Awwww, you guys! Your reviews made me smile! ;D I'm seriously so, so grateful; they're so motivational and I really like 'em! But I have a bit of a problem... Some people don't want Jalex ... But Jalex is so freaking A M A Z I N G !

Anyway...

Yes, these last few chapters have been a bit boring and reptetive, but it's because I needed to skip to a certain date, but I didn't want to skip too much... Make sense? I promise it gets better in this chapter! Well, to me I think. You may start to cry... or not. (I use periods a lot; sorry for that.)

Enjoy! Sorry for any grammatical errors. I wrote half of this at 2:56 a.m.

July 4

Happy Independence Day.

Yay!

The only person who's closest to freedom is Max. What I wouldn't do to escape this reality right now.

I had been painting my nails when my door suddenly opened. It was Harper.

"Can I talk to you, Alex?" she asked.

I couldn't tell if anything was wrong. "Yeah, sure." I twisted the cap back onto my white nail polish. "You can sit down." I scooted over.

She sat down and bit her lip.

"What did you wanna talk about?" I asked. I could tell she had been thinking about this a lot. Harper had become more serious and not like herself lately. I know it's because we're all stressed, but I needed my friend back. I blew on my nails.

"Alex, you know Zeke and I aren't staying here, right?"

What? What was she talking about? "What do you mean?"

She smiled. "This is your home. We just came to stay for a month or so to see how you guys were doing."

"Harper, this is your home. You've been living here for the past year," I stated.

She grabbed my hand. "Alex," she laughed.

I pulled it away. "Why are you laughing?" I'm over-reacting.

"It isn't that big of a deal, Alex. Zeke's parents have a... better environment, I guess you could say." She chuckled again.

I squinted at her. "A better environment? What's that supposed to mean?"

She sighed. "I mean - I just think we'd be better somewhere else besides here."

"So you're leaving me," I responded.

She tried to grab my hand again, but I got up from the bed instead.

She placed her head in her hands. "Alex..."

I leaned against my dresser. "Harper, why are you doing this? You're leaving me with Justin."

"You've been fine with that for awhile," she mumbled.

I crossed my arms. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She looked up at me and threw her arms up in the air. "You don't even notice us here! All you do is fight with Justin and sulk around the house like a zombie! I don't even know why you're reacting over thisI hate seeing my best friend act like this," she whispered sullenly.

I pressed my finger to the side of my eye to erase away all evidence of tears. "Well, what am I supposed to do without you here? You're my only friend, Harper. I need you. And you're just going to leave?"

Harper looked down. "I'm sorry, Alex. You're my best friend -you know that. But -" She paused. "We already told Zeke's parents we'd stay with them. There's actually supervision there and -"

"You're staying because he has parents there?" I asked heatedly.

"No! I didn't mean it that way. Alex, you can come with us. You, Justin, and Max. "

I looked down. "Harper..."

"His parents would be fine with it! We wouldn't have to leave each other! It would be perfect, right?" She looked at me. Her eyes seemed a bit glazed, like she knew there'd be something that would hold us back. "Zeke's talking to Justin right now."

I stared at my white nails and said, "We can't."

"Well, why not?"

"Harper, our parents could come back home. If we're not there, they'd probably think something happened to us," I tried to explain.

Harper shook her head. "Alex, you can't seriously believe that, can you?"

I placed my hands on my hips. "About what?" I had pretty good idea what she was talking about, but I didn't want her to say it.

"Alex, the Statue of Liberty was washed out to sea!" Harper stated frantically. "You can't still think that they're still alive."

Tears escaped my eyes before I could brush them away. "Yes, I do actually believe that!"

Harper looked down. "It's the most logical reason, Alex! I don't want you waiting around for something that's not going to happen!"

My eyes became blurry. "They could've stopped and gotten dinner first! They could've changed their minds and decided to skip the freaking statue! They could've taken a walk around Central Park! They could've changed their minds!" I cried. I was sobbing now; the sob where you can't breathe and feel like you're going to throw up.

Harper got up from my bed and walked towards me. She tried to wrap her arms around me, but I wouldn't let her.

"No! You can't tell me my parents are dead (hiccup) and have me be okay with it, Harper!" I hiccuped again. "You can't say it!" I screamed.

My eyes were blurry and wet, but I could tell that Harper's mouth was slightly hanging open.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Justin coming into the room.

"I'm sorry, Alex. I just don't want you to get your hopes up. They're not alive anymore," Harper stated quietly.

