save for a shaft of light illuminating Charlie on the bed.

Slowly Erica entered the room. As she stepped closer she saw the beginnings of tears on

Charlie's face. "It'll be better if you cry." She whispered. Charlie's head

jerked up and he sniffed back any possible tears. "I didn't know you were here." She sat down

on the bed next to him. "If you hold you're feelings inside you'll have an outburst

like after Neil's death." Charlie pulled away from her. "Don't bring Neil into this, please."

Erica pulled Dalton's hand into hers. "We shouldn't be in here. Nolan'll have a fit." Charlie

nodded and stood up, letting her hand drop onto the bed. "Classes were

cancelled today. The DPS....we're meeting at the cave in fifteen minutes. I was just going to

wake you up." With that he strode out of the room.

There was no fire in the cave when Erica got there. They hadn't found the strength to light one,

that had always been Todd's job. Erica searched the boys' faces,

hoping to find some light there, some inner strength, but there was none to be had. Tears

streamed down Knox's face, Pitts' eyes were red rimmed, and Meeks was cleaning

his glasses intently, head down. "Where's Charlie?" She finally asked, "He, uh," Meeks coughed.

"He wanted to finish his homework."

Erica looked at Knox crying in a corner of the cave and walked over to him, wrapping her arms

around his shoulders. "It's ok, honey." His body shook in her arms.

"He'll be ok. We'll be ok." Knox sniffed and wiped his sleeve across his face. "I just don't

understand why he would do it." Pitts finally spoke up. "What could ever make

somebody do that?" Erica pulled one of her arms from around Knox and put it on Pitts'

shoulder. "Todd was a very introverted person. Any pain he felt, he never let it show.

He was more concerned with helping other people. I guess it finally got the better of him." The

boys all nodded.

"That's why I'm worried about Charlie." They all looked up, Knox with a fearful look on his face

that almost made Erica cry. "He doesn't show pain, anger, hurt, fear.

It's going to get bigger than him. If you boys don't mind I'm going to go check on him." Meeks

stood up. "We should all probably go. Nolan will suspicious." Erica

outstretched her hands, one to Pitts and one to Knox, pulling them to their feet. "Lets go boys.

Put on your brave faces."

When Erica enterd her room it took a moment for her eyes to adjust. The blinds were pulled

shut. Dalton sat on the floor, back against the bed, crying. When he

noticed Erica standing in the doorway he wiped the tears away quickly. "I didn't see you there."

Erica knelt down next to him. "Were you crying?" Charlie shook his head

quickly. "No. Honey, it's a good thing. You have to let it out somehow." Charlie pulled away

from her.

"I wasn't crying, alright!" He shouted. Erica sighed and stood up, walking over to the desk

drawer. She pulled a bright red spiral notebook out of the drawer and

tossed it on the floor next to Charlie, along with a ballpoint pen. "What's this for?" He picked up

the notebook and began flipping through the pages. "Are these your

poems?" Erica nodded and knelt down once more. "All the ones I've written since coming to

Welton." "Hellton." Charlie corrected her. "Whatever. You need to get your

emotions out somehow and since you won't cry and you obviously don't want to talk about it,

write it down." She started to get up, then lightly put her hand on his cheek. "I

love you, and I'll be here when you're ready to talk." She leaned forward and kissed him gently

on the forehead. "Write from the heart." With that she straightened up and

left. Charlie, from his spot on the floor, opened the notebook to a blank page and began to

write.