Friday, March 21st

Sasha drove forward, feeling quiet and introspective. In thirty minutes, they would be home again from their big Spring Break extravaganza. It felt strange . . . too much event in such a short time. He was exhausted and ready to get back to school. Get back into the routine of things.

The question echoed through his head as the car headed homeward. Sasha tried to focus on it. He'd told Garland about his experience with seeing Julie one last time - and the question, the wonderful distraction she'd given him. Sasha had asked Garland the same question - "Why are you here in the universe?". Garland had said that he'd have to get back to him on that.

"So why was Jake kissing that girl Renee?" Mariah asked.

Connie giggled. "What do you care?"

Mariah frowned.

"They made friends this week," Sasha told her. "Hung out a lot." He met Mariah's eyes in his rearview mirror. It was a very instructive stare. "Don't stress him out about it. He needed to have a little fun this week."

"Yeah, Mariah," Connie teased. "Didn't you kiss the bimbo guy anyway?"

She made a face. "That's entirely different."

"No, it's not." Sasha sighed, his mouth suddenly thick with the taste of too much emotion. When they'd left the parking lot, he thought he was going to be ok. Over the course of the last couple hours he was beginning to suspect that he might need to throw up again. It wasn't really fair sometimes - the position he was in with his friends often left Sasha as the guy who had to help everyone else sort out their problems, their issues, their feelings. This week had definitely been an overflow of chaos for him, and suddenly it was Sasha who really needed someone to help him carry that weight. He ordered himself to shove the thoughts aside. "What it all boils down to," he continued out loud to Mariah, "is that both of you had your fun, now it's over, you're probably never going to see your little Spring Break flings again. Let's end it."

Mariah glanced at Connie, who was looking right back at her. Sasha sounded terribly edgy.

"Are you okay, Sash?" asked Connie.

He tightened his lips and fumbled for a cigarette. Time to kill a Camel.

*

Garland dropped Jake off at Sasha's place and then drove on home, Rebecca following behind him the whole way. He grinned - this was great! This tall sultry black-haired beauty was going to be living right behind him. Gar couldn't wait to tell the others that hadn't been on the trip! Wait 'til they met her-

Hmm. Wait 'til they met her. Wait until *Gen* met her . . .

*

"It's furnished," Mrs. Eastwood said, flipping on some lights. She smiled back at Rebecca. "We rent this pool house out mostly to college students from Tooler Community. It's nice for one person. Garland, Chad, and myself are here anytime you need anything."

Rebecca grinned at the thought - Garland was going to be there. Anytime she needed *anything*.

*

Paige waved to LeeAnne and Morgan, heading up her steps. "I don't know about you guys, but I feel like I could sleep for, like, a month. I'm outtie."

"Bye, Paige." Morgan lifted a hand, smiling. Then he turned to LeeAnne, looking a little more concerned. "How about you? Going to sleep?"

LeeAnne shook her head. She looked troubled. "I don't think I could sleep if I tried. Too much on my mind."

Morgan offered her a half-smile. "Just give Sash some time. This whole week was a weird thing for him. I'm sure once he gets over Monet, he'll come around."

"What's there to get over?" LeeAnne made a face. "Yeah, so they hung out some. Then she turned around and said some horrible nasty things to him. I know Sasha's sensitive and all, but how hard can that be to get over?"

Morgan bit his tongue. That meant that Sasha hadn't told her about he and Monet's midnight rendezvous. If Sasha hadn't told, Morgan sure as hell wasn't going to. "Just give him time," he repeated. "And try to get some rest, Lee. I, for one, *am* going to bed." Morgan waved to her and headed inside.

LeeAnne nodded and walked across the street, shopping bags in her hands, a small suitcase wheeling behind her. She fought back burning tears. What a week.