"...and then Jacob told me that he has all the Dragon Ball Z dvd's and we're going to start watching them over the weekend," Mikey was telling me.

I was sitting on the floor in his room. I was helping him study for his math test that he had the next day. I hadn't seen or checked on Mikey in a few days, so I was sitting here now, talking to him. Garret wasn't in the room, but Nick was. He was sitting at his desk on his computer, but I could tell that he was listening in on our conversation.

"Dragon Ball Z? He has all of them?" I asked.

"Yeah! Isn't that awesome?!" Mikey exclaimed, grinning toothily at me. I forced a smile back at him and felt my heart swell up a little in a momentary happiness. It was so great to see that Mikey was starting to forget. He was so young, after all. It was easier for him to move on. And he had nothing to feel guilty for.

"I might join you guys one day," I said.

"Yeah! I'll tell Jacob!" Mikey said. I faked a laugh and pointed to the next question. He leaned over his paper with his pencil in his hand. "Do you have any tests?" Mikey asked me.

"Oh, I have a lot of tests," I replied, running my hand through his silky hair. It was getting quite long. I made a mental note to take him to get a haircut once we went on break.

"High school sounds hard," he commented. I nodded.

"You get used to it," I said.

"Hey," I heard. I looked up to see Ben standing in the doorway.

"Hey," I replied as he came over.

"Ben!!" Mikey cried, rushing over to give him a hug. Ben laughed and ruffled his hair.

"I thought I'd find you here," Ben said, sitting down next to me.

"I'm helping him study for his math test tomorrow," I told him.

"And who's going to help you study for yours?" Ben asked me with a wink. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Guess what, Ben?" Mikey asked, sitting up and looking at Ben with sparkling blue eyes.

"What?" Ben asked, a grin on his face.

"I'm going to watch all the Dragon Ball Z episodes this year with my friend Jacob!" Mikey exclaimed.

"Seriously? That sounds like fun. Can I watch?" Ben asked, glancing at me with a small smile on his lips.

"Yeah! You and Renee both!" Mikey cried gleefully.

"What's going on?" I asked Ben when Mike resumed his work.

"I was wondering if you'd like to get some coffee and take a break from studying," Ben said. "But I guess you're already taking a break," he observed, nodding at Mike. I nodded.

"I might be up for coffee later tonight. I'll be up studying and writing papers," I told him.

"Same here," he mumbled, leaning against the low bunk bed. "It's crazy how they have Rosestone Elementary now. I think it's horrible of parents to want to get rid of their young children so easily," he said.

"Rosestone didn't have an elementary school before?" I asked.

"Nope! They made it four years ago," Nick chirruped. I turned around, having completely forgotten he was in the room.

"But they had been talking about making it from way before then," Ben added.

"Yeah. And then they built it," Nick said, looking directly at me. I could tell he wanted some attention, too. Ben gaving me a knowing look.

"I guess I'll see you later, then. I should get back to work," Ben said, getting up.

"Text me later," I told him. He waved his hand and walked out the door.

"I think I'm done with this worksheet. Can we go eat now?" Mike asked.

"Mikey! You just started studying! We'll do the other worksheet and then we'll go get lunch, all right?" I asked.

"Fine..." he pouted, leaning over the second worksheet.

"So how many tests do you have, Nick?" I asked him.

"Three. Math, History, and Science," he replied.

"Oh. That sounds rough. All in the same day?" I asked. He shook his head. The movement made his glasses fall down his nose slightly. He pushed them up with his forefinger.

"All on different days," he answered.

"Well that's good. You have time to study, then," I said.

"Yeah, and it's good that they give us study days without any classes," Nick added. I nodded.

It was a good idea. We had about three days off from classes that we could use solely for studying. Then it was back to school, but with an altered finals schedule. The elementary school had shortened days instead of a finals schedule, since they didn't really have finals.

I was about to open my mouth to ask Nick if he wanted to join Mike and me for lunch, when the door opened again. We all looked up and I felt a little shocked to see Aiden standing there. His eyebrows narrowed in confusion as his eyes met mine.

"Renee? What are you doing here?" he asked. I realized my mouth was open slightly agape in my surprise at seeing him in Mike's room.

"This is my brother's room..." I mumbled in response.

"Mike's your brother?" he asked. I frowned.

"Hi Aiden!" Mikey exclaimed, grinning at him. Aiden smiled at him in response.

"You know Mike?" I asked.

"Yeah, Nick's my brother," Aiden replied, nodding at Nick, who waved at him.

"What?" I asked, thoroughly confused. "You two look nothing alike," I said. Aiden's face darkened at my words, but he recovered himself quickly, albeit too late; I had seen the grim expression on his face.

"I know. He's my...stepbrother..." Aiden said slowly. Nick opened his mouth to say something, but remained quiet after being given a look from Aiden.

"This is weird..." I mumbled, glancing around the room at the boys.

Just then, Garrett walked in, squeezing into the room from around Aiden's tall legs.

"What's up, Aiden?" Garrett asked, coming inside.

"Not much, lil' G," Aiden replied, pulling the nine year old into a headlock. Garrett wrestled him away and stuck his tongue out. The boys laughed at the little wrestling match. Aiden looked at me, a small smile on his lips.

