Kristy was the first one to react, taking off barefoot across her lawn and to the Abby's house. Mary Anne followed her, with her dad and Sharon close behind. As they arrived in front of the Stevenson house, one of the police officers was quick to stop them before they made it to the front porch. Two other officers were walking up to the door. The red and blue lights still flashing on top of the squad cars, causing haunting shadows to appear in the yard.

"What's going on?" Kristy asked brazenly.

"It's nothing for you to be concerned about young lady," The police officer responded.

"Excuse me officer, but our daughter is in there," Richard explained.

The officer looked at him quizzically. "You let your daughter go to an unsupervised party?"

"Yes. I mean, no. We didn't know that she was going to a party. She didn't mention it." Richard's face was turning red, and he was obviously flustered.

"I see," the officer responded.

"Is everything alright in there officer?" Sharon asked, her voice slightly panicked.

"As far as I know. Really, you have no reason to be worried. We were called here by a neighbor who was upset about the noise level, and had reason to believe that no adults were home."

While Richard and Sharon talked to the officer a little longer, Mary Anne and Kristy turned their gazes to the house. A few minutes ago, the house had been bursting with light, music, and energy. Now the music had been turned off, along with many of the lights. The two officers whom had originally gone to the door had stepped inside, and an eerie silence hung in the air.

A few minutes later, the front door opened, and the two officers walked out, Dawn and Abby with them. Richard and Sharon rushed over immediately and began talking to the officers. Mary Anne and Kristy remained huddled together, watching the scene from afar while Abby and Dawn glared at them.

At this point, Dawn stepped away from the others and began walking up to Mary Anne and Kristy. Her eyes were sharp as they stared straight at Mary Anne, daring her to look away.

"You bitch," Dawn spat out "I can't believe you did this, after everything that we've been through. You knew that the last thing I needed was to get parents involved. You are dead to me Mary Anne."

With this Dawn began walking swiftly down McLelland Road, away from Abby's house. When the adults noticed this, one of the officers left to run after her. Meanwhile, Mary Anne had been reduced to almost nothing, and was sitting on the ground, hugging her knees to herself. Kristy helped her up, and together they returned to the Thomas-Brewer's, leaving the commotion of the Stevenson household behind.

Once inside, Kristy led Mary Anne to the kitchen, where she gave her a glass of water, not really knowing what else to do, Mary Anne proceeded to sip the glass for a few minutes, and her tears somewhat subsided.

Suddenly, her eyes filled with tears again. Mary Anne turned to Kristy: "What did I do wrong?" she asked, her voice small.

Kristy shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know Mary Anne, I really don't."

"I love her because she's my sister, but I don't think I like her that much any more. Is that okay? Am I a bad person?"

"Of course not," Kristy replied. "I think Dawn's just confused right now. And you've tried to be her friend. I know you have."

Before Mary Anne could respond, they heard the door open and close, and Sam and Stacey joined them in the kitchen.

"What the fuck Kristy? You called the cops?" Sam asked angrily.

"What are you talking about?" Kristy asked, her eyes flashing. "I don't care enough about what you do to bother the law enforcement. We were just watching movies."

"Then what are her parents doing out in the yard?" Sam asked, gesturing towards Mary Anne, who remained huddled in the chair, tears streaming down her face.

"They just showed up here while we were watching movies to take Mary Anne and Dawn home. They came here first, they didn't even know where Abby's house was. We were talking to them when the cops came. So maybe you should check your facts before you go around accusing innocent people." Kristy crossed her arms over her chest, and gave Sam a look.

Sam softened a bit, but he still didn't look as if her entirely believed Kristy. "Everyone else is saying that you called the cops because you and Mary Anne hate Abby and Dawn," he said warily.

"Yeah. Apparently, Dawn thinks that you want her to go her back to California. Or to boarding school in New Hampshire. That's I heard from Erica anyway," Stacey contributed.

"No one hate's anyone. Now if you don't mind, we're kind of in the middle of something here,"

"Whatever. You should be thanking me for warning you," Sam said.

"Thanks."

"Come on Stace, let's go to bed," Sam said, putting his arm around her, and leading her out of the kitchen.

