You should all consider yourselves lucky. I got up at four in the morning to write this just for you. Actually, two of my pals and I had a sleepover, we all fell asleep in my bed, and their hogging the covers, so I decided to come up here. After spending half an hour alone on the message board (by the way, you guys totally have to get on earlier, I'm so lonely!), I got to work in this. Either way, it's 6:16 now, and I'm tired. Hopefully my sacrifice was worth it, let me know what you think.

Squib sat staring at the phone. He had to call Cody, he knew that. He had, after all, promised them all. Everyday or two for the past couple weeks, the Top Guns had phoned Cody in NY, all of them in Tannis and Adena's room on speakerphone. Squib liked this ritual, because it meant he got to hear Cody's voice, but he didn't have to say much to her. Yesterday, however, he had been talking to Gunnerson about a swing he was having trouble with, and had missed the call. Adena had made him promise to call Cody on his own and he agreed, a message that she passed on to Cody herself.

This was different, though. They hadn't talked much since she'd left. Only through emails from and addressed to the entire group, and during group phone calls. But this would just be the two of them; he would have to think of things to say to her. He moved to pick up the phone, but quickly retracted his hand. This was gonna be tough.

Cody sat staring at the phone. Squib was supposed to call her tonight, that's what Adena had said. At first, Cody was upset that he was absent from their usual group call, but that feeling quickly turned into anxiety when Adena promised he would be calling her on his own. She hadn't been able to concentrate all day. What would she say to him? Would he be angry? It used to be so easy to talk with him, but Cody had a feeling their two weeks apart had changed that. She had decided she would ask him about his match, first. Cameron had mentioned that her had one that day. And that was always safe ground; getting him talking about tennis was easy.

She looked around the room. Jackie had gone out with friends, claming she needed some fresh air, but Cody suspected she wanted to giver her and 'lover boy', as she had taken to calling him, some privacy. Cody was thankful for that, as having another person in the room would only make it harder to talk to Squib. She glanced at her watch, and then refocused her gaze on the phone. This was gonna be tough.

Squib hadn't moved. He knew he had to call soon, in half an hour Cameron would be returning for bed check, and any hopes he had of a private conversation with Cody would go down the drain. Why was this so hard for him? He had never had a tough time talking to Cody, which never failed to surprise him. He had never been a very open person, but with Cody the words just seemed to flow. When she had been at Cascadia they had talked about everything and anything, sometimes not because they had an actual reason, but because they just liked each other's company.

He knew if he didn't do this, Adena and Tannis would have his head. He didn't understand why it was so important that he call her when he would just talk to her with the rest of them tomorrow. But they had insisted, claiming they couldn't risk any ties with Cody being severed. He suspected, though, that they were trying to set a reunion of sorts in motion. He knew from the looks they gave him during their almost-nightly calls that they had sensed the awkwardness between him and Cody.

Cody knew what Adena and Tannis were up to. She knew they were making him call her in hopes of them reconciling. She was actually grateful for their meddling, for once. She had wanted to talk to Squib alone since the first day she arrived in New York, but she could never get up the nerve to call him. This way she didn't have to, all she had to do was wait for him to call her. That is, if he ever did. She checked her watch again and realized it was almost lights out, both at Cascadia and in NY. Squib was running out of time.

Squib sighed. He wasn't going to do it. It was as simple as that. He didn't care how mad Adena and Tannis got. He could always lie and say that did call, buying him at least a day until they inevitably found out the truth. He felt bad for leaving Cody hanging like this, but then again, he didn't even know if she was waiting for him. She may have gone to bed a while ago, still angry and not ready for a conversation with him. He could talk to her tomorrow with the rest of the Top Guns.

He got up from his chair, but halfway to his bed, he turned back. He stared at the phone. He really did want to hear her voice…

Cody was beginning to doze off in her chair, when the phone rang. She looked at her watch, and realized it was passed lights out. Nice timing, Squib she thought. She picked up the phone, careful not to sound too eager.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is Jackie there, please?"

Cody heart fell so fast, she was sure she'd felt it hit rock bottom, "No, she's out right now, may I take a message?" She forced herself to say.

"No, that's fine. I'll call back tomorrow, thanks," with that, the other end went dead.

For a brief moment, Cody wondered where Jackie and her friends had, in fact, gone, seeing as it was past curfew. That didn't matter now, though. She had been stood up. Not technically, no, it wasn't like they had a date, or he had promised her himself that he would call. But it was close enough. It still hurt just as much.

She slowly crawled into bed, pulling the covers tight around herself. She forced herself not to cry, not to think of Squib. If he didn't care, then neither did she.

Squib lie in his bead, staring at the ceiling. He was a coward, and he knew it.

Still falling
Breathless and on again
Inside today
Beside me today
A round broken in two
'Til your eyes shed
Into dust
Like two strangers
Turning into dust
'Till my hand shook with the way I fear

I could possibly be fading
Or have something more to gain
I could feel myself growing colder
I could feel myself under your fate
Under your fate

It was you breathless and tall
I could feel my eyes turning into dust
And two strangers turning into dust
Turning into dust

-Mazzy Star 'Into Dust'