"What are you guys up to?" he asked, leaning against the doorframe, placing his hands in his pockets casually.

"Studying," I answered.

"I've got a math test tomorrow," Mikey told him. Aiden nodded.

"That sucks. I hate math," he said.

"Me too," Mikey pouted.

"You're helping him?" he asked me. I nodded and then he did, too.

"I think I'm done now," Mikey said, holding up the sheet of paper to me. I quickly scanned it to see if he did the questions right.

"Good job, Mikey!" I told him encouragingly.

"Can we go eat now?" he whined. I smiled softly at him and ran my fingers through his hair.

"Yeah, sure," I said. We both got up.

"Can I come?" Nick asked. I looked back at him and then at Aiden, who was still studying me.

"Uhh, sure..." I replied.

"You come, too, Aiden!" Nick suggested happily as he got up from his chair. Aiden looked at me, his brown eyes wide and questioning.

"You should come," I told him in a soft voice. He smiled slightly and nodded. The four of us exited the room and got onto the elevator and went down to the dining hall.

"Hello, Renee!" I heard. I turned to see Janet the secretary walking towards us holding up a can of soda.

"Hi Janet," I replied, forcing a smile.

"Oh, hello Aiden! How are you two doing?" she asked.

"Fine," Aiden and I replied at the same time. We glanced at each other and then looked back at Janet.

"Going to get lunch?" she asked, eyeing the four of us, but mostly just Aiden and me.

"Yeah! I'm starving!" Mikey cried out. Janet laughed and patted his head.

"Well you kids go on and eat, then," she said. We all smiled and nodded at her before walking away.

"How often are you over here?" Aiden asked me. I shrugged.

"I visited more in the beginning of the year. But ever since mid-terms, I haven't had too many chances," I replied. Aiden nodded. He was walking next to me and occasionally our arms would brush against each other. I felt my face flush every time it happened.

We got our lunches and sat at one of the tables. Some kids that Mikey and Nick knew came over and the two boys started talking to them, leaving Aiden and I sitting awkwardly amongst the kids.

"We've been ditched," Aiden noted, looking at the kids that had moved down the table away from us.

"By a bunch of seven and nine year olds," I added. He chuckled lightly and popped a fry in his mouth.

"Have you thought about what you were going to do for Mr. Len's big project?" he asked me. I shook my head.

"I hate how open it is. We can literally do anything as long as it has something to do with music," I said. Aiden nodded. "Have you thought of anything?" I asked him out of politness. What I really wanted to do was go back to my room and pull out the English essay I had been working on. But I decided it would be rude to just leave while we were eating. And I was hungry.

"I've been working on a song," he replied. I raised my eyebrows.

"Really?" I asked. He nodded.

"What's it about?" I asked.

"It's a secret," he replied, looking at me with his warm brown eyes. I looked at him curiously before glancing down at my food. I looked down the table to where Mikey was sitting. He was chatting animatedly with his group of friends. I smiled slightly.

"Children are so lucky. They're so naiive and innocent. It doesn't take a lot to help them forget," I said. I closed my mouth and looked down at my hands. I hadn't meant to say that outloud. But for some reason, my mouth decided to keep talking to Aiden, even when I didn't want it to.

"That's what sucks about growing up. You lose your ability to forget," Aiden said.

"But when you're old, like old-old, then you gain it again," I added. He nodded.

"Kind of reminds me of Benjamin Button," he said, plucking a carrot stick off my plate.

"I should probably get back and study," I said, getting up.

"Me, too," he agreed, standing as well. We both went to our siblings to bid them good-bye.

"All right, Mike. Make sure after you're done with your tests you pack up your stuff. We're leaving right after finals are over," I told him. He nodded his head, his silky hair falling in his eyes. I pushed his hair out of his eyes and pinched his cheek. "I'll come over to help once my exams are over," I said.

"Ok," Mike said. I waved awkwardly to his friends and then joined Aiden at the exit of the dining hall. We walked into the chilly December air together, fighting against the bitter cold Maine weather. Our footsteps made footprints in the snow as we walked.

"You really care about your brother," Aiden said. I buried my mouth and nose in the collar of my coat.

"He's my baby brother. I love him and I have to be there for him," I said. He nodded, but didn't say anything.

I wondered how exactly Nick and him were related. He had said they were stepbrothers, but Nick seemed to want to correct him. If they weren't stepbrothers, then what were they?

I glanced at Aiden as he walked next to me, his hands buried in the pockets of his coat. Was there more to him than he let on? Was his family what he was talking about that night when they had both inadvertantly spoken part of their pasts?

I wouldn't ask him, though. I didn't want to talk to anyone about my past, so why would anyone else? It was best if I didn't know. That way, I wouldn't have to tell him what happened to me.

And I promised myself that I would never, ever tell anyone what happened to me.

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A/N: Hey all! Updates may be a little slow in this next week or so. I have a lot of work to do and I have a couple serious exams coming up, so I need to focus on studying. But when I come back, I promise to have some excellent updates. =)

Bear with my hectic school schedule.

Thanks for your support so far. I really appreciate it. =D

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