***Emi’s POV***

                “What was he talking about Gavin? What did he mean ‘the blood’?” I asked. Gavin and I were sitting together at the park. He shook his head and sighed. “I don’t know Emi, and I don’t want to. I love Taylor, but I would hate to be him. Whatever he sees, it ain’t pretty.”

                “Don’t you wonder what he sees?” I asked quietly. “Whatever it is, he’s seen it more than once. Why else would he said it doesn’t leave him alone?” I sighed. “He was saying something about air and blood.”

                Gavin’s eyes suddenly widened a little. “Air? Or Ari?” he whispered. I thought back and nodded. “Ari. You’re right.” His face paled and I gave him a curious look. “What’s wrong Gavin? What does Ari mean?” I urged.

                He shook his head. “No, you had to have heard him wrong. He…he had to have said air, not Ari.” I shook my head. “No! You were right! He did say Ari. I’m positive, Gav. What does Ari mean? Tell me!”

                He jumped up. “I’ve got to get home before my mom does or else she’ll ground me longer. Bye Emi,” he said in a rush and hurried away from me. I frowned after him and jumped up. I was so desperate to know who or what Ari was.

                Shaking my head, I made my way home and went up to my room. I turned on my iPod and changed it to Tiny Tim. I hated people who only knew his music from TV or movies but claimed to like him. My dad had gotten me into Tiny Tim when I was younger. When I had heard him on Spongebob, I had started screaming along with the words and been excited.

                My thoughts flashed to Taylor. What could possibly disturb him so much? I laid on my bed and let out a deep sigh. I didn’t want to ask Taylor about it. I was afraid it would send him into another Hallucination, and I didn’t want to do that to him. I really prayed that Gavin would just tell me.

                                                                                ***Gavin’s POV***

                “Damn dude, why does he keep having his Hallucinations? They’re usually more spread out than this,” Cam said with a frown. I was at his house with Caiden. Fuck my mom; this was more important than my being grounded.

                “It’s because he’s been going to school sober to try to impress Emi,” I said with a sigh and sat down. “He likes her, and she’s a straightedge. Also, he said his dad told him to make sure he could feel his hand because it got slammed in a door. That’s how it got sprained.” “I was wondering about that,” Cam said and I shrugged.

                “Any idea what he’s seeing?” Caiden asked. “Emi said he was mumbling about Ari and blood,” I said quietly and they stared at me. “No. Taylor’s over that. It’s been over a year,” Cam said and I stood up furiously and began to pace.

                “That’s not enough time to get over something like that!” Cam shook his head. “He told us he was over it, Gav!” “He lied!” I snapped. “Would you get over so easily, Cam? If that happened to Caiden, would you get over it so easily?”

                He paled slightly and shook his head slowly. “No. I wouldn’t. But I’m not Taylor.” “Emi told me she heard him talking about Ari. She doesn’t know about him, so she obviously didn’t make it up. He’s seeing Ari when he Hallucinates, and that’s so not good. He’ll get drunker than hell to forget. He’ll end up just like Ari.”

                Cam and Caiden were silent. We were all sober, which was rare for the 3 of us. “What do we do?” Cam asked silently. I sighed. “I wish I knew,” I whispered.

                Caiden stood up. “I’m going to his house. I’m getting him high. It’s better for him. He needs to get away from the Hallucinations, and the sooner the better. Bye.”

                I left not long after Caiden. The next day in school, Emi came up to me. “Well? What does Ari mean? I’m going to keep bothering you about it until you tell me Gav.” I nodded. “I know. So that’s why I’m going to tell you who Ari is.” “Well? Who is Ari?” she asked eagerly.

                I stared at her and swallowed down the lump in my throat. Her expression turned nervous and bit her lip. I took a deep breath and told her who Ari was. “Taylor’s dead best friend.”