auggy 1984 & beama-- :) Thanks

colorado2-- Here's the start :)

slain-- I've emailed you the site. Read on!

Hana's hand hovered over the phone. Should she?

No, she decided, and let her hand fall again. But soon enough, she changed her mind again.

"Augh, Hana, just get it over with and call her already!" she suddenly found herself yelling. It was a good thing she was in her room. She was going crazy over this. Finally deciding to take her own advice, she picked up the phone and began dialing the numbers to Emily's house.

She'd spent all afternoon looking through the phonebook until finally, she'd found the right family. The Whelans. Interestingly enough, Whelan meant "wolf". What was it with Emily and wolves? she wondered.

"Hello?" a deep, slurred voice picked up on the sixth ring. It sounded like the person had been sleeping.

Hana swallowed. "Hello, can I speak to Emily please? Emily Whelan?"

"Who is this?" the guy on the other end suddenly perked up. "Is this Hana?"

Jake?

"Hana?" he repeated.

"Yeah," Hana took a deep breath nervously. Why was she feeling so guilty? It wasn't her fault Emily had gotten stabbed. But she couldn't help feeling she could've done something more...

"Listen, before I pass the phone to her, I just wanna say thanks. Thank you for not leaving her behind like all the other cowards," Jake said a little venomously.

What? "You're welcome," she finally managed to say. There was a small silence before he continued.

"Well. Guess I'll pass the phone to her, then. Take care," he said. She heard him call for Emily in the background.

A minute later, Emily picked up. "Hana! I haven't heard from you in ages!" she demanded a little angrily.

"I'm sorry!" Hana pleaded guiltily. "I-I've just been so caught up since I started school. Exams start next week. You got the cards I sent you at the hospital?"

"Yeah..." Emily trailed off.

"So when are you coming back?" Hana asked.

"I don't know. My parents have been arguing about taking me out of school. They wanna move all of us to this other place".

"But why?" Hana asked, shocked.

"I don't know...the gang, other stuff," Emily sighed. "The truth is, I wouldn't mind leaving this place behind either. Start anew".

"Oh..." Hana said a little sadly at the thought of her leaving. "Well have you heard from them? The gang?"

"No, not really. Jake's bloody pissed at them about that night. I think he's leaving the gang too".

Hana couldn't help feeling relieved at hearing this. She was glad Jake wasn't what Mike had said he would be.

"Well...call me before you leave town okay? Call me if you're coming back to school," Hana said. "Just call".

"Don't worry, I will," Emily assured her. "And Hana? Thanks for staying with me that night, alright? I was so scared".

Yeah, you almost died, Hana thought.

"You don't have to thank me for that," Hana laughed softly. "Well...thanks for being my friend".

"Ditto," Emily replied with a small laugh.

"Goodbye".

"Bye," Hana could hear the smile in Emily's voice. Then they both hung up.

Hana was glad she'd called.

Hana was at her desk that afternoon, studying for History. Well she was trying, but it was almost impossible with her nine-year-old brother and seven-year-old sister screaming their way around the house. Dad should pay me for babysitting these kids, she thought.

"Nick! Anna! Cut that out! I'm studying here!" she opened her bedroom door and shouted through at them. But Nick only stopped running after Anna to stick his tongue out at her. She narrowed her eyes at him angrily and he ran off again, screaming at Anna that there was a monster coming after him. Before she could get up off her chair to make Nick's exclamation come true however, the phone rang.

"Hello," Hana said somewhat irritatedly as she picked it up.

"Hana? It's Ephram".

"Oh!" Hana said in surprise. "What's up?"

"Well I'm kinda having a problem with memorising my History here," he began, just as Nick and Anna started howling together. "What's that?" he asked. "Sounds like the battle of the Red Indians".

"Yeah, two very bratty Red Indians," Hana snorted.

Ephram laughed. "Yeah, they'll grow up in a while to become smart-asses instead. Ow!" he suddenly exclaimed painfully. "I'm out with my sister Delia right now, actually".

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, I told her I'd get her an ice-cream if she'd come with me to your house".

"My house?" she asked, surprised.

"Is that okay?" he asked quickly. "Sorry, that's why I'm calling you actually. I was wondering whether I could come over then we could test each other. Brought my notes".

"Sure, of course!" Hana said. "But what about my Red Indians?"

"Delia can keep them quiet. Right?" he asked her in the background. Then he laughed. "Alright, we'll be there in ten minutes".

"Okay, see ya," Hana hung up.

Ten minutes??? Hana ran for the mirror. Hair tied up? Check. No food stains whatsoever on shirt and pants? Check. Bra on? Check. Alright, she looked as awful as ever.

She went out to the living room and squealed at the mess her siblings had made. It looked like some kind of war zone. There were train tracks scattered all over the carpet along with accompanying derailed trains and various other pieces of plastic. In one corner of the room, Nick was crouching behind a pile of blocks. Suddenly, Anna jumped out from behind a couch and began "shooting" at Hana with a plastic machine gun (the kind that made a lot of noise).

"What are you doing in our fort?" Nick stood up and demanded in what was supposed to be a deep booming voice.

"Yeah!" Anna shouted, the tiara teetering on top of her head looking oddly out of place.

Hana sighed. "Alright guys. My friend Ephram's coming over here and we are going to study, okay? Could you guys at least try to play a little softer?"

Nick and Anna just stared at her in silence.

"I'll give you a pack of Oreos if you do. And I'll play your favourite Finding Nemo video," Hana bargained. Nick and Anna turned to look at each other.

"Okay," Nick nodded and grinned. Sometimes blackmail was the only way.

"Hey," Hana greeted as she opened the door. Ephram stood in his usual baggy jeans and a blue T-shirt. His sister who looked no more than eleven had big brown eyes and long, straight brown hair topped with a baseball cap.

"Come in," she said and they walked in. Anna and Nick sat in the now-clean living room eating Oreo cookies and watching Finding Nemo.

"I see you've got them to surrender," Ephram smiled.

"Yeah, Mafia tactics," she replied with a grin. "Sorry Delia, I hope they don't bug you too much or anything". Nick turned around to look at her as she said this, cookie in his mouth.

"What," she said and he turned his attention back to the tv screen, chewing on his cookie.

She showed Ephram the way to the study room and left him there for a moment.

"You want a drink? I could make some popcorn," Hana asked Delia.

She nodded. "Okay".

Hana led her to the kitchen and opened the fridge. "Okay, what would you like? I've got...orange juice, iced tea aaaaand...no this isn't drinkable..." Hana held up the bottle filled with lumpy green slime and wrinkled her nose. Dad's foot soak. Delia laughed.

"You're pretty," she said after a moment. What?

Hana laughed, somehow finding what she'd said hysterically funny. "That's nice of you, but I know what I am".

"But you are. You have nice eyes," Delia said in precocious eleven-year-old frankness. She climbed atop the stool next to the counter and kneeled on it, resting her elbows on top of the counter. She examined the items on it.

"Dad taught me what riboflavin is," she chirped.

"Did he? Cool," Hana smiled. She took out the pack of microwaveable popcorn from the top shelf.

"Yeap. It's a vitamin that helps you grow," she said.

"You're smart," Hana said to her and smiled.