As the plane descended toward Cleveland, I kept my headphones on, listening to the same melodies that had helped me when my parents got divorced. Blake had introduced most of those songs to me, a fact that I would have rather forgotten, but he had defined so much of my adolescence. It was impossible to erase every trace of him, as much as I would have liked to do just that.

The good news was that there was no way that Blake could stalk me in Cleveland. If he was living in Florida now, then he wouldn't just hop on a plane and follow me back home. I could let that particular fear float away, as if I didn't have a million new ones now that Jason had gotten into that car crash. My mind drifted from Jason to Mom to Sydney, afraid that the situation had somehow gotten even worse during the flight, as I looked out the window to see the sparkling lights of my hometown,.

It was only after I the plane hit the runway that I realized what all of this meant. It wasn't just Jason, although I was worried about him. It was Sydney that I was really concerned about. Before Jason's car crash, I had been planning to come home and see her over winter break, but because of this emergency flight to Cleveland, all of the money that I had saved up from my job was gone. I wouldn't be able to afford to come home again until the end of the year. Not only would I see my mom and sister for only a weekend and under the worst circumstances, but I wouldn't get to see them again until the summer. It was another reason to hate Jason, as if I needed another one.

I switched my phone off of airplane mode, and I was thankful to see that nothing new had happened since Mom had called me back in Egmont Beach. I texted her to let her know that I had arrived, but it was another half hour before I could get off of the plane. Once I was in the airport, I ran to baggage claim, and I found Mom waiting for me next to the baggage carousel. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she looked more lost and afraid than I had ever seen her. She hugged me tightly and whispered, "Dani, I'm so glad you're here."

"It's good to be home," I said. "I missed you, Mom. I just wish that I could come here under better circumstances."

That was when Mom broke down. She started sobbing, and I didn't know what to do. Mom wasn't usually the sort of person who cried in front of me, much less in a public place like the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. I had no idea how to react: it was like aliens had taken over my mother's body. She grabbed a tissue from her purse, wiped her eyes, and said, "I'm sorry, Dani. It's just that I hate that I can't be with Jason right now. He needs me."

I knew that I should have felt something for my hospitalized stepfather, but he had brought this upon himself. He was the one who had started drinking in the first place, and he was the one who had crashed his car. He was the one who had torn my mother to pieces, and for that, I was more angry than sad. I had no tears to cry for Jason, but I could cry for Mom, and I could cry for Sydney, who I hadn't even seen yet. I wondered how my sister was dealing with all of this.

I grabbed my suitcase from the baggage carousel, and Mom and I walked to the car. "Where's Sydney?" I asked Mom as she started driving.

"She's at home," she said. "I told her to go to bed at ten, but knowing your sister, I'm sure that she's still up. You can talk to her once we get home. I'm driving to the hospital after I drop you off, and then you and Sydney can visit Jason in the morning."

Mom and I stayed quiet for the rest of the ride, and I stared out the window. There were so many memories caught up in the places that we passed by, from one of the high schools that we had gone to for Quiz Bowl to the mall where Blake and I hung out when we were younger. We even drove by Madeline's house as we headed into my neighborhood. I wondered if Madeline was home for Thanksgiving break. Maybe she was inside, filling the house with music.

When we got home, Sydney was in her room, blasting punk music at absurdly loud volumes as she played a game on her computer. "Dani!" she exclaimed when she saw me. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay," I said. "It was kind of a long flight. How are you?"

Sydney sighed and said, "Yesterday and today have been crazy. Jason's doing a little better now, but Mom's still worried sick. I heard you went on a surfing trip. How was that?"

"It was okay," I said. The surfing trip seemed like it had been so long ago. It was hard to believe that it had only been a few days earlier. "How's school?"

"School is the worst," Sydney complained. "I don't want to go back on Monday."

"I don't want to go back to school either, but we don't have much of a choice."

Sydney shrugged and then said, "Mom told me to go to bed, but I can't sleep. Every time I try, I get these awful nightmares."

