Aprilj: I think that it is good so far. Keep up the good job. And I know I sound stupid for asking but what is OOC? OOC means out of character. You didn't sound stupid. ) Does anyone know what AU means?

For everyone who guessed: Those are good answers. You'll have to wait and see…

I tried avoiding Jay as much as I could the next day. But it was kind of hard to. I mean, everywhere I turned, there he was.

"Emma," he called after me before Media Immersion.

I didn't want to talk to him, so I ducked into the girls' bathroom. If he followed me into here, then he was definitely nuts. But he didn't follow me.

I sighed, leaning against the wall.

"Got problems?" I heard a voice ask me.

I looked up. Ellie Nash was standing at the sink, washing her hands.

"Maybe," I said.

"Are you okay?" She asked me, pulling a paper towel from the holder and walking toward me as she dried her hands. "I've heard rumors."

"You, of all people, should know that a rumor is just a rumor," I told her.

She nodded silently.

"I'm sorry if that was mean. I…haven't been the same since, well…"

"Its okay. The shooting was hard on everybody, but you watched it all happen. Not even Sean could handle that."

"I miss him," I admitted.

"I do, too," she said.

"Has he called you or anything?"

"Once. And I got a couple of letters from him. That's about it."

"Its sad. It seems like the shooting ruined everybody." I sank to the floor and rested my arms around my legs.

She sat next to me with her legs criss-crossed. "I don't believe that people can be ruined," she said. "I think that the harder things are for you, the stronger you'll be."

"I don't feel very strong," I told her. "I haven't been very strong."

She reached into her bag and pulled out a business card. "Here," she said, handing it to me, "this is from the support group I go to. Maybe you'd be interested."

I took the card from her. "Thanks."

"The next meeting is tomorrow around 5:00."

"I might be there. I have an appointment with my psychologist this afternoon. I don't really want to go."

"But you should go," she said. "I didn't like the thought of spilling my guts out to total strangers either. But sometimes that's the best thing that you can do. You know? Strangers have no reason to judge you, or even really care about judging you. To me its…comforting."

The tardy bell rang. "Thanks," I said, standing to my feet. I reached down to help her up.

"Your welcome," she said, after I helped her stand up. "I hope things get better for you."

I smiled at her. "I'll see you at the group tomorrow."

"That was a good session, Emma," my counselor said, as I get ready to leave her office. "You didn't talk much though. Are you going to come back next week?"

"I don't want to," I told her. "But I know that I need to."

"That's the first step," she said.

"The first step to what?"

"To getting better."

Retail therapy made me feel a lot better than I thought it would. Mom bought me a new shirt, an orange and white polo, and a long, white flow-y skirt. I didn't know when I would be back into my Earth Girl bohemian clothes, but this would be the first outfit I would wear when I did.

Spending time with Mom, without baby Jack, was the best part.