It had been almost a 月 since I arrived at Gail's place. It wasn't that bad there. Actually, it was a lot better than I thought it ever would be. Since then, I had had absolutely no contact from my brothers. I was starting to get worried. How was Reed? Was Nikolai happy I was gone? Did they even miss me? One Saturday morning while I was eating breakfast Gail must;ve noticed I was in a mood.

"What's up, kiddo?" she asked.

"I just miss my brothers," I shrugged it off. "They haven't called 或者 anything,"

"Well that's 'cause they can't," Gail 说 with a strange hint of optimism in her voice. They aren't allowed to see 你 或者 talk to you, seeing as they abused 你 and it wouldn't be good for you." I didn't bother to argue with this woman. But still, I needed to know what was going on with Reed. I waited a couple hours, then asked Gail if I could use her phone.

"How come, dear?" she asked. She didn't sound suspicious, but I was still afraid she'd catch on.

"Uh, I want to see... if Felicity can hang out." Yeah. Right. Scout was out with Bambi and Trace. She'd invited me, but ever since Gail told me my brothers weren't "allowed" to see me, I didn't want to do anything else.

"Oh. Ok! I'm glad you're making friends!" she 说 happily. I took the phone off the 摇篮 and went to my room, closing the door behind me. I dialed my 首页 phone number. It rang a couple times. I was sent to voicemail. I began to leave a message, when someone answered.

"Harley?!" It was Carmine. Oh my God. I'd never been 更多 happy to hear his voice!

"Carmine!" I nearly shouted.

"Oh my God! I can't believe it's you! Are 你 ok? Are they being nice to you? Are 你 ok?"

"Yes, yes, and yes again," I laughed. "How are things at home?" There was a long silence.

"Dalton's family is pressing charges. Reed may be in for life." Shit.

"Carmine, Reed didn't do it though!" I protested.

"We don't know that, Harley. As much as I'd like to think that..." he sighed.

"No, he told me. He wasn't lying! I know it! We have to find out who did!" I said. Again, another silence.

"I don't know, Harley..."

"Carmine, do 你 want Reed out 或者 not?" He sighed.

"Yes."

"Then get your 屁股 over here!" I said. Carmine hesitated, but then agreed. I gave him the address of the house. He was to come at midnight, when everyone was asleep.

"See ya then," I 说 and hung up. I hung up just as Aspen walked in, not bothering to knock. "What do 你 want?" I asked, a little rudely. I guess I was just worried that Gail would catch me.

"Who was that?" she asked.

"No one." I went and put the phone back. Gail looked at me expectantly. "She's busy," I said. She nodded sadly. I went back to my room, finding Aspen on my bed. She had my box in her lap, and I caught her just as she was about to open that. I snatched it away, clasping the easy lock.

"What are 你 doing?!" I asked. Aspen stared at me with her mouth open. Fuck, she saw the gun didn't she? The blade?

"I'm sorry, Harley! I just..." she said. My 心 was about to burst out of my chest.

"Don't ever do that again! It's rude to go through people's stuff!"

"Ok, I won't. I'm sorry..." she apologized. I sighed and hugged her.

"It's ok. Just don't do that again." She nodded.

"Harley? Can 你 tell me what's in there?"

"Just some personal stuff."

***

Midnight came. Everyone was asleep, and I sneaked out to the kitchen. Sky growled, then stopped when she realized it was me. We'd grown to like each other. She even slept on my 床, 床上 sometimes. I put my fingers to my lips.

"Shh..." I went out onto the front porch, careful not to make any noise. A half 小时 passed, still no Carmine. Another hour, still no Carmine. I sat on the porch step, with my chin in my hand. I yawned, fighting to stay awake. After two and a half hours, I gave up and went back to bed.

The 下一个 morning, Gail woke me up at 11 o'clock. I was still half asleep.

"Geez, didn't 你 sleep at all last night? You're like the living dead!" she said. I yawned. A couple hours later, I decided to call Carmine and see what was up.

"Dude! What the hell!" I said.

"I'm sorry! Nikolai's car was broken! I couldn't get it to start! And I couldn't call, cause that would wake everyone up!" I groaned.

"Well, then how am I gonna get there?"

"I don't know... Maybe we should just forget the whole thing. I heard that Reed might just get a couple years. That's not so bad, right? It's better than life."

"How could 你 say that?! He shouldn't have to serve time for what he didn't do!"

"Harley, anyone could have killed Dalton. Do 你 know how many people he's pissed off? The guy was an asshole."

"Whatever," I hung up.

"Who were 你 on the phone with?" Gail asked.

"Bambi," I 说 quickly. I set the phone back in its place.

A couple 分钟 later, the phone rang.

"Hello?" I said.

"Oh, hi Harley! It's Bambi!" she said. My eyes widened, but I quickly regained my composure. "Do 你 want to hang out? Invite Scout too, please." I covered the mouth piece of the phone so she couldn't hear.

