"So, I figure since you didn't show up to class yesterday, you have to come over and finish the project at my house. I mean, you did make me present by myself, so it's only fair..."

I choke on spit and whirl to stare at Melissa. She's sitting cross-legged beneath the big oak tree by the road, and laughs as I cough myself to the ground.

"Duncan, I'm joking! Oh my gosh, you're way too easy! You don't have to come over, of course, but we should work it after school one of these days. We've still got like two weeks to finish it, and I don't think we're gonna finish if we just work in the library, you know?"

I catch my breath and watch her through watering eyes. She grins at me, playful. "Just think about it, okay? I'd suggest going to your house, but my parents want to meet you before they let me go over." She rolls her eyes, misreading my blank expression: "I know, they're so lame, but they're okay. So just come over once and then, if you want, we can do the rest of the project at your house."

Melissa stands to her feet, waving at something behind me. Her mom beeps the horn anyway. "It doesn't have to be today," Melissa tells me as I rise, "Just whenever. They just want to make sure you're not an ax murderer or something." She rolls her eyes and pulls a face, laughing.

"Ya really don' think we c'n get it done in th' library?" I ask, rubbing the back of my neck with one hand. Melissa stops again and cocks her head to the side, seeming to seriously consider the question.

"I don't think so," she says, starting once more for the street, "I mean, maybe, but I don't think we can use glue and stuff in the library. The librarian seems pretty strict." She waves, laughter in her eyes. "We'll talk tomorrow!"

I watch her turn and walk toward the green mini-van, torn. I know that there is never going to be a better time to risk this; Bruce is pretty freshly high, and I'm as healed as I'm likely to get. I probably won't have the courage again, either; I'm just sick enough of Bruce to not care what'll happen if he ever finds out. I'm not so sure how I'll feel after the next beating, though. It's now or never.

"I c'n come over t'day."

Melissa halts, turning slowly with eyes wide. I drop my hand and shove both of them into my pockets and try hard not to think about what her parents will say when they see me. My clothes are torn and dirty, and it's been days since my last shower. I mean, I kind of splashed off in the park bathrooms, and I was working on swiping a key to the locker rooms at school, but I haven't really showered since the night of that last beating.

"Really?!" I look up into Melissa's beaming face and shrug. I'm already regretting this decision. Melissa actually claps her hands together and gives a child-like leap into the air. When she lands, she spins, takes a step toward the van, turns back to me, and holds up her hands as if afraid I'll bolt. "Just let me tell my mom! Be right back!"

As she sprints away, I sigh heavily and lower my head, wondering just what I've gotten myself into. I've been to Jason's plenty of times, but from the way Melissa talked, her mom was not a tweaker, and her dad worked hard to give the family a comfortable life. I had no idea what to expect from a family like that.

"Duncan!" Melissa's call jerks me back to the present; she's beckoning me with a huge smile on her face. I swallow as I walk slowly over, stopping at the curb and peering into the car, trying to put some kind of friendly expression on my face.

Melissa's mom is exactly what I thought of when I thought 'suburban mom'. She wore a crisp white blouse and khaki high-waters with trendy running shoes. Her auburn hair was pulled back into a short ponytail. She smiled at me kindly, leaning over the center console to see me better.

"It's good to finally meet you, Duncan; Melissa talks about you non-stop."

"Moooommm!" Melissa squeals from behind me, turning a delicate pink. "Oh my gosh." Covering her face with once hand, Melissa jerks open the side door and jumps in. "You are so embarrassing."

I just stand there, not sure what's just happened, and Melissa's mom continues to smile at me. "Hop on in, Duncan. You can ride in the back with Melissa if you want; we still have to pick up Joshua and go to the store before we head home."

"Uh, yeah," I tell her, shutting the front passenger door and climbing carefully into the back. Melissa leans around me as I turn to shut the door.

"Here, it sticks..." She fiddles with the button for a second, and the door finally slams shut. Sitting back down, she pats the seat beside her and grins. As I sit and strap on the seat belt and Melissa's mom pulls away from the school, I can't shake the feeling that I'm making the worst mistake of my life.

The trip to the house is actually pretty uneventful. After picking up Melissa's younger brother, Joshua, from the elementary school, we stop at the grocery store. Melissa's mom takes a protesting Joshua in with her, and doesn't say anything when Melissa asks if we can stay in the car. I fall into a more relaxed state of mind, and think that maybe this won't be so bad.