I didn't know how to respond. I couldn't help Sydney; I could hardly keep myself from traveling into the darkest corners of my mind every time I closed my eyes. Instead of giving her advice or an easy cure for her insomnia, I hugged my sister. She was a little surprised by the gesture, but she smiled after I let go. "Thanks, Dani," she said. "I think I needed that." She yawned and then added, "I'm going to try to go back to sleep." She went back into her room and turned off the music that was playing in her room, but I heard her later that night, wandering through the house. When I heard her footsteps, I added another item to the list of reasons why I couldn't stand Jason anymore. My sister didn't deserve to go through this.

After Sydney went to bed, my stomach growled. I walked toward the refrigerator, but when I opened up one of the refrigerator drawers, I saw that it was filled with cans of beer. My heart filled with rage again, furious at Jason for how he had been foolish enough to let himself become addicted, how he had let our whole family down. I pulled every can of beer out of the refrigerator and tossed it in the trash, thinking that if I got rid of all of the alcohol in the house, then it would somehow put my family back together.

The next morning, Sydney and I went to the hospital to visit Jason, which was the last place that we wanted to be. Entering that place brought me back to the Tokyo hospital where Blake had stayed after breaking his leg, but somehow, this was even worse. Mom told us that Jason was coming home that afternoon, and that the doctors had talked to him about going to rehab. However, Jason started ranting about rehab almost as soon as we entered the room. "I'm not going," he said. "I don't have a problem."

"You got drunk and then crashed your car," I reminded him. "I think that's a red flag that you need some help."

"What do you know, kid?" he said.

I stayed quiet for a moment. He had a point: I was still young, and there was still a lot that I didn't know. However, I did know that it wasn't right to drink yourself half to death and then refuse to do anything about it. I couldn't let him hurt Mom or Sydney, two of the people that I loved most.

"I need a drink," Jason said.

"You're not getting a drink in the hospital," I said.

"I'll get one when I get home."

That was what worried me most about Jason. There was nothing stopping him from going right back to his liquor and crashing his car all over again. He had no remorse: he didn't care that Sydney couldn't sleep at night, or that Mom had spent her whole weekend at the hospital. Everything was all about him. In a way, he wasn't any different from Blake.

Jason came home later that day, and of course, he was furious that there wasn't any beer in the fridge. He roared and ranted, desperate to know who had done this, but I didn't tell him, and neither did Mom or Sydney. Nobody was about to confess to throwing out the beer.

For the rest of the weekend, I avoided Jason. I spent long hours in Sydney's room, watching YouTube with her, helping her with her homework, or doing anything that would keep me away from Jason. Mom stayed close to Jason, and I occasionally overheard their arguments, but I hardly ever interacted with either of them.

On Sunday, with Jason having recovered from his injuries from the car accident, I flew back to Egmont College. As Mom drove toward Cleveland Hopkins, her eyes fixated on the road, I asked, "Why are you and Jason still together?"

"Dani, I love him," she responded. "I'm not going to leave just because of this."

"Why not? He's just going to do this all over again if you let him."

"Alcoholism is a disease. I wouldn't leave Jason if he had cancer or a heart attack."

"He won't get help, Mom. You need to break up with him."

"Dani, you don't understand," Mom said, frustrated. "I know that you and Sydney don't like Jason very much, but he's a part of our family."

"He's not a part of my family," I said quietly.

"What did you just say?!" Mom shouted.

"Jason's not my dad!" I exclaimed. "He wasn't a part of my family before, and he's definitely not a part of it now."

Mom didn't respond. In fact, she hardly said anything to me at all until we arrived at the airport, her eyes fixated on the road as she silently fumed. "Goodbye, Dani," she said when she dropped me off, but even that seemed a little bit cold.

I flew back to Florida that afternoon, and once I arrived back at the college, I spent the rest of the evening studying. It was a last ditch attempt to keep myself from worrying too much about Mom and Sydney. I tried to tell myself that everything would work itself out, but a nagging voice in the back of my head told me that I had to do something. I didn't know what to do anymore.

The next day was miserable. I spent most of it sulking in my room, and even going to Jonas' class couldn't help me. I was not in the mood to learn about the role of apex predators in the Everglades ecosystem, and Joyce definitely noticed that I wasn't paying much attention. "What's wrong, Dani?" she asked after class was over.

"Nothing," I answered. "I think I just need some coffee. I had a late night last night."

"Can you pick up a vanilla latte for me if you're going to the Javawocky?" Joyce asked.

"Sure," I said.