"Okay," Stacey replied, giggling, "but only if you promise we can get back to what we were doing before the sirens interrupted us."

"Sure thing, babe."

Kristy rolled her eyes and turned back to Mary Anne. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know."

"Fair enough," Kristy replied. She looked out the window, to the mess that was the Stevenson from yard. Several of the neighbors were standing on their porches watching the commotion. Abby was not going to ever hear the end of this. Not that she didn't deserve it.

"Is Dawn out there? Did they catch up to her?" Mary Anne asked

"Yeah, she's standing with your dad and Sharon. Do you think they are going to make you go home with them?"

"I hope not. I don't want to be near Dawn right now."

"I don't blame you, I wouldn't either," Kristy peered out the window again. "Uh oh, it looks like Sharon is coming here."

Mary Anne put her head in her hands. "Oh great."

Kristy walked out of the kitchen and to the door to meet Sharon. They talked for a few minutes in muffled whispers while Mary Anne waited for whatever was to come next. Eventually, Sharon entered the kitchen, but Kristy was not with her.

Sharon pulled out a chair and took a set next to Mary Anne. "Sweetie, can I ask you a few questions?"

Mary Anne only nodded, dabbing at the corners at her eyes with a tissue.

"How has Dawn been doing here? Honestly."

Mary Anne hesitated for a moment before she said anything. "I'm not really sure. When she first came, I thought maybe it would work. But she's changed a lot. I know that she is still behind on her homework. I don't think that she's done any of the work that she's missed."

"What about parties? Has she been to others besides this one?"

Mary Anne nodded. She didn't want to say anything, and risk having Sharon find out that she accompanied Dawn to the party last weekend. If Dawn was as made as she seemed, that would come soon enough.

Sharon shook her head sadly. "I really thought that she would change if she came out here. I really thought we could make it work."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I wanted to make it work too. Maybe we still can," Mary Anne shrugged her shoulders.

"Did you want to spend the night here the way you planned? Your father and I are going to take Dawn home, and then we'll have to seriously talk about some things. You should stay and have your fun with Kristy."

"I will, thanks."

"Okay. Call us tomorrow morning when you want to come home, and we will make sure that you get a ride. I think we'll have to have some sort of family meeting when you get home. Maybe we can even go out to dinner afterwards."

"That would be nice," Mary Anne said, smiling.

"Good night sweetie, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night."

Sharon stood up from her chair and walked through the kitchen. She stopped at the entryway. "Mary Anne?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for trying so hard. It means a lot to me. And to your father."

Before Mary Anne could respond, Sharon had left the kitchen and was opening the door leading outside. Mary Anne stared after her, going over the conversation that they had just had in her head. She wondered what exactly Sharon and her dad were going to talk about. She also wondered if Dawn really thought that she had called the cops to set her up and get her into trouble. But why would Dawn think that?

Mary Anne rose from her chair and the kitchen and looked out the window, straining her eyes to see what was happening outside. Things were calming down, and most of the onlookers had already returned to their houses. Her dad and Sharon were leading Dawn to their car, and one of the squad cars had left. Both remaining officers were standing by Abby, who was talking on a cell phone. Mary Anne wondered whom she was talking to.

At this point, Kristy returned to the kitchen. "How did things go with Sharon?"

"Okay, I guess. She wasn't mad at me or anything. I think that she is just upset about Dawn. She doesn't know what to do."

Kristy nodded. "I'm glad that she let you spend the night here at least."

"That was nice. But tomorrow is going to be interesting. Sharon said that her and my dad are going to talk over things tonight. When I go home tomorrow we are having a family meeting."

Kristy grimaced. "I hate family meetings. You never have them unless something is going wrong."

"I hate them too. But we need it."

"Yeah,"

Mary Anne turned to Kristy "Do you want to finish watching the movie?"

"Kristy wrinkled her nose. "Not really. I kind of just want to go to bed."

"Me too."

The girls then proceeded to walk upstairs to Kristy's bedroom. Both girls fit with room to spare in Kristy's enormous bed. They said good night, but Mary Anne was up for a long time afterward, pondering what would happen the next day. Right before she finally drifted off to sleep, she wondered if, across town, Dawn lay in bed doing the same thing.