"Leave me alone Elizabeth!"

Kristy woke up from a deep sleep to hear her parents fighting again. She groggily sat up in her bed and strained her ears to try and hear what else they were saying. This was not easy in her half-awakened state.

"I'm sorry Watson, but I don't think this is good for you, especially after your heart attack. Quiet now, you're going to wake the children," Elizabeth hushed.

"This is my damn house, and I can be as loud as I want. You coddle those children anyway," Watson shot back.

"Listen to yourself!" Elizabeth hissed "Those are not the words of the man that I married. I don't even know who you are anymore!"

Listening to this, Kristy, the girl who never cried, felt her eyes start to well up slightly with tears. She quickly wiped these away on the back of her sleeve. She didn't even know what to think. She knew now that she shouldn't have let Abby dismiss their earlier argument so easily.

"If that's how you feel, I'm leaving!" Watson shouted. Kristy heard him open and then slam shut their bedroom door before he made his way down the hallway. The light from the hallway cast an angry shadow as he stormed by Kristy's room.

Shortly thereafter, Kristy heard the door the slam down downstairs, and the garage door open in the distance. The hallway light was shut off, and the second floor of the house descended into silence.

Kristy lay back down on her bed, pulled the blanket tightly up to her chin. She wasn't sure what scared her more; the fighting that she had just overheard, or the silence that existed in its absence.

A part of her really wanted to go and attempt to comfort her mom. After all, her mom had always been there when she had needed her. And Kristy really did want to be able to do the same. But though she didn't know the specifics of the situation, she had an inkling that it was bigger than herself and any comforting that she would be able to do.

Though she fought to turn all of this over in her mind, and to try to find some way to solve it, Kristy eventually succumbed to sleep without even realizing it. Her last thought before going to bed was a silent wish that this was only a bad dream.

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Kristy awoke for school the next morning, and proceeded to go about her normal routine of getting ready the day. It wasn't until she was in the middle of brushing her teeth that she remembered the events of the previous night; both the argument that she had heard behind closed doors, and the shouting that had awoken her.

Not wanting to go downstairs and deal with fallout from the night before, Kristy dawdled in her room under the pretense of doing some last minute homework. She was sitting at her desk, staring a page in her notebook when she heard a knock at her door.

"You can come in," Kristy said.

Nannie opened the door. She was already dressed and ready for the day, holding a basket of laundry against her hip.

"You're running late today, Kristy, that's not like you," she said.

Kristy shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "I know. I'll be downstairs in a minute."

Nannie gave her a stern look. "Make sure that you eat a good breakfast before school today; you have dark circles under your eyes. Not that they make you look and less beautiful."

Kristy blushed. "I will."

Nannie gave her a smile and left the room, leaving the door open a crack. As she walked by Sam's room Kristy heard her give him a lecture about getting up on time in the morning. This made Kristy smile. At least some things would never change.

Sighing, Kristy picked up her backpack and headed downstairs. The door to her mom and Watson's bedroom was open, and the bed was neatly made. She wondered if Watson had even come back to the house last night. She wondered if he was ever coming back.

Kristy walked downstairs and into the kitchen, stepping around David Michael, who was teasing a squealing Emily Michelle in some version of keep away. She opened the refrigerator door, looked inside, and chose instead to grab an apple from the basket on the counter. She sat down at the far end of the kitchen table, trying unsuccessfully to ignore the chaos that was business as usual in the Thomas-Brewer household.

Elizabeth came over from the counter where she was bent over some sort of paperwork. She kissed the top of Kristy's head.

"Good morning sweetheart," she said.

"Morning mom."

"What do you have going on today?" Elizabeth asked.

Kristy shrugged. "School. And soccer practice." She paused. "Where's Watson?"

Elizabeth gave a quick smile, her chin wavering almost imperceptibly. "He had a meeting at the office today, and he went in early to prepare for it."

Kristy forced a smile. "Oh," she said.

"Well you better finish up your breakfast; the bus will be here in a few minutes. I need to make sure that David Michael is ready for school. Have a great day honey," Elizabeth said warmly, hurrying out of the room.

Kristy munched thoughtfully on her apple and wondered how much of what her mom and just told her had been true or not. For all she knew, Watson had come back home shortly after she had fallen asleep again, and really had left early to prepare for a meeting at work. Really, it was possible that her parents had made up and the whole argument was over at this point.

It was possible, but not likely.

