Mia just had time to step out of her apartment before tears started pouring down her cheeks. She ran all the way to Central Park, hoping that Michael would be there early.

"How could Mr G and Mom be moving to California? Why? What about me?" She thought. She was thinking so hard she wasn't paying attention to where she was going.

"OOF!" She ran into something—more like someone. "Excuse me." She said, and shook her head, starting off again towards the park.

"Mia!" She felt a hand grab her arm and spin her around.

"Huh?"

"Mia, what's wrong? I was on my way to pick you up." Mia looked up into the face of Michael Moscovitz.

"Michael!" She wrapped her arms around his waist and started to cry into his jacket. And even though she was angry and confused about her mother and Mr G and moving to California, she still to the time to acknowledge the fact that Michael still smelled really good. Michael pulled her off of him and walked her over to a bench. They sat down and he pulled Mia towards him, so that her head was on his chest and his arms were around her.

"Mia? Babe, what's wrong?" He asked after he rubbed her back and kissed the top of her head. Mia lifted her head off his chest and looked at him with red, swollen eyes.

"We're moving." Everything around Michael stopped. He couldn't hear anything except those two words replaying over and over inside his head. "We're moving."

"Mia, I can't—No Warning?." He said, hugging her. She shook her head. "When? Where? Why?" Mia told him what her mother had said to her, and Michael just nodded, listening until she was done.

"Shit." He said, running his hand through his curly, messy hair. Mia finally stopped crying and wiped her eyes.

"I'm sorry Michael. I swear I didn't know anything until this morning. Right before I left they told me." She said, holding his hand tight. Michael swore again. After awhile, they decided they'd go on with their plans as usual and meet Lilly.

"It's fine. C'mon." Michael said as Mia stood up and fixed her coat. He pulled her hat farther down over her head and kissed her. "It'll be fine." He said again, and then grabbed her hand and they went to meet Lilly.

Michael, Mia, and Lilly went to the arcade two blocks from the Park and spent three hours playing SkeeBall and Video Games. Then they went to lunch and called Tina and Boris and they all went back to Lilly's where they played Monopoly and Scrabble. Then, Boris and Michael pulled out their guitars and played "Tall Drink of Water" and "Rock Throwing Youths". Michael even started to play "Princess of my Heart," but before he could play anymore than a few cords, the doorbell rang. Lilly jumped up out of her chair, checked her reflection in the mirror, and jerked the door open. She talked to someone on the otherside for a minute, and then pulled a guy with fiery red hair and a sweater on into the room.

"Guys, I want you to meet my friend, Jeremiah." She said, smiling and pulling Jeremiah over to the sofa.

"Hey." He said shyly. Lilly introduced everyone to him and soon they started playing Monopoly again, with Jeremiah included this time. Everyone loved him. He was hilarious, and he was always making people feel better, like when Boris got landed in jail, he said,

"Well, I heard the food was really good there." Which of course made everyone laugh. He kept smiling at Lilly and whispering to her, and then she'd smile and giggle. Mia thought it was really sweet. When Lilly went to fix more drinks, Mia followed her into the kitchen.

"Lilly! Who is he? Where did you meet him?" She asked, pulling six glasses down from the cabinet.

" At school, he's in my public speaking class. He's—wow." Lilly smiled and held up her hands. "He used to be my partner, at the beginning of the year, but then we all got switched around. He cornered me after class one day and asked me out." She said, getting flustered.

"And..." Mia begged for details as she filled the glasses with ice.

"Well...we went on a few dates. I like him a lot Mia. And I think he likes me. He says—He told me that he liked how I spoke up for myself, but was still open to new ideas. And he's—wow—he's a great speaker, he isn't afraid of what people think of him, he's sweet, caring, he's really funny, he actually well—he kind of does magic tricks, like cards and stuff. It's really funny, although slightly annoying at times. But he stops if I ask him to—three or four times." Lilly and Mia burst into a fit of the giggles at this last statement from Lilly, drawing Tina into the kitchen.

"What are you two so worked up about?" She asked. Lilly repeated her story about Jeremiah and Tina laughed too. They finally filled the glasses with soda (Coke for Jeremiah, Lilly, and Tina, Water for Mia and Boris, and Sprite for Michael) and went back to the living room. Tina gave Boris his drink, and then sat on his knee while he played. Lilly sat next to Jeremiah and leaned on his shoulder while he asked her about buying properties. Mia sat with Michael and he held her hand under the table. After about thirty minutes, Boris had won the game, which was rare, because Michael almost always won Monopoly. Michael stood up and bowed.

"Okay, I'll give up my 4-year-old winning streak!" Then he reached behind him and grabbed a tiny bag. "Here you go Boris. Have your prize." Everyone looked at Michael like he was crazy. They'd never given out prizes before. "So what? I'm a nice person!" He said, throwing up his hands and shrugging, then winking at Mia. Boris grabbed the bag and pulled out a small box. He pushed back his chair and walked over to Tina. He hit one knee and opened the box. A small diamond ring flashed as light reflected off of it.

"Tina?" He asked. Tina was staring at him, mouth wide open and tears forming in her eyes. "Would you—will you marry me?"

"Yeah—yeah, I will." She said, full on crying at this point. She jumped up into Boris' outstretched arms and he held her tight against her. Everyone applauded and congratulated Tina and Boris and wished them luck. Then at six-thirty, Michael touched Mia's knee under the table and nodded his head towards the door. Mia told Lilly that they had to go and after wishing Tina and Boris well one last time, they left.