Hey guys! I'm sorry I haven't posted anything lately but it is hard to find time to write. I really hope that you like this chapter, I put a lot of hard work into it. Any way your reviews literally make my day so much! One point of clarification is that in this story (which is in an alternate reality) Josh is Riley's twin brother. I do have two questions though. You all seem pretty split on single/twins so if you guys could vote with reasoning I would totally appreciate it (P.S. The person who gives the best reasoning will get a sneak peek at what is coming up as well as helping me with the baby.) Secondly, as far as the groups future where do you want to see it go?

Thanks with love,

Em

Lucas's POV

I grabbed the end of a garbage bag on the roll and yanked hard pulling off nearly three. That's how many it would take to clean my ford expedition. I cannot explain how much crap piles up in a car after you play two school sports and drive around all your friends. Actually I can.

A crap load of crap.

I lumbered out to my car with cleaning supplies and loads of trash bags and pulled open the passenger door of my car. I pulled a bunch of graded papers from the top of my console a pushed them into the depths of the first trash bag. I continued pulling paper after paper off the floor and the occasional earring from Riley.

I heard a faint whisper of the wind and flapping paper as something fluttered out of my car. I quickly bent down and grabbed the 4x6 piece of paper to throw it into the trashcan when I realized what it was. A sonogram.

With the name Riley Matthews in the bottom left corner. That's when I fell from the seat of my car and hit the ground.

Riley's POV

I didn't go to school for another week. I told my parents that it was PTSD. I had these awful memories flying back to hit me in the face after I had been forced to talk to the police.

I spent the whole week in my bay window, my sanctuary. When someone wanted to talk to me that's where they went.

It was a blur of crazy blonde curls and scientific debate.

But no emerald green eyes.

No lighthouse to save my ship from hitting the rocks and sinking,

Who knew that the weight of a single missing sonogram picture could sink a military grade aircraft carrier?

That one picture.

I can't tell you when it went missing; all I knew was it was in my purse when I left the office and by the time I woke up the next morning it was gone.

Had I gone crazy? They said that the drugs were strong but could they really induce hallucinations?

So I spent my days lying on the hardwood and thin cushion that I called my bay window. It was almost a metaphor for my life. I had this thin blanket or cushion that I thought was unbreakable, that could protect me when in all reality all it is a thin layer of cotton that some poor children in a third world country were probably forced to pick. And underneath that wasn't better, it was the cold hardwood that shocked your skin when the cushion moved. The cold hard reality that hit you in those moments when you let go of your security blanket.

But then again, when wasn't something a metaphor for my life.

Maya's POV

She claimed it was PTSD. She said that the interview had just jarred a few memories. I saw past that.

Riley had always had this film over her eyes that protected her from the big bad wolf She was like the pig that was eternally stuck in the brick house just waiting for the day when the wolf finally could blow it down.

I went and talked to her everyday that week she skipped. I filled her in on the gossip and what the school gossip site was saying about her. I told her what had happened in class and what funny thing her dad said during his lesson. I transposed any messages classmates had asked I told her. The one thing I didn't do was mention Lucas.

God, it felt so weird to say his name.

It was like if someone had showed me a picture of him I normally would have automatically said "Sundance" instead of Lucas but now it's switched. It seemed as if this whole situation had in one quick swipe erased his name and replaced it with Lucas in special permanent marker. Like someone had tattooed in my brain that it was no longer fitting to call him that.

I can't tell you why I felt that way and why I felt so sad about it, but I did. It was like the end of the Riley town era. All the silliness and fun of senior year had abruptly stopped when Riley was abruptly stopped in the bookstore.

Someone had flipped the switch and I didn't like it.

Josh's POV

Long days and even longer nights were the status quo now. It had been a week with no Riley at school and it seemed like our school had lost its spirit.

Riley had been a cheerleader and on practically every committee. She had the quarterback wrapped around her finger unknowingly and all the other boys wishing to take his place.

Riley was the queen of the school, but not a bitchy queen bee. She said "Hi!" to people instead of just clacking her high heels down the hallway.

But most of all, we lost our sunshine. Her smile could fix all of the flickering lights screwed to the ceiling of our school and she could fix any and every kids broken ego and self-esteem.

So basically life at school without Riley sucked.

People at school noticed to. I was constantly asked where she was and if she was okay. I was asked if they had a suspect and if Riley was going to be on TV.

You name it they asked it.

One girl even asked me what Riley's favorite lipstick was because she was putting together a care basket.

Things were even weirder at home. We took turns checking on her, bringing her food and water. I got the night shift.

There was one thing I noticed every night when I checked on Riley after practice.

There was a little red star on Thursday the twenty first, three weeks from now.

Flipping through Riley's calendar told me that wasn't an abbreviation for anything, so what could it be?

Riley's POV

I sat on the little rusted bench in my ripped up jeans and one of Lucas's t-shirt that I had stolen so long ago. So many stolen memories, promises ripped up more then my jeans.

So many quiet conversations laced with worry and fear. So many wrinkled foreheads and lowered eyes.

All of us liked to pretend that we lived a perfect little life. That we lived under this porcelain bubble. The reality of it was from the outside it may look perfect and smooth but on the inside it was cracked. A lot.

This is what I thought about as I sat on the bench with Lucas in silence.

We never did that. Sit in silence.

Slowly Lucas pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and out of his wallet a small picture no bigger then an index card.

I looked down at the picture with tears already following my lashes off the cliff to my chin.

I knew it was mine. It had my name on it. I knew that Lucas knew that it was mine. His hand was on the small of my back.

I slowly inched my head onto his shoulder and released the hurricane I had brewing. All he did was pull his arm around me and nod reassuringly.

I only said one thing.

"How do you love a thing born of hate?"