Authors Note: Hey guys. Okay, so for more "emotion" in this story, which is sort of what I'm going for, I'm going to change the perspective from 3rd person to 1st. So from now on the story is told from Lucy's point of view.

Chapter 3-

I was with Samantha when it happened. Since she had been following me around for the past week this was my freedom day. After today no more Samantha Parks every waking moment. That's what I had been looking forward to all day. But when Peter sat down at the picnic table where Samantha, Jess, Auggie and I were everything left my mind.

"Luce, I need to talk to you."

I was in the middle of a really hard Kohlberg Dilemma experiment and I didn't want to be torn away. "Could it wait, like, 2 minutes?" I asked.

"This is important." He said.

I sighed preparing myself for whatever I was about to get busted for. It would probably be being counter-productive in the "welcoming" of Samantha.

"Okay, what'd I do?" I asked.

Peter and I were standing to the side of the Administration Building where no one could see us. He put his hand on my shoulder and I knew whatever he had to tell me was serious. Peter took a deep breathe before he answered me. "You didn't do anything. It's about your mom." I felt my heart start beating faster at the mention of mom. "She and Jack were in an accident, Luce. They were in a cab making a turn and a truck came out of no where and hit the car. Your mom, she . . . she didn't make it."

I bit my lip to stop myself from crying. Closing my eyes and lowering my head all I could ask was, "What about Jack?" Out of all the things I should have been asking the one thing I wanted to know was what happened to Jack.

"He's paralyzed from the waist down. He's in the hospital so they can keep an eye on him but he's going to make it." Peter tried to look in my eyes but I wouldn't lift my head. "Luce? Look at me. Are you okay?"

I raised my head opening my eyes and looking up at the clear sky. I wiped the tears off my face with my sleeve and said, "It's not fair. Mom can't be . . . and Jack shouldn't be . . . I just . . ." I couldn't finish any of the thought racing through my head.

Peter understood and just hugged me. It was what I needed right then. No talking, no asking how I felt. Just quiet.

I walked back to the table my friends were at hoping my face didn't look too bad and sat down to get all my stuff in my backpack. I had to get my stuff together so Peter and I could go to New York to clear out the apartment mom, Jack, and I had shared. When I got back to the table everyone could obviously see I was upset but they didn't ask me about what happened. It was an unwritten Horizon rule that some new students didn't know. Like Samantha Parks.

"So what did Peter yell at you for?" Samantha asked.

I sniffed shaking my head, and muttered, "Nothing."

"Then why are you crying? I mean it's not like anything bad could have happened. It's like the worst thing that happens to you is you break a fingernail. You even over reacted when Peter and Sophie announced their engagement."

"Samantha!" I yelled. "Would you shut up? You know nothing about me or what's happening right now so butt out!"

Samantha pulled back acting astonished that I would yell at her. "Jeez . . . didn't mean to upset the princess."

In my pissed off state I didn't realize what I was saying and just mumbled to her, "That's Jules, not me." And I walked away to my dorm to get my stuff together.

A half hour later I had a suitcase packed and I was standing by the cab that would take us to the airport. I finished stuffing my suitcase into the trunk when Sophie came over with a suitcase and loaded it in, too. "Is that my dads?" I asked.

"No, it's mine." She said. "I'm going with you guys. You don't mind do you?"

"It's a little too late for me to mind isn't it?" I asked.

Sophie shook her head. "No. If you don't want me to go I won't."

"No," I said, "it's fine. Sorry."

"It's going to be okay." Sophie said hugging me. I rolled my eyes. I wasn't even really thinking about my mom right then. I was mad that Sophie was coming with us. My dad and I could actually bond on my turf. There's so much I could show him but Sophie being there would completely ruin that.

While we were waiting for Peter to get everything in order (he was leaving Roger in charge and had to make sure he knew what he was doing) Samantha came up to me.

"Hey- sorry about what I said earlier. I shouldn't have been so bitchy to you. Sophie told me what happened." She said to me.

I suddenly became even more mad at Sophie. Why was it okay for her to tell Samantha what was going on with me but when I wanted to know something it was all "my lips are sealed"? "Whatever." I mumbled.

"I mean, I know what you're going through. My parents both died when I was 7. Car accident just like your mom."

"Look, why don't you tell someone who cares your life story? Because, frankly, I don't." I knew I was being mean and I shouldn't have been. Samantha was sharing and I knew my dad would be mad when he found out I discouraged it but I was so mad I didn't care.