Bethany looked up from her book in surprise when Talia burst into her room. They had been mutually avoiding each other for days, since they were no longer required to share a room.

“What happened?” Bethany stared in shock and the bright red handprint displayed across Talia’s left cheek.

Talia was silent, sitting down softly on the side of Bethany’s bed.

“Who hit you, Talia?”

“He didn’t mean to,” Talia said softly. “It was my fault.”

Bethany grabbed her by the shoulders. “Did Zac do this?”

Talia’s silence was all the proof she needed. Bethany jumped up, heading for the door. “Stay here,” she instructed Talia.

Once in the hallway, Bethany’s anger level continued to rise. When she reached the door to Zac’s room, she knocked loud enough to make the neighbors cringe.

“What-?” Zac tried to say as he opened the door, but she merely shoved by him into the room.

“What is the matter with you?” she shouted.

Still in shock, Zac wasn’t sure what she was talking about. “Huh?” he made the mistake of saying.

Grabbing Zac by the neck of his t-shirt, Bethany yanked him close. “Just because you’re mad at me doesn’t give you free rein to take it out on Talia.”

“Oh.” Now Zac knew. She’d seen Talia.

“Is that all you have to say? Oh? Oh, doesn’t even begin to cover it!”

“What do you want me to say?” Now Zac was shouting too. “That I’m mad at you? Well I am! You leaving and never coming back traumatized me! I spent years wondering what was wrong with me, why you left. How do you think it feels to be responsible for your brother losing one of his best friends, especially when he doesn’t even know why it happened!”

Unwilling tears welled up in Bethany’s eyes. “Well, what was I supposed to do? You were twelve years old and I kissed you. I had just turned eighteen and I took advantage of a little boy that I babysat. What kind of a sick person does that make me?”

“You know, the way I remember it, I kissed you.” Zac felt his anger melting away. That was what had made her leave?

“Well, either way, it was a felony.”

Zac smiled. “If it makes you feel better, it was a great first kiss, even if you did run off afterwards.”

Angrily, Bethany wiped away the tears that had begun falling. “I couldn’t come back after that. I just couldn’t. I kept thinking, what if someone finds out? They wouldn’t have wanted me to come back anyway, so I just left. It was easier that way.”

“For who? Me? The kid who spent six years feeling guilty?”

“Guilty for what? You didn’t do anything?”

Zac let out a snort. “I made a move on my babysitter and she never came back. Therefore, Isaac lost one of his best friends. Jessi lost her role model. I made you leave.”

“You didn’t make me leave Zac. I left on my own.”

* * * *

Meanwhile, in his room, Isaac shoved random clothes into a duffle bag. Almost finished, he logged onto the internet on his laptop and typed in the web address of a popular airline.

Within a half-hour, a flight had been booked. His plane left at 1 A.M., giving him exactly four hours to make sure everyone was asleep and get to the airport.

A knock sounded at the door. “Ike?” Zac’s pleading voice sounded through the door to Isaac’s acute frustration.

He yanked open the door. “What?” he snapped.

Zac didn’t seem to notice, or care that he was in a bad mood. “Can I talk to you?”

“About what?” Isaac sighed, casually pushing his bag under the bed while Zac wandered aimlessly about the room. It just wouldn’t do to have someone find out that he was going. The only way for this to happen was for it to go through in complete secrecy.

Zac turned to look at him, and Isaac noticed his open laptop still displaying the airport confirmation message. Trying to look natural, he reached out and closed the laptop, wincing at the clicking noise it made.

“Ike, I’m worried about Tay. He’s been avoiding Mallory all day and she must know that something’s up.” Zac paced quietly in front of the door.

Isaac looked up at him in surprise. “Something’s up? Zac, do you know what’s going on with him?”

“You noticed it too?” Zac sighed, and then shook his head. “I don’t have a clue, I just know that something is seriously wrong. He’s starting to act like something happened between him and Mallory.”

Isaac had an idea. “Why don’t you go and talk to Mallory yourself?”

“You really think I should?”

“Sure.” And best of all, it would get him out of the room.