After her meeting with Miss Cha, Chase felt quite good. It was nice to talk to someone about what was going on in her world, and Miss Cha seemed like a good listener. She had a kind, warm, open aura about her. It was a bit like how being with Alicia felt. Chase had to imagine that a couple decades down the road, Alicia would grow up to be not too different from Miss Cha. Maybe she was way off, but that was how it felt.

With school out and no cheer practice that afternoon, Alicia, Caitlin, Lindsey and Melissa C. took Chase out for ice cream. Even though the weather was cold, they had discovered ice cream was always in season as far as Chase was concerned. She really had taken a shine to sugar in general, which must have been a rarity for most of Chase's life. By the time she polished off her sundae, she was in a state of bliss.

Alicia took the content and happy Chase home when she was done, but Melissa C., Lindsey and Caitlin hung out a little longer.

“You know, we have to have this in our malt shop,” said Melissa C., eating some vanilla ice cream with graham cracker chunks as a topping. “This is amazing.”

“Seriously?” asked Caitlin, looking at it. “I've never had that before.”

“Yeah, the crunch just adds so much,” said Melissa C., pushing her bowl toward her. “Have a bite.”

Caitlin dipped in her spoon and took a crunchy bite. “Oh wow. That IS good!”

Melissa C.'s phone rang. She checked the number, then quickly answered it. “Mom?” Caitlin and Lindsey could hear a raised, panicked voice from the other end. “Yeah. No. I'm fine, mom,” she said in a calming voice. She stood up quickly and stepped outside. “No, I'm just hanging out with Caitlin and Lindsey.”

Lindsey dipped her last couple french fries in some ketchup and bit them in half. “Her mom must be freaked out by all this.”

“Yeah,” agreed Caitlin. They couldn't blame her. Surely the worst thing the woman could imagine was losing Melissa C. for the second time.

Caitlin sipped her soda. She thought about Melissa C., and Lawrence's basement. “Hey, Lindsey?”

“Yeah?”

She hesitated, then asked in a guarded way, “What do you think about Melissa C.'s memory?”

“What do I think about it?”

“Yeah. I mean...Do you think it's okay? How it turned out?”

Lindsey thought about it. “Well, I don't think there was a way it could have turned out okay. She was in a tough situation. We were in a tough situation. But I think this way, there's the least pain for her. I think she is happier now than she would be. Her mom is happier now than she was. She has her daughter back.”

Caitlin nodded. It was easy to forget how Melissa C.'s mom figured into this whole thing. She had definitely suffered more than her share. “So you wouldn't change anything.”

“No,” said Lindsey. “I think we're really lucky things turned out this way...All things considered. I wouldn't throw that away.”

Melissa C. was tucking her phone into her purse as she returned. “Sorry,” she said. “My mom was losing it. I'm supposed to call her if I'm going to be home late.” She didn't sit back down. Instead, she grabbed her coat off the back of her seat. “She asked me to come home.”

“Do you have to? You're eighteen,” Lindsey pointed out. Caitlin kicked her under the table.

Melissa C. smiled. “Nah...but I don't want to worry her. Any more than I already have, that is. You guys wanna come hang out?”

…...........

“You can't tell anyone, okay?” requested Flor.

She was sitting next to Maxine on a bench in downtown Sunnycrest, her skateboard in her lap. The sun was setting at the end of their street. The sun was directly behind Flor so when Maxine looked at her, she had to shield her eyes. Just like the mall, no one else was out walking around. The two teens were all alone. A wind of fear and paranoia had gusted through Sunnycrest and blown everyone away.

“Who would I tell?” asked Maxine.

“Anybody. Torey, somebody else,” said Flor. “She really wants it to be a secret.”

“What is she, ashamed of you?”

“She's just figuring stuff out,” said Flor. She spun one of her board's wheels with her finger. The ball bearings inside purred softly. “How did you find out, anyway?”

“I know you too well. And it was pretty obvious anyway,” said Maxine. She sighed. “Ugh, everybody's crazy about these stupid cheerleaders.”

“Caitlin's different,” said Flor.

Maxine rolled her eyes. “I'm sure she is. That's what Torey says about Chase. They can't all be different. Some of them have to just be normal cheerleaders.” She smirked. “Text her.”

Flor smiled and took out her phone. “Text her what?”

“I don't know. Something. I wanna see what she says to you.”

…............

Caitlin and Lindsey had never been over to Melissa C.'s house before. It was a lot like Alicia's house: just a standardized suburban home. Her mom made a fuss over her when she returned, and Caitlin felt guilty for some reason.

They went up to Melissa C.'s room. It was just like any other teenager's bedroom. She had a bed, a desk, and a mirror with photos taped up on its frame. A poster of a singer hung by her window. It was neat and tidy...in a somewhat stiff way.

“My mom says she kept it just the way I left it,” said Melissa C. It was kind of an odd statement, but yeah, Caitlin and Lindsey supposed Melissa C. wouldn't know whether her room was the same way she left it or not. She just had to take her mother's word for it.

Lindsey picked up a framed photo off Melissa C.'s desk. It showed Melissa C. and five other high schoolers: two girls and three boys.

“Oh...” she said. “Your friends.”

“Yeah,” said Melissa C., walking over to her. “I guess so.” She looked between the photo and Caitlin. “Did you know them at all?”

“Not really,” said Caitlin.

“I know they were always partying and stuff...kind of wild,” said Lindsey. “You were sort of the normal one of the group.”

“I see,” Melissa C. said. She didn't have anything else to add, and Lindsey set the photo down.

Melissa C. put on some music and they sat on her bed and started talking. About school, about the malt shop, about the challenge with the sports girls, and about the murders.