Kristy looked at the clock that hung over the oven, and saw that it was time to go outside and meet the bus. At this point, Sam strode through the kitchen with his backpack slung over one shoulder.

"Come on Krusty, or the bus will leave without you," he said.

Kristy glared at him. "Don't call me that."

Sam smirked "I'll call you whatever I want, Krusty."

Kristy picked up her backpack and swung it against Sam as they were walking out the door, causing him to lose his balance. This made her feel a little bit better. In the distance, she saw the bus pulling to a stop at the corner, and both she and Sam broke into a sprint, each of them reaching the corner just as the bus driver was about to close the doors and pull away.

Panting, Kristy settled herself down in her usual seat right by Abby and Anna.

"That was close," she said.

Abby smirked. "No kidding. I never thought I would see the day where Kristy Thomas would miss the bus."

"And you never will," Kristy retorted.

"Watch the 'tude, Thomas," Abby shot back.

Kristy smiled. Just being with her friends and joking around made her feel a little bit better about everything that was going on. She could almost pretend that everything was ok. Almost.

The girls talked and joked all the way too school. Kristy participated as usual, but she wasn't as involved in the conversation as she normally was. Neither Abby nor Anna picked up on this, or if they did, they didn't comment on it, which sort of disappointed Kristy. She didn't say anything though. Abby wasn't exactly the type of friend who would dry your tears. She was more the type to make you laugh and forget about your problem, which Kristy often appreciated.

But sometimes you had to cry.

The morning seemed to drag on forever. Kristy found herself unable to concentrate in class, her mind drifting instead to what was going on at home. Instead of going to lunch with Abby and the other girls on the soccer team, Kristy feigned homework and spent the period in the library, in a secluded spot in the almanac section. She was reading The Grapes of Wrath for her literature class, and had just read the same paragraph three times in a row when she heard someone call her name.

"Kristy?"

Kristy looked up from her book, startled, to find Mary Anne looking at her. Just from a quick glance, Kristy couldn't figure out how they had ever been friends. Mary Anne had her hair in loose pigtails, and was wearing a pale pink sweater with fitted jeans. This was practically the exact opposite of Kristy's uniform of a sloppy ponytail, baggy sweatshirt, and whatever jeans that were clean.

"Hey," Kristy responded, smiling weakly. "What are you doing here?"

Mary Anne shrugged. "I don't really have anyone to sit with. Logan broke up with me. Did you know that?"

Kristy nodded, one side of her mouth pulled down sympathetically. "I heard that. I'm sorry."

"Thanks."

Kristy and Mary Anne sat together in the room for a few more minutes, neither of them really knowing what to say to each other. Mary Anne finally broke the silence, concern heavy in her voice.

"Is everything okay Kristy? You don't seem like yourself."

What should have touched Kristy angered her instead. She had hoped that Abby would have been the one to make this comment today- they were supposed to be best friends. Instead it was Mary Anne who noticed it. As far as Kristy was concerned, these two had a history, but no real future aside from being casual acquaintances. She wasn't about to pour her soul out and change that.

"I'm fine," Kristy said defensively. She stood up and began to gather her things, making a conscious effort to not look Mary Anne in the eye.

Mary Anne backed away from Kristy and cast her eyes down to the floor. "I'm sorry I asked anything," she said, her voice thin and meek.

For a moment, Kristy felt bad. After all, there was nothing really wrong with Mary Anne, it was just that they didn't have anything in common anymore.

"Don't worry about it," she said, with something like kindness in her voice. She gave Mary Anne a weak smile.

Mary Anne returned the smile while Kristy brushed past her and entered the hallway, just as the bell was ringing. Kristy allowed herself to become lost in the sea of students that filled this space. Lost in the crowd she didn't have to think about anything. She didn't have to think about the fact that Abby probably wasn't going to be there for her when she needed it, this time or in the future. She didn't have to think about the fact that her parents were fighting, and it wasn't a small fight but something more than she could even comprehend. And she didn't have to think about the other things that she kept buried deep inside of herself, thoughts that came on so strong when she felt lonely and scared, like she felt right now.

Her mom and Watson had had fights before. Nothing major, they were mainly arguments like any married couple had. Kristy knew this. But irregardless, each time panicked her in a way that she could hardly describe. It brought her back to her childhood, and the screaming fights between her mother and father that eventually led to a failed marriage and a father who was nothing but a figment of her imagination.

Kristy ducked into the girls bathroom and splashed some cold water on her face. It was going to be a long afternoon.