Mary Anne stood in the hallway between her room and Dawn's. It was Sunday night, Dawn's third night back in Stoneybrook. And tonight, just like the two nights before, Dawn was crying herself to sleep. The first two nights Mary Anne hadn't done anything. It wasn't that she didn't want to help Dawn with whatever she was going through, but more that she wished Dawn would come right out and tell her. Given the state of their relationship, she didn't want to intrude where she was not wanted.
But she couldn't just stand in the hallway every night and listen to Dawn cry. Hesitantly, she knocked on the door.
"Dawn?" She asked softly. "Can I come in?"
Dawn didn't answer, so Mary Anne slowly turned the handle and opened the door. She found Dawn lying on her bed, sobbing.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Mary Anne asked meekly.
With this, Dawn finally looked up at her. Wiping away some of the tears with her sleeve she just shook her head.
"Can I just listen or something? I hate to see you like this."
"You can't make this better Mary Anne. It's something that I need to deal with myself."
"I understand," said Mary Anne simply, even though she really didn't. As much as she wanted Dawn to confide in her, she did know that it would be better to give her the space that she needed. "If you ever do want to talk though, I'm here to listen. Seriously. I've really missed you."
"Thanks," Dawn said, sniffling.
With that, Mary Anne walked out of her sister's room. She had completed her homework for the weekend earlier that day, so she went downstairs to watch some television before going to bed. If she remembered correctly, one of the movie channels was going to be showing Sixteen Candles.
While sitting in the living room, she heard her dad and Sharon talking. They had arrived back from their trip to New York about an hour ago.
"Dawn seems to be adjusting well,' Sharon said brightly. "She and Mary Anne spent the whole weekend together, and everything seems to have gone just fine."
"It might be a little too premature to assess the situation," Richard countered. "After all, she does start school tomorrow, and we should really see how well that goes. Though things have seemingly gotten off to a great start."
"The girls just both seem so happy!" Sharon exclaimed.
Mary Anne was taken aback. She wondered what exactly she and Dawn were doing to give off this 'happy' vibe that Sharon had managed to pick up on. Was it the crying themselves to sleep, or the general self loathing?
On the other hand, maybe Sharon only saw what she needed to see. Despite her many flaws, she really did care about Dawn and Mary Anne, and wanted very much for them to feel loved and happy. It was just that she really didn't know hot to impart that love without compromising the other things in her life. Mary Anne figured that she convinced herself that the girls were fine, so she wouldn't feel guilty about her lack of parental duty. Strangely enough, this didn't bother Mary Anne very much. Everyone needs to cope somehow.
Having heard enough of the conversation, Mary Anne walked upstairs to her room, forgetting all about the movie that she had been planning to watch. She really wanted to talk to someone, but it didn't seem like anyone in this house was going to make themselves available, so she decided to call Kristy. When she picked up the phone extension in her room, she realized that Dawn was already on it. Despite her initial reaction to hang up the phone, she held on to it and listened to the conversation.
"I gained three pounds since last week. I just thought that you would like to know."
Dawn was talking to Maggie again. Mary Anne listened carefully, hoping that they would talk about Sunny, and whatever it was that made Dawn decide to come back to Connecticut.
"Maggie that's great, I'm so proud of you!" Dawn exclaimed
"Thanks, but I don't really want to talk about it. I just wanted you to know. But I do know that you want to talk about Sunny. I talked to her today at school. We are in the same world history class. Dawn, she's hurt and confused. I don't care how akward you say that things will be, you need to talk to her."
"I know," Dawn said softly. "And I really want to. But every time I pick up the phone to call her I think of that night, and everything that happened."
"I know you're scared. But you and Sunny have been through so much over the years. I'd hate to see you lose everything over something so stupid."
"I know."
"And you can't exactly hide from her forever," Maggie continued. "You can run to Connecticut for the time being, but you're going to have to come back to Palo City at some point."
"I know you're right," Dawn said softly.
"Well that's the first step. Now you need to do something about it," Maggie said firmly.
"I'll try Mags, I promise. Maybe I will call her sometime this week. Thanks for listening to me."
"You know that I'll always be here for you. But remember that you have other people who are there for you as well. Like Mary Anne." Maggie said pointedly.
Hearing her name made Mary Anne almost drop the phone. Luckily, she caught herself and didn't make any noise. She was surprised that Maggie had said that. She had only met Maggie a few times, but she had always liked her. She hadn't realized that Dawn and Maggie had become so close."
"Bye Maggie, I'll call you tomorrow or the next day."
"Bye Dawn."
Mary Anne hung up the phone, frustrated. First of all, she was mad at herself for evesdropping on Dawn and Maggie's conversation. That really wasn't the type of person that she was. Also, she was continually frustrated with the fact that Dawn had yet to tell her what went on in California. She had promised that she would tell her right away, and at this point it didn't look like Mary Anne would ever find out.
Mary Anne had felt so long feeling shut out from her family and friends, and it had finally seemed like things were turning around.
Also, Mary Anne had selfish reasons for this as well. As much as she wanted to be there for Dawn, she wanted someone to be there for her. At this point, Mary Anne didn't have anyone she was close enough to talk about her problems with. She and Kristy had pretty much picked up where they had left off, which was great, but with all that Kristy had going on, it didn't seem fair to give her more to worry about. And her dad and Sharon pretty much refused to believe that she was anything but happy, so she really didn't have an outlet there.
Mary Anne picked up Tigger, and went to lie down in bed. It was her turn to cry herself to sleep.
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The next morning, Mary Anne woke up early to the sound of her alarm. She got out of bed, gathered her things, and headed to the bathroom, grateful that she had made it before Dawn. After getting ready for the day, she headed downstairs. She noticed that the door to Dawn's room was still closed, but figured that she was downstairs eating a bowl of all natural wheat granola, or whatever it was that she liked for breakfast.
"Good Morning sweetheart," Sharon said, as Mary Anne walked into the kitchen. "Is Dawn excited for her first day of school?"
"I don't know. I'm not ever sure if she is up yet," Mary Anne replied.
"She must still be jet lagged, that poor thing. Come on, let's go wake her up."
Sharon knocked lightly on Dawn's door, and then opened it slightly. She and Mary Anne were both surprised to find Dawn up and dressed, sitting on the window seat and staring outside.
"Good morning honey," Sharon said, giving Dawn a kiss on the top of her head. "Are you excited for your first day of school back in Stoneybrook?"
"I'm not going."
"What?" Sharon replied, confused.
"I'm not going, and you can't make me," Dawn said again.
"Dawn honey, I'm confused. What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Mary Anne watched the seen in front of her unfold just as confused as Sharon was. She had no idea why Dawn was refusing to go to school. She hadn't hinted at anything like this and they had spent the entire weekend together.
"School won't be that bad Dawn," Mary Anne said, unconvincingly. "You'll probably have homeroom with Kristy and I."
"I'm not going. I don't want to be rude, but I would appreciate if you two just left me alone for now."
"I don't believe this," Sharon muttered, walking out of the room.
Mary Anne turned to Dawn, but before she could say anything, Dawn turned away, effectively shutting her out. Feeling helpless, Mary Anne wiped away a tear and walked out of the room. She had no idea what was going on with Dawn at this point, and she was actually starting to lose interest.