As we pull into the garage at Melissa's house and all line up for an armful of bags, I can't help my jaw from dropping. "You live here?" Melissa laughs and leads the way into the house, bumping the button to close the door with her elbow.

"Yeah, it's pretty nice. My dad got a really good deal because he did a lot of the drywall and stuff himself. It wasn't even finished when we bought it a year ago."

As I set foot on the pristine tile of the huge and sparkling kitchen, I realize that I don't belong here. I remember when these houses were being built; I'd helped Jason light some of the frames on fire in 'protest'.

"Mom, we're gonna go upstairs and work in the office, okay?" Melissa says, dropping the bags unceremoniously on the counter and waving for me to do the same. I set them gingerly beside hers and she grabs my arm, hurrying me toward the doorway.

"Dinner is in an hour!" Melissa's mom yells after us as Melissa hurtles up the stairs with me in tow. I hear Joshua shriek something unintelligible behind us, but since Melissa keeps going, I figure it's normal.

She slows once we reach the top of the stairs and leads the way down the hallway to a set of double doors. Opening them with a flourish, she bows me into the room, a grin on her face.

The office is more lavishly adorned than my entire house. There's a solid oak desk in one corner, an expensive looking rug that covers almost the entire floor, and a huge bookshelf that takes up the entire wall opposite the desk. There's a couch underneath the bay window, and the view of the park next door is beautiful.

I come to an abrupt halt just inside the door. Oh, I so do not belong here. I can't even sit on anything without leaving filth behind. Melissa must be able to read something of my thoughts on my face, because she straightens and looks at me with confusion.

"What? You don't like it?"

"No! I do, it's jus'... I mean, uh, it's...big."

"Oh."

I kick myself mentally. "I mean, d' we really need this much room t' work?"

Melissa laughs. "It's fine; we don't even really use it, anyway. Plus, dad's got a ton of history books in here; stuff the library doesn't have. We'll get an A for sure!"

Melissa persuades me to sit at the desk and places a stack of books in front of me with instructions to look for anything that has to do with the economic impact of the war. I'm not really sure what that means, but I give it my best. Melissa, meanwhile, lays on the couch and flips through another stack of books, taking notes.

When Joshua sticks his head around the corner and informs Melissa that it's her turn to set the table, I'm amazed that an hour has gone by. I haven't written even a half of a page; Melissa has filled out three and was working on her fourth.

"Uh, I should probably take off."

"What?" Melissa stops halfway out the door. "You're not gonna stay for dinner?"

I hunch my shoulders and refuse to look at her. "I jus'...I mean, we worked on th' report..." I trail off, unsure of how to continue. When I was at Jason's, I usually just walked out the back once he'd passed out. I didn't know how to leave like a regular person; I just knew that I couldn't stand the stress of sitting through a meal here.

"Duncan, you gotta stay! My mom made eggplant casserole! It's kind of her specialty," Melissa says, waggling her eyebrows at me and dropping into a ridiculous pose. I can't keep my gaze down when she speaks, and her antics make me chuckle despite myself. "See?" she says, reaching out to take my arm, "You want to stay. You want to eat my mom's delicious food..." She passes a hand in front of my face, then looks into my eyes as if she's checking something.

"I guess I'm not a hypnotist, then," she tells me, laughing. "But seriously, you've got to stay. You haven't even met my dad yet!"

"Yer...dad?" I can't control the nervous quaver in my voice, and Melissa looks at me strangely.

"Yeah, silly! He got home like, a half hour ago."

My heart begins to pound, and my blood rushes to my ears. I'd forgotten that Melissa even had a dad. I'd been so overwhelmed by her mom and little brother, and the absolute perfection of her house that I had completely pushed the thought of her father to the back of my mind.

It rushes back with a vengeance, though, as I stammer out, "Y-yeah, look, I-I gotta...I-I mean, m-my, uh..."

"Duncan." Melissa cuts across me, her face mockingly stern, "You're staying, so you might as well get over it, mister. You can't say no to me!" She grins with this last, and, as my heart skips a few beats at the look on her face, I know she's right. It's why we're friends in the first place: Something about Melissa's sadness and disappointment was different from everyone else's... It mattered.