I left the Rhodes Center, walked to the Javawocky, and bought two drinks, one for me and one for Joyce. On my way back to campus, my phone buzzed, and I saw that it was from Sydney. "Jason's still refusing to go to rehab," she had texted me. "School was okay though. We're going on a field trip to see the Cleveland Orchestra for German!"

I didn't reply to the text, because I wasn't quite sure how I felt about it. I still hated Jason, and I still hated that he was doing this to Mom and Sydney, but I was glad that Sydney seemed to be looking on the bright side of things. Besides, she would get some college acceptances soon, and then, she could escape from the hellhole that was Hackberry Heights, Ohio.

Throughout the week, Sydney texted me, updating me on how Jason was doing. Most of which were just complaints about how obnoxious he was, but sometimes, I responded, usually just to tell her about something interesting that had happened on campus. Jason may have been tearing the family apart, but he had brought Sydney and I closer together.

On Friday, right before I went to D&D, I decided to email my dad. We hadn't talked in a while, and I wasn't bitter about it, but if there was any situation where I needed Dad's advice, it was this one.

I clicked the "Compose" button, and I started typing.

Dear Dad,

I know that it's been a long time, but I just wanted to talk to you. Jason started drinking again, and he crashed his car last week while he was drunk. He wasn't injured too badly, but he refuses to get help for his alcoholism, and Mom won't split up with him.

I don't know what to do anymore. I want to help Mom and Sydney, but I don't know how.

Anyways, I hope you're doing well in Vancouver.

Love,

Dani

It wasn't much, but it was enough for now, especially since I was already late for D&D. I sent the email, grabbed my character sheet and my copy of the Player's Handbook, and ran to Greenway Hall. However, when I entered the lounge, the other members of the party were in the middle of an argument.

"I don't get it, Wyatt," Aditi said. "All of the female elves in this game are smoking hot and scantily clad, but you don't do the same thing for the men. I don't know about you guys, but I...uh, I mean, my character...would love to hook up with a hunky elf, especially if he has a six pack."

"That's just how the NPCs are," Wyatt said.

"You were the one who designed the NPCs!" Aditi exclaimed. "Dani, back me up here!"

"I'm staying out of this," I said.

"I hate to say it, but Aditi has a point," Kara said. "The elves aren't the biggest issue though. Every adventure starts in a tavern, half of them involve slaying a dragon, and every NPC that we meet along the way is an obnoxious idiot."

"Fine!" Wyatt exclaimed. "If you don't like the game, then why don't you be the DM?"

The whole room was silent for a few minutes, and then Aditi said, "Fine. I'll start next week."

Wyatt started the session, and although it was another storm of clichés, the campaign did its job. It helped me forget about the real world for a little while. We played until well after midnight, but after the game was over, Aditi pulled me aside.

"I don't know what to do," she admitted. "I've never been a Dungeon Master before."

"It's not that bad," I said.

"Besides, I'm going to be in London next semester," Aditi said. "I can't be the DM forever."

I thought about it and then said, "I'll take over as the DM after you go abroad, and I'll help you out until then."

"Thanks, Dani."

"No problem. Are you free tomorrow afternoon?"

Aditi paused to think and then replied, "I think so."

"Come to the Egmont Zoo at four o'clock, and we'll work on improving Wyatt's campaign."

"The Egmont Zoo?" Aditi said. "Why?"

"You'll see," I said.

Aditi and I went our separate ways, and once I was back in my dorm room, I crashed onto my bed and right before I fell asleep, I checked my email on my phone. Dad had replied to me, so I opened up the message and read it.

Dear Dani,

That's unfortunate. I hope everything gets better soon.

Love,

Dad

I don't know what I was expecting, but a two sentence message wasn't it. I turned my phone off, feeling just as scared and unsure of myself as I had been earlier.

I lay down on the bed again, and I thought of the D&D campaign. Already, I had plenty of cool ideas, but I would have to wait until the next day to help Aditi.

I was just about to fall asleep when I heard someone banging on the window glass. I suddenly opened my eyes, and Blake was there, standing right outside the door.

My heart pounded as I opened the window. "I thought I told you to stay away from here," I said.

"I had to come back," Blake said, smirking.

"Go away, Blake," I said. My voice faltered, and my words came out a lot weaker than I wanted them to. "I'm not joining your stupid band."

