"Hello?"

"Hi."

"Oh, what do you want?"

"I'm in."

"What?"

"I'm in. I'm coming to New York with you. When do we leave?"

"After school ends, I was thinking mid-July."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Get ready to leave."

"How to I do that?"

"Well-."

"Please deposit 25 cents for five minutes"

"Damn."

Sam leaned against the wall of the phone booth and pressed his hand to his forehead. How was he going to this? He didn't even have 25 cents, much less the huge amount of money it was going to take to raise this kid, not to mention the medial bills, and the food for everyone, and rent money (they had to live somewhere) and- Oh God. How the hell was he going to do this? Well, it's not really like Sam had an option, this was his kid. He had to be a man.

Mercedes turned her jewellery box upside up and watched everything fall on her bed. She started to pick though the pile, looking for stuff that she just might be able to sell at the local pawn shop. Mercedes picked up the ring her great-grandmother had given her when she died. It was one of her most treasured possessions, but it was very old and in very good shape and was more than likely to be worth a lot. Really she should sell it but... No I can't. She rifled though the pile on her bed and pulled out a thin gold chain, again she really ought to sell it but instead she slipped the ring on it and fastened it around her neck. Sighing Mercedes turned back to her work, sitting there and going over every piece until she had a good sized pile of things to sell.

When she was done with the jewellery, Mercedes got up and began search though the rest of her room for things to sell, things that her mother wouldn't notice were gone.

Sam walked back to his parent's car. He had just delivered his last pizza for the night, after a very awkward conversion with his father the night before, he was now allowed to keep his tips (Sam's excuse was saving for college). Sitting in the car he counted his tips. 25 bucks! It wasn't a lot but he still felt guilty for keeping it from his family.

Sitting in her attic, Mercedes dung though boxes of her and her older brother's baby things. She pulled out mainly clothes, but occasionally she stuffed toys, books and blankets in the bag she had brought up. Again, only things her mother wouldn't notice were missing.

The end of the year came and went, filled with tearful goodbyes, see-you-next-years and of course many parties. The worst part for both of them was when, Mr. Shue gave a tearful speech, telling them how proud of them he was, and how wonderful they had been all year and how next year, he was sure they would win.

When the bell rang on the last day, they both walked slowly out to her car. There would be no coming back after this.

Sam and Mercedes met and pooled their money the night before. He had $400 from tips and from selling half of her room and a good amount of clothing (not to mention the money she'd stolen from her parents, her weekly allowance and the money she'd already saved) had about $1000.

In the middle of the night in mid-July, Sam snuck out of the motel. All he had with him were two small bags and his guitar. He met Mercedes outside of her house. Once everything was in her car, they got in and looked at each other. "Are you ready?" She whispered so softly he almost couldn't hear.

He nodded. The car pulled out of the driveway and soon disappeared into the black night.

A.N. This is over 600 words. Wow, I can't believe I wrote that much. I just wanted to get to the part when they're in New York City.