I heard Justin say to Harper, "Stop it, Harper. Can't you see what you're doing to her?"

I pressed my hands to my ears and slid down my dresser with my legs pressed up against me chest. I shut my eyes tightly and tried to drown out the outside noises. "They're not dead,"I whispered to myself quietly. "They're not dead."

Suddenly, I felt a different pair of arms wrap around me.

I looked up and saw Justin crouched in front of me.

I didn't resist when he pulled me up into his arms. He placed one arm under my knees and the other under my neck. I grasped at his neck and cried into his shoulder.

July 4

I opened my eyes and noticed I was laying on my bed. I had my teeth clenched since they tasted and felt horrible. I rubbed my eyes and yawned. I felt really groggy. Since I hadn't been sleeping with any type of sheet or blanket, I noticed part of my shirt was pulled up below my breasts.

"You're up," a familiar voice stated.

I looked around the room and saw Justin sitting on a chair, reading a book with his legs crossed. I tugged my shirt down.

"I don't remember falling asleep." My voice cracked. I cleared it.

"You were kind of worked up. Want some water?" He grabbed a glass from my desk and handed it to me.

I sat up a bit and grabbed it from him. I took a few sips and said, "Thanks." I paused. "What do you mean I was kind of worked up?" I asked.

"You and Harper went at it about," he stated. He shut his book and scooted forward a bit.

Right when he mentioned her name, it all came back to me. I dropped my head back and said, "She must be pissed."

"You're more entitled to it than her," he said. He seemed calm. The last few weeks he'd been on hyperventilation over-drive mainly because of me. But now, he seemed placid. It suited him better. His eyes weren't as crazed and intriguing. His nostrils weren't flared 24/7. His muscles seemed more relaxed.

I handed him back the glass of water. "You mean you're not taking Harper's side?" That would be a first. Harper was always the more controlled and logical one, so of course he'd always taken her side on everything.

His expression became confused. "Why would I? She had no right to say those things to you."

I nodded. Then I thought, "Justin, are we going with them? To Zeke's?"

He sighed and ran his fingers through his dark hair. "We really should. It'd be better."

I groaned.

"But since neither of us wants to, I guess we can stay here," he answered.

My eyes widened. I jumped up from bed and hugged him. "Thank you, Justin," I whispered into his ear.

He rubbed my back. "You're welcome."

July 4

I wish somebody would've told me that they were leaving today. I should've been more sympathetic towards Harper, but I was still extremely pissed at her.

They stayed for dinner, but then they gathered all of their belongings (Harper was leaving a major amount of her 'supplies' here).

I made myself hug them. I knew I'd regret it later if I didn't.

"Be safe," I had told them.

They left.

I clapped both of my hands together and walked into the kitchen. "So I guess it's just you and me now."

"I guess," he said. He sat down on a bar stool.

I placed my elbows on the counter and placed my head in my hands. I said, "Okay, I have a few questions for you. I'm almost sure you're going to say no to all of them, but I'm just gonna go with them."

"Go on," he responded. He crossed his arms across his chest.

"I wanna cut down on meals," I stated.

"No, Alex -"

"For Max!"

"Alex, you're not skipping any meals."

I sighed. "I skip lunch at school sometimes! It's not that big of a deal. Eating three meals a day is good, but it's not necessary, Justin."

He paused and began thinking. He then stated, "Two meals every other day."

"Okay, good." I smiled. "Now for my next question, can I help with the radio listening? I feel like you're not giving me enough feedback."

"I don't know..."

I rolled my eyes. "Come on, Justin! I barely even sleep at all anyways. It couldn't hurt. I promise to listen closely and all that stuff." I fluttered my eyes. "Besides, I love coffee, and you're drinking all of it."

"Fine. You'll do it every third day."

"Starting tonight!" I exclaimed. "I believe we've made oursleves a compromise."

He chuckled. "Fine, we can start tonight."

At this line, '"I clapped both of my hands together and walked into the kitchen. "So I guess it's just you and me now,"' my mind so went dirty. :P But let's not get greedy here. And this line too, 'He chuckled. "Fine, we can start tonight."'

The Maine

Was this totally OOC? I'm sorry if I put you through that... *shakes head disappointedly*

So I just wanted to do a quickie (I'm on a roll! ^^). The next chapter will be a lot more action-packed. Just wait for July 10, then you'll see what I mean. Not very action-packed, I guess, but a major thing happens.

Sorry I've been making Harper and Alex enemies. I didn't mean to ;(

I hope you liked! Please review!