"You'll change your mind one of these days," Blake said. He poked his head into my room, and he suddenly looked toward the tiny statue of a black cat sitting on my dresser. "You still have the maneki neko."

"Yeah," I said. "It's supposed to ward off evil spirits."

"I remember when we bought those. That was a fun trip, wasn't it?"

I didn't respond, mostly because Blake was right for once. The trip to Japan had been a lot of fun. Our friendship had only fallen apart after the trip.

"Clearly, you still like me, at least a little bit," Blake said. "You wouldn't still have that cat if you didn't."

"The cat has nothing to do with you," I said.

"That's where you're wrong," Blake said. "I gave you everything. I gave you fame, fortune, love, and even that cat statue, and you threw it all away. We lost everything, but we can get it all back. Just come back to me, and you'll see. The Love Martyrs can rise again."

"I don't want anything to do with you anymore, Blake," I said. I abruptly shut the window, and after a few minutes of staring into my dorm room, he left, and I went back to bed.

The next morning, the scariest thing happened. I woke up, and the maneki neko was gone. In its place, there was a note in Blake's handwriting that said, "You can have this back if you rejoin The Love Martyrs."

I threw the note in the trash. I hated that I had lost one of the few tokens of the Love Martyrs tour of Japan, but the maneki neko was replaceable. I wasn't going to throw away the life that I had built just to get my good luck charm back.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but everything seemed to go wrong the next day. The hot water wasn't working in Wallace Hall, the dining hall wasn't serving any good desserts, Sydney texted me to tell me that Mom and Jason had gotten into another argument, and I found out that I had gotten a C minus on my Environmental Policy test. When I went to the zoo later that morning, I got stuck in traffic, and then once I arrived at the dolphin exhibit, I discovered that Spock had gotten sick, so we couldn't train him until the following week. It was as if all of the evil spirits in the world had come for me at last.

During my lunch break, I sat down on the deck, my feet dangling in the water. McCoy came up to me, and I greeted her. She chirped a little too happily, and I said, "It seems like your day's been going a little bit better than mine, McCoy."

She let out a series of high-pitched chirps, as if she was laughing.

"I know your training's been rough, but at least your stepfather's not drinking and your best friend from high school isn't stalking you."

McCoy let out the same series of high-pitched chirps. It was like she was mocking me.

That was when I realized that McCoy was, in fact, worse off than I was. Jason was an alcoholic and Blake was a creep, but I had other people that I could trust and rely on. McCoy was alone in the world: a social creature meant to live with dozens of others of her kind that was trapped in a cage. "I get it now, McCoy," I said. McCoy suddenly splashed me and I shouted, "Hey! That wasn't very nice!"

McCoy popped her head out of the water and laughed again.

"I just feel like everything's going wrong," I said. "I can't figure out how to get Blake to leave me alone, and Jason's drinking is probably out of my control, but I hate what he's doing to my mom and my sister. I just wish that I could go back in time and fix everything. Do you ever feel like that, McCoy?"

McCoy wasn't listening. She was leaping in and out of the water, almost as if she was flying. Occasionally, she let out a joyful chirp. McCoy was clearly enjoying herself.

"You know, I should take a page or two from your book, McCoy," I said as I watched her. "You've always ignored all of the messed up things that we've done to you. Maybe I should try looking on the bright side for once." I smiled, and even thought it was forced, I did feel a little bit better.

McCoy floated in the water for a moment, let out a few whistles, and then went back to jumping.

"I should probably get some lunch before Claudia makes me go back to work," I said. "Do you want anything?"

McCoy chirped cheerfully, and I went to the closet, found a fish, and tossed it into the water. She jumped out of the water to get it and then swallowed it in one big gulp.

I spent the rest of the day cleaning the exhibit, telling zoo visitors about the dolphins, and helping Claudia and Tommy train them for the upcoming dolphin show. After I was done, I spotted Aditi waiting for me outside the dolphin exhibit. I rushed outside, greeted her, and then brought her into the garage.

At first, I couldn't tell whether she was impressed or just judging me for how nerdy I was. She couldn't stop staring at the stacks of rulebooks and the posters on the wall, but after a few minutes of silence, she said, "This is such a cool place, Dani."