"Uh, it's Bambi... again," I said. "She wants to know if Scout and I can hang out."

"Sure," Gail said. "Why didn't she just ask the first time?"

"Uh... I don't know? Maybe she couldn't hang out before and she cleared her plans? Does it matter?" Gail shrugged.

"Yeah, where are we hanging out?" I asked. Bambi 说 we were going to hang out at Trace's house. She 说 Scout knew the way. I told Scout, and she 说 we'd have a lot of fun. She left to go get her shoes. I reached for my box, then stopped. It'd been a long time, and I'd never needed my 刀 或者 gun... I felt a strange feeling in my 心 for Scout and her friends. Now they seemed like they were my 老友记 too, well, except Felicity. She's 更多 of a I-just-put-up-with-you-because-Scout-likes-you friend. I felt like I could really trust these people. It was weird. I'd never felt that with anyone except my brothers. I smiled to myself and put the box back under my bed.

Scout and I got to Trace's house, and his mother let us in.

"Hello, Scout and.... I don't believe we met..." his mother smiled.

"This is Harley, my sister," Scout smiled proudly. My 心 felt weird... It felt really nice to have Scout introduce me as her sister. I shook Trace's mother's hand.

"Trace is in the basement," she said. Scout thanked her, as did I, and went to the basement. It was really big, complete with a pool table, dartboard, and a giant TV and stereo system. 音乐 played on an iHome, as well from an intense game of Rock Band on the TV.

"Hey guys," Trace smiled. He stood behind the couch, while Forest, Bambi, and Felicity were rocking out. Forest was on drums, kicking ass, Bambi on bass, doing pretty well, and Felicity on guitar.... She sucked.

"Hey Trace," Scout smiled.

"Hi," I said.

"Ugh!" Forest, Bambi, and Felicity 说 together. The game stopped, probably because Felicity was terrible at Rock Band.

"Nice, Felicity," Forest joked.

"It wasn't me," she 说 innocently. Everyone rolled their eyes. Honestly, I didn't know why anyone even invited her. Scout took Felicity's place on the retry. I sat on the floor, watching as they rocked out to "Our Truth" 由 Lacuna Coil. Scout was much better than Felicity had been. They got a near perfect score.

"You wanna try, Harley?" Bambi asked. I took her place on the 长椅, 沙发 between Forest and Scout. We played "Misery Business" 由 Paramore. I'd never played Rock Band, but I did pretty well if I say so myself. We got through 70% of the song before the crowd booed.

We played a little while longer, then Trace and Forest had a duel with ping pong. They put the 表 on 最佳, 返回页首 of the pool table, jumping into various karate poses. I stood off to the side talking to Bambi, and to Scout when she wasn't in deep conversation about hot guys with Felicity.

I had a great time at Trace's. I'd only hung out with them outside of school a couple times, but never like this. They really seemed to accept me into their group of friends. It was awesome. Everyone, except Felicity, was really nice and funny. When Scout and I left, I had a headache from laughing so much.

"Harley, can 你 go put your 夹克 in your room?" Gail asked a while after we got home. I got up off the couch, grabbed my 夹克 that was on the 厨房 chair, and went to my room.

My 心 stopped.

"Aspen! What are 你 doing?!" I 说 in a frightened whisper. Aspen looked as scared as me. In her hand was my gun. I closed my door shut, just in case she went screaming to Gail 或者 something.

"Is this real...?" she asked, her voice shaking. My box was wide open on my bed. I didn't know what to say. If I 说 yes, she'd definitely tell Gail. If I told her it was a toy, what if she pretended to "shoot" me? That thing was still loaded.

"Aspen. Please. Put it down..." I whispered. I felt like I was going to pass out. But she did as I asked and set the gun on the 床, 床上 gently. Then I ran over to her and hugged her, tears coming now. I don't know exactly why I was crying. Maybe because I was so afraid she could've hurt herself if I hadn't come in to put my 夹克 away.

"Harley... Why do 你 have a gun?" Aspen asked slowly. I grabbed the tops of her shoulders and looked her in the eye.

"Aspen, 你 can't tell anyone. Not a soul. Not Gail, 或者 Scout, 或者 Jezebel..." I pleaded. "I needed it, ok? But I don't anymore. I don't use it. 你 can't tell anyone!" She nodded real fast.

"I won't. Pinkie promise." She held out her little finger. I wrapped my pinkie around her and shook. Call me crazy, but even the pinkie promise didn't make me feel better. "I won't tell anyone," she said. "I'm sorry. I was curious what 你 had in it." I sighed. "I'm sorry..." she 说 again. "...You were a cute baby."

"Thanks," I laughed. I wiped the tears from my eyes. Aspen hugged me again.

"Dinner!" Gail called. Aspen smiled at me, giving me the sense she'd stay true to her word this time. She took my hand and guided me to the kitchen, after I put the gun back in the box and under my bed.