Lux woke up and got ready for school. She still didn't really feel like going to school, but she definitely thought about Bug less when she was preoccupied. Anything was better than thinking about Bug. Even algebra.

She grabbed her backpack and headed for the door. She frowned when she saw an envelope shoved under the door.

Lux picked the envelope up. The return address was Portland Property Management. Lux swallowed.

She tore it open and grimaced when she saw the bill for the following month's rent, which was due on the first.

What day was it? Lux had lost track of time. Doing nothing but sleeping didn't require you to know what day it was. She pulled her planner out of her backpack and flipped through until she found the date. Crap. It was the 30th. Rent was due, like, now. And Lux definitely didn't have enough to pay the rent. She doubted if she had enough to order a pizza.

They'd been splitting the rent four ways, but now that Bug and Gavin were gone, she and Tasha were on their own. Neither girl had a job, Lux thought desperately.

She could ask Cate. She hated to take that much money from Cate, though. And anyway, she knew Cate would only give her money if she moved into a studio by herself. Lux couldn't leave Tasha to fend for herself. Tasha was her best friend.

Tasha had helped Bug and Gavin sell pot and steal car stereos. Lux wondered how much they could make in a day.

"Tash," Lux said gently, shaking her friend awake.

Tasha groaned. "What time is it?"

"Almost eight," Lux replied.

"Is the building on fire?" Tasha asked.

Lux frowned. "No. Why?"

"'Cause that's the only reason for you to wake me up at this hour," Tasha said, pulling the pillow over her head.

"No fire, but we do have a problem. A big one. The rent's due," Lux said.

"Crap!" Tasha said, sitting bolt upright.

"Yeah." Lux nodded. "Do you have any money?"

Tasha snorted.

"Neither do I." Lux shook her head. "This is bad, Tash."

"This is all Bug and Gavin's fault. They left and stuck us with the rent," Tasha said bitterly.

"When you were helping them, how much did you guys make on a good day?" Lux asked.

Tasha stifled a yawn. "I think the most they made was just under a thousand."

Lux smiled slightly. "That would just about cover rent. Where's their stash?"

Tasha retrieved Gavin's weed and smiled slowly. "Gavin will be pissed when he finds out we sold his stash." She was still furious that Gavin had cheated on her and doing something that would piss him off made her oddly happy.

Lux smirked.

Tasha and Lux went to a park near Longfellow where students congregated to smoke. They sold the pot easily. Lux stuffed the money in her backpack.

"We're still short," Lux muttered.

"By how much?" Tasha asked.

"A couple hundred," Lux replied.

"Let's go shopping for car stereos," Tasha said, grinning.

Lux bit her lip. She had a really bad feeling about stealing car stereos.

It's not like she felt good about selling pot, but at least it didn't hurt anyone. They hadn't been taking anything from anyone. Stealing was different.

"What? Are you scared?" Tasha asked lightly. "Bug and Gavin do it all the time."

"I know," Lux said.

Lux insisted that they wait until night. She didn't want to steal stereos in broad daylight. She didn't really want to steal them at all.

Tasha laughed when Lux emerged from the bathroom wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and black sweatpants.

"What? I'm going for stealth," Lux said.

They walked down the street. Lux paused when she noticed a nice stereo in a parked car on their street. "Here's one."

Tasha shook her head. "No, we don't wanna steal from anyone on this street. It will shorten our life expectancy."

Bug's apartment wasn't in the best neighborhood. Bug and Gavin were upstanding citizens compared to some of their neighbors.

"Let's go to the suburbs," Tasha said.

They walked for what seemed like hours until they came to a nice neighborhood. "There will be lots of nice cars here," Tasha commented.

"And more streetlights," Lux observed.

"And less cops," Tasha pointed out. "It's not exactly a high crime area."

"True," Lux agreed.

Tasha stopped at an expensive SUV with a Westmonte High School bumper sticker on the back. "It's not fair. We're stealing to make rent and other kids are driving thirty thousand dollar cars," she said bitterly.

Lux nodded. They'd always made fun of the kids whose biggest concern was making curfew. The kids who had everything they ever wanted given to them. The kids who had two happily married parents who loved them more than anything and would do anything for them. The kids they were so jealous of that it hurt.

"This is the one," Tasha said, grinning. The spoiled brat would be in for a surprise when he woke up the next morning and his stereo was gone.

Lux hesitated. "Tash, it's a new car. It probably has an alarm on it. Maybe we should keep looking."

Tasha rolled her eyes. "I know what I'm doing. I've seen Gavin and Bug do it loads of times."

Lux frowned. "But have you ever done it before?"

"Relax," Tasha said easily.

Tasha pulled a crowbar out of her backpack. She studied the car for a moment, trying to line the crowbar up over the lock. She brought the crowbar down hard.

The car alarm went off, blaring loudly. Tasha stared at the car in shock. This had never happened when Gavin and Bug did it.

"Run!" Lux yelled.

A patrol car turned the corner. The officer saw two figures in black running from the car. He pulled over. "Police! Stop!"

Lux and Tasha exchanged a glance before bolting from the scene.

The officer gave chase on foot.

Lux ran as fast as she could. She was breathing hard within just a few minutes. Her chest hurt. She knew she had to keep running though.

Tasha tripped and fell to the ground.

Lux paused for just a moment to make sure Tasha was OK. That was all it took.

The cop threw Lux to the ground and cuffed her hands behind her back. He helped Tasha up and cuffed her as well. He led them back to his car.

Lux looked at the open door to the backseat helplessly. She felt the officer's hand push her head down into the car and the next thing she knew she was sitting in the back of a police car beside Tasha.

Lux's knees hurt where she'd hit the ground. She glanced down. Her black sweatpants were covered with dirt. The knees were torn and Lux could see blood.

Instinctively Lux moved to stop the blood, but the handcuffs restricted her movement. She sat back in her seat.

Lux stared at the bars separating the backseat from the front seat and swallowed. She looked down at the ground.