"Thanks," I said as I sat down on the floor and picked up my copy of the Dungeon Master's Guide. Aditi sat next to me, and she started explaining some ideas that she had for the campaign. Most of it seemed interesting enough, and it was far better than what Wyatt had been doing, but I occasionally had to point out a plot hole or suggest a more interesting monster. Before long, we had the Dungeon Master's Guide, the Monster Manual, and myriad other rulebooks spread out in front of us.

It was crazy to think about it, but soon, Aditi would study abroad, and I would be the Dungeon Master. The whole campaign would be under my control, and I could finally put all of the rulebooks that I had in my garage to good use. At last, I would be able to tell the story that I wanted to tell.

If I wanted to create a good campaign, I would have to start early. After Aditi left, thanking me profusely for my help, I started brainstorming. I came up with a few clever situations, but they weren't particularly well put together. It had been a while since I had been the DM, and the ideas that had come to me so easily before weren't there anymore.

As the sun went down, I left the zoo, and of course, Blake's car was there. He was becoming predictable, but my heart still pounded, just like it always did. I hated that I had let myself get used to this twisted situation, but I played out my part. I drove back to the college, and Blake followed me there, but once I arrived in the parking lot, he drove away. I wasn't even sure why I was so scared anymore, but everything about Blake still unnerved me.

After I returned to my dorm, I Skyped Sydney. It took a few minutes for her to answer, but when she did, her face appeared on the computer screen, with Mom in the background. "Mom?" I said. "What are you doing?"

"I just wanted to talk to you, Dani," she said. "Isn't it natural for a mother to want to see her daughter?"

"Yeah, I suppose so," I said. Mom just usually wasn't interested in Skyping me - usually, she preferred phone calls - but I didn't mind that she was joining Sydney. After what had happened with Jason, I would take any opportunity to see either of them. "What's going on?" I asked.

"Not much," Sydney said, and I smiled. When it came to Jason, no news was good news.

"I thought about what you said about Jason," Mom said.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that," I said. "I was a little bit harsh."

"It's okay, Dani," Mom said. "I forgive you, and you might be right. Maybe it's time to let him go."

I nodded, trying not to show Mom and Sydney how I felt, but I was glad that Mom was considering leaving Jason. I couldn't stand to watch him make the same mistakes over and over again, and I didn't want my mom and my sister trapped in that vicious cycle.

"I'm still trying to figure things out," Mom explained. "I know what the divorce did to you and Sydney, and I don't want you to go through that again..."

"Mom, it's okay," I said. "You should do what's best for you."

"Thanks, Dani," Mom said.

"Yeah, we'll support you, no matter what," Sydney said.

Mom smiled and said, "I'm glad that I have such wonderful daughters."

"Besides, this doesn't really affect us," I said. "Sydney will be going to college soon..."

"Don't remind me," Sydney said, desperate to change the subject. "How's school, Dani?"

"It's okay," I said. I told Mom and Sydney about D&D, and after Sydney asked about my job, I told her about that. However, I left out everything about Blake. Mom and Sydney had enough to worry about, and they didn't need to know that my former best friend was back in the picture, following me around and stealing my good luck charms.

I chatted with them for nearly two hours until they finally signed off. Knowing that Mom and Sydney were doing okay helped me get through the week, giving me the energy to smile when I thought that I couldn't.

The following weekend, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy performed in their first dolphin show at the Egmont Zoo. There was a huge, adoring audience, and they gleefully applauded every time McCoy leapt through a hoop or Spock knocked a ball into the air. Meanwhile, I waited on the edge of the pool, rewarding the dolphins with fish. They always took the food eagerly, and their performances went well for the most part. Even when they didn't, the audience didn't know any better. They were just excited to see dolphins performing tricks just for them.

After the show was over and all of the zoo guests were gone, Claudia declared, "That went even better than I expected. Thanks for your help, Dani and Tommy."

"No problem," Tommy said.

I looked toward the water, where I saw the three dolphins swimming in circles and looking absolutely miserable. They seemed even more trapped and helpless than I had ever seen them. Something was deeply wrong with them, just like there was something deeply wrong with my relationship with Blake and there was something deeply wrong with my family, but I was the only one who ever seemed to notice. If only I had someone else who could help me.