Chapter Six

After running a few miles, Hilary still wasn't sure about whether or not she should stay with the guys or find different living arrangements.

On the one hand, she really enjoyed hanging out with the guys. They were an interesting group…when they were all in the same room. On the other hand, living with them she'd be bombarded with memories of her cousin and the rest of her family, memories that she'd been trying to get rid of for the past year.

Hilary collided with someone and was wrenched from her thoughts as she fell to the ground. "Ow…"

"Hey!" an angry female voice demanded. "Watch where you're going!"

Hilary looked up and saw a girl with orange hair and green eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry," she replied meekly. "I wasn't really paying attention."

The girl stood up and dusted herself off. She looked accusingly down at Hilary. "Yeah, I noticed," she looked curiously at the brunette and pulled her to her feet. "So, what's your problem?"

Hilary lifted an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

The orange haired girl smiled. "I mean, you look really upset. It's the only reason I'm forgiving you for making me nearly break my butt."

The brunette shrugged. "I'm sorry, but I don't really talk to strangers."

The green-eyed girl sighed. "My name's Julia Fernandez," she grinned. "See, now we're not strangers."

Hilary rolled her eyes. "I'm Hilary. And nothing's really the matter."

"Oh really? Then why are your eyes all puffy, can you tell me that?"

Her cheeks flushed. "It's nothing really. Something really stupid, actually."

Julia placed her hands on her hips. "Then why can't you tell me? What harm could it do?"

Hilary looked the strange girl in the eye and sighed. She looked around and the people walking around them and sighed. "Fine. But first we have to go somewhere private."

Julia's face lit up. "I have the perfect place. The only other person there is my brother Raul. C'mon, let's go."

"Where is she?" Tika asked demandingly.

"If we knew that we wouldn't be looking for her," was Kai's cool reply.

The red banged girl lifted and eyebrow. "I know you aren't talking to me like that after loosing my best friend."

"And what if I am?" he said as he narrowed his eyes at her.

Tika wasn't phased in the least. She placed her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes as well. "Just who do you think you are? You call me to come and talk to my best friend and when I get here, it turns out that you have no idea where she is! And now you have the gall to speak to me like…Oh no, buddy. You better change your tone when you're talking to me."

Kai, not used to people talking back to him, stared at her in shock for a few seconds before regaining his composure. "What right do you think you have to come into my apartment and start yelling at me as if you're the one who pays the bills."

"The last time I checked," Tika replied coolly, "you shared this apartment with your friends. Meaning, that it's not yours. And, to answer your question, I'm the girl whose best friend you lost. So trust me, I have every reason to blow a gasket, and you better stop while you're ahead because if you don't, I will break your freaking nose."

The Russian looked at her newly manicured nails and lifted a brow. "And risk breaking a nail?"

The red banged girl looked down at her nails and frowned. "Fine. Then I'll kick you so hard in your balls you won't be able to have any kids."

"Try it," Kai said threateningly. "I dare you."

"This is very entertaining and all," Tyson interrupted as Tika stepped forward. "But arguing isn't going to help us find Hilary."

"Yeah," Ray said in agreement. "You can finish this little quarrel later. Now we have to find Hilary."

"Fine," Tika said with a roll of her eyes.

"Hn," was Kai's reply as he crossed his arms and headed out the door.

"It seems he only knows how to talk when he's arguing with someone," Max muttered as he and the others followed Kai out of the door.

Hilary looked at the dilapidated building in front of her and frowned. "This is where you and your brother hang out?"

Julia laughed. "Of course not, silly. This is where we live."

"Oh."

The orange haired girl smiled wryly. "I know it's not the fanciest place out there, but it's all that we can afford. Our parents died a two years ago and there's no one else in our family. And since we were sixteen, the courts said that we were old enough to take care of ourselves. We used to live in a pretty good apartment building, but after starting college we didn't have the money to pay for both college, the apartment, and necessities even though both of us got partial scholarships."

Hilary nodded. "It…it must be hard on you and your brother."

She shrugged. "It could be worse."

"How?"

"We could've been separated, and that would've been terrible. We're all each other has now that Mom and Dad are gone."

Hilary didn't respond for a few seconds. She new exactly what Julia was talking about. She was separated from the only family that she had left. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

Julia nodded. "Sure. What is it?"

"How…how did your parents die?"

The eighteen-year-old's face paled. "Well, Mom and Dad were circus performers. Mom did the trapeze and Dad did the high ropes. They were both so good that they stopped using the nets. One day, Mom was doing one of her tricks and she fell. Dad, he was already on the high rope waiting for Mom to finish her act, probably didn't even think before jumping and trying to catch her. Paramedics say they died as soon as they hit the ground."

"I'm so sorry," Hilary gushed. "I shouldn't have asked."

"It's okay," Julia murmured. "It hurts to speak about it, but it's good to talk about things that hurt you. It helps it heal better. Sure, at first you'll feel like you're heart is broken and talking about it, reliving it, only seems to make it worse. But…sometimes to stitch up a wound, the doctors have to open it up wider so that they can get better access."

Hilary sighed. "I think I'm ready to tell you what's been bugging me."