“Thanks for coming over, you guys,” said Melissa C. “This is fun.”

“Aw, thanks for inviting us,” said Caitlin. “We never get the chance to hang out.”

Melissa C. nodded, then looked down at the pattern of her quilt, embarrassed. “That's mostly my fault. You all know me, but you all became strangers to me when I lost my memory. So I've been kind of withdrawn, I haven't really been proactive in trying to spend a lot of time with you guys. Sometimes at practice I feel like I'm at a party where I'm the only one who doesn't know anybody. Even though I know it's not like that.”

“Aww,” said Lindsey. She gave Melissa C. a hug. “That's not on you. We should be doing more. Sometimes we forget you're not the same old Melissa C.”

“Besides, you've always been quiet. That's nothing new,” said Caitlin.

“Really?” asked Melissa C., looking up at her. “Even...before?”

“Yeah,” said Caitlin. “But you're quiet in a way where you don't NEED to say a lot. If you know what I mean. You have people's respect whether you're talking or not.”

Melissa C. smiled. “Thanks. I mean it.”

After that, she put on a movie. They were watching it when Flor's text came in.

Flor: [Hiiii <3]

Caitlin looked at Lindsey and Melissa C. to make sure they were focusing on the movie. Lindsey was sitting on the far side of the bed, and Melissa C. was seated in between them. They burst out laughing at something on the screen. Caitlin leaned away from them subtly, turning her screen so they couldn't glance over at it.

Caitlin: [Hi]

Flor: [I was thinking about you all day today]

Caitlin blushed. She took a moment to think about what to say.

Caitlin: [Creep.]

Maxine laughed and nudged Flor. “Aw. She really understands you.”

Flor: [Guilty as charged :3]

Flor: [You probably thought about some hot guy all day, huh?]

Caitlin: [Mayyybe I did!]

“Who are you talking to?”

Caitlin jumped and looked up. Melissa C. was looking at her with a curious smile. “Oh, uh...Just somebody.”

“Somebody?”

“Shhh, Caitlin's been texting some mysterious person lately,” said Lindsey coyly. “We're not supposed to know about it.”

“Oops. My bad.”

Flor: [Wanna hang out?]

Flor looked up at Maxine. “You're sure it's okay? I thought I was going to walk you home...”

“Go ahead,” said Maxine, taking out her own phone. “I think I can get Joel to give me a ride, he gets off work soon.”

Meanwhile, Caitlin was unsure if she should leave.

“We'll have other chances to hang out,” Melissa C. told her. “I wouldn't want you and Somebody to have a fight.”

“Besides, she's still got me,” said Lindsey. “I'D never abandon you, Melissa C.”

Caitlin smiled and got up, texting Flor an affirmative. “Thanks.”

After Flor left, Maxine leaned back on the bench and lit a cigarette. Holding it between her black-painted lips, she texted her foster dad to see when he could pick her up.

Then, a shadow fell across her.

She looked up. A silhouetted figure was standing beside the bench, the sun positioned directly behind him.

The teen raised a hand to shield her eyes, squinting at the person, trying to make out their face. “What are you looking at?” she asked toughly.

…........

Caitlin lay on her back on Flor's bed. The first volume of the manga was in her hands, her eyes scanning the black and white pages. Flor lay on her stomach next to her, texting somebody.

“What do you think?” Flor asked.

Caitlin turned a page. “It's...actually pretty interesting.”

Flor had some music playing. At her mom's request, her bedroom door was open. The light was on in the hallway beyond.

“Told you,” said Flor. “And you don't even feel like a nerd, either.”

“Not yet.”

“See? It's going to be fine,” she said, patting Caitlin supportively on the arm. “I'll let you borrow the first few volumes.”

“Yeah, one definitely isn't enough. I've only been reading like half an hour and I'm already halfway through this one,” said Caitlin.

“A volume does go by pretty fast. And you're not even into the really action-heavy stuff yet,” said Flor. “Do you have a favorite character?”

“Not yet.” She smirked. “It's probably one of the guys though.”

“I knew it.”

“Yep. They're pretty hot. Reading this makes me feel straighter than ever.”

“Oh yeah?” asked Flor, taking this as a challenge. She crawled over her and kissed her on the lips.

“Hey-” started Caitlin, closing the manga and setting it aside. “Wait. Your parents.”

Flor kissed her on the neck. “You don't like a little danger?”

Caitlin closed her eyes and relaxed as Flor kissed her neck again. “Mmm,” she moaned, before Flor returned to her lips. Flor raised a hand to Caitlin's face to stroke her soft cheek. Caitlin's heart pounded. Flor's mom could walk by any second.

Flor's phone rang.

She ignored it, and she and Caitlin continued to make out as it went to voice mail. Then, it rang again.

“FLOR!” shouted her mom's voice. Both Flor and Caitlin nearly had a heart attack. They instantly separated, bolted upright and looked at the doorway.

There was nobody there. “Would you PLEASE answer that?” her mom continued, from somewhere down the hall. She sounded annoyed.

Flor sighed. Caitlin laughed, relieved. “Yeah!” Flor called back, exasperated.

She picked up her phone and answered the call. “Hello?” she asked.

Flor listened, then turned away from Caitlin. Her brow furrowed. “What?” She gasped. “No. Dude, how? What happened?”

Caitlin realized this wasn't a good phone call. It was one of those phone calls people dreaded the possibility of getting. “Okay,” said Flor, as Caitlin put a hand on her shoulder. “Okay. We'll be right there.”

She hung up, stared at the phone for a split second, then quickly swung her legs off the bed and stood. “What is it?” asked Caitlin. “What happened?”

“It's Maxine,” said Flor, throwing on a coat. “She's in the hospital.”