“We keep ending up at my house and I hate it,” Sonnet said as she pushed her front door open and led us inside.

                “But we had to end up here. You and I have to work on that project together,” Benji said with a frown.

                “And Gideon and I get to sit here awkwardly while you two do work,” I said.

                “Since you’re so close with my brother now, go ask him for his old English notebook. He had to do the same project and we can copy some information from him,” Sonnet said as we entered her bedroom.

                Secretly pleased that I had a reason to go to Will’s bedroom, I left Sonnet’s room and went downstairs. I knocked on Will’s bedroom door.

                “If you’re related to me, or you’re Ethan, don’t come in,” Will called.

                I pushed the door open. “I even get my own category. I’m honored.”

                “Who’s he?” a cute blond boy on Will’s bed asked, looking over at me.

                “One of my little sister’s friends. Get out of here Ethan,” Will said in annoyance.

                “No can do. Sonnet wants your old English journal so she and Benji can copy it,” I said.

                “Let her know that I’m only giving it to her because it helps Benji,” Will grumbled, standing up.

                I walked over to his bed and looked down at the many papers spread around. They were scripts, with red ink all over them. A good amount of papers were balled up and thrown on the floor.

                “What’s this?” I asked, picking up a script and scanning it over.

                Will came over and snatched it out of my hands, setting it back on his bed. He went back over to his desk, pulling a drawer open and beginning to dig around it.

                “The writers for our show were both out of town this week and unable to work. So, Phoenix and I now have to write the script. And we have about two days to write an entire script,” Will said.

                “Phoenix?” I guessed, looking at the blond guy.

                “Guilty,” he said with a nod.

                “So what’s the script for exactly?” I asked.

                “We work on our school’s TV station,” Will said. “Our show is scheduled to film a new episode in two days, and we don’t have a damn script.”

                “Close to being done?” I asked.

                “Not even close. This is the roughest of rough drafts. We still need to discuss camera angles, lighting, positions, and the actual dialogue,” Phoenix said, his eyes back on the script and his hand moving rapidly with a red pen. “Will, I think we should use the jib for scene 3, and play around with the lighting when we actually get to that scene.”

                “Write it down. We can discuss it later.” Will paused and looked up. “Write down the outside scenes to be filmed in studio A. Filming in front of the green screen will require less film time. You know that Tim is good with editing the green screen shots, so if we convince him to pull an all-nighter, we’ll get done a lot faster.”

                “This sounds complicated,” I said.

                “It’s simple in theory, but complex in practice,” Will said, still digging around his desk.

                “But we’d be screwed if it weren’t for you Will. No one could pull this together in two days,” Phoenix said, admiration in his voice.

                “I’m not doing it alone, moron. You’re helping,” Will pointed out.

                “At this point, I’m barely even proofreading,” Phoenix groaned, collapsing back against the bed. “I’m so tired. We’ve been up since yesterday working on this, Will.”

                “Proofreading,” Will mumbled to himself, his eyes widening. He spun around to face me, a journal in his hands.

                He came over and thrust the journal into my arms. “Go bring this upstairs and then come back down here. To pay me back for yesterday, you’re going to proofread the scripts as we write them.”

                “Uh…okay,” I said and left his room.

                I went upstairs and let myself into Sonnet’s bedroom. She looked up at me as I entered. Benji and Gideon were cuddled together on the floor, scrolling through Sonnet’s laptop together.

                “Here. Now, I have been employed by your brother,” I said, tossing the journal to Sonnet.

                “What?” she asked in confusion.

                “He’s making me proofread to pay him back for helping him yesterday,” I said with a shrug. “Can’t say no to that.”

                I left her room before they could say anything, heading back down to Will’s bedroom. I sat on the bed and Phoenix handed me a scrip.

                “We literally just printed this,” he said. “Just find any typos and correct them.” He also handed me a red pen.

                “My own red pen. How official,” I said and got to work.

                I found myself rereading their scripts over and over again, correcting any typos where I saw them. Will and Phoenix talked rapidly, typing, printing scripts, correcting them, and then beginning the process again.

                We spent about four hours working before Will and Phoenix suddenly let out excited yells. I watched in amusement as Will’s tired eyes lit up, the faded green turning bright and beautiful.

                “We’re done!” Phoenix said triumphantly, falling back on the bed, thrusting his fists into the air in excitement. “Time to sleep for the rest of my life.”

                “Now we just have to get through filming,” Will said.

                “Shut up William,” Phoenix groaned. “Can’t we just be happy that we’re done with the scripting?”

                “For right now, yes,” Will said. There were heavy bags under his eyes. The bright excitement was quickly draining out, going from the brilliant green color to the faded green color.

                “Will! Phoenix!” There was a knock on the door. “Dinner is ready.”

                “Food sounds good to me. And then I have to head out, Will. I have work to do,” Phoenix said, getting up.

                “Yea, yea, yea. Use me for my food,” Will said, him and Phoenix leaving the room without bothering a glance at me.

                “It’s okay, I’ll show myself out!” I called after them.

                I rolled my eyes and left the room, going upstairs. Benji and Sonnet were sitting at the table with Will, Phoenix, and Leo.

                “Where’s Gideon?” I asked, sitting down.

                “He had to head home about an hour ago because his parents were taking him out to dinner,” Benji said.

                “Will, were you forcing Ethan into child labor?” Sonnet asked.

                “He was proofreading. I don’t think that’s a difficult task,” Will said.

                “Did you get your script done?” Leo asked.

                “Somehow, yes,” Will said, looking relieved.

                “Let’s just murder the writers next time they both bail out on us,” Phoenix said.

                “I am completely okay with that,” Will agreed.

                Grace came out and set food down on the table. Phoenix and Will attacked the food hungrily, acting like they hadn’t eaten in years.

                “Fat,” Sonnet mumbled, watching them.

                “You’d be starving too if you hadn’t eaten since yesterday,” Will said around a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

                “William, don’t talk with your mouth full,” Grace said.

                Will rolled his eyes, but obeyed his mother and snapped his mouth shut. He and Phoenix ate quickly and stood up together, abandoning their plates and leaving the kitchen.

                Phoenix poked his head back in a few minutes later. “Thanks for the food Mr. and Mrs. Duvet!” he said.

                “Anytime Phoenix,” Grace said with a smile.

                Phoenix disappeared and the front door shut a minute later. Sonnet let out a whistle and shook her head.

                “I will never understand how Will gets all these cute friends,” she said.

                “Sonnet!” Leo rolled his eyes. “Stay away from Will’s friends.”

                “As you can tell, my parents are very pleased that my male friends tend to turn out as homosexuals,” Sonnet said to me. “It means they don’t have to worry that you’ll try to get with me.”

                “Sonnet!” Grace blushed in embarrassment at her daughter’s words.

                “What? It’s true. Benji…Gideon…and now Ethan,” Sonnet said, gesturing at me and Benji.

                “Well, I’m glad to know that we’re safe people,” Benji said.

                “That’s not it!” Grace said, shooting a look at Sonnet.

                Benji laughed. “It’s okay Grace. Sonnet and I have been friends way before I came out as gay.”

                I stood up. “I’ll be right back. I left my iPod in Will’s room,” I said, slapping my back pocket with a pout.

                I left and went down to Will’s bedroom, letting myself in. Will was kneeling on the ground, rounding up the crumpled scripts and tossing them into a bag.

                “I like your music taste. But you have Nothing To Lose by Billy Talent on repeat. Why?” he asked without looking up. I realized that he had my earphones on, my iPod tucked into his back pocket.

                “Help yourself,” I said, raising an eyebrow.

                “That doesn’t answer my question,” he said, standing up and gathering papers off of his bed, setting them on his desk carefully.

                “I like Billy Talent. Sue me,” I said with a shrug.

                “My parents had no clue that I ate all my lunches alone in the bathroom. There’s nothing to lose when no one knows your name. There’s nothing to gain, but the days don’t seem to change. There’s nothing to lose, my notebook will explain. There’s nothing to gain, and I can’t fight the pain,” he sang along with the music.

                “I like Billy Talent,” I repeated.

                “Kids just love to tease. Who’d know it put me underground at 17?” he continued.

                “I came down here to get my iPod back,” I said, holding my hand out.

                Will finally looked up at me. He pulled the iPod out of his back pocket and stopped the music, handing it back to me.

                “Thanks for helping us,” he said. “It really did speeds things up a lot.”

                “Well, you saved my ass yesterday. It’s the least I could do,” I said, securely tucking my iPod into my own back pocket.

                “Yea, well, I told you I wou-” Will suddenly staggered to the side. I reached out, hastily steadying him.

                “You don’t look too good,” I said. His face was pale, making the bruises under his eyes stand out.

                “I haven’t slept in almost two days trying to get the script done,” he said, pressing his hand to his forehead. “I’m just really tired.”

                “Come on,” I said, leading him over to his bed.

                He dropped down onto his bed, fighting to keep his eyes open. I turned to leave so he could sleep, but he reached out and gripped my wrist.

                I looked at him, taking in his exhausted appearance. His hair was tangled, as usual. His shirt was too big on him, and hung off of his thin frame. His jeans were faded, with a rip in the knee. He looked messy, as he always seemed to.

                “Sit down. I have to ask you something,” he mumbled sleepily.

                I nodded and sat down on the other side of him. He looked up at me, his eyes barely open at all.

                “Do you ever hate yourself so much that you can’t stand to look in a mirror?” he whispered.

                “Go to sleep, Will. You’re tired. You’re not acting like yourself,” I said.

                “You like to avoid questions that could hint at a darker side of you. You’re sarcastic and you put up a good act, but you don’t fool me. You can’t,” he said, his voice fading out as his eyelids lost their struggle and finally fell shut.

                I gently twirled a lock of his hair around my finger. This broken, messy boy. A boy I couldn’t read, but who seemed to be reading me.

                “You don’t fool me. You can’t.”

                “Of course I can’t. Because you’re experiencing the same things I did. We’re drawn to each other because we’re broken,” I said quietly, sliding down next to him and resting my head back on his shoulder. “But the big question is what broke you, Will?”

                I sighed and crawled out of his bed, knowing that Sonnet and Benji would be looking for me. But tomorrow, I was going to come back here and see if I could get anything more out of Will. Something was eating this boy from the inside out, and I